“I tell thee, a courier of my condition may go free, though nameless.  But to business—­Norfolk is tampering with our credulity.  He thinks to gain our time to his advantage:  but the work must again be urged forward.  Yet lack we thy aid.  May we depend on its being faithfully rendered?  We must have no lukewarm allies in the rear of our camp.”

The stranger drew from beneath his inner vest a crucifix, with the representation of a chalice and of the five wounds of Christ.

Paslew kissed the token, and his suspicions were at rest.  But still, there was a dubiety and hesitation in his manner displeasing to the stranger.  He would bind himself to no distinct pledge respecting the time of his appearance at the rebel camp; and altogether seemed to display either cowardice or a want of cordiality.  His guest refusing to stay the night, on a pretext of urgent business farther north, departed soon after the termination of their interview.

The night was fast closing when the strangers left the abbey.  One by one the pale stars seemed to start out, as if just lighted up in the blue vault.  The dark woods threw their giant arms around the sacred domain, as though to guard it against unhallowed intrusion.  The travellers had gained the steep ascent towards the south-east, from whence the river, winding down the narrow valley, seemed as if here and there a spark was floating on its quiet surface—­the lights, gliding on the opposite brink, fell distinct and unbroken upon the stream.  The soft voice of the current grew strangely audible, in contrast with the deep silence; the wind rolling it round to the ear at intervals startling and abrupt.

Preceded by a guide, they had taken the rough mountain road, leading from the abbey into the forest of Pendle, the stranger and his servant still walking, or rather climbing, for their journey could only be accomplished on foot.  Having proceeded about two miles on this rugged path, they diverged to the left, where the only indication to assist their guide was the turf-cutters’ track and a few heaps of stones, scarcely distinguishable from the common mass, but by an eye accustomed to these land-marks.  Carefully were they sought for at times, the blazing torch carried by their leader being often requisite for the search.

They now descended by a narrow and steep ravine, the termination of which brought them to a small brook.  This they crossed, and again commenced a sharp and troublesome ascent.  The mighty Pendle rose up before them, huge and dark, engrossing half the hemisphere.  To this point, it seemed, their path was directed.  The guide now trimmed his torch, the smoke from which had for some time been rather an accompaniment than an assistance to their toil, as it caused them to loiter at an inconvenient distance, thereby enhancing the difficulties they had to encounter.  Slow and toilsome was their progress, yet a patient continuance in any path will sooner or later lead to the end.