Shortly afterwards the party halted beside the noble tree. How beautiful it looked at that hour! its summit silvered by the moonlight, while a few beams found their way through openings in the branches, and fell upon the massive stem. Charles was enchanted. "Truly that is a royal tree!" he thought. "How majestic it looks among the oaks that surround it, though they are all noble trees, and how it lords it over them--like a king among his peers!" He then added aloud to Trusty Dick, "But for you, my good friend, I should not have made acquaintance with this grand old tree, and I should therefore have lost some of the happiest moments of my life, for though in great jeopardy, I was never happier than during my day's sojourn in the oak; and if I am spared I shall ever look back to the time with satisfaction. Farewell, old tree!" he added. "May I spend another happy day amid thy friendly boughs!" He then moved on, and the party took their way through a thicket, where the moon's radiance being intercepted by the branches overhead, it was so dark that they could not see many yards before them, and they had to proceed with great caution--the advanced guard halting ever and anon. But nothing occurred to cause them alarm. At length they reached an opening in the wood, and a broad moonlit glade lay before them, but they hesitated to cross it, and kept among the trees; and the prudence of the step was shown a few minutes afterwards, when a patrol, whom they must infallibly have encountered had they gone straight on, appeared on the lawn. The sight of the enemy aroused the choler of the loyal brothers, and Humphrey expressed a strong desire to give the knaves a drubbing, but, of course, he was not allowed to gratify his inclination. There were no witnesses of the passage of the king and his companions through the forest--but had there been, the sight would have been worth viewing. Those dark gigantic figures indistinctly seen among the trees looked strange and mysterious. And when the party issued forth into some more open spot not overhung by boughs, so that the moonlight fell upon them and cast their black shadows on the ground, they looked still more unearthly. Despite the peril to which he was exposed, and the many difficulties and hindrances he had to undergo, the king enjoyed the ride. He would have enjoyed it still more if the horse he bestrode had been less rough of motion. But his majesty's seat in the saddle was far from easy. At last he lost all patience, and exclaimed: "Plague take thy horse, Humphrey! Never before was I so jolted." But his good humour was instantly restored by the miller's ready response. "Generally, Robin goes well enough," said Humphrey. "But your majesty must consider that he has now got the weight of three kingdoms on his back." Charles laughed, and made no further complaint. CHAPTER IV. WHERE THE KING FOUND JASPER.