le, but handsome
withal--very handsome."

"Well, I daresay I shall see him anon," said Tristram. "And now for
supper, for I am as sharp-set as a wolf; and so is old Hubert," he
added, glancing affectionately at the hound by which he was attended.

Mabel placed the better part of a huge pie before him, which the old
forester attacked with great zeal. He then fell to work upon some slices
of bacon toasted over the embers by his granddaughter, and having washed
them down with a jug of mead, declared he had supped famously. While
taking care of himself, he did not forget his hound. From time to time
he threw him morsels of the pie, and when he had done he gave him a
large platterful of bones.

"Old Hubert has served me faithfully nigh twenty years," he said,
patting the hound's shaggy neck, "and must not be neglected."

Throwing a log of wood on the fire, he drew his chair into the
ingle-nook, and disposed himself to slumber. Meanwhile, Mabel busied
herself about her household concern, and was singing a lulling melody to
her grandfather, in a voice of exquisite sweetness, when a loud tap was
heard at the door. Tristram roused himself from his doze, and old Hubert
growled menacingly.

"Quiet, Hubert--quiet!" cried Tristram. "It cannot be Morgan Fenwolf,"
he added. "He would never knock thus. Come in, friend, whoever thou
art."

At this invitation two persons darkened the doorway. The foremost was a
man of bulky frame and burly demeanour. He was attired in a buff jerkin,
over which he wore a loose great surcoat; had a flat velvet cap on his
head; and carried a stout staff in his hand. His face was broad and
handsome, though his features could scarcely be discerned in the
doubtful light to which they were submitted. A reddish-coloured beard
clothed his chin. His companion, who appeared a trifle the taller of the
two, and equally robust, was wrapped in a cloak of dark green camlet.

"Give you good e'en, friend," said the foremost stranger to the
forester. "We are belated travellers, on our way from Guildford
to Windsor, and, seeing your cottage, have called to obtain some
refreshment before we cross the great park. We do not ask you to bestow
a meal upon us, but will gladly pay for the best your larder affords."

"You shall have it, and welcome, my masters," replied Tristram, "but I am
afraid my humble fare will scarcely suit you."

"Fear nothing," replied the other; "we have good appetites, and are not
over dainty.