into the wood, and bury it there; so they came
home for a pickaxe and shovel. 'Well,' said I, 'Andrew, but will you
bury all the rich clothes you speak of?' 'Why,' said he, 'it would be
both a sin and a shame to strip the dead.' 'So it would,' said I; 'but
I will give you a sheet to wrap the body in, and you may take off her
upper garments, and any thing of value; but do not strip her to the skin
for any thing.' 'Well said, wench!' said he; 'I will do as you say.' So
I fetched a sheet, and by that time Robin was come back, and away they
went together.

"They did not come back again till noon, and then they sat down and ate
a morsel together. Says Andrew, 'Now we may sit down and eat in peace.'
'Aye,' says Robin, 'and sleep in peace too, for we have done no harm.'
'No, to be sure,' said I; 'but yet I am much concerned that the poor
Lady had not Christian burial.' 'Never trouble thyself about that,' said
Andrew; 'we have done the best we could for her; but let us see what we
have got in our bags; we must divide them.' So they opened their bags,
and took out a fine gown and a pair of rich shoes; but, besides these,
there was a fine necklace with a golden locket, and a pair of earrings.
Says Andrew, and winked at me, 'I will have these, and you may take the
rest.' Robin said, he was satisfied, and so he went his way. When he was
gone, 'Here, you fool,' says Andrew, 'take these, and keep them as safe
as the bud of your eye; If ever young master is found, these will make
our fortune.'"

"And have you them now?" said Oswald.

"Yes, that I have," answered she; "Andrew would have sold them long ago,
but I always put him off it."

"Heaven be praised!" said Edmund.

"Hush," said Oswald, "let us not lose time; proceed, Goody!"

"Nay," said Margery, "I have not much more to say. We looked every day
to hear some enquiries after the child, but nothing passed, nobody was
missing."

"Did nobody of note die about that time?" said Oswald.

"Why yes," said Margery, "the widow Lady Lovel died that same week;
by the same token, Andrew went to the funeral, and brought home a
scutcheon, which I keep unto this day."

"Very well; go on."

"My husband behaved well enough to the boy, till such time as he had two
or three children of his own; and then he began to grumble, and say, it
was hard to maintain other folks' children, when he found it hard enough
to keep his own; I loved the boy quite as well as my own; often and
often have I