diff options
Diffstat (limited to '903.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 903.txt | 15727 |
1 files changed, 15727 insertions, 0 deletions
@@ -0,0 +1,15727 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The White Company, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The White Company + +Author: Arthur Conan Doyle + +Posting Date: August 7, 2008 [EBook #903] +Release Date: May, 1997 +[Last updated: April 2, 2014] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WHITE COMPANY *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Keller, Carlo Traverso, Tonya Allen +and Samuel S. Johnson + + + + + + +THE WHITE COMPANY + +By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle + + + + CONTENTS. + + + I. How the Black Sheep came forth from the Fold + II. How Alleyne Edricson came out into the World + III. How Hordle John cozened the Fuller of Lymington + IV. How the Bailiff of Southampton Slew the Two Masterless Men + IV. How a Strange Company Gathered at the "Pied Merlin" + VI. How Samkin Aylward Wagered his Feather-bed + VII. How the Three Comrades Journeyed through the Woodlands + VIII. The Three Friends + IX. How Strange Things Befell in Minstead Wood + X. How Hordle John Found a Man whom he Might Follow + XI. How a Young Shepherd had a Perilous Flock + XII. How Alleyne Learned More than he could Teach + XIII. How the White Company set forth to the Wars + XIV. How Sir Nigel sought for a Wayside Venture + XV. How the Yellow Cog sailed forth from Lepe + XVI. How the Yellow Cog fought the Two Rover Galleys + XVII. How the Yellow Cog crossed the Bar of Gironde + XVIII. How Sir Nigel Loring put a Patch upon his Eye + XIX. How there was Stir at the Abbey of St. Andrew's + XX. How Alleyne Won his Place in an Honorable Guild + XXI. How Agostino Pisano Risked his Head + XXII. How the Bowmen held Wassail at the "Rose de Guienne" + XXIII. How England held the Lists at Bordeaux + XXIV. How a Champion came forth from the East + XXV. How Sir Nigel wrote to Twynham Castle + XXVI. How the Three Comrades Gained a Mighty Treasure + XXVII. How Roger Club-foot was Passed into Paradise + XXVIII. How the Comrades came over the Marches of France + XXIX. How the Blessed Hour of Sight Came to the Lady Tiphaine + XXX. How the Brushwood Men came to the Chateau of Villefranche + XXXI. How Five Men held the Keep of Villefranche + XXXII. How the Company took Counsel Round the Fallen Tree + XXXIII. How the Army made the Passage of Roncesvalles + XXXIV. How the Company Made Sport in the Vale of Pampeluna + XXXV. How Sir Nigel Hawked at an Eagle + XXXVI. How Sir Nigel Took the Patch from his Eye + XXXVII. How the White Company came to be Disbanded + XXXVIII. Of the Home-coming to Hampshire + + + + +CHAPTER I. HOW THE BLACK SHEEP CAME FORTH FROM THE FOLD. + + +The great bell of Beaulieu was ringing. Far away through the forest +might be heard its musical clangor and swell. Peat-cutters on Blackdown +and fishers upon the Exe heard the distant throbbing rising and falling +upon the sultry summer air. It was a common sound in those parts--as +common as the chatter of the jays and the booming of the bittern. Yet +the fishers and the peasants raised their heads and looked questions at +each other, for the angelus had already gone and vespers was still far +off. Why should the great bell of Beaulieu toll when the shadows were +neither short nor long? + +All round the Abbey the monks were trooping in. Under the long +green-paved avenues of gnarled oaks and of lichened beeches the +white-robed brothers gathered to the sound. From the vine-yard and +the vine-press, from the bouvary or ox-farm, from the marl-pits and +salterns, even from the distant iron-works of Sowley and the outlying +grange of St. Leonard's, they had all turned their steps homewards. It +had been no sudden call. A swift messenger had the night before sped +round to the outlying dependencies of the Abbey, and had left the +summons for every monk to be back in the cloisters by the third hour +after noontide. So urgent a message had not been issued within the +memory of old lay-brother Athanasius, who had cleaned the Abbey knocker +since the year after the Battle of Bannockburn. + +A stranger who knew nothing either of the Abbey or of its immense +resources might have gathered from the appearance of the brothers some +conception of the varied duties which they were called upon to perform, +and of the busy, wide-spread life which centred in the old monastery. +As they swept gravely in by twos and by threes, with bended heads and +muttering lips there were few who did not bear upon them some signs of +their daily toil. Here were two with wrists and sleeves all spotted +with the ruddy grape juice. There again was a bearded brother with +a broad-headed axe and a bundle of faggots upon his shoulders, while +beside him walked another with the shears under his arm and the white +wool still clinging to his whiter gown. A long, straggling troop bore +spades and mattocks while the two rearmost of all staggered along under +a huge basket o' fresh-caught carp, for the morrow was Friday, and there +were fifty platters to be filled and as many sturdy trenchermen behind +them. Of all the throng there was scarce one who was not labor-stained +and weary, for Abbot Berghersh was a hard man to himself and to others. + +Meanwhile, in the broad and lofty chamber set apart for occasions of +import, the Abbot himself was pacing impatiently backwards and forwards, +with his long white nervous hands clasped in front of him. His thin, +thought-worn features and sunken, haggard cheeks bespoke one who had +indeed beaten down that inner foe whom every man must face, but had none +the less suffered sorely in the contest. In crushing his passions he had +well-nigh crushed himself. Yet, frail as was his person there gleamed +out ever and anon from under his drooping brows a flash of fierce +energy, which recalled to men's minds that he came of a fighting stock, +and that even now his twin-brother, Sir Bartholomew Berghersh, was one +of the most famous of those stern warriors who had planted the Cross of +St. George before the gates of Paris. With lips compressed and clouded +brow, he strode up and down the oaken floor, the very genius and +impersonation of asceticism, while the great bell still thundered and +clanged above his head. At last the uproar died away in three last, +measured throbs, and ere their echo had ceased the Abbot struck a small +gong which summoned a lay-brother to his presence. + +"Have the brethren come?" he asked, in the Anglo-French dialect used in +religious houses. + +"They are here," the other answered, with his eyes cast down and his +hands crossed upon his chest. + +"All?" + +"Two and thirty of the seniors and fifteen of the novices, most holy +father. Brother Mark of the Spicarium is sore smitten with a fever and +could not come. He said that--" + +"It boots not what he said. Fever or no, he should have come at my call. +His spirit must be chastened, as must that of many more in this Abbey. +You yourself, brother Francis, have twice raised your voice, so it hath +come to my ears, when the reader in the refectory hath been dealing with +the lives of God's most blessed saints. What hast thou to say?" + +The lay-brother stood meek and silent, with his arms still crossed in +front of him. + +"One thousand Aves and as many Credos, said standing with arms +outstretched before the shrine of the Virgin, may help thee to remember +that the Creator hath given us two ears and but one mouth, as a token +that there is twice the work for the one as for the other. Where is the +master of the novices?" + +"He is without, most holy father." + +"Send him hither." + +The sandalled feet clattered over the wooden floor, and the iron-bound +door creaked upon its hinges. In a few moments it opened again to admit +a short square monk with a heavy, composed face and an authoritative +manner. + +"You have sent for me, holy father?" + +"Yes, brother Jerome, I wish that this matter be disposed of with as +little scandal as may be, and yet it is needful that the example should +be a public one." The Abbot spoke in Latin now, as a language which was +more fitted by its age and solemnity to convey the thoughts of two high +dignitaries of the order. + +"It would, perchance, be best that the novices be not admitted," +suggested the master. "This mention of a woman may turn their minds from +their pious meditations to worldly and evil thoughts." + +"Woman! woman!" groaned the Abbot. "Well has the holy Chrysostom termed +them _radix malorum_. From Eve downwards, what good hath come from any +of them? Who brings the plaint?" + +"It is brother Ambrose." + +"A holy and devout young man." + +"A light and a pattern to every novice." + +"Let the matter be brought to an issue then according to our old-time +monastic habit. Bid the chancellor and the sub-chancellor lead in the +brothers according to age, together with brother John, the accused, and +brother Ambrose, the accuser." + +"And the novices?" + +"Let them bide in the north alley of the cloisters. Stay! Bid the +sub-chancellor send out to them Thomas the lector to read unto them +from the 'Gesta beati Benedicti.' It may save them from foolish and +pernicious babbling." + +The Abbot was left to himself once more, and bent his thin gray face +over his illuminated breviary. So he remained while the senior monks +filed slowly and sedately into the chamber seating themselves upon the +long oaken benches which lined the wall on either side. At the further +end, in two high chairs as large as that of the Abbot, though hardly as +elaborately carved, sat the master of the novices and the chancellor, +the latter a broad and portly priest, with dark mirthful eyes and a +thick outgrowth of crisp black hair all round his tonsured head. Between +them stood a lean, white-faced brother who appeared to be ill at ease, +shifting his feet from side to side and tapping his chin nervously with +the long parchment roll which he held in his hand. The Abbot, from his +point of vantage, looked down on the two long lines of faces, placid and +sun-browned for the most part, with the large bovine eyes and unlined +features which told of their easy, unchanging existence. Then he turned +his eager fiery gaze upon the pale-faced monk who faced him. + +"This plaint is thine, as I learn, brother Ambrose," said he. "May the +holy Benedict, patron of our house, be present this day and aid us in +our findings! How many counts are there?" + +"Three, most holy father," the brother answered in a low and quavering +voice. + +"Have you set them forth according to rule?" + +"They are here set down, most holy father, upon a cantle of sheep-skin." + +"Let the sheep-skin be handed to the chancellor. Bring in brother John, +and let him hear the plaints which have been urged against him." + +At this order a lay-brother swung open the door, and two other +lay-brothers entered leading between them a young novice of the order. +He was a man of huge stature, dark-eyed and red-headed, with a peculiar +half-humorous, half-defiant expression upon his bold, well-marked +features. His cowl was thrown back upon his shoulders, and his gown, +unfastened at the top, disclosed a round, sinewy neck, ruddy and corded +like the bark of the fir. Thick, muscular arms, covered with a reddish +down, protruded from the wide sleeves of his habit, while his white +shirt, looped up upon one side, gave a glimpse of a huge knotty leg, +scarred and torn with the scratches of brambles. With a bow to the +Abbot, which had in it perhaps more pleasantry than reverence, the +novice strode across to the carved prie-dieu which had been set apart +for him, and stood silent and erect with his hand upon the gold bell +which was used in the private orisons of the Abbot's own household. His +dark eyes glanced rapidly over the assembly, and finally settled with a +grim and menacing twinkle upon the face of his accuser. + +The chancellor rose, and having slowly unrolled the parchment-scroll, +proceeded to read it out in a thick and pompous voice, while a subdued +rustle and movement among the brothers bespoke the interest with which +they followed the proceedings. + +"Charges brought upon the second Thursday after the Feast of the +Assumption, in the year of our Lord thirteen hundred and sixty-six, +against brother John, formerly known as Hordle John, or John of Hordle, +but now a novice in the holy monastic order of the Cistercians. Read +upon the same day at the Abbey of Beaulieu in the presence of the most +reverend Abbot Berghersh and of the assembled order. + +"The charges against the said brother John are the following, namely, to +wit: + +"First, that on the above-mentioned Feast of the Assumption, small beer +having been served to the novices in the proportion of one quart to +each four, the said brother John did drain the pot at one draught to +the detriment of brother Paul, brother Porphyry and brother Ambrose, +who could scarce eat their none-meat of salted stock-fish on account of +their exceeding dryness." + +At this solemn indictment the novice raised his hand and twitched his +lip, while even the placid senior brothers glanced across at each other +and coughed to cover their amusement. The Abbot alone sat gray and +immutable, with a drawn face and a brooding eye. + +"Item, that having been told by the master of the novices that he should +restrict his food for two days to a single three-pound loaf of bran and +beans, for the greater honoring and glorifying of St. Monica, mother of +the holy Augustine, he was heard by brother Ambrose and others to say +that he wished twenty thousand devils would fly away with the said +Monica, mother of the holy Augustine, or any other saint who came +between a man and his meat. Item, that upon brother Ambrose reproving +him for this blasphemous wish, he did hold the said brother face +downwards over the piscatorium or fish-pond for a space during which +the said brother was able to repeat a pater and four aves for the better +fortifying of his soul against impending death." + +There was a buzz and murmur among the white-frocked brethren at this +grave charge; but the Abbot held up his long quivering hand. "What +then?" said he. + +"Item, that between nones and vespers on the feast of James the Less the +said brother John was observed upon the Brockenhurst road, near the spot +which is known as Hatchett's Pond in converse with a person of the other +sex, being a maiden of the name of Mary Sowley, the daughter of the +King's verderer. Item, that after sundry japes and jokes the said +brother John did lift up the said Mary Sowley and did take, carry, and +convey her across a stream, to the infinite relish of the devil and the +exceeding detriment of his own soul, which scandalous and wilful falling +away was witnessed by three members of our order." + +A dead silence throughout the room, with a rolling of heads and +upturning of eyes, bespoke the pious horror of the community. + +The Abbot drew his gray brows low over his fiercely questioning eyes. + +"Who can vouch for this thing?" he asked. + +"That can I," answered the accuser. "So too can brother Porphyry, who +was with me, and brother Mark of the Spicarium, who hath been so much +stirred and inwardly troubled by the sight that he now lies in a fever +through it." + +"And the woman?" asked the Abbot. "Did she not break into lamentation +and woe that a brother should so demean himself?" + +"Nay, she smiled sweetly upon him and thanked him. I can vouch it and so +can brother Porphyry." + +"Canst thou?" cried the Abbot, in a high, tempestuous tone. "Canst thou +so? Hast forgotten that the five-and-thirtieth rule of the order is that +in the presence of a woman the face should be ever averted and the eyes +cast down? Hast forgot it, I say? If your eyes were upon your sandals, +how came ye to see this smile of which ye prate? A week in your cells, +false brethren, a week of rye-bread and lentils, with double lauds and +double matins, may help ye to remembrance of the laws under which ye +live." + +At this sudden outflame of wrath the two witnesses sank their faces on +to their chests, and sat as men crushed. The Abbot turned his angry eyes +away from them and bent them upon the accused, who met his searching +gaze with a firm and composed face. + +"What hast thou to say, brother John, upon these weighty things which +are urged against you?" + +"Little enough, good father, little enough," said the novice, speaking +English with a broad West Saxon drawl. The brothers, who were English +to a man, pricked up their ears at the sound of the homely and yet +unfamiliar speech; but the Abbot flushed red with anger, and struck his +hand upon the oaken arm of his chair. + +"What talk is this?" he cried. "Is this a tongue to be used within the +walls of an old and well-famed monastery? But grace and learning have +ever gone hand in hand, and when one is lost it is needless to look for +the other." + +"I know not about that," said brother John. "I know only that the words +come kindly to my mouth, for it was the speech of my fathers before me. +Under your favor, I shall either use it now or hold my peace." + +The Abbot patted his foot and nodded his head, as one who passes a point +but does not forget it. + +"For the matter of the ale," continued brother John, "I had come in hot +from the fields and had scarce got the taste of the thing before +mine eye lit upon the bottom of the pot. It may be, too, that I spoke +somewhat shortly concerning the bran and the beans, the same being poor +provender and unfitted for a man of my inches. It is true also that I +did lay my hands upon this jack-fool of a brother Ambrose, though, as +you can see, I did him little scathe. As regards the maid, too, it is +true that I did heft her over the stream, she having on her hosen and +shoon, whilst I had but my wooden sandals, which could take no hurt from +the water. I should have thought shame upon my manhood, as well as my +monkhood, if I had held back my hand from her." He glanced around as +he spoke with the half-amused look which he had worn during the whole +proceedings. + +"There is no need to go further," said the Abbot. "He has confessed to +all. It only remains for me to portion out the punishment which is due +to his evil conduct." + +He rose, and the two long lines of brothers followed his example, +looking sideways with scared faces at the angry prelate. + +"John of Hordle," he thundered, "you have shown yourself during the two +months of your novitiate to be a recreant monk, and one who is unworthy +to wear the white garb which is the outer symbol of the spotless spirit. +That dress shall therefore be stripped from thee, and thou shalt be cast +into the outer world without benefit of clerkship, and without lot or +part in the graces and blessings of those who dwell under the care of +the Blessed Benedict. Thou shalt come back neither to Beaulieu nor to +any of the granges of Beaulieu, and thy name shall be struck off the +scrolls of the order." + +The sentence appeared a terrible one to the older monks, who had become +so used to the safe and regular life of the Abbey that they would have +been as helpless as children in the outer world. From their pious +oasis they looked dreamily out at the desert of life, a place full of +stormings and strivings--comfortless, restless, and overshadowed by +evil. The young novice, however, appeared to have other thoughts, for +his eyes sparkled and his smile broadened. It needed but that to add +fresh fuel to the fiery mood of the prelate. + +"So much for thy spiritual punishment," he cried. "But it is to thy +grosser feelings that we must turn in such natures as thine, and as +thou art no longer under the shield of holy church there is the less +difficulty. Ho there! lay-brothers--Francis, Naomi, Joseph--seize him +and bind his arms! Drag him forth, and let the foresters and the porters +scourge him from the precincts!" + +As these three brothers advanced towards him to carry out the Abbot's +direction, the smile faded from the novice's face, and he glanced right +and left with his fierce brown eyes, like a bull at a baiting. Then, +with a sudden deep-chested shout, he tore up the heavy oaken prie-dieu +and poised it to strike, taking two steps backward the while, that none +might take him at a vantage. + +"By the black rood of Waltham!" he roared, "if any knave among you lays +a finger-end upon the edge of my gown, I will crush his skull like a +filbert!" With his thick knotted arms, his thundering voice, and his +bristle of red hair, there was something so repellent in the man that +the three brothers flew back at the very glare of him; and the two rows +of white monks strained away from him like poplars in a tempest. The +Abbot only sprang forward with shining eyes; but the chancellor and the +master hung upon either arm and wrested him back out of danger's way. + +"He is possessed of a devil!" they shouted. "Run, brother Ambrose, +brother Joachim! Call Hugh of the Mill, and Woodman Wat, and Raoul with +his arbalest and bolts. Tell them that we are in fear of our lives! Run, +run! for the love of the Virgin!" + +But the novice was a strategist as well as a man of action. Springing +forward, he hurled his unwieldy weapon at brother Ambrose, and, as desk +and monk clattered on to the floor together, he sprang through the open +door and down the winding stair. Sleepy old brother Athanasius, at +the porter's cell, had a fleeting vision of twinkling feet and flying +skirts; but before he had time to rub his eyes the recreant had passed +the lodge, and was speeding as fast as his sandals could patter along +the Lyndhurst Road. + + + +CHAPTER II. HOW ALLEYNE EDRICSON CAME OUT INTO THE WORLD. + + +Never had the peaceful atmosphere of the old Cistercian house been so +rudely ruffled. Never had there been insurrection so sudden, so short, +and so successful. Yet the Abbot Berghersh was a man of too firm a grain +to allow one bold outbreak to imperil the settled order of his great +household. In a few hot and bitter words, he compared their false +brother's exit to the expulsion of our first parents from the garden, +and more than hinted that unless a reformation occurred some others of +the community might find themselves in the same evil and perilous case. +Having thus pointed the moral and reduced his flock to a fitting state +of docility, he dismissed them once more to their labors and withdrew +himself to his own private chamber, there to seek spiritual aid in the +discharge of the duties of his high office. + +The Abbot was still on his knees, when a gentle tapping at the door of +his cell broke in upon his orisons. + +Rising in no very good humor at the interruption, he gave the word to +enter; but his look of impatience softened down into a pleasant and +paternal smile as his eyes fell upon his visitor. + +He was a thin-faced, yellow-haired youth, rather above the middle size, +comely and well shapen, with straight, lithe figure and eager, boyish +features. His clear, pensive gray eyes, and quick, delicate expression, +spoke of a nature which had unfolded far from the boisterous joys and +sorrows of the world. Yet there was a set of the mouth and a prominence +of the chin which relieved him of any trace of effeminacy. Impulsive +he might be, enthusiastic, sensitive, with something sympathetic and +adaptive in his disposition; but an observer of nature's tokens would +have confidently pledged himself that there was native firmness and +strength underlying his gentle, monk-bred ways. + +The youth was not clad in monastic garb, but in lay attire, though his +jerkin, cloak and hose were all of a sombre hue, as befitted one who +dwelt in sacred precincts. A broad leather strap hanging from his +shoulder supported a scrip or satchel such as travellers were wont to +carry. In one hand he grasped a thick staff pointed and shod with metal, +while in the other he held his coif or bonnet, which bore in its front a +broad pewter medal stamped with the image of Our Lady of Rocamadour. + +"Art ready, then, fair son?" said the Abbot. "This is indeed a day of +comings and of goings. It is strange that in one twelve hours the Abbey +should have cast off its foulest weed and should now lose what we are +fain to look upon as our choicest blossom." + +"You speak too kindly, father," the youth answered. "If I had my will I +should never go forth, but should end my days here in Beaulieu. It hath +been my home as far back as my mind can carry me, and it is a sore thing +for me to have to leave it." + +"Life brings many a cross," said the Abbot gently. "Who is without them? +Your going forth is a grief to us as well as to yourself. But there +is no help. I had given my foreword and sacred promise to your father, +Edric the Franklin, that at the age of twenty you should be sent out +into the world to see for yourself how you liked the savor of it. Seat +thee upon the settle, Alleyne, for you may need rest ere long." + +The youth sat down as directed, but reluctantly and with diffidence. +The Abbot stood by the narrow window, and his long black shadow fell +slantwise across the rush-strewn floor. + +"Twenty years ago," he said, "your father, the Franklin of Minstead, +died, leaving to the Abbey three hides of rich land in the hundred of +Malwood, and leaving to us also his infant son on condition that we +should rear him until he came to man's estate. This he did partly +because your mother was dead, and partly because your elder brother, +now Socman of Minstead, had already given sign of that fierce and rude +nature which would make him no fit companion for you. It was his desire +and request, however, that you should not remain in the cloisters, but +should at a ripe age return into the world." + +"But, father," interrupted the young man, "it is surely true that I am +already advanced several degrees in clerkship?" + +"Yes, fair son, but not so far as to bar you from the garb you now wear +or the life which you must now lead. You have been porter?" + +"Yes, father." + +"Exorcist?" + +"Yes, father." + +"Reader?" + +"Yes, father." + +"Acolyte?" + +"Yes, father." + +"But have sworn no vow of constancy or chastity?" + +"No, father." + +"Then you are free to follow a worldly life. But let me hear, ere you +start, what gifts you take away with you from Beaulieu? Some I already +know. There is the playing of the citole and the rebeck. Our choir will +be dumb without you. You carve too?" + +The youth's pale face flushed with the pride of the skilled workman. +"Yes, holy father," he answered. "Thanks to good brother Bartholomew, I +carve in wood and in ivory, and can do something also in silver and +in bronze. From brother Francis I have learned to paint on vellum, on +glass, and on metal, with a knowledge of those pigments and essences +which can preserve the color against damp or a biting air. Brother +Luke hath given me some skill in damask work, and in the enamelling of +shrines, tabernacles, diptychs and triptychs. For the rest, I know a +little of the making of covers, the cutting of precious stones, and the +fashioning of instruments." + +"A goodly list, truly," cried the superior with a smile. "What clerk of +Cambrig or of Oxenford could say as much? But of thy reading--hast not +so much to show there, I fear?" + +"No, father, it hath been slight enough. Yet, thanks to our good +chancellor, I am not wholly unlettered. I have read Ockham, Bradwardine, +and other of the schoolmen, together with the learned Duns Scotus and +the book of the holy Aquinas." + +"But of the things of this world, what have you gathered from your +reading? From this high window you may catch a glimpse over the wooden +point and the smoke of Bucklershard of the mouth of the Exe, and the +shining sea. Now, I pray you, Alleyne, if a man were to take a ship and +spread sail across yonder waters, where might he hope to arrive?" + +The youth pondered, and drew a plan amongst the rushes with the point +of his staff. "Holy father," said he, "he would come upon those parts +of France which are held by the King's Majesty. But if he trended to the +south he might reach Spain and the Barbary States. To his north would be +Flanders and the country of the Eastlanders and of the Muscovites." + +"True. And how if, after reaching the King's possessions, he still +journeyed on to the eastward?" + +"He would then come upon that part of France which is still in dispute, +and he might hope to reach the famous city of Avignon, where dwells our +blessed father, the prop of Christendom." + +"And then?" + +"Then he would pass through the land of the Almains and the great Roman +Empire, and so to the country of the Huns and of the Lithuanian pagans, +beyond which lies the great city of Constantine and the kingdom of the +unclean followers of Mahmoud." + +"And beyond that, fair son?" + +"Beyond that is Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and the great river which +hath its source in the Garden of Eden." + +"And then?" + +"Nay, good father, I cannot tell. Methinks the end of the world is not +far from there." + +"Then we can still find something to teach thee, Alleyne," said the +Abbot complaisantly. "Know that many strange nations lie betwixt there +and the end of the world. There is the country of the Amazons, and the +country of the dwarfs, and the country of the fair but evil women who +slay with beholding, like the basilisk. Beyond that again is the kingdom +of Prester John and of the great Cham. These things I know for very +sooth, for I had them from that pious Christian and valiant knight, Sir +John de Mandeville, who stopped twice at Beaulieu on his way to and from +Southampton, and discoursed to us concerning what he had seen from the +reader's desk in the refectory, until there was many a good brother who +got neither bit nor sup, so stricken were they by his strange tales." + +"I would fain know, father," asked the young man, "what there may be at +the end of the world?" + +"There are some things," replied the Abbot gravely, "into which it was +never intended that we should inquire. But you have a long road before +you. Whither will you first turn?" + +"To my brother's at Minstead. If he be indeed an ungodly and violent +man, there is the more need that I should seek him out and see whether I +cannot turn him to better ways." + +The Abbot shook his head. "The Socman of Minstead hath earned an evil +name over the country side," he said. "If you must go to him, see at +least that he doth not turn you from the narrow path upon which you have +learned to tread. But you are in God's keeping, and Godward should you +ever look in danger and in trouble. Above all, shun the snares of women, +for they are ever set for the foolish feet of the young. Kneel down, my +child, and take an old man's blessing." + +Alleyne Edricson bent his head while the Abbot poured out his heartfelt +supplication that Heaven would watch over this young soul, now going +forth into the darkness and danger of the world. It was no mere form for +either of them. To them the outside life of mankind did indeed seem to +be one of violence and of sin, beset with physical and still more with +spiritual danger. Heaven, too, was very near to them in those days. +God's direct agency was to be seen in the thunder and the rainbow, +the whirlwind and the lightning. To the believer, clouds of angels and +confessors, and martyrs, armies of the sainted and the saved, were +ever stooping over their struggling brethren upon earth, raising, +encouraging, and supporting them. It was then with a lighter heart and +a stouter courage that the young man turned from the Abbot's room, while +the latter, following him to the stair-head, finally commended him to +the protection of the holy Julian, patron of travellers. + +Underneath, in the porch of the Abbey, the monks had gathered to give +him a last God-speed. Many had brought some parting token by which he +should remember them. There was brother Bartholomew with a crucifix of +rare carved ivory, and brother Luke with a white-backed psalter +adorned with golden bees, and brother Francis with the "Slaying of the +Innocents" most daintily set forth upon vellum. All these were +duly packed away deep in the traveller's scrip, and above them old +pippin-faced brother Athanasius had placed a parcel of simnel bread and +rammel cheese, with a small flask of the famous blue-sealed Abbey wine. +So, amid hand-shakings and laughings and blessings, Alleyne Edricson +turned his back upon Beaulieu. + +At the turn of the road he stopped and gazed back. There was the +wide-spread building which he knew so well, the Abbot's house, the long +church, the cloisters with their line of arches, all bathed and mellowed +in the evening sun. There too was the broad sweep of the river Exe, the +old stone well, the canopied niche of the Virgin, and in the centre of +all the cluster of white-robed figures who waved their hands to him. A +sudden mist swam up before the young man's eyes, and he turned away upon +his journey with a heavy heart and a choking throat. + + + +CHAPTER III. HOW HORDLE JOHN COZENED THE FULLER OF LYMINGTON. + + +It is not, however, in the nature of things that a lad of twenty, with +young life glowing in his veins and all the wide world before him, +should spend his first hours of freedom in mourning for what he had +left. Long ere Alleyne was out of sound of the Beaulieu bells he was +striding sturdily along, swinging his staff and whistling as merrily as +the birds in the thicket. It was an evening to raise a man's heart. The +sun shining slantwise through the trees threw delicate traceries across +the road, with bars of golden light between. Away in the distance +before and behind, the green boughs, now turning in places to a coppery +redness, shot their broad arches across the track. The still summer air +was heavy with the resinous smell of the great forest. Here and there a +tawny brook prattled out from among the underwood and lost itself again +in the ferns and brambles upon the further side. Save the dull piping of +insects and the sough of the leaves, there was silence everywhere--the +sweet restful silence of nature. + +And yet there was no want of life--the whole wide wood was full of it. +Now it was a lithe, furtive stoat which shot across the path upon some +fell errand of its own; then it was a wild cat which squatted upon the +outlying branch of an oak and peeped at the traveller with a yellow and +dubious eye. Once it was a wild sow which scuttled out of the bracken, +with two young sounders at her heels, and once a lordly red staggard +walked daintily out from among the tree trunks, and looked around +him with the fearless gaze of one who lived under the King's own high +protection. Alleyne gave his staff a merry flourish, however, and the +red deer bethought him that the King was far off, so streaked away from +whence he came. + +The youth had now journeyed considerably beyond the furthest domains of +the Abbey. He was the more surprised therefore when, on coming round a +turn in the path, he perceived a man clad in the familiar garb of the +order, and seated in a clump of heather by the roadside. Alleyne had +known every brother well, but this was a face which was new to him--a +face which was very red and puffed, working this way and that, as +though the man were sore perplexed in his mind. Once he shook both hands +furiously in the air, and twice he sprang from his seat and hurried down +the road. When he rose, however, Alleyne observed that his robe was much +too long and loose for him in every direction, trailing upon the ground +and bagging about his ankles, so that even with trussed-up skirts he +could make little progress. He ran once, but the long gown clogged him +so that he slowed down into a shambling walk, and finally plumped into +the heather once more. + +"Young friend," said he, when Alleyne was abreast of him, "I fear from +thy garb that thou canst know little of the Abbey of Beaulieu." + +"Then you are in error, friend," the clerk answered, "for I have spent +all my days within its walls." + +"Hast so indeed?" cried he. "Then perhaps canst tell me the name of +a great loathly lump of a brother wi' freckled face an' a hand like a +spade. His eyes were black an' his hair was red an' his voice like +the parish bull. I trow that there cannot be two alike in the same +cloisters." + +"That surely can be no other than brother John," said Alleyne. "I trust +he has done you no wrong, that you should be so hot against him." + +"Wrong, quotha?" cried the other, jumping out of the heather. "Wrong! +why he hath stolen every plack of clothing off my back, if that be a +wrong, and hath left me here in this sorry frock of white falding, so +that I have shame to go back to my wife, lest she think that I have +donned her old kirtle. Harrow and alas that ever I should have met him!" + +"But how came this?" asked the young clerk, who could scarce keep from +laughter at the sight of the hot little man so swathed in the great +white cloak. + +"It came in this way," he said, sitting down once more: "I was passing +this way, hoping to reach Lymington ere nightfall when I came on this +red-headed knave seated even where we are sitting now. I uncovered and +louted as I passed thinking that he might be a holy man at his orisons, +but he called to me and asked me if I had heard speak of the new +indulgence in favor of the Cistercians. 'Not I,' I answered. 'Then the +worse for thy soul!' said he; and with that he broke into a long tale +how that on account of the virtues of the Abbot Berghersh it had been +decreed by the Pope that whoever should wear the habit of a monk of +Beaulieu for as long as he might say the seven psalms of David should be +assured of the kingdom of Heaven. When I heard this I prayed him on +my knees that he would give me the use of his gown, which after many +contentions he at last agreed to do, on my paying him three marks +towards the regilding of the image of Laurence the martyr. Having +stripped his robe, I had no choice but to let him have the wearing of my +good leathern jerkin and hose, for, as he said, it was chilling to +the blood and unseemly to the eye to stand frockless whilst I made my +orisons. He had scarce got them on, and it was a sore labor, seeing that +my inches will scarce match my girth--he had scarce got them on, I say, +and I not yet at the end of the second psalm, when he bade me do honor +to my new dress, and with that set off down the road as fast as feet +would carry him. For myself, I could no more run than if I had been sown +in a sack; so here I sit, and here I am like to sit, before I set eyes +upon my clothes again." + +"Nay, friend, take it not so sadly," said Alleyne, clapping the +disconsolate one upon the shoulder. "Canst change thy robe for a jerkin +once more at the Abbey, unless perchance you have a friend near at +hand." + +"That have I," he answered, "and close; but I care not to go nigh him in +this plight, for his wife hath a gibing tongue, and will spread the +tale until I could not show my face in any market from Fordingbridge +to Southampton. But if you, fair sir, out of your kind charity would be +pleased to go a matter of two bow-shots out of your way, you would do me +such a service as I could scarce repay." + +"With all my heart," said Alleyne readily. + +"Then take this pathway on the left, I pray thee, and then the +deer-track which passes on the right. You will then see under a great +beech-tree the hut of a charcoal-burner. Give him my name, good sir, +the name of Peter the fuller, of Lymington, and ask him for a change of +raiment, that I may pursue my journey without delay. There are reasons +why he would be loth to refuse me." + +Alleyne started off along the path indicated, and soon found the log-hut +where the burner dwelt. He was away faggot-cutting in the forest, but +his wife, a ruddy bustling dame, found the needful garments and tied +them into a bundle. While she busied herself in finding and folding +them, Alleyne Edricson stood by the open door looking in at her with +much interest and some distrust, for he had never been so nigh to a +woman before. She had round red arms, a dress of some sober woollen +stuff, and a brass brooch the size of a cheese-cake stuck in the front +of it. + +"Peter the fuller!" she kept repeating. "Marry come up! if I were Peter +the fuller's wife I would teach him better than to give his clothes to +the first knave who asks for them. But he was always a poor, fond, silly +creature, was Peter, though we are beholden to him for helping to bury +our second son Wat, who was a 'prentice to him at Lymington in the year +of the Black Death. But who are you, young sir?" + +"I am a clerk on my road from Beaulieu to Minstead." + +"Aye, indeed! Hast been brought up at the Abbey then. I could read it +from thy reddened cheek and downcast eye. Hast learned from the monks, I +trow, to fear a woman as thou wouldst a lazar-house. Out upon them! that +they should dishonor their own mothers by such teaching. A pretty world +it would be with all the women out of it." + +"Heaven forfend that such a thing should come to pass!" said Alleyne. + +"Amen and amen! But thou art a pretty lad, and the prettier for thy +modest ways. It is easy to see from thy cheek that thou hast not spent +thy days in the rain and the heat and the wind, as my poor Wat hath been +forced to do." + +"I have indeed seen little of life, good dame." + +"Wilt find nothing in it to pay for the loss of thy own freshness. Here +are the clothes, and Peter can leave them when next he comes this way. +Holy Virgin! see the dust upon thy doublet! It were easy to see that +there is no woman to tend to thee. So!