"Be quick, fellow!" cried the other, who by this time had seated himself at the cross table where Schouts always sat. "I told you I was starving. Canst not serve me first and see to that later?"
The man's voice rang down the hall impatiently.
"I dare not! 'Tis more than one's life is worth in this castle," Herman called back with assumed ease; but his heart was beating tumultuously. With a swift look up the banqueting-chamber to see that none had been watching him besides the heretic hunter, and then with glances as keen each way in the corridor, Herman went at a run, regardless of his sounding steps.
"Here," came the ranger's whisper, as the door opened wide, and Herman, with an ejaculation of thankfulness, stepped through the doorway. He heard the thud of the heavy stone coming into its place, and the click of the latch before he turned.
"Safe again, and God be praised!" exclaimed the forester, reaching for the lantern and looking at the load which Herman carried. "And successful, too!" he cried, a ring of satisfaction in his voice.
"There's plenty for us all," said Herman quietly, now realising the strain this bold venture had placed on him. "Lead the way, Otto, and let us get back to Master Tyndale."
He felt that for a little while, at all events, he did not want to speak. His mind was not so much on the danger he had faced as on that man who was the instigator of all this trouble, and he marvelled at his escape from recognition since more than once he had confronted Cochlaeus in the city, and had been compelled to do business with him. Each step in that short walk towards William Tyndale served to restore his confidence, and as Engel went before him silently, holding the lantern low down, so that the light fell on the path showing him where to tread, he was becoming his old self again.
"Wert seen at all?" asked the ranger presently, wondering at Herman's silence.
"Yes, and by Cochlaeus."
"What! By Cochlaeus?" the other cried, gasping out the words, and turning round so unexpectedly that the dish Herman was carrying was barely saved, and some of the wine in the full flagon was spilt on the path. "Did he know thee?" he exclaimed, staring at Herman and lifting the lantern to see his face.