cried. "Hola! mon petit. By my hilt! I thought there had
been a camisade. What then, mon gar.?"

"Come hither by the window, Aylward," said Alleyne. "I have seen
four-score men pass from yonder shaw across the glade, and nigh every
man of them had a great burden on his back. What think you of it?"

"I think nothing of it, mon camarade! There are as many masterless folk
in this country as there are rabbits on Cowdray Down, and there are many
who show their faces by night but would dance in a hempen collar if
they stirred forth in the day. On all the French marches are droves
of outcasts, reivers, spoilers, and draw-latches, of whom I judge that
these are some, though I marvel that they should dare to come so nigh
to the castle of the seneschal. All seems very quiet now," he added,
peering out of the window.

"They are in the further wood," said Alleyne.

"And there they may bide. Back to rest, mon petit; for, by my hilt! each
day now will bring its own work. Yet it would be well to shoot the bolt
in yonder door when one is in strange quarters. So!" He threw himself
down upon his pallet and in an instant was fast asleep.

It might have been about three o'clock in the morning when Alleyne was
aroused from a troubled sleep by a low cry or exclamation. He listened,
but, as he heard no more, he set it down as the challenge of the guard
upon the walls, and dropped off to sleep once more. A few minutes later
he was disturbed by a gentle creaking of his own door, as though some
one were pushing cautiously against it, and immediately afterwards he
heard the soft thud of cautious footsteps upon the stair which led
to the room above, followed by a confused noise and a muffled groan.
Alleyne sat up on his couch with all his nerves in a tingle, uncertain
whether these sounds might come from a simple cause--some sick archer
and visiting leech perhaps--or whether they might have a more sinister
meaning. But what danger could threaten them here in this strong castle,
under the care of famous warriors, with high walls and a broad moat
around them? Who was there that could injure them? He had well-nigh
persuaded himself that his fears were a foolish fancy, when his eyes
fell upon that which sent the blood cold to his heart and left him
gasping, with hands clutching at the counterpane.

Right in front of him was the broad window of the chamber, with the moon
shining brightly through it. For an instant something had obscured the
ligh