These were his words . Nay , that I will say : he is more plain than pleasant . But now , children , for the sake of sense , set forward . Shall we go once more over the dingle , or push straight for Holywood ? '' `` Why , '' said Dick , `` I would like dearly to get upon a horse ; for I have been sore mauled and beaten , one way and another , these last days , and my poor body is one bruise . But how think ye ? If the men , upon the alarm of the fighting , had fled away , we should have gone about for nothing . 'T is but some three short miles to Holywood direct ; the bell hath not beat nine ; the snow is pretty firm to walk upon , the moon clear ; how if we went even as we are ? '' `` Agreed , '' cried Alicia ; but Joanna only pressed upon Dick 's arm . Forth , then , they went , through open leafless groves and down snow-clad alleys , under the white face of the winter moon ; Dick and Joanna walking hand in hand and in a heaven of pleasure ; and their light-minded companion , her own bereavements heartily forgotten , followed a pace or two behind , now rallying them upon their silence , and now drawing happy pictures of their future and united lives . Still , indeed , in the distance of the wood , the riders of Tunstall might be heard urging their pursuit ; and from time to time cries or the clash of steel announced the shock of enemies . But in these young folk , bred among the alarms of war , and fresh from such a multiplicity of dangers , neither fear nor pity could be lightly wakened . Content to find the sounds still drawing farther and farther away , they gave up their hearts to the enjoyment of the hour , walking already , as Alicia put it , in a wedding procession ; and neither the rude solitude of the forest , nor the cold of the freezing night , had any force to shadow or distract their happiness . At length , from a rising hill , they looked below them on the dell of Holywood . The great windows of the forest abbey shone with torch and candle ; its high pinnacles and spires arose very clear and silent , and the gold rood upon the topmost summit glittered brightly in the moon . All about it , in the open glade , camp-fires were burning , and the ground was thick with huts ; and across the midst of the picture the frozen river curved . `` By the mass , '' said Richard , `` there are Lord Foxham 's fellows still encamped . The messenger hath certainly miscarried . Well , then , so better . We have power at hand to face Sir Daniel . ''
But if Lord Foxham 's men still lay encamped in the long holm at XXXXX , it was from a different reason from the one supposed by Dick .
Alicia Dick Holywood Joanna Richard Tunstall camp-fires dingle glade rood