--that is better. Now buss me, +boy." + +Alleyne stooped and kissed her, for the kiss was the common salutation +of the age, and, as Erasmus long afterwards remarked, more used in +England than in any other country. Yet it sent the blood to his temples +again, and he wondered, as he turned away, what the Abbot Berghersh +would have answered to so frank an invitation. He was still tingling +from this new experience when he came out upon the high-road and saw a +sight which drove all other thoughts from his mind. + +Some way down from where he had left him the unfortunate Peter was +stamping and raving tenfold worse than before. Now, however, instead of +the great white cloak, he had no clothes on at all, save a short woollen +shirt and a pair of leather shoes. Far down the road a long-legged +figure was running, with a bundle under one arm and the other hand to +his side, like a man who laughs until he is sore. + +"See him!" yelled Peter. "Look to him! You shall be my witness. He shall +see Winchester jail for this. See where he goes with my cloak under his +arm!" + +"Who then?" cried Alleyne. + +"Who but that cursed brother John. He hath not left me clothes enough to +make a gallybagger. The double thief hath cozened me out of my gown." + +"Stay though, my friend, it was his gown," objected Alleyne. + +"It boots not. He hath them all--gown, jerkin, hosen and all. Gramercy +to him that he left me the shirt and the shoon. I doubt not that he will +be back for them anon." + +"But how came this?" asked Alleyne, open-eyed with astonishment. + +"Are those the clothes? For dear charity's sake give them to me. Not the +Pope himself shall have these from me, though he sent the whole college +of cardinals to ask it. How came it? Why, you had scarce gone ere this +loathly John came running back again, and, when I oped mouth to reproach +him, he asked me whether it was indeed likely that a man of prayer would +leave his own godly raiment in order to take a layman's jerkin. He +had, he said, but gone for a while that I might be the freer for my +devotions. On this I plucked off the gown, and he with much show of +haste did begin to undo his points; but when I threw his frock down +he clipped it up and ran off all untrussed, leaving me in this sorry +plight. He laughed so the while, like a great croaking frog, that I +might have caught him had my breath not been as short as his legs were +long." + +The young man listened to this tale of wrong with all the seriousness +that he could maintain; but at the sight of the pursy red-faced man and +the dignity with which he bore him, the laughter came so thick upon him +that he had to lean up against a tree-trunk. The fuller looked sadly and +gravely at him; but finding that he still laughed, he bowed with much +mock politeness and stalked onwards in his borrowed clothes. Alleyne +watched him until he was small in the distance, and then, wiping the +tears from his eyes, he set off briskly once more upon his journey. + + + +CHAPTER IV. HOW THE BAILIFF OF SOUTHAMPTON SLEW THE TWO MASTERLESS MEN. + + +The road along which he travelled was scarce as populous as most other +roads in the kingdom, and far less so than those which lie between the +larger towns. Yet from time to time Alleyne met other wayfarers, and +more than once was overtaken by strings of pack mules and horsemen +journeying in the same direction as himself. Once a begging friar came +limping along in a brown habit, imploring in a most dolorous voice to +give him a single groat to buy bread wherewith to save himself from +impending death. Alleyne passed him swiftly by, for he had learned from +the monks to have no love for the wandering friars, and, besides, there +was a great half-gnawed mutton bone sticking out of his pouch to prove +him a liar. Swiftly as he went, however, he could not escape the curse +of the four blessed evangelists which the mendicant howled behind him. +So dreadful are his execrations that the frightened lad thrust his +fingers into his ear-holes, and ran until the fellow was but a brown +smirch upon the yellow road. + +Further on, at the edge of the woodland, he came upon a chapman and his +wife, who sat upon a fallen tree. He had put his pack down as a table, +and the two of them were devouring a great pasty, and washing it down +with some drink from a stone jar. The chapman broke a rough jest as he +passed, and the woman called shrilly to Alleyne to come and join them, +on which the man, turning suddenly from mirth to wrath, began to belabor +her with his cudgel. Alleyne hastened on, lest he make more mischief, +and his heart was heavy as lead within him. Look where he would, he +seemed to see nothing but injustice and violence and the hardness of man +to man. + +But even as he brooded sadly over it and pined for the sweet peace of +the Abbey, he came on an open space dotted with holly bushes, where was +the strangest sight that he had yet chanced upon. Near to the pathway +lay a long clump of greenery, and from behind this there stuck straight +up into the air four human legs clad in parti-colored hosen, yellow and +black. Strangest of all was when a brisk tune struck suddenly up and +the four legs began to kick and twitter in time to the music. Walking on +tiptoe round the bushes, he stood in amazement to see two men bounding +about on their heads, while they played, the one a viol and the other +a pipe, as merrily and as truly as though they were seated in a choir. +Alleyne crossed himself as he gazed at this unnatural sight, and +could scarce hold his ground with a steady face, when the two dancers, +catching sight of him, came bouncing in his direction. A spear's length +from him, they each threw a somersault into the air, and came down upon +their feet with smirking faces and their hands over their hearts. + +"A guerdon--a guerdon, my knight of the staring eyes!" cried one. + +"A gift, my prince!" shouted the other. "Any trifle will serve--a purse +of gold, or even a jewelled goblet." + +Alleyne thought of what he had read of demoniac possession--the +jumpings, the twitchings, the wild talk. It was in his mind to repeat +over the exorcism proper to such attacks; but the two burst out +a-laughing at his scared face, and turning on to their heads once more, +clapped their heels in derision. + +"Hast never seen tumblers before?" asked the elder, a black-browed, +swarthy man, as brown and supple as a hazel twig. "Why shrink from us, +then, as though we were the spawn of the Evil One?" + +"Why shrink, my honey-bird? Why so afeard, my sweet cinnamon?" exclaimed +the other, a loose-jointed lanky youth with a dancing, roguish eye. + +"Truly, sirs, it is a new sight to me," the clerk answered. "When I saw +your four legs above the bush I could scarce credit my own eyes. Why is +it that you do this thing?" + +"A dry question to answer," cried the younger, coming back on to +his feet. "A most husky question, my fair bird! But how? A flask, a +flask!--by all that is wonderful!" He shot out his hand as he spoke, and +plucking Alleyne's bottle out of his scrip, he deftly knocked the neck +off, and poured the half of it down his throat. The rest he handed to +his comrade, who drank the wine, and then, to the clerk's increasing +amazement, made a show of swallowing the bottle, with such skill +that Alleyne seemed to see it vanish down his throat. A moment later, +however, he flung it over his head, and caught it bottom downwards upon +the calf of his left leg. + +"We thank you for the wine, kind sir," said he, "and for the ready +courtesy wherewith you offered it. Touching your question, we may tell +you that we are strollers and jugglers, who, having performed with much +applause at Winchester fair, are now on our way to the great Michaelmas +market at Ringwood. As our art is a very fine and delicate one, however, +we cannot let a day go by without exercising ourselves in it, to which +end we choose some quiet and sheltered spot where we may break our +journey. Here you find us; and we cannot wonder that you, who are new to +tumbling, should be astounded, since many great barons, earls, marshals +and knights, who have wandered as far as the Holy Land, are of one +mind in saying that they have never seen a more noble or gracious +performance. If you will be pleased to sit upon that stump, we will now +continue our exercise." + +Alleyne sat down willingly as directed with two great bundles on +either side of him which contained the strollers' dresses--doublets of +flame-colored silk and girdles of leather, spangled with brass and tin. +The jugglers were on their heads once more, bounding about with rigid +necks, playing the while in perfect time and tune. It chanced that out +of one of the bundles there stuck the end of what the clerk saw to be +a cittern, so drawing it forth, he tuned it up and twanged a harmony to +the merry lilt which the dancers played. On that they dropped their own +instruments, and putting their hands to the ground they hopped about +faster and faster, ever shouting to him to play more briskly, until at +last for very weariness all three had to stop. + +"Well played, sweet poppet!" cried the younger. "Hast a rare touch on +the strings." + +"How knew you the tune?" asked the other. + +"I knew it not. I did but follow the notes I heard." + +Both opened their eyes at this, and stared at Alleyne with as much +amazement as he had shown at them. + +"You have a fine trick of ear then," said one. "We have long wished to +meet such a man. Wilt join us and jog on to Ringwood? Thy duties shall +be light, and thou shalt have two-pence a day and meat for supper every +night." + +"With as much beer as you can put away," said the other, "and a flask of +Gascon wine on Sabbaths." + +"Nay, it may not be. I have other work to do. I have tarried with you +over long," quoth Alleyne, and resolutely set forth upon his journey +once more. They ran behind him some little way, offering him first +fourpence and then sixpence a day, but he only smiled and shook his +head, until at last they fell away from him. Looking back, he saw that +the smaller had mounted on the younger's shoulders, and that they stood +so, some ten feet high, waving their adieus to him. He waved back to +them, and then hastened on, the lighter of heart for having fallen in +with these strange men of pleasure. + +Alleyne had gone no great distance for all the many small passages that +had befallen him. Yet to him, used as he was to a life of such quiet +that the failure of a brewing or the altering of an anthem had seemed +to be of the deepest import, the quick changing play of the lights and +shadows of life was strangely startling and interesting. A gulf seemed +to divide this brisk uncertain existence from the old steady round of +work and of prayer which he had left behind him. The few hours that had +passed since he saw the Abbey tower stretched out in his memory until +they outgrew whole months of the stagnant life of the cloister. As he +walked and munched the soft bread from his scrip, it seemed strange to +him to feel that it was still warm from the ovens of Beaulieu. + +When he passed Penerley, where were three cottages and a barn, he +reached the edge of the tree country, and found the great barren heath +of Blackdown stretching in front of him, all pink with heather and +bronzed with the fading ferns. On the left the woods were still thick, +but the road edged away from them and wound over the open. The sun lay +low in the west upon a purple cloud, whence it threw a mild, chastening +light over the wild moorland and glittered on the fringe of forest +turning the withered leaves into flakes of dead gold, the brighter for +the black depths behind them. To the seeing eye decay is as fair as +growth, and death as life. The thought stole into Alleyne's heart as he +looked upon the autumnal country side and marvelled at its beauty. He +had little time to dwell upon it however, for there were still six good +miles between him and the nearest inn. He sat down by the roadside +to partake of his bread and cheese, and then with a lighter scrip he +hastened upon his way. + +There appeared to be more wayfarers on the down than in the forest. +First he passed two Dominicans in their long black dresses, who swept by +him with downcast looks and pattering lips, without so much as a glance +at him. Then there came a gray friar, or minorite, with a good paunch +upon him, walking slowly and looking about him with the air of a man who +was at peace with himself and with all men. He stopped Alleyne to ask +him whether it was not true that there was a hostel somewhere in those +parts which was especially famous for the stewing of eels. The clerk +having made answer that he had heard the eels of Sowley well spoken of, +the friar sucked in his lips and hurried forward. Close at his heels +came three laborers walking abreast, with spade and mattock over their +shoulders. They sang some rude chorus right tunefully as they walked, +but their English was so coarse and rough that to the ears of a +cloister-bred man it sounded like a foreign and barbarous tongue. One +of them carried a young bittern which they had caught upon the moor, and +they offered it to Alleyne for a silver groat. Very glad he was to get +safely past them, for, with their bristling red beards and their fierce +blue eyes, they were uneasy men to bargain with upon a lonely moor. + +Yet it is not always the burliest and the wildest who are the most to +be dreaded. The workers looked hungrily at him, and then jogged onwards +upon their way in slow, lumbering Saxon style. A worse man to deal with +was a wooden-legged cripple who came hobbling down the path, so weak and +so old to all appearance that a child need not stand in fear of him. +Yet when Alleyne had passed him, of a sudden, out of pure devilment, he +screamed out a curse at him, and sent a jagged flint stone hurtling past +his ear. So horrid was the causeless rage of the crooked creature, that +the clerk came over a cold thrill, and took to his heels until he was +out of shot from stone or word. It seemed to him that in this country +of England there was no protection for a man save that which lay in the +strength of his own arm and the speed of his own foot. In the cloisters +he had heard vague talk of the law--the mighty law which was higher than +prelate or baron, yet no sign could he see of it. What was the benefit +of a law written fair upon parchment, he wondered, if there were no +officers to enforce it. As it fell out, however, he had that very +evening, ere the sun had set, a chance of seeing how stern was the grip +of the English law when it did happen to seize the offender. + +A mile or so out upon the moor the road takes a very sudden dip into a +hollow, with a peat-colored stream running swiftly down the centre +of it. To the right of this stood, and stands to this day, an ancient +barrow, or burying mound, covered deeply in a bristle of heather and +bracken. Alleyne was plodding down the slope upon one side, when he saw +an old dame coming towards him upon the other, limping with weariness +and leaning heavily upon a stick. When she reached the edge of the +stream she stood helpless, looking to right and to left for some ford. +Where the path ran down a great stone had been fixed in the centre of +the brook, but it was too far from the bank for her aged and uncertain +feet. Twice she thrust forward at it, and twice she drew back, until at +last, giving up in despair, she sat herself down by the brink and +wrung her hands wearily. There she still sat when Alleyne reached the +crossing. + +"Come, mother," quoth he, "it is not so very perilous a passage." + +"Alas! good youth," she answered, "I have a humor in the eyes, and +though I can see that there is a stone there I can by no means be sure +as to where it lies." + +"That is easily amended," said he cheerily, and picking her lightly up, +for she was much worn with time, he passed across with her. He could +not but observe, however, that as he placed her down her knees seemed to +fail her, and she could scarcely prop herself up with her staff. + +"You are weak, mother," said he. "Hast journeyed far, I wot." + +"From Wiltshire, friend," said she, in a quavering voice; "three days +have I been on the road. I go to my son, who is one of the King's +regarders at Brockenhurst. He has ever said that he would care for me in +mine old age." + +"And rightly too, mother, since you cared for him in his youth. But when +have you broken fast?" + +"At Lyndenhurst; but alas! my money is at an end, and I could but get a +dish of bran-porridge from the nunnery. Yet I trust that I may be able +to reach Brockenhurst to-night, where I may have all that heart can +desire; for oh! sir, but my son is a fine man, with a kindly heart of +his own, and it is as good as food to me to think that he should have a +doublet of Lincoln green to his back and be the King's own paid man." + +"It is a long road yet to Brockenhurst," said Alleyne; "but here is such +bread and cheese as I have left, and here, too, is a penny which may +help you to supper. May God be with you!" + +"May God be with you, young man!" she cried. "May He make your heart as +glad as you have made mine!" She turned away, still mumbling blessings, +and Alleyne saw her short figure and her long shadow stumbling slowly up +the slope. + +He was moving away himself, when his eyes lit upon a strange sight, and +one which sent a tingling through his skin. Out of the tangled scrub on +the old overgrown barrow two human faces were looking out at him; the +sinking sun glimmered full upon them, showing up every line and feature. +The one was an oldish man with a thin beard, a crooked nose, and a broad +red smudge from a birth-mark over his temple; the other was a negro, a +thing rarely met in England at that day, and rarer still in the quiet +southland parts. Alleyne had read of such folk, but had never seen one +before, and could scarce take his eyes from the fellow's broad pouting +lip and shining teeth. Even as he gazed, however, the two came writhing +out from among the heather, and came down towards him with such a +guilty, slinking carriage, that the clerk felt that there was no good in +them, and hastened onwards upon his way. + +He had not gained the crown of the slope, when he heard a sudden scuffle +behind him and a feeble voice bleating for help. Looking round, there +was the old dame down upon the roadway, with her red whimple flying on +the breeze, while the two rogues, black and white, stooped over her, +wresting away from her the penny and such other poor trifles as were +worth the taking. At the sight of her thin limbs struggling in weak +resistance, such a glow of fierce anger passed over Alleyne as set his +head in a whirl. Dropping his scrip, he bounded over the stream once +more, and made for the two villains, with his staff whirled over his +shoulder and his gray eyes blazing with fury. + +The robbers, however, were not disposed to leave their victim until they +had worked their wicked will upon her. The black man, with the woman's +crimson scarf tied round his swarthy head, stood forward in the centre +of the path, with a long dull-colored knife in his hand, while the +other, waving a ragged cudgel, cursed at Alleyne and dared him to +come on. His blood was fairly aflame, however, and he needed no such +challenge. Dashing at the black man, he smote at him with such good will +that the other let his knife tinkle into the roadway, and hopped howling +to a safer distance. The second rogue, however, made of sterner stuff, +rushed in upon the clerk, and clipped him round the waist with a grip +like a bear, shouting the while to his comrade to come round and stab +him in the back. At this the negro took heart of grace, and picking up +his dagger again he came stealing with prowling step and murderous eye, +while the two swayed backwards and forwards, staggering this way and +that. In the very midst of the scuffle, however, whilst Alleyne braced +himself to feel the cold blade between his shoulders, there came a +sudden scurry of hoofs, and the black man yelled with terror and ran +for his life through the heather. The man with the birth-mark, too, +struggled to break away, and Alleyne heard his teeth chatter and felt +his limbs grow limp to his hand. At this sign of coming aid the clerk +held on the tighter, and at last was able to pin his man down and +glanced behind him to see where all the noise was coming from. + +Down the slanting road there was riding a big, burly man, clad in a +tunic of purple velvet and driving a great black horse as hard as +it could gallop. He leaned well over its neck as he rode, and made a +heaving with his shoulders at every bound as though he were lifting the +steed instead of it carrying him. In the rapid glance Alleyne saw that +he had white doeskin gloves, a curling white feather in his flat velvet +cap, and a broad gold, embroidered baldric across his bosom. Behind him +rode six others, two and two, clad in sober brown jerkins, with the +long yellow staves of their bows thrusting out from behind their right +shoulders. Down the hill they thundered, over the brook and up to the +scene of the contest. + +"Here is one!" said the leader, springing down from his reeking horse, +and seizing the white rogue by the edge of his jerkin. "This is one of +them. I know him by that devil's touch upon his brow. Where are your +cords, Peterkin? So! Bind him hand and foot. His last hour has come. And +you, young man, who may you be?" + +"I am a clerk, sir, travelling from Beaulieu." + +"A clerk!" cried the other. "Art from Oxenford or from Cambridge? Hast +thou a letter from the chancellor of thy college giving thee a permit +to beg? Let me see thy letter." He had a stern, square face, with bushy +side whiskers and a very questioning eye. + +"I am from Beaulieu Abbey, and I have no need to beg," said Alleyne, who +was all of a tremble now that the ruffle was over. + +"The better for thee," the other answered. "Dost know who I am?" + +"No, sir, I do not." + +"I am the law!"--nodding his head solemnly. "I am the law of England +and the mouthpiece of his most gracious and royal majesty, Edward the +Third." + +Alleyne louted low to the King's representative. "Truly you came in good +time, honored sir," said he. "A moment later and they would have slain +me." + +"But there should be another one," cried the man in the purple coat. +"There should be a black man. A shipman with St. Anthony's fire, and a +black man who had served him as cook--those are the pair that we are in +chase of." + +"The black man fled over to that side," said Alleyne, pointing towards +the barrow. + +"He could not have gone far, sir bailiff," cried one of the archers, +unslinging his bow. "He is in hiding somewhere, for he knew well, black +paynim as he is, that our horses' four legs could outstrip his two." + +"Then we shall have him," said the other. "It shall never be said, +whilst I am bailiff of Southampton, that any waster, riever, draw-latch +or murtherer came scathless away from me and my posse. Leave that rogue +lying. Now stretch out in line, my merry ones, with arrow on string, and +I shall show you such sport as only the King can give. You on the left, +Howett, and Thomas of Redbridge upon the right. So! Beat high and low +among the heather, and a pot of wine to the lucky marksman." + +As it chanced, however, the searchers had not far to seek. The negro had +burrowed down into his hiding-place upon the barrow, where he might have +lain snug enough, had it not been for the red gear upon his head. As +he raised himself to look over the bracken at his enemies, the staring +color caught the eye of the bailiff, who broke into a long screeching +whoop and spurred forward sword in hand. Seeing himself discovered, +the man rushed out from his hiding-place, and bounded at the top of +his speed down the line of archers, keeping a good hundred paces to the +front of them. The two who were on either side of Alleyne bent their +bows as calmly as though they were shooting at the popinjay at the +village fair. + +"Seven yards windage, Hal," said one, whose hair was streaked with gray. + +"Five," replied the other, letting loose his string. Alleyne gave a gulp +in his throat, for the yellow streak seemed to pass through the man; but +he still ran forward. + +"Seven, you jack-fool," growled the first speaker, and his bow twanged +like a harp-string. The black man sprang high up into the air, and +shot out both his arms and his legs, coming down all a-sprawl among +the heather. "Right under the blade bone!" quoth the archer, sauntering +forward for his arrow. + +"The old hound is the best when all is said," quoth the bailiff of +Southampton, as they made back for the roadway. "That means a quart of +the best malmsey in Southampton this very night, Matthew Atwood. Art +sure that he is dead?" + +"Dead as Pontius Pilate, worshipful sir." + +"It is well. Now, as to the other knave. There are trees and to spare +over yonder, but we have scarce leisure to make for them. Draw thy +sword, Thomas of Redbridge, and hew me his head from his shoulders." + +"A boon, gracious sir, a boon!" cried the condemned man. + +"What then?" asked the bailiff. + +"I will confess to my crime. It was indeed I and the black cook, both +from the ship 'La Rose de Gloire,' of Southampton, who did set upon the +Flanders merchant and rob him of his spicery and his mercery, for which, +as we well know, you hold a warrant against us." + +"There is little merit in this confession," quoth the bailiff sternly. +"Thou hast done evil within my bailiwick, and must die." + +"But, sir," urged Alleyne, who was white to the lips at these bloody +doings, "he hath not yet come to trial." + +"Young clerk," said the bailiff, "you speak of that of which you know +nothing. It is true that he hath not come to trial, but the trial hath +come to him. He hath fled the law and is beyond its pale. Touch not that +which is no concern of thine. But what is this boon, rogue, which you +would crave?" + +"I have in my shoe, most worshipful sir, a strip of wood which belonged +once to the bark wherein the blessed Paul was dashed up against the +island of Melita. I bought it for two rose nobles from a shipman who +came from the Levant. The boon I crave is that you will place it in my +hands and let me die still grasping it. In this manner, not only shall +my own eternal salvation be secured, but thine also, for I shall never +cease to intercede for thee." + +At the command of the bailiff they plucked off the fellow's shoe, and +there sure enough at the side of the instep, wrapped in a piece of fine +sendall, lay a long, dark splinter of wood. The archers doffed caps at +the sight of it, and the bailiff crossed himself devoutly as he handed +it to the robber. + +"If it should chance," he said, "that through the surpassing merits of +the blessed Paul your sin-stained soul should gain a way into paradise, +I trust that you will not forget that intercession which you have +promised. Bear in mind too, that it is Herward the bailiff for whom you +pray, and not Herward the sheriff, who is my uncle's son. Now, Thomas, I +pray you dispatch, for we have a long ride before us and sun has already +set." + +Alleyne gazed upon the scene--the portly velvet-clad official, the knot +of hard-faced archers with their hands to the bridles of their horses, +the thief with his arms trussed back and his doublet turned down upon +his shoulders. By the side of the track the old dame was standing, +fastening her red whimple once more round her head. Even as he looked +one of the archers drew his sword with a sharp whirr of steel and stept +up to the lost man. The clerk hurried away in horror; but, ere he +had gone many paces, he heard a sudden, sullen thump, with a choking, +whistling sound at the end of it. A minute later the bailiff and four +of his men rode past him on their journey back to Southampton, the other +two having been chosen as grave-diggers. As they passed Alleyne saw that +one of the men was wiping his sword-blade upon the mane of his horse. +A deadly sickness came over him at the sight, and sitting down by the +wayside he burst out weeping, with his nerves all in a jangle. It was a +terrible world thought he, and it was hard to know which were the most +to be dreaded, the knaves or the men of the law. + + + +CHAPTER V. HOW A STRANGE COMPANY GATHERED AT THE "PIED MERLIN." + + +The night had already fallen, and the moon was shining between the rifts +of ragged, drifting clouds, before Alleyne Edricson, footsore and weary +from the unwonted exercise, found himself in front of the forest inn +which stood upon the outskirts of Lyndhurst. The building was long and +low, standing back a little from the road, with two flambeaux blazing on +either side of the door as a welcome to the traveller. From one window +there thrust forth a long pole with a bunch of greenery tied to the end +of it--a sign that liquor was to be sold within. As Alleyne walked up to +it he perceived that it was rudely fashioned out of beams of wood, with +twinkling lights all over where the glow from within shone through the +chinks. The roof was poor and thatched; but in strange contrast to +it there ran all along under the eaves a line of wooden shields, most +gorgeously painted with chevron, bend, and saltire, and every heraldic +device. By the door a horse stood tethered, the ruddy glow beating +strongly upon his brown head and patient eyes, while his body stood back +in the shadow. + +Alleyne stood still in the roadway for a few minutes reflecting +upon what he should do. It was, he knew, only a few miles further to +Minstead, where his brother dwelt. On the other hand, he had never seen +this brother since childhood, and the reports which had come to his ears +concerning him were seldom to his advantage. By all accounts he was a +hard and a bitter man. + +It might be an evil start to come to his door so late and claim the +shelter of his roof. Better to sleep here at this inn, and then travel +on to Minstead in the morning. If his brother would take him in, well +and good. + +He would bide with him for a time and do what he might to serve him. +If, on the other hand, he should have hardened his heart against him, +he could only go on his way and do the best he might by his skill as +a craftsman and a scrivener. At the end of a year he would be free +to return to the cloisters, for such had been his father's bequest. A +monkish upbringing, one year in the world after the age of twenty, and +then a free selection one way or the other--it was a strange course +which had been marked out for him. Such as it was, however, he had no +choice but to follow it, and if he were to begin by making a friend +of his brother he had best wait until morning before he knocked at his +dwelling. + +The rude plank door was ajar, but as Alleyne approached it there came +from within such a gust of rough laughter and clatter of tongues that +he stood irresolute upon the threshold. Summoning courage, however, and +reflecting that it was a public dwelling, in which he had as much right +as any other man, he pushed it open and stepped into the common room. + +Though it was an autumn evening and somewhat warm, a huge fire of heaped +billets of wood crackled and sparkled in a broad, open grate, some of +the smoke escaping up a rude chimney, but the greater part rolling out +into the room, so that the air was thick with it, and a man coming from +without could scarce catch his breath. On this fire a great cauldron +bubbled and simmered, giving forth a rich and promising smell. Seated +round it were a dozen or so folk, of all ages and conditions, who set +up such a shout as Alleyne entered that he stood peering at them through +the smoke, uncertain what this riotous greeting might portend. + +"A rouse! A rouse!" cried one rough looking fellow in a tattered jerkin. +"One more round of mead or ale and the score to the last comer." + +"'Tis the law of the 'Pied Merlin,'" shouted another. "Ho there, Dame +Eliza! Here is fresh custom come to the house, and not a drain for the +company." + +"I will take your orders, gentles; I will assuredly take your orders," +the landlady answered, bustling in with her hands full of leathern +drinking-cups. "What is it that you drink, then? Beer for the lads of +the forest, mead for the gleeman, strong waters for the tinker, and wine +for the rest. It is an old custom of the house, young sir. It has been +the use at the 'Pied Merlin' this many a year back that the company +should drink to the health of the last comer. Is it your pleasure to +humor it?" + +"Why, good dame," said Alleyne, "I would not offend the customs of your +house, but it is only sooth when I say that my purse is a thin one. As +far as two pence will go, however, I shall be right glad to do my part." + +"Plainly said and bravely spoken, my suckling friar," roared a deep +voice, and a heavy hand fell upon Alleyne's shoulder. Looking up, he saw +beside him his former cloister companion the renegade monk, Hordle John. + +"By the thorn of Glastonbury! ill days are coming upon Beaulieu," said +he. "Here they have got rid in one day of the only two men within their +walls--for I have had mine eyes upon thee, youngster, and I know that +for all thy baby-face there is the making of a man in thee. Then there +is the Abbot, too. I am no friend of his, nor he of mine; but he has +warm blood in his veins. He is the only man left among them. The others, +what are they?" + +"They are holy men," Alleyne answered gravely. + +"Holy men? Holy cabbages! Holy bean-pods! What do they do but live and +suck in sustenance and grow fat? If that be holiness, I could show you +hogs in this forest who are fit to head the calendar. Think you it was +for such a life that this good arm was fixed upon my shoulder, or that +head placed upon your neck? There is work in the world, man, and it is +not by hiding behind stone walls that we shall do it." + +"Why, then, did you join the brothers?" asked Alleyne. + +"A fair enough question; but it is as fairly answered. I joined them +because Margery Alspaye, of Bolder, married Crooked Thomas of Ringwood, +and left a certain John of Hordle in the cold, for that he was a +ranting, roving blade who was not to be trusted in wedlock. That was +why, being fond and hot-headed, I left the world; and that is why, +having had time to take thought, I am right glad to find myself back in +it once more. Ill betide the day that ever I took off my yeoman's jerkin +to put on the white gown!" + +Whilst he was speaking the landlady came in again, bearing a broad +platter, upon which stood all the beakers and flagons charged to the +brim with the brown ale or the ruby wine. Behind her came a maid with +a high pile of wooden plates, and a great sheaf of spoons, one of which +she handed round to each of the travellers. Two of the company, who were +dressed in the weather-stained green doublet of foresters, lifted the +big pot off the fire, and a third, with a huge pewter ladle, served out +a portion of steaming collops to each guest. Alleyne bore his share and +his ale-mug away with him to a retired trestle in the corner, where he +could sup in peace and watch the strange scene, which was so different +to those silent and well-ordered meals to which he was accustomed. + +The room was not unlike a stable. The low ceiling, smoke-blackened and +dingy, was pierced by several square trap-doors with rough-hewn ladders +leading up to them. The walls of bare unpainted planks were studded +here and there with great wooden pins, placed at irregular intervals +and heights, from which hung over-tunics, wallets, whips, bridles, and +saddles. Over the fireplace were suspended six or seven shields of +wood, with coats-of-arms rudely daubed upon them, which showed by their +varying degrees of smokiness and dirt that they had been placed there +at different periods. There was no furniture, save a single long +dresser covered with coarse crockery, and a number of wooden benches and +trestles, the legs of which sank deeply into the soft clay floor, while +the only light, save that of the fire, was furnished by three torches +stuck in sockets on the wall, which flickered and crackled, giving +forth a strong resinous odor. All this was novel and strange to the +cloister-bred youth; but most interesting of all was the motley circle +of guests who sat eating their collops round the blaze. They were a +humble group of wayfarers, such as might have been found that night +in any inn through the length and breadth of England; but to him they +represented that vague world against which he had been so frequently and +so earnestly warned. It did not seem to him from what he could see of it +to be such a very wicked place after all. + +Three or four of the men round the fire were evidently underkeepers +and verderers from the forest, sunburned and bearded, with the quick +restless eye and lithe movements of the deer among which they lived. +Close to the corner of the chimney sat a middle-aged gleeman, clad in a +faded garb of Norwich cloth, the tunic of which was so outgrown that it +did not fasten at the neck and at the waist. His face was swollen and +coarse, and his watery protruding eyes spoke of a life which never +wandered very far from the wine-pot. A gilt harp, blotched with many +stains and with two of its strings missing, was tucked under one of his +arms, while with the other he scooped greedily at his platter. Next to +him sat two other men of about the same age, one with a trimming of fur +to his coat, which gave him a dignity which was evidently dearer to him +than his comfort, for he still drew it round him in spite of the hot +glare of the faggots. The other, clad in a dirty russet suit with a long +sweeping doublet, had a cunning, foxy face with keen, twinkling eyes and +a peaky beard. Next to him sat Hordle John, and beside