If thou dost not then succeed, I must perforce
discharge thee from thy post.'
"Instead of returning to the castle, Herne rode off wildly into the forest,
where he remained till eventide. He then returned with ghastly looks
and a strange appearance, having the links of a rusty chain which he
had plucked from a gibbet hanging from his left arm, and the hart's
antlered skull, which he had procured from Urswick, fixed like a helm
upon his head. His whole demeanour showed that he was crazed; and
his condition, which might have moved the compassion of his foes, only
provoked their laughter. After committing the wildest extravagances,
he burst from all restraint, and disappeared among the trees of the
home park.
"An hour after this a pedlar, who was crossing the park from Datchet,
found him suspended by a rope from a branch of the oak-tree which you
have all seen, and which bears his name. Despair had driven him to the
dreadful deed. Instead of cutting him down, the pedlar ran to the castle
to relate what he had witnessed; and the keepers, satisfied that their
revenge was now fully accomplished, hastened with him to the tree.
But the body was gone; and all that proclaimed it had been there, was
the rope hanging from the branch.
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