"I will gladly undertake the mission, my lord; and all the more gladly, since it may lead to the liberation of Sir Edmund Mortimer, who treated me with the greatest kindness and condescension, during my stay at Ludlow." "Prepare to start tomorrow, then," the earl said. "The letter shall be ready for you tonight; and beyond what my son has told you, you can tell Glendower that we have good hopes of large help from Scotland; with whom, it is said, he is already in alliance." The next morning Oswald started, taking no one but Roger with him. He had, the evening before, told his squire only that he was starting on a journey; promising to tell him more, as they rode. Accordingly, when well away from Alnwick, he beckoned to Roger to bring up his horse alongside of him. "Where think you that we are going, Roger? I will give you fifty guesses, and would warrant that you would not come at the truth." "It matters nothing to me, master; so that I ride with you, I am content." "You know, Roger, how grievously the king has treated the Percys; how he has prevented their taking ransom for their prisoners, and has refused to ransom Sir Edmund Mortimer; how he, in bitter jest, offered the earl the estates of Douglas; and how he has put upon them the indignity of sending four men, of no import, to decide upon their difference with Westmoreland?" "Ay, ay, Sir Oswald, everyone knows this, and not a few have wondered that the Percys have suffered these things, in quietness." "A fresh thing has happened, Roger. The tenants of Mortimer, with aid from the earl and Hotspur, have raised the sum that Glendower demanded as ransom; and now the king has laid on them his order, that this money is not to be paid." "By our Lady," Roger exclaimed wrathfully, "this is too much! Sir Edmund is a noble gentleman, and that the king should refuse to allow his friends to ransom him passes all bounds." "So the earl and Hotspur consider," Oswald said, "and, ere long, you will see that they will hoist the banner of the young Earl of March, and proclaim him King of England." "'Tis good," Roger exclaimed, slapping his hand on his leg. "To me it matters nought who is King of England, but I always held that it was hard that King Richard should be deposed, and murdered, by one who was not even his lawful successor. I am not one to question the conduct of my lord, but I always thought that the Percys were wrong in bringing this usurper over." "They feel that themselves, Roger, and consider the ingratitude of the king to be a punishment upon them, for having aided him to the throne." "But what has this to do with your journey, master?" "It has much to do with it, Roger, seeing that I am on my way to Glendower, to offer him alliance with the Percys." "A good step!" Roger exclaimed. "We know that these Welsh can fight."