Lawless the cook was by this time already at his second horn of ale. He

raised it, as if to pledge the speaker.

"Master Ellis," he said, "y' are for vengeance--well it becometh

you!--but your poor brother o' the greenwood, that had never lands to

lose nor friends to think upon, looketh rather, for his poor part, to the

profit of the thing. He had liever a gold noble and a pottle of canary

wine than all the vengeances in purgatory."

"Lawless," replied the other, "to reach the Moat House, Sir Daniel must

pass the forest. We shall make that passage dearer, pardy, than any

battle. Then, when he hath got to earth with such ragged handful as

escapeth us--all his great friends fallen and fled away, and none to give

him aid--we shall beleaguer that old fox about, and great shall be the

fall of him. 'Tis a fat buck; he will make a dinner for us all."

"Ay," returned Lawless, "I have eaten many of these dinners beforehand;

but the cooking of them is hot work, good Master Ellis. And meanwhile

what do we? We make black arrows, we write rhymes, and we drink fair

cold water, that discomfortable drink."

Y' are untrue, Will Lawless. Ye still smell of the Grey Friars'

buttery; greed is your undoing," answered Ellis. "We took twenty pounds

from Appleyard. We took seven marks from the messenger last night. A

day ago we had fifty from the merchant."

"And to-day," said one of the men, "I stopped a fat pardoner riding apace

The Black Arrow