Hah! what sayest thou ?" Said Ralph: "This seemeth to me but the bare truth; yet it is little after the manner of such masterful men as ye be.

But why then do ye slay all their carles that are taken; whereas ye bear away the women and make thralls of them at home, that is to say, foes in every house ?" "It may be," said the Burgher, "that this is not amongst the wisest of our dealings.

Yet may we do no otherwise; for thus we swore to do by all the greatest oaths that we might swear, in the days when we first cast off their yoke, and yet were not over strong at the first; and now it hath so grown into a part of our manners, yea, and of our very hearts and minds, that the slaying of a Wheat-wearer is to us a lighter matter than the smiting of a rabbit or a fowmart.

But now, look you, fair sir, my company ariseth from table; so I bid thee a good night.
And I give thee a good rede along with the good wish, to wit, that thou ask not too many questions in this city concerning its foemen: for here is the stranger looked upon with doubt, if he neither will take the wages of the Burg for battle, nor hath aught to sell." Ralph reddened at his word, and the other looked at him steadily as he spoke, so that Ralph deemed that he mistrusted him: he deemed moreover that three or four of the others looked hard at him as they went towards the door, while Roger stood somewhat smiling, and humming a snatch of an old song.
But when the other guests had left the hostelry, Roger left his singing, and turned to Ralph and said: "Master, meseems that they mistrust us, and now maybe is that peril that I spake of nigher than I deemed when we came into the Burg this morning.

And now I would that we were well out of the Burg and in the merry greenwood again, and it repents me that I brought thee hither." "Nay, good fellow," quoth Ralph, "heed it not: besides, it was me, not thee, that they seemed to doubt of.