Other voices were now heard, one loud and stern as befitted a leader:—
"What meaneth this? Who hath kindled the reeds without my order?"
"The deer-slayer lurketh within."
"What deer-slayer? Who struck the stag?"
"We know not. It could not have been many minutes before we arrived; the carcase was still warm."
"He must be caught; thou shalt not suffer a poacher to live, is the royal command, and mine too; but did you not set the dogs after him?"
"They had tasted blood, my lord."
"But if he were hidden herein, he must have come forth. If the bed of reeds were properly encircled—it seems to cover some roods of forest."
"A shame for so fine a beast to be so foully murdered."
"It was a stag of ten branches."