t if it were for Sir Henry De la Zouch?"

"Ha! then I might, perchance."

"You have much to forgive me," continued the page, "for I have done
thee grievous wrong."

"How? Thou art but a lad, and I have seen thee only once before?"

"It was then, at the hawking party, when Sir Henry slew the pedlar. It
has haunted me ever since."

Manners was intensely surprised at this announcement. It was, indeed,
startling and important news. The mystery was solved at last.

"It was Sir Henry, then!" he exclaimed. "I might have guessed as
much."

"It was Sir Henry, and I witnessed it, but I will tell thee
afterwards. Listen, for time is short. Pierce this corner with the
dagger; do it quickly, for the wall is thick. There is a passage on
the other side, of which none knows save my master and myself. The
wall is softest here, and I will help thee from the other side: but
I must make thy gaoler drunk. He is full fond of ale, so you may be
assured that you will be unmolested, and I will have horses saddled
at a distance. Adieu until to-night," and not heeding the thanks which
Manners poured out from his grateful heart, he rapped at the door so
that he might pass out.

The meal arrived in good time. A tankard of ale and a slice of bacon
with wheaten bread, more than he could eat.

It was not long before Manners had satisfied his hunger, and in his
feverish anxiety he could barely wait to hear Eustace's cheery voice
exclaim to the gaoler, "Mat, I have brought thee some ale for letting
me in to see the prisoner."

"Welcome it is," was the reply, and very soon a stentorian snore
announced to the captive that his guardian had fallen into a drunken
slumber, and told him that he might venture to set about his work with
safety.

An hour's labour proved very unsatisfactory, for the wall was much
harder than he had anticipated, and in spite of the goodwill with
which he worked, the injuries he had received the day before seriously
retarded his efforts.

Eustace, however, was working with more success on the other side, and
in a couple more hours a hole, sufficiently wide for Manners to creep
through, had been made, and in a few more minutes Dorothy's betrothed
was a free man again, urging his steed to the utmost, to fetch help
from Haddon, and to capture the miscreant knight who had effected so
much evil.

CHAPTER XXV.

THE LAST OF DE LA ZOUCH.

Face to face with the past he stands,
With guilty soul, and blood-stain