Page:The Sundering Flood - Morris - 1898.djvu/249

 played. And he laughed and wondered, and was some little deal abashed, and he said: Lord, is this Longshaw? Laughed the Knight in his turn, and said: What, thou deemest this no very lordly castle for him who hath to withstand barons and portes and kings? Nay, lad, look again, and tell me if thou seest the Long Shaw; this is called Woodneb, and therein is a captain of mine who hight Edward the Brown, and therein shall we rest awhile ere we enter the Wood Masterless. And hence onward to the Long Shaw is a twelve days' journey if all go well.

Now when Osberne heard that he was the better content, for in good sooth that desert-hold seemed all too strait to keep within its walls the valiancy of Sir Godrick and his host.

So presently the gates were thrown open, and folk gaily clad and armed came forth to meet their lord and his new men, and before them went Edward the Brown, a short thick man, but very sturdy looking, his hair cut short to his head; small brown eyes had he and short nose, so that he looked somewhat like to a bear; but a valiant man he was, and a trusty.

There they had good entertainment, as men who were at home again, and they abode there seven days ere they departed, and had good disport of hunting and hawking; and there was much minstrelsy and tale-telling in the hall a-nights: and there must Osberne tell what stories he knew of the war of East Cheaping and the