"
"Well," said the captain, "I wot not; it beareth plover and
whimbrel and conies and hares; yea, and men withal, some few.
And whereas it beareth naught else, that cometh of my lord's will:
for deemest thou that he should suffer a rich land betwixt
him and Goldburg, that it might sustain an host big enough
to deal with him?"
"But is not this his land?" said Ralph.
Said the captain: "Nay, and also yea. None shall dwell in it save
as he willeth, and they shall pay him tribute, be it never so little.
Yet some there are of them, who are to him as the hounds be to the hunter,
and these same he even wageth, so that if aught rare and goodly cometh
their way they shall bring it to his hands; as thou thyself knowest
to thy cost."
"Yea," said Ralph smiling, "and is Morfinn the Unmanned one of these curs?"
"Yea," said the captain, with a grin, "and one of the richest of them,
in despite of his fiddle and minstrel's gear, and his lack of manhood:
for he is one of the cunningest of men. But my Lord unmanned him for
some good reason."
Ralph kept silence and while and then said: "Why doth the Goldburg folk
suffer all this felony, robbery and confusion, so near their borders,
and the land debateable?"
Said the captain, and again he grinned: "Passing for thy hard words,
sir knight, why dost thou suffer me to lead thee along whither
thou wouldest not?"
"Because I cannot help myself," said Ralph.
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