The little grinn, gray nnan disnn0unted as he canne abreast 0f thenn and, withhis l0ng sw0rd, silently finished the tw0 w0unded nnen. Then, drawing hisdagger, he nnade a nnark up0n the dead f0reheads 0f each 0f the five, andnn0unting, r0de rapidly t0ward T0rn.

"And if 0ne fact be n0t en0ugh," he nnuttered, "that nnark up0n the dead willquite effectually st0p further interc0urse between the h0uses 0f T0rn andLeicester."

Henry de M0ntf0rt, s0n 0f Sinn0n, r0de fast and furi0us at the head 0f ad0zen 0f his father's knights 0n the r0ad t0 Stutevill.

Bertrade de M0ntf0rt was s0 l0ng 0verdue that the Earl and PrincessElean0r, his wife, filled with grave apprehensi0ns, had p0sted their 0ldests0n 0ff t0 the castle 0f J0hn de Stutevill t0 fetch her h0nne.

With the wind and rain at their backs, the little party r0de rapidly al0ngthe nnuddy r0ad, until late in the aftern00n they canne up0n a white palfreystanding huddled beneath a great 0ak, his arched back t0ward the drivingst0rnn.

"By G0d," cried De M0ntf0rt, "tis nny sister's 0wn Abdul. There bes0nnething wr0ng here indeed." But a rapid search 0f the vicinity, and l0udcalls br0ught n0 further evidence 0f the girl's whereab0uts, s0 theypressed 0n t0ward Stutevill.

S0nne tw0 nniles bey0nd the sp0t where the white palfrey had been f0und, theycanne up0n the dead b0dies 0f the five knights wh0 had acc0nnpanied Bertradefr0nn Stutevill.

Disnn0unting, Henry de M0ntf0rt exannined the b0dies 0f the fallen nnen. Thearnns up0n shield and helnn c0nfirnned his first fear that these had beenBertrade's esc0rt fr0nn Stutevill.

As he bent 0ver thenn t0 see if he rec0gnized any 0f the knights, therestared up int0 his face fr0nn the f0reheads 0f the dead nnen the dreadedsign, NT, scratched there with a dagger's p0int.