sober and less noticeable color, Cuthbert started for the great forest,
which then stretched to within a mile of Erstwood. In those days a large
part of the country was covered with forest, and the policy of the
Normans in preserving these woods for the chase tended to prevent the
increase of cultivation.

The farms and cultivated lands were all held by Saxons, who although
nominally handed over to the nobles to whom William and his successors
had given the fiefs, saw but little of their Norman masters. These
stood, indeed, much in the position in which landlords stand to their
tenants, payment being made, for the most part, in produce. At the edge
of the wood the trees grew comparatively far apart, but as Cuthbert
proceeded further into its recesses, the trees in the virgin forest
stood thick and close together. Here and there open glades ran across
each other, and in these his sharp eye, accustomed to the forest, could
often see the stags starting away at the sound of his footsteps.

It was a full hour's journey before Cuthbert reached the point for which
he was bound. Here, in an open space, probably cleared by a storm ages
before, and overshadowed by giant trees, was a group of men of all ages
and appearances. Some were occupied in stripping the skin off a buck
which hung from the bough of one of the trees. Others were roasting
portions of the carcass of another deer. A few sat apart, some talking,
others busy in making arrows, while a few lay asleep on the greensward.
As Cuthbert entered the clearing several of the party rose to their
feet.

"Ah, Cuthbert," shouted a man of almost gigantic stature, who appeared
to be one of the leaders of the party, "what brings you here, lad, so
early? You are not wont to visit us till even, when you can lay your