has confessed her plans, her ambitions, to you!"

"Nay, I've not seen the girl since we were children," admitted
Lindley, almost against his will.

"Well, she has--why, she has grown up since then. You would care to
hear what she is like? I see her constantly, you know. Her face is as
familiar as my own--almost. She's over tall for a woman and over
slight, to my way of thinking. But with the foils--at the butts--ay,
and with the pistols, she's better than any man I know. She's afraid
of naught, too--save stupidity."

"She was afraid of naught when she was a child," agreed Lindley, his
interest in his cousin permitting his interest in the lad's words.
"It's to be hoped that her temper has improved," he added, to himself.
"But red hair begets temper, and, if I am right, my cousin's hair is
red."

Again the boy's laughter startled the woods.

"Ay, red it is. Red as a fox, and her eyes are red, too; red with
glints of yellow, save when she's angry, and then they're black as
night. She's no beauty, this Mistress Judith. Her skin's too white,
and her mouth's too small, and, as I said, she's over tall and over
slight, but no man can look at her without loving her, and she--why,
she cares nothing for any man. She gives no man a chance to woo her,
and declares she never will."

A plan was forming itself immaturely in Lindley's mind, and he had
given small heed to the boy's description of his lady. Now he spoke
shortly.

"I want your help, boy. I intend to marry Mistress Judith, with or
without her consent. And I want all the assistance you can give me.
She trusts you, it seems. Therefore I will trust you. I would know
more of Mistress Judith than I do. You see her daily, you say. Then
you can meet me here each night and report to me what Mistress Judith
does and says. The day she marries me, a hundred English crowns will
be yours."

"Ah, you go too fast, my lord," cried the lad. "I know full well that
Mistress Judith will never marry you. That I can promise you, and if I
agreed to this proposition of yours I would be on a fool's errand as
well as you."

"But I'll pay you well for your trouble if I fail, never fear. And I
know that I'll not fail," boasted Lindley. "But the day I speak first
to Mistress Judith, I'll give you a quarter of the sum. The day she
consents to be my wife, I'll double that, and on our wedding day I'll
double it once more. So _your_ errand will not be a fool's errand,
whatever mine may be."