"They are here, my son," the woman said, pointing to a heap of things on the couch downstairs when they were all standing in the room which seemed small with two such men in it. "I will wrap them in a bundle, and you must be gone." She threw her arms about Herman's neck presently, kissed him passionately, and told him how she would spend the night in prayer for their good speeding. "Wilt come to me some early day, Otto Engel, and tell me how they fared?" she asked, standing with her hand on the lock before she opened the street door. "With all my heart," the forester answered, and then the two men went into the street, where, as they faced the sweeping rain and wind, they staggered and fought hard to keep their feet. CHAPTER XXVI THE PURCHASE OF THE VAULT "Who is this?" Heinrich asked suspiciously, and pointing to Engel, who stepped into the stable after Herman, and stood near by, waiting for the door to be closed. "'Tis the forester who showed us how William Tyndale could be brought away from the dungeon in Schouts' castle," Herman explained. "You remember what I told you of him?" "I do, and since 'tis he, he is welcome for what he did. Let me look at him," Heinrich went on, as soon as he had driven the bolt into the door, and, taking up the lantern, he held it so that the light fell full on Engel's weather-beaten face. "I can trust you," he said, after a full scrutiny. "But how late you are," he added half peevishly. "'Tis time we started. Hark!" The great bell of the cathedral boomed out the hour of ten, and Heinrich counted the strokes half audibly before he moved. "Stay where you are. I'll bring the others down, for 'twill be waste of time to go up the steps only to come down again," he said peremptorily, and he turned to mount the flight to bring the others to them. "But wait," cried Herman, "Mistress Margaret must not go through the storm in all this rain and wind without something warm on; and here are things my mother sent for her." Heinrich shrugged his shoulders impatiently. He knew how precious the moments were, and this meant delay. "Give them to me, and hold this lantern!" he exclaimed. "I'll take them to her, and her mother and mine will make her fit to travel." He caught up the bundle and moved two steps at a time, while Herman and Engel watched him amusedly. "He must have his own way. Otherwise we may confuse him," said Herman, as the simple one entered the door at the top of the steps. "'Tis Herman and the forester who helped to bring the Englishman out of the dungeon," they heard him say in quick, sharp tones. "And Herman's mother has sent these warm, dry clothes for Mistress Margaret. But she must be quick. The moments are precious. The cathedral bell has already struck ten, and what I have to do must be done before eleven, or we are lost." Herman saw him drop on his knees and unfasten the bundle on the floor.