"To dig up the old witch out of the grave!" inquired the foreman with a stare of astonishment. "To unearth a dead body! By the green wax! man, your long fast has touched your brain!"
"No," said the galleyman, gravely. "I am as sound and as sober as ever I was; and, mind you, (casting a quick glance round the table) I don't want any one to work for nothing—here, (he said, taking a small leathern purse from his pocket) is what will pay, and I shall be no niggard. You shall have money and drink too—speak! will you assist? There is no time to lose."
"What say you, brethren?" resumed the foreman, looking at the rest: "our friend served us—and besides, it is a pity to let good things go a-begging."
The brethren felt no great appetite for a job so much out of their way—and sundry hems! and awkward gesticulations expressed their reluctance.
"Suppose we do assist," drawled out Harvey and three or four others; "who is to remove the body?" the galleyman hastily answered,
"Leave it to me—I fear not the dead—though if the old woman started from the grave, she could owe me no good will. Would you lend a hand if this Calverley should bear down upon us?"
"Aye, aye," said Harvey, with some shew of courage; "we don't mind, unless the odds are against us, and in that case, you know, we must retreat."
"What!" said Black Jack, laughing, "think you squire Calverley would busy himself about the dead! Come, come, tell out the silver, and replenish the flagon: we are yours for this adventure—and, by the green wax! a strange one it is."
The sum agreed upon was paid; the liquor furnished and freely circulated; and the galleyman, now relieved from a weight that had oppressed him, gradually became cheerful.
It was about midnight when the party set out, well armed and muffled in large cloaks, and in less than two hours arrived within view of Winchcombe. Here, without entering the town, they turned into a lane branching off to the left, that led to Hailes Abbey, and down this avenue the galleyman piloted his companions. The way was narrow—at least two only could ride abreast—with a hedge on each side, and here and there the picturesque branches of a well-grown elm, displaying at this season (in the daylight) the soft green of the budding leaves. They had proceeded in silence about half a mile, when the galleyman suddenly paused.