tcher and his wife,
going to mass with them and walking in the fields, where, after service,
the citizens much congregated. Since Walter had gone to work he had
taken no part in the fights and frolics of his former comrades; he was
in fact, far too tired at the end of his day's work to have any desire
to do aught but to sit and listen to the tales of the wars, of the many
old soldiers who pervaded the country. Some of these men were disabled
by wounds or long service, but the greater portion were idle scamps, who
cared not for the hard blows and sufferings of a campaign, liking better
to hang about taverns drinking, at the expense of those to whom they
related fabulous tales of the gallant actions they had performed. Many,
too, wandered over the country, sometimes in twos or threes, sometimes
in large bands, robbing and often murdering travelers or attacking
lonely houses. When in one part or another their ill deeds became too
notorious, the sheriffs would call out a posse of men and they would be
hunted down like wild beasts. It was not, however, easy to catch them,
for great tracts of forests still covered a large portion of the country
and afforded them shelter.

In the country round London these pests were very numerous, for here,
more than anywhere else, was there a chance of plunder. The swamps on
the south side of the river had an especially evil reputation. From
Southwark to Putney stretches a marshy country over which, at high
tides, the river frequently flowed. Here and there were wretched huts,
difficult of access and affording good hiding-places for those pursued
by justice, since searchers could be seen approaching a long way off,
and escape could be made by paths across the swamp known only to the
dwellers there, and where heavily-armed men dared not follow. Further
south, in the wild country round Westerham, where miles of heath and
forest stretched away in all directions, was another noted place where
the robber vagrants mustered thickly, and the Sheriff of Kent had much
trouble with them.

The laws in those days were extremely severe, and death was the penalty
of those caught plundering. The extreme severity of the laws, however,
operated in favour of its breakers, since the sympathy of the people who
had little to lose was with them, and unless caught red-handed in
the act they could generally escape, since none save those who had
themselves been robbed would say aught that would place the pursuers
o