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there, they passed signs of recent cultivation; fruit trees and pot herbs
ran wild among the thicket; a sun-dial had fallen in the grass; it seemed
they were treading what once had been a garden. Yet a little farther and
they came forth before the ruins of the house.
It had been a pleasant mansion and a strong. A dry ditch was dug deep
about it; but it was now choked with masonry, and bridged by a fallen
rafter. The two farther walls still stood, the sun shining through their
empty windows; but the remainder of the building had collapsed, and now
lay in a great cairn of ruin, grimed with fire. Already in the interior
a few plants were springing green among the chinks.
"Now I bethink me," whispered Dick, "this must be Grimstone. It was a
hold of one Simon Malmesbury; Sir Daniel was his bane! 'Twas Bennet
Hatch that burned it, now five years agone. In sooth, 'twas pity, for it
was a fair house."
Down in the hollow, where no wind blew, it was both warm and still; and
Matcham, laying one hand upon Dick's arm, held up a warning finger.
"
Hist!" he said.
Then came a strange sound, breaking on the quiet. It was twice repeated
ere they recognised its nature. It was the sound of a big man clearing
his throat; and just then a hoarse, untuneful voice broke into singing.
"Then up and spake the master, the king of the outlaws:
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