and of me, the son of his
one-time comrade."

Gascoyne raised himself upon his elbow, and opened his eyes wide in
wonder. "Afeard of thee, Myles!" quoth he. "Why should he be afeared to
befriend thee? Who art thou that the Earl should fear thee?"

Myles hesitated for a moment or two; wisdom bade him remain silent
upon the dangerous topic, but his heart yearned for sympathy and
companionship in his trouble. "I will tell thee," said he, suddenly,
and therewith poured out all of the story, so far as he knew it, to his
listening, wondering friend, and his heart felt lighter to be thus eased
of its burden. "And now," said he, as he concluded, "is not this Earl
a mean-hearted caitiff to leave me, the son of his one-time friend and
kinsman, thus to stand or to fall alone among strangers and in a
strange place without once stretching me a helping hand?" He waited, and
Gascoyne knew that he expected an answer.

"I know not that he is a mean-hearted caitiff, Myles," said he at last,
hesitatingly. "The Earl hath many enemies, and I have heard that he hath
stood more than once in peril, having been accused of dealings with
the King's foes. He was cousin to the Earl of Kent, and I do remember
hearing that he had a narrow escape at that time from ruin. There be
more reasons than thou wottest of why he should not have dealings with
thy father."

"I had not thought," said Myles, bitterly, after a little pause, "that
thou wouldst stand up for him and against me in this quarrel, Gascoyne.
Him will I never forgive so long as I may live, and I had thought that
thou wouldst have stood by me."

"So I do," said Gascoyne, hastily, "and do love thee more than any one
in all the world, Myles; but I had thought that it would make thee feel
more easy, to think that the Earl was not against thee. And, indeed,
from all thou has told me, I do soothly think that he and Sir James mean
to befriend thee and hold thee privily in kind regard."

"Then why doth he not stand forth like a man and befriend me and my
father openly, even if it be to his own peril?" said Myles, reverting
stubbornly to what he had first spoken.

Gascoyne did not answer, but lay for a long while in silence. "Knowest
thou," he suddenly asked, after a while, "who is this great enemy of
whom Sir James speaketh, and who seeketh so to drive thy father to
ruin?"

"Nay," said Myles, "I know not, for my father hath never spoken of these
things, and Sir James would not tell me. Bu