"Get thine! What meanest thou?" demanded the older man.
"Well, you two certainly haven't come to pin any medals on me, Sir Wildred," said Blake, with a wry smile.
"Thou speakest in riddles," said Wildred. "We have come to free thee that the young king may not bring disgrace upon the Knights of the Sepulcher by carrying out his wicked will with thee. Sir Guy and I heard that he would burn thee at the stake, and we said to one another that while blood flowed in our bodies we would not let so valorous a knight be thus shamelessly wronged by any tyrant."
As he spoke Wildred stooped and with a great rasp commenced filing upon the iron rivets that held the hinged anklet in place.
"You are going to help me to escape!" exclaimed Blake. "But suppose you are discovered—will not the king punish you?"
"We shall not be discovered," said Wildred, "though I would take that chance for so noble a sir knight as thee. Sir Guy be upon the outer barbican this night and 'twill be no trick to get thee that far. He can pass thee through and thou canst make thy way down the mountain side and cross to Nimmr. We cannot get thee through the city gates for these be held by two of Bohun's basest creatures, but perchance upon the morrow Sir Guy or I may find the way to ride out upon the plain with a led horse, and that we shall if so it hap that it be possible."
"Tell us of a thing that hath filled us with questioning," said Sir Guy.
"I don't follow you," said Blake.
"Thou didst, and mighty prettily too, take the Princess Guinalda from under the very nose of Bohun," continued Guy, "and yet later she was seen in the clutches of the Saracens. How came this to pass?"
"She was seen?" demanded Blake. "Where?"