l night, a conviction which induced them to proceed on
their way at a more hasty pace than they had hitherto used.

CHAPTER XIX

A train of armed men, some noble dame
Escorting, (so their scatter'd words discover'd,
As unperceived I hung upon their rear,)
Are close at hand, and mean to pass the night
Within the castle.
--Orra, a Tragedy

The travellers had now reached the verge of the wooded country, and were
about to plunge into its recesses, held dangerous at that time from the
number of outlaws whom oppression and poverty had driven to despair,
and who occupied the forests in such large bands as could easily bid
defiance to the feeble police of the period. From these rovers, however,
notwithstanding the lateness of the hour Cedric and Athelstane accounted
themselves secure, as they had in attendance ten servants, besides Wamba
and Gurth, whose aid could not be counted upon, the one being a jester
and the other a captive. It may be added, that in travelling thus late
through the forest, Cedric and Athelstane relied on their descent and
character, as well as their courage. The outlaws, whom the severity of
the forest laws had reduced to this roving and desperate mode of life,
were chiefly peasants and yeomen of Saxon descent, and were generally
supposed to respect the persons and property of their countrymen.

As the travellers journeyed on their way, they were alarmed by repeated
cries for assistance; and when they rode up to the place from whence
they came, they were surprised to find a horse-litter placed upon the
ground, beside which sat a young woman, richly dressed in the Jewish
fashion, while an old man, whose yellow cap proclaimed him to belong
to the same nation, walked up and down with gestures expressive of the
deepest despair, and wrung his hands, as if affected by some strange
disaster.

To the enquiries of Athelstane and Cedric, the old Jew could for some
time only answer by invoking the protection of all the patriarchs of the
Old Testament successively against the sons of Ishmael, who were coming
to smite them, hip and thigh, with the edge of the sword. When he began
to come to himself out of this agony of terror, Isaac of York (for it
was our old friend) was at length able to explain, that he had hired
a body-guard of six men at Ashby, together with mules for carrying the
litter of a sick friend. This party had undertaken to escort him as
far as Doncaster. They