him three other +rough unkempt fellows with tangled beards and matted hair--free laborers +from the adjoining farms, where small patches of freehold property +had been suffered to remain scattered about in the heart of the royal +demesne. The company was completed by a peasant in a rude dress of +undyed sheepskin, with the old-fashioned galligaskins about his legs, +and a gayly dressed young man with striped cloak jagged at the edges +and parti-colored hosen, who looked about him with high disdain upon his +face, and held a blue smelling-flask to his nose with one hand, while he +brandished a busy spoon with the other. In the corner a very fat man was +lying all a-sprawl upon a truss, snoring stertorously, and evidently in +the last stage of drunkenness. + +"That is Wat the limner," quoth the landlady, sitting down beside +Alleyne, and pointing with the ladle to the sleeping man. "That is he +who paints the signs and the tokens. Alack and alas that ever I should +have been fool enough to trust him! Now, young man, what manner of a +bird would you suppose a pied merlin to be--that being the proper sign +of my hostel?" + +"Why," said Alleyne, "a merlin is a bird of the same form as an eagle or +a falcon. I can well remember that learned brother Bartholomew, who is +deep in all the secrets of nature, pointed one out to me as we walked +together near Vinney Ridge." + +"A falcon or an eagle, quotha? And pied, that is of two several colors. +So any man would say except this barrel of lies. He came to me, look +you, saying that if I would furnish him with a gallon of ale, wherewith +to strengthen himself as he worked, and also the pigments and a board, +he would paint for me a noble pied merlin which I might hang along with +the blazonry over my door. I, poor simple fool, gave him the ale and all +that he craved, leaving him alone too, because he said that a man's mind +must be left untroubled when he had great work to do. When I came back +the gallon jar was empty, and he lay as you see him, with the board in +front of him with this sorry device." She raised up a panel which was +leaning against the wall, and showed a rude painting of a scraggy and +angular fowl, with very long legs and a spotted body. + +"Was that," she asked, "like the bird which thou hast seen?" + +Alleyne shook his head, smiling. + +"No, nor any other bird that ever wagged a feather. It is most like a +plucked pullet which has died of the spotted fever. And scarlet too! +What would the gentles Sir Nicholas Boarhunte, or Sir Bernard Brocas, of +Roche Court, say if they saw such a thing--or, perhaps, even the King's +own Majesty himself, who often has ridden past this way, and who loves +his falcons as he loves his sons? It would be the downfall of my house." + +"The matter is not past mending," said Alleyne. "I pray you, good dame, +to give me those three pigment-pots and the brush, and I shall try +whether I cannot better this painting." + +Dame Eliza looked doubtfully at him, as though fearing some other +stratagem, but, as he made no demand for ale, she finally brought the +paints, and watched him as he smeared on his background, talking the +while about the folk round the fire. + +"The four forest lads must be jogging soon," she said. "They bide at +Emery Down, a mile or more from here. Yeomen prickers they are, who tend +to the King's hunt. The gleeman is called Floyting Will. He comes from +the north country, but for many years he hath gone the round of the +forest from Southampton to Christchurch. He drinks much and pays little +but it would make your ribs crackle to hear him sing the 'Jest of Hendy +Tobias.' Mayhap he will sing it when the ale has warmed him." + +"Who are those next to him?" asked Alleyne, much interested. "He of the +fur mantle has a wise and reverent face." + +"He is a seller of pills and salves, very learned in humors, and rheums, +and fluxes, and all manner of ailments. He wears, as you perceive, the +vernicle of Sainted Luke, the first physician, upon his sleeve. May good +St. Thomas of Kent grant that it may be long before either I or mine +need his help! He is here to-night for herbergage, as are the others +except the foresters. His neighbor is a tooth-drawer. That bag at his +girdle is full of the teeth that he drew at Winchester fair. I warrant +that there are more sound ones than sorry, for he is quick at his work +and a trifle dim in the eye. The lusty man next him with the red head +I have not seen before. The four on this side are all workers, three +of them in the service of the bailiff of Sir Baldwin Redvers, and the +other, he with the sheepskin, is, as I hear, a villein from the midlands +who hath run from his master. His year and day are well-nigh up, when he +will be a free man." + +"And the other?" asked Alleyne in a whisper. "He is surely some very +great man, for he looks as though he scorned those who were about him." + +The landlady looked at him in a motherly way and shook her head. "You +have had no great truck with the world," she said, "or you would have +learned that it is the small men and not the great who hold their noses +in the air. Look at those shields upon my wall and under my eaves. Each +of them is the device of some noble lord or gallant knight who hath +slept under my roof at one time or another. Yet milder men or easier to +please I have never seen: eating my bacon and drinking my wine with a +merry face, and paying my score with some courteous word or jest which +was dearer to me than my profit. Those are the true gentles. But your +chapman or your bearward will swear that there is a lime in the wine, +and water in the ale, and fling off at the last with a curse instead of +a blessing. This youth is a scholar from Cambrig, where men are wont to +be blown out by a little knowledge, and lose the use of their hands in +learning the laws of the Romans. But I must away to lay down the beds. +So may the saints keep you and prosper you in your undertaking!" + +Thus left to himself, Alleyne drew his panel of wood where the light of +one of the torches would strike full upon it, and worked away with all +the pleasure of the trained craftsman, listening the while to the talk +which went on round the fire. The peasant in the sheepskins, who had +sat glum and silent all evening, had been so heated by his flagon of ale +that he was talking loudly and angrily with clenched hands and flashing +eyes. + +"Sir Humphrey Tennant of Ashby may till his own fields for me," he +cried. "The castle has thrown its shadow upon the cottage over long. +For three hundred years my folk have swinked and sweated, day in and day +out, to keep the wine on the lord's table and the harness on the lord's +back. Let him take off his plates and delve himself, if delving must be +done." + +"A proper spirit, my fair son!" said one of the free laborers. "I would +that all men were of thy way of thinking." + +"He would have sold me with his acres," the other cried, in a +voice which was hoarse with passion. "'The man, the woman and their +litter'--so ran the words of the dotard bailiff. Never a bullock on the +farm was sold more lightly. Ha! he may wake some black night to find +the flames licking about his ears--for fire is a good friend to the +poor man, and I have seen a smoking heap of ashes where over night there +stood just such another castlewick as Ashby." + +"This is a lad of mettle!" shouted another of the laborers. "He dares to +give tongue to what all men think. Are we not all from Adam's loins, all +with flesh and blood, and with the same mouth that must needs have food +and drink? Where all this difference then between the ermine cloak and +the leathern tunic, if what they cover is the same?" + +"Aye, Jenkin," said another, "our foeman is under the stole and the +vestment as much as under the helmet and plate of proof. We have as much +to fear from the tonsure as from the hauberk. Strike at the noble and +the priest shrieks, strike at priest and the noble lays his hand upon +glaive. They are twin thieves who live upon our labor." + +"It would take a clever man to live upon thy labor, Hugh," remarked one +of the foresters, "seeing that the half of thy time is spent in swilling +mead at the 'Pied Merlin.'" + +"Better that than stealing the deer that thou art placed to guard, like +some folk I know." + +"If you dare open that swine's mouth against me," shouted the woodman, +"I'll crop your ears for you before the hangman has the doing of it, +thou long-jawed lackbrain." + +"Nay, gentles, gentles!" cried Dame Eliza, in a singsong heedless voice, +which showed that such bickerings were nightly things among her guests. +"No brawling or brabbling, gentles! Take heed to the good name of the +house." + +"Besides, if it comes to the cropping of ears, there are other folk who +may say their say," quoth the third laborer. "We are all freemen, and +I trow that a yeoman's cudgel is as good as a forester's knife. By +St. Anselm! it would be an evil day if we had to bend to our master's +servants as well as to our masters." + +"No man is my master save the King," the woodman answered. "Who is +there, save a false traitor, who would refuse to serve the English +king?" + +"I know not about the English king," said the man Jenkin. "What sort of +English king is it who cannot lay his tongue to a word of English? You +mind last year when he came down to Malwood, with his inner marshal and +his outer marshal, his justiciar, his seneschal, and his four and twenty +guardsmen. One noontide I was by Franklin Swinton's gate, when up he +rides with a yeoman pricker at his heels. 'Ouvre,' he cried, 'ouvre,' or +some such word, making signs for me to open the gate; and then 'Merci,' +as though he were adrad of me. And you talk of an English king?" + +"I do not marvel at it," cried the Cambrig scholar, speaking in the high +drawling voice which was common among his class. "It is not a tongue +for men of sweet birth and delicate upbringing. It is a foul, snorting, +snarling manner of speech. For myself, I swear by the learned Polycarp +that I have most ease with Hebrew, and after that perchance with +Arabian." + +"I will not hear a word said against old King Ned," cried Hordle John +in a voice like a bull. "What if he is fond of a bright eye and a saucy +face. I know one of his subjects who could match him at that. If +he cannot speak like an Englishman I trow that he can fight like an +Englishman, and he was hammering at the gates of Paris while ale-house +topers were grutching and grumbling at home." + +This loud speech, coming from a man of so formidable an appearance, +somewhat daunted the disloyal party, and they fell into a sullen +silence, which enabled Alleyne to hear something of the talk which was +going on in the further corner between the physician, the tooth-drawer +and the gleeman. + +"A raw rat," the man of drugs was saying, "that is what it is ever my +use to order for the plague--a raw rat with its paunch cut open." + +"Might it not be broiled, most learned sir?" asked the tooth-drawer. "A +raw rat sounds a most sorry and cheerless dish." + +"Not to be eaten," cried the physician, in high disdain. "Why should any +man eat such a thing?" + +"Why indeed?" asked the gleeman, taking a long drain at his tankard. + +"It is to be placed on the sore or swelling. For the rat, mark you, +being a foul-living creature, hath a natural drawing or affinity for +all foul things, so that the noxious humors pass from the man into the +unclean beast." + +"Would that cure the black death, master?" asked Jenkin. + +"Aye, truly would it, my fair son." + +"Then I am right glad that there were none who knew of it. The black +death is the best friend that ever the common folk had in England." + +"How that then?" asked Hordle John. + +"Why, friend, it is easy to see that you have not worked with your hands +or you would not need to ask. When half the folk in the country were +dead it was then that the other half could pick and choose who they +would work for, and for what wage. That is why I say that the murrain +was the best friend that the borel folk ever had." + +"True, Jenkin," said another workman; "but it is not all good that is +brought by it either. We well know that through it corn-land has been +turned into pasture, so that flocks of sheep with perchance a single +shepherd wander now where once a hundred men had work and wage." + +"There is no great harm in that," remarked the tooth-drawer, "for the +sheep give many folk their living. There is not only the herd, but the +shearer and brander, and then the dresser, the curer, the dyer, the +fuller, the webster, the merchant, and a score of others." + +"If it come to that." said one of the foresters, "the tough meat of them +will wear folks teeth out, and there is a trade for the man who can draw +them." + +A general laugh followed this sally at the dentist's expense, in the +midst of which the gleeman placed his battered harp upon his knee, and +began to pick out a melody upon the frayed strings. + +"Elbow room for Floyting Will!" cried the woodmen. "Twang us a merry +lilt." + +"Aye, aye, the 'Lasses of Lancaster,'" one suggested. + +"Or 'St. Simeon and the Devil.'" + +"Or the 'Jest of Hendy Tobias.'" + +To all these suggestions the jongleur made no response, but sat with his +eye fixed abstractedly upon the ceiling, as one who calls words to his +mind. Then, with a sudden sweep across the strings, he broke out into +a song so gross and so foul that ere he had finished a verse the +pure-minded lad sprang to his feet with the blood tingling in his face. + +"How can you sing such things?" he cried. "You, too, an old man who +should be an example to others." + +The wayfarers all gazed in the utmost astonishment at the interruption. + +"By the holy Dicon of Hampole! our silent clerk has found his tongue," +said one of the woodmen. "What is amiss with the song then? How has it +offended your babyship?" + +"A milder and better mannered song hath never been heard within these +walls," cried another. "What sort of talk is this for a public inn?" + +"Shall it be a litany, my good clerk?" shouted a third; "or would a hymn +be good enough to serve?" + +The jongleur had put down his harp in high dudgeon. "Am I to be preached +to by a child?" he cried, staring across at Alleyne with an inflamed and +angry countenance. "Is a hairless infant to raise his tongue against me, +when I have sung in every fair from Tweed to Trent, and have twice been +named aloud by the High Court of the Minstrels at Beverley? I shall sing +no more to-night." + +"Nay, but you will so," said one of the laborers. "Hi, Dame Eliza, bring +a stoup of your best to Will to clear his throat. Go forward with thy +song, and if our girl-faced clerk does not love it he can take to the +road and go whence he came." + +"Nay, but not too last," broke in Hordle John. "There are two words in +this matter. It may be that my little comrade has been over quick in +reproof, he having gone early into the cloisters and seen little of the +rough ways and words of the world. Yet there is truth in what he says, +for, as you know well, the song was not of the cleanest. I shall stand +by him, therefore, and he shall neither be put out on the road, nor +shall his ears be offended indoors." + +"Indeed, your high and mighty grace," sneered one of the yeomen, "have +you in sooth so ordained?" + +"By the Virgin!" said a second, "I think that you may both chance to +find yourselves upon the road before long." + +"And so belabored as to be scarce able to crawl along it," cried a +third. + +"Nay, I shall go! I shall go!" said Alleyne hurriedly, as Hordle John +began to slowly roll up his sleeve, and bare an arm like a leg of +mutton. "I would not have you brawl about me." + +"Hush! lad," he whispered, "I count them not a fly. They may find they +have more tow on their distaff than they know how to spin. Stand thou +clear and give me space." + +Both the foresters and the laborers had risen from their bench, and Dame +Eliza and the travelling doctor had flung themselves between the two +parties with soft words and soothing gestures, when the door of the +"Pied Merlin" was flung violently open, and the attention of the company +was drawn from their own quarrel to the new-comer who had burst so +unceremoniously upon them. + + + +CHAPTER VI. HOW SAMKIN AYLWARD WAGERED HIS FEATHER-BED. + + +He was a middle-sized man, of most massive and robust build, with an +arching chest and extraordinary breadth of shoulder. His shaven face was +as brown as a hazel-nut, tanned and dried by the weather, with harsh, +well-marked features, which were not improved by a long white scar which +stretched from the corner of his left nostril to the angle of the jaw. +His eyes were bright and searching, with something of menace and of +authority in their quick glitter, and his mouth was firm-set and hard, +as befitted one who was wont to set his face against danger. A straight +sword by his side and a painted long-bow jutting over his shoulder +proclaimed his profession, while his scarred brigandine of chain-mail +and his dinted steel cap showed that he was no holiday soldier, but one +who was even now fresh from the wars. A white surcoat with the lion +of St. George in red upon the centre covered his broad breast, while a +sprig of new-plucked broom at the side of his head-gear gave a touch of +gayety and grace to his grim, war-worn equipment. + +"Ha!" he cried, blinking like an owl in the sudden glare. "Good even +to you, comrades! Hola! a woman, by my soul!" and in an instant he had +clipped Dame Eliza round the waist and was kissing her violently. His +eye happening to wander upon the maid, however, he instantly abandoned +the mistress and danced off after the other, who scurried in confusion +up one of the ladders, and dropped the heavy trap-door upon her pursuer. +He then turned back and saluted the landlady once more with the utmost +relish and satisfaction. + +"La petite is frightened," said he. "Ah, c'est l'amour, l'amour! Curse +this trick of French, which will stick to my throat. I must wash it out +with some good English ale. By my hilt! camarades, there is no drop of +French blood in my body, and I am a true English bowman, Samkin Aylward +by name; and I tell you, mes amis, that it warms my very heart-roots to +set my feet on the dear old land once more. When I came off the galley +at Hythe, this very day, I down on my bones, and I kissed the good brown +earth, as I kiss thee now, ma belle, for it was eight long years since +I had seen it. The very smell of it seemed life to me. But where are my +six rascals? Hola, there! En avant!" + +At the order, six men, dressed as common drudges, marched solemnly +into the room, each bearing a huge bundle upon his head. They formed in +military line, while the soldier stood in front of them with stern eyes, +checking off their several packages. + +"Number one--a French feather-bed with the two counter-panes of white +sendall," said he. + +"Here, worthy sir," answered the first of the bearers, laying a great +package down in the corner. + +"Number two--seven ells of red Turkey cloth and nine ells of cloth of +gold. Put it down by the other. Good dame, I prythee give each of these +men a bottrine of wine or a jack of ale. Three--a full piece of white +Genoan velvet with twelve ells of purple silk. Thou rascal, there is +dirt on the hem! Thou hast brushed it against some wall, coquin!" + +"Not I, most worthy sir," cried the carrier, shrinking away from the +fierce eyes of the bowman. + +"I say yes, dog! By the three kings! I have seen a man gasp out his last +breath for less. Had you gone through the pain and unease that I have +done to earn these things you would be at more care. I swear by my ten +finger-bones that there is not one of them that hath not cost its weight +in French blood! Four--an incense-boat, a ewer of silver, a gold buckle +and a cope worked in pearls. I found them, camarades, at the Church of +St. Denis in the harrying of Narbonne, and I took them away with me lest +they fall into the hands of the wicked. Five--a cloak of fur turned +up with minever, a gold goblet with stand and cover, and a box of +rose-colored sugar. See that you lay them together. Six--a box of +monies, three pounds of Limousine gold-work, a pair of boots, silver +tagged, and, lastly, a store of naping linen. So, the tally is complete! +Here is a groat apiece, and you may go." + +"Go whither, worthy sir?" asked one of the carriers. + +"Whither? To the devil if ye will. What is it to me? Now, ma belle, to +supper. A pair of cold capons, a mortress of brawn, or what you will, +with a flask or two of the right Gascony. I have crowns in my pouch, +my sweet, and I mean to spend them. Bring in wine while the food is +dressing. Buvons my brave lads; you shall each empty a stoup with me." + +Here was an offer which the company in an English inn at that or any +other date are slow to refuse. The flagons were re-gathered and came +back with the white foam dripping over their edges. Two of the woodmen +and three of the laborers drank their portions off hurriedly and trooped +off together, for their homes were distant and the hour late. The +others, however, drew closer, leaving the place of honor to the right +of the gleeman to the free-handed new-comer. He had thrown off his steel +cap and his brigandine, and had placed them with his sword, his quiver +and his painted long-bow, on the top of his varied heap of plunder in +the corner. Now, with his thick and somewhat bowed legs stretched in +front of the blaze, his green jerkin thrown open, and a great quart +pot held in his corded fist, he looked the picture of comfort and of +good-fellowship. His hard-set face had softened, and the thick crop of +crisp brown curls which had been hidden by his helmet grew low upon his +massive neck. He might have been forty years of age, though hard toil +and harder pleasure had left their grim marks upon his features. Alleyne +had ceased painting his pied merlin, and sat, brush in hand, staring +with open eyes at a type of man so strange and so unlike any whom he had +met. Men had been good or had been bad in his catalogue, but here was a +man who was fierce one instant and gentle the next, with a curse on his +lips and a smile in his eye. What was to be made of such a man as that? + +It chanced that the soldier looked up and saw the questioning glance +which the young clerk threw upon him. He raised his flagon and drank to +him, with a merry flash of his white teeth. + +"A toi, mon garcon," he cried. "Hast surely never seen a man-at-arms, +that thou shouldst stare so?" + +"I never have," said Alleyne frankly, "though I have oft heard talk of +their deeds." + +"By my hilt!" cried the other, "if you were to cross the narrow sea you +would find them as thick as bees at a tee-hole. Couldst not shoot a +bolt down any street of Bordeaux, I warrant, but you would pink archer, +squire, or knight. There are more breastplates than gaberdines to be +seen, I promise you." + +"And where got you all these pretty things?" asked Hordle John, pointing +at the heap in the corner. + +"Where there is as much more waiting for any brave lad to pick it up. +Where a good man can always earn a good wage, and where he need look +upon no man as his paymaster, but just reach his hand out and help +himself. Aye, it is a goodly and a proper life. And here I drink to +mine old comrades, and the saints be with them! Arouse all together, +mes enfants, under pain of my displeasure. To Sir Claude Latour and the +White Company!" + +"Sir Claude Latour and the White Company!" shouted the travellers, +draining off their goblets. + +"Well quaffed, mes braves! It is for me to fill your cups again, since +you have drained them to my dear lads of the white jerkin. Hola! mon +ange, bring wine and ale. How runs the old stave?-- + + We'll drink all together + To the gray goose feather + And the land where the gray goose flew." + +He roared out the catch in a harsh, unmusical voice, and ended with a +shout of laughter. "I trust that I am a better bowman than a minstrel," +said he. + +"Methinks I have some remembrance of the lilt," remarked the gleeman, +running his fingers over the strings. "Hoping that it will give thee no +offence, most holy sir"--with a vicious snap at Alleyne--"and with the +kind permit of the company, I will even venture upon it." + +Many a time in the after days Alleyne Edricson seemed to see that scene, +for all that so many which were stranger and more stirring were soon +to crowd upon him. The fat, red-faced gleeman, the listening group, the +archer with upraised finger beating in time to the music, and the huge +sprawling figure of Hordle John, all thrown into red light and black +shadow by the flickering fire in the centre--memory was to come often +lovingly back to it. At the time he was lost in admiration at the deft +way in which the jongleur disguised the loss of his two missing strings, +and the lusty, hearty fashion in which he trolled out his little ballad +of the outland bowmen, which ran in some such fashion as this: + + What of the bow? + The bow was made in England: + Of true wood, of yew wood, + The wood of English bows; + So men who are free + Love the old yew tree + And the land where the yew tree grows. + + What of the cord? + The cord was made in England: + A rough cord, a tough cord, + A cord that bowmen love; + So we'll drain our jacks + To the English flax + And the land where the hemp was wove. + + What of the shaft? + The shaft was cut in England: + A long shaft, a strong shaft, + Barbed and trim and true; + So we'll drink all together + To the gray goose feather + And the land where the gray goose flew. + + What of the men? + The men were bred in England: + The bowman--the yeoman-- + The lads of dale and fell + Here's to you--and to you; + To the hearts that are true + And the land where the true hearts dwell. + +"Well sung, by my hilt!" shouted the archer in high delight. "Many a +night have I heard that song, both in the old war-time and after in the +days of the White Company, when Black Simon of Norwich would lead the +stave, and four hundred of the best bowmen that ever drew string would +come roaring in upon the chorus. I have seen old John Hawkwood, the same +who has led half the Company into Italy, stand laughing in his beard as +he heard it, until his plates rattled again. But to get the full smack +of it ye must yourselves be English bowmen, and be far off upon an +outland soil." + +Whilst the song had been singing Dame Eliza and the maid had placed a +board across two trestles, and had laid upon it the knife, the spoon, +the salt, the tranchoir of bread, and finally the smoking dish which +held the savory supper. The archer settled himself to it like one who +had known what it was to find good food scarce; but his tongue still +went as merrily as his teeth. + +"It passes me," he cried, "how all you lusty fellows can bide scratching +your backs at home when there are such doings over the seas. Look at +me--what have I to do? It is but the eye to the cord, the cord to the +shaft, and the shaft to the mark. There is the whole song of it. It is +but what you do yourselves for pleasure upon a Sunday evening at the +parish village butts." + +"And the wage?" asked a laborer. + +"You see what the wage brings," he answered. "I eat of the best, and I +drink deep. I treat my friend, and I ask no friend to treat me. I clap +a silk gown on my girl's back. Never a knight's lady shall be better +betrimmed and betrinketed. How of all that, mon garcon? And how of the +heap of trifles that you can see for yourselves in yonder corner? They +are from the South French, every one, upon whom I have been making +war. By my hilt! camarades, I think that I may let my plunder speak for +itself." + +"It seems indeed to be a goodly service," said the tooth-drawer. + +"Tete bleu! yes, indeed. Then there is the chance of a ransom. Why, look +you, in the affair at Brignais some four years back, when the companies +slew James of Bourbon, and put his army to the sword, there was scarce a +man of ours who had not count, baron, or knight. Peter Karsdale, who +was but a common country lout newly brought over, with the English fleas +still hopping under his doublet, laid his great hands upon the Sieur +Amaury de Chatonville, who owns half Picardy, and had five thousand +crowns out of him, with his horse and harness. 'Tis true that a French +wench took it all off Peter as quick as the Frenchman paid it; but what +then? By the twang of string! it would be a bad thing if money was not +made to be spent; and how better than on woman--eh, ma belle?" + +"It would indeed be a bad thing if we had not our brave archers to bring +wealth and kindly customs into the country," quoth Dame Eliza, on whom +the soldier's free and open ways had made a deep impression. + +"A toi, ma cherie!" said he, with his hand over his heart. "Hola! there +is la petite peeping from behind the door. A toi, aussi, ma petite! Mon +Dieu! but the lass has a good color!" + +"There is one thing, fair sir," said the Cambridge student in his +piping voice, "which I would fain that you would make more clear. As +I understand it, there was peace made at the town of Bretigny some six +years back between our most gracious monarch and the King of the French. +This being so, it seems most passing strange that you should talk so +loudly of war and of companies when there is no quarrel between the +French and us." + +"Meaning that I lie," said the archer, laying down his knife. + +"May heaven forfend!" cried the student hastily. "_Magna est veritas sed +rara_, which means in the Latin tongue that archers are all honorable +men. I come to you seeking knowledge, for it is my trade to learn." + +"I fear that you are yet a 'prentice to that trade," quoth the soldier; +"for there is no child over the water but could answer what you ask. +Know then that though there may be peace between our own provinces and +the French, yet within the marches of France there is always war, for +the country is much divided against itself, and is furthermore harried +by bands of flayers, skinners, Brabacons, tardvenus, and the rest of +them. When every man's grip is on his neighbor's throat, and every +five-sous-piece of a baron is marching with tuck of drum to fight whom +he will, it would be a strange thing if five hundred brave English boys +could not pick up a living. Now that Sir John Hawkwood hath gone with +the East Anglian lads and the Nottingham woodmen into the service of the +Marquis of Montferrat to fight against the Lord of Milan, there are but +ten score of us left, yet I trust that I may be able to bring some back +with me to fill the ranks of the White Company. By the tooth of Peter! +it would be a bad thing if I could not muster many a Hamptonshire man +who would be ready to strike in under the red flag of St. George, and +the more so if Sir Nigel Loring, of Christchurch, should don hauberk +once more and take the lead of us." + +"Ah, you would indeed be in luck then," quoth a woodman; "for it is said +that, setting aside the prince, and mayhap good old Sir John Chandos, +there was not in the whole army a man of such tried courage." + +"It is sooth, every word of it," the archer answered. "I have seen him +with these two eyes in a stricken field, and never did man carry himself +better. Mon Dieu! yes, ye would not credit it to look at him, or to +hearken to his soft voice, but from the sailing from Orwell down to +the foray to Paris, and that is clear twenty years, there was not a +skirmish, onfall, sally, bushment, escalado or battle, but Sir Nigel was +in the heart of it. I go now to Christchurch with a letter to him from +Sir Claude Latour to ask him if he will take the place of Sir John +Hawkwood; and there is the more chance that he will if I bring one or +two likely men at my heels. What say you, woodman: wilt leave the bucks +to loose a shaft at a nobler mark?" + +The forester shook his head. "I have wife and child at Emery Down," +quoth he; "I would not leave them for such a venture." + +"You, then, young sir?" asked the archer. + +"Nay, I am a man of peace," said Alleyne Edricson. "Besides, I have +other work to do." + +"Peste!" growled the soldier, striking his flagon on the board until the +dishes danced again. "What, in the name of the devil, hath come over +the folk? Why sit ye all moping by the fireside, like crows round a dead +horse, when there is man's work to be done within a few short leagues of +ye? Out upon you all, as a set of laggards and hang-backs! By my hilt I +believe that the men of England are all in France already, and that what +is left behind are in sooth the women dressed up in their paltocks and +hosen." + +"Archer," quoth Hordle John, "you have lied more than once and more than +twice; for which, and also because I see much in you to dislike, I am +sorely tempted to lay you upon your back." + +"By my hilt! then, I have found a man at last!" shouted the bowman. +"And, 'fore God, you are a better man than I take you for if you can lay +me on my back, mon garcon. I have won the ram more times than there are +toes to my feet, and for seven long years I have found no man in the +Company who could make my jerkin dusty." + +"We have had enough bobance and boasting," said Hordle John, rising and +throwing off his doublet. "I will show you that there are better men +left in England than ever went thieving to France." + +"Pasques Dieu!" cried the archer, loosening his jerkin, and eyeing his +foeman over with the keen glance of one who is a judge of manhood. +"I have only once before seen such a body of a man. By your leave, my +red-headed friend, I should be right sorry to exchange buffets with +you; and I will allow that there is no man in the Company who would +pull against you on a rope; so let that be a salve to your pride. On +the other hand I should judge that you have led a life of ease for some +months back, and that my muscle is harder than your own. I am ready to +wager upon myself against you if you are not afeard." + +"Afeard, thou lurden!" growled big John. "I never saw the face yet of +the man that I was afeard of. Come out, and we shall see who is the +better man." + +"But the wager?" + +"I have nought to wager. Come out for the love and the lust of the +thing." + +"Nought to wager!" cried the soldier. "Why, you have that which I covet +above all things. It is that big body of thine that I am after. See, +now, mon garcon. I have a French feather-bed there, which I have been at +pains to keep these years back. I had it at the sacking of Issodun, and +the King himself hath not such a bed. If you throw me, it is thine; but, +if I throw you, then you are under a vow to take bow and bill and hie +with me to France, there to serve in the White Company as long as we be +enrolled." + +"A fair wager!" cried all the travellers, moving back their benches and +trestles, so as to give fair field for the wrestlers. + +"Then you may bid farewell to your bed, soldier," said Hordle John. + +"Nay; I shall keep the bed, and I shall have you to France in spite +of your teeth, and you shall live to thank me for it. How shall it be, +then, mon enfant? Collar and elbow, or close-lock, or catch how you +can?" + +"To the devil with your tricks," said John, opening and shutting his +great red hands. "Stand forth, and let me clip thee." + +"Shalt clip me as best you can then," quoth the archer, moving out into +the open space, and keeping a most wary eye upon his opponent. He had +thrown off his green jerkin, and his chest was covered only by a pink +silk jupon, or undershirt, cut low in the neck and sleeveless. Hordle +John was stripped from his waist upwards, and his huge body, with his +great muscles swelling out like the gnarled roots of an oak, towered +high above the soldier. The other, however, though near a foot shorter, +was a man of great strength; and there was a gloss upon his white skin +which was wanting in the heavier limbs of the renegade monk. He was +quick on his feet, too, and skilled at the game; so that it was clear, +from the poise of head and shine of eye, that he counted the chances to +be in his favor. It would have been hard that night, through the whole +length of England, to set up a finer pair in face of each other. + +Big John stood waiting in the centre with a sullen, menacing eye, and +his red hair in a bristle, while the archer paced lightly and swiftly to +the right and the left with crooked knee and hands advanced. Then with a +sudden dash, so swift and fierce that the eye could scarce follow it, he +flew in upon his man and locked his leg round him. It was a grip that, +between men of equal strength, would mean a fall; but Hordle John tore +him off from him as he might a rat, and hurled him across the room, so +that his head cracked up against the wooden wall. + +"Ma foi!" cried the bowman, passing his fingers through his curls, "you +were not far from the feather-bed then, mon gar. A little more and this +good hostel would have a new window." + +Nothing daunted, he approached his man once more, but this time with +more caution than before. With a quick feint he threw the other off his +guard, and then, bounding upon him, threw his legs round his waist and +his arms round his bull-neck, in the hope of bearing him to the ground +with the sudden shock. With a bellow of rage, Hordle John squeezed him +limp in his huge arms; and then, picking him up, cast him down upon the +floor with a force which might well have splintered a bone or two, +had not the archer with the most perfect coolness clung to the other's +forearms to break his fall. As it was, he dropped upon his feet and +kept his balance, though it sent a jar through his frame which set every +joint a-creaking. He bounded back from his perilous foeman; but the +other, heated by the bout, rushed madly after him, and so gave the +practised wrestler the very vantage for which he had planned. As big +John flung himself upon him, the archer ducked under the great red hands +that clutched for him, and, catching his man round the thighs, hurled +him over his shoulder--helped as much by his own mad rush as by the +trained strength of the heave. To Alleyne's eye, it was as if John had +taken unto himself wings and flown. As he hurtled through the air, with +giant limbs revolving, the lad's heart was in his mouth; for surely no +man ever yet had such a fall and came scathless out of it. In truth, +hardy as the man was, his neck had been assuredly broken had he not +pitched head first on the very midriff of the drunken artist, who was +slumbering so peacefully in the corner, all unaware of these stirring +doings. The luckless limner, thus suddenly brought out from his dreams, +sat up with a piercing yell, while Hordle John bounded back into the +circle almost as rapidly as he had left it. + +"One more fall, by all the saints!" he cried, throwing out his arms. + +"Not I," quoth the archer, pulling on his clothes, "I have come well out +of the business. I would sooner wrestle with the great bear of Navarre." + +"It was a trick," cried John. + +"Aye was it. By my ten finger-bones! it is a trick that will add a +proper man to the ranks of the Company." + +"Oh, for that," said the other, "I count it not a fly; for I had +promised myself a good hour ago that I should go with thee, since the +life seems to be a goodly and proper one. Yet I would fain have had the +feather-bed." + +"I doubt it not, mon ami," quoth the archer, going back to his tankard. +"Here is to thee, lad, and may we be good comrades to each other! But, +hola! what is it that ails our friend of the wrathful face?" + +The unfortunate limner had been sitting up rubbing himself ruefully +and staring about with a vacant gaze, which showed that he knew neither +where he was nor what had occurred to him. Suddenly, however, a