"Yea," continued Ralph Rugge, taking the words out of the other's mouth, "and if such a runaway be caught, he will be imprisoned for fifteen days and branded on the forehead with the letter F; and any one found harboring him would be liable to a fine of ten pounds."
"Curse their insolence!" muttered one whose face was flushed with liquor and whose hands trembled with something other than indignation. "Curse their insolence! Next they will seek to plant us in the soil with a spade chained to our arms!"
"Yea, it is hard," spoke up Annys, with a sigh; "it is a bondage worse than that of the Hebrews in Egypt; yet remain steadfast and patient, and all must come right in the end."
At the other end of the table the men grew more and more under the influence of the flowing ale.
A strong voice now rang out from the lower end of the table:—
"'To seek silver to the king I my seed sold.'"
"'Wherefore my land lieth fallow and learneth to sleep,'"
joined in another voice.
"'Since they fetched my fair cattle in the fold: