the best. And then do I lay down my swineherd's horn and staff, and take the freeman's sword and buckler,1 and follow my young master to the death, without hiding either my face or my name."

CHAPTER XI.

`HE nocturnal adventures of Gurth were not yet concluded;

he partly that

passing one or two straggling houses which stood in the outskirts of the village, he found himself in a deep lane, running between two banks overgrown with hazel and holly, while here and there a dwarf oak flung its arms altogether across the path. The lane was, moreover, much rutted and broken up by the carriages which had recently transported articles of various kinds to the tournament; and it was dark, for the banks and bushes intercepted the light of the harvest moon.

From the village were heard the distant sounds of revelry, mixed occasionally with loud laughter, sometimes broken by screams, and sometimes by wild strains of distant music. All these sounds, intimating the disorderly state of the town, crowded with military nobles and their attendants, gave Gurth some uneasiness. "The Jewess was right," he said to himself. "By Heaven and St. Dunstan, I would I were safe at my journey's end with all this treasure! Here are such numbers, I will not say of arrant2 thieves, but of errant3 knights and errant squires, errant monks and errant minstrels, errant jugglers and errant jesters, that a man with a single merk1 would be in danger, much more a poor swineherd with a whole bagful of zecchins. Would

1 A small round shield used by swordsmen to fend off a blow, and held by

a handle in the center; also a small shield worn upon the arm.

2 Infamous.

3 Roaming.

4 Mark.

i were out of the shade of these infernal bushes, that I might at least see any of St. Nicholas's clerks1 before they spring on my shoulders!"

Gurth accordingly hastened his pace, in order to gain the open common to which the lane led, but was not so fortunate as to accomplish his object. Just as he had attained the upper end of the lane, where the underwood was thickest, four men sprung upon him, even as his fears anticipated,― two from each side of the road, and seized him so fast that resistance, if at first practicable, would have been now too late. "Surrender your charge," said one of them; "we are the deliverers of the commonwealth, who ease every man of his burden."

"You should not ease me of mine so lightly," muttered Gurth, whose surly honesty could not be tamed even by the pressure of immediate violence, "had I it but in my power to give three strokes in its defense."

"We shall see that presently," said the robber; and, speaking to his companions, he added, "Bring along the knave. I see he would have his head broken, as well as his purse cut, and so be let blood in two veins at once."

Gurth was hurried along agreeably to this mandate, and, having been dragged somewhat roughly over the bank on the lefthand side of the lane, found himself in a straggling thicket which lay betwixt it and the open common. He was compelled to follow his rough conductors into the very depth of this cover, where they stopped unexpectedly in an irregular open space, free in a great measure from trees, and on which, therefore, the beams of the moon fell without much interruption from boughs and leaves. Here his captors were joined by two other persons, apparently belonging to the gang. They had short swords by their sides, and quarter-staves in their hands, and Gurth could now observe that all six wore visors, which rendered their occupation a mat

1 St. Nicholas's clerks were clerks of Old Nick or of Satan, "Old Nick" being a vulgar name for the Evil One; highwaymen. Shakespeare uses the term in Henry IV., Part i., act ii., sc. I.

ter of no question, even had their former proceedings left it in doubt.

"What money hast thou, churl?" said one of the thieves.

Thirty zecchins of my own property," answered Gurth doggedly.

"A forfeit, a forfeit!" shouted the robbers. "A Saxon has thirty zecchins, and returns sober from a village! An undeniable and unredeemable forfeit of all he hath about him!”

"I hoarded it to purchase my freedom," said Gurth.

"Thou art an ass,” replied one of the thieves; "three quarts of double1 ale had rendered thee as free as thy master, ay, and freer too, if he be a Saxon like thyself."

"A sad truth,” replied Gurth; "but if these same thirty zecchins will buy my freedom from you, unloose my hands, and I will pay them to you."

"Hold!" said one who seemed to exercise some authority over the others; "this bag which thou bearest, as I can feel through thy cloak, contains more coin than thou hast told us of."

"It is the good knight my master's," answered Gurth, "of which, assuredly, I would not have spoken a word had you been satisfied with working your will upon mine own property."

