'
Now was Face-of-god of the same mind as Stone-face; and he said
moreover: 'When we go to Rose-dale we must abide there a while
unless we be overthrown. For if ye conquer it and come away at once,
presently shall the tidings come to the ears of the Dusky Men in
Silver-dale, and they shall join themselves to those of Rose-dale who
have fled before you, and between them they shall destroy the unhappy
people therein; for ye cannot take them all away with you: and that
shall they do all the more now, when they look to have new thralls in
Burgdale, both men and women. And this we may not suffer, but must
abide till we have met all our foemen and have overcome them, so that
the poor folk there shall be safe from them till they have learned
how to defend their dale. Now my rede is, that we send out the War-
arrow at once up and down the Dale, and to the Shepherds and
Woodlanders, and appoint a day for the Muster and Weapon-show of all
our Folk, and that day to be the day before the Spring Market, that
is to say, four days before the Great Folk-mote, and meantime that we
keep sure watch about the border of the wood, and now and again scour
the wood, so as to clear the Dale of their wandering bands.
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