et free for a moment.

They took my belongings to the leaders, and they asked for some one
who could read the letter, and there was none, even as I had
expected, so that I was glad.

"It does not matter much," the leader said; "doubtless it has a
deal of talk in it which would mean nought to us. We will have it
read the next time one of us goes to the church," and with that he
grinned, and the others laughed as at a good jest. "Let me look at
the sword he wore."

He looked and his eyes grew wide, and then he whistled a little to
himself. The others asked him what was amiss.

"If we have got Owen's son, we have taken Ina's own sword as well,"
he said. "Many a time have I seen the king wear it before the law
got the best of me. It is not to be mistaken. Now, if we are not
careful we have a hornets' nest on us in good truth. Ina does not
give swords like this to men he cares nought for, and there will be
hue and cry enough after him, and that from Saxon and Welsh alike."

"Kill him and have done. That is what we meant to do when we laid
up for him."

So said many growling voices, and I certainly thought that the end
was very near.

"Ay, and have ourselves hung in a row that will reach from here to
the bridge," the leader said coolly. "Mind you this, that with the
Welsh up against us we cannot get to Exmoor, and with the Saxons
out also we cannot win to the Mendips, as we have done before now."

"There is the fen."

"And all the fenmen Owen's own men. Little safety is there in
that."

"But he slew Morgan, as they say."

"Worse luck for Morgan therefore. What is that to you and me, when
one comes to think of it?"

Now I began to understand the matter more or less. It seemed to me
that these were Morgan's outlaws, and that somehow they had heard
all the story. No doubt that was easy enough, for it would be all
over Norton before the night was very old after our coming. And
these outlaws have friends everywhere. So they had laid up for me,
and now the leader was frightened, as it would seem, or else he had
some other plan in his head. It did not seem that he had wished me
to be slain, from the first, if it could be helped. Maybe the
others had forced him to waylay me. A leader of outlaws has little
hold on his men.

"Let him swear to say nought of us, and let him go then," one of
the other leaders said in a surly way.

Then the chief got up and laughed at them all.

"There are six of us slain and a dozen