while oswald was talking with his father, roger had taken the four horses round to the long shed, that ran along one side of the wall; and had there been telling the moss troopers the same story oswald had been relating to his father, whom he now joined.
"well, friend roger," john forster said as he came up, shaking him heartily by the hand; "by my faith, my son is fortunate in having so stout a fellow as his henchman."
"'tis rather that i am fortunate in having him as a master," roger replied. "i have but to strike as he bids me, and there is no need for me to think, for my brain bears no proportion to my bulk; and indeed, even in the matter of strength he bids fair to equal me, for he seems to me to grow taller and stronger every month; which is not surprising, seeing that you are, yourself, much beyond the common. in all this matter there is no credit due to me, save that i have, as faithfully as i could, carried out his orders."
"all men can try to carry out orders, roger, but it is not all who can do it with intelligence. doubtless, it has something to do with the book learning that you have, and in which you were his instructor."
"i think not that it is so, in any way, master forster," roger replied quickly, for he liked not the thought that he had gained any advantage, whatever, from his stay in the convent. "it might likely be useful to a man of small stature, whose thoughts would naturally turn to being a scribe, and to making his living by such finicking ways instead of by bearing himself as a man should; but for one like myself, 'tis but time thrown away. yet i say not that it may not be useful to master oswald, who will some day be a knight, and go to court, and have occasion to write letters, when he has no scribe at hand to do it for him; but a good downright blow is more advantage, to the man that strikes it, than all the book learning that he can get."
"i have done well enough without it, roger; but i think that it must be of some use, else why is it that oswald is so good at devising plans? had i been in his place, when he heard the news of the harrying of hiniltie, and the carrying off of armstrong's daughters, i should never have thought of starting on such an adventure as he did."
"it may be that it may improve the mind, master forster, just as wielding a mace strengthens the muscles of the arm. i only speak from my own experience; and, so far as i can see, all the hours i spent on these matters have been as good as wasted."
"nay, roger," oswald, who had been an amused listener to the conversation, broke in, "you have had evidence, but lately, that it is not so. had you not been able to read the priest's missal, he would have seen, at once, that you were not a monk; but the fact that you did so, and that much better and more fluently than he could, himself, have read a strange manuscript, was to him a confirmation of your story; which not only enabled us to rescue my cousins, but probably saved your own skin, to say nothing of mine; for had baird learned that you were deceiving him, he would as likely as not have hung us both over the gateway of his hold, as spies."
roger scratched his head, in some embarrassment.
"i cannot gainsay it, master oswald, though i did not think of it before; and it is certainly a proof that the time i spent in learning was not thrown away; for, as you say, had i not been able to read that missal, doubtless it would have gone hard with both of us. i am not ashamed to own when i am wrong. it would not be english, or honest, not to do so. reading certainly came in mightily useful, there."
"and you must also remember, roger," oswald said with a smile, "that if it had not been that you read and wrote, better than most of the other monks, the abbot would not have picked you out as my instructor, i should not have asked for you to come with me to scotland, and sir henry percy would never have begged the abbot to allow you to go forth into the world."
"say no more, master oswald--never again will i say a word against reading and writing--i see that they are excellent things, and it never entered my thick head how greatly i have benefited by acquiring them--but will maintain, against all who say the contrary, that they are of great value; and that they in no way tend to soften a man, as i can prove in my own person, and also in yours."
at this moment, mary forster appeared at the top of the steps.
"supper is ready," she said. "i have broken the news to the girls. they are quite broken hearted, poor things, and i have sent them to bed.
"i suppose you are not leaving us, tomorrow morning, oswald?"
"no, i shall be off at daybreak, the next day. i must not stay longer, for i ought to have been back three days ago, and sir henry will be wondering what has befallen me."
talking the matter over, that evening, as to what had best be done with the girls, mary forster said that they had expressed great anxiety to get back, as soon as they could, in order that they might try and comfort their father, and nurse allan; and john forster said that he would ride with them, with four of his men, to hiniltie, in a day or two. the next evening, however, there was a knock at the outside gate; and on its being opened, adam armstrong himself entered.
