"
"Aye, verily!" quoth Sir Pertinax, "there it is in a nutshell--hangman, be
hanged to thee! So off with their fetters, Master Gallows, by Crystal Heart
I charge thee!"
Hereupon the scurvy knaves were freed, to their great joy, and following
the bold knight, made haste to quit their gloomy dungeon. Reaching the
guardroom above, Sir Pertinax called lustily for sword and bascinet, and
thereafter chose divers likely weapons for his companions who, with axe and
pike and guisarme on shoulder, followed him out into the free air.
Now it was night and very dark, but Gurth, who was a man of the town,
brought them by dim and lonely alleys and crooked ways until at last they
halted within a certain dark and narrow street.
"Whither now?" questioned Sir Pertinax.
"Verily," said Jocelyn, "where but to the gatehouse--"
"Not so," muttered Gurth, "'tis overly well guarded--"
"Aye," growled Will, "which is true, as I'm a tanner!"
"Howbeit," said Jocelyn, "I'm for the gatehouse!"
"And wherefore?" demanded Sir Pertinax.
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