Here the men-at-arms were
dismounting, horses were neighing, and grooms running about. The boy,
too, dismounted, and bent anxiously over his dog.
Presently a young voice demanded, "Whence comest thou?"
The boy looked up to see his counterpart, the son of the lord of the
castle, standing imperiously before him.
"From York," answered the stranger, briefly. "Hast thou a leech that
can care for my dog? See how he bleeds."
"Oh, ay," was the answer. "But how came he wounded? He hath been
deer-stealing, perchance, and the ranger hath discovered him."
"Nay," replied the strange lad, in tones the echo of his questioner's.
"Thou doest Fleetfoot wrong. We were but pursuing our way when from
yonder thicket to the north and adjoining the open, a flight of arrows
came. I had been sped myself but for my shirt of mail."
The leech had now advanced and was caring skilfully for the dog while
the strange lad looked on, now and then laying a caressing hand on the
hound's head.
Meanwhile the men-at-arms conferred together and exchanged wise looks
while a stout and clumsy Saxon serving-man of about forty shook his
head.
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