ight, and what cruel treatment he had received at their
hands. He was going off on a secret errand to the Priory that very
day on Paul's behalf, to ask for news of the prince; and when it
was known that the bright-haired lad (Paul's kinsman, as he had
been called) who had won all hearts was none other than their
future Prince of Wales, a great revulsion of feeling swept over the
hearts of the simple and loving rustics, and they became as warm in
their sympathies for Lancaster as they had been loyal hitherto to
York.

But the burning feeling of the hour was the desire to put down by a
strong hand the depredations of these lawless robber hordes. Not a
house in the place but had suffered from them, not a farmer but had
complaints to make of hen roost robbed or beasts driven off in the
night. Others had darker tales to tell; and Will Ives clenched his
fists and vowed that he would be glad indeed to see the day when he
and Simon Dowsett might meet face to face in equal combat. But it
would be impossible to attack the robbers in their forest
fastnesses unless they had military help; and a deputation was to
start forthwith to London, to lay before the mighty earl the story
of the ravages committed, and the deadly peril which had just
threatened the heir of England, from which he might not yet have
escaped.

Jack was in hopes that he might still be at the Priory, and that he
might bring him back and set him at the head of a party of loyal
rustics, who should escort him in triumph to his royal father in
London. But that hope was of short duration; for the news he
received at the Priory told that the prince was already far away,
and safe at sea on his way to France.

He had arrived just at dusk the previous evening, and when he had
told his adventures and proved his identity to the satisfaction of
the Prior, strenuous efforts were made to convey him safely away
before further peril could menace him. It chanced that one of the
brothers was about to start for the coast on a mission for the
Prior; and disguised in a friar's gown, Edward could travel with
him in the most perfect safety. Stout nags were in readiness for
the pair; and after the lad had been well fed, and had enjoyed a
couple of hours' sleep beside the fire, he was sufficiently
refreshed to proceed on his way, only charging the Prior either to
send Paul after him if he should arrive in time, or to keep him in
safe hiding if that should not be possible.

Before Ja