No one shall entertain any man for more than three days, unless he is committed to this charge by the man whom he has been serving. And no one shall dismiss one of his men from his service until he is quit of every accusation which has been brought against him. *If anyone comes upon a thief and of his own accord lets him escape without raising the hue and cry, he shall make compensation by the payment of the thief's wergeld, or clear himself with the full oath, asserting that he did not know him to be guilty of any crime. And if anyone hears the hue and cry and neglects it, he shall pay the full fine for insubordination [120s] to the king, or clear himself by the full oath. *Regarding thoroughly untrustworthy men, if anyone has forfeited the confidence of the hundred, and he has charges brought against him to such an extent that he is accused by three men at once, no other course shall be open to him but to go to the triple ordeal. If, however, his lord asserts that he has failed neither in oath nor in ordeal since the assembly was held at Winchester, the lord shall choose two trustworthy men within the hundred - unless he has a reeve who is qualified to discharge this duty - and they shall swear that he has never failed in oath or ordeal or been convicted of stealing. If the oath is forthcoming, the man who is accused there shall choose whichever he will - either the simple ordeal or an oath equivalent to a pound in value, supported by compurgators found within the three hundreds, in the case of an object over 30d. in value. If they dare not give the oath, the accused shall go to the triple ordeal, which shall be opened by five compurgators selected by the accuser and he himself shall make a sixth. If the accused is proved guilty, on the first occasion he shall pay double value to the accuser and his wergeld to the lord who is entitled to receive his fine, and he shall appoint trustworthy sureties, that hence forth he will desist from all wrong-doing. And on the second occasion, if he is proved guilty, there shall be no compensation but to have his hands or his feet cut off or both, according to the nature of the offense. And if has wrought still greater crime, he shall have his eyes put out and his nose and ears and upper lip cut off or his scalp removed, whichever of these penalties is determined by those with whom rests the decision of the case; and thus punishment shall be inflicted, while, at the same time, the soul is preserved from injury. If, however, he escapes and avoids the ordeal, his surety shall pay the value of his goods to the plaintiff and the wergeld of the accused to the king or to the man who is entitled to receive his wergeld. And if the lord is accused of advising the man who had done wrong to escape, he shall choose five trustworthy men, and shall himself make a sixth, and shall clear himself of the accusation. If he succeeds in clearing himself, he shall be entitled to the wergeld.