e boy stood staring after him; he did not notice the
trickle of blood from the cut in his ear; he was not even conscious that
he was still in life. He remembered only the unforgivable affront which
this man had put upon him, the mark which was the infamous badge of the
bondman, the slave. Quinton Edge! Ah, yes; he would remember that face
and name.

The Doomsman had ridden in cool defiance up to the very walls of the
keep. It would have been an easy matter for one of the garrison to have
bored his gay jacket through with a feathered shaft, and for a moment
Constans trembled, fearing lest some overzealous partisan should thus
rob him of his future vengeance. But the very audacity of the man proved
the saving of his skin. They were brave men who manned the fighting
platforms of the Greenwood Keep, and they could not bring themselves to
set upon naked courage.

Constans fancied that the man spoke to some one who stood hidden in the
deep embrasure of a window, but it was too far to either see or hear.
Then it seemed that a small object fell lightly from the window-sill.
The Doomsman caught it dexterously and fastened it on his breast.
Another low bow and, wheeling his horse, he dashed down the slope.
Constans ran blindly to meet him; why, he did not know. He who named
himself Quinton Edge swerved slightly in his course so as to pass within
arm's-length, calling out as he did so:

"Gage of battle and gage of love; a fortunate day for me. Believe me
that at some future time I shall answer for them both."

It was a sprig of the May-bloom that the cavalier wore in his
button-hole; Constans had only time to recognize it when the blood-bay
broke into full gallop. The lad flung himself at full length upon the
turf, face downward, and lay there motionless.

V

THE RAT'S-HOLE

It was a warm, cloudy night some two weeks later, and Constans sat in
the great hall of the keep, listlessly regarding the preparations that
were being made for the evening meal. Six or seven of the house-servants
were bustling to and from the buttery laden with flagons and dishes,
which they deposited with a vast amount of noise and confusion upon the
tables. These latter were of the most primitive construction, nothing
more than puncheons smoothed down with the adze and supported by wooden
trestles.

The main table ran nearly the full length of the hall, and was intended
to accommodate the men-at-arms and the superior servants, together wit