g. And keep ever forward,
Master Shelton; turn me not back again, an ye love your life; there is no
help in Tunstall, mind ye that. And now, since ye go to the great wars
about the king, and I continue to dwell here in extreme jeopardy of my
life, and the saints alone can certify if we shall meet again below, I
give you my last counsels now at your riding. Keep an eye on Sir Daniel;
he is unsure. Put not your trust in the jack-priest; he intendeth not
amiss, but doth the will of others; it is a hand-gun for Sir Daniel! Get
your good lordship where ye go; make you strong friends; look to it. And
think ever a pater-noster-while on Bennet Hatch. There are worse rogues
afoot than Bennet. So, God-speed!"

"And Heaven be with you, Bennet!" returned Dick. "Ye were a good friend
to me-ward, and so I shall say ever."

"And, look ye, master," added Hatch, with a certain embarrassment, "if
this Amend-All should get a shaft into me, ye might, mayhap, lay out a
gold mark or mayhap a pound for my poor soul; for it is like to go stiff
with me in purgatory."

"Ye shall have your will of it, Bennet," answered Dick. "But, what
cheer, man! we shall meet again, where ye shall have more need of ale
than masses."

"The saints so grant it, Master Dick!" returned the other. "But here
comes Sir Oliver. An he were as quick with the long-bow as with the pen,
he would be a brave man-at-arms."

Sir Oliver gave Dick a sealed packet, with this superscription: "To my
ryght worchypful master, Sir Daniel Brackley, knyght, be thys delyvered
in haste."

And Dick, putting it in the bosom of his jacket, gave the word and set
forth westward up the village.

BOOK I--THE TWO LADS

CHAPTER I--AT THE SIGN OF THE SUN IN KETTLEY

Sir Daniel and his men lay in and about Kettley that night, warmly
quartered and well patrolled. But the Knight of Tunstall was one who
never rested from money-getting; and even now, when he was on the brink
of an adventure which should make or mar him, he was up an hour after
midnight to squeeze poor neighbours. He was one who trafficked greatly
in disputed inheritances; it was his way to buy out the most unlikely
claimant, and then, by the favour he curried with great lords about the
king, procure unjust decisions in his favour; or, if that was too
roundabout, to seize the disputed manor by force of arms, and rely on his
influence and Sir Oliver's cunning in the law to hold what he had
snatched. Kett