"Thou art an honest fellow," replied the robber, "I warrant thee; and we worship not St. Nicholas so devoutly but what thy thirty zecchins may yet escape, if thou deal uprightly with us. Meantime render up thy trust for the time." So saying, he took from Gurth's breast the large leathern pouch, in which the purse given him by Rebecca was inclosed, as well as the rest of the zecchins, and then continued his interrogation. "Who is thy master?"

"The Disinherited Knight,” said Gurth.

"Whose good lance,” replied the robber, "won the prize in today's tourney? What is his name and lineage?"

"It is his pleasure," answered Gurth," that they be concealed; and from me assuredly you will learn naught of them."

1 Strong,

"What is thine own name and lineage?"

"To tell that," said Gurth, "might reveal my master's."

"Thou art a saucy groom," said the robber, "but of that anon.2 How comes thy master by this gold? Is it of his inheritance, or by what means hath it accrued3 to him?”

"By his good lance," answered Gurth. "These bags contain the ransom of four good horses and four good suits of armor." How much is there?" demanded the robber.

"Two hundred zecchins."

"Only two hundred zecchins!" said the bandit.

Your master

hath dealt liberally by the vanquished, and put them to a cheap Name those who paid the gold."

ransom.

Gurth did so.

Thou seest thou canst not de

"The armor and horse of the Templar Brian de Bois-Guilbert, at what ransom were they held? ceive me."

"My master," replied Gurth, "will take naught from the Templar save his life's blood. They are on terms of mortal defiance, and cannot hold courteous intercourse together."

"Indeed!" repeated the robber, and paused after he had said the word. "And what wert thou now doing at Ashby with such a charge in thy custody?"

"I went thither to render to Isaac the Jew of York," replied Gurth, "the price of a suit of armor with which he fitted my master for this tournament."

"And how much didst thou pay to Isaac? Methinks, to judge by weight, there is still two hundred zecchins in that pouch." "I paid to Isaac," said the Saxon, "eighty zecchins, and he restored me a hundred in lieu thereof."

66

"How! What!" exclaimed all the robbers at once. Darest thou trifle with us, that thou tellest such improbable lies?" "What I tell you,” said Gurth, “is as true as the moon is in heaven. You will find the just sum in a silken purse within the leathern pouch, and separate from the rest of the gold."

1 Serving-man.

2 Later on.

3 Come.

"Bethink thee, man," said the captain; "thou speakest of a Jew, of an Israelite, —as unapt to restore gold as the dry sand of his deserts to return the cup of water which the pilgrim spills upon them."

"There is no more mercy in them," said another of the banditti, "than in an unbribed sheriff's officer."

'It is, however, as I say," said Gurth.

"Strike a light instantly," said the captain. "I will examine this said purse; and, if it be as this fellow says, the Jew's bounty is little less miraculous than the stream which relieved his fathers in the wilderness."

A light was procured accordingly, and the robber proceeded to examine the purse. The others crowded around him, and even two who had hold of Gurth relaxed their grasp, while they stretched their necks to see the issue of the search. Availing himself of their negligence, by a sudden exertion of strength and activity Gurth shook himself free of their hold, and might have escaped, could he have resolved to leave his master's property behind him; but such was no part of his intention. He wrenched a quarter-staff from one of the fellows, struck down the captain, who was altogether unaware of his purpose, and had well-nigh repossessed himself of the pouch and treasure. The thieves, however, were too nimble for him, and again secured both the bag and the trusty Gurth.

"Knave!" said the captain, getting up, "thou hast broken my head; and with other men of our sort thou wouldst fare the worst for thy insolence. But thou shalt know thy fate instantly. First let us speak of thy master: the knight's matters must go before the squire's, according to the due order of chivalry. Stand thou fast in the mean time. If thou stir again, thou shalt have that will make thee quiet for thy life.-Comrades," he then said, addressing his gang, "this purse is embroidered with Hebrew characters, and I we believe the yeoman's tale is true. The errant knight, his master, must needs pass us toll-free. He is too like ourselves for us to make booty of him, since dogs should