journeyed from Preston thitherwards; their intended route
being for Knowsley, and so forward to the coast. Whether their motive
for so long a stay at this obscure and homely tavern could be traced
to the bright eyes and beautiful image of mine host's daughter--a
luminary round which they were fluttering to their own destruction--or
that they merely sought concealment, it were difficult to guess. The
ostensible object of their journey was to take shipping for Ireland,
being bound thither on some commercial enterprise, for the furtherance
of which they expected to pass unmolested, being men of peaceable
pursuits, who left the trade of fighting to those that hoped to thrive
thereby. Such was the general tenor of their converse; but there were
some who suspected that the widely-extolled beauty of Marian might
have some remote connection with the continuance of these guests; and
their long stay at the inn was regarded with a jealous eye. So well
known was the beauteous Marian, "the fair maid of Windleshaw," that
the present residence of the cavaliers, if such they were, was the
worst that could have been chosen for concealment; inasmuch as her
fame drew many customers to the tap who otherwise would have eschewed
so humble a halting-place as that of Nathan Sumner.

Thoughtful, and with a show of vexation upon his features, the
stranger entered the house, where breakfast was already prepared, and
awaiting his return. In the same chamber were the tapster and his
dame; for privacy was not compatible either with "mine host's" means
or inclination.

"We have been watching for thee, Egerton," said his companion. "Didst
thou meet with a bundle of provender in the graveyard that thy stomach
did not warn thee to breakfast?"

"Prithee heed it not," was the reply; "I care little thus early for
thy confections. Besides, I have been beset by a knave, whose vocation
verily remindeth man of his latter end. I've been bandying discourse
with the sexton yonder, as I believe."

"Heh! mercy on us! Ye have seen Steenie, belike," said the dame,
lifting up one hand from her knee, which had been reposing there as a
protection from the fervid advances of a glowing fire before which she
sat.

"Truly, I do suspect this trafficker in ready-made tombs to be none
other," said Egerton.

"An' howkin' at a grave?"

"Ay! and with right good will, too."

"Then look well to your steps, Sir Stranger, that ye fall not into't;
for Stephen never yet made