ndalous, and
contrary to all usages, to arrest a messenger; especially when that
messenger is an esquire of one of equal rank to himself, and his
message, as I suppose, a friendly one."

"I don't so much blame him. He had no means of judging my discretion;
and the consequences, to him and others, had I fallen into the hands of
Douglas, or those of a marauding leader, might have been serious,
indeed. I doubt not that, had I been content to stay with him, he would
have treated me with all honour. I might even have done so, and have
got him to send another messenger to Percy; but the latter bade me to
return at once, and moreover said that he had another mission, as soon
as I had carried the present one to a successful termination."

"And have you done so, Master Oswald?"

"Yes, I think so, Roger. I was to ascertain the earl's real intentions
regarding certain matters, and I think that he means honestly to adhere
to an offer he made. The very fear that he has shown, lest his
intentions should be betrayed, seems to prove that he is most anxious
that naught should occur to interfere with his plans."

"The Earls of Dunbar have ever been a treacherous race," Roger said
earnestly, "and ready to betray their own countrymen, in order to curry
favour with England, and continue in possession of their estates.
However, as we have benefited from it, we need not grumble, if the
Scots are contented.

"Now, Master Oswald, what are we to do next?"

"I should say that we had better find a corner to lie down, until
daybreak. I don't think that either of us have slept. Then we will go
into a tavern and breakfast, and afterwards go on to Edinburgh. I
should like to see the town and castle, and the chance may never come
again to me.

"Then, tomorrow morning, we will start in earnest. We shall have plenty
of opportunities to talk over our plans, so let us lose no time, now,
in looking for a bed."

Fortunately, they soon came upon some fishing nets, carelessly piled
under the lee of a stack of timber. Here they threw themselves down,
and were soon fast asleep.

When they woke, the sun was well up. Fishermen were preparing to get up
sail; and those who had, like themselves, come in during the night,
were commencing to unload their cargoes.

"Look there!" Oswald exclaimed, as he pointed to a vessel, from whose
masthead floated a flag with the arms of the Earl of March. "She is
just entering the port. They did chase us after all, you