On the morning when Hugo and Humphrey were to start, the canon summoned
them to his presence, and his face was grave. "I have but now learned,"
he said, "that the king is at Clipstone Palace. When the knaves thou
didst leave stunned in the fen discover it also, they will at once
repair thither, and that maketh a new complication of troubles. Let us
consult together. I include the serving-man because he is such a
valiant compeller." And the canon, forgetting his gravity, laughed
heartily. And again he laughed. Then he grew grave again. "Pardon me,"
he said to Hugo; "but one may laugh so seldom in these troublous times.
And erstwhile I was fond of laughing, and glad to have a merry heart.
Now merry hearts be few in England, for they who have not already
grief, have anxiety and dread for their portion." He paused and then
went on: "The same hand that did send me news of the king's
neighborhood did add something more thereto. A fierce little
swaggering, strutting man did come upon the king at Newark and did tell
him that Josceline, meaning thee, had fled, and that he had been
pursuing thee. Didst thou know of it?"
"Yea," replied Hugo, with a smile. Then turning to the serving-man he
said, "Humphrey, since the canon loveth to be merry, tell thou him of
the hedgehog and the Isle of Axholme."
Humphrey did as he was requested, and was amply rewarded by the
appreciation of his listener. "I see thou art worth a troop, my good
Humphrey," he said, when the serving-man had finished. "Lady De
Aldithely did well to trust thee with this lad. But now to my news once
more. The king, in his wrath, will scour the country roundabout, and
thou mayest not escape from him as thou didst from thine other
pursuers. What dost thou elect to do?" And he looked at Hugo.
Hugo considered, and as he considered he grew pale. "I know not," he
said at last. "It seemeth not safe to move."
"True," returned the canon. "Nor is it safe to remain here. The king
respecteth no religious foundation. And when these stunned knaves in
the fen make report to him, it will be known that thou wert seen close
to Peterborough, and not an inch of the town will be left unsearched. I
would my friend at Newark--but nay, I must not speak of that."
There was a brief silence, and Humphrey's was the most anxious face in
the room. Not for himself did he feel anxiety, but for Hugo. If the
canon hardly knew what to do, how could he hope to succeed in
protecting the lad?
The canon was the first to speak. "If it can be done," he said, "the
knaves in the fen must be kept from the king. I will have in to our
conference Herebald and Bernulf." And rising, he summoned them.
They came in very promptly, and stood with cheerful faces before their
master. "I know thee, Herebald; I know thee, Bernulf," said the canon,
shaking his head at them in pretended reproof. "Ye be sad knaves both.
What! would ye leave the monastery and go forth into the fen on ponies
and armed with your staves? And would ye seek out once more the knaves
ye did stun, and try to lead them astray, even down into the Broads?
And all to keep them from the king?"
The two servants grinned.
"And would ye make believe to be on the trail of Hugo and Humphrey
here? And would ye lead them far from the trail? I see that ye would,
knaves that ye are. I have discovered ye. And there is no restraining
ye when once ye have set your minds upon a thing. Therefore get ye gone
to the fen. No man can say that I did send ye thither. And here be
coins for ye both, which, no doubt, ye will deserve later, if not now."
The two joyfully withdrew and shortly afterward were in the streets of
the town jogging slowly along as if bent on a most unwelcome journey.
"See the Saxon sluggards!" commented a bystander. "Naught do they do
but eat, unless compelled."
But once outside the town, the ponies were put to a good pace as the
two hastened eagerly into the fen to trace, if they might, Richard Wood
and his men-at-arms. The camp where they had come up with them before
was deserted, and Herebald and Bernulf now had for their task the
discovery of the direction the party had taken. Had they not been
fen-men they might not have succeeded. But by night they felt that they
were really on their trail. They had passed Peterborough and continued
on to the south, evidently going slowly, as became broken heads; and
Herebald and Bernulf came up with them by the side of Whittlesea Mere
early on the following day. As they came into view Richard Wood
evidently regarded the two Saxons with suspicion; but the men-at-arms
looked at them with nothing but indifference.
Herebald and Bernulf appeared not to notice; but, withdrawing to a
little distance, seemed to confer together and examine narrowly the
leaves and twigs and rushes to see if they were bent or broken by the
passage of a recent traveller. As they went earnestly about on all
sides of the camp at the Mere, and keeping ever in sight of it, the
curiosity of Richard Wood overcame his suspicion, and he beckoned them
to approach. His summons they at first seemed inclined to disregard,
but, as he continued beckoning, they at last went toward him with
apparent reluctance.
[Illustration: Richard Wood Beckoned the Saxons to Approach]
"What seek ye?" demanded Richard Wood.
The two Saxons kept silence, but exchanged a crafty look, as if to say
that they were not to be caught so easily.
"What seek ye?" repeated the spy.
"Hast thou seen aught of two runaways?" asked Herebald, gruffly. "Even
a young lord who hath to his serving-man a Saxon?"
Then Richard Wood himself looked crafty. He did not like finding other
pursuers so near him who might claim part of the reward, at least, when
the search was successfully ended. But reflection came to his aid and
told him that these Saxons were ignorant hinds who might be made useful
on the search, and afterward cheated of their share of the reward. So
he said, "Ye be fen-men, I know, or ye would not look so narrowly for a
trail nor would ye find it. Which way do ye go?" And he looked at them
keenly.
"Through the Broads toward Yarmouth," answered Herebald, slowly, after
a short pause, and speaking in a surly tone.
"And wherefore?" demanded Richard Wood.
"There is shipping to be got to France from thence, is there not?"
"Yea, verily," cried Richard Wood. "It had not before entered my mind.
Thinkest thou they have gone thither?"
Herebald frowned. "Thou art too ready with thy questions," he growled.
