"For what purpose, then?"
"For money; and for what money will buy—drink. Have you any wine in the room?"
"No, but I will fetch you some directly."
"Thank you, steward," replied Oakley, smiling, "but I would rather wait a few minutes. To be sure, it is a hard thing to be fasting from drink for two whole days! but then it is better than being a prisoner. We will be good friends, master Calverley, but we will not put too much faith in one another. And, as for taking your life—an idea which did occur to me just now—by the green wax! I don't think I could do it. To be sure, sometimes an odd fit comes upon me, but I believe, after all, the pen suits my hand better than the sword; nevertheless, to come to the point, steward, I must have money. I am going to turn an honest man; to gain the bondman his freedom, and the free man justice. You need not smile, for I have sworn to be a leader of the people."
"And I suppose Holgrave has sworn, too," sneered Calverley.
"I believe not; I have heard nothing as yet of his being a leader; but I left the monk this morning under pretence of rousing the villeins about Cotswold hills, and so managed to get here."
"Do you know any thing of Holgrave's route?"
"He is gone to London."
"To London!"
"Yes—will you let his wife follow him?"