murder of Sir Edmondsbury Godfrey, and the
fire of purgatory."

As he spoke thus, they alighted under the great broad-branched oak tree,
that served to canopy the ale-bench, which, at an earlier hour, had
groaned under the weight of a frequent conclave of rustic politicians.
Ganlesse, as he dismounted, whistled in a particularly shrill note, and
was answered from within the house.

CHAPTER XXII

He was a fellow in a peasant's garb;
Yet one could censure you a woodcock's carving.
Like any courtier at the ordinary.
--THE ORDINARY.

The person who appeared at the door of the little inn to receive
Ganlesse, as we mentioned in our last chapter, sung, as he came forward,
this scrap of an old ballad,--

"Good even to you, Diccon;
And how have you sped;
Bring you the bonny bride
To banquet and bed?"

To which Ganlesse answered, in the same tone and tune,--

"Content thee, kind Robin;
He need little care,
Who brings home a fat buck
Instead of a hare."

"You have missed your blow, then?" said the other, in reply.

"I tell you I have not," answered Ganlesse; "but you will think of
nought but your own thriving occupation--May the plague that belongs to
it stick to it! though it hath been the making of thee."

"A man must live, Diccon Ganlesse," said the other.

"Well, well," said Ganlesse, "bid my friend welcome, for my sake. Hast
thou got any supper?"

"Reeking like a sacrifice--Chaubert has done his best. That fellow is a
treasure! give him a farthing candle, and he will cook a good supper
out of it.--Come in, sir. My friend's friend is welcome, as we say in my
country."

"We must have our horses looked to first," said Peveril, who began to
be considerably uncertain about the character of his companions--"that
done, I am for you."

Ganlesse gave a second whistle; a groom appeared, who took charge of
both their horses, and they themselves entered the inn.

The ordinary room of a poor inn seemed to have undergone some
alterations, to render it fit for company of a higher description. There
were a beaufet, a couch, and one or two other pieces of furniture, of
a style inconsistent with the appearance of the place. The tablecloth,
which was already laid, was of the finest damask; and the spoons,
forks, &c., were of silver. Peveril looked at this apparatus with some
surprise; and again turning his eyes a