28t> CtVM BYCHAN. 



have ever been restrained from assisting the friend who was most 

 dear to you, when perils and dangers surrounded him, and your 

 hand might have saved him ; you cannot refuse me your sympathy, 

 your assistance. Mortimer once rescued me from a cruel death ; he 

 has since been my friend, my benefactor, my more than brother. I 

 could now willingly sacrifice my life, if it would secure his freedom. 

 You may imprison me, you may torture me ; but I swear that all I 

 have said is true. I entreat you, by your duty as the king and fa- 

 ther of your people ; I conjure you, by your plighted faith as a true 

 and noble knight ; I implore you, by your feelings as a man, to 

 listen to my request, and send instant relief to the gallant Mortimer. 

 Oh ! I beseech you, lose not a moment : it may be now too late ! 

 He may have fallen a victim to the revenge of his enemies. Oh ! 

 if you do not believe my story, let me go : I can at least die with 

 him !" The flushed cheek, the dilated eye, the parted lip, the agi- 

 tated frame, all showed how intense was hi3 interest in this appeal. 

 Edward was much moved, and after regarding Thalwyn for some 

 time, as the youth knelt with uplifted hand, awaiting his fate, he 

 said : — " Thy countenance is too open to harbour treachery, thy 

 tongue is too bold to utter a falsehood : I will trust thee. Up and 

 away, then ! Take five hundred of my bravest veterans. Be 

 faithful, and God speed your undertaking." 



In the meantime, the unfortunate Mortimer, wounded and un- 

 conscious, was borne away between two of the band, while the 

 whole party made such speed as the nature of the ground would 

 allow, in order to regain by daybreak their secret hiding-place. 

 They had to cross that mountainous district which lies between the 

 counties of Caernarvon and Merioneth, and which presents, per- 

 haps, one of the wildest and most inaccessible tracts in this region. 

 It was through this scene of barren desolation that the mountaineers 

 took their way. The two men who carried the prisoner were more 

 than once resolved on leaving him to perish on the mountain, as 

 they found a difficulty in keeping up with their companions, owing 

 to the necessity of taking a more circuitous route with their burden. 

 They arrived at length at the entrance of a narrow gorge which 

 formed the bed of a torrent, though at that time the water scarcely 

 trickled down its rocky course. They paused, while one of the 

 party went forward to reconnoitre, and he soon made a signal for 

 the rest to advance. They ascended with some difficulty the broken 

 and slippery paths, until they came to the lake described in the 

 early part of this narrative, as embosomed in a hollow of the moun- 

 tains. Here they were greeted with a cordial though brief welcome 



