See
yonder horses which stray among the rocks beneath us?"

"I see them, my fair lord."

"And see yonder path which winds along the hill upon the further end of
the valley?"

"I see it."

"Were you on those horses, and riding up yonder track, steep and rough
as it is, I think that ye might gain the valley beyond. Then on to the
prince, and tell him how we fare."

"But, my fair lord, how can we hope to reach the horses?" asked Norbury.

"Ye cannot go round to them, for they would be upon ye ere ye could come
to them. Think ye that ye have heart enough to clamber down this cliff?"

"Had we but a rope."

"There is one here. It is but one hundred feet long, and for the rest ye
must trust to God and to your fingers. Can you try it, Alleyne?"

"With all my heart, my dear lord, but how can I leave you in such a
strait?"

"Nay, it is to serve me that ye go. And you, Norbury?"

The silent squire said nothing, but he took up the rope, and, having
examined it, he tied one end firmly round a projecting rock. Then he
cast off his breast-plate, thigh pieces, and greaves, while Alleyne
followed his example.

"Tell Chandos, or Calverley, or Knolles, should the prince have gone
forward," cried Sir Nigel. "Now may God speed ye, for ye are brave and
worthy men."

It was, indeed, a task which might make the heart of the bravest sink
within him. The thin cord dangling down the face of the brown cliff
seemed from above to reach little more than half-way down it. Beyond
stretched the rugged rock, wet and shining, with a green tuft here and
there thrusting out from it, but little sign of ridge or foothold. Far
below the jagged points of the boulders bristled up, dark and menacing.
Norbury tugged thrice with all his strength upon the cord, and then
lowered himself over the edge, while a hundred anxious faces peered over
at him as he slowly clambered downwards to the end of the rope. Twice he
stretched out his foot, and twice he failed to reach the point at which
he aimed, but even as he swung himself for a third effort a stone from
a sling buzzed like a wasp from amid the rocks and struck him full upon
the side of his head. His grasp relaxed, his feet slipped, and in
an instant he was a crushed and mangled corpse upon the sharp ridges
beneath him.

"If I have no better fortune," said Alleyne, leading Sir Nigel aside. "I
pray you, my dear lord, that you will give my humble service to the Lady
Maude, and say to her that I was e