You
will have to wait here till a large force sets out, with provisions;
for those who came in declare that they will not attempt to return, so
great is the number of Welshmen along there, and so fierce and reckless
are they.
"But you have not yet told me who you are, and why you would push on to
the army thus rashly."
Oswald opened his jerkin, and showed the handsome attire beneath it,
embroidered with the Percy cognizance.
"I am an esquire of Sir Henry Percy," he said, "and have been staying
for a while with Sir Edmund Mortimer, whose sister is my lord's wife. A
royal messenger arrived at Ludlow, with a letter for the king; and as
there was no other way of bringing it forward, I volunteered to carry
it, with my man-at-arms, here."
"It was a brave offer, young sir, but I fear that you will scarce be
able to carry it into effect. The men who came here report that it is
unsafe to stir a yard from the camp; for those who wander away, for
however short a distance, are sure to be slain by the lurking Welshmen.
No resistance is offered when strong parties go out, but less than two
hundred men-at-arms cannot hope to move, unattacked."
"'Tis for that reason that I have come on foot," Oswald said.
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