as possible."

"And March?"

"I think that the earl is in earnest in his professions, my lord; and
that you can rely upon him for such aid as he can render. But, from
what I heard in Edinburgh--"

"In Edinburgh!" Hotspur said, in surprise; "what took you there?"

"I will tell you, my lord; but the point is that men said openly,
there, that there was a report that he would be attainted, and deprived
of his land, for treasonable words spoken by him to the king, the Duke
of Albany, and the Duke of Rothesay. If this is so, he will have to
fly; for assuredly he has, at present, no force gathered that could
resist those of the king and Douglas."

"Give me an account of what has happened," Hotspur said, frowning. "I
feared that March's impetuous temper would lead him into trouble,
before we were in a position to march to his assistance; and I heard
rumours of a stormy scene between him and Rothesay, when he learned
that he had been fooled; but I knew not that the king, himself, was
present."

Oswald related the story of his journey, and the interruption on the
moor; and the reports, that he had afterwards heard, of the stoppage of
all travellers coming from the south, by the same band.

"The leader was evidently above the rank of an ordinary marauder, and
his followers obeyed him as men-at-arms would obey an officer; and it
seemed to me, my lord, that Douglas must have heard a vague report that
the earl was in communication with England; and sought to intercept
some messenger, on whom he might find a letter, or from whom he could
extract proofs of the earl's treachery."

"'Tis like enough," Hotspur said. "When a man is so rash as to upbraid
the king, and still more Albany, he must needs fall under suspicion.
Now, go on with your story."

When Oswald had brought his narration to an end, Percy said:

"You have done very well, Oswald, and have deserved the confidence that
I placed in you. You have shown much circumspection, and you did well
in escaping from Dunbar, as you did. The mad monk, too, seems to have
behaved well. I doubted your wisdom in taking him, but he has certainly
proved a useful fellow."

"I would petition, my lord, that you should continue him in your
service; and that, should you employ me upon another mission, you will
again allow me to take him with me. He is a shrewd fellow, as well as a
stout one, and I could wish for no better companion; though I own that,
since he put on his gown again at Ro