"Ah!" I said. "When I left the crowd they were going very fast. You
had best hurry, if you wish to secure a bargain."

"I'm off," he answered; then, jerking his thumb over his shoulder,
"If you keep on to the river and that clump of cedars, you will find
Termagaunt in ruff and farthingale."

When he was gone, I stood still for a while and watched the slow
sweep of a buzzard high in the blue, after which I unsheathed my
dagger, and with it tried to scrape the dried mud from my boots.
Succeeding but indifferently, I put the blade up, stared again at the
sky, drew a long breath, and marched upon the covert of cedars
indicated by Hamor.

As I neared it, I heard at first only the wash of the river; but
presently there came to my ears the sound of a man's voice, and
then a woman's angry "Begone, sir!"

"Kiss and be friends," said the man.

The sound that followed being something of the loudest for even
the most hearty salutation, I was not surprised, on parting the
bushes, to find the man nursing his cheek, and the maid her hand.

"You shall pay well for that, you sweet vixen!" he cried, and
caught her by both wrists.

She struggled fiercely, bending her head this way and that, but his
hot lips had touched her face before I could come between.