"i could not rest, for thinking of the girls," he said, as he entered the house. "the man arrived safely, yesterday morning, after having, with great difficulty, made his way unobserved through the bairds, who had some fifty or sixty men scattered, all over the hills."
"do you go to them, wife, and tell them that their father has arrived.
"they have been terribly upset," john went on, as his wife left the room. "they were only told of the loss of their mother after they arrived, yesterday. oswald thought that they would need all their strength for the journey, and that it were better that mary should break the news to them, when they got here. we have all felt for you sorely, adam, since your messenger brought the news."
armstrong pressed his hand, silently.
"she was a good wife to me, john, a right good wife. we buried what seemed to be her remains, yesterday morning. it was that, that kept me from starting the moment the man came in with the news that oswald had got the girls out of the hands of the bairds."
"and how is allan?"
"i trust he will get right, now. he has come partly to his senses, though he is still dazed. we had him carried, in a litter, to the monastery where i obtained the monk's robe for your man; for i feared to leave him in the village, lest the bairds, furious at the escape of the girls, might return to finish their work."
he was about to speak to oswald, when the door opened, and the girls ran in, and it was some time before adam armstrong again turned to him.
"now, lad," he said, "do not think, because i am a long time coming to the point, that i think lightly of the service you have rendered me. ah, lad! i could scarce believe my ears, when fergus told me that you and your henchman had got the lasses out of the bairds' hands, and had gone off on horseback with them. i had to put the question, again and again, as to whether he was sure that it was really the girls you had with you. it seemed to me to be altogether impossible; but i had to believe him, at last, though how it came about he could not tell me."
"we had no time for talking," oswald said. "every moment was of importance. but the matter was simple enough, and worth but a few words' telling."
and he then related the manner in which he and roger had obtained entrance to the hold, and had succeeded in getting the girls away.
"it sounds simple enough, in the telling," armstrong said; "but it needed stout hearts, and good nerves, to enter the bairds' den on such an errand. you carried your lives in your hands, and well must you have borne out your story, to have passed without suspicion. it was well thought of, indeed, and well carried out, and would have done credit to the boldest and craftiest leader on the border.
"what say you, john?"
"i am proud of him, adam. as for myself, i should never have thought of such a plan. if i had had the matter in hand, i might have taken twenty stout fellows, and tried to scale the walls unseen, and to fall upon them with spear and sword, and in the confusion carry the girls off; but it would have been a desperate plan, with but small hope of success."
"small indeed, john, small indeed," armstrong said, shaking his head. "with prisoners in the hold, the bairds were not likely to be caught sleeping; and had they been, accustomed to surprises as they are, the whole garrison would have been afoot in a minute, and not a man of ye would have lived to tell the story. some such mad thought passed through my brain, when i first heard the news, but it was not for long. even with your spears, and others you might gather, and all my friends in tweeddale, we should have had but a small chance of capturing the bairds' hold. we should have had all annandale and nithsdale down on us, before we could have done it. at any rate, we should have had to bide our time, and wait until the bairds were away to england with all their dalesmen; and by that time, none could say what would have become of the girls. in fact, there was but one way of doing it, and that is the way oswald hit upon.
"well, lad, i fear i shall never have an opportunity of repaying the debt i owe you; but after this, there is not an armstrong on the border, on our side or yours--for we are half english and half scotch--but will hold you as among our closest of kin, and will give you welcome and aid, whensoever you may need it. and where is your man roger?"
"i will call him," oswald said and, stepping to the door, he shouted to his follower; who came out, at once, from one of the outhouses occupied by the retainers of the hold.
"come up, roger!" oswald said; "master armstrong wishes to see you."
roger came up and, as he entered, adam grasped him by the hand.
"whenever your time for fighting is over, my brave fellow, remember that there is a home for you at hiniltie, so long as an armstrong dwells there. i thought, when i fetched that monk's gown for you, that you and my nephew oswald might be able to gather some news; and let me know, possibly, how the girls were faring; but little did i think that, alone and unaided, you would rescue them from the hands of the bairds."
