He sighed a good many times, but he smiled once or twice likewise, and at last he gave himself a shake and spoke out aloud.
"At least it shall make no cloud and no bitterness betwixt us twain.

He is a fine lad and a noble one, and he deserves more at Dame Fortune's hands than such a clown as I.Shall I grudge him his luck if he gets her?
never a whit! There may not be more than one Cherry in the world, but there are plenty of good wives and honest maidens who will brighten a man's home for him." Musing thus, Jacob kept his watch, and was not long in hearing strange and cautious sounds above his head.

Looking up, he beheld a lithe form slipping, in something of a snake fashion, down the woodwork of the bridge, and the next moment Cuthbert sprang softly down, so deftly that the wherry only rolled a little at the shock.
"Hast thought me long?
Hast been frozen with cold?
I have made all the haste I could.

All is planned.

This is not strange work to them.