ws would come now that the archer was
disturbed. It needed more than a careless aim to shoot so well into
that narrow slit. Across the window I could see the black line of
the earthworks against the light some fifty paces from the wall of
the palace, with no building between them on this side at all; and
on the rampart struggled two figures, wrestling fiercely in
silence. One was a man whose armour sparkled and gleamed under the
moon, and the other seemed to be unarmed, unless, indeed, that was
a broad knife he had in his hand. Then Owen pulled me aside.

"The sentry has him," he said, after a hurried glance. "Let us out
into the light, for there may be more on hand yet."

Now I hurried on my arms, but another look showed me nothing but
the bare top of the rampart. No sign of the men remained. I could
hear voices and the sounds of men running in the quiet, and I
thought these came from the guard, who were hurrying up from the
gate.

"The men have rolled into the ditch," I said. "I can see nothing
now."

Then we ran out, bidding the captain of the guard to stand to arms
as we passed through the great door of the palace, and so we went
round to the place whence the arrows had come. A score of men from
the gate were already clustered there on the earthworks, talking
fast as Welshmen will, but heedful to challenge us as we came. I
saw that they had somewhat on the ground in the midst of them.

"Here is a strange affair, my Prince," one of them said, as he held
out his hand to help Owen up the earthworks.

The group stood aside for us to look on what they had found, and
that was a man, fully armed in the Welsh way of Gerent's guards,
but slain by the well-aimed blow of a strong seax that was yet left
where it had been driven home above the corselet. There was a war
bow and two more arrows lying at the foot of the rampart, as if
they had been wrested from the hand of the archer and flung there.
The men had not seen these, but I looked for them at once when I
saw that there was no bow on the slain man.

"Who is this?" Owen said gravely, and without looking closely as
yet.

"It is Tregoz of the Dart, whom the king seeks," one or two of the
men said at once.

I had known that it must be he in my own mind before the name was
spoken. There fell a silence on the rest as the name was told, and
all looked at my foster father. There was plainly some fault in the
watching of the rampart that had let the traitor find his wa