ming serious, and 'tis said that there have been Scotch
emissaries with Glendower, though for the truth of this I cannot
answer; but Percy will certainly wish to know, well, what passes in the
west; and I am but a poor hand with the pen, and moreover, too much
busied to write often. He knows that right well, and I doubt not you
are instructed to inform him of all that passes."

"You are right, Sir Edmund. It is for that purpose that he has sent me
hither, charging me to write to him, frequently, as to the situation
and the power of Glendower; which must needs be on the increase, since
nought has been done to bring him to reason. And I have also his
commands, to place myself at your service, and to obey you, in all
respects, as if I had been your squire."

"I shall be glad for you to ride with my knights," Sir Edmund replied,
courteously. "I have not forgotten that you did good service, last
year, and trust that you may find opportunity for winning your spurs."

"I shall be glad, indeed, to do so, Sir Edmund. May I ask where
Glendower is supposed to be, at present?"

"He has his headquarters on the summit of Plinlimmon, a great hill on
the borders of Montgomery; and thence ravages and plunders all the
country round him, slaying all who are supposed to be attached to the
English cause. Unfortunately, he meets with but little resistance, for
the castles have, for the most part, been suffered to get into a bad
state; since, for a hundred years, it has seemed that they would no
longer be required against the Welsh, who appeared to have become as
peaceful as the people in our own counties. Many of the knights have
built themselves more convenient houses, and have let the castles
become almost ruins.

"Then, too, the garrisons, where garrisons are kept, are for the most
part composed of Welshmen. These can be no longer trusted, and it is no
easy matter to obtain Englishmen in their places, for so great is the
terror caused by the slaughter, by Glendower, of those who fall into
his hands, that few even of adventurous spirit would, at present, care
to leave their homes beyond the Severn, to take up such desperate
service. Glendower's movements are so rapid that there is no notice of
his coming, and it is not until he and his band suddenly appear,
burning and slaughtering, that any know of his approach."

"Surely it must be difficult to victual so large a force, on the summit
of a mountain?"

"It would assuredly be so, on