quired the youth, with a nod in the
direction of the dancers, as they passed the end of the street.

"N-o," said Flemild. "Mother bade me haste back. Beside, they won't be
out many minutes longer. It isn't worth while."

"Like a woman," retorted Haimet with a satirical grin; "the real reason
always comes last."

"What do you know about it?" answered his sister, not ill-humouredly, as
they paused again at the North Gate. "O Haimet, what are those?"

A small company of about thirty--men, women, and a few children--were
coming slowly down Horsemonger Street. They were attired in rough short
tunics, warm sheepskin cloaks, heavy boots which had seen hard service,
and felt hats or woollen hoods. Each man carried a long staff, and all
looked as though they were ending a wearisome journey. Their faces had
a foreign aspect, and most of the men wore beards,--not a very common
sight in England at that date, especially with the upper classes. And
these men were no serfs, as was shown by the respectability of their
appearance, and the absence of the brazen neck-collar which marked the
slave.

The man who walked first of the little company, and had a look of
intelligence and power, addressed himself to the porter at the gate in
excellent French--almost too excellent for comprehension. For though
French was at that date the Court tongue in England, as now in Belgium,
it was Norman French, scarcely intelligible to a Parisian, and still
less so to a Provencal. The porter understood only the general scope of
the query--that the speaker wished to know if he and his companions
might find lodging in the city.

"Go in," said he bluntly. "As to lodgings, the saints know where you
will get them. There are dog-holes somewhere, I dare say."

The leader turned, and said a few words to his friends in an unknown
tongue, when they at once followed him through the gate. As he passed
close by the girls, they noticed that a book hung down from his girdle--
a very rare sight to their eyes. While they were watching the
foreigners defile past them, the leader stopped and turned to Haimet,
who was a little in advance of his sisters.

"My master," he said, "would you for the love of God tell us strangers
where we can find lodging? We seek any honest shelter, and ask no
delicate fare. We would offend no man, and would gladly help with any
household work."

Haimet hesitated, and gnawed his under lip in doubtful fashion. Flemild
pre