'Holy offerings rich and rare,
Offerings of praise and prayer,
Purer life and purpose high,
Clasped hands and lifted eye,
Lowly acts of adoration
To the God of our salvation.
On His altar laid we leave them,
Christ present them! God receive them!'
CHAPTER XI
AN AFTERNOON IN CASTLESTEADS
'The fields were all i' vapour veil'd
Till, while the warm, breet rays assail'd,
Up fled the leet, grey mist.
The flowers expanded one by one,
As fast as the refreshing sun
Their dewy faces kiss'd.
'And pleasure danced i' mony an e'e
An' mony a heart, wi' mirth and glee
Thus flutter'd and excited—
An' this was t' cause, ye'll understand
Some friends a grand picnic had plann'd,
An' they had been invited.'
Tom Twisleton's Poems in the Craven Dialect.
It had been arranged that Mildred should form one of the luncheon-party at the vicarage, and that Richard should accompany her, while the rest of the young people were regaled at the Hall, where pretty May Chesterton held a sort of court.