'Oh it's Keith of Keith now that rides fast, Sister Helen,

For I know the white hair on the blast.'

'The short short hour will soon be past,

Little brother!'

(0 Mother, Mary Mother,

Will soon be past, between Hell and Heaven!)

'He looks at me and he tries to speak,

Sister Helen,

But oh! his voice is sad and weak !'

'What here should the mighty Baron seek,

Little brother?'

(0 Mother, Mary Mother,

Is this the end, between Hell and Heaven?)

'Oh his son still cries, if you forgive,

Sister Helen,

The body dies but the soul shall live.'

'Fire shall forgive me as I forgive,

Little brother!'

(0 Mother, Mary Mother,

As she forgives, between Hell and Heaven!)

Oh he prays you, as his heart would rive, Sister Helen,

To save his dear son's soul alive.'

'Fire cannot slay it, it shall thrive,

Little brother!'

(0 Mother, Mary Mother,

Alas, alas, between Hell and Heaven!)

He cries to you, kneeling in the road,

Sister Helen,

Το

go

with him for the love of God!'

'The way is long to his son's abode,

Little brother.'

(0 Mother, Mary Mother,

The way is long, between Hell and Heaven!)

'O Sister Helen, you heard the bell,

Sister Helen!

More loud than the vesper-chime it fell.'

'No vesper-chime, but a dying knell,

Little brother!'

(O Mother, Mary Mother,

His dying knell, between Hell and Heaven!)

'Alas! but I fear the heavy sound,

Sister Helen;

Is it in the sky or in the ground?'

'Say, have they turned their horses round,

Little brother?'

(O Mother, Mary Mother,

What would she more, between Hell and Heaven?)

'They have raised the old man from his knee, Sister Helen,

And they ride in silence hastily.'

'More fast the naked soul doth flee,

Little brother!'

(0 Mother, Mary Mother,

The naked soul, between Hell and Heaven!)

'Oh the wind is sad in the iron chill,

Sister Helen,

And weary sad they look by the hill.'

'But he and I are sadder still,

Little brother!'

(0 Mother, Mary Mother,

Most sad of all, between Hell and Heaven !)

'See, see, the wax has dropped from its place, Sister Helen,

And the flames are winning up apace !'

'Yet here they burn but for a space,

Little brother!'

(0 Mother, Mary Mother,

Here for a space, between Hell and Heaven !)

'Ah! what white thing at the door has cross'd, Sister Helen?

Ah! what is this that sighs in the frost ?'

'A soul that's lost as mine is lost,

Little brother!'

(0 Mother, Mary Mother,

Lost, lost, all lost, between Hell and Heaven !)

STRATTON WATER.

'O HAVE you seen the Stratton flood That's great with rain to-day?

It runs beneath your wall, Lord Sands, Full of the new-mown hay.

'I led your hounds to Hutton bank To bathe at early morn :

They got their bath by Borrowbrake

Above the standing corn.'

Out from the castle-stair Lord Sands
Looked up the western lea;

The rook was grieving on her nest,
The flood was round her tree.

Over the castle-wall Lord Sands

Looked down the eastern hill:

The stakes swam free among the boats,

The flood was rising still.

L