Red Spider Author:Sabine Baring-Gould Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. Wellon's Cairn. While Hillary Nanspian and Taverner Langford were falling out over a minute red spider, Hillary junior, or Larry as he was calle... more »d by his intimates, was talking to Honor Luxmore in a nook of the rubble of Wellon's Cairn. Wellon's Cairn is a great barrow or tumulus on Broad- bury, not far from Langworthy. Its original name has been lost. Since a certain Wellon was hung in chains on a gallows set up on this mound for the murder of three women it has borne his name. The barrow was piled up of stones and black peat earth, and was covered with gorse, so that the old British warrior who lay beneath may indeed be said to have made his bed in glory. The gorse brake not only blazed as fire, but streamed forth perfume like a censer. Only on the summit was a bare space, where the gallows had stood, and Wellon had dropped piecemeal, and been trodden by the sheep into the black soil. On the south-west side, facing the sun, was a hollow. Treasure-seekers had dug into the mound. Tradition said that therein lay a hero in harness of gold. The pan- opy that wrapped him round was indeed of gold, but it was the gold of the ever-blooming gorse. Having found nothing but a few flint flakes and broken sherds, the seekers had abandoned the cairn, without filling up the cavity. This had fallen in, and was lined with moss and short grass, and fringed about with blushing heath and blazing gorse. In this bright and fragrant hollow, secluded from the world, and sheltered from the wind that wafted down onj her the honey breath of the furze, and exposed to the warmth of the declining sun, sat Honor Luxmore ; and near her, not seated, but leaning against the side of the excavation, stood Hillary junior talking to her. Hillary was like his father, well built, fair-...« less