sleep o' nights but I will be at work with fire and steel, nor rest nor
stay until he and the evil of him be purged from this my father's duchy
of Pentavalon--say I bid him remember this upon his pillow. Tell him
that whiles I do hold the woods my powers grow daily, and so will I
storm and burn his castles, one by one, as I did burn Garthlaxton. Say
I bid him to think upon these things what time he wooeth slumber in the
night. As to thee, thou wily Pardoner, when thou shalt come to betray
this our meeting, say that I told thee, that as Belsaye rose, and
Winisfarne, so shall town and village rise until Ivo and his like are
driven hence, or Beltane slain and made an end of. And so--fare ye
well! Come, Roger!" Then Beltane strode away with grim Roger at his
heels what time the Bailiff and the Pardoner stared in dumb amaze.

"Here," quoth the Pardoner at last, stroking his round chin, "here was
a man, methinks, wherefore are we yet alive!"

"Here," quoth the Bailiff, scratching his long nose, "here was a fool,
methinks, for that we are alive. A traitor, see ye, Pardoner, whose
yellow head is worth its weight in gold! Truly, truly, here was a very
fool!" So saying, he arose, albeit furtively, and slipping forthwith
into the shadow, crept furtively away until the fire-glow was lost and
hidden far behind him. Then, very suddenly, he betook him to his heels,
and coming to the forest-road, fled southwards towards Duke Ivo's great
camp that lay on Barham Broom.

CHAPTER LIII

OF JOLETTE, THAT WAS A WITCH

"Lord," said Roger, shaking his head, as they halted upon the edge of
the Hollow, "lord, 'twere better thou hadst let me strangle them; those
dogs will bay of thee to Black Ivo ere this time to-morrow!"

"'Tis so I hope, Roger."

"Hope?"

"Could I but lure Black Ivo into the wild, Roger, where swamp and
thicket should fight for us! Could I but draw him hither after me, of
what avail the might of his heavy chivalry upon this narrow forest-road,
his close-ranked foot-men a sure mark for the arrows of our war-wise
foresters? Thus, our pikes in front, a charge in flank, his line
once pierced needs must follow confusion and disorder. Then press we
where his banner flieth, and, hemmed in by our pikes and gisarms and
Giles's bowmen, he once our prisoner or slain, his great army would
crumble and melt away, since they do serve but for base hire, whiles
we, though few, do smite amain for home and children. O Roger man,
c