Mr. Rogers raised his eyes and saw a portly man standing on a ladder, with a handful of golden straw, putting the last touches to a thatched roof. The thatcher Mayor of Castle Rising was a well-known personage in the country, and, removing his hat, Mr. Rogers stepped to the foot of the ladder and bade the dignitary good morning. "May I be so far troublesome, sir, as to ask if this fellow, who sits tied by the leg, is indeed the man who gave Justice Tomkins news of a plot?" "I know nothing of Justice Tomkins, sir," answered the mayor, raising his hat in his turn, "neither does Justice Tomkins know aught of me. Castle Rising is my place of office, and thatching is my trade, and I meddle with no other man's business. That drunken knave hath frightened a woman and robbed a hen-roost, for which I have committed him to jail, as by my duty bound, and I know nothing more of him." "Sir, your discretion does you great honour," answered Mr. Rogers. "But it is not from idle curiosity that I inquire concerning this man, but from interest in a young gentlewoman who, I fear, hath been frightened out of the country by his malicious tales." The temptation to a gossip was too much for the mayor's dignity. He turned round on the top of his ladder, and settled himself leisurely and began-- "And who may this gentlewoman be, good sir?" The man's face was sensible and honest. Mr. Rogers rapidly decided that his help would be worth seeking. "Mistress Perrient, of Inglethorpe, the granddaughter of old Sir Gyles Perrient." "Sir Gyles was a very worthy gentleman. There is no man nor woman in the country but will say a good word for Sir Gyles Perrient, and I've never heard that his grandarter has done aught to fly the country for." "We are in great anxiety as to Mistress Perrient's fate. None of her friends know where she is hid. I suppose you can give me no help?" "Mistress Perrient," said the mayor, meditating, and coming a step or two down his ladder. "I hope the maid's come to no harm. What are they charging her of?" "Being party to some manner of plot; but I know not precisely how the tale runs." "'Tisn't likely a young maid would go for to be party to a plot, is it now?" said the mayor, growing more colloquial as he grew interested; "leastways, without there was a young man in it. A discreet maid will go the length of her tether if there be but a young man in the matter." Mr. Rogers was rather taken aback by the correctness of this guess. "Sir, you show much knowledge of the world," he answered at last; "but I have no doubt that this story is entirely trumped up by that runnagate yonder, to gain favour in the sight of the justice."