was the only house that escaped
scot free, for thirty miles round.

"But indeed, 'tis generally but parties of pillagers who trouble this
part of the country, even when they invade England. There is richer
booty, by far, to be gathered in Cumberland and Durham; for here we
have nought but our cattle and horses, and of these they have as many
on their side of the border. It is the plunder of the towns that
chiefly attracts them, and while they go past here empty handed, they
always carry great trains of booty on their backward way."

"Still, it would be dull work if there were no fighting, Mother."

"There is no fighting in Southern England, Oswald, save for those who
go across the sea to fight the French; and yet, I suppose they find
life less dull than we do. They have more to do. Here there is little
tillage, the country is poor; and who would care to break up the land
and to raise crops, when any night your ricks might be in flames, and
your granaries plundered? Thus there is nought for us to do but to keep
cattle, which need but little care and attention, and which can be
driven off to the fells when the Scots make a great raid. But in the
south, as I have heard, there is always much for farmers to attend to;
and those who find life dull can always enter the service of some
warlike lord, and follow him across the sea."

Oswald shook his head. The quiet pursuits of a farmer seemed to him to
be but a poor substitute for the excitement of border war.

"It may be as you say, Mother; but for my part, I would rather enter
the service of the Percys, and gain honour under their banner, than
remain here day after day, merely giving aid in driving the cattle in
and out, and wondering when the Bairds are coming this way, again."

His mother shook her head. Her father and two brothers had both been
slain, the last time a Scottish army had crossed the border; and
although she naturally did not regard constant troubles in the same
light in which a southern woman would have viewed them, she still
longed for peace and quiet; and was in constant fear that sooner or
later the feud with the Bairds, who were a powerful family, would cost
her husband his life.

Against open force she had little fear. The hold could resist an attack
for days, and long ere it yielded, help would arrive; but although the
watch was vigilant, and every precaution taken, it might be captured by
a sudden night attack. William Baird had, she knew, sworn