"it was a merry business, master armstrong, and pleased me hugely, save that it went against my heart to have this bald patch on my head again, just when the hair had so well grown and covered it; but it was well nigh as good as fighting, to trick the bairds in their own hold, when they, as they thought, were so mightily sure that i was but a harmless brother of a monastery. for the rest, it was an easy business, and scarce worth talking of."
"it was done easily because it was done well, roger. it was well planned, and well carried out."
"i had nought to do with the planning, and the carrying out was simple enough. there were those there who tested me, as to my knowledge of dunbar, and of the monastery i came from, and who further tested my knowledge of reading. once assured that my story was true, they paid no further attention to me, believing that i should stay but a day or two, to rest myself on my way south."
"you had occasion, however, to use that heavy staff you carried."
"some slight occasion, but i would that i had had the chance to have used it on the heads of some of the bairds. for what little i did, master armstrong, your daughters thanked me very prettily, and more than enough; and therefore, i pray thee, say no more of it.
"and how is your son?"
"he is going on well, and both meg margetson and the monks, in whose hands i have put him, say that they hope he is out of danger."
the next morning oswald and roger mounted, soon after daybreak, and rode to alnwick. it had, the night before, been arranged that the girls should, for the present, remain at yardhope; until the hold at hiniltie was repaired, and put in a state of stronger defence. it was agreed, too, that it was as well that no word should be said by armstrong, on his return, as to the whereabouts of his daughters, as the bairds might then, in their anger, make an attack on yardhope; whereas, at present, they could have no reason whatever for suspecting that they were there, and, if they obtained news that they were not with their father at hiniltie, would suppose that they had been lodged with some of the family elsewhere, or perhaps placed for safety in jedburgh.
"i had wondered what had become of you," hotspur said, when oswald entered his apartments, to report his return. "i expected you two or three days since, and i indeed wanted you, for other business."
"i am sorry, my lord; but after having fulfilled the orders you gave me, to the governors of roxburgh and jedburgh, i became engaged in an affair of my uncle, adam armstrong, of so pressing a character that i deemed you would excuse me, when you heard its nature."
and he then briefly related how he had been occupied, since leaving jedburgh.
"'tis a good excuse, indeed," hotspur said, "and you must tell me more of it this evening, when the earl and my wife can also hear it. as to the business i spoke of, it is of no consequence at all; it was but to carry a message to the earl of westmoreland. this i have now sent, by another hand."
the winter passed quietly. oswald's work was light. he more than once rode home for a few days, and once paid a visit to hiniltie.
here a number of men were at work. the exterior walls had in no way suffered, and the shell of the central building had so far resisted the fire, that it was not necessary to rebuild it. the roof and floors had been replaced, and the defences considerably strengthened. a portcullis had been placed above the door; so that, in case of the outer wall being carried, or the gate forced, it could at once be lowered. a projecting battlement had been thrown out over this, with openings below, through which boiling lead and pitch could be poured on an enemy trying to break in. flanking turrets, for archers, had been built at each corner of the house; and the exterior walls had been strengthened by towers, in the centre of each face, and on either side of the gateway.
"we shall be safe now, i think, oswald," said allan, who had almost recovered. "the place can hardly be taken by a sudden attack, even by all the forces the bairds could bring against it; and we could get help from jedburgh, long before they could gain even the outside wall. my father and i are going, in a fortnight, to fetch the girls. i rode over there a week or two since, and found them looking very well and happy, with your people; but of course they are anxious to get back again, especially as you are so seldom at home."
"if you will fix the day before i go, i will try to be there to meet you. i suppose, as soon as spring sets in fairly, we shall be having troubles again, and it is certainly as well that janet and jessie should be at home again before they begin; for although yardhope is strong enough to resist any attack by the bairds, or any other border rangers, it can scarcely hold out against a regular invasion."
four days after his return to alnwick, oswald was sent for by percy.
"the scots do not seem to be moving yet," the latter said, "but glendower is ever increasing in strength, and boldness. i have received startling news this morning. a party of welshmen were seen near ruthyn, and earl grey, with a body of mounted men, rode out against them. they retired at once, and he, briskly pursuing, fell into an ambush and was captured.
"'twould have been thought that glendower would have put his chief enemy to death, at once, but it was not so, and it is said he holds the earl to ransom. glendower has plenty of men, but no doubt needs money sorely. he can draw no revenue from his estates in denbigh, and those in south wales cannot suffice for the expenses of feeding the body of men, always under arms. doubtless he will ask for a great sum, and 'tis like that he will get it. grey is a favourite of the king, and the latter will doubtless aid him, for he needs his services to hold flint and denbighshire against the welsh.
"moreover, methinks that the king would, for another reason, make every effort to buy lord grey's freedom; for it is no secret that he has no great love for mortimer; for although he holds the young earl of march a prisoner, at windsor, he cannot forget that the lad is the rightful heir to the throne, and that the friends of richard would place him there, had they the opportunity. mortimer is the boy's uncle and, not only from his own estates, but as guardian of the young earl's wide possessions in hereford and in shropshire, is a very powerful noble.
"the king has no real reason for doubting him, for i know that mortimer has no thought of supporting the earl of march's claim to the throne; having held, with the rest of the kingdom, that henry, who is wise and politic, is a far fitter ruler than the lad could be. doubtless, henry is well aware of this, but he sees that when the young earl grows to manhood he might become dangerous; and might supplant him, as he supplanted richard. thus, then, i have no doubt the king will use every effort to obtain the release of lord grey, in order that he may act as a counterpoise, in the welsh marches, to the influence of mortimer.
"however, that is not now the question. it is evident, by this daring deed of glendower, that he will be busy this year; and the success of his first attempt will assuredly add to his following. therefore, as the scots are, at present, quiet, i would that you ride again to ludlow, and sojourn there a while.
"sir edmund sends me but scant news, and i would fain know more closely how matters are going there, and how great this insurrection is like to grow. it may well be that the scots, seeing how powerful glendower is becoming, will enter into agreement with him, that while he invades the west country, they shall pour across the border with all their forces; in which case we should be hard pressed, for the king's power in the south might be fully engaged against the welsh, and we should have to battle with the whole strength of scotland, alone. therefore, write at length, giving me full reports of the talk of the country as to the bearing of the welsh, not only beyond the border, but those settled in the west counties.
"you will, of course, take the fighting monk with you; and he can aid you in this matter, being a good scholar, though a bad monk; so, when you are weary of holding the pen, you can dictate the matter to him. i will send two well-mounted couriers with you, and will have relays of horses placed on the road, so that you can despatch me a letter once a week; and they will also, of course, carry any letters sir edmund mortimer may wish to send."
"very well, sir henry. shall i start today?"
"nay, the matter is not so urgent as all that."
"then i will ride tomorrow morning."
"good.
i am well pleased with you, oswald
"i am well pleased with you, oswald. that affair, in which you rescued your cousins, showed that you have discretion and ability, as well as skill and courage; and you see, the knowledge that you gained at the monastery is coming in useful to you, now. as a mark of my approbation, i will order that one of my warhorses shall be saddled, and be in readiness for you, in the morning. the steed that mortimer gave you is a good one, but you have need of another; for one may fall lame, or be killed or wounded, and 'tis well to have a second string to the bow. moreover, riding as you do in my service, 'tis but meet that i should provide you with horseflesh.
"i marked you on your horse today, the one you rode when you came here; and in truth, you have outgrown it altogether; and though i doubt not that the sturdy little beast would, even yet, carry you for a long day's journey, 'tis scarce in accordance with your position as our representative."
oswald thanked hotspur heartily for the gift, for he, himself, had felt that he needed a second charger, but had been reluctant to ask his father for the money required to buy one; for the expenses of repairing the hold, after the last scotch invasion, had been heavy, and gold was a scarce commodity at yardhope.
he started at daybreak the next morning, riding the fine horse hotspur had given him. roger rode behind him, and was followed by the two lightly-armed men, who were to act as messengers. one of these led oswald's second horse. as soon as they had left the castle, oswald called roger up to his side.
"well, roger, i dare say you are as pleased as i am, that we are on the move again. 'tis nigh five months since we returned from ludlow and, save for our adventure with the bairds, we have had a quiet time, since."
"think you there will be work with the welsh again, master?"
