You will have to wait here till a large force sets out, with provisions; for those who came in declare that they will not attempt to return, so great is the number of Welshmen along there, and so fierce and reckless are they.
"But you have not yet told me who you are, and why you would push on to the army thus rashly." Oswald opened his jerkin, and showed the handsome attire beneath it, embroidered with the Percy cognizance.
"I am an esquire of Sir Henry Percy," he said, "and have been staying for a while with Sir Edmund Mortimer, whose sister is my lord's wife.

A royal messenger arrived at Ludlow, with a letter for the king; and as there was no other way of bringing it forward, I volunteered to carry it, with my man-at-arms, here." "It was a brave offer, young sir, but I fear that you will scarce be able to carry it into effect.

The men who came here report that it is unsafe to stir a yard from the camp; for those who wander away, for however short a distance, are sure to be slain by the lurking Welshmen.
No resistance is offered when strong parties go out, but less than two hundred men-at-arms cannot hope to move, unattacked." "'Tis for that reason that I have come on foot," Oswald said.

"I saw that it would be hopeless for two horsemen to get through, but on foot we may travel through the woods without being discovered; while if we are seen, methinks it would need speedy feet to catch us." "Well, since you bear a royal letter I cannot stop you; but it seems to me that your chance of getting through is small, indeed.".