A moment of suspense: then came the stern reply.
"He that doth so shall hang from the nearest oak."
She chuckled.
"The spell already works," she said; "I may return to the shelter which has been mine so long. He will not harm them."
The time of the separation of the foe had now come; the Baron rode off to his midnight watch on Cwichelm; Malebouche conducted the two captives along the road to the distant keep; the others, men and dogs, circulated right and left in the woods.
The woods and reeds were still smoking, the atmosphere was dense and murky, as Judith returned to the hut.
She sat by the fire which still smoked on the hearth, and rocked herself to and fro, and as she sat she sang in an old cracked voice—
"They sought my bower one murky night,
They burnt my bower, they slew my knight;