"Hearest thou not, Herebald," said Bernulf, "that the king's man
feareth the water? We must put him and his men across softly and
bolster up their valor, else shall we fail to entice them aboard the
fishing-vessel, and so fail to ship them off to France; and thus
England is so much the worse off by having still here the vile knaves."
"Yea, Bernulf, thou art right," was the answer. "And surely we have led
them through toils enough, for they be weary to fainting. This it is
for a vile spy to go round the country with some lumbering men-at-arms,
seeking to entrap a poor young lad to his destruction."
"Yea," replied Bernulf; "but thou hast left out one thing. Thou
shouldst have said, 'This it is when two Saxons get him and them in the
toils.' They had not been one-half so weary without us. Do but remember
that."
"Ay," agreed Herebald. "I do think we have some blame for their aching
bones; but they can rest when they be tossing on that good old North
Sea, for I promise them it will take more than a load of herring to
hold the ship steady."
All this time Richard Wood and his men were impatiently waiting.
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