letters than he was to
read them. His hands were so accustomed to the rein, the bow, and the
sword that they bungled over the work of forming letters. Nevertheless,
by the time the Percys returned, three months and a half after his
arrival at the castle, he could both read and write short and simple
words; and as these formed a large proportion of English speech, at the
time, he had made a considerable step in the path of learning, and the
monk was highly pleased with his pupil.

"I shall not be able to come tomorrow, Father," he said to the monk,
one day. "The earl and Sir Henry will be back tonight, and my uncle
says that I must keep near him, tomorrow; so that, if opportunity
offers, he may present me to the knight."

"I feared it would come to that," the monk said. "I wish they had all
stopped away, another three or four months; then you would have got
over your difficulty of piecing together syllables, so as to make up a
long word. 'Tis a thousand pities that you should stop altogether, just
when you are getting on so well."

"I will come as often as I can, Father, if you will let me."

"No, no, lad. I know what it is, when the family are at home. It will
be, 'Here, Oswald, ride with such a message;' or Hotspur, himself, may
be going out with a train, and you will have to accompany him. There
will always be something.

"Indeed, save but for your teaching, it is high time that the Percys
were back again; for there has already been a great deal of hot work,
on the border, and report says that the Scots are mustering strongly,
and that there is going to be a great raid into Cumberland; so you will
be busy, and so shall I. The lay brothers have made but a poor hand of
it, while I have been busy. I went down in the evening, yesterday, to
see them drill; and it was as much as I could do to prevent myself from
falling upon them, and giving them a lesson of a different sort.

"As it was, I gave it to their instructor heartily, and was had up
before the abbot on his complaint, this morning; and am to eat Lenten
fare for the next ten days, which accords but ill either with my liking
or needs."

In the evening, the courtyard was ablaze with torches as, amid the
cheers of the garrison, the Earl of Northumberland and his son rode in,
with a strong body of men-at-arms. The greater portion of the following
with which they had met Henry of Lancaster on his landing, and escorted
him to London, had long since returned to the