woodmen, who promised to keep him safe till the return of the
knight.

When Sir Oliver came back, Warbel was brought to him, told a part
of his tale, and was admitted readily as a member of the household;
but the story of his incarceration in the secret chamber remained a
secret known only to himself and the three boys. So delightful a
mystery as the existence of this unknown chamber was too precious
to be parted with; and it was a compact between the boys and the
man, who now became their chief attendant and body servant, that
the trick of that door and the existence of that chamber were to be
told to none, but kept as absolutely their own property.



Chapter II: The Household At Chad.


The office of mistress of a large household in the sixteenth
century was no sinecure. It was not the fashion then to depute to
the hands of underlings the supervision of the details of domestic
management; and though the lady of the Hall might later in the day
entertain royalty itself, the early hours of the morning were spent
in careful and busy scrutiny of kitchen, pantry, and store or still
room, and her own fair hands knew much of the actual skill which
was required in the preparation of the many compounds which graced
the board at dinner or supper.

Lady Chadgrove was no exception to the general rule of careful
household managers; and whilst her lord and master went hunting or