Hampton and the Burg, or go either to one or the other of these strongholds.
Is there no other way out of this wood save by Hampton or the Burg?
or no other place anigh, where I may rest in peace awhile, and then go
on mine own errands?"

Said the Carle: "There is a thorp that lieth somewhat west
of the Burg, which is called Apthorp; but it is an open place,
not fenced, and is debateable ground, whiles held by them
of the Burg, whiles by the Dry Tree; and if thou tarry there,
and they of the Dry Tree take thee, soon is thine errand sped;
and if they of the Burg take thee, then shalt thou be led into the Burg
in worse case than thou wouldest be if thou go thereto uncompelled.
What sayest thou, therefore? Who shall hurt thee in the Burg,
a town which is under good and strong law, if thou be a true man,
as thou seemest to be? And if thou art seeking adventures,
as may well be, thou shalt soon find them there ready to hand.
I rede thee come with me to the Burg; for, to say sooth, I shall
find it somewhat easier to enter therein if I be in the company
of thee, a knight and a lord."

So Ralph considered and thought that there lay indeed but little peril
to him in the Burg, whereas both those men with whom he had striven were
hushed for ever, and there was none else to tell the tale of the battle,
save the lady, whose peril from them of the Burg was much greater than his;
and also he thought that if anything untoward befel, he had some one to fall
back on in old Oliver: yet on the other hand he had a hankering after Hampton
under Scaur, where, to say sooth, he doubted not to see the lady again.

So betwixt one thing and the other, speech hung on his
lips awhile, when suddenly the carle said: "Hist! thou hast