.
"He is on his way to Villefranche, and short will be the shrift of any
Jacks who come into his hands, for he is a man of short speech. It
was he and the Seneschal of Beaucaire who hung Peter Wilkins, of the
Company, last Lammastide; for which, by the black rood of Waltham! they
shall hang themselves, if ever they come into our power. But here are
our comrades, Sir Nigel, and here is our camp."

As he spoke, the forest pathway along which they marched opened out into
a green glade, which sloped down towards the river. High, leafless trees
girt it in on three sides, with a thick undergrowth of holly between
their trunks. At the farther end of this forest clearing there stood
forty or fifty huts, built very neatly from wood and clay, with the
blue smoke curling out from the roofs. A dozen tethered horses and mules
grazed around the encampment, while a number of archers lounged about:
some shooting at marks, while others built up great wooden fires in the
open, and hung their cooking kettles above them. At the sight of their
returning comrades there was a shout of welcome, and a horseman, who
had been exercising his charger behind the camp, came cantering down
to them. He was a dapper, brisk man, very richly clad, with a round,
clean-shaven face, and very bright black eyes, which danced and sparkled
with excitement.

"Sir Nigel!" he cried. "Sir Nigel Loring, at last! By my soul we have
awaited you this month past. Right welcome, Sir Nigel! You have had my
letter?"

"It was that which brought me here," said Sir Nigel. "But indeed, Sir
Claude Latour, it is a great wonder to me that you did not yourself lead
these bowmen, for surely they could have found no better leader?"

"None, none, by the Virgin of L'Esparre!" he cried, speaking in the
strange, thick Gascon speech which turns every _v_ into a _b_. "But you
know what these islanders of yours are, Sir Nigel. They will not be led
by any save their own blood and race. There is no persuading them.
Not even I, Claude Latour Seigneur of Montchateau, master of the high
justice, the middle and the low, could gain their favor. They must needs
hold a council and put their two hundred thick heads together, and then
there comes this fellow Aylward and another, as their spokesmen, to say
that they will disband unless an Englishman of good name be set over
them. There are many of them, as I understand, who come from some great
forest which lies in Hampi, or Hampti--I cannot lay my