the Spanish Main,
And ha! for the Spanish gold;
King Philip's ships are riding deep
With the weight of wealth untold.
They're prey for the saucy lads
Who dance on the Plymouth Hoe;
They'll all sail home thro' the fleecy foam,
With a rich galleon in tow-tow-tow,
With a rich galleon in tow!"

The mariner swung his staff in rhythm with the swing of his chorus, and
his hearty voice pealed out like a trumpet on the sharp air.

"A spirited song well sung!" cried a voice in the sailor's rear.

He turned sharply around, and found a thin, wiry fellow close at his
heels. "_Madre de Dios!_" he cried, with a Spanish oath. "Where didst
thou spring from? I heard no steps behind me."

"Hardly possible, friend, that thou shouldst hear a little fellow like
me against thy song, staff, and heavier footfalls. I fell in thy wake
out of the lane at Quedgely, and have been trying to come up with thee
for the sake of thy jolly company."

"Is yonder parcel of huts Quedgely?"

"Ay. Thou art a stranger; Devon, if thy speech is to be trusted."

"Devon is my bonny country, lad--Devon every inch of me. Dost know
Devon?"

"But little. 'Tis a brave shire, and breeds brave sons. Could I be
born again, I'd pray to see the sun first from a Devon cradle."

"Thy hand, brother. If thou wert less yellow in the gills I'd kiss
thee. Art for Gloucester?"

"I am."

"So am I, for to-day; to-morrow I go farther on. Dost know these parts
well?"

"There are parts that I know worse; but I am not native to the place."

"Maybe thou hast never been in Dean Forest?"

The stranger looked at the sailor sharply and queerly. "Dean Forest,"
he repeated. "Yes, I have travelled some parts of that wild region.
Thou art surely not thinking of going thither at this time o' the year!"

"By bad fortune, I am. And from what I hear, 'tis a dangerous place,
full of fierce beasts and uncouth people. But go thither I must, for I
seek a man I shall not find elsewhere. If thou wouldst find a hawk,
needs must that thou find a hawk's nest; no other bird's will serve thy
purpose--that is my position. Is there any chance that I shall light
upon some forest fellow during Yule-tide business in Gloucester?"

"That I cannot say; but I may be able to help thee. Whom dost thou
seek?"

"A Devon man, Rob of Paignton."

"Thou art hunting a bundle of hay to find a needle. The forest is a
wild place, as full of holes as of hills, a