a vow, either to break into the house and take Rosader, or else to coop him in till he made him yield by famine.  In this determination, gathering a crew together, he went forward to set Saladyne in his former estate.  News of this was brought unto Rosader, who smiling at the cowardice of his brother, brooked all the injuries of fortune with patience, expecting the coming of the sheriff.  As he walked upon the battlements of the house, he descried where Saladyne and he drew near, with a troop of lusty gallants.  At this he smiled, and called Adam Spencer, and showed him the envious treachery of his brother, and the folly of the sheriff to be so credulous.

[Footnote 1:  until.]

[Footnote 2:  barricaded.]

[Footnote 3:  brave.]

“Now, Adam,” quoth he, “what shall I do?  It rests for me either to yield up the house to my brother and seek a reconcilement, or else issue out, and break through the company with courage, for cooped in like a coward I will not be.  If I submit (ah Adam) I dishonor myself, and that is worse than death, for by such open disgraces, the fame of men grows odious.  If I issue out amongst them, fortune may favor me, and I may escape with life.  But suppose the worst; if I be slain, then my death shall be honorable to me, and so inequal a revenge infamous to Saladyne.”

“Why then, master, forward and fear not!  Out amongst them; they be but faint-hearted losels,[1] and for Adam Spencer, if he die not at your foot, say he is a dastard.”

[Footnote 1:  lazy, worthless fellows.]

These words cheered up so the heart of young Rosader, that he thought himself sufficient for them all, and therefore prepared weapons for him and Adam Spencer, and were ready to entertain the sheriff; for no sooner came Saladyne and he to the gates, but Rosader, unlooked for, leaped out and assailed them, wounded many of them, and caused the rest to give back, so that Adam and he broke through the prease[1] in despite of them all, and took their way towards the forest of Arden.  This repulse so set the sheriff’s heart on fire to revenge, that he straight raised all the country, and made hue and cry after them.  But Rosader and Adam, knowing full well the secret ways that led through the vineyards, stole away privily through the province of Bordeaux, and escaped safe to the forest of Arden.  Being come thither, they were glad they had so good a harbor:  but fortune, who is like the chameleon, variable with every object, and constant in nothing but inconstancy, thought to make them mirrors of her mutability, and therefore still crossed them thus contrarily.  Thinking still to pass on by the by-ways to get to Lyons, they chanced on a path that led into the thick of the forest, where they wandered five or six days without meat, that they were almost famished finding neither shepherd nor cottage to relieve them; and hunger growing on so extreme, Adam Spencer, being old, began first to faint, and sitting him down on a hill, and looking about him, espied where Rosader lay as feeble and as ill perplexed:  which sight made him shed tears, and to fall into these bitter terms: