esire
to see a certaine gallant youthe that dwelleth hard bye ye rivere atte
Blakeney, and I have a desire to showe a pretty maiden ye sightes of
London towne, of the whiche we spoke many a time in ye cool of ye
forest. Therefore, come away with brave Master Morgan and youre
estimable father, ye captaine. My manne will guide you, and I will
welcome you righte heartilie. In assurance that you will come, I shall
bespeake lodgynges with a worthie dame of my acquaintance. Persuade
Master Morgan; it will be for his certaine goode. I shall command him
bye worde of mouthe; but as I knowe the rogue--though merrie enough in
some wayes and eager for travel--is rooted on Severne side like an oak,
'twill neede some powere like thine to move him.

"Commende me and my invitation to youre sire; accepte a triflynge gift
at my handes; and may God be with you all and give us a joyouse
meetynge.--Youres, in all knightlie devoirs, WALTER RALEIGH."

Johnnie handed the letter back.

"Well?" asked Dorothy.

"I do not think your father will consent; 'tis a perilous journey for a
maid."

"Not when three brave gentlemen ride with her."

"I like not the scheme. What is London to home-dwelling forest folk?"

"'Tis the heart of the world," broke in Jeffreys, "and no man can say
he knoweth life until he hath felt the pulse-beat of the great city."

"I am woodland bred, good sir, and shrink from the prisonment of
streets and walls. Half a day in Gloucester makes me fret like a caged
bird."

"A man must see life in its many aspects if he would claim to have
lived at all, Master Morgan."

"I do not agree. A man will see deeper into a stream if he sits and
watches than will a fellow who splashes noisily about. However, I am
bounden to Mistress Dorothy by a hundred acts of kindness that she did
me when I lay fevered and with a broken head. If her heart is set upon
this jaunt, and her father does not say 'Nay,' I'll to London or
anywhere else she wills. Nevertheless, for my own liking, I had rather
bide at home."

Dorothy beamed at the forester. "I was half tempted to remind thee
that thou didst owe me a mended head. I am glad I did not," she said.

"There is no need to remind me of even a look thou hast given me,"
replied Johnnie. "But here comes the captain; his word will be law to
us in this matter."

Captain Dawe came in, and welcomed Master Jeffreys most heartily when
he learned whom he served. His brow puckered, how