which stood near the castle, and came back open- mouthed, declaring that the
helmet was missing from Alfonso's statue. Manfred, at this news, grew perfectly
frantic; and, as if he sought a subject on which to vent the tempest within
him, he rushed again on the young peasant, crying -
"Villain! Monster! Sorcerer! 'tis thou hast done this! 'tis thou hast
slain my son!"
The mob, who wanted some object within the scope of their capacities, on whom
they might discharge their bewildered reasoning, caught the words from the mouth
of their lord, and re- echoed -
"Ay, ay; 'tis he, 'tis he: he has stolen the helmet from good Alfonso's
tomb, and dashed out the brains of our young Prince with it," never reflecting
how enormous the disproportion was between the marble helmet that had been in
the church, and that of steel before their eyes; nor how impossible it was for
a youth seemingly not twenty, to wield a piece of armour of so prodigious a
weight
The folly of these ejaculations brought Manfred to himself