"i think so, indeed, roger. they say that glendower's forces are greatly increasing, and he has captured lord grey, and holds him to ransom. the king must regret, now, that parliament refused to listen to glendower's complaints, because he had been one of richard's men, and had perhaps spoken more hotly than was prudent, touching the king's murder."
"but they say that richard is still alive, and that he is with the scots."
"they may say so, roger, but think you that it is likely? the king's figure was well known to hundreds of men. why does he not show himself? even in scotland there are many nobles who, during the truces between the kingdoms, have been to london, and have known king richard; and had this man been he, they would have recognized him, at once. besides, think you that when the king had richard caged, in pomfret, there was any chance of his getting free again? it may suit albany, at present, to set up some puppet or other, in order to cause uneasiness to henry, and to render richard's friends here unwilling to obey the orders of the king, and to take the field against the scots; but had he been richard, 'tis not in scotland that he would have shown himself, but in france, where he would gladly have been received, as anne of bohemia's husband, and would have had aid and support to urge his claims."
"well, master, i care not what takes us to wales. at any rate, i am glad to journey thither; for it seems, at present, as if there, only, is there a chance of giving and taking hard knocks. how is it that you do not take a party of men-at-arms, as you did last time?"
"mortimer has plenty of men, without them, and the handful that percy can spare would be of little use. i am going principally because hotspur is anxious to be kept well informed of what happens in the west, for he feels sure that, if glendower's power increases, it will be needful to send a strong english army there. the scots will make a great invasion, and it will behove all the northern counties, and lords, to hold themselves in readiness."
they travelled fast and, in five days after leaving alnwick, arrived at ludlow.
"welcome back again, master oswald!" sir edmund said, when he arrived. "i thought that maybe sir henry percy would send you hither. matters here are becoming serious, and 'tis said that there have been scotch emissaries with glendower, though for the truth of this i cannot answer; but percy will certainly wish to know, well, what passes in the west; and i am but a poor hand with the pen, and moreover, too much busied to write often. he knows that right well, and i doubt not you are instructed to inform him of all that passes."
"you are right, sir edmund. it is for that purpose that he has sent me hither, charging me to write to him, frequently, as to the situation and the power of glendower; which must needs be on the increase, since nought has been done to bring him to reason. and i have also his commands, to place myself at your service, and to obey you, in all respects, as if i had been your squire."
"i shall be glad for you to ride with my knights," sir edmund replied, courteously. "i have not forgotten that you did good service, last year, and trust that you may find opportunity for winning your spurs."
"i shall be glad, indeed, to do so, sir edmund. may i ask where glendower is supposed to be, at present?"
"he has his headquarters on the summit of plinlimmon, a great hill on the borders of montgomery; and thence ravages and plunders all the country round him, slaying all who are supposed to be attached to the english cause. unfortunately, he meets with but little resistance, for the castles have, for the most part, been suffered to get into a bad state; since, for a hundred years, it has seemed that they would no longer be required against the welsh, who appeared to have become as peaceful as the people in our own counties. many of the knights have built themselves more convenient houses, and have let the castles become almost ruins.
"then, too, the garrisons, where garrisons are kept, are for the most part composed of welshmen. these can be no longer trusted, and it is no easy matter to obtain englishmen in their places, for so great is the terror caused by the slaughter, by glendower, of those who fall into his hands, that few even of adventurous spirit would, at present, care to leave their homes beyond the severn, to take up such desperate service. glendower's movements are so rapid that there is no notice of his coming, and it is not until he and his band suddenly appear, burning and slaughtering, that any know of his approach."
"surely it must be difficult to victual so large a force, on the summit of a mountain?"
"it would assuredly be so, only he keeps but a hundred and fifty chosen men with him. but, were his beacon fires to be lighted, there would in a few hours be ten thousand men on the mountain. then again, as the whole population are with him, were i to start with five hundred men from here, the news would reach him, by means of smokes on the hills, before i had marched five miles away. 'tis a warfare in which there is no credit to be gained, and much loss to be sustained; and i see not that, with anything less than an army large enough to march through wales from end to end, burning the towns and villages, and putting to the sword all who resist, the affair can be brought to an end.
