Which I shall send you written,-be assur'd,
Will easily be granted.-You, my lord,-

[To Northumberland.

Your son in Scotland being thus employ'd,-
Shall secretly into the bosom creep

Of that same noble prelate, well belov❜d,
The archbishop.

Hot. Of York, is't not?

Wor. True; who bears hard

His brother's death at Bristol, the lord Scroop.
I speak not this in estimation,

As what I think might be, but what I know
Is ruminated, plotted, and set down;

And only stays but to behold the face

Of that occasion that shall bring it on.

Hot. I smell it; upon my life, it will do well. North. Before the game's afoot, thou still let'st slip. Hot. Why, it cannot choose but be a noble plot:And then the power of Scotland, and of York, To join with Mortimer, ha?

Wor.

And so they shall.
Hot. In faith, it is exceedingly well aim'd.
Wor. And 'tis no little reason bids us speed,

To save our heads by raising of a head 23:
For, bear ourselves as even as we can,

The 24 king will always think him in our debt;

And think we think ourselves unsatisfied,
Till he hath found a time to pay us home.
And see already, how he doth begin

Do make us strangers to his looks of love.

Hot. He does, he does; we'll be reveng'd on him.
Wor. Cousin, farewell:-No further go in this,
Than I by letters shall direct your course.
When time is ripe, (which will be suddenly,)
I'll steal to Glendower, and lord Mortimer;
Where you and Douglas, and our powers at once,
(As I will fashion it,) shall happily meet,

To bear our fortunes in our own strong arms,
Which now we hold at much uncertainty.

North. Farewell, good brother: We shall thrive,

I trust.

Hot. Uncle, adieu:-O, let the hours be short, Till fields, and blows, and groans applaud our sport! [Exeunt.

ACT II. SCENE I.

Rochester. An Inn Yard.

Enter a Carrier, with a lantern in his hand.

1 Car. Heigh ho! An't be not four by the day, I'll be hang'd: Charles' wain is over the new chimney, and yet our horse not pack'd. What, ostler! Ost. [Within.] Anon, anon.

1 Car. I pr'ythee, Tom, beat Cut's saddle, put a a few flocks in the point; the poor jade is wrung in the withers out of all cess 25,

Enter another Carrier.

2 Car. Pease and beans are as dank 26 here as a dog, and that is the next way to give poor jades the. bots: this house is turned upside down, since Robin ostler died.

1 Car. Poor fellow! never joy'd since the price of oats rose; it was the death of him.

2 Car. I think, this be the most villainous house in all London road for fleas : I am stung like a tench.

1 Car. Like a tench? by the mass, there is ne'er a king in Christendom could be better bit than I have been since the first cock.

2 Car. Why, they will allow us ne'er a jorden, and then we leak in your chimney; and your chamber-lie breeds fleas like a loach.

1 Car. What, ostler! come away, and be hang'd,

come away.

2 Car. I have a gammon of bacon, and two razes of ginger 27, to be delivered as far as Charing-cross.

1 Car. 'Odsbody! the turkies in my pannier are quite starv'd.-What, ostler!-A plague on thee! hast thou never an eye in thy head? canst not hear? An 'twere not as good a deed as drink, to break the pate of thee, I am a very villain.-Come, and be hang'd:Hast no faith in thee?

Enter GADSHILL.

Gads. Good-morrow, carriers. What's o'clock? 1 Car. I think it be two o'clock.

Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thy lantern, to see my gelding in the stable.

1 Car. Nay, soft, I pray ye; I know a trick worth two of that, i'faith.

Gads. I pr'ythee, lend me thine.

2 Car. Ay, when, can'st tell?-Lend me thy lantern, quoth a?-marry, I'll see thee hang'd first. Gads. Sirrah carrier, what time do you mean to come to London?

2 Car. Time enough to go to bed with a candle, I warrant thee.-Come, neighbour Mugs, we'll call up the gentlemen; they will along with company, for they have great charge. [Exeunt Carriers.

Gads. What, ho! chamberlain !

Cham. [Within.] At hand, quoth pick-purse. Gads. That's even as fair as-at hand, quoth the

chamberlain: for thou variest no more from picking of purses, than giving direction doth from labouring; thou lay'st the plot how.

Enter Chamberlain.

Cham. Good morrow, master Gadshill. It holds current, that I told you yesternight: There's a franklin in the wild of Kent, hath brought three hundred marks with him in gold: I heard him tell it to one of his company, last night at supper; a kind of audiditor; one that hath abundance of charge too, God knows what. They are up already, and call for eggs and butter: They will away presently.

Gads. Sirrah, if they meet not with saint Nicholas' clerks 25, I'll give thee this neck.

Cham. No, I'll none of it; I pr'ythee, keep that for the hangman; for, I know, thou worship'st saint Nicholas as truly as a man of falsehood may.

Gads. What talk'st thou to me of the hangman? if I hang, I'll make a fat pair of gallows: for, if I hang, old sir John hangs with me; and, thou know'st, he's no starveling. Tut! there are other Trojans that thou dream'st not of, the which, for sport sake, are content to do the profession some grace; that would, if matters should be look'd into, for their own credit sake, make all whole. I am join'd with no foot land-rakers, no long-staff, sixpenny strikers; none of these mad, mustachio, purple-hued malt-worms: but with nobility, and tranquility; burgomasters, and great oneyers 29; such as can hold in; such as will strike