In the meanwhile , here he was in a sore plight . For some little way farther he struggled forward through the forest ; but what with the pain of his wounds , the darkness of the night , and the extreme uneasiness and confusion of his mind , he soon became equally unable to guide himself or to continue to push through the close undergrowth , and he was fain at length to sit down and lean his back against a tree . When he awoke from something betwixt sleep and swooning , the grey of the morning had begun to take the place of night . A little chilly breeze was bustling among the trees , and as he still sat staring before him , only half awake , he became aware of something dark that swung to and fro among the branches , some hundred yards in front of him . The progressive brightening of the day and the return of his own senses at last enabled him to recognise the object . It was a man hanging from the bough of a tall oak . His head had fallen forward on his breast ; but at every stronger puff of wind his body span round and round , and his legs and arms tossed , like some ridiculous plaything . Dick clambered to his feet , and , staggering and leaning on the tree-trunks as he went , drew near to this grim object . The bough was perhaps twenty feet above the ground , and the poor fellow had been drawn up so high by his executioners that his boots swung clear above Dick 's reach ; and as his hood had been drawn over his face , it was impossible to recognise the man . Dick looked about him right and left ; and at last he perceived that the other end of the cord had been made fast to the trunk of a little hawthorn which grew , thick with blossom , under the lofty arcade of the oak . With his dagger , which alone remained to him of all his arms , young Shelton severed the rope , and instantly , with a dead thump , the corpse fell in a heap upon the ground . Dick raised the hood ; it was Throgmorton , Sir Daniel 's messenger . He had not gone far upon his errand . A paper , which had apparently escaped the notice of the men of the Black Arrow , stuck from the bosom of his doublet , and Dick , pulling it forth , found it was Sir Daniel 's letter to Lord Wensleydale . `` Come , '' thought he , `` if the world changes yet again , I may have here the wherewithal to shame Sir Daniel -- nay , and perchance to bring him to the block . '' And he put the paper in his own bosom , said a prayer over the dead man , and set forth again through the woods . His fatigue and weakness increased ; his ears sang , his steps faltered , his mind at intervals failed him , so low had he been brought by loss of blood . Doubtless he made many deviations from his true path , but at last he came out upon the high-road , not very far from Tunstall hamlet . A rough voice bid him stand . `` Stand ? ''
repeated XXXXX .
Daniel Dick Tunstall Wensleydale betwixt dagger morning night plaything right