Sometimes these hunts were conducted in a wholesale way, and the whole
posse of a county would be called out. Then all found within its limits
who had not land or visible occupation were collected. Any against whom
charges could be brought home were hung without more ado, and the rest were
put on board ship and sent across the sea to the army. Sometimes, when
they found the country becoming too hot for them, these men would take
service with some knight or noble going to the war, anxious to take with
him as strong a following as might be, and not too particular as to the
character of his soldiers.

Walter, being of an adventurous spirit, was sometimes wont of a summer
evening, when his work was done, to wander across the marshes, taking with
him his bow and arrows, and often bringing home a wild duck or two which he
shot in the pools. More than once surly men had accosted him, and had
threatened to knock him on the head if they again found him wandering that
way; but Walter laughed at their threats, and seeing, that though but an
apprentice lad, he might be able to send an arrow as straight to the mark
as another, they were content to leave him alone.

One day when he was well-nigh in the heart of the swamp of Lambeth he saw a
figure making his way across. The hour was already late and the night was
falling, and the appearance of the man was so different from that of the
usual denizens of the swamp that Walter wondered what business there might
be. Scarcely knowing why he did so, Walter threw himself down among some
low brushwood and watched the approaching figure. When he came near he
recognized the face, and saw, to his surprise, that it was a knight who had
but the day before stopped at the armourer's shop to have two rivets put in
his hauberk. He had particularly noticed him because of the arrogant manner
in which he spoke. Walter had himself put in the rivets, and had thought,
as he buckled on the armour again, how unpleasant a countenance was that of