flash +of intelligence had come over his sodden features, and he rose and +staggered for the door. "'Ware the ale!" he said in a hoarse whisper, +shaking a warning finger at the company. "Oh, holy Virgin, 'ware the +ale!" and slapping his hands to his injury, he flitted off into the +darkness, amid a shout of laughter, in which the vanquished joined as +merrily as the victor. The remaining forester and the two laborers +were also ready for the road, and the rest of the company turned to the +blankets which Dame Eliza and the maid had laid out for them upon the +floor. Alleyne, weary with the unwonted excitements of the day, was soon +in a deep slumber broken only by fleeting visions of twittering legs, +cursing beggars, black robbers, and the many strange folk whom he had +met at the "Pied Merlin." + + + +CHAPTER VII. HOW THE THREE COMRADES JOURNEYED THROUGH THE WOODLANDS. + + +At early dawn the country inn was all alive, for it was rare indeed +that an hour of daylight would be wasted at a time when lighting was so +scarce and dear. Indeed, early as it was when Dame Eliza began to stir, +it seemed that others could be earlier still, for the door was ajar, +and the learned student of Cambridge had taken himself off, with a +mind which was too intent upon the high things of antiquity to stoop +to consider the four-pence which he owed for bed and board. It was the +shrill out-cry of the landlady when she found her loss, and the clucking +of the hens, which had streamed in through the open door, that first +broke in upon the slumbers of the tired wayfarers. + +Once afoot, it was not long before the company began to disperse. A +sleek mule with red trappings was brought round from some neighboring +shed for the physician, and he ambled away with much dignity upon his +road to Southampton. The tooth-drawer and the gleeman called for a cup +of small ale apiece, and started off together for Ringwood fair, the old +jongleur looking very yellow in the eye and swollen in the face after +his overnight potations. The archer, however, who had drunk more than +any man in the room, was as merry as a grig, and having kissed the +matron and chased the maid up the ladder once more, he went out to the +brook, and came back with the water dripping from his face and hair. + +"Hola! my man of peace," he cried to Alleyne, "whither are you bent this +morning?" + +"To Minstead," quoth he. "My brother Simon Edricson is socman there, and +I go to bide with him for a while. I prythee, let me have my score, good +dame." + +"Score, indeed!" cried she, standing with upraised hands in front of the +panel on which Alleyne had worked the night before. "Say, rather what +it is that I owe to thee, good youth. Aye, this is indeed a pied merlin, +and with a leveret under its claws, as I am a living woman. By the rood +of Waltham! but thy touch is deft and dainty." + +"And see the red eye of it!" cried the maid. + +"Aye, and the open beak." + +"And the ruffled wing," added Hordle John. + +"By my hilt!" cried the archer, "it is the very bird itself." + +The young clerk flushed with pleasure at this chorus of praise, rude and +indiscriminate indeed, and yet so much heartier and less grudging than +any which he had ever heard from the critical brother Jerome, or the +short-spoken Abbot. There was, it would seem, great kindness as well as +great wickedness in this world, of which he had heard so little that was +good. His hostess would hear nothing of his paying either for bed or +for board, while the archer and Hordle John placed a hand upon either +shoulder and led him off to the board, where some smoking fish, a dish +of spinach, and a jug of milk were laid out for their breakfast. + +"I should not be surprised to learn, mon camarade," said the soldier, as +he heaped a slice of fish upon Alleyne's tranchoir of bread, "that you +could read written things, since you are so ready with your brushes and +pigments." + +"It would be shame to the good brothers of Beaulieu if I could not," he +answered, "seeing that I have been their clerk this ten years back." + +The bowman looked at him with great respect. "Think of that!" said he. +"And you with not a hair to your face, and a skin like a girl. I can +shoot three hundred and fifty paces with my little popper there, and +four hundred and twenty with the great war-bow; yet I can make nothing +of this, nor read my own name if you were to set 'Sam Aylward' up +against me. In the whole Company there was only one man who could read, +and he fell down a well at the taking of Ventadour, which proves that +the thing is not suited to a soldier, though most needful to a clerk." + +"I can make some show at it," said big John; "though I was scarce long +enough among the monks to catch the whole trick of it. + +"Here, then, is something to try upon," quoth the archer, pulling a +square of parchment from the inside of his tunic. It was tied securely +with a broad band of purple silk, and firmly sealed at either end with a +large red seal. John pored long and earnestly over the inscription upon +the back, with his brows bent as one who bears up against great mental +strain. + +"Not having read much of late," he said, "I am loth to say too much +about what this may be. Some might say one thing and some another, just +as one bowman loves the yew, and a second will not shoot save with the +ash. To me, by the length and the look of it, I should judge this to be +a verse from one of the Psalms." + +The bowman shook his head. "It is scarce likely," he said, "that Sir +Claude Latour should send me all the way across seas with nought more +weighty than a psalm-verse. You have clean overshot the butts this time, +mon camarade. Give it to the little one. I will wager my feather-bed +that he makes more sense of it." + +"Why, it is written in the French tongue," said Alleyne, "and in a +right clerkly hand. This is how it runs: 'A le moult puissant et moult +honorable chevalier, Sir Nigel Loring de Christchurch, de son tres +fidele ami Sir Claude Latour, capitaine de la Compagnie blanche, +chatelain de Biscar, grand seigneur de Montchateau, vavaseur de le +renomme Gaston, Comte de Foix, tenant les droits de la haute justice, de +la milieu, et de la basse.' Which signifies in our speech: 'To the very +powerful and very honorable knight, Sir Nigel Loring of Christchurch, +from his very faithful friend Sir Claude Latour, captain of the White +Company, chatelain of Biscar, grand lord of Montchateau and vassal to +the renowned Gaston, Count of Foix, who holds the rights of the high +justice, the middle and the low.'" + +"Look at that now!" cried the bowman in triumph. "That is just what he +would have said." + +"I can see now that it is even so," said John, examining the parchment +again. "Though I scarce understand this high, middle and low." + +"By my hilt! you would understand it if you were Jacques Bonhomme. The +low justice means that you may fleece him, and the middle that you may +torture him, and the high that you may slay him. That is about the truth +of it. But this is the letter which I am to take; and since the platter +is clean it is time that we trussed up and were afoot. You come with +me, mon gros Jean; and as to you, little one, where did you say that you +journeyed?" + +"To Minstead." + +"Ah, yes. I know this forest country well, though I was born myself +in the Hundred of Easebourne, in the Rape of Chichester, hard by the +village of Midhurst. Yet I have not a word to say against the Hampton +men, for there are no better comrades or truer archers in the whole +Company than some who learned to loose the string in these very parts. +We shall travel round with you to Minstead lad, seeing that it is little +out of our way." + +"I am ready," said Alleyne, right pleased at the thought of such company +upon the road. + +"So am not I. I must store my plunder at this inn, since the hostess is +an honest woman. Hola! ma cherie, I wish to leave with you my gold-work, +my velvet, my silk, my feather bed, my incense-boat, my ewer, my naping +linen, and all the rest of it. I take only the money in a linen bag, +and the box of rose colored sugar which is a gift from my captain to the +Lady Loring. Wilt guard my treasure for me?" + +"It shall be put in the safest loft, good archer. Come when you may, you +shall find it ready for you." + +"Now, there is a true friend!" cried the bowman, taking her hand. "There +is a bonne amie! English land and English women, say I, and French wine +and French plunder. I shall be back anon, mon ange. I am a lonely man, +my sweeting, and I must settle some day when the wars are over and done. +Mayhap you and I----Ah, mechante, mechante! There is la petite peeping +from behind the door. Now, John, the sun is over the trees; you must be +brisker than this when the bugleman blows 'Bows and Bills.'" + +"I have been waiting this time back," said Hordle John gruffly. + +"Then we must be off. Adieu, ma vie! The two livres shall settle the +score and buy some ribbons against the next kermesse. Do not forget Sam +Aylward, for his heart shall ever be thine alone--and thine, ma petite! +So, marchons, and may St. Julian grant us as good quarters elsewhere!" + +The sun had risen over Ashurst and Denny woods, and was shining +brightly, though the eastern wind had a sharp flavor to it, and the +leaves were flickering thickly from the trees. In the High Street of +Lyndhurst the wayfarers had to pick their way, for the little town +was crowded with the guardsmen, grooms, and yeomen prickers who were +attached to the King's hunt. The King himself was staying at Castle +Malwood, but several of his suite had been compelled to seek such +quarters as they might find in the wooden or wattle-and-daub cottages of +the village. Here and there a small escutcheon, peeping from a +glassless window, marked the night's lodging of knight or baron. These +coats-of-arms could be read, where a scroll would be meaningless, and +the bowman, like most men of his age, was well versed in the common +symbols of heraldry. + +"There is the Saracen's head of Sir Bernard Brocas," quoth he. "I saw +him last at the ruffle at Poictiers some ten years back, when he bore +himself like a man. He is the master of the King's horse, and can sing +a right jovial stave, though in that he cannot come nigh to Sir John +Chandos, who is first at the board or in the saddle. Three martlets on a +field azure, that must be one of the Luttrells. By the crescent upon it, +it should be the second son of old Sir Hugh, who had a bolt through his +ankle at the intaking of Romorantin, he having rushed into the fray ere +his squire had time to clasp his solleret to his greave. There too is +the hackle which is the old device of the De Brays. I have served under +Sir Thomas de Bray, who was as jolly as a pie, and a lusty swordsman +until he got too fat for his harness." + +So the archer gossiped as the three wayfarers threaded their way among +the stamping horses, the busy grooms, and the knots of pages and squires +who disputed over the merits of their masters' horses and deer-hounds. +As they passed the old church, which stood upon a mound at the left-hand +side of the village street the door was flung open, and a stream of +worshippers wound down the sloping path, coming from the morning mass, +all chattering like a cloud of jays. Alleyne bent knee and doffed hat at +the sight of the open door; but ere he had finished an ave his comrades +were out of sight round the curve of the path, and he had to run to +overtake them. + +"What!" he said, "not one word of prayer before God's own open house? +How can ye hope for His blessing upon the day?" + +"My friend," said Hordle John, "I have prayed so much during the last +two months, not only during the day, but at matins, lauds, and the like, +when I could scarce keep my head upon my shoulders for nodding, that I +feel that I have somewhat over-prayed myself." + +"How can a man have too much religion?" cried Alleyne earnestly. "It is +the one thing that availeth. A man is but a beast as he lives from day +to day, eating and drinking, breathing and sleeping. It is only when +he raises himself, and concerns himself with the immortal spirit within +him, that he becomes in very truth a man. Bethink ye how sad a thing +it would be that the blood of the Redeemer should be spilled to no +purpose." + +"Bless the lad, if he doth not blush like any girl, and yet preach like +the whole College of Cardinals," cried the archer. + +"In truth I blush that any one so weak and so unworthy as I should +try to teach another that which he finds it so passing hard to follow +himself." + +"Prettily said, mon garcon. Touching that same slaying of the Redeemer, +it was a bad business. A good padre in France read to us from a scroll +the whole truth of the matter. The soldiers came upon him in the garden. +In truth, these Apostles of His may have been holy men, but they were of +no great account as men-at-arms. There was one, indeed, Sir Peter, who +smote out like a true man; but, unless he is belied, he did but clip +a varlet's ear, which was no very knightly deed. By these ten +finger-bones! had I been there with Black Simon of Norwich, and but one +score picked men of the Company, we had held them in play. Could we do +no more, we had at least filled the false knight, Sir Judas, so full of +English arrows that he would curse the day that ever he came on such an +errand." + +The young clerk smiled at his companion's earnestness. "Had He wished +help," he said, "He could have summoned legions of archangels from +heaven, so what need had He of your poor bow and arrow? Besides, bethink +you of His own words--that those who live by the sword shall perish by +the sword." + +"And how could man die better?" asked the archer. "If I had my wish, it +would be to fall so--not, mark you, in any mere skirmish of the Company, +but in a stricken field, with the great lion banner waving over us and +the red oriflamme in front, amid the shouting of my fellows and the +twanging of the strings. But let it be sword, lance, or bolt that +strikes me down: for I should think it shame to die from an iron ball +from the fire-crake or bombard or any such unsoldierly weapon, which is +only fitted to scare babes with its foolish noise and smoke." + +"I have heard much even in the quiet cloisters of these new and dreadful +engines," quoth Alleyne. "It is said, though I can scarce bring myself +to believe it, that they will send a ball twice as far as a bowman +can shoot his shaft, and with such force as to break through armor of +proof." + +"True enough, my lad. But while the armorer is thrusting in his +devil's-dust, and dropping his ball, and lighting his flambeau, I +can very easily loose six shafts, or eight maybe, so he hath no great +vantage after all. Yet I will not deny that at the intaking of a town +it is well to have good store of bombards. I am told that at Calais they +made dints in the wall that a man might put his head into. But surely, +comrades, some one who is grievously hurt hath passed along this road +before us." + +All along the woodland track there did indeed run a scattered straggling +trail of blood-marks, sometimes in single drops, and in other places in +broad, ruddy gouts, smudged over the dead leaves or crimsoning the white +flint stones. + +"It must be a stricken deer," said John. + +"Nay, I am woodman enough to see that no deer hath passed this way this +morning; and yet the blood is fresh. But hark to the sound!" + +They stood listening all three with sidelong heads. Through the silence +of the great forest there came a swishing, whistling sound, mingled +with the most dolorous groans, and the voice of a man raised in a +high quavering kind of song. The comrades hurried onwards eagerly, and +topping the brow of a small rising they saw upon the other side the +source from which these strange noises arose. + +A tall man, much stooped in the shoulders, was walking slowly with +bended head and clasped hands in the centre of the path. He was dressed +from head to foot in a long white linen cloth, and a high white cap +with a red cross printed upon it. His gown was turned back from his +shoulders, and the flesh there was a sight to make a man wince, for it +was all beaten to a pulp, and the blood was soaking into his gown and +trickling down upon the ground. Behind him walked a smaller man with his +hair touched with gray, who was clad in the same white garb. He intoned +a long whining rhyme in the French tongue, and at the end of every line +he raised a thick cord, all jagged with pellets of lead, and smote his +companion across the shoulders until the blood spurted again. Even as +the three wayfarers stared, however, there was a sudden change, for the +smaller man, having finished his song, loosened his own gown and handed +the scourge to the other, who took up the stave once more and lashed +his companion with all the strength of his bare and sinewy arm. So, +alternately beating and beaten, they made their dolorous way through the +beautiful woods and under the amber arches of the fading beech-trees, +where the calm strength and majesty of Nature might serve to rebuke the +foolish energies and misspent strivings of mankind. + +Such a spectacle was new to Hordle John or to Alleyne Edricson; but the +archer treated it lightly, as a common matter enough. + +"These are the Beating Friars, otherwise called the Flagellants," quoth +he. "I marvel that ye should have come upon none of them before, for +across the water they are as common as gallybaggers. I have heard that +there are no English among them, but that they are from France, Italy +and Bohemia. En avant, camarades! that we may have speech with them." + +As they came up to them, Alleyne could hear the doleful dirge which the +beater was chanting, bringing down his heavy whip at the end of each +line, while the groans of the sufferer formed a sort of dismal chorus. +It was in old French, and ran somewhat in this way: + + Or avant, entre nous tous freres + Battons nos charognes bien fort + En remembrant la grant misere + De Dieu et sa piteuse mort + Qui fut pris en la gent amere + Et vendus et trais a tort + Et bastu sa chair, vierge et dere + Au nom de ce battons plus fort. + +Then at the end of the verse the scourge changed hands and the chanting +began anew. + +"Truly, holy fathers," said the archer in French as they came abreast of +them, "you have beaten enough for to-day. The road is all spotted like a +shambles at Martinmas. Why should ye mishandle yourselves thus?" + +"C'est pour vos peches--pour vos peches," they droned, looking at the +travellers with sad lack-lustre eyes, and then bent to their bloody +work once more without heed to the prayers and persuasions which were +addressed to them. Finding all remonstrance useless, the three comrades +hastened on their way, leaving these strange travellers to their dreary +task. + +"Mort Dieu!" cried the bowman, "there is a bucketful or more of my blood +over in France, but it was all spilled in hot fight, and I should think +twice before I drew it drop by drop as these friars are doing. By my +hilt! our young one here is as white as a Picardy cheese. What is amiss +then, mon cher?" + +"It is nothing," Alleyne answered. "My life has been too quiet, I am not +used to such sights." + +"Ma foi!" the other cried, "I have never yet seen a man who was so stout +of speech and yet so weak of heart." + +"Not so, friend," quoth big John; "it is not weakness of heart for I +know the lad well. His heart is as good as thine or mine but he hath +more in his pate than ever you will carry under that tin pot of thine, +and as a consequence he can see farther into things, so that they weigh +upon him more." + +"Surely to any man it is a sad sight," said Alleyne, "to see these +holy men, who have done no sin themselves, suffering so for the sins of +others. Saints are they, if in this age any may merit so high a name." + +"I count them not a fly," cried Hordle John; "for who is the better for +all their whipping and yowling? They are like other friars, I trow, when +all is done. Let them leave their backs alone, and beat the pride out of +their hearts." + +"By the three kings! there is sooth in what you say," remarked the +archer. "Besides, methinks if I were le bon Dieu, it would bring me +little joy to see a poor devil cutting the flesh off his bones; and I +should think that he had but a small opinion of me, that he should hope +to please me by such provost-marshal work. No, by my hilt! I should look +with a more loving eye upon a jolly archer who never harmed a fallen foe +and never feared a hale one." + +"Doubtless you mean no sin," said Alleyne. "If your words are wild, it +is not for me to judge them. Can you not see that there are other foes +in this world besides Frenchmen, and as much glory to be gained in +conquering them? Would it not be a proud day for knight or squire if he +could overthrow seven adversaries in the lists? Yet here are we in the +lists of life, and there come the seven black champions against us Sir +Pride, Sir Covetousness, Sir Lust, Sir Anger, Sir Gluttony, Sir Envy, +and Sir Sloth. Let a man lay those seven low, and he shall have the +prize of the day, from the hands of the fairest queen of beauty, even +from the Virgin-Mother herself. It is for this that these men mortify +their flesh, and to set us an example, who would pamper ourselves +overmuch. I say again that they are God's own saints, and I bow my head +to them." + +"And so you shall, mon petit," replied the archer. "I have not heard +a man speak better since old Dom Bertrand died, who was at one time +chaplain to the White Company. He was a very valiant man, but at +the battle of Brignais he was spitted through the body by a Hainault +man-at-arms. For this we had an excommunication read against the man, +when next we saw our holy father at Avignon; but as we had not his name, +and knew nothing of him, save that he rode a dapple-gray roussin, I have +feared sometimes that the blight may have settled upon the wrong man." + +"Your Company has been, then, to bow knee before our holy father, the +Pope Urban, the prop and centre of Christendom?" asked Alleyne, much +interested. "Perchance you have yourself set eyes upon his august face?" + +"Twice I saw him," said the archer. "He was a lean little rat of a man, +with a scab on his chin. The first time we had five thousand crowns out +of him, though he made much ado about it. The second time we asked ten +thousand, but it was three days before we could come to terms, and I +am of opinion myself that we might have done better by plundering the +palace. His chamberlain and cardinals came forth, as I remember, to +ask whether we would take seven thousand crowns with his blessing and +a plenary absolution, or the ten thousand with his solemn ban by bell, +book and candle. We were all of one mind that it was best to have the +ten thousand with the curse; but in some way they prevailed upon Sir +John, so that we were blest and shriven against our will. Perchance it +is as well, for the Company were in need of it about that time." + +The pious Alleyne was deeply shocked by this reminiscence. Involuntarily +he glanced up and around to see if there were any trace of those +opportune levin-flashes and thunderbolts which, in the "Acta Sanctorum," +were wont so often to cut short the loose talk of the scoffer. The +autumn sun streamed down as brightly as ever, and the peaceful red path +still wound in front of them through the rustling, yellow-tinted forest, +Nature seemed to be too busy with her own concerns to heed the dignity +of an outraged pontiff. Yet he felt a sense of weight and reproach +within his breast, as though he had sinned himself in giving ear to such +words. The teachings of twenty years cried out against such license. It +was not until he had thrown himself down before one of the many wayside +crosses, and had prayed from his heart both for the archer and for +himself, that the dark cloud rolled back again from his spirit. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. THE THREE FRIENDS. + + +His companions had passed on whilst he was at his orisons; but his young +blood and the fresh morning air both invited him to a scamper. His staff +in one hand and his scrip in the other, with springy step and floating +locks, he raced along the forest path, as active and as graceful as a +young deer. He had not far to go, however; for, on turning a corner, +he came on a roadside cottage with a wooden fence-work around it, where +stood big John and Aylward the bowman, staring at something within. As +he came up with them, he saw that two little lads, the one about nine +years of age and the other somewhat older, were standing on the plot +in front of the cottage, each holding out a round stick in their left +hands, with their arms stiff and straight from the shoulder, as +silent and still as two small statues. They were pretty, blue-eyed, +yellow-haired lads, well made and sturdy, with bronzed skins, which +spoke of a woodland life. + +"Here are young chips from an old bow stave!" cried the soldier in great +delight. "This is the proper way to raise children. By my hilt! I could +not have trained them better had I the ordering of it myself." + +"What is it then?" asked Hordle John. "They stand very stiff, and I +trust that they have not been struck so." + +"Nay, they are training their left arms, that they may have a steady +grasp of the bow. So my own father trained me, and six days a week I +held out his walking-staff till my arm was heavy as lead. Hola, mes +enfants! how long will you hold out?" + +"Until the sun is over the great lime-tree, good master," the elder +answered. + +"What would ye be, then? Woodmen? Verderers?" + +"Nay, soldiers," they cried both together. + +"By the beard of my father! but ye are whelps of the true breed. Why so +keen, then, to be soldiers?" + +"That we may fight the Scots," they answered. "Daddy will send us to +fight the Scots." + +"And why the Scots, my pretty lads? We have seen French and Spanish +galleys no further away than Southampton, but I doubt that it will be +some time before the Scots find their way to these parts." + +"Our business is with the Scots," quoth the elder; "for it was the Scots +who cut off daddy's string fingers and his thumbs." + +"Aye, lads, it was that," said a deep voice from behind Alleyne's +shoulder. Looking round, the wayfarers saw a gaunt, big-boned man, with +sunken cheeks and a sallow face, who had come up behind them. He held +up his two hands as he spoke, and showed that the thumbs and two first +fingers had been torn away from each of them. + +"Ma foi, camarade!" cried Aylward. "Who hath served thee in so shameful +a fashion?" + +"It is easy to see, friend, that you were born far from the marches of +Scotland," quoth the stranger, with a bitter smile. "North of Humber +there is no man who would not know the handiwork of Devil Douglas, the +black Lord James." + +"And how fell you into his hands?" asked John. + +"I am a man of the north country, from the town of Beverley and the +wapentake of Holderness," he answered. "There was a day when, from Trent +to Tweed, there was no better marksman than Robin Heathcot. Yet, as you +see, he hath left me, as he hath left many another poor border archer, +with no grip for bill or bow. Yet the king hath given me a living here +in the southlands, and please God these two lads of mine will pay off +a debt that hath been owing over long. What is the price of daddy's +thumbs, boys?" + +"Twenty Scottish lives," they answered together. + +"And for the fingers?" + +"Half a score." + +"When they can bend my war-bow, and bring down a squirrel at a hundred +paces, I send them to take service under Johnny Copeland, the Lord of +the Marches and Governor of Carlisle. By my soul! I would give the rest +of my fingers to see the Douglas within arrow-flight of them." + +"May you live to see it," quoth the bowman. "And hark ye, mes enfants, +take an old soldier's rede and lay your bodies to the bow, drawing from +hip and thigh as much as from arm. Learn also, I pray you, to shoot with +a dropping shaft; for though a bowman may at times be called upon to +shoot straight and fast, yet it is more often that he has to do with a +town-guard behind a wall, or an arbalestier with his mantlet raised when +you cannot hope to do him scathe unless your shaft fall straight upon +him from the clouds. I have not drawn string for two weeks, but I may +be able to show ye how such shots should be made." He loosened his +long-bow, slung his quiver round to the front, and then glanced keenly +round for a fitting mark. There was a yellow and withered stump some +way off, seen under the drooping branches of a lofty oak. The archer +measured the distance with his eye; and then, drawing three shafts, he +shot them off with such speed that the first had not reached the mark +ere the last was on the string. Each arrow passed high over the oak; +and, of the three, two stuck fair into the stump; while the third, +caught in some wandering puff of wind, was driven a foot or two to one +side. + +"Good!" cried the north countryman. "Hearken to him lads! He is a master +bowman. Your dad says amen to every word he says." + +"By my hilt!" said Aylward, "if I am to preach on bowmanship, the whole +long day would scarce give me time for my sermon. We have marksmen in +the Company who will notch with a shaft every crevice and joint of a +man-at-arm's harness, from the clasp of his bassinet to the hinge of his +greave. But, with your favor, friend, I must gather my arrows again, for +while a shaft costs a penny a poor man can scarce leave them sticking +in wayside stumps. We must, then, on our road again, and I hope from my +heart that you may train these two young goshawks here until they are +ready for a cast even at such a quarry as you speak of." + +Leaving the thumbless archer and his brood, the wayfarers struck through +the scattered huts of Emery Down, and out on to the broad rolling heath +covered deep in ferns and in heather, where droves of the half-wild +black forest pigs were rooting about amongst the hillocks. The woods +about this point fall away to the left and the right, while the road +curves upwards and the wind sweeps keenly over the swelling uplands. The +broad strips of bracken glowed red and yellow against the black peaty +soil, and a queenly doe who grazed among them turned her white front +and her great questioning eyes towards the wayfarers. Alleyne gazed +in admiration at the supple beauty of the creature; but the archer's +fingers played with his quiver, and his eyes glistened with the fell +instinct which urges a man to slaughter. + +"Tete Dieu!" he growled, "were this France, or even Guienne, we should +have a fresh haunch for our none-meat. Law or no law, I have a mind to +loose a bolt at her." + +"I would break your stave across my knee first," cried John, laying his +great hand upon the bow. "What! man, I am forest-born, and I know what +comes of it. In our own township of Hordle two have lost their eyes and +one his skin for this very thing. On my troth, I felt no great love when +I first saw you, but since then I have conceived over much regard for +you to wish to see the verderer's flayer at work upon you." + +"It is my trade to risk my skin," growled the archer; but none the less +he thrust his quiver over his hip again and turned his face for the +west. + +As they advanced, the path still tended upwards, running from heath into +copses of holly and yew, and so back into heath again. It was joyful to +hear the merry whistle of blackbirds as they darted from one clump +of greenery to the other. Now and again a peaty amber colored stream +rippled across their way, with ferny over-grown banks, where the blue +kingfisher flitted busily from side to side, or the gray and pensive +heron, swollen with trout and dignity, stood ankle-deep among the +sedges. Chattering jays and loud wood-pigeons flapped thickly overhead, +while ever and anon the measured tapping of Nature's carpenter, the +great green woodpecker, sounded from each wayside grove. On either side, +as the path mounted, the long sweep of country broadened and expanded, +sloping down on the one side through yellow forest and brown moor to +the distant smoke of Lymington and the blue misty channel which lay +alongside the sky-line, while to the north the woods rolled away, grove +topping grove, to where in the furthest distance the white spire of +Salisbury stood out hard and clear against the cloudless sky. To Alleyne +whose days had been spent in the low-lying coastland, the eager upland +air and the wide free country-side gave a sense of life and of the joy +of living which made his young blood tingle in his veins. Even the +heavy John was not unmoved by the beauty of their road, while the bowman +whistled lustily or sang snatches of French love songs in a voice which +might have scared the most stout-hearted maiden that ever hearkened to +serenade. + +"I have a liking for that north countryman," he remarked presently. "He +hath good power of hatred. Couldst see by his cheek and eye that he is +as bitter as verjuice. I warm to a man who hath some gall in his liver." + +"Ah me!" sighed Alleyne. "Would it not be better if he had some love in +his heart?" + +"I would not say nay to that. By my hilt! I shall never be said to be +traitor to the little king. Let a man love the sex. Pasques Dieu! they +are made to be loved, les petites, from whimple down to shoe-string! I +am right glad, mon garcon, to see that the good monks have trained thee +so wisely and so well." + +"Nay, I meant not worldly love, but rather that his heart should soften +towards those who have wronged him." + +The archer shook his head. "A man should love those of his own breed," +said he. "But it is not nature that an English-born man should love +a Scot or a Frenchman. Ma foi! you have not seen a drove of Nithsdale +raiders on their Galloway nags, or you would not speak of loving them. I +would as soon take Beelzebub himself to my arms. I fear, mon gar., that +they have taught thee but badly at Beaulieu, for surely a bishop knows +more of what is right and what is ill than an abbot can do, and I myself +with these very eyes saw the Bishop of Lincoln hew into a Scottish +hobeler with a battle-axe, which was a passing strange way of showing +him that he loved him." + +Alleyne scarce saw his way to argue in the face of so decided an opinion +on the part of a high dignitary of the Church. "You have borne arms +against the Scots, then?" he asked. + +"Why, man, I first loosed string in battle when I was but a lad, younger +by two years than you, at Neville's Cross, under the Lord Mowbray. +Later, I served under the Warden of Berwick, that very John Copeland of +whom our friend spake, the same who held the King of Scots to ransom. Ma +foi! it is rough soldiering, and a good school for one who would learn +to be hardy and war-wise." + +"I have heard that the Scots are good men of war," said Hordle John. + +"For axemen and for spearmen I have not seen their match," the archer +answered. "They can travel, too, with bag of meal and gridiron slung +to their sword-belt, so that it is ill to follow them. There are scant +crops and few beeves in the borderland, where a man must reap his grain +with sickle in one fist and brown bill in the other. On the other hand, +they are the sorriest archers that I have ever seen, and cannot so much +as aim with the arbalest, to say nought of the long-bow. Again, they are +mostly poor folk, even the nobles among them, so that there are few who +can buy as good a brigandine of chain-mail as that which I am wearing, +and it is ill for them to stand up against our own knights, who carry +the price of five Scotch farms upon their chest and shoulders. Man for +man, with equal weapons, they are as worthy and valiant men as could be +found in the whole of Christendom." + +"And the French?" asked Alleyne, to whom the archer's light gossip had +all the relish that the words of the man of action have for the recluse. + +"The French are also very worthy men. We have had great good fortune in +France, and it hath led to much bobance and camp-fire talk, but I have +ever noticed that those who know the most have the least to say about +it. I have seen Frenchmen fight both in open field, in the intaking and +the defending of towns or castlewicks, in escalados, camisades, night +forays, bushments, sallies, outfalls, and knightly spear-runnings. Their +knights and squires, lad, are every whit as good as ours, and I could +pick out a score of those who ride behind Du Guesclin who would hold the +lists with sharpened lances against the best men in the army of England. +On the other hand, their common folk are so crushed down with gabelle, +and poll-tax, and every manner of cursed tallage, that the spirit has +passed right out of them. It is a fool's plan to teach a man to be a +cur in peace, and think that he will be a lion in war. Fleece them like +sheep and sheep they will remain. If the nobles had not conquered +the poor folk it is like enough that we should not have conquered the +nobles." + +"But they must be sorry folk to bow down to the rich in such a fashion," +said big John. "I am but a poor commoner of England myself, and yet I +know something of charters, liberties, franchises, usages, privileges, +customs, and the like. If these be broken, then all men know that it is +time to buy arrow-heads." + +"Aye, but the men of the law are strong in France as well as the men +of war. By my hilt! I hold that a man has more to fear there from the +ink-pot of the one than from the iron of the other. There is ever some +cursed sheepskin in their strong boxes to prove that the rich man should +be richer and the poor man poorer. It would scarce pass in England, but +they are quiet folk over the water." + +"And what other nations have you seen in your travels, good sir?" asked +Alleyne Edricson. His young mind hungered for plain facts of life, after +the long course of speculation and of mysticism on which he had been +trained. + +"I have seen the low countryman in arms, and I have nought to say +against him. Heavy and slow is he by nature, and is not to be brought +into battle for the sake of a lady's eyelash or the twang of a +minstrel's string, like the hotter blood of the south. But ma foi! lay +hand on his wool-bales, or trifle with his velvet of Bruges, and out +buzzes every stout burgher, like bees from the tee-hole, ready to lay on +as though it were his one business in life. By our lady! they have shown +the French at Courtrai and elsewhere that they are as deft in wielding +steel as in welding it." + +"And the men of Spain?" + +"They too are very hardy soldiers, the more so as for many hundred years +they have had to fight hard against the cursed followers of the black +Mahound, who have pressed upon them from the south, and still, as I +understand, hold the fairer half of the country. I had a turn with them +upon the sea when they came over to Winchelsea and the good queen with +her ladies sat upon the cliffs looking down at us, as if it had been +joust or tourney. By my hilt! it was a sight that was worth the seeing, +for all that was best in England was out on the water that day. We went +forth in little ships and came back in great galleys--for of fifty tall +ships of Spain, over two score flew the Cross of St. George ere the sun +had set. But now, youngster, I have answered you freely, and I trow it +is time that you answered me. Let things be plat and plain between us. I +am a man who shoots straight at his mark. You saw the things I had +with me at yonder hostel: name which you will, save only the box of +rose-colored sugar which I take to the Lady Loring, and you shall have +it if you will but come with me to