For so he regarded himself,
although he was only the hired spy of Sir Thomas De Lany.
"A plague upon my dreams!" thought Humphrey, his native common sense
getting the better of his superstition. "I had never ventured my head
in this noose but for them. I must now get it out as I can, but that
will never be done by noon."
Almost as soon as Humphrey had seen him, Walter Skinner had seen
Humphrey, and had recognized both man and horse as the same he had seen
from the treetop leaving the castle with Hugo the previous day. Not
finding any trace of the two in the neighborhood of Selby, he had come
on to Ferrybridge, while his companion, Richard Wood, had gone south by
the very way Hugo would start out on at noon. He gave no sign of
recognizing Humphrey, however, and Humphrey seemed not to recognize
him.
Said Walter Skinner to himself, "I will not alarm him, and the sooner
he will lead me to his master."
While Humphrey thought, "I will not seem to see him, and when I can, I
give him the slip."
So up and down the narrow streets rode these two, Walter Skinner
looking fiercely upon the innocent throng, and Humphrey apparently
gazing about him with all a countryman's curiosity.
Pages:
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71