"it was only thus that harold brought wales to reason, and that so strongly that it was two generations ere they ventured again to cross the border. it was so that edward finally stamped out their rebellions, and methinks that the work will have to be done again, in the same manner. so far from doing good, the king's invasion last autumn has but encouraged them; for, though so numerous, his army effected nothing, and showed the welsh how powerless the troops were to enter the mountains, or to take the offensive anywhere save on level ground."
oswald's life, at ludlow, differed in no way from that at alnwick. he took his meals at the high table, sitting below the knights, with sir edmund's squires. he practised arms with them; tilted in the courtyard of the castle; occasionally rode out, hunting and hawking, with a party of knights and ladies; helped to drill the bodies of tenants who, a hundred at a time, came in to swell the garrison. sometimes he carried mortimer's orders to the governors of the castles, or rode with a strong party into hereford or radnor.
a short time after his arrival, montgomery was taken by storm by glendower; and all englishmen, and welshmen suspected of friendship for the english, slain. shortly afterwards, the suburbs of welshpool were burnt by him, to the great loss of the earl of powys; whose annoyance was all the greater, since most of his own tenants were under arms, with glendower. following hard upon these pieces of bad news came word that he had fallen upon the abbey of cwmhir, six miles from rhayader, in radnorshire, which he entirely destroyed. the news caused great indignation, and the reason for this sacrilegious act was warmly discussed at the castle.
"the reason, methinks," sir edmund said, after he had listened to the knights for some time, "is twofold. in the first place the ecclesiastics, for the most part, and the monks of all the orders save the franciscans, favoured king henry against richard; but the chief reason is the long animosity between the church and the bards, of whom glendower is a great patron; and who have done him great service, by stirring up the people with their songs. the bards have ever been foremost in instigating insurrections in wales. edward the first attempted to suppress them altogether, and his edict for executing them, by martial law, is still unrepealed; and they dare not venture to show themselves, in any castle or town held by us. but they have, to a man, rallied round glendower. his house was always open to them, and he was even distinguished by some welsh name, meaning the protector of the bards. now, after being hunted fugitives for so many years, they have, no doubt, used their influence with him to stir him up against the religious houses."
but a heavier blow still was struck by glendower, and the feeling at ludlow was nothing short of consternation, when a fugitive arrived from the town of new radnor, saying that the strong castle there had been carried by assault, the garrison of three-score men all beheaded, and the town laid in ashes. this was the heaviest blow yet struck by glendower. the castle was of great strength, and the town had been walled by the lords of the marches. that such a place should have been carried by welsh kerns seemed well-nigh incredible, and the execution of the whole of the garrison aroused the most lively indignation.
"this is war to the knife, indeed," sir edmund mortimer said; "and yet, abhorrent as is this wholesale murder of the garrison, i cannot but own that it is a politic step, on the part of glendower. the news will spread throughout wales, and if so strong a place as new radnor could not defend itself, how can lesser castles hope to do so? nor, indeed, will garrisons care to man the walls, since resistance means death. doubtless there were many welsh among these men who were murdered, and you may be sure that their compatriots, in other castles, will hasten to desert and join glendower."
this, indeed, proved to be the case, the garrisons of the castles dwindled away, and hold after hold fell without resistance. even in ludlow, every precaution was taken; all welshmen were expelled from the town, and the garrison was also purged of them, although some of the men-at-arms had served for many years. these men were told that, after the troubles were over, they should again be taken into the service if they chose; but that, in the present state of things, one traitor might endanger the safety of the castle and town; and that, as it was impossible to tell who were true men and who had been corrupted by glendower's agents, it was necessary that all should suffer, even if innocent.
among the tenants of mortimer's estate, and those of the young earl, were many welsh. against them no measures were taken. they and their fathers, sometimes indeed three generations of them, had lived peaceably; and had rendered military service, when required, in the troubles of england; and mortimer was reluctant to treat them harshly, especially as all declared their readiness to serve, and prove their devotion to their english lord.
"they are not sufficiently numerous," he said, "to be a source of any danger. were glendower to invade england in great force doubtless they would join him, to save their lives and those of their families; but being but one to four or five of the english tenants, i see not that they can be a source of danger to us."
