to-night, and tell you in the morning.'
When they met again in the workshop the armorer said: 'Clean yourself up after breakfast, Walter, and put on your best clothes. I will go with you before the mayor, and then you shall tell him your story. There is sure to be a stir about it before the day is done. As we walk thither we can settle how much of your story it is good to tell.'
On their way over the bridge Geoffrey told Walter that he thought he had better tell the whole story exactly as it had occurred, concealing only the fact that he had recognized the knight's face. 'You had best, too,' he said, 'mention naught about the white cloak. If we can catch the man of the hut in the swamp, likely enough the rack will wring from him the name of his employer, and in that case, if you are brought up as a witness against him you will of course say that you recognize his face; but 'tis better that the accusation should not come from you. No great weight would be given to the word of a 'prentice boy as against that of a noble. It is as bad for earthen pots to knock against brass ones as it is for a yeoman in a leathern jerkin to stand up against a knight in full armor.'
'But unless the lady knows her enemy she may fall again into his snares.'
'I have thought of that,' Geoffrey said, 'and we will take measures to prevent it.'
'But how can we prevent it?' Walter asked, surprised.
'We must find out who this knight may be, which should, methinks, not be difficult. Then we will send to him a message that his share in this night's work is known to several, and that if any harm should ever again be attempted against the lady or her daughter, he shall be denounced before King Edward himself as the author of the wrong. I trust, however, that we may capture the man of the swamp, and that the truth may be wrung from him.'
By this time they had arrived at the guildhall, and making their way into the court, Geoffrey demanded private speech with the lord mayor.
'Can you not say in open court what is your business?' the lord mayor asked.
'I fear that if I did it would defeat the ends of justice.'
Retiring with the chief magistrate into an inner room, Geoffrey desired Walter to tell his story. This he did, ending by saying that he regretted much that he had not at once told his master what he had heard; but that, although he deemed evil was intended, he did not know that murder was meant, and thought it but concerned the carrying off of some damsel, and that this he had intended, by the aid of his comrades, to prevent.
'You have done well, Master Walter, since that be your name,' the magistrate said. 'That you might have done better is true, for had you acted otherwise you might have prevented murder from being done. Still one cannot expect old heads upon young shoulders. Give me the names of those who were with you, for I shall doubtless receive a message from Westminster this morning to know if I have heard aught of the affair. In the mean time we must take steps to secure these pirates of the marsh. The ground is across the river, and lies out of my jurisdiction.'
'It is for that reason,' Geoffrey said, 'that I wished that the story should be told to you privately, since the men concerned might well have sent a friend to the court to hear if aught was said which might endanger them.'
'I will give you a letter to a magistrate of Surrey, and he will dispatch some constables under your guidance to catch these rascals. I fear there have been many murders performed by them lately besides that in question, and you will be doing a good service to the citizens by aiding in the capture of these men.'
'I will go willingly,' the smith assented.
'I will at once send off a messenger on horseback,' the lord mayor said, after a moment's thought. 'It will be quicker. I will tell the justice that if he will come to the meeting of the roads on Kensington Common, at seven this evening, you will be there with your apprentice to act as a guide.'
'I will,' the armorer said, 'and will bring with me two or three of my men who are used to hard blows, for, to tell you the truth, I have no great belief in the valor of constables, and we may meet with a stout resistance.'
'So be it,' the lord mayor said; 'and luck be with you, for these men are the scourges of the river.'
That evening the armorer shut up his shop sooner than usual, and accompanied by Walter and four of his workmen, all carrying stout oaken cudgels, with hand-axes in their girdles, started along the lonely road to Kensington. Half an hour after their arrival the magistrate, with ten men, rode up. He was well pleased at the sight of the reenforcement which awaited him, for the river pirates might be expected to make a desperate resistance. Geoffrey advised a halt for a time until it should be well-nigh dark, as the marauders might have spies set to give notice should strangers enter the marsh.
They started before it was quite dark, as Walter doubted whether he should be able to lead them straight to the hut after the night had completely fallen. He felt, however, tolerably sure of his locality, for he had noticed that two trees grew on the edge of the swamp just at the spot where he had left it. He had no difficulty in finding these, and at once led the way. The horses of the magistrate and his followers were left in charge of three of their number.
'You are sure you are going right?' the magistrate said to Walter. 'The marsh seems to stretch everywhere, and we might well fall into a quagmire, which would swallow us all up.'
'I am sure of my way,' Walter answered; 'see, yonder clump of bushes, which you can just observe above the marsh, a quarter of a mile away, is the spot where the house of their leader is situated.'
With strict injunctions that not a word was to be spoken until the bush was surrounded, and that all were to step noiselessly and with caution, the party moved forward. It was now nearly dark, and as they approached the hut, sounds of laughter and revelry were heard.
'They are celebrating their success in a carouse,' Geoffrey said. 'We shall catch them nicely in a trap.'
When they came close a man who was sitting just at the low mouth of the hut suddenly sprang to his feet and shouted, 'Who goes there?' He had apparently been placed as sentry, but had joined in the potations going on inside, and had forgotten to look round from time to time to see that none were approaching.
At his challenge the whole party rushed forward, and as they reached the hut the men from within came scrambling out, sword in hand. For two or three minutes there was a sharp fight, and had the constables been alone they would have been defeated, for they were outnumbered and the pirates were desperate.
The heavy clubs of the armorers decided the fight. One or two of the band alone succeeded in breaking through, the rest were knocked down and bound; not, however, until several severe wounds had been inflicted on their assailants.
When the fray was over, it was found that nine prisoners had been captured. Some of these were stunned by the blows which the smiths had dealt them, and two or three were badly wounded; all were more or less injured in the struggle. When they recovered their senses they were made to get on their feet, and with their hands tied securely behind them, were marched between a double line of their captors off the marsh.
'Thanks for your services,' the justice said when they had gained the place where they had left their horses. 'Nine of my men shall tie each one of these rascals to their stirrups by halters round their necks, and we will give them a smart run into Richmond, where we will lodge them in the jail. Tomorrow is Sunday; on Monday they will be brought before me, and I shall want the evidence of Master Walter Fletcher and of those who were in the boat with him as to what took place on the river. Methinks the evidence on that score, and the resistance which they offered us this evening, will be sufficient to put a halter round their necks; but from what I have heard by the letter which the lord mayor sent me, there are others higher in rank concerned in the affair; doubtless we shall find means to make these ruffians speak.'
Accordingly, at the justice's orders, halters were placed round the necks of the prisoners, the other ends being attached to the saddles, and the party set off at a pace which taxed to the utmost the strength of the wounded men. Geoffrey and his party returned in high spirits to Southwark.
On the Monday Walter went over to Richmond, accompanied by the armorers and by the lads who had been in the boat with him. The nine ruffians, strongly guarded, were brought up in the justice room. Walter first gave his evidence, and related how he had overheard a portion of the conversation which led him to believe that an attack would be made upon the boat coming down the river.
'Can you identify either of the prisoners as being the man whom you saw at the door of the hut?'
'No,' Walter said. 'When I first saw him I was too far off to make out his face. When he left the hut it was dark.'
'Should you know the other man, the one who was addressed as sir knight, if you saw him again?'
