"No," replied Roger complacently, "not for a long time back."

"Did he not come in here?" appealed Sir Thomas to those outside.

"Aye, aye," came the answer, "he did."

"Then where is he?" demanded the knight fiercely.

"Nay, I swear by the Holy Virgin I saw him not," replied the sturdy
forester, in perfect truth, for he had not noticed his arrival.

"Hugh came in last," said Lettice's lover, Will. "Hast thou seen aught
of this Manners of late, Hugh?"

Manners' first impulse was to grapple with his pursuers, but he
controlled himself, and trusting to the perfection of his disguise to
screen him, without a moment's hesitation he boldly answered in the
negative.

"Not I," he said, emphatically. "I left my axe just outside, and it
looks so like rain that I went to fetch it in, but I saw nobody; no,
not a soul. Methinks it will rain hard, too, before the morning."

"Tut," interrupted Sir Edward. "Did you hear anybody?"

"No, not even a mouse."

"Then we must search. Out, men, and help us. The man that catches
him shall be rewarded well. We must find him; he is hereabouts, for
I heard his voice. A murrain on the fellow--all this trouble for a