The Beacon Fire.

THE BEACON FIRE .

A CHRISTMAS LEGEND OF DOVER CASTLE . IT was Christmas Evo in the year 1065 , the last year of Edward the Confessor ' s reign , the last Christmas that England saw under Saxon rule ; for ere another twelve months had passed , William the Norman was in possession of the country . Little dreaming , howeverof the mighty ancl important changes at handa

, , young soldier , on the night in question , ivas pacing with measured and martial tread upon the ramparts of Dover Castle . He was a sentinel on guard , ancl not a few were the impatient exclamations that burst from his lips as he contrasted the keen wintry air and lonely walk on the battlements which it was his lot to watch , with tho ivarm , blazing fire ancl blithe wassail of the guard-room . The comparison was not favourable to his own situation , and

the more he thought the more he grumbled . As he reached an angle of the wall that formed the boundary of his beat , he encountered the sharer of his cheerless vigil . Like our grumbler , he , too , was a Saxon , but he was his senior by a score of years , being a stout strongly-built man of forty . " Well met , Aclhelm ! " cried the elder of the two , in a hearty tone , as he shifted his weapon from one shoulder to the other . " 'Tis a bitter night , and

in sooth I shall not be sorry when we are summoned from this breezy height to the snug- guard-chamber below . " " Nor I , " echoed the youth , and forthwith he resumed his grumblings , but he found no ready listener in the hardy giant beside him , " Foolish boy ! " exclaimed Sidroc , scornfully . " Thou , with thy young blood flowing hot ancl strong in thy veins , thou , to talk of a little frost as though thou wer't an old fellow of four-score years and ten !—go to , boy , thou art no better than a woman . "

Young Adhelm had but recently begun his career as a soldier , and he found the cold wind y heights of Dover rather different from the sheltered Sussex valley where he had spent his boyhood ; consequently he felt resentful at the speech of the really good-natured , but blunt , straightforward Sidroc , who had passed all his life in roughing it , and was hardened to cold ancl privation by a long course of stern military discipline . " I was but thinking just now of one as young than thou

, nay younger , , who , long ago , on these very heights , set an example which many a Saxon youth in these days would do well to follow . " Aclhelm was silent ; he felt that this speech implied reproof , and he was in no mood to take it , so he turned on his heel and resumed his beat . Sidroc did the same , but in a few moments they met again at the same place . Curiosity had got the better of anger , ancl Adhelm , who had too bold and

daring a soul himself not to be moved at hearing of bravery in another , inquired of his comrade who the youth might be of whom he had spoken . Sidroc replied by directing his attention to a partly ruined tower that stood upon the highest point of the cliff , at a short distance from the castle . It was an ancient beacon or pharos , said to have been built b y Julius Cassar when he invaded the shores of Britainancl although it was now crumbling into

, decay , it still reared its lofty head proudly , on the very crest of the precipitous cliff , whilst immediately at its foot , as if seeking shelter and protection from the winds that swept around that exposed hill , nestled the little church called St . Mary-in-Castro . Adhelm saw the tower , and replied , " I have often marvelled at it ; methinks it must have been a place of strength in former days . "