the youth and the King did not exactly join them, but fell in close behind them and followed their steps.

He said nothing. His left arm was in a sling, and he wore a large green patch over his left eye; he limped slightly, and used an oaken staff as a support. The youth led the King a crooked course through Southwark, and by-and-by struck into the high road beyond. The King was irritated, now, and said he would stop here — it was Hendon’s place to come to him, not his to go to Hendon. He would not endure such insolence; he would stop where he was. The youth said —

“Thou’lt tarry here, and thy friend lying wounded in the wood yonder? So be it, then.”

The King’s manner changed at once. He cried out —