A Boy's Ride

by the king to capture Josceline in any manner that he could. It chanced that there was but one of them on duty in the wood that mo

e of their plans. He was about the age of Humphrey, and though he was but a spy hired by Sir Thomas, he persisted in regarding himself as of great consequence and directly in the employ of the king. He was mounted in the top of a very tall tree in t

holiday," he cried, "and here am I left to take the young lord in my own person. When I have done so I warrant they get

t for his horse. "A plague upon the beast!" he cried. "He hath slipped ha

low immediately on their return. And all this delay was fatal to his catching up with the fugitives. For, once in the wood, Humphrey's authority asserted itself. He pushed his horse ahead of Hugo's and led the way directl

is Well That Thou H

on. It was at this moment that Hugo discovered that Fleetfoot was not with them. In the excitement of getting under cover of the for

he castle," replie

and?" asked

art to play Josceline, thou must play in earnest. Moreover, the hound would get us into trouble with half the keepe

he complacent Humphrey

d said was in large mea

hat it was not so easy,

at personating co

e responded. He snapped the chain that bound him, and leading him by the collar to the postern gate opened it and let down the bridge. "Why, what would become of thee, Fleetfoot," he said, "when that which is to come

wood. William Lorimer looked after him. "If thy other commands be no better obeyed, Humphrey, than this which left Fleetfoot behind

onfidence now changed the course slightly, and went down to the river-bank at a po

st thou cross the river here? We must be seen once on our road, and that thou knowest, or the ki

y shouldst thou think we have not been seen? The king's men

rey full as haughtily as Josceline himself could have done. "Tho

own plan. Presently he said: "If we must go to Selby, let us cross t

horse down the bank and into the water, which was he

ing one of them for nothing," he said

ter. Swiftly Hugo and Humphrey turned their heads, Hugo with a smile and an encouraging motion of the hand toward his dog, and Humphrey with a frown. "I would I

de a passage for the horses, Fleetfoot, Hugo, and himself. In the middle of the thick was a little cleared grassy place where

rey could see. "But I go not to Selby," thought the stubborn ser

umphrey broke the silence. He rose, tied each horse securely, and then turning to

ws, and, bidding the dog watch them,

short distance till he came out a quarter of a mile away from the thicket into a grassy glade in the centre of which towered on

e rustling they made had just ceased, when the tramp of two approaching horses was heard. The sky was now overcast with clouds in spite of the prognostications of the owls, and the rain began to de

e come up with them e

t more than half an h

termined-looking man. "They have most like gone on to Selby

umphrey and Hugo

no one to watch the ca

in

hirty men-at-arms within the castle, and all will fight to the death if need be, and none more fiercely than William Lorimer. So saith Robert Sadler. He giveth not so brave an account of

n Walter Skinner in his small cracked voice laughed aloud. "The troop will be there, and there will be ha

asked Humphrey, when the two sp

t right," answer

er in the tree and gazed after the two til

" he inquired, when he and Hugo had

repli

stions and I will lead thee t

ed the important personage as Humphrey. And the boy thought that because Humphrey had been right in his purpose to avoid Selby was no reason why he should assume the

gly said to Hugo: "Follow me, and thou shalt see I will keep out of sight of keepers and

was not accustomed to be treat

nnounced they would pass the night. "Had we kept the open path," he observed, "we might have been furt

he Wharfe toward the Ouse

long as I have been, and that is forty years, thou hadst found it out before this. And now I will make a fire, for the night is chill, and, moreover, I w

ear of the rang

r thy dog. Moreover, he is a timid man, and the wood hath many robbers roving around in

Fleetfoot's head. "T

a low tone as he looke

ked the oatmeal cake in

per as he could from

journey ere we reach London if we escape the clutches of the king's men. Could they but look in

d around hi

ather be with her ladyship than to lead thee in safety; yea, even though the way lay, as her way doth lie, through that robber-i

wered Hugo

train of sumpter mules carry the clothing, the massy silver dishes, and the r

ously as he looked about him apprehensively in the semi-dar

, a gradual rise to riches and honor, that I should be bid to cease prating by a stranger, and he a mere lad? But I can cease,

and Josceline, mounted for their journey, going out at the postern gate at the head of the train of sumpter mules and attended by the band of serving-men and men-at-arms. And with all his hea

do with Fleetfoot? How should he feed him, and with what? And how should he get him through the town of Ferrybridge near which they now were,

hrey that the morrow would be a fair day. Leaves rustled in the gentle wind. Far