"We be but thirty men in yonder hold," said he. "For so soon as the
alarm spread that Castleroe and the town of Coleraine were to be
attacked, fifty of our guard and three cannon were drawn away thither
this very morning. I know it, for I stood sentinel when Captain
Merriman--"

"He! is he there?" demanded Ludar.

"No, in truth," said the soldier, "'twas he rode over from Castleroe and
took away half our men, leaving us, in place, a parcel of puling women
to mind, whom he might have kept with better grace at Castleroe."

"And who are these women?" asked Ludar with heightened colour.

"They say the fair one is a sweetheart of his own--a straight enough
lass, but not of the sort I would willingly undertake myself. Some say
she is kinswoman to the O'Neill or his lady, whom the captain was sent
to guard hither; but, to my thinking, he was on his own business more
than Turlogh's, and when this fighting be over we shall see him come
back for his ladybird. I pray you, gentles," continued this man, who
was of a careless sort, and distressed by no mischance, "permit me to
return to the castle with this brace of birds. They are, in fact, for
this same young lady, to whom our coarse fare hath little to recommend
it, and who, being sickly, needs a dainty. I stand a fair chance to be
shot for a truant when I get back; yet I may as well be that as hanged
here by your worships. The only difference will be that the maiden will
get her supper in one case, and miss it in the other."

"Go back," said Ludar. "If you be a liar, you are a rare one; if you be
not, you are an honest fellow, and can be trusted to report nothing of
what you have seen here."

"That will I not," said the man. "But when I see thee on the
drawbridge, I shall let fly at thee, by your leave, as at an enemy of my
Queen."

"You shall," said Ludar. "I would scorn you if you did not. But
hearken, take the maiden this flower (and he pulled a poppy flower from
the grass), and tell her, before it droop he who sent it will be in
Dunluce."

"Marry will I," said the soldier, laughing. "But thou wilt need to
hasten, my master, for poppies fade fast. And if, as I expect, thou get
no further than the bridge, or over the edge of it, you may trust me to
look to the lady for your honour's sake."

So the man departed amidst not a few murmurings from our men, who
understood not letting an enemy go scot free, unless it were to betray
his party into their hands.