Ivanhoe

A train of armed men, some noble dame

Escorting, (so their scatter'd words discover'd,

As unperceived I hung upon their rear,)

Are close at hand, and mean to pass the night

Within the castle.

--Orra, a Tragedy

The travellers had now reached the verge of the wooded country, and were

about to plunge into its recesses, held dangerous at that time from the

number of outlaws whom oppression and poverty had driven to despair,

and who occupied the forests in such large bands as could easily bid

defiance to the feeble police of the period. From these rovers, however,

notwithstanding the lateness of the hour Cedric and Athelstane accounted

themselves secure, as they had in attendance ten servants, besides Wamba

and Gurth, whose aid could not be counted upon, the one being a jester

and the other a captive. It may be added, that in travelling thus late

through the forest, Cedric and Athelstane relied on their descent and

character, as well as their courage. The outlaws, whom the severity of

the forest laws had reduced to this roving and desperate mode of life,

were chiefly peasants and yeomen of Saxon descent, and were generally

supposed to respect the persons and property of their countrymen.

As the travellers journeyed on their way, they were alarmed by repeated

cries for assistance; and when they rode up to the place from whence

they came, they were surprised to find a horse-litter placed upon the

ground, beside which sat a young woman, richly dressed in the Jewish

fashion, while an old man, whose yellow cap proclaimed him to belong

to the same nation, walked up and down with gestures expressive of the

deepest despair, and wrung his hands, as if affected by some strange

disaster.

To the enquiries of Athelstane and Cedric, the old Jew could for some

time only answer by invoking the protection of all the patriarchs of the

Old Testament successively against the sons of Ishmael, who were coming

to smite them, hip and thigh, with the edge of the sword. When he began

to come to himself out of this agony of terror, Isaac of York (for it

was our old friend) was at length able to explain, that he had hired

a body-guard of six men at Ashby, together with mules for carrying the

litter of a sick friend. This party had undertaken to escort him as

far as Doncaster.

They had come thus far in safety; but having received

information from a wood-cutter that there was a strong band of outlaws

lying in wait in the woods before them, Isaac's mercenaries had not only

taken flight, but had carried off with them the horses which bore the

litter and left the Jew and his daughter without the means either of

defence or of retreat, to be plundered, and probably murdered, by the

banditti, who they expected every moment would bring down upon them.

"Would it but please your valours," added Isaac, in a tone of deep

humiliation, "to permit the poor Jews to travel under your safeguard,

I swear by the tables of our law, that never has favour been conferred

upon a child of Israel since the days of our captivity, which shall be

more gratefully acknowledged."