"No, Natasha and I sometimes don`t go to sleep till after two, so please don`t go. I will order supper. Go downstairs, we will come immediately."

"Why, hermit," was the yeoman's first question as soon as he beheld the knight, "what boon companion hast thou here?"

A tall, stout, and proud-looking woman, with a round-faced smiling daughter, entered the drawing room, their dresses rustling.

"'Tis but a contrivance to gain time," said Locksley; "they dare not do a deed for which I could exact a fearful penalty."