 rest was divided amongst the outlaws, according to their
rank and merit; and the judgment of the Chief, on all such doubtful questions as
occurred, was delivered with great shrewdness, and received with absolute
submission. The Black Knight was not a little surprised to find that men, in a
state so lawless, were, nevertheless, among themselves so regularly and
equitably governed, and all that he observed added to his opinion of the justice
and judgment of their leader.
    When each had taken his own proportion of the booty, and while the
treasurer, accompanied by four tall yeomen, was transporting that belonging to
the state to some place of concealment or of security, the portion devoted to
the church still remained unappropriated.
    »I would,« said the leader, »we could hear tidings of our joyous chaplain -
he was never wont to be absent when meat was to be blessed, or spoil to be
parted; and it is his duty to take care of these the tithes of our successful
enterprise. It may be the office has helped to cover some of his canonical
irregularities. Also I have a holy brother of his a prisoner at no great
distance, and I would fain have the Friar to help me to deal with him in due
sort - I greatly misdoubt the safety of the bluff priest.«
    »I were right sorry for that,« said the Knight of the Fetterlock, »for I
stand indebted to him for the joyous hospitality of a merry night in his cell.
Let us to the ruins of the castle; it may be we shall there learn some tidings
of him.«
    While they thus spoke, a loud shout among the yeomen announced the arrival
of him for whom they feared, as they learned from the stentorian voice of the
Friar himself, long before they saw his burly person.
    »Make room, my merry men!« he exclaimed, »room for your godly father and his
prisoner - Cry welcome once more. - I come, noble leader, like an eagle, with my
prey in my clutch.« - And, making his way through the ring, amidst the laughter
of all around, he appeared in majestic triumph, his huge partisan in one hand,
and in the other a halter, one end of which was fastened to the neck of the
unfortunate Isaac of York, who, bent down by sorrow and terror, was dragged on
by the victorious priest, who shouted aloud, »Where is Allan-a-Dale, to
chronicle me in a ballad, or if it were but a lay? - By Saint Hermangild,
