CHAPTER VIII.
THE ATTACK.
All day they rode with their faces west, and before nightfall had made a journey of over forty miles.

Then bestowing a largess upon the men-at-arms, Cuthbert dismissed them, and took up his abode at a hostelry, his guide looking to the two horses.
Cuthbert was pleased with the appearance of the man who had been placed at his disposal.

He was a young fellow of twenty-two or twenty-three, with an honest face.

He was, he told Cuthbert, the son of a small farmer near Avignon; but having a fancy for trade, he had been apprenticed to a master smith.

Having served his apprenticeship, he found that he had mistaken his vocation, and intended to return to the paternal vineyards.
Cuthbert calculated that he would make at least four days' journey to the south before he could meet with any dangers.