And this was the tale of it: Ye, who are seeking the lost, have done
well to come hither, and now shall ye do well to wend the straightest
way to the dwelling of the wildwood, and that is by way of the
western verge of Evilshaw the forest. Greenford is on the way. Way-
leaders ye shall get; be wise, yet not prudent, and take them, though
they be evil, and your luck may well avail.
Therewith the image vanished away as it had come, and Leonard, who
with the others took the appearance for an image of Birdalone, said
that it was such as he had seen it the three last days. So they lay
not down again, but departed for Greenford without tarrying, and rode
the other end of the short night through till they came to Greenford.
But Leonard would not with them; and Hugh behight him, if he lived
and did well, to come back somehow to the Castle of the Quest, and so
redo it that it should be no longer desolate. So to Greenford they
came, and spared not to do folk to wit that they would ride a
pilgrimage in Evilshaw, and were fain of way-leaders; and there they
dwelt a day or two, and many would let them of that journey, which,
said they, was rather deadly than perilous only.
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