me to the Burg; for, to say sooth, I shall
find it somewhat easier to enter therein if I be in the company of
thee, a knight and a lord."

So Ralph considered and thought that there lay indeed but little peril
to him in the Burg, whereas both those men with whom he had striven
were hushed for ever, and there was none else to tell the tale of the
battle, save the lady, whose peril from them of the Burg was much
greater than his; and also he thought that if anything untoward befel,
he had some one to fall back on in old Oliver: yet on the other hand
he had a hankering after Hampton under Scaur, where, to say sooth, he
doubted not to see the lady again.

So betwixt one thing and the other, speech hung on his lips awhile,
when suddenly the carle said: "Hist! thou hast left thy horse without
the bushes, and he is whinnying" (which indeed he was), "there is now
no time to lose. To horse straightway, for certainly there are folk at
hand, and they may be foemen, and are most like to be."

Therewith they both arose and hastened to where Falcon stood just
outside the alder bushes, and Ralph leapt a-horseback without more ado,
and the carle waited no bidding to leap up behind him, and pointing to
a glade of the wood which led toward the highway, cried out, "Spur that
way, thither! they of the Dry Tree are abroad this morning. Spur! 'tis
for life or death!"

Ralph shook the rein and Falcon leapt away without waiting for the
spur, while the carle looked over his shoulder and said, "Yonder they
come! they are three; and ever they ride well horsed. Nay, nay! They
are four," quoth he, as a shout sounded behind them. "Spur, young
lord! spur! And thine horse is a mettlesome beast. Yea, it will do,
it will do."

Therewith came to Ralph's ears the sound of their horse-hoofs beating
the turf, and he spurred indeed, and Falcon flew forth.

"Ah," cried the carle! "but take heed, for they see that thy horse is
good, and one of them, the last, hath a bent Turk bow in his hand, and
is laying an arrow on it; as ever their wont is to shoot a-horseback: a
turn of thy rein, as if thine horse were shying at a weasel on the
road!"

Ralph stooped his head and made Falcon swerve, and heard therewith the
twang of the bowstring and straightway the shaft flew past his ears.
Falcon galloped on, and the carle cried out: "There is the highway
toward the Burg! Do thy best, do thy best! Lo you again!"

For the second shaft flew from the Tur