thereafter no man cared to jest, for they were a neighbourly and kind
folk, and were sorry both for the dead, and also for the living that
should suffer from that day's work.

So then we sat silent awhile. The unseen moon was bright over the
roof of the house, so that outside all was gleaming bright save the
black shadows, though the moon came not into the room, and the white
wall of the tower was the whitest and the brightest thing we could
see.

Wide open were the windows, and the scents of the fragrant night
floated in upon us, and the sounds of the men at their meat or making
merry about the township; and whiles we heard the gibber of an owl
from the trees westward of the church, and the sharp cry of a
blackbird made fearful by the prowling stoat, or the far-off lowing of
a cow from the upland pastures; or the hoofs of a horse trotting on
the pilgrimage road (and one of our watchers would that be).

Thus we sat awhile, and once again came that feeling over me of wonder
and pleasure at the strange and beautiful sights, mingled with the
sights and sounds and scents beautiful indeed, yet not strange, but
rather long familiar to me.

But now Will Green started in his seat where he sat with his daughter
hanging over his chair, her hand amidst his thick black curls, and she
weeping softly, I thought; and his rough strong voice broke the
silence.

"Why, lads and neighbours, what ails us? If the knights who fled from
us this eve were to creep back hither and look in at the window, they