France." + +"Nay," said Alleyne, "I would gladly come with ye to France or where +else ye will, just to list to your talk, and because ye are the only two +friends that I have in the whole wide world outside of the cloisters; +but, indeed, it may not be, for my duty is towards my brother, seeing +that father and mother are dead, and he my elder. Besides, when ye talk +of taking me to France, ye do not conceive how useless I should be to +you, seeing that neither by training nor by nature am I fitted for the +wars, and there seems to be nought but strife in those parts." + +"That comes from my fool's talk," cried the archer; "for being a man of +no learning myself, my tongue turns to blades and targets, even as +my hand does. Know then that for every parchment in England there are +twenty in France. For every statue, cut gem, shrine, carven screen, +or what else might please the eye of a learned clerk, there are a good +hundred to our one. At the spoiling of Carcasonne I have seen chambers +stored with writing, though not one man in our Company could read them. +Again, in Arles and Nimes, and other towns that I could name, there are +the great arches and fortalices still standing which were built of old +by giant men who came from the south. Can I not see by your brightened +eye how you would love to look upon these things? Come then with me, +and, by these ten finger-bones! there is not one of them which you shall +not see." + +"I should indeed love to look upon them," Alleyne answered; "but I have +come from Beaulieu for a purpose, and I must be true to my service, even +as thou art true to thine." + +"Bethink you again, mon ami," quoth Aylward, "that you might do much +good yonder, since there are three hundred men in the Company, and none +who has ever a word of grace for them, and yet the Virgin knows that +there was never a set of men who were in more need of it. Sickerly the +one duty may balance the other. Your brother hath done without you this +many a year, and, as I gather, he hath never walked as far as Beaulieu +to see you during all that time, so he cannot be in any great need of +you." + +"Besides," said John, "the Socman of Minstead is a by-word through the +forest, from Bramshaw Hill to Holmesley Walk. He is a drunken, brawling, +perilous churl, as you may find to your cost." + +"The more reason that I should strive to mend him," quoth Alleyne. +"There is no need to urge me, friends, for my own wishes would draw +me to France, and it would be a joy to me if I could go with you. But +indeed and indeed it cannot be, so here I take my leave of you, for +yonder square tower amongst the trees upon the right must surely be the +church of Minstead, and I may reach it by this path through the woods." + +"Well, God be with thee, lad!" cried the archer, pressing Alleyne to his +heart. "I am quick to love, and quick to hate and 'fore God I am loth to +part." + +"Would it not be well," said John, "that we should wait here, and see +what manner of greeting you have from your brother. You may prove to be +as welcome as the king's purveyor to the village dame." + +"Nay, nay," he answered; "ye must not bide for me, for where I go I +stay." + +"Yet it may be as well that you should know whither we go," said the +archer. "We shall now journey south through the woods until we come out +upon the Christchurch road, and so onwards, hoping to-night to reach the +castle of Sir William Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, of which Sir Nigel +Loring is constable. There we shall bide, and it is like enough that for +a month or more you may find us there, ere we are ready for our viage +back to France." + +It was hard indeed for Alleyne to break away from these two new but +hearty friends, and so strong was the combat between his conscience +and his inclinations that he dared not look round, lest his resolution +should slip away from him. It was not until he was deep among the tree +trunks that he cast a glance backwards, when he found that he could +still see them through the branches on the road above him. The archer +was standing with folded arms, his bow jutting from over his shoulder, +and the sun gleaming brightly upon his head-piece and the links of +his chain-mail. Beside him stood his giant recruit, still clad in the +home-spun and ill-fitting garments of the fuller of Lymington, with arms +and legs shooting out of his scanty garb. Even as Alleyne watched them +they turned upon their heels and plodded off together upon their way. + + + +CHAPTER IX. HOW STRANGE THINGS BEFELL IN MINSTEAD WOOD. + + +The path which the young clerk had now to follow lay through a +magnificent forest of the very heaviest timber, where the giant bowls +of oak and of beech formed long aisles in every direction, shooting +up their huge branches to build the majestic arches of Nature's own +cathedral. Beneath lay a broad carpet of the softest and greenest moss, +flecked over with fallen leaves, but yielding pleasantly to the foot of +the traveller. The track which guided him was one so seldom used that in +places it lost itself entirely among the grass, to reappear as a reddish +rut between the distant tree trunks. It was very still here in the heart +of the woodlands. The gentle rustle of the branches and the distant +cooing of pigeons were the only sounds which broke in upon the silence, +save that once Alleyne heard afar off a merry call upon a hunting bugle +and the shrill yapping of the hounds. + +It was not without some emotion that he looked upon the scene around +him, for, in spite of his secluded life, he knew enough of the ancient +greatness of his own family to be aware that the time had been when they +had held undisputed and paramount sway over all that tract of country. +His father could trace his pure Saxon lineage back to that Godfrey Malf +who had held the manors of Bisterne and of Minstead at the time when the +Norman first set mailed foot upon English soil. The afforestation of the +district, however, and its conversion into a royal demesne had +clipped off a large section of his estate, while other parts had been +confiscated as a punishment for his supposed complicity in an abortive +Saxon rising. The fate of the ancestor had been typical of that of his +descendants. During three hundred years their domains had gradually +contracted, sometimes through royal or feudal encroachment, and +sometimes through such gifts to the Church as that with which Alleyne's +father had opened the doors of Beaulieu Abbey to his younger son. The +importance of the family had thus dwindled, but they still retained the +old Saxon manor-house, with a couple of farms and a grove large enough +to afford pannage to a hundred pigs--"sylva de centum porcis," as the +old family parchments describe it. Above all, the owner of the soil +could still hold his head high as the veritable Socman of Minstead--that +is, as holding the land in free socage, with no feudal superior, and +answerable to no man lower than the king. Knowing this, Alleyne felt +some little glow of worldly pride as he looked for the first time +upon the land with which so many generations of his ancestors had been +associated. He pushed on the quicker, twirling his staff merrily, and +looking out at every turn of the path for some sign of the old Saxon +residence. He was suddenly arrested, however, by the appearance of a +wild-looking fellow armed with a club, who sprang out from behind a tree +and barred his passage. He was a rough, powerful peasant, with cap and +tunic of untanned sheepskin, leather breeches, and galligaskins round +legs and feet. + +"Stand!" he shouted, raising his heavy cudgel to enforce the order. "Who +are you who walk so freely through the wood? Whither would you go, and +what is your errand?" + +"Why should I answer your questions, my friend?" said Alleyne, standing +on his guard. + +"Because your tongue may save your pate. But where have I looked upon +your face before?" + +"No longer ago than last night at the 'Pied Merlin,'" the clerk +answered, recognizing the escaped serf who had been so outspoken as to +his wrongs. + +"By the Virgin! yes. You were the little clerk who sat so mum in the +corner, and then cried fy on the gleeman. What hast in the scrip?" + +"Naught of any price." + +"How can I tell that, clerk? Let me see." + +"Not I." + +"Fool! I could pull you limb from limb like a pullet. What would you +have? Hast forgot that we are alone far from all men? How can your +clerkship help you? Wouldst lose scrip and life too?" + +"I will part with neither without fight." + +"A fight, quotha? A fight betwixt spurred cock and new hatched chicken! +Thy fighting days may soon be over." + +"Hadst asked me in the name of charity I would have given freely," cried +Alleyne. "As it stands, not one farthing shall you have with my free +will, and when I see my brother, the Socman of Minstead, he will raise +hue and cry from vill to vill, from hundred to hundred, until you are +taken as a common robber and a scourge to the country." + +The outlaw sank his club. "The Socman's brother!" he gasped. "Now, +by the keys of Peter! I had rather that hand withered and tongue was +palsied ere I had struck or miscalled you. If you are the Socman's +brother you are one of the right side, I warrant, for all your clerkly +dress." + +"His brother I am," said Alleyne. "But if I were not, is that reason why +you should molest me on the king's ground?" + +"I give not the pip of an apple for king or for noble," cried the serf +passionately. "Ill have I had from them, and ill I shall repay them. I +am a good friend to my friends, and, by the Virgin! an evil foeman to my +foes." + +"And therefore the worst of foemen to thyself," said Alleyne. "But I +pray you, since you seem to know him, to point out to me the shortest +path to my brother's house." + +The serf was about to reply, when the clear ringing call of a bugle +burst from the wood close behind them, and Alleyne caught sight for +an instant of the dun side and white breast of a lordly stag glancing +swiftly betwixt the distant tree trunks. A minute later came the shaggy +deer-hounds, a dozen or fourteen of them, running on a hot scent, with +nose to earth and tail in air. As they streamed past the silent forest +around broke suddenly into loud life, with galloping of hoofs, crackling +of brushwood, and the short, sharp cries of the hunters. Close behind +the pack rode a fourrier and a yeoman-pricker, whooping on the laggards +and encouraging the leaders, in the shrill half-French jargon which was +the language of venery and woodcraft. Alleyne was still gazing +after them, listening to the loud "Hyke-a-Bayard! Hyke-a-Pomers! +Hyke-a-Lebryt!" with which they called upon their favorite hounds, when +a group of horsemen crashed out through the underwood at the very spot +where the serf and he were standing. + +The one who led was a man between fifty and sixty years of age, war-worn +and weather-beaten, with a broad, thoughtful forehead and eyes which +shone brightly from under his fierce and overhung brows. His beard, +streaked thickly with gray, bristled forward from his chin, and spoke +of a passionate nature, while the long, finely cut face and firm mouth +marked the leader of men. His figure was erect and soldierly, and he +rode his horse with the careless grace of a man whose life had been +spent in the saddle. In common garb, his masterful face and flashing +eye would have marked him as one who was born to rule; but now, with his +silken tunic powdered with golden fleurs-de-lis, his velvet mantle lined +with the royal minever, and the lions of England stamped in silver upon +his harness, none could fail to recognize the noble Edward, most warlike +and powerful of all the long line of fighting monarchs who had ruled +the Anglo-Norman race. Alleyne doffed hat and bowed head at the sight +of him, but the serf folded his hands and leaned them upon his cudgel, +looking with little love at the knot of nobles and knights-in-waiting +who rode behind the king. + +"Ha!" cried Edward, reining up for an instant his powerful black steed. +"Le cerf est passe? Non? Ici, Brocas; tu parles Anglais." + +"The deer, clowns?" said a hard-visaged, swarthy-faced man, who rode at +the king's elbow. "If ye have headed it back it is as much as your ears +are worth." + +"It passed by the blighted beech there," said Alleyne, pointing, "and +the hounds were hard at its heels." + +"It is well," cried Edward, still speaking in French: for, though he +could understand English, he had never learned to express himself in so +barbarous and unpolished a tongue. "By my faith, sirs," he continued, +half turning in his saddle to address his escort, "unless my woodcraft +is sadly at fault, it is a stag of six tines and the finest that we have +roused this journey. A golden St. Hubert to the man who is the first to +sound the mort." He shook his bridle as he spoke, and thundered away, +his knights lying low upon their horses and galloping as hard as whip +and spur would drive them, in the hope of winning the king's prize. Away +they drove down the long green glade--bay horses, black and gray, riders +clad in every shade of velvet, fur, or silk, with glint of brazen horn +and flash of knife and spear. One only lingered, the black-browed Baron +Brocas, who, making a gambade which brought him within arm-sweep of +the serf, slashed him across the face with his riding-whip. "Doff, dog, +doff," he hissed, "when a monarch deigns to lower his eyes to such as +you!"--then spurred through the underwood and was gone, with a gleam of +steel shoes and flutter of dead leaves. + +The villein took the cruel blow without wince or cry, as one to whom +stripes are a birthright and an inheritance. His eyes flashed, however, +and he shook his bony hand with a fierce wild gesture after the +retreating figure. + +"Black hound of Gascony," he muttered, "evil the day that you and those +like you set foot in free England! I know thy kennel of Rochecourt. The +night will come when I may do to thee and thine what you and your class +have wrought upon mine and me. May God smite me if I fail to smite thee, +thou French robber, with thy wife and thy child and all that is under +thy castle roof!" + +"Forbear!" cried Alleyne. "Mix not God's name with these unhallowed +threats! And yet it was a coward's blow, and one to stir the blood and +loose the tongue of the most peaceful. Let me find some soothing simples +and lay them on the weal to draw the sting." + +"Nay, there is but one thing that can draw the sting, and that the +future may bring to me. But, clerk, if you would see your brother you +must on, for there is a meeting to-day, and his merry men will await him +ere the shadows turn from west to east. I pray you not to hold him back, +for it would be an evil thing if all the stout lads were there and the +leader a-missing. I would come with you, but sooth to say I am stationed +here and may not move. The path over yonder, betwixt the oak and the +thorn, should bring you out into his nether field." + +Alleyne lost no time in following the directions of the wild, masterless +man, whom he left among the trees where he had found him. His heart was +the heavier for the encounter, not only because all bitterness and wrath +were abhorrent to his gentle nature, but also because it disturbed him +to hear his brother spoken of as though he were a chief of outlaws or +the leader of a party against the state. Indeed, of all the things which +he had seen yet in the world to surprise him there was none more +strange than the hate which class appeared to bear to class. The talk +of laborer, woodman and villein in the inn had all pointed to the +wide-spread mutiny, and now his brother's name was spoken as though he +were the very centre of the universal discontent. In good truth, the +commons throughout the length and breadth of the land were heart-weary +of this fine game of chivalry which had been played so long at their +expense. So long as knight and baron were a strength and a guard to the +kingdom they might be endured, but now, when all men knew that the great +battles in France had been won by English yeomen and Welsh stabbers, +warlike fame, the only fame to which his class had ever aspired, +appeared to have deserted the plate-clad horsemen. The sports of the +lists had done much in days gone by to impress the minds of the people, +but the plumed and unwieldy champion was no longer an object either of +fear or of reverence to men whose fathers and brothers had shot into the +press at Crecy or Poitiers, and seen the proudest chivalry in the world +unable to make head against the weapons of disciplined peasants. Power +had changed hands. The protector had become the protected, and the whole +fabric of the feudal system was tottering to a fall. Hence the fierce +mutterings of the lower classes and the constant discontent, breaking +out into local tumult and outrage, and culminating some years later in +the great rising of Tyler. What Alleyne saw and wondered at in Hampshire +would have appealed equally to the traveller in any other English county +from the Channel to the marches of Scotland. + +He was following the track, his misgivings increasing with every step +which took him nearer to that home which he had never seen, when of a +sudden the trees began to thin and the sward to spread out onto a broad, +green lawn, where five cows lay in the sunshine and droves of black +swine wandered unchecked. A brown forest stream swirled down the centre +of this clearing, with a rude bridge flung across it, and on the other +side was a second field sloping up to a long, low-lying wooden house, +with thatched roof and open squares for windows. Alleyne gazed across +at it with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes--for this, he knew, must +be the home of his fathers. A wreath of blue smoke floated up through a +hole in the thatch, and was the only sign of life in the place, save a +great black hound which lay sleeping chained to the door-post. In the +yellow shimmer of the autumn sunshine it lay as peacefully and as still +as he had oft pictured it to himself in his dreams. + +He was roused, however, from his pleasant reverie by the sound of +voices, and two people emerged from the forest some little way to his +right and moved across the field in the direction of the bridge. The one +was a man with yellow flowing beard and very long hair of the same tint +drooping over his shoulders; his dress of good Norwich cloth and his +assured bearing marked him as a man of position, while the sombre hue +of his clothes and the absence of all ornament contrasted with the flash +and glitter which had marked the king's retinue. By his side walked +a woman, tall and slight and dark, with lithe, graceful figure and +clear-cut, composed features. Her jet-black hair was gathered back under +a light pink coif, her head poised proudly upon her neck, and her step +long and springy, like that of some wild, tireless woodland creature. +She held her left hand in front of her, covered with a red velvet glove, +and on the wrist a little brown falcon, very fluffy and bedraggled, +which she smoothed and fondled as she walked. As she came out into the +sunshine, Alleyne noticed that her light gown, slashed with pink, was +all stained with earth and with moss upon one side from shoulder to hem. +He stood in the shadow of an oak staring at her with parted lips, for +this woman seemed to him to be the most beautiful and graceful creature +that mind could conceive of. Such had he imagined the angels, and such +he had tried to paint them in the Beaulieu missals; but here there was +something human, were it only in the battered hawk and discolored dress, +which sent a tingle and thrill through his nerves such as no dream of +radiant and stainless spirit had ever yet been able to conjure up. Good, +quiet, uncomplaining mother Nature, long slighted and miscalled, still +bides her time and draws to her bosom the most errant of her children. + +The two walked swiftly across the meadow to the narrow bridge, he in +front and she a pace or two behind. There they paused, and stood for +a few minutes face to face talking earnestly. Alleyne had read and +had heard of love and of lovers. Such were these, doubtless--this +golden-bearded man and the fair damsel with the cold, proud face. Why +else should they wander together in the woods, or be so lost in talk by +rustic streams? And yet as he watched, uncertain whether to advance from +the cover or to choose some other path to the house, he soon came +to doubt the truth of this first conjecture. The man stood, tall and +square, blocking the entrance to the bridge, and throwing out his hands +as he spoke in a wild eager fashion, while the deep tones of his stormy +voice rose at times into accents of menace and of anger. She stood +fearlessly in front of him, still stroking her bird; but twice she threw +a swift questioning glance over her shoulder, as one who is in search +of aid. So moved was the young clerk by these mute appeals, that he came +forth from the trees and crossed the meadow, uncertain what to do, and +yet loth to hold back from one who might need his aid. So intent were +they upon each other that neither took note of his approach; until, when +he was close upon them, the man threw his arm roughly round the damsel's +waist and drew her towards him, she straining her lithe, supple figure +away and striking fiercely at him, while the hooded hawk screamed with +ruffled wings and pecked blindly in its mistress's defence. Bird and +maid, however, had but little chance against their assailant who, +laughing loudly, caught her wrist in one hand while he drew her towards +him with the other. + +"The best rose has ever the longest thorns," said he. "Quiet, little +one, or you may do yourself a hurt. Must pay Saxon toll on Saxon land, +my proud Maude, for all your airs and graces." + +"You boor!" she hissed. "You base underbred clod! Is this your care and +your hospitality? I would rather wed a branded serf from my father's +fields. Leave go, I say----Ah! good youth, Heaven has sent you. Make him +loose me! By the honor of your mother, I pray you to stand by me and to +make this knave loose me." + +"Stand by you I will, and that blithely," said Alleyne. "Surely, sir, +you should take shame to hold the damsel against her will." + +The man turned a face upon him which was lion-like in its strength and +in its wrath. With his tangle of golden hair, his fierce blue eyes, and +his large, well-marked features, he was the most comely man whom Alleyne +had ever seen, and yet there was something so sinister and so fell in +his expression that child or beast might well have shrunk from him. His +brows were drawn, his cheek flushed, and there was a mad sparkle in his +eyes which spoke of a wild, untamable nature. + +"Young fool!" he cried, holding the woman still to his side, though +every line of her shrinking figure spoke her abhorrence. "Do you keep +your spoon in your own broth. I rede you to go on your way, lest worse +befall you. This little wench has come with me and with me she shall +bide." + +"Liar!" cried the woman; and, stooping her head, she suddenly bit +fiercely into the broad brown hand which held her. He whipped it back +with an oath, while she tore herself free and slipped behind Alleyne, +cowering up against him like the trembling leveret who sees the falcon +poising for the swoop above him. + +"Stand off my land!" the man said fiercely, heedless of the blood which +trickled freely from his fingers. "What have you to do here? By your +dress you should be one of those cursed clerks who overrun the land like +vile rats, poking and prying into other men's concerns, too caitiff to +fight and too lazy to work. By the rood! if I had my will upon ye, I +should nail you upon the abbey doors, as they hang vermin before their +holes. Art neither man nor woman, young shaveling. Get thee back to thy +fellows ere I lay hands upon you: for your foot is on my land, and I may +slay you as a common draw-latch." + +"Is this your land, then?" gasped Alleyne. + +"Would you dispute it, dog? Would you wish by trick or quibble to juggle +me out of these last acres? Know, base-born knave, that you have dared +this day to stand in the path of one whose race have been the advisers +of kings and the leaders of hosts, ere ever this vile crew of Norman +robbers came into the land, or such half-blood hounds as you were let +loose to preach that the thief should have his booty and the honest man +should sin if he strove to win back his own." + +"You are the Socman of Minstead?" + +"That am I; and the son of Edric the Socman, of the pure blood of +Godfrey the thane, by the only daughter of the house of Aluric, whose +forefathers held the white-horse banner at the fatal fight where our +shield was broken and our sword shivered. I tell you, clerk, that my +folk held this land from Bramshaw Wood to the Ringwood road; and, by the +soul of my father! it will be a strange thing if I am to be bearded upon +the little that is left of it. Begone, I say, and meddle not with my +affair." + +"If you leave me now," whispered the woman, "then shame forever upon +your manhood." + +"Surely, sir," said Alleyne, speaking in as persuasive and soothing a +way as he could, "if your birth is gentle, there is the more reason that +your manners should be gentle too. I am well persuaded that you did but +jest with this lady, and that you will now permit her to leave your land +either alone or with me as a guide, if she should need one, through the +wood. As to birth, it does not become me to boast, and there is sooth in +what you say as to the unworthiness of clerks, but it is none the less +true that I am as well born as you." + +"Dog!" cried the furious Socman, "there is no man in the south who can +say as much." + +"Yet can I," said Alleyne smiling; "for indeed I also am the son of +Edric the Socman, of the pure blood of Godfrey the thane, by the only +daughter of Aluric of Brockenhurst. Surely, dear brother," he continued, +holding out his hand, "you have a warmer greeting than this for me. +There are but two boughs left upon this old, old Saxon trunk." + +His elder brother dashed his hand aside with an oath, while an +expression of malignant hatred passed over his passion-drawn features. +"You are the young cub of Beaulieu, then," said he. "I might have known +it by the sleek face and the slavish manner too monk-ridden and craven +in spirit to answer back a rough word. Thy father, shaveling, with all +his faults, had a man's heart; and there were few who could look him in +the eyes on the day of his anger. But you! Look there, rat, on yonder +field where the cows graze, and on that other beyond, and on the orchard +hard by the church. Do you know that all these were squeezed out of +your dying father by greedy priests, to pay for your upbringing in the +cloisters? I, the Socman, am shorn of my lands that you may snivel Latin +and eat bread for which you never did hand's turn. You rob me first, and +now you would come preaching and whining, in search mayhap of another +field or two for your priestly friends. Knave! my dogs shall be set upon +you; but, meanwhile, stand out of my path, and stop me at your peril!" +As he spoke he rushed forward, and, throwing the lad to one side, caught +the woman's wrist. Alleyne, however, as active as a young deer-hound, +sprang to her aid and seized her by the other arm, raising his iron-shod +staff as he did so. + +"You may say what you will to me," he said between his clenched +teeth--"it may be no better than I deserve; but, brother or no, I swear +by my hopes of salvation that I will break your arm if you do not leave +hold of the maid." + +There was a ring in his voice and a flash in his eyes which promised +that the blow would follow quick at the heels of the word. For a moment +the blood of the long line of hot-headed thanes was too strong for the +soft whisperings of the doctrine of meekness and mercy. He was conscious +of a fierce wild thrill through his nerves and a throb of mad gladness +at his heart, as his real human self burst for an instant the bonds +of custom and of teaching which had held it so long. The socman sprang +back, looking to left and to right for some stick or stone which might +serve him for weapon; but finding none, he turned and ran at the top of +his speed for the house, blowing the while upon a shrill whistle. + +"Come!" gasped the woman. "Fly, friend, ere he come back." + +"Nay, let him come!" cried Alleyne. "I shall not budge a foot for him or +his dogs." + +"Come, come!" she cried, tugging at his arm. "I know the man: he will +kill you. Come, for the Virgin's sake, or for my sake, for I cannot go +and leave you here." + +"Come, then," said he; and they ran together to the cover of the woods. +As they gained the edge of the brushwood, Alleyne, looking back, saw his +brother come running out of the house again, with the sun gleaming upon +his hair and his beard. He held something which flashed in his right +hand, and he stooped at the threshold to unloose the black hound. + +"This way!" the woman whispered, in a low eager voice. "Through the +bushes to that forked ash. Do not heed me; I can run as fast as you, I +trow. Now into the stream--right in, over ankles, to throw the dog off, +though I think it is but a common cur, like its master." As she spoke, +she sprang herself into the shallow stream and ran swiftly up the +centre of it, with the brown water bubbling over her feet and her +hand out-stretched toward the clinging branches of bramble or sapling. +Alleyne followed close at her heels, with his mind in a whirl at this +black welcome and sudden shifting of all his plans and hopes. Yet, grave +as were his thoughts, they would still turn to wonder as he looked at +the twinkling feet of his guide and saw her lithe figure bend this way +and that, dipping under boughs, springing over stones, with a lightness +and ease which made it no small task for him to keep up with her. At +last, when he was almost out of breath, she suddenly threw herself down +upon a mossy bank, between two holly-bushes, and looked ruefully at her +own dripping feet and bedraggled skirt. + +"Holy Mary!" said she, "what shall I do? Mother will keep me to my +chamber for a month, and make me work at the tapestry of the nine bold +knights. She promised as much last week, when I fell into Wilverley bog, +and yet she knows that I cannot abide needle-work." + +Alleyne, still standing in the stream, glanced down at the graceful +pink-and-white figure, the curve of raven-black hair, and the proud, +sensitive face which looked up frankly and confidingly at his own. + +"We had best on," he said. "He may yet overtake us." + +"Not so. We are well off his land now, nor can he tell in this great +wood which way we have taken. But you--you had him at your mercy. Why +did you not kill him?" + +"Kill him! My brother!" + +"And why not?"--with a quick gleam of her white teeth. "He would have +killed you. I know him, and I read it in his eyes. Had I had your staff +I would have tried--aye, and done it, too." She shook her clenched white +hand as she spoke, and her lips tightened ominously. + +"I am already sad in heart for what I have done," said he, sitting down +on the bank, and sinking his face into his hands. "God help me!--all +that is worst in me seemed to come uppermost. Another instant, and I +had smitten him: the son of my own mother, the man whom I have longed to +take to my heart. Alas! that I should still be so weak." + +"Weak!" she exclaimed, raising her black eyebrows. "I do not think that +even my father himself, who is a hard judge of manhood, would call you +that. But it is, as you may think, sir, a very pleasant thing for me to +hear that you are grieved at what you have done, and I can but rede +that we should go back together, and you should make your peace with the +Socman by handing back your prisoner. It is a sad thing that so small a +thing as a woman should come between two who are of one blood." + +Simple Alleyne opened his eyes at this little spurt of feminine +bitterness. "Nay, lady," said he, "that were worst of all. What man +would be so caitiff and thrall as to fail you at your need? I have +turned my brother against me, and now, alas! I appear to have given you +offence also with my clumsy tongue. But, indeed, lady, I am torn both +ways, and can scarce grasp in my mind what it is that has befallen." + +"Nor can I marvel at that," said she, with a little tinkling laugh. "You +came in as the knight does in the jongleur's romances, between dragon +and damsel, with small time for the asking of questions. Come," she went +on, springing to her feet, and smoothing down her rumpled frock, "let us +walk through the shaw together, and we may come upon Bertrand with the +horses. If poor Troubadour had not cast a shoe, we should not have had +this trouble. Nay, I must have your arm: for, though I speak lightly, +now that all is happily over I am as frightened as my brave Roland. See +how his chest heaves, and his dear feathers all awry--the little knight +who would not have his lady mishandled." So she prattled on to her hawk, +while Alleyne walked by her side, stealing a glance from time to time at +this queenly and wayward woman. In silence they wandered together over +the velvet turf and on through the broad Minstead woods, where the +old lichen-draped beeches threw their circles of black shadow upon the +sunlit sward. + +"You have no wish, then, to hear my story?" said she, at last. + +"If it pleases you to tell it me," he answered. + +"Oh!" she cried tossing her head, "if it is of so little interest to +you, we had best let it bide." + +"Nay," said he eagerly, "I would fain hear it." + +"You have a right to know it, if you have lost a brother's favor through +it. And yet----Ah well, you are, as I understand, a clerk, so I +must think of you as one step further in orders, and make you my +father-confessor. Know then that this man has been a suitor for my hand, +less as I think for my own sweet sake than because he hath ambition and +had it on his mind that he might improve his fortunes by dipping into +my father's strong box--though the Virgin knows that he would have found +little enough therein. My father, however, is a proud man, a gallant +knight and tried soldier of the oldest blood, to whom this man's +churlish birth and low descent----Oh, lackaday! I had forgot that he was +of the same strain as yourself." + +"Nay, trouble not for that," said Alleyne, "we are all from good mother +Eve." + +"Streams may spring from one source, and yet some be clear and some be +foul," quoth she quickly. "But, to be brief over the matter, my father +would have none of his wooing, nor in sooth would I. On that he swore +a vow against us, and as he is known to be a perilous man, with many +outlaws and others at his back, my father forbade that I should hawk or +hunt in any part of the wood to the north of the Christchurch road. As +it chanced, however, this morning my little Roland here was loosed at a +strong-winged heron, and page Bertrand and I rode on, with no thoughts +but for the sport, until we found ourselves in Minstead woods. Small +harm then, but that my horse Troubadour trod with a tender foot upon a +sharp stick, rearing and throwing me to the ground. See to my gown, the +third that I have befouled within the week. Woe worth me when Agatha the +tire-woman sets eyes upon it!" + +"And what then, lady?" asked Alleyne. + +"Why, then away ran Troubadour, for belike I spurred him in falling, +and Bertrand rode after him as hard as hoofs could bear him. When I rose +there was the Socman himself by my side, with the news that I was on +his land, but with so many courteous words besides, and such gallant +bearing, that he prevailed upon me to come to his house for shelter, +there to wait until the page return. By the grace of the Virgin and the +help of my patron St. Magdalen, I stopped short ere I reached his +door, though, as you saw, he strove to hale me up to it. And +then--ah-h-h-h!"