"Who is this?" Heinrich asked suspiciously, and pointing to Engel, who stepped into the stable after Herman, and stood near by, waiting for the door to be closed.
"'Tis the forester who showed us how William Tyndale could be brought away from the dungeon in Schouts' castle," Herman explained. "You remember what I told you of him?"
"I do, and since 'tis he, he is welcome for what he did. Let me look at him," Heinrich went on, as soon as he had driven the bolt into the door, and, taking up the lantern, he held it so that the light fell full on Engel's weather-beaten face.
"I can trust you," he said, after a full scrutiny. "But how late you are," he added half peevishly. "'Tis time we started. Hark!"
The great bell of the cathedral boomed out the hour of ten, and Heinrich counted the strokes half audibly before he moved.
"Stay where you are. I'll bring the others down, for 'twill be waste of time to go up the steps only to come down again," he said peremptorily, and he turned to mount the flight to bring the others to them.
"But wait," cried Herman, "Mistress Margaret must not go through the storm in all this rain and wind without something warm on; and here are things my mother sent for her."
Heinrich shrugged his shoulders impatiently. He knew how precious the moments were, and this meant delay.
"Give them to me, and hold this lantern!" he exclaimed. "I'll take them to her, and her mother and mine will make her fit to travel."
He caught up the bundle and moved two steps at a time, while Herman and Engel watched him amusedly.