Stooping low, they set off at a run and, being certain that the figures were making straight for the forest, they did not pause to get another glimpse of them, but ran straight on. They had gone some seventy or eighty yards, when they heard a stifled exclamation; and then, without further attempt at concealment, two figures rose from a bush twenty yards ahead, and fled for the forest. There was no more occasion for stooping and, at the top of their speed, Oswald and Roger pursued the fugitives. These ran fast, but Oswald, who had outpaced his heavier companion, came up to them when within fifty yards of the edge of the forest; and, passing them, drew his sword and faced them. "Surrender," he said, "or I will cut you down." Instead of the fierce spring that he had anticipated, the two figures stopped suddenly, exchanged a word in Welsh, and then dropped their cloaks. To Oswald's astonishment, two young women stood before him. They evidently belonged to the upper class. Both were richly dressed. They wore heavy gold chains round their necks, and bracelets of the same metal; set, as Oswald noticed by the reflection of the moon, with jewels. They had also brooches, and their girdles were held in with massive gold clasps. By this time Roger had come up, and stood staring with astonishment. "Take these, good fellows," the girl said in English, as she began to unfasten her necklace. "Take these, and let us go. They will make you rich." "I am an esquire of Sir Henry Percy," Oswald said, "and I rob not women. By your appearance, I should judge you to be daughters of Glendower." "It would be useless to deny it," one of the girls said, proudly. "Why do you come spying here?" Oswald said. "Surely, among your father's warriors, others better suited for such work might have been found." "We were not spying," the girl replied. "We have lain hidden all day, and were but making our escape." "How can that be, madam? We had a guard all round the castle, and know that none can have escaped." "Being an esquire, you are a gentleman, sir, and will not disclose what I am about to tell you; though, indeed, now that our father's house is in your hands, it boots not much whether the secret is known. There is a secret passage from the castle that opens into these bushes, and it was through that that we issued out; having been in hiding all day, in the secret chamber from which it leads. "Well, sir, we are your prisoners; and shall, I suppose, be sent to London, there to be held until our father is in the usurper's hands, which will not be, believe me, for years yet." Oswald was silent. The two girls, some seventeen or eighteen years of age, both possessed singular beauty they had inherited from their father; and bore themselves with an air of fearlessness that won his admiration. He was still but a lad and, thinking of the years these fair girls might pass in a prison, he felt a deep pity for them. He drew Roger aside.