--she shivered and chattered like one in an ague-fit. + +"What is it?" cried Alleyne, looking about in alarm. + +"Nothing, friend, nothing! I was but thinking how I bit into his hand. +Sooner would I bite living toad or poisoned snake. Oh, I shall loathe my +lips forever! But you--how brave you were, and how quick! How meek for +yourself, and how bold for a stranger! If I were a man, I should wish to +do what you have done." + +"It was a small thing," he answered, with a tingle of pleasure at these +sweet words of praise. "But you--what will you do?" + +"There is a great oak near here, and I think that Bertrand will bring +the horses there, for it is an old hunting-tryst of ours. Then hey for +home, and no more hawking to-day! A twelve-mile gallop will dry feet and +skirt." + +"But your father?" + +"Not one word shall I tell him. You do not know him; but I can tell you +he is not a man to disobey as I have disobeyed him. He would avenge me, +it is true, but it is not to him that I shall look for vengeance. Some +day, perchance, in joust or in tourney, knight may wish to wear my +colors, and then I shall tell him that if he does indeed crave my favor +there is wrong unredressed, and the wronger the Socman of Minstead. So +my knight shall find a venture such as bold knights love, and my debt +shall be paid, and my father none the wiser, and one rogue the less in +the world. Say, is not that a brave plan?" + +"Nay, lady, it is a thought which is unworthy of you. How can such as +you speak of violence and of vengeance. Are none to be gentle and kind, +none to be piteous and forgiving? Alas! it is a hard, cruel world, and I +would that I had never left my abbey cell. To hear such words from your +lips is as though I heard an angel of grace preaching the devil's own +creed." + +She started from him as a young colt who first feels the bit. "Gramercy +for your rede, young sir!" she said, with a little curtsey. "As I +understand your words, you are grieved that you ever met me, and look +upon me as a preaching devil. Why, my father is a bitter man when he is +wroth, but hath never called me such a name as that. It may be his right +and duty, but certes it is none of thine. So it would be best, since you +think so lowly of me, that you should take this path to the left while +I keep on upon this one; for it is clear that I can be no fit companion +for you." So saying, with downcast lids and a dignity which was somewhat +marred by her bedraggled skirt, she swept off down the muddy track, +leaving Alleyne standing staring ruefully after her. He waited in vain +for some backward glance or sign of relenting, but she walked on with +a rigid neck until her dress was only a white flutter among the leaves. +Then, with a sunken head and a heavy heart, he plodded wearily down the +other path, wroth with himself for the rude and uncouth tongue which had +given offence where so little was intended. + +He had gone some way, lost in doubt and in self-reproach, his mind all +tremulous with a thousand new-found thoughts and fears and wonderments, +when of a sudden there was a light rustle of the leaves behind him, and, +glancing round, there was this graceful, swift-footed creature, treading +in his very shadow, with her proud head bowed, even as his was--the +picture of humility and repentance. + +"I shall not vex you, nor even speak," she said; "but I would fain keep +with you while we are in the wood." + +"Nay, you cannot vex me," he answered, all warm again at the very sight +of her. "It was my rough words which vexed you; but I have been thrown +among men all my life, and indeed, with all the will, I scarce know how +to temper my speech to a lady's ear." + +"Then unsay it," cried she quickly; "say that I was right to wish to +have vengeance on the Socman." + +"Nay, I cannot do that," he answered gravely. + +"Then who is ungentle and unkind now?" she cried in triumph. "How stern +and cold you are for one so young! Art surely no mere clerk, but bishop +or cardinal at the least. Shouldst have crozier for staff and mitre +for cap. Well, well, for your sake I will forgive the Socman and take +vengeance on none but on my own wilful self who must needs run into +danger's path. So will that please you, sir?" + +"There spoke your true self," said he; "and you will find more pleasure +in such forgiveness than in any vengeance." + +She shook her head, as if by no means assured of it, and then with a +sudden little cry, which had more of surprise than of joy in it, "Here +is Bertrand with the horses!" + +Down the glade there came a little green-clad page with laughing eyes, +and long curls floating behind him. He sat perched on a high bay horse, +and held on to the bridle of a spirited black palfrey, the hides of both +glistening from a long run. + +"I have sought you everywhere, dear Lady Maude," said he in a +piping voice, springing down from his horse and holding the stirrup. +"Troubadour galloped as far as Holmhill ere I could catch him. I trust +that you have had no hurt or scath?" He shot a questioning glance at +Alleyne as he spoke. + +"No, Bertrand," said she, "thanks to this courteous stranger. And now, +sir," she continued, springing into her saddle, "it is not fit that I +leave you without a word more. Clerk or no, you have acted this day as +becomes a true knight. King Arthur and all his table could not have done +more. It may be that, as some small return, my father or his kin may +have power to advance your interest. He is not rich, but he is honored +and hath great friends. Tell me what is your purpose, and see if he may +not aid it." + +"Alas! lady, I have now no purpose. I have but two friends in the world, +and they have gone to Christchurch, where it is likely I shall join +them." + +"And where is Christchurch?" + +"At the castle which is held by the brave knight, Sir Nigel Loring, +constable to the Earl of Salisbury." + +To his surprise she burst out a-laughing, and, spurring her palfrey, +dashed off down the glade, with her page riding behind her. Not one word +did she say, but as she vanished amid the trees she half turned in her +saddle and waved a last greeting. Long time he stood, half hoping that +she might again come back to him; but the thud of the hoofs had died +away, and there was no sound in all the woods but the gentle rustle and +dropping of the leaves. At last he turned away and made his way back to +the high-road--another person from the light-hearted boy who had left it +a short three hours before. + + + +CHAPTER X. HOW HORDLE JOHN FOUND A MAN WHOM HE MIGHT FOLLOW. + + +If he might not return to Beaulieu within the year, and if his brother's +dogs were to be set upon him if he showed face upon Minstead land, then +indeed he was adrift upon earth. North, south, east, and west--he might +turn where he would, but all was equally chill and cheerless. The Abbot +had rolled ten silver crowns in a lettuce-leaf and hid them away in the +bottom of his scrip, but that would be a sorry support for twelve long +months. In all the darkness there was but the one bright spot of the +sturdy comrades whom he had left that morning; if he could find them +again all would be well. The afternoon was not very advanced, for all +that had befallen him. When a man is afoot at cock-crow much may be done +in the day. If he walked fast he might yet overtake his friends ere they +reached their destination. He pushed on therefore, now walking and now +running. As he journeyed he bit into a crust which remained from his +Beaulieu bread, and he washed it down by a draught from a woodland +stream. + +It was no easy or light thing to journey through this great forest, +which was some twenty miles from east to west and a good sixteen from +Bramshaw Woods in the north to Lymington in the south. Alleyne, however, +had the good fortune to fall in with a woodman, axe upon shoulder, +trudging along in the very direction that he wished to go. With his +guidance he passed the fringe of Bolderwood Walk, famous for old ash +and yew, through Mark Ash with its giant beech-trees, and on through +the Knightwood groves, where the giant oak was already a great tree, +but only one of many comely brothers. They plodded along together, the +woodman and Alleyne, with little talk on either side, for their thoughts +were as far asunder as the poles. The peasant's gossip had been of the +hunt, of the bracken, of the gray-headed kites that had nested in Wood +Fidley, and of the great catch of herring brought back by the boats of +Pitt's Deep. The clerk's mind was on his brother, on his future--above +all on this strange, fierce, melting, beautiful woman who had broken +so suddenly into his life, and as suddenly passed out of it again. So +_distrait_ was he and so random his answers, that the woodman took +to whistling, and soon branched off upon the track to Burley, leaving +Alleyne upon the main Christchurch road. + +Down this he pushed as fast as he might, hoping at every turn and rise +to catch sight of his companions of the morning. From Vinney Ridge to +Rhinefield Walk the woods grow thick and dense up to the very edges of +the track, but beyond the country opens up into broad dun-colored moors, +flecked with clumps of trees, and topping each other in long, low curves +up to the dark lines of forest in the furthest distance. Clouds of +insects danced and buzzed in the golden autumn light, and the air was +full of the piping of the song-birds. Long, glinting dragonflies shot +across the path, or hung tremulous with gauzy wings and gleaming bodies. +Once a white-necked sea eagle soared screaming high over the traveller's +head, and again a flock of brown bustards popped up from among the +bracken, and blundered away in their clumsy fashion, half running, half +flying, with strident cry and whirr of wings. + +There were folk, too, to be met upon the road--beggars and couriers, +chapmen and tinkers--cheery fellows for the most part, with a rough jest +and homely greeting for each other and for Alleyne. Near Shotwood he +came upon five seamen, on their way from Poole to Southampton--rude +red-faced men, who shouted at him in a jargon which he could scarce +understand, and held out to him a great pot from which they had been +drinking--nor would they let him pass until he had dipped pannikin in +and taken a mouthful, which set him coughing and choking, with the tears +running down his cheeks. Further on he met a sturdy black-bearded man, +mounted on a brown horse, with a rosary in his right hand and a long +two-handed sword jangling against his stirrup-iron. By his black robe +and the eight-pointed cross upon his sleeve, Alleyne recognized him +as one of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem, whose +presbytery was at Baddesley. He held up two fingers as he passed, with a +"_Benedic, fili mi!_" whereat Alleyne doffed hat and bent knee, looking +with much reverence at one who had devoted his life to the overthrow of +the infidel. Poor simple lad! he had not learned yet that what men are +and what men profess to be are very wide asunder, and that the Knights +of St. John, having come into large part of the riches of the ill-fated +Templars, were very much too comfortable to think of exchanging their +palace for a tent, or the cellars of England for the thirsty deserts of +Syria. Yet ignorance may be more precious than wisdom, for Alleyne as he +walked on braced himself to a higher life by the thought of this other's +sacrifice, and strengthened himself by his example which he could scarce +have done had he known that the Hospitaller's mind ran more upon malmsey +than on Mamelukes, and on venison rather than victories. + +As he pressed on the plain turned to woods once more in the region of +Wilverley Walk, and a cloud swept up from the south with the sun shining +through the chinks of it. A few great drops came pattering loudly +down, and then in a moment the steady swish of a brisk shower, with +the dripping and dropping of the leaves. Alleyne, glancing round for +shelter, saw a thick and lofty holly-bush, so hollowed out beneath that +no house could have been drier. Under this canopy of green two men were +already squatted, who waved their hands to Alleyne that he should join +them. As he approached he saw that they had five dried herrings laid +out in front of them, with a great hunch of wheaten bread and a leathern +flask full of milk, but instead of setting to at their food they +appeared to have forgot all about it, and were disputing together with +flushed faces and angry gestures. It was easy to see by their dress and +manner that they were two of those wandering students who formed about +this time so enormous a multitude in every country in Europe. The one +was long and thin, with melancholy features, while the other was fat and +sleek, with a loud voice and the air of a man who is not to be gainsaid. + +"Come hither, good youth," he cried, "come hither! _Vultus ingenui +puer_. Heed not the face of my good coz here. _Foenum habet in cornu_, +as Don Horace has it; but I warrant him harmless for all that." + +"Stint your bull's bellowing!" exclaimed the other. "If it come to +Horace, I have a line in my mind: _Loquaces si sapiat_----How doth it +run? The English o't being that a man of sense should ever avoid a great +talker. That being so, if all were men of sense then thou wouldst be a +lonesome man, coz." + +"Alas! Dicon, I fear that your logic is as bad as your philosophy or +your divinity--and God wot it would be hard to say a worse word than +that for it. For, hark ye: granting, _propter argumentum_, that I am a +talker, then the true reasoning runs that since all men of sense should +avoid me, and thou hast not avoided me, but art at the present moment +eating herrings with me under a holly-bush, ergo you are no man of +sense, which is exactly what I have been dinning into your long ears +ever since I first clapped eyes on your sunken chops." + +"Tut, tut!" cried the other. "Your tongue goes like the clapper of +a mill-wheel. Sit down here, friend, and partake of this herring. +Understand first, however, that there are certain conditions attached to +it." + +"I had hoped," said Alleyne, falling into the humor of the twain, "that +a tranchoir of bread and a draught of milk might be attached to it." + +"Hark to him, hark to him!" cried the little fat man. "It is even thus, +Dicon! Wit, lad, is a catching thing, like the itch or the sweating +sickness. I exude it round me; it is an aura. I tell you, coz, that no +man can come within seventeen feet of me without catching a spark. Look +at your own case. A duller man never stepped, and yet within the week +you have said three things which might pass, and one thing the day we +left Fordingbridge which I should not have been ashamed of myself." + +"Enough, rattle-pate, enough!" said the other. "The milk you shall have +and the bread also, friend, together with the herring, but you must hold +the scales between us." + +"If he hold the herring he holds the scales, my sapient brother," cried +the fat man. "But I pray you, good youth, to tell us whether you are a +learned clerk, and, if so, whether you have studied at Oxenford or at +Paris." + +"I have some small stock of learning," Alleyne answered, picking at his +herring, "but I have been at neither of these places. I was bred amongst +the Cistercian monks at Beaulieu Abbey." + +"Pooh, pooh!" they cried both together. "What sort of an upbringing is +that?" + +"_Non cuivis contingit adire Corinthum_," quoth Alleyne. + +"Come, brother Stephen, he hath some tincture of letters," said the +melancholy man more hopefully. "He may be the better judge, since he +hath no call to side with either of us. Now, attention, friend, and let +your ears work as well as your nether jaw. _Judex damnatur_--you know +the old saw. Here am I upholding the good fame of the learned Duns +Scotus against the foolish quibblings and poor silly reasonings of +Willie Ockham." + +"While I," quoth the other loudly, "do maintain the good sense +and extraordinary wisdom of that most learned William against the +crack-brained fantasies of the muddy Scotchman, who hath hid such little +wit as he has under so vast a pile of words, that it is like one drop of +Gascony in a firkin of ditch-water. Solomon his wisdom would not suffice +to say what the rogue means." + +"Certes, Stephen Hapgood, his wisdom doth not suffice," cried the other. +"It is as though a mole cried out against the morning star, because he +could not see it. But our dispute, friend, is concerning the nature of +that subtle essence which we call thought. For I hold with the learned +Scotus that thought is in very truth a thing, even as vapor or fumes, +or many other substances which our gross bodily eyes are blind to. For, +look you, that which produces a thing must be itself a thing, and if a +man's thought may produce a written book, then must thought itself be a +material thing, even as the book is. Have I expressed it? Do I make it +plain?" + +"Whereas I hold," shouted the other, "with my revered preceptor, +_doctor, praeclarus et excellentissimus_, that all things are but +thought; for when thought is gone I prythee where are the things then? +Here are trees about us, and I see them because I think I see them, but +if I have swooned, or sleep, or am in wine, then, my thought having gone +forth from me, lo the trees go forth also. How now, coz, have I touched +thee on the raw?" + +Alleyne sat between them munching his bread, while the twain disputed +across his knees, leaning forward with flushed faces and darting +hands, in all the heat of argument. Never had he heard such jargon of +scholastic philosophy, such fine-drawn distinctions, such cross-fire of +major and minor, proposition, syllogism, attack and refutation. Question +clattered upon answer like a sword on a buckler. The ancients, the +fathers of the Church, the moderns, the Scriptures, the Arabians, were +each sent hurtling against the other, while the rain still dripped and +the dark holly-leaves glistened with the moisture. At last the fat man +seemed to weary of it, for he set to work quietly upon his meal, while +his opponent, as proud as the rooster who is left unchallenged upon the +midden, crowed away in a last long burst of quotation and deduction. +Suddenly, however, his eyes dropped upon his food, and he gave a howl of +dismay. + +"You double thief!" he cried, "you have eaten my herrings, and I without +bite or sup since morning." + +"That," quoth the other complacently, "was my final argument, my +crowning effort, or _peroratio_, as the orators have it. For, coz, since +all thoughts are things, you have but to think a pair of herrings, and +then conjure up a pottle of milk wherewith to wash them down." + +"A brave piece of reasoning," cried the other, "and I know of but one +reply to it." On which, leaning forward, he caught his comrade a rousing +smack across his rosy cheek. "Nay, take it not amiss," he said, "since +all things are but thoughts, then that also is but a thought and may be +disregarded." + +This last argument, however, by no means commended itself to the pupil +of Ockham, who plucked a great stick from the ground and signified his +dissent by smiting the realist over the pate with it. By good fortune, +the wood was so light and rotten that it went to a thousand splinters, +but Alleyne thought it best to leave the twain to settle the matter at +their leisure, the more so as the sun was shining brightly once +more. Looking back down the pool-strewn road, he saw the two excited +philosophers waving their hands and shouting at each other, but their +babble soon became a mere drone in the distance, and a turn in the road +hid them from his sight. + +And now after passing Holmesley Walk and the Wooton Heath, the forest +began to shred out into scattered belts of trees, with gleam of +corn-field and stretch of pasture-land between. Here and there by the +wayside stood little knots of wattle-and-daub huts with shock-haired +laborers lounging by the doors and red-cheeked children sprawling in +the roadway. Back among the groves he could see the high gable ends and +thatched roofs of the franklins' houses, on whose fields these men found +employment, or more often a thick dark column of smoke marked their +position and hinted at the coarse plenty within. By these signs Alleyne +knew that he was on the very fringe of the forest, and therefore no +great way from Christchurch. The sun was lying low in the west and +shooting its level rays across the long sweep of rich green country, +glinting on the white-fleeced sheep and throwing long shadows from the +red kine who waded knee-deep in the juicy clover. Right glad was the +traveller to see the high tower of Christchurch Priory gleaming in the +mellow evening light, and gladder still when, on rounding a corner, he +came upon his comrades of the morning seated astraddle upon a fallen +tree. They had a flat space before them, on which they alternately threw +little square pieces of bone, and were so intent upon their occupation +that they never raised eye as he approached them. He observed with +astonishment, as he drew near, that the archer's bow was on John's +back, the archer's sword by John's side, and the steel cap laid upon the +tree-trunk between them. + +"Mort de ma vie!" Aylward shouted, looking down at the dice. "Never had +I such cursed luck. A murrain on the bones! I have not thrown a good +main since I left Navarre. A one and a three! En avant, camarade!" + +"Four and three," cried Hordle John, counting on his great fingers, +"that makes seven. Ho, archer, I have thy cap! Now have at thee for thy +jerkin!" + +"Mon Dieu!" he growled, "I am like to reach Christchurch in my shirt." +Then suddenly glancing up, "Hola, by the splendor of heaven, here is our +cher petit! Now, by my ten finger bones! this is a rare sight to mine +eyes." He sprang up and threw his arms round Alleyne's neck, while +John, no less pleased, but more backward and Saxon in his habits, stood +grinning and bobbing by the wayside, with his newly won steel cap stuck +wrong side foremost upon his tangle of red hair. + +"Hast come to stop?" cried the bowman, patting Alleyne all over in his +delight. "Shall not get away from us again!" + +"I wish no better," said he, with a pringling in the eyes at this hearty +greeting. + +"Well said, lad!" cried big John. "We three shall to the wars together, +and the devil may fly away with the Abbot of Beaulieu! But your feet +and hosen are all besmudged. Hast been in the water, or I am the more +mistaken." + +"I have in good sooth," Alleyne answered, and then as they journeyed +on their way he told them the many things that had befallen him, his +meeting with the villein, his sight of the king, his coming upon his +brother, with all the tale of the black welcome and of the fair damsel. +They strode on either side, each with an ear slanting towards him, but +ere he had come to the end of his story the bowman had spun round upon +his heel, and was hastening back the way they had come, breathing loudly +through his nose. + +"What then?" asked Alleyne, trotting after him and gripping at his +jerkin. + +"I am back for Minstead, lad." + +"And why, in the name of sense?" + +"To thrust a handful of steel into the Socman. What! hale a demoiselle +against her will, and then loose dogs at his own brother! Let me go!" + +"Nenny, nenny!" cried Alleyne, laughing. "There was no scath done. Come +back, friend"--and so, by mingled pushing and entreaties, they got his +head round for Christchurch once more. Yet he walked with his chin upon +his shoulder, until, catching sight of a maiden by a wayside well, the +smiles came back to his face and peace to his heart. + +"But you," said Alleyne, "there have been changes with you also. Why +should not the workman carry his tools? Where are bow and sword and +cap--and why so warlike, John?" + +"It is a game which friend Aylward hath been a-teaching of me." + +"And I found him an over-apt pupil," grumbled the bowman. "He hath +stripped me as though I had fallen into the hands of the tardvenus. But, +by my hilt! you must render them back to me, camarade, lest you bring +discredit upon my mission, and I will pay you for them at armorers' +prices." + +"Take them back, man, and never heed the pay," said John. "I did but +wish to learn the feel of them, since I am like to have such trinkets +hung to my own girdle for some years to come." + +"Ma foi, he was born for a free companion!" cried Aylward, "He hath the +very trick of speech and turn of thought. I take them back then, and +indeed it gives me unease not to feel my yew-stave tapping against my +leg bone. But see, mes garcons, on this side of the church rises the +square and darkling tower of Earl Salisbury's castle, and even from here +I seem to see on yonder banner the red roebuck of the Montacutes." + +"Red upon white," said Alleyne, shading his eyes; "but whether roebuck +or no is more than I could vouch. How black is the great tower, and +how bright the gleam of arms upon the wall! See below the flag, how it +twinkles like a star!" + +"Aye, it is the steel head-piece of the watchman," remarked the archer. +"But we must on, if we are to be there before the drawbridge rises at +the vespers bugle; for it is likely that Sir Nigel, being so renowned a +soldier, may keep hard discipline within the walls, and let no man enter +after sundown." So saying, he quickened his pace, and the three comrades +were soon close to the straggling and broad-spread town which centered +round the noble church and the frowning castle. + +It chanced on that very evening that Sir Nigel Loring, having supped +before sunset, as was his custom, and having himself seen that Pommers +and Cadsand, his two war-horses, with the thirteen hacks, the five +jennets, my lady's three palfreys, and the great dapple-gray roussin, +had all their needs supplied, had taken his dogs for an evening +breather. Sixty or seventy of them, large and small, smooth and +shaggy--deer-hound, boar-hound, blood-hound, wolf-hound, mastiff, alaun, +talbot, lurcher, terrier, spaniel--snapping, yelling and whining, with +score of lolling tongues and waving tails, came surging down the narrow +lane which leads from the Twynham kennels to the bank of Avon. Two +russet-clad varlets, with loud halloo and cracking whips, walked +thigh-deep amid the swarm, guiding, controlling, and urging. Behind +came Sir Nigel himself, with Lady Loring upon his arm, the pair walking +slowly and sedately, as befitted both their age and their condition, +while they watched with a smile in their eyes the scrambling crowd in +front of them. They paused, however, at the bridge, and, leaning their +elbows upon the stonework, they stood looking down at their own faces in +the glassy stream, and at the swift flash of speckled trout against the +tawny gravel. + +Sir Nigel was a slight man of poor stature, with soft lisping voice and +gentle ways. So short was he that his wife, who was no very tall woman, +had the better of him by the breadth of three fingers. His sight having +been injured in his early wars by a basketful of lime which had been +emptied over him when he led the Earl of Derby's stormers up the breach +at Bergerac, he had contracted something of a stoop, with a blinking, +peering expression of face. His age was six and forty, but the constant +practice of arms, together with a cleanly life, had preserved his +activity and endurance unimpaired, so that from a distance he seemed to +have the slight limbs and swift grace of a boy. His face, however, was +tanned of a dull yellow tint, with a leathery, poreless look, which +spoke of rough outdoor doings, and the little pointed beard which he +wore, in deference to the prevailing fashion, was streaked and shot with +gray. His features were small, delicate, and regular, with clear-cut, +curving nose, and eyes which jutted forward from the lids. His dress was +simple and yet spruce. A Flandrish hat of beevor, bearing in the band +the token of Our Lady of Embrun, was drawn low upon the left side to +hide that ear which had been partly shorn from his head by a Flemish +man-at-arms in a camp broil before Tournay. His cote-hardie, or tunic, +and trunk-hosen were of a purple plum color, with long weepers which +hung from either sleeve to below his knees. His shoes were of red +leather, daintily pointed at the toes, but not yet prolonged to the +extravagant lengths which the succeeding reign was to bring into +fashion. A gold-embroidered belt of knighthood encircled his loins, with +his arms, five roses gules on a field argent, cunningly worked upon the +clasp. So stood Sir Nigel Loring upon the bridge of Avon, and talked +lightly with his lady. + +And, certes, had the two visages alone been seen, and the stranger been +asked which were the more likely to belong to the bold warrior whose +name was loved by the roughest soldiery of Europe, he had assuredly +selected the lady's. Her face was large and square and red, with fierce, +thick brows, and the eyes of one who was accustomed to rule. Taller and +broader than her husband, her flowing gown of sendall, and fur-lined +tippet, could not conceal the gaunt and ungraceful outlines of her +figure. It was the age of martial women. The deeds of black Agnes of +Dunbar, of Lady Salisbury and of the Countess of Montfort, were still +fresh in the public minds. With such examples before them the wives of +the English captains had become as warlike as their mates, and ordered +their castles in their absence with the prudence and discipline of +veteran seneschals. Right easy were the Montacutes of their Castle +of Twynham, and little had they to dread from roving galley or French +squadron, while Lady Mary Loring had the ordering of it. Yet even in +that age it was thought that, though a lady might have a soldier's +heart, it was scarce as well that she should have a soldier's face. +There were men who said that of all the stern passages and daring deeds +by which Sir Nigel Loring had proved the true temper of his courage, not +the least was his wooing and winning of so forbidding a dame. + +"I tell you, my fair lord," she was saying, "that it is no fit training +for a demoiselle: hawks and hounds, rotes and citoles singing a French +rondel, or reading the Gestes de Doon de Mayence, as I found her +yesternight, pretending sleep, the artful, with the corner of the scroll +thrusting forth from under her pillow. Lent her by Father Christopher of +the priory, forsooth--that is ever her answer. How shall all this help +her when she has castle of her own to keep, with a hundred mouths all +agape for beef and beer?" + +"True, my sweet bird, true," answered the knight, picking a comfit from +his gold drageoir. "The maid is like the young filly, which kicks heels +and plunges for very lust of life. Give her time, dame, give her time." + +"Well, I know that my father would have given me, not time, but a good +hazel-stick across my shoulders. Ma foi! I know not what the world is +coming to, when young maids may flout their elders. I wonder that you do +not correct her, my fair lord." + +"Nay, my heart's comfort, I never raised hand to woman yet, and it would +be a passing strange thing if I began on my own flesh and blood. It was +a woman's hand which cast this lime into mine eyes, and though I saw +her stoop, and might well have stopped her ere she threw, I deemed it +unworthy of my knighthood to hinder or balk one of her sex." + +"The hussy!" cried Lady Loring clenching her broad right hand. "I would +I had been at the side of her!" + +"And so would I, since you would have been the nearer me my own. But +I doubt not that you are right, and that Maude's wings need clipping, +which I may leave in your hands when I am gone, for, in sooth, this +peaceful life is not for me, and were it not for your gracious kindness +and loving care I could not abide it a week. I hear that there is talk +of warlike muster at Bordeaux once more, and by St. Paul! it would be a +new thing if the lions of England and the red pile of Chandos were to +be seen in the field, and the roses of Loring were not waving by their +side." + +"Now woe worth me but I feared it!" cried she, with the color all struck +from her face. "I have noted your absent mind, your kindling eye, your +trying and riveting of old harness. Consider my sweet lord, that you +have already won much honor, that we have seen but little of each other, +that you bear upon your body the scar of over twenty wounds received +in I know not how many bloody encounters. Have you not done enough for +honor and the public cause?" + +"My lady, when our liege lord, the king, at three score years, and my +Lord Chandos at three-score and ten, are blithe and ready to lay lance +in rest for England's cause, it would ill be-seem me to prate of service +done. It is sooth that I have received seven and twenty wounds. There is +the more reason that I should be thankful that I am still long of breath +and sound in limb. I have also seen some bickering and scuffling. Six +great land battles I count, with four upon sea, and seven and fifty +onfalls, skirmishes and bushments. I have held two and twenty towns, +and I have been at the intaking of thirty-one. Surely then it would +be bitter shame to me, and also to you, since my fame is yours, that I +should now hold back if a man's work is to be done. Besides, bethink +you how low is our purse, with bailiff and reeve ever croaking of empty +farms and wasting lands. Were it not for this constableship which the +Earl of Salisbury hath bestowed upon us we could scarce uphold the state +which is fitting to our degree. Therefore, my sweeting, there is the +more need that I should turn to where there is good pay to be earned and +brave ransoms to be won." + +"Ah, my dear lord," quoth she, with sad, weary eyes. "I thought that at +last I had you to mine own self, even though your youth had been spent +afar from my side. Yet my voice, as I know well, should speed you on to +glory and renown, not hold you back when fame is to be won. Yet what can +I say, for all men know that your valor needs the curb and not the +spur. It goes to my heart that you should ride forth now a mere knight +bachelor, when there is no noble in the land who hath so good a claim to +the square pennon, save only that you have not the money to uphold it." + +"And whose fault that, my sweet bird?" said he. + +"No fault, my fair lord, but a virtue: for how many rich ransoms have +you won, and yet have scattered the crowns among page and archer and +varlet, until in a week you had not as much as would buy food and +forage. It is a most knightly largesse, and yet withouten money how can +man rise?" + +"Dirt and dross!" cried he. + +"What matter rise or fall, so that duty be done and honor gained. +Banneret or bachelor, square pennon or forked, I would not give a denier +for the difference, and the less since Sir John Chandos, chosen flower +of English chivalry, is himself but a humble knight. But meanwhile fret +not thyself, my heart's dove, for it is like that there may be no war +waged, and we must await the news. But here are three strangers, and +one, as I take it, a soldier fresh from service. It is likely that he +may give us word of what is stirring over the water." + +Lady Loring, glancing up, saw in the fading light three companions +walking abreast down the road, all gray with dust, and stained with +travel, yet chattering merrily between themselves. He in the midst was +young and comely, with boyish open face and bright gray eyes, which +glanced from right to left as though he found the world around him both +new and pleasing. To his right walked a huge red-headed man, with +broad smile and merry twinkle, whose clothes seemed to be bursting and +splitting at every seam, as though he were some lusty chick who was +breaking bravely from his shell. On the other side, with his knotted +hand upon the young man's shoulder, came a stout and burly archer, brown +and fierce eyed, with sword at belt and long yellow yew-stave peeping +over his shoulder. Hard face, battered head piece, dinted brigandine, +with faded red lion of St. George ramping on a discolored ground, all +proclaimed as plainly as words that he was indeed from the land of war. +He looked keenly at Sir Nigel as he approached, and then, plunging his +hand under his breastplate, he stepped up to him with a rough, uncouth +bow to the lady. + +"Your pardon, fair sir," said he, "but I know you the moment I clap eyes +on you, though in sooth I have seen you oftener in steel than in velvet. +I have drawn string besides you at La Roche-d'Errien, Romorantin, +Maupertuis, Nogent, Auray, and other places." + +"Then, good archer, I am right glad to welcome you to Twynham Castle, +and in the steward's room you will find provant for yourself and +comrades. To me also your face is known, though mine eyes play such +tricks with me that I can scarce be sure of my own squire. Rest awhile, +and you shall come to the hall anon and tell us what is passing in +France, for I have heard that it is likely that our pennons may flutter +to the south of the great Spanish mountains ere another year be passed." + +"There was talk of it in Bordeaux," answered the archer, "and I +saw myself that the armorers and smiths were as busy as rats in a +wheat-rick. But I bring you this letter from the valiant Gascon knight, +Sir Claude Latour. And to you, Lady," he added after a pause, "I bring +from him this box of red sugar of Narbonne, with every courteous and +knightly greeting which a gallant cavalier may make to a fair and noble +dame." + +This little speech had cost the blunt bowman much pains and planning; +but he might have spared his breath, for the lady was quite as much +absorbed as her lord in the letter, which they held between them, a +hand on either corner, spelling it out very slowly, with drawn brows and +muttering lips. As they read it, Alleyne, who stood with Hordle John a +few paces back from their comrade, saw the lady catch her breath, while +the knight laughed softly to himself. + +"You see, dear heart," said he, "that they will not leave the old dog +in his kennel when the game is afoot. And what of this White Company, +archer?" + +"Ah, sir, you speak of dogs," cried Aylward; "but there are a pack +of lusty hounds who are ready for any quarry, if they have but a good +huntsman to halloo them on. Sir, we have been in the wars together, and +I have seen many a brave following but never such a set of woodland boys +as this. They do but want you at their head, and who will bar the way to +them!" + +"Pardieu!" said Sir Nigel, "if they are all like their messenger, they +are indeed men of whom a leader may be proud. Your name, good archer?" + +"Sam Aylward, sir, of the Hundred of Easebourne and the Rape of +Chichester." + +"And this giant behind you?" + +"He is big John, of Hordle, a forest man, who hath now taken service in +the Company." + +"A proper figure of a man at-arms," said the little knight. "Why, man, +you are no chicken, yet I warrant him the stronger man. See to that +great stone from the coping which hath fallen upon the bridge. Four of +my lazy varlets strove this day to carry it hence. I would that you two +could put them to shame by budging it, though I fear that I overtask +you, for it is of a grievous weight." + +He pointed as he spoke to a huge rough-hewn block which lay by the +roadside, deep sunken from its own weight in the reddish earth. The +archer approached it, rolling back the sleeves of his jerkin, but with +no very hopeful countenance, for indeed it was a mighty rock. John, +however, put him aside with his left hand, and, stooping over the stone, +he plucked it single-handed from its soft bed and swung it far into the +stream. There it fell with mighty splash, one jagged end peaking out +above the surface, while the waters bubbled and foamed with far-circling +eddy. + +"Good lack!" cried Sir Nigel, and "Good lack!" cried his lady, while +John stood laughing and wiping the caked dirt from his fingers. + +"I have felt his arms round my ribs," said the bowman, "and they crackle +yet at the thought of it. This other comrade of mine is a right learned +clerk, for all that he is so young, hight Alleyne, the son of Edric, +brother to the Socman of Minstead." + +"Young man," quoth Sir Nigel, sternly, "if you are of the same way of +thought as your brother, you may not pass under portcullis of mine." + +"Nay, fair sir," cried Aylward hastily, "I will be pledge for it that +they have no thought in common; for this very day his brother hath set +his dogs upon him, and driven him from his lands." + +"And are you, too, of the White Company?" asked Sir Nigel. "Hast had +small experience of war, if I may judge by your looks and bearing." + +"I would fain to France with my friends here," Alleyne answered; "but I +am a man of peace--a reader, exorcist, acolyte, and clerk." + +"That need not hinder," quoth Sir Nigel. + +"No, fair sir," cried the bowman joyously. "Why, I myself have served +two terms with Arnold de Cervolles, he whom they called the archpriest. +By my hilt! I have seen him ere now, with monk's gown trussed to his +knees, over his sandals in blood in the fore-front of the battle. Yet, +ere the last string had twanged, he would be down on his four bones +among the stricken, and have them all houseled and shriven, as quick as +shelling peas. Ma foi! there were those who wished that he would have +less care for their souls and a little more for their bodies!" + +"It is well to have a learned clerk in every troop," said Sir Nigel. "By +St. Paul, there are men so caitiff that they think more of a scrivener's +pen than of their lady's smile, and do their devoir in hopes that they +may fill a line in a chronicle or make a tag to a jongleur's romance. I +remember well that, at the siege of Retters, there was a little, sleek, +fat clerk of the name of Chaucer, who was so apt at rondel, sirvente, or +tonson, that no man dare give back a foot from the walls, lest he find +it all set down in his rhymes and sung by every underling and varlet +in the camp. But, my soul's bird, you hear me prate as though all were +decided, when I have not yet taken counsel either with you or with my +lady mother. Let us to the chamber, while these strangers find such fare +as pantry and cellar may furnish." + +"The night air strikes chill," said the lady, and turned down the road +with her hand upon her lord's arm. The three comrades dropped behind and +followed: Aylward much the lighter for having accomplished his mission, +Alleyne full of wonderment at the humble bearing of so renowned +a captain, and John loud with snorts and sneers, which spoke his +disappointment and contempt. + +"What ails the man?" asked Aylward in surprise. + +"I have been cozened and bejaped," quoth he gruffly. + +"By whom, Sir Samson the strong?" + +"By thee, Sir Balaam the false prophet." + +"By my hilt!" cried the archer, "though I be not Balaam, yet I hold +converse with the very creature that spake to him. What is amiss, then, +and how have I played you false?" + +"Why, marry, did you not say, and Alleyne here will be my witness, that, +if I would hie to the wars with you, you would place me under a leader +who was second to none in all England for valor? Yet here you bring me +to a shred of a man, peaky and ill-nourished, with eyes like a moulting +owl, who must needs, forsooth, take counsel with his mother ere he +buckle sword to girdle." + +"Is that where the shoe galls?" cried the bowman, and laughed aloud. +"I will ask you what you think of him three months hence, if we be all +alive; for sure I am that----" + +Aylward's words were interrupted by an extraordinary hubbub which broke +out that instant some little way down the street in the direction of the +Priory. There was deep-mouthed shouting of men, frightened shrieks of +women, howling and barking of curs, and over all a sullen, thunderous +rumble, indescribably menacing and terrible. Round the corner of the +narrow street there came rushing a brace of whining dogs with tails +tucked under their legs, and after them a white-faced burgher, with +outstretched hands and wide-spread fingers, his hair all abristle and +his eyes glinting back from one shoulder to the other, as though some +great terror were at his very heels. "Fly, my lady, fly!" he screeched, +and whizzed past them like bolt from bow; while close behind came +lumbering a huge black bear, with red tongue lolling from his mouth, and +a broken chain jangling behind him. To right and left the folk flew for +arch and doorway. Hordle John caught up the Lady Loring as though +she had been a feather, and sprang with her into an open porch; while +Aylward, with a whirl of French oaths, plucked at his quiver and tried +to unsling his bow. Alleyne, all unnerved at so strange and unwonted a +sight, shrunk up against the wall with his eyes fixed upon the frenzied +creature, which came bounding along with ungainly speed, looking the +larger in the uncertain light, its huge jaws agape, with blood and +slaver trickling to the ground. Sir Nigel alone, unconscious to all +appearance of the universal panic, walked with unfaltering step up +the centre of the road, a silken handkerchief in one hand and his gold +comfit-box in the other. It sent the blood cold through Alleyne's veins +to see that as they came together--the man and the beast--the creature +reared up, with eyes ablaze with fear and hate, and whirled its great +paws above the knight to smite him to the earth. He, however, blinking +with puckered eyes, reached up his kerchief, and flicked the beast twice +across the snout with it. "Ah, saucy! saucy," quoth he, with gentle +chiding; on which the bear, uncertain and puzzled, dropped its four legs +to earth again, and, waddling back, was soon swathed in ropes by the +bear-ward and a crowd of peasants who had been in close pursuit. + +A scared man was the keeper; for, having chained the brute to a stake +while he drank a stoup of ale at the inn, it had been baited by stray +curs, until, in wrath and madness, it had plucked loose the chain, and +smitten or bitten all who came in its path. Most scared of all was he +to find that the creature had come nigh to harm the Lord and Lady of the +castle, who had power to place him in the stretch-neck or to have the +skin scourged from his shoulders. Yet, when he came with bowed head +and humble entreaty for forgiveness, he was met with a handful of +small silver from Sir Nigel, whose dame, however, was less charitably +disposed, being much ruffled in her dignity by the manner in which she +had been hustled from her lord's side. + +As they passed through the castle gate, John plucked at Aylward's +sleeve, and the two fell behind. + +"I must crave your pardon, comrade," said he, bluntly. "I was a fool not +to know that a little rooster may be the gamest. I believe that this man +is indeed a leader whom we may follow." + + + +CHAPTER XI. HOW A YOUNG SHEPHERD HAD A PERILOUS FLOCK. + + +Black was the mouth of Twynham Castle, though a pair of torches burning +at the further end of the gateway cast a red glare over the outer +bailey, and sent a dim, ruddy flicker through the rough-hewn arch, +rising and falling with fitful brightness. Over the door the travellers +could discern the escutcheon of the Montacutes, a roebuck gules on a +field argent, flanked on either side by smaller shields which bore the +red roses of the veteran constable. As they passed over the drawbridge, +Alleyne marked the gleam of arms in the embrasures to right and left, +and they had scarce set foot upon the causeway ere a hoarse blare +burst from a bugle, and, with screech of hinge and clank of chain, the +ponderous bridge swung up into the air, drawn by unseen hands. At the +same instant the huge portcullis came rattling down from above, and shut +off the last fading light of day. Sir Nigel and his lady walked on in +deep talk, while a fat under-steward took charge of the three comrades, +and led them to the buttery, where beef, bread, and beer were kept ever +in readiness for the wayfarer. After a hearty meal and a dip in the +trough to wash the dust from them, they strolled forth into the bailey, +where the bowman peered about through the darkness at wall and at keep, +with the carping eyes of one who has seen something of sieges, and is +not likely to be satisfied. To Alleyne and to John, however, it appeared +to be as great and as stout a fortress as could be built by the hands of +man. + +Erected by Sir Balwin de Redvers in the old fighting days of the twelfth +century, when men thought much of war and little of comfort, Castle +Twynham had been designed as a stronghold pure and simple, unlike those +later and more magnificent structures where warlike strength had been +combined with the magnificence of a palace. From the time of the Edwards +such buildings as Conway or Caernarvon castles, to say nothing of Royal +Windsor, had shown that it was possible to secure luxury in peace as +well as security in times of trouble. Sir Nigel's trust, however, still +frowned above the smooth-flowing waters of the Avon, very much as the +stern race of early Anglo-Normans had designed it. There were the broad +outer and inner bailies, not paved, but sown with grass to nourish the +sheep and cattle which might be driven in on sign of danger. All round +were high and turreted walls, with at the corner a bare square-faced +keep, gaunt and windowless, rearing up from a lofty mound, which made it +almost inaccessible to an assailant. Against the bailey-walls were rows +of frail wooden houses and leaning sheds, which gave shelter to the +archers and men-at-arms who formed the garrison. The doors of these +humble dwellings were mostly open, and against the yellow glare from +within Alleyne could see the bearded fellows cleaning their harness, +while their wives would come out for a gossip, with their needlework in +their hands, and their long black shadows streaming across the yard. +The air was full of the clack of their voices and the merry prattling of +children, in strange contrast to the flash of arms and constant warlike +challenge from the walls above. + +"Methinks a company of school lads could hold this place against an +army," quoth John. + +"And so say I," said Alleyne. + +"Nay, there you are wide of the clout," the bowman said gravely. "By my +hilt! I have seen a stronger fortalice carried in a summer evening. +I remember such a one in Picardy, with a name as long as a Gascon's +pedigree. It was when I served under Sir Robert Knolles, before the days +of the Company; and we came by good plunder at the sacking of it. I had +myself a great silver bowl, with two goblets, and a plastron of Spanish +steel. Pasques Dieu! there are some fine women over yonder! Mort de ma +vie! see to that one in the doorway! I will go speak to her. But whom +have we here?" + +"Is there an archer here hight Sam Aylward?" asked a gaunt man-at-arms, +clanking up to them across the courtyard. + +"My name, friend," quoth the bowman. + +"Then sure I have no need to tell thee mine," said the other. + +"By the rood! if it is not Black Simon of Norwich!" cried Aylward. "A +mon coeur, camarade, a mon coeur! Ah, but I am blithe to see thee!" The +two fell upon each other and hugged like bears. + +"And where from, old blood and bones?" asked the bowman. + +"I am in service here. Tell me, comrade, is it sooth that we shall have +another fling at these Frenchmen? It is so rumored in the guard-room, +and that Sir Nigel will take the field once more." + +"It is like enough, mon gar., as things go." + +"Now may the Lord be praised!" cried the other. "This very night will I +set apart a golden ouche to be offered on the shrine of my name-saint. I +have pined for this, Aylward, as a young maid pines for her lover." + +"Art so set on plunder then? Is the purse so light that there is not +enough for a rouse? I have a bag at my belt, camarade, and you have but +to put your fist into it for what you want. It was ever share and share +between us." + +"Nay, friend, it is not the Frenchman's gold, but the Frenchman's blood +that I would have. I should not rest quiet in the grave, coz, if I had +not another turn at them. For with us in France it has ever been fair +and honest war--a shut fist for the man, but a bended knee for the +woman. But how was it at Winchelsea when their galleys came down upon it +some few years back? I had an old mother there, lad, who had come down +thither from the Midlands to be the nearer her son. They found her +afterwards by her own hearthstone, thrust through by a Frenchman's bill. +My second sister, my brother's wife, and her two children, they were but +ash-heaps in the smoking ruins of their house. I will not say that we +have not wrought great scath upon France, but women and children have +been safe from us. And so, old friend, my heart is hot within me, and I +long to hear the old battle-cry again, and, by God's truth! if Sir +Nigel unfurls his pennon, here is one who will be right glad to feel the +saddle-flaps under his knees." + +"We have seen good work together, old war-dog," quoth Aylward; "and, +by my hilt! we may hope to see more ere we die. But we are more like to +hawk at the Spanish woodcock than at the French heron, though certes +it is rumored that Du Guesclin with all the best lances of France have +taken service under the lions and towers of Castile. But, comrade, it is +in my mind that there is some small matter of dispute still open between +us." + +"'Fore God, it is sooth!" cried the other; "I had forgot it. The +provost-marshal and his men tore us apart when last we met." + +"On which, friend, we vowed that we should settle the point when next we +came together. Hast thy sword, I see, and the moon throws glimmer enough +for such old night-birds as we. On guard, mon gar.! I have not heard +clink of steel this month or more." + +"Out from the shadow then," said the other, drawing his sword. "A vow is +a vow, and not lightly to be broken." + +"A vow to the saints," cried Alleyne, "is indeed not to be set aside; +but this is a devil's vow, and, simple clerk as I am, I am yet the +mouthpiece of the true church when I say that it were mortal sin to +fight on such a quarrel. What! shall two grown men carry malice for +years, and fly like snarling curs at each other's throats?" + +"No malice, my young clerk, no malice," quoth Black Simon. "I have not +a bitter drop in my heart for mine old comrade; but the quarrel, as he +hath told you, is still open and unsettled. Fall on, Aylward!" + +"Not whilst I can stand between you," cried Alleyne, springing before +the bowman. "It is shame and sin to see two Christian Englishmen turn +swords against each other like the frenzied bloodthirsty paynim." + +"And, what is more," said Hordle John, suddenly appearing out of the +buttery with the huge board upon which the pastry was rolled, "if either +raise sword I shall flatten him like a Shrovetide pancake. By the black +rood! I shall drive him into the earth, like a nail into a door, rather +than see you do scath to each other." + +"'Fore God, this is a strange way of preaching peace," cried Black +Simon. "You may find the scath yourself, my lusty friend, if you raise +your great cudgel to me. I had as lief have the castle drawbridge drop +upon my pate." + +"Tell me, Aylward," said Alleyne earnestly, with his hands outstretched +to keep the pair asunder, "what is the cause of quarrel, that we may see +whether honorable settlement may not be arrived at?" + +The bowman looked down at his feet and then up at the moon. "Parbleu!" +he cried, "the cause of quarrel? Why, mon petit, it was years ago in +Limousin, and how can I bear in mind what was the cause of it? Simon +there hath it at the end of his tongue." + +"Not I, in troth," replied the other; "I have had other things to think +of. There was some sort of bickering over dice, or wine, or was it a +woman, coz?" + +"Pasques Dieu! but you have nicked it," cried Aylward. "It was indeed +about a woman; and the quarrel must go forward, for I am still of the +same mind as before." + +"What of the woman, then?" asked Simon. "May the murrain strike me if I +can call to mind aught about her." + +"It was La Blanche Rose, maid at the sign of the 'Trois Corbeaux' at +Limoges. Bless her pretty heart! Why, mon gar., I loved her." + +"So did a many," quoth Simon. "I call her to mind now. On the very day +that we fought over the little hussy, she went off with Evan ap Price, +a long-legged Welsh dagsman. They have a hostel of their own now, +somewhere on the banks of the Garonne, where the landlord drinks so much +of the liquor that there is little left for the customers." + +"So ends our quarrel, then," said Aylward, sheathing his sword. "A Welsh +dagsman, i' faith! C'etait mauvais gout, camarade, and the more so when +she had a jolly archer and a lusty man-at-arms to choose from." + +"True, old lad. And it is as well that we can compose our differences +honorably, for Sir Nigel had been out at the first clash of steel; and +he hath sworn that if there be quarrelling in the garrison he would +smite the right hand from the broilers. You know him of old, and that he +is like to be as good as his word." + +"Mort-Dieu! yes. But there are ale, mead, and wine in the buttery, and +the steward a merry rogue, who will not haggle over a quart or two. +Buvons, mon gar., for it is not every day that two old friends come +together." + +The old soldiers and Hordle John strode off together in all good +fellowship. Alleyne had turned to follow them, when he felt a touch upon +his shoulder, and found a young page by his side. + +"The Lord Loring commands," said the boy, "that you will follow me to +the great chamber, and await him there." + +"But my comrades?" + +"His commands were for you alone." + +Alleyne followed the messenger to the east end of the courtyard, where a +broad flight of steps led up to the doorway of the main hall, the outer +wall of which is washed by the waters of the Avon. As designed at first, +no dwelling had been allotted to the lord of the castle and his family +but the dark and dismal basement story of the keep. A more civilized or +more effeminate generation, however, had refused to be pent up in such +a cellar, and the hall with its neighboring chambers had been added for +their accommodation. Up the broad steps Alleyne went, still following +his boyish guide, until at the folding oak doors the latter paused, and +ushered him into the main hall of the castle. + +On entering the room the clerk looked round; but, seeing no one, he +continued to stand, his cap in his hand, examining with the greatest +interest a chamber which was so different to any to which he was +accustomed. The days had gone by when a nobleman's hall was but a +barn-like, rush-strewn enclosure, the common lounge and eating-room of +every inmate of the castle. The Crusaders had brought back with them +experiences of domestic luxuries, of Damascus carpets and rugs of +Aleppo, which made them impatient of the hideous bareness and want of +privacy which they found in their ancestral strongholds. Still stronger, +however, had been the influence of the great French war; for, however +well matched the nations might be in martial exercises, there could be +no question but that our neighbors were infinitely superior to us in the +arts of peace. A stream of returning knights, of wounded soldiers, +and of unransomed French noblemen, had been for a quarter of a century +continually pouring into England, every one of whom exerted an influence +in the direction of greater domestic refinement, while shiploads of +French furniture from Calais, Rouen, and other plundered towns, had +supplied our own artisans with models on which to shape their work. +Hence, in most English castles, and in Castle Twynham among the rest, +chambers were to be found which would seem to be not wanting either in +beauty or in comfort. + +In the great stone fireplace a log fire was spurting and crackling, +throwing out a ruddy glare which, with the four bracket-lamps which +stood at each corner of the room, gave a bright and lightsome air to the +whole apartment. Above was a wreath-work of blazonry, extending up to +the carved and corniced oaken roof; while on either side stood the high +canopied chairs placed for the master of the house and for his most +honored guest. The walls were hung all round with most elaborate and +brightly colored tapestry, representing the achievements of Sir Bevis +of Hampton, and behind this convenient screen were stored the tables +dormant and benches which would be needed for banquet or high festivity. +The floor was of polished tiles, with a square of red and black diapered +Flemish carpet in the centre; and many settees, cushions, folding +chairs, and carved bancals littered all over it. At the further end was +a long black buffet or dresser, thickly covered with gold cups, silver +salvers, and other such valuables. All this Alleyne examined with +curious eyes; but most interesting of all to him was a small ebony +table at his very side, on which, by the side of a chess-board and the +scattered chessmen, there lay an open manuscript written in a right +clerkly hand, and set forth with brave flourishes and devices along the +margins. In vain Alleyne bethought him of where he was, and of those +laws of good breeding and decorum which should restrain him: those +colored capitals and black even lines drew his hand down to them, as +the loadstone draws the needle, until, almost before he knew it, he +was standing with the romance of Garin de Montglane before his eyes, so +absorbed in its contents as to be completely oblivious both of where he +was and why he had come there. + +He was brought back to himself, however, by a sudden little ripple of +quick feminine laughter. Aghast, he dropped the manuscript among the +chessmen and stared in bewilderment round the room. It was as empty and +as still as ever. Again he stretched his hand out to the romance, and +again came that roguish burst of merriment. He looked up at the ceiling, +back at the closed door, and round at the stiff folds of motionless +tapestry. Of a sudden, however, he caught a quick shimmer from the +corner of a high-backed bancal in front of him, and, shifting a pace +or two to the side, saw a white slender hand, which held a mirror of +polished silver in such a way that the concealed observer could see +without being seen. He stood irresolute, uncertain whether to advance or +to take no notice; but, even as he hesitated, the mirror was whipped +in, and a tall and stately young lady swept out from behind the oaken +screen, with a dancing light of mischief in her eyes. Alleyne started +with astonishment as he recognized the very maiden who had suffered +from his brother's violence in the forest. She no longer wore her gay +riding-dress, however, but was attired in a long sweeping robe of black +velvet of Bruges, with delicate tracery of white lace at neck and at +wrist, scarce to be seen against her ivory skin. Beautiful as she had +seemed to him before, the lithe charm of her figure and the proud, free +grace of her bearing were enhanced now by the rich simplicity of her +attire. + +"Ah, you start," said she, with the same sidelong look of mischief, +"and I cannot marvel at it. Didst not look to see the distressed damosel +again. Oh that I were a minstrel, that I might put it into rhyme, +with the whole romance--the luckless maid, the wicked socman, and the +virtuous clerk! So might our fame have gone down together for all time, +and you be numbered with Sir Percival or Sir Galahad, or all the other +rescuers of oppressed ladies." + +"What I did," said Alleyne, "was too small a thing for thanks; and yet, +if I may say it without offence, it was too grave and near a matter +for mirth and raillery. I had counted on my brother's love, but God has +willed that it should be otherwise. It is a joy to me to see you again, +lady, and to know that you have reached home in safety, if this be +indeed your home." + +"Yes, in sooth, Castle Twynham is my home, and Sir Nigel Loring my +father. I should have told you so this morning, but you said that you +were coming thither, so I bethought me that I might hold it back as +a surprise to you. Oh dear, but it was brave to see you!" she cried, +bursting out a-laughing once more, and standing with her hand pressed to +her side, and her half-closed eyes twinkling with amusement. "You drew +back and came forward with your eyes upon my book there, like the mouse +who sniffs the cheese and yet dreads the trap." + +"I take shame," said Alleyne, "that I should have touched it." + +"Nay, it warmed my very heart to see it. So glad was I, that I laughed +for very pleasure. My fine preacher can himself be tempted then, thought +I; he is not made of another clay to the rest of us." + +"God help me! I am the weakest of the weak," groaned Alleyne. "I pray +that I may have more strength." + +"And to what end?" she asked sharply. "If you are, as I understand, to +shut yourself forever in your cell within the four walls of an abbey, +then of what use would it be were your prayer to be answered?" + +"The use of my own salvation." + +She turned from him with a pretty shrug and wave. "Is that all?" she +said. "Then you are no better than Father Christopher and the rest of +them. Your own, your own, ever your own! My father is the king's man, +and when he rides into the press of fight he is not thinking ever of the +saving of his own poor body; he recks little enough if he leave it on +the field. Why then should you, who are soldiers of the Spirit, be +ever moping or hiding in cell or in cave, with minds full of your own +concerns, while the world, which you should be mending, is going on its +way, and neither sees nor hears you? Were ye all as thoughtless of your +own souls as the soldier is of his body, ye would be of more avail to +the souls of others." + +"There is sooth in what you say, lady," Alleyne answered; "and yet I +scarce can see what you would have the clergy and the church to do." + +"I would have them live as others and do men's work in the world, +preaching by their lives rather than their words. I would have them come +forth from their lonely places, mix with the borel folks, feel the pains +and the pleasures, the cares and the rewards, the temptings and the +stirrings of the common people. Let them toil and swinken, and labor, +and plough the land, and take wives to themselves----" + +"Alas! alas!" cried Alleyne aghast, "you have surely sucked this poison +from the man Wicliffe, of whom I have heard such evil things." + +"Nay, I know him not. I have learned it by looking from my own chamber +window and marking these poor monks of the priory, their weary life, +their profitless round. I have asked myself if the best which can be +done with virtue is to shut it within high walls as though it were some +savage creature. If the good will lock themselves up, and if the wicked +will still wander free, then alas for the world!" + +Alleyne looked at her in astonishment, for her cheek was flushed, her +eyes gleaming, and her whole pose full of eloquence and conviction. Yet +in an instant she had changed again to her old expression of merriment +leavened with mischief. + +"Wilt do what I ask?" said she. + +"What is it, lady?" + +"Oh, most ungallant clerk! A true knight would never have asked, but +would have vowed upon the instant. 'Tis but to bear me out in what I say +to my father." + +"In what?" + +"In saying, if he ask, that it was south of the Christchurch road that I +met you. I shall be shut up with the tire-women else, and have a week +of spindle and bodkin, when I would fain be galloping Troubadour up +Wilverley Walk, or loosing little Roland at the Vinney Ridge herons." + +"I shall not answer him if he ask." + +"Not answer! But he will have an answer. Nay, but you must not fail me, +or it will go ill with me." + +"But, lady," cried poor Alleyne in great distress, "how can I say that +it was to the south of the road when I know well that it was four miles +to the north." + +"You will not say it?" + +"Surely you will not, too, when you know that it is not so?" + +"Oh, I weary of your preaching!" she cried, and swept away with a toss +of her beautiful head, leaving Alleyne as cast down and ashamed as +though he had himself proposed some infamous thing. She was back again +in an instant, however, in another of her varying moods. + +"Look at that, my friend!" said she. "If you had been shut up in abbey +or in cell this day you could not have taught a wayward maiden to abide +by the truth. Is it not so? What avail is the shepherd if he leaves his +sheep." + +"A sorry shepherd!" said Alleyne humbly. "But here is your noble +father." + +"And you shall see how worthy a pupil I am. Father, I am much beholden +to this young clerk, who was of service to me and helped me this very +morning in Minstead Woods, four miles to the north of the Christchurch +road, where I had no call to be, you having ordered it otherwise." All +this she reeled off in a loud voice, and then glanced with sidelong, +questioning eyes at Alleyne for his approval. + +Sir Nigel, who had entered the room with a silvery-haired old lady upon +his arm, stared aghast at this sudden outburst of candor. + +"Maude, Maude!" said he, shaking his head, "it is more hard for me to +gain obedience from you than from the ten score drunken archers who +followed me to Guienne. Yet, hush! little one, for your fair lady-mother +will be here anon, and there is no need that she should know it. We will +keep you from the provost-marshal this journey. Away to your chamber, +sweeting, and keep a blithe face, for she who confesses is shriven. And +now, fair mother," he continued, when his daughter had gone, "sit +you here by the fire, for your blood runs colder than it did. Alleyne +Edricson, I would have a word with you, for I would fain that you should +take service under me. And here in good time comes my lady, without +whose counsel it is not my wont to decide aught of import; but, indeed, +it was her own thought that you should come." + +"For I have formed a good opinion of you, and can see that you are one +who may be trusted," said the Lady Loring. "And in good sooth my dear +lord hath need of such a one by his side, for he recks so little of +himself that there should be one there to look to his needs and meet his +wants. You have seen the cloisters; it were well that you should see the +world too, ere you make choice for life between them." + +"It was for that very reason that my father willed that I should come +forth into the world at my twentieth year," said Alleyne. + +"Then your father was a man of good counsel," said she, "and you cannot +carry out his will better than by going on this path, where all that is +noble and gallant in England will be your companions." + +"You can ride?" asked Sir Nigel, looking at the youth with puckered +eyes. + +"Yes, I have ridden much at the abbey." + +"Yet there is a difference betwixt a friar's hack and a warrior's +destrier. You can sing and play?" + +"On citole, flute and rebeck." + +"Good! You can read blazonry?" + +"Indifferent well." + +"Then read this," quoth Sir Nigel, pointing upwards to one of the many +quarterings which adorned the wall over the fireplace. + +"Argent," Alleyne answered, "a fess azure charged with three lozenges +dividing three mullets sable. Over all, on an escutcheon of the first, a +jambe gules." + +"A jambe gules erased," said Sir Nigel, shaking his head solemnly. "Yet +it is not amiss for a monk-bred man. I trust that you are lowly and +serviceable?" + +"I have served all my life, my lord." + +"Canst carve too?" + +"I have carved two days a week for the brethren." + +"A model truly! Wilt make a squire of squires. But tell me, I pray, +canst curl hair?" + +"No, my lord, but I could learn." + +"It is of import," said he, "for I love to keep my hair well ordered, +seeing that the weight of my helmet for thirty years hath in some degree +frayed it upon the top." He pulled off his velvet cap of maintenance as +he spoke, and displayed a pate which was as bald as an egg, and shone +bravely in the firelight. "You see," said he, whisking round, and +showing one little strip where a line of scattered hairs, like the last +survivors in some fatal field, still barely held their own against the +fate which had fallen upon their comrades; "these locks need some little +oiling and curling, for I doubt not that if you look slantwise at my +head, when the light is good, you will yourself perceive that there are +places where the hair is sparse." + +"It is for you also to bear the purse," said the lady; "for my sweet +lord is of so free and gracious a temper that he would give it gayly to +the first who asked alms of him. All these things, with some knowledge +of venerie, and of the management of horse, hawk and hound, with the +grace and hardihood and courtesy which are proper to your age, will make +you a fit squire for Sir Nigel Loring." + +"Alas! lady," Alleyne answered, "I know well the great honor that you +have done me in deeming me worthy to wait upon so renowned a knight, +yet I am so conscious of my own weakness that I scarce dare incur duties +which I might be so ill-fitted to fulfil." + +"Modesty and a humble mind," said she, "are the very first and rarest +gifts in page or squire. Your words prove that you have these, and +all the rest is but the work of use and time. But there is no call for +haste. Rest upon it for the night, and let your orisons ask for guidance +in the matter. We knew your father well, and would fain help his son, +though we have small cause to love your brother the Socman, who is +forever stirring up strife in the county." + +"We can scare hope," said Nigel, "to have all ready for our start before +the feast of St. Luke, for there is much to be done in the time. You +will have leisure, therefore, if it please you to take service under me, +in which to learn your devoir. Bertrand, my daughter's page, is hot to +go; but in sooth he is over young for such rough work as may be before +us." + +"And I have one favor to crave from you," added the lady of the castle, +as Alleyne turned to leave their presence. "You have, as I understand, +much learning which you have acquired at Beaulieu." + +"Little enough, lady, compared with those who were my teachers." + +"Yet enough for my purpose, I doubt not. For I would have you give +an hour or two a day whilst you are with us in discoursing with my +daughter, the Lady Maude; for she is somewhat backward, I fear, and hath +no love for letters, save for these poor fond romances, which do but +fill her empty head with dreams of enchanted maidens and of errant +cavaliers. Father Christopher comes over after nones from the priory, +but he is stricken with years and slow of speech, so that she gets small +profit from his teaching. I would have you do what you can with her, and +with Agatha my young tire-woman, and with Dorothy Pierpont." + +And so Alleyne found himself not only chosen as squire to a knight but +also as squire to three damosels, which was even further from the part +which he had thought to play in the world. Yet he could but agree to +do what he might, and so went forth from the castle hall with his +face flushed and his head in a whirl at the thought of the strange and +perilous paths which his feet were destined to tread. + + + +CHAPTER XII. HOW ALLEYNE LEARNED MORE THAN HE COULD TEACH. + + +And now there came a time of stir and bustle, of furbishing of arms and +clang of hammer from all the southland counties. Fast spread the tidings +from thorpe to thorpe and from castle to castle, that the old game was +afoot once more, and the lions and lilies to be in the field with the +early spring. Great news this for that fierce old country, whose trade +for a generation had been war, her exports archers and her imports +prisoners. For six years her sons had chafed under an unwonted peace. +Now they flew to their arms as to their birthright. The old soldiers of +Crecy, of Nogent, and of Poictiers were glad to think that they might +hear the war-trumpet once more, and gladder still were the hot youth who +had chafed for years under the martial tales of their sires. To pierce +the great mountains of the south, to fight the tamers of the fiery +Moors, to follow the greatest captain of the age, to find sunny +cornfields and vineyards, when the marches of Picardy and Normandy were +as rare and bleak as the Jedburgh forests--here was a golden prospect +for a race of warriors. From sea to sea there was stringing of bows in +the cottage and clang of steel in the castle. + +Nor did it take long for every stronghold to pour forth its cavalry, and +every hamlet its footmen. Through the late autumn and the early winter +every road and country lane resounded with nakir and trumpet, with the +neigh of the war-horse and the clatter of marching men. From the Wrekin +in the Welsh marches to the Cotswolds in the west or Butser in the +south, there was no hill-top from which the peasant might not have seen +the bright shimmer of arms, the toss and flutter of plume and of pensil. +From bye-path, from woodland clearing, or from winding moor-side track +these little rivulets of steel united in the larger roads to form a +broader stream, growing ever fuller and larger as it approached the +nearest or most commodious seaport. And there all day, and day after +day, there was bustle and crowding and labor, while the great ships +loaded up, and one after the other spread their white pinions and darted +off to the open sea, amid the clash of cymbals and rolling of drums and +lusty shouts of those who went and of those who waited. From Orwell to +the Dart there was no port which did not send forth its little fleet, +gay with streamer and bunting, as for a joyous festival. Thus in the +season of the waning days the might of England put forth on to the +waters. + +In the ancient and populous county of Hampshire there was no lack of +leaders or of soldiers for a service which promised either honor or +profit. In the north the Saracen's head of the Brocas and the scarlet +fish of the De Roches were waving over a strong body of archers from +Holt, Woolmer, and Harewood forests. De Borhunte was up in the east, and +Sir John de Montague in the west. Sir Luke de Ponynges, Sir Thomas West, +Sir Maurice de Bruin, Sir Arthur Lipscombe, Sir Walter Ramsey, and stout +Sir Oliver Buttesthorn were all marching south with levies from Andover, +Arlesford, Odiham and Winchester, while from Sussex came Sir John +Clinton, Sir Thomas Cheyne, and Sir John Fallislee, with a troop of +picked men-at-arms, making for their port at Southampton. Greatest of +all the musters, however, was that of Twynham Castle, for the name and +the fame of Sir Nigel Loring drew towards him the keenest and boldest +spirits, all eager to serve under so valiant a leader. Archers from the +New Forest and the Forest of Bere, billmen from the pleasant country +which is watered by the Stour, the Avon, and the Itchen, young cavaliers +from the ancient Hampshire houses, all were pushing for Christchurch to +take service under the banner of the five scarlet roses. + +And now, could Sir Nigel have shown the bachelles of land which the laws +of rank required, he might well have cut his forked pennon into a +square banner, and taken such a following into the field as would have +supported the dignity of a banneret. But poverty was heavy upon him, his +land was scant, his coffers empty, and the very castle which covered him +the holding of another. Sore was his heart when he saw rare bowmen and +war-hardened spearmen turned away from his gates, for the lack of the +money which might equip and pay them. Yet the letter which Aylward had +brought him gave him powers which he was not slow to use. In it Sir +Claude Latour, the Gascon lieutenant of the White Company, assured him +that there remained in his keeping enough to fit out a hundred archers +and twenty men-at-arms, which, joined to the three hundred veteran +companions already in France, would make a force which any leader might +be proud to command. Carefully and sagaciously the veteran knight chose +out his men from the swarm of volunteers. Many an anxious consultation +he held with Black Simon, Sam Aylward, and other of his more experienced +followers, as to who should come and who should stay. By All Saints' +day, however ere the last leaves had fluttered to earth in the Wilverley +and Holmesley glades, he had filled up his full numbers, and mustered +under his banner as stout a following of Hampshire foresters as ever +twanged their war-bows. Twenty men-at-arms, too, well mounted and +equipped, formed the cavalry of the party, while young Peter Terlake of +Fareham, and Walter Ford of Botley, the martial sons of martial sires, +came at their own cost to wait upon Sir Nigel and to share with Alleyne +Edricson the duties of his squireship. + +Yet, even after the enrolment, there was much to be done ere the party +could proceed upon its way. For armor, swords, and lances, there was no +need to take much forethought, for they were to be had both better and +cheaper in Bordeaux than in England. With the long-bow, however, it was +different. Yew staves indeed might be got in Spain, but it was well to +take enough and to spare with them. Then three spare cords should be +carried for each bow, with a great store of arrow-heads, besides the +brigandines of chain mail, the wadded steel caps, and the brassarts or +arm-guards, which were the proper equipment of the archer. Above all, +the women for miles round were hard at work cutting the white surcoats +which were the badge of the Company, and adorning them with the red lion +of St. George upon the centre of the breast. When all was completed and +the muster called in the castle yard the oldest soldier of the French +wars was fain to confess that he had never looked upon a better equipped +or more warlike body of men, from the old knight with his silk jupon, +sitting his great black war-horse in the front of them, to Hordle John, +the giant recruit, who leaned carelessly upon a huge black bow-stave in +the rear. Of the six score, fully half had seen service before, while a +fair sprinkling were men who had followed the wars all their lives, and +had a hand in those battles which had made the whole world ring with the +fame and the wonder of the island infantry. + +Six long weeks were taken in these preparations, and it was close on +Martinmas ere all was ready for a start. Nigh two months had Alleyne +Edricson been in Castle Twynham--months which were fated to turn the +whole current of his life, to divert it from that dark and lonely bourne +towards which it tended, and to guide it into freer and more sunlit +channels. Already he had learned to bless his father for that wise +provision which had made him seek to know the world ere he had ventured +to renounce it. + +For it was a different place from that which he had pictured--very +different from that which he had heard described when the master of the +novices held forth to his charges upon the ravening wolves who lurked +for them beyond the peaceful folds of Beaulieu. There was cruelty in it, +doubtless, and lust and sin and sorrow; but were there not virtues to +atone, robust positive virtues which did not shrink from temptation, +which held their own in all the rough