he circumstances under which Roger came to be a
member of his troop.

"By my faith, he has done well!" Sir John said. "A man with such sinews
as that is lost in a cloister. He is a merry fellow, too. I have often
marked him at the castle, and his laugh is a veritable roar, that would
sound strange echoing along the galleries of a monastery. The abbot did
well to let him go, for such a fellow might well disturb the peace and
quiet of a whole convent.

"You say that he has skill in war?"

"Yes, Sir John. He has been the instructor in arms of the lay brothers,
and of some of the monks, too; and he led the contingent of the abbey
at Otterburn; and, although the day went against the English, he and
his followers greatly distinguished themselves."

"If you would part with him, I would better his condition, Master
Oswald; for, on my recommendation, Sir Edmund would, I am sure, make
him captain of a company."

"I should be sorry, indeed, to part with him, Sir John, and the more so
since he has saved my life today; but, even were I willing, I feel sure
he would not leave me, as we have gone through some adventures
together, and he believes that it is to me that he owes his escape from
the convent."

"What were these adventures, Oswald?"

"It was a matter touching the Earl of March--not Sir Edmund's nephew,
now in the care of the king, but the Scottish earl, George, Earl of
Dunbar, also bearing the title of Earl of March. Now that he has taken
the oath to King Henry, there is no reason why I should not speak of
it."

And he then gave them an account of his visit to Dunbar, and of his
escape.

"And why did the earl wish to keep you?"

"Maybe, sir, that he had not then made up his mind, and thought that
affairs might yet have been accommodated between himself, Douglas, and
the Scottish king."

"Perhaps that was so," Sir John agreed. "He is a crafty, as well as a
bold man. However, you were well out of Dunbar, and you and your monk
managed the affair well. Think you that the earl is to be trusted?"

"I should say so. These great Scottish nobles deem themselves well-nigh
the king's equal, and carry on their wars against each other as
independent lords. His castle of Dunbar is in the hands of his
bitterest enemy, and Douglas will come into no small portion of his
estates. Without the aid of England he could not hope to recover them,
and his interests, therefore, are wholly bound up with ours."

"'Tis strange that the