"But this I will say, we go thither."
"Then we go with thee," said Richard Wood, firmly. "The way is open to
us as well as to thee, and thou mayest not gainsay it."
"Oh, ay," returned Herebald, indifferently.
All that day Richard Wood kept a sharp eye on his new acquaintances.
"Watch them narrowly," he said to his men. "They will seek to make this
catch without us and so obtain the reward. Therefore all that ye see
them do, do ye likewise, and I will also do the same."
Herebald and Bernulf saw and understood, and laughed together unseen.
"They have not good wit, or they would not be so led by us when we be
strangers," observed Herebald.
"It is ever thus with knaves," said Bernulf. "Though they seem sharp,
there is a place where they be dull, and an honest man can often find
it, and so outwit them."
Then they turned back to Richard Wood and his companions. "Go ye slowly
and softly," growled Herebald. "Ye go lunging and splashing so that ye
may be heard a long way off. Moreover, ye have scared up all the
water-fowl hereabouts, and they go screaming over our heads. What think
ye? If there be travellers near will they not hide close in the reeds
till ye and your noise be past?"
At this rebuke Richard Wood drew rein suddenly and gazed sharply about
him on all sides. Then he said, "Your caution shall be obeyed." And he
gave the command to his followers to be careful.
Herebald now returned to the side of Bernulf, and the two, gazing with
mirthful eyes into each other's faces, separated themselves a little
distance and pretended to examine the way narrowly. It was not for
nothing that they had served the merry Canon Thurstan for seven years.
That night, when all the camp was still, Bernulf slipped quietly forth
in the darkness. He was gone three hours, and in that time he blazed
such a trail as a madman might have taken. A bit of every fringe of
rush or reed he came to he broke; and he stamped with his foot in the
slimy mud on the edges of ponds and pools. "These fools," said he,
"know naught of the fens or the Broads, and they will believe all that
they see; for the broken bits and the footprints will speak to them of
the young lord and his serving-man, and they will listen and hasten on.
It is easy to lead a fool a chase."
The next morning Richard Wood was early awake, and, while all the rest
were apparently asleep, he, in his turn, stole forth to look about him.
"I trust not these knave Saxons entirely," he said to himself. "Though
we all ride together now, they will seek to outwit us at the end, and
gain the reward for themselves."
He had not gone far when he came upon the evidences of a recent passage
along that way, and, in great excitement, he returned to the camp and
roused up his followers, and, incidentally, the two Saxons. "Lie not
here sleeping," he said, "when we be close on the trail. Let us be off
speedily!" His men rose eagerly, and the Saxons also seemed to be
stirred up at his words. And very soon, after half a breakfast, they
all mounted and rode off, Richard Wood keeping in the advance. Soon he
struck the trail blazed the night before by Bernulf, and eagerly he
followed it, though he was obliged to do so slowly; for the trail went
on ahead for three miles, then doubled, then zigzagged, then went
straight east three miles, and bent round till it went due west again.
"The young lord is lost," declared Richard Wood, positively, "else
would he never ride such a crazy track as this."
At last, when it was too late to travel further that day, the track
turned eastward again, and the party went into camp for the night about
one mile from where they had camped the night before. But to Richard
Wood it seemed that they must be at least ten miles advanced on their
way, for, to him, all the marsh looked the same.
"Did I not do well, Herebald?" asked Bernulf. "Here have we kept them
busy in the marsh for a whole day, and that giveth the lad with the
canon so much the better a start."
"Yea," said Herebald. "To-night rest thou, and I will start the trail
for them to-morrow."
Accordingly, as soon as the weary Richard Wood and his men had sunk
into a heavy sleep, which they did almost as soon as they lay down,
Herebald set out. He was extremely swift of foot and knew the region
well. He was gone four hours. "The knave king's man and his followers
will sleep soundly to-morrow night also if they follow my trail," he
said, when he had returned and lay down.
The next morning a late awakening of the men gave a late start. The
enthusiasm of the day before was gone; but it came back when Richard
Wood, riding in advance, struck the trail once more. This was more
difficult to follow than the one of the day before. It led through
places where the party almost mired, but not quite; through places
where the horses splashed heavily along, scaring the water-fowl up in
all directions; through patches of reeds; through tangles of tough
grass; through shallow water; through deep water; and ever on with few
seeming deviations. But the course was much slower than that of the day
before, and that had been slow enough.
Night came and the fagged party in disappointment once more lay down.
"Thou hast done well, Herebald," said Bernulf. "To-night it is my turn.
But think ye not it were better now to lead straight on to Yarmouth?"
"Yea," answered Herebald.
"It seemeth to me that it were best to put them there to search the
town. What thinkest thou?"
"Even as thou thinkest," returned Herebald, grinning.
"And then," continued Bernulf, "methinks it would be seemly to entice
them aboard a fishing-vessel and ship them off for France, and so be
rid of them."
"Yea," agreed Herebald. "I would all the knaves in England were shipped
off to France, and it were a good beginning to ship these four."
Another morning dawned, and slowly and heavily the men arose. Such
weary days followed by nights spent in the marsh had sapped their
energy. For the first time the men-at-arms looked sullen, and one went
to Richard Wood and spoke for all. "We be neither fish nor water-fowl,"
he said, "to spend our days in the marsh. We go this one day more with
thee; then, if we come not out of the marsh and into the town of
Yarmouth, we leave thee and return to our master."
The heavy-eyed Richard Wood counselled patience. "Would ye have these
Saxon knaves get the better of us just when the quarry is all but run
to earth? They be not so weary as we, and a plague upon their
endurance. If ye stand not by me, the game is lost."
But the man-at-arms answered sullenly: "I have said. Lead us out of
this vile marsh."