BOOK I--THE TWO LADS

CHAPTER I--AT THE SIGN OF THE SUN IN KETTLEY

Sir Daniel and his men lay in and about Kettley that night, warmly

quartered and well patrolled. But the Knight of Tunstall was one who

never rested from money-getting; and even now, when he was on the brink

of an adventure which should make or mar him, he was up an hour after

midnight to squeeze poor neighbours. He was one who trafficked greatly

in disputed inheritances; it was his way to buy out the most unlikely

claimant, and then, by the favour he curried with great lords about the

king, procure unjust decisions in his favour; or, if that was too

roundabout, to seize the disputed manor by force of arms, and rely on his

influence and Sir Oliver's cunning in the law to hold what he had

snatched. Kettley was one such place; it had come very lately into his

clutches; he still met with opposition from the tenants; and it was to

overawe discontent that he had led his troops that way.

By two in the morning, Sir Daniel sat in the inn room, close by the

fireside, for it was cold at that hour among the fens of Kettley. By his

elbow stood a pottle of spiced ale. He had taken off his visored

headpiece, and sat with his bald head and thin, dark visage resting on

one hand, wrapped warmly in a sanguine-coloured cloak. At the lower end

of the room about a dozen of his men stood sentry over the door or lay

The Black Arrow