The eyes of Addedomar opened wider and wider as his scouts dropped in one by one, and his heart beat high with glee and hope at the news they brought, for it opened up a speedy conquest in detail of more foes than he had counted on meeting with, and left the prospect of his afterwards carrying into execution his original plan.
The first scout brought the intelligence that it was not the men of King Hudibras who were in the neighbourhood, but those of Gadarn, the great chief of the far north, who had come there with an armed force in search of his daughter—she having gone lost, stolen, or strayed in the wilderness.
“Is the band a large one?” demanded Addedomar.
“It is; but not so large as ours, and it is weakened every day by being sent into the woods in different directions and in three detachments.”
“Excellent! Ha! we will join Gadarn in this search, not only for his daughter, but for himself, and we will double the number of his detachments when we meet them, by slicing each man in two.”
A loud laugh greeted this pleasantry, for robbers were easily tickled in those days.
“I also discovered,” continued the scout, “that there is search being made at the same time for some boy or lad, who seems to have disappeared, or run away, or been caught by robbers.”
Again there was a laugh at the idea that there were other robbers about besides themselves, but the chief checked them.
“Did you find out anything else about this lad?” he asked.
“Only that he seemed from his dress to be a hunter.”