of pain, for the bolt of a cross-bow had wounded his leg, and the blood
was now streaming from it. He was instantly laid hold of by two or
three
of the men-at-arms. It was useless to struggle, and he submitted in
silence.
"It's a boy!" cried several of them together, in a tone of amazement. "I
thought it was one of those demons."
"What are you about here?"
"Going to have a little rough usage apparently," said Curdie laughing,
as the men shook him.
"Impertinence will do you no good. You have no business here in the
king's grounds, and if you don't give a true account of yourself, you
shall fare as a thief."
"Why, what else could he be?" said one.
"He might have been after a lost kid, you know," suggested another.
Madhuri Noah
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