hat, it would be hopeless
for any force, of less than five hundred good fighting men, to attempt
to make their way through.

"From what I hear, there are at least fifteen thousand Welshmen in
arms. Many, doubtless, are with Glendower himself. The rest will be
scattered among the hills, ready to pounce upon any party who may be
moving up the valleys to join the king; and there are plenty of places
where a couple of hundred men could check the advance of an army."

"Then it is all the more necessary, sir, that we should trust to good
fortune, and to making our way unseen. May I pray you to take care of
our horses, till we return to claim them? Should we never do so, there
are doubtless many upon whom you could bestow them; and they are both
rarely good animals, for one was presented to me by Sir Henry Percy,
and the other by Sir Edmund Mortimer."

"I will take care of them, willingly. If you do not return, before the
king marches back; and I find, when he comes, that you did not reach
him; I will use the horses myself, holding them always as your property
should you, at any time, return to claim them. Is there aught else that
I can do to help you?"

"No, sir; what would, of all other things, be most valuable to us would
be a guide; but, from what I have seen and heard of the Welsh, I fear
that no reliance, whatever, can be placed on one of them."

"Certainly not at present. Did you take one, he would but slip away at
the first opportunity; and there is no Englishman, so far as I know,
who could guide you through the mountains."

"In that case, sir, we must perforce travel close to the roads, so as
to be sure that we do not wander from the track, but keeping in the
shelter of the forest."

"That is the only possible course," the governor agreed; "to be lost,
among those hills, would be certain death. If you failed to fall in
with anyone, you would die of hunger. If you did meet anyone, you would
be killed. Glendower spares no Englishman who falls into his hands."

"I don't know that he can be greatly blamed for that, sir," Oswald said
with a smile, "seeing that the Welsh meet with such scant mercy, from
us."

"'Tis a savage war," the governor said, shrugging his shoulders, "and
it seems to me that it will continue, until the last Welshman is
exterminated."

"That will be a difficult thing, indeed, to effect," Oswald laughed;
"as difficult as was the extermination of wolves in England; but I hope
that matters w