Whereupon he folded up the parchment and thrust it carelessly within his bosom. Then, grasping Tyrrell's hand, he bade him adieu, swung himself upon his horse and started in the train of the cavalcade, which had already begun its march from the inn. In the light of the single torch remaining, Tyrrell stood beside the door till the noise of the moving company had dwindled to silence in the distance, after which he extinguished the blazing link and disappeared within the lonely tavern. It was nearing daybreak when the cavalcade, led by de Claverlok and Lord Bishop Kennedy, filed past the sentinel outposts within the area of the encampment. The bivouac had been set along the shore, within sight and sound of the sea, and not above a dozen miles from the Red Tavern; but, because of the litter-bearers, the men had been put to the necessity of moving in a slow and deliberate manner, which fact accounted for their tardy progress in effecting the distance. As Sir Lionel de Claverlok is destined to play a most important part in this narrative of tangled conspiracies, it would doubtless be well now to introduce him to the reader. To begin with, he was a man who was loved and admired by his enemies, which, though it may appear anomalous, was nevertheless true. He was as refreshing as a shower in spring; as open in his manner as a wind-swept plain. Saving in the arts of warfare, however, of all of which he had proven himself to be a surpassing master, he was uneducated. Every rugged feature displayed between the shaggy thatch of his wiry, silver-shot hair, and the thick tangle of his disordered, curly beard bespoke at once the good fellow and indomitable warrior. Whilst, intuitively, one would take him for a person of gentle extraction, there was about him little, if anything, of the polished courtier. He had been too industriously engaged upon the business of his life, which was to conquer a complete understanding of war-craft, to yield thought or time to the cultivation of the softer attainments of the court gallant. As to his physical attributes, he was stockily set up, not above the average in height, and in the noontide of a vigorous and healthful manhood. "Men," said Bishop Kennedy as he drew up before his tent, "raise me the silken pavilion of purple and black upon yonder hill. When thou hast done, set up the bed thou didst bring with thee, and dispose the young knight, now asleep in the litter, within. Bid the Renegade Duke to set a close guard above his slumbers. Haste thee, go!" Then, turning to de Claverlok, "attend me within my tent, Sir Lionel," he added, "I would have a moment's speech of thee." Whereupon they dismounted, gave their horses into the charge of waiting equerries and went inside.