And
there Tregoz had set his house, and I think that it was the first
that had ever been in those wilds, save the huts of the villagers.
Only the hall of the place had been burnt, and there yet stood the
house of the steward on the village green, if one may call a meadow
that had a dozen huts round it by that name, and we bestowed
ourselves in the great room of that, while our men found places in
stables and outhouses and the huts. Every man of the place had fled
as they saw us coming, for the fear of Gerent was on them; but the
women and children remained, and they had heard of the son of Owen,
at least, since he and I were in Dartmoor in the spring. I had some
of them brought to me when we were rested, and told them that none
need fear aught, knowing that they would tell their menfolk.
And so it was, for after we had been quietly in the place for two
days the men were back and at their work again. I do not think that
even our Mendip miners were so wild as these people, and their
strange Welsh was hard for me and Howel to understand. I will say
that the whole matter seemed hopeless for a time, for no man would
say anything to us about it. If we spoke to a man, questioning him,
and presently wished to find him again, he was gone, and it would
be days ere he came back.
Some of our guards knew the country as well as most, and with them
we rode many a long mile into the hills during the first few days,
searching for the deepest valleys, and ever did I look to see the
great menhir before me as we came to bend after bend of the hills.
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