the sum of a crown
for yourself, and a penny for your squire."

"I thank you, indeed, sir, and shall ever feel beholden to you; and I
will, moreover, give you my knightly word that, whatever service I may
have to perform, I will never again war with the Welsh.

"May I ask if any of our party succeeded in reaching Llanidloes?"

"Yes, some sixty or seventy of them got in. They fought very well; and
indeed, in close combat my Welshmen cannot, at present, hold their own
against your armour-clad men. Still, though it would have pleased me
better had we annihilated the force, our success has been sufficient to
give Henry another lesson that, though he may march through Wales, he
holds only the ground on which he has encamped.

"Now, Sir Oswald, I pray you to enter my abode. 'Tis a poor place,
indeed, after my house in the Vale of the Bards; but it suffices for my
needs."

Before entering, he gave orders that Roger should be carried to an
upper room, and despatched a messenger to order his own leech, as soon
as he had done with the wounded, to come up and attend to him. Then he
led the way into a room, where a meal was prepared. In a few words in
Welsh he explained to his chiefs, who had been much surprised at the
manner in which he had received Oswald, that the young knight had, at
one time, rendered a great service to his daughters, Jane and Margaret;
but without mentioning its precise nature. His experience had taught
him that even those most attached to his cause might yet turn against
him; and were they to relate the story, it might do serious injury to
Oswald.

"You must, on your way back," he said presently to the young knight,
"call and see my daughters; who are at present staying with their
sister, who is married to Adda ap Iorwerth Ddu. They would be
aggrieved, indeed, if they heard that you had been here, and that I had
not given them the opportunity of thanking you, in person."

Oswald remained for a fortnight with Glendower, while Roger's wound was
healing. At the end of that time he learned that Henry, having marched
into Cardigan and ravaged the country there, was already retiring; his
army having suffered terribly from the effects of the weather, the
impossibility of obtaining supplies, and the constant and harassing
attacks by the Welsh.

Glendower was often absent, but when at the house he conversed freely
with Oswald, who was no longer surprised at the influence that he had
obtained over his count