blasts of the work-a-day world? +How colorless by contrast appeared the sinlessness which came from +inability to sin, the conquest which was attained by flying from the +enemy! Monk-bred as he was, Alleyne had native shrewdness and a mind +which was young enough to form new conclusions and to outgrow old +ones. He could not fail to see that the men with whom he was thrown in +contact, rough-tongued, fierce and quarrelsome as they were, were yet of +deeper nature and of more service in the world than the ox-eyed brethren +who rose and ate and slept from year's end to year's end in their own +narrow, stagnant circle of existence. Abbot Berghersh was a good man, +but how was he better than this kindly knight, who lived as simple a +life, held as lofty and inflexible an ideal of duty, and did with all +his fearless heart whatever came to his hand to do? In turning from the +service of the one to that of the other, Alleyne could not feel that +he was lowering his aims in life. True that his gentle and thoughtful +nature recoiled from the grim work of war, yet in those days of martial +orders and militant brotherhoods there was no gulf fixed betwixt the +priest and the soldier. The man of God and the man of the sword might +without scandal be united in the same individual. Why then should he, +a mere clerk, have scruples when so fair a chance lay in his way of +carrying out the spirit as well as the letter of his father's provision. +Much struggle it cost him, anxious spirit-questionings and midnight +prayings, with many a doubt and a misgiving; but the issue was that ere +he had been three days in Castle Twynham he had taken service under Sir +Nigel, and had accepted horse and harness, the same to be paid for out +of his share of the profits of the expedition. Henceforth for seven +hours a day he strove in the tilt-yard to qualify himself to be a worthy +squire to so worthy a knight. Young, supple and active, with all the +pent energies from years of pure and healthy living, it was not long +before he could manage his horse and his weapon well enough to earn +an approving nod from critical men-at-arms, or to hold his own against +Terlake and Ford, his fellow-servitors. + +But were there no other considerations which swayed him from the +cloisters towards the world? So complex is the human spirit that it can +itself scarce discern the deep springs which impel it to action. Yet +to Alleyne had been opened now a side of life of which he had been as +innocent as a child, but one which was of such deep import that it could +not fail to influence him in choosing his path. A woman, in monkish +precepts, had been the embodiment and concentration of what was +dangerous and evil--a focus whence spread all that was to be dreaded and +avoided. So defiling was their presence that a true Cistercian might +not raise his eyes to their face or touch their finger-tips under ban of +church and fear of deadly sin. Yet here, day after day for an hour +after nones, and for an hour before vespers, he found himself in close +communion with three maidens, all young, all fair, and all therefore +doubly dangerous from the monkish standpoint. Yet he found that in their +presence he was conscious of a quick sympathy, a pleasant ease, a ready +response to all that was most gentle and best in himself, which filled +his soul with a vague and new-found joy. + +And yet the Lady Maude Loring was no easy pupil to handle. An older and +more world-wise man might have been puzzled by her varying moods, her +sudden prejudices, her quick resentment at all constraint and authority. +Did a subject interest her, was there space in it for either romance +or imagination, she would fly through it with her subtle, active mind, +leaving her two fellow-students and even her teacher toiling behind her. +On the other hand, were there dull patience needed with steady toil and +strain of memory, no single fact could by any driving be fixed in her +mind. Alleyne might talk to her of the stories of old gods and heroes, +of gallant deeds and lofty aims, or he might hold forth upon moon and +stars, and let his fancy wander over the hidden secrets of the universe, +and he would have a rapt listener with flushed cheeks and eloquent eyes, +who could repeat after him the very words which had fallen from his +lips. But when it came to almagest and astrolabe, the counting of +figures and reckoning of epicycles, away would go her thoughts to horse +and hound, and a vacant eye and listless face would warn the teacher +that he had lost his hold upon his scholar. Then he had but to bring out +the old romance book from the priory, with befingered cover of sheepskin +and gold letters upon a purple ground, to entice her wayward mind back +to the paths of learning. + +At times, too, when the wild fit was upon her, she would break into +pertness and rebel openly against Alleyne's gentle firmness. Yet he +would jog quietly on with his teachings, taking no heed to her mutiny, +until suddenly she would be conquered by his patience, and break into +self-revilings a hundred times stronger than her fault demanded. It +chanced however that, on one of these mornings when the evil mood was +upon her, Agatha the young tire-woman, thinking to please her mistress, +began also to toss her head and make tart rejoinder to the teacher's +questions. In an instant the Lady Maude had turned upon her two blazing +eyes and a face which was blanched with anger. + +"You would dare!" said she. "You would dare!" The frightened tire-woman +tried to excuse herself. "But my fair lady," she stammered, "what have I +done? I have said no more than I heard." + +"You would dare!" repeated the lady in a choking voice. "You, a +graceless baggage, a foolish lack-brain, with no thought above the +hemming of shifts. And he so kindly and hendy and long-suffering! You +would--ha, you may well flee the room!" + +She had spoken with a rising voice, and a clasping and opening of her +long white fingers, so that it was no marvel that ere the speech was +over the skirts of Agatha were whisking round the door and the click of +her sobs to be heard dying swiftly away down the corridor. + +Alleyne stared open-eyed at this tigress who had sprung so suddenly +to his rescue. "There is no need for such anger," he said mildly. "The +maid's words have done me no scath. It is you yourself who have erred." + +"I know it," she cried, "I am a most wicked woman. But it is bad enough +that one should misuse you. Ma foi! I will see that there is not a +second one." + +"Nay, nay, no one has misused me," he answered. "But the fault lies +in your hot and bitter words. You have called her a baggage and a +lack-brain, and I know not what." + +"And you are he who taught me to speak the truth," she cried. "Now I +have spoken it, and yet I cannot please you. Lack-brain she is, and +lack-brain I shall call her." + +Such was a sample of the sudden janglings which marred the peace of that +little class. As the weeks passed, however, they became fewer and less +violent, as Alleyne's firm and constant nature gained sway and influence +over the Lady Maude. And yet, sooth to say, there were times when he had +to ask himself whether it was not the Lady Maude who was gaining sway +and influence over him. If she were changing, so was he. In drawing her +up from the world, he was day by day being himself dragged down towards +it. In vain he strove and reasoned with himself as to the madness of +letting his mind rest upon Sir Nigel's daughter. What was he--a younger +son, a penniless clerk, a squire unable to pay for his own harness--that +he should dare to raise his eyes to the fairest maid in Hampshire? So +spake reason; but, in spite of all, her voice was ever in his ears and +her image in his heart. Stronger than reason, stronger than cloister +teachings, stronger than all that might hold him back, was that old, old +tyrant who will brook no rival in the kingdom of youth. + +And yet it was a surprise and a shock to himself to find how deeply +she had entered into his life; how completely those vague ambitions and +yearnings which had filled his spiritual nature centred themselves now +upon this thing of earth. He had scarce dared to face the change which +had come upon him, when a few sudden chance words showed it all up hard +and clear, like a lightning flash in the darkness. + +He had ridden over to Poole, one November day, with his fellow-squire, +Peter Terlake, in quest of certain yew-staves from Wat Swathling, the +Dorsetshire armorer. The day for their departure had almost come, and +the two youths spurred it over the lonely downs at the top of their +speed on their homeward course, for evening had fallen and there was +much to be done. Peter was a hard, wiry, brown faced, country-bred lad +who looked on the coming war as the schoolboy looks on his holidays. +This day, however, he had been sombre and mute, with scarce a word a +mile to bestow upon his comrade. + +"Tell me Alleyne Edricson," he broke out, suddenly, as they clattered +along the winding track which leads over the Bournemouth hills, "has it +not seemed to you that of late the Lady Maude is paler and more silent +than is her wont?" + +"It may be so," the other answered shortly. + +"And would rather sit distrait by her oriel than ride gayly to the chase +as of old. Methinks, Alleyne, it is this learning which you have taught +her that has taken all the life and sap from her. It is more than she +can master, like a heavy spear to a light rider." + +"Her lady-mother has so ordered it," said Alleyne. + +"By our Lady! and withouten disrespect," quoth Terlake, "it is in my +mind that her lady-mother is more fitted to lead a company to a storming +than to have the upbringing of this tender and milk-white maid. Hark ye, +lad Alleyne, to what I never told man or woman yet. I love the fair Lady +Maude, and would give the last drop of my heart's blood to serve her." +He spoke with a gasping voice, and his face flushed crimson in the +moonlight. + +Alleyne said nothing, but his heart seemed to turn to a lump of ice in +his bosom. + +"My father has broad acres," the other continued, "from Fareham Creek to +the slope of the Portsdown Hill. There is filling of granges, hewing +of wood, malting of grain, and herding of sheep as much as heart could +wish, and I the only son. Sure am I that Sir Nigel would be blithe at +such a match." + +"But how of the lady?" asked Alleyne, with dry lips. + +"Ah, lad, there lies my trouble. It is a toss of the head and a droop of +the eyes if I say one word of what is in my mind. 'Twere as easy to woo +the snow-dame that we shaped last winter in our castle yard. I did but +ask her yesternight for her green veil, that I might bear it as a token +or lambrequin upon my helm; but she flashed out at me that she kept it +for a better man, and then all in a breath asked pardon for that she had +spoke so rudely. Yet she would not take back the words either, nor would +she grant the veil. Has it seemed to thee, Alleyne, that she loves any +one?" + +"Nay, I cannot say," said Alleyne, with a wild throb of sudden hope in +his heart. + +"I have thought so, and yet I cannot name the man. Indeed, save myself, +and Walter Ford, and you, who are half a clerk, and Father Christopher +of the Priory, and Bertrand the page, who is there whom she sees?" + +"I cannot tell," quoth Alleyne shortly; and the two squires rode on +again, each intent upon his own thoughts. + +Next day at morning lesson the teacher observed that his pupil was +indeed looking pale and jaded, with listless eyes and a weary manner. He +was heavy-hearted to note the grievous change in her. + +"Your mistress, I fear, is ill, Agatha," he said to the tire-woman, when +the Lady Maude had sought her chamber. + +The maid looked aslant at him with laughing eyes. "It is not an illness +that kills," quoth she. + +"Pray God not!" he cried. "But tell me, Agatha, what it is that ails +her?" + +"Methinks that I could lay my hand upon another who is smitten with the +same trouble," said she, with the same sidelong look. "Canst not give a +name to it, and thou so skilled in leech-craft?" + +"Nay, save that she seems aweary." + +"Well, bethink you that it is but three days ere you will all be gone, +and Castle Twynham be as dull as the Priory. Is there not enough there +to cloud a lady's brow?" + +"In sooth, yes," he answered; "I had forgot that she is about to lose +her father." + +"Her father!" cried the tire-woman, with a little trill of laughter. "Oh +simple, simple!" And she was off down the passage like arrow from bow, +while Alleyne stood gazing after her, betwixt hope and doubt, scarce +daring to put faith in the meaning which seemed to underlie her words. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. HOW THE WHITE COMPANY SET FORTH TO THE WARS. + + +St. Luke's day had come and had gone, and it was in the season of +Martinmas, when the oxen are driven in to the slaughter, that the White +Company was ready for its journey. Loud shrieked the brazen bugles from +keep and from gateway, and merry was the rattle of the war-drum, as the +men gathered in the outer bailey, with torches to light them, for the +morn had not yet broken. Alleyne, from the window of the armory, looked +down upon the strange scene--the circles of yellow flickering light, +the lines of stern and bearded faces, the quick shimmer of arms, and the +lean heads of the horses. In front stood the bow-men, ten deep, with a +fringe of under-officers, who paced hither and thither marshalling the +ranks with curt precept or short rebuke. Behind were the little clump +of steel-clad horsemen, their lances raised, with long pensils drooping +down the oaken shafts. So silent and still were they, that they might +have been metal-sheathed statues, were it not for the occasional quick, +impatient stamp of their chargers, or the rattle of chamfron against +neck-plates as they tossed and strained. A spear's length in front of +them sat the spare and long-limbed figure of Black Simon, the Norwich +fighting man, his fierce, deep-lined face framed in steel, and the +silk guidon marked with the five scarlet roses slanting over his right +shoulder. All round, in the edge of the circle of the light, stood the +castle servants, the soldiers who were to form the garrison, and little +knots of women, who sobbed in their aprons and called shrilly to their +name-saints to watch over the Wat, or Will, or Peterkin who had turned +his hand to the work of war. + +The young squire was leaning forward, gazing at the stirring and martial +scene, when he heard a short, quick gasp at his shoulder, and there was +the Lady Maude, with her hand to her heart, leaning up against the wall, +slender and fair, like a half-plucked lily. Her face was turned away +from him, but he could see, by the sharp intake of her breath, that she +was weeping bitterly. + +"Alas! alas!" he cried, all unnerved at the sight, "why is it that you +are so sad, lady?" + +"It is the sight of these brave men," she answered; "and to think how +many of them go and how few are like to find their way back. I have seen +it before, when I was a little maid, in the year of the Prince's great +battle. I remember then how they mustered in the bailey, even as they do +now, and my lady-mother holding me in her arms at this very window that +I might see the show." + +"Please God, you will see them all back ere another year be out," said +he. + +She shook her head, looking round at him with flushed cheeks and eyes +that sparkled in the lamp-light. "Oh, but I hate myself for being a +woman!" she cried, with a stamp of her little foot. "What can I do that +is good? Here I must bide, and talk and sew and spin, and spin and sew +and talk. Ever the same dull round, with nothing at the end of it. And +now you are going too, who could carry my thoughts out of these gray +walls, and raise my mind above tapestry and distaffs. What can I do? I +am of no more use or value than that broken bowstave." + +"You are of such value to me," he cried, in a whirl of hot, passionate +words, "that all else has become nought. You are my heart, my life, my +one and only thought. Oh, Maude, I cannot live without you, I cannot +leave you without a word of love. All is changed to me since I have +known you. I am poor and lowly and all unworthy of you; but if great +love may weigh down such defects, then mine may do it. Give me but one +word of hope to take to the wars with me--but one. Ah, you shrink, you +shudder! My wild words have frightened you." + +Twice she opened her lips, and twice no sound came from them. At last +she spoke in a hard and measured voice, as one who dare not trust +herself to speak too freely. + +"This is over sudden," she said; "it is not so long since the world was +nothing to you. You have changed once; perchance you may change again." + +"Cruel!" he cried, "who hath changed me?" + +"And then your brother," she continued with a little laugh, disregarding +his question. "Methinks this hath become a family custom amongst the +Edricsons. Nay, I am sorry; I did not mean a jibe. But, indeed, Alleyne, +this hath come suddenly upon me, and I scarce know what to say." + +"Say some word of hope, however distant--some kind word that I may +cherish in my heart." + +"Nay, Alleyne, it were a cruel kindness, and you have been too good and +true a friend to me that I should use you despitefully. There cannot be +a closer link between us. It is madness to think of it. Were there no +other reasons, it is enough that my father and your brother would both +cry out against it." + +"My brother, what has he to do with it? And your father----" + +"Come, Alleyne, was it not you who would have me act fairly to all men, +and, certes, to my father amongst them?" + +"You say truly," he cried, "you say truly. But you do not reject me, +Maude? You give me some ray of hope? I do not ask pledge or promise. Say +only that I am not hateful to you--that on some happier day I may hear +kinder words from you." + +Her eyes softened upon him, and a kind answer was on her lips, when a +hoarse shout, with the clatter of arms and stamping of steeds, rose up +from the bailey below. At the sound her face set her eyes sparkled, and +she stood with flushed cheek and head thrown back--a woman's body, with +a soul of fire. + +"My father hath gone down," she cried. "Your place is by his side. Nay, +look not at me, Alleyne. It is no time for dallying. Win my father's +love, and all may follow. It is when the brave soldier hath done his +devoir that he hopes for his reward. Farewell, and may God be with you!" +She held out her white, slim hand to him, but as he bent his lips over +it she whisked away and was gone, leaving in his outstretched hand the +very green veil for which poor Peter Terlake had craved in vain. Again +the hoarse cheering burst out from below, and he heard the clang of the +rising portcullis. Pressing the veil to his lips, he thrust it into the +bosom of his tunic, and rushed as fast as feet could bear him to arm +himself and join the muster. + +The raw morning had broken ere the hot spiced ale had been served round +and the last farewell spoken. A cold wind blew up from the sea and +ragged clouds drifted swiftly across the sky. + +The Christchurch townsfolk stood huddled about the Bridge of Avon, the +women pulling tight their shawls and the men swathing themselves in +their gaberdines, while down the winding path from the castle came the +van of the little army, their feet clanging on the hard, frozen road. +First came Black Simon with his banner, bestriding a lean and powerful +dapple-gray charger, as hard and wiry and warwise as himself. After him, +riding three abreast, were nine men-at-arms, all picked soldiers, who +had followed the French wars before, and knew the marches of Picardy as +they knew the downs of their native Hampshire. They were armed to the +teeth with lance, sword, and mace, with square shields notched at the +upper right-hand corner to serve as a spear-rest. For defence each man +wore a coat of interlaced leathern thongs, strengthened at the shoulder, +elbow, and upper arm with slips of steel. Greaves and knee-pieces were +also of leather backed by steel, and their gauntlets and shoes were of +iron plates, craftily jointed. So, with jingle of arms and clatter of +hoofs, they rode across the Bridge of Avon, while the burghers shouted +lustily for the flag of the five roses and its gallant guard. + +Close at the heels of the horses came two-score archers bearded and +burly, their round targets on their backs and their long yellow bows, +the most deadly weapon that the wit of man had yet devised, thrusting +forth from behind their shoulders. From each man's girdle hung sword or +axe, according to his humor, and over the right hip there jutted out the +leathern quiver with its bristle of goose, pigeon, and peacock feathers. +Behind the bowmen strode two trumpeters blowing upon nakirs, and two +drummers in parti-colored clothes. After them came twenty-seven sumpter +horses carrying tent-poles, cloth, spare arms, spurs, wedges, cooking +kettles, horse-shoes, bags of nails and the hundred other things which +experience had shown to be needful in a harried and hostile country. A +white mule with red trappings, led by a varlet, carried Sir Nigel's own +napery and table comforts. Then came two-score more archers, ten more +men-at-arms, and finally a rear guard of twenty bowmen, with big John +towering in the front rank and the veteran Aylward marching by the side, +his battered harness and faded surcoat in strange contrast with the +snow-white jupons and shining brigandines of his companions. A quick +cross-fire of greetings and questions and rough West Saxon jests flew +from rank to rank, or were bandied about betwixt the marching archers +and the gazing crowd. + +"Hola, Gaffer Higginson!" cried Aylward, as he spied the portly figure +of the village innkeeper. "No more of thy nut-brown, mon gar. We leave +it behind us." + +"By St. Paul, no!" cried the other. "You take it with you. Devil a drop +have you left in the great kilderkin. It was time for you to go." + +"If your cask is leer, I warrant your purse is full, gaffer," shouted +Hordle John. "See that you lay in good store of the best for our +home-coming." + +"See that you keep your throat whole for the drinking of it archer," +cried a voice, and the crowd laughed at the rough pleasantry. + +"If you will warrant the beer, I will warrant the throat," said John +composedly. + +"Close up the ranks!" cried Aylward. "En avant, mes enfants! Ah, by my +finger bones, there is my sweet Mary from the Priory Mill! Ma foi, but +she is beautiful! Adieu, Mary ma cherie! Mon coeur est toujours a +toi. Brace your belt, Watkins, man, and swing your shoulders as a free +companion should. By my hilt! your jerkins will be as dirty as mine ere +you clap eyes on Hengistbury Head again." + +The Company had marched to the turn of the road ere Sir Nigel Loring +rode out from the gateway, mounted on Pommers, his great black +war-horse, whose ponderous footfall on the wooden drawbridge echoed +loudly from the gloomy arch which spanned it. Sir Nigel was still in his +velvet dress of peace, with flat velvet cap of maintenance, and curling +ostrich feather clasped in a golden brooch. To his three squires riding +behind him it looked as though he bore the bird's egg as well as its +feather, for the back of his bald pate shone like a globe of ivory. He +bore no arms save the long and heavy sword which hung at his saddle-bow; +but Terlake carried in front of him the high wivern-crested bassinet, +Ford the heavy ash spear with swallow-tail pennon, while Alleyne was +entrusted with the emblazoned shield. The Lady Loring rode her palfrey +at her lord's bridle-arm, for she would see him as far as the edge +of the forest, and ever and anon she turned her hard-lined face +up wistfully to him and ran a questioning eye over his apparel and +appointments. + +"I trust that there is nothing forgot," she said, beckoning to Alleyne +to ride on her further side. "I trust him to you, Edricson. Hosen, +shirts, cyclas, and under-jupons are in the brown basket on the left +side of the mule. His wine he takes hot when the nights are cold, +malvoisie or vernage, with as much spice as would cover the thumb-nail. +See that he hath a change if he come back hot from the tilting. There is +goose-grease in a box, if the old scars ache at the turn of the weather. +Let his blankets be dry and----" + +"Nay, my heart's life," the little knight interrupted, "trouble not now +about such matters. Why so pale and wan, Edricson? Is it not enow +to make a man's heart dance to see this noble Company, such valiant +men-at-arms, such lusty archers? By St. Paul! I would be ill to please +if I were not blithe to see the red roses flying at the head of so noble +a following!" + +"The purse I have already given you, Edricson," continued the lady. +"There are in it twenty-three marks, one noble, three shillings and +fourpence, which is a great treasure for one man to carry. And I pray +you to bear in mind, Edricson, that he hath two pair of shoes, those of +red leather for common use, and the others with golden toe-chains, +which he may wear should he chance to drink wine with the Prince or with +Chandos." + +"My sweet bird," said Sir Nigel, "I am right loth to part from you, +but we are now at the fringe of the forest, and it is not right that I +should take the chatelaine too far from her trust." + +"But oh, my dear lord," she cried with a trembling lip, "let me bide +with you for one furlong further--or one and a half perhaps. You may +spare me this out of the weary miles that you will journey along." + +"Come, then, my heart's comfort," he answered. "But I must crave a gage +from thee. It is my custom, dearling, and hath been since I have +first known thee, to proclaim by herald in such camps, townships, or +fortalices as I may chance to visit, that my lady-love, being beyond +compare the fairest and sweetest in Christendom, I should deem it great +honor and kindly condescension if any cavalier would run three courses +against me with sharpened lances, should he chance to have a lady whose +claim he was willing to advance. I pray you then my fair dove, that you +will vouchsafe to me one of those doeskin gloves, that I may wear it as +the badge of her whose servant I shall ever be." + +"Alack and alas for the fairest and sweetest!" she cried. "Fair and +sweet I would fain be for your dear sake, my lord, but old I am and +ugly, and the knights would laugh should you lay lance in rest in such a +cause." + +"Edricson," quoth Sir Nigel, "you have young eyes, and mine are somewhat +bedimmed. Should you chance to see a knight laugh, or smile, or even, +look you, arch his brows, or purse his mouth, or in any way show +surprise that I should uphold the Lady Mary, you will take particular +note of his name, his coat-armor, and his lodging. Your glove, my life's +desire!" + +The Lady Mary Loring slipped her hand from her yellow leather gauntlet, +and he, lifting it with dainty reverence, bound it to the front of his +velvet cap. + +"It is with mine other guardian angels," quoth he, pointing at the +saints' medals which hung beside it. "And now, my dearest, you have come +far enow. May the Virgin guard and prosper thee! One kiss!" He bent down +from his saddle, and then, striking spurs into his horse's sides, he +galloped at top speed after his men, with his three squires at his +heels. Half a mile further, where the road topped a hill, they looked +back, and the Lady Mary on her white palfrey was still where they had +left her. A moment later they were on the downward slope, and she had +vanished from their view. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. HOW SIR NIGEL SOUGHT FOR A WAYSIDE VENTURE. + + +For a time Sir Nigel was very moody and downcast, with bent brows and +eyes upon the pommel of his saddle. Edricson and Terlake rode behind him +in little better case, while Ford, a careless and light-hearted youth, +grinned at the melancholy of his companions, and flourished his lord's +heavy spear, making a point to right and a point to left, as though +he were a paladin contending against a host of assailants. Sir Nigel +happened, however, to turn himself in his saddle--Ford instantly became +as stiff and as rigid as though he had been struck with a palsy. The +four rode alone, for the archers had passed a curve in the road, though +Alleyne could still hear the heavy clump, clump of their marching, or +catch a glimpse of the sparkle of steel through the tangle of leafless +branches. + +"Ride by my side, friends, I entreat of you," said the knight, reining +in his steed that they might come abreast of him. "For, since it hath +pleased you to follow me to the wars, it were well that you should know +how you may best serve me. I doubt not, Terlake, that you will show +yourself a worthy son of a valiant father; and you, Ford, of yours; and +you, Edricson, that you are mindful of the old-time house from which +all men know that you are sprung. And first I would have you bear +very steadfastly in mind that our setting forth is by no means for the +purpose of gaining spoil or exacting ransom, though it may well happen +that such may come to us also. We go to France, and from thence I trust +to Spain, in humble search of a field in which we may win advancement +and perchance some small share of glory. For this purpose I would have +you know that it is not my wont to let any occasion pass where it is in +any way possible that honor may be gained. I would have you bear this +in mind, and give great heed to it that you may bring me word of all +cartels, challenges, wrongs, tyrannies, infamies, and wronging of +damsels. Nor is any occasion too small to take note of, for I have +known such trifles as the dropping of a gauntlet, or the flicking of +a breadcrumb, when well and properly followed up, lead to a most noble +spear-running. But, Edricson, do I not see a cavalier who rides down +yonder road amongst the nether shaw? It would be well, perchance, that +you should give him greeting from me. And, should he be of gentle blood +it may be that he would care to exchange thrusts with me." + +"Why, my lord," quoth Ford, standing in his stirrups and shading his +eyes, "it is old Hob Davidson, the fat miller of Milton!" + +"Ah, so it is, indeed," said Sir Nigel, puckering his cheeks; "but +wayside ventures are not to be scorned, for I have seen no finer +passages than are to be had from such chance meetings, when cavaliers +are willing to advance themselves. I can well remember that two leagues +from the town of Rheims I met a very valiant and courteous cavalier of +France, with whom I had gentle and most honorable contention for upwards +of an hour. It hath ever grieved me that I had not his name, for he +smote upon me with a mace and went upon his way ere I was in condition +to have much speech with him; but his arms were an allurion in chief +above a fess azure. I was also on such an occasion thrust through the +shoulder by Lyon de Montcourt, whom I met on the high road betwixt +Libourne and Bordeaux. I met him but the once, but I have never seen +a man for whom I bear a greater love and esteem. And so also with the +squire Le Bourg Capillet, who would have been a very valiant captain had +he lived." + +"He is dead then?" asked Alleyne Edricson. + +"Alas! it was my ill fate to slay him in a bickering which broke out in +a field near the township of Tarbes. I cannot call to mind how the +thing came about, for it was in the year of the Prince's ride through +Languedoc, when there was much fine skirmishing to be had at barriers. +By St. Paul! I do not think that any honorable cavalier could ask for +better chance of advancement than might be had by spurring forth before +the army and riding to the gateways of Narbonne, or Bergerac or Mont +Giscar, where some courteous gentleman would ever be at wait to do +what he might to meet your wish or ease you of your vow. Such a one at +Ventadour ran three courses with me betwixt daybreak and sunrise, to the +great exaltation of his lady." + +"And did you slay him also, my lord?" asked Ford with reverence. + +"I could never learn, for he was carried within the barrier, and as I +had chanced to break the bone of my leg it was a great unease for me +to ride or even to stand. Yet, by the goodness of heaven and the pious +intercession of the valiant St. George, I was able to sit my charger +in the ruffle of Poictiers, which was no very long time afterwards. But +what have we here? A very fair and courtly maiden, or I mistake." + +It was indeed a tall and buxom country lass, with a basket of +spinach-leaves upon her head, and a great slab of bacon tucked under one +arm. She bobbed a frightened curtsey as Sir Nigel swept his velvet hat +from his head and reined up his great charger. + +"God be with thee, fair maiden!" said he. + +"God guard thee, my lord!" she answered, speaking in the broadest West +Saxon speech, and balancing herself first on one foot and then on the +other in her bashfulness. + +"Fear not, my fair damsel," said Sir Nigel, "but tell me if perchance +a poor and most unworthy knight can in any wise be of service to you. +Should it chance that you have been used despitefully, it may be that I +may obtain justice for you." + +"Lawk no, kind sir," she answered, clutching her bacon the tighter, as +though some design upon it might be hid under this knightly offer. "I +be the milking wench o' fairmer Arnold, and he be as kind a maister as +heart could wish." + +"It is well," said he, and with a shake of the bridle rode on down the +woodland path. "I would have you bear in mind," he continued to his +squires, "that gentle courtesy is not, as is the base use of so many +false knights, to be shown only to maidens of high degree, for there +is no woman so humble that a true knight may not listen to her tale of +wrong. But here comes a cavalier who is indeed in haste. Perchance it +would be well that we should ask him whither he rides, for it may be +that he is one who desires to advance himself in chivalry." + +The bleak, hard, wind-swept road dipped down in front of them into a +little valley, and then, writhing up the heathy slope upon the other +side, lost itself among the gaunt pine-trees. Far away between the black +lines of trunks the quick glitter of steel marked where the Company +pursued its way. To the north stretched the tree country, but to the +south, between two swelling downs, a glimpse might be caught of the cold +gray shimmer of the sea, with the white fleck of a galley sail upon the +distant sky-line. Just in front of the travellers a horseman was urging +his steed up the slope, driving it on with whip and spur as one who +rides for a set purpose. As he clattered up, Alleyne could see that the +roan horse was gray with dust and flecked with foam, as though it had +left many a mile behind it. The rider was a stern-faced man, hard of +mouth and dry of eye, with a heavy sword clanking at his side, and a +stiff white bundle swathed in linen balanced across the pommel of his +saddle. + +"The king's messenger," he bawled as he came up to them. "The messenger +of the king. Clear the causeway for the king's own man." + +"Not so loudly, friend," quoth the little knight, reining his horse half +round to bar the path. "I have myself been the king's man for thirty +years or more, but I have not been wont to halloo about it on a peaceful +highway." + +"I ride in his service," cried the other, "and I carry that which +belongs to him. You bar my path at your peril." + +"Yet I have known the king's enemies claim to ride in his same," said +Sir Nigel. "The foul fiend may lurk beneath a garment of light. We must +have some sign or warrant of your mission." + +"Then must I hew a passage," cried the stranger, with his shoulder +braced round and his hand upon his hilt. "I am not to be stopped on the +king's service by every gadabout." + +"Should you be a gentleman of quarterings and coat-armor," lisped Sir +Nigel, "I shall be very blithe to go further into the matter with you. +If not, I have three very worthy squires, any one of whom would take the +thing upon himself, and debate it with you in a very honorable way." + +The man scowled from one to the other, and his hand stole away from his +sword. + +"You ask me for a sign," he said. "Here is a sign for you, since you +must have one." As he spoke he whirled the covering from the object +in front of him and showed to their horror that it was a newly-severed +human leg. "By God's tooth!" he continued, with a brutal laugh, "you ask +me if I am a man of quarterings, and it is even so, for I am officer +to the verderer's court at Lyndhurst. This thievish leg is to hang at +Milton, and the other is already at Brockenhurst, as a sign to all men +of what comes of being over-fond of venison pasty." + +"Faugh!" cried Sir Nigel. "Pass on the other side of the road, fellow, +and let us have the wind of you. We shall trot our horses, my friends, +across this pleasant valley, for, by Our Lady! a breath of God's fresh +air is right welcome after such a sight." + +"We hoped to snare a falcon," said he presently, "but we netted a +carrion-crow. Ma foi! but there are men whose hearts are tougher than a +boar's hide. For me, I have played the old game of war since ever I had +hair on my chin, and I have seen ten thousand brave men in one day with +their faces to the sky, but I swear by Him who made me that I cannot +abide the work of the butcher." + +"And yet, my fair lord," said Edricson, "there has, from what I hear, +been much of such devil's work in France." + +"Too much, too much," he answered. "But I have ever observed that the +foremost in the field are they who would scorn to mishandle a prisoner. +By St. Paul! it is not they who carry the breach who are wont to sack +the town, but the laggard knaves who come crowding in when a way has +been cleared for them. But what is this among the trees?" + +"It is a shrine of Our Lady," said Terlake, "and a blind beggar who +lives by the alms of those who worship there." + +"A shrine!" cried the knight. "Then let us put up an orison." Pulling +off his cap, and clasping his hands, he chanted in a shrill voice: +"Benedictus dominus Deus meus, qui docet manus meas ad proelium, +et digitos meos ad bellum." A strange figure he seemed to his three +squires, perched on his huge horse, with his eyes upturned and the +wintry sun shimmering upon his bald head. "It is a noble prayer," he +remarked, putting on his hat again, "and it was taught to me by the +noble Chandos himself. But how fares it with you, father? Methinks that +I should have ruth upon you, seeing that I am myself like one who looks +through a horn window while his neighbors have the clear crystal. Yet, +by St. Paul! there is a long stride between the man who hath a horn +casement and him who is walled in on every hand." + +"Alas! fair sir," cried the blind old man, "I have not seen the blessed +blue of heaven this two-score years, since a levin flash burned the +sight out of my head." + +"You have been blind to much that is goodly and fair," quoth Sir Nigel, +"but you have also been spared much that is sorry and foul. This very +hour our eyes have been shocked with that which would have left you +unmoved. But, by St. Paul! we must on, or our Company will think that +they have lost their captain somewhat early in the venture. Throw the +man my purse, Edricson, and let us go." + +Alleyne, lingering behind, bethought him of the Lady Loring's counsel, +and reduced the noble gift which the knight had so freely bestowed to a +single penny, which the beggar with many mumbled blessings thrust away +into his wallet. Then, spurring his steed, the young squire rode at the +top of his speed after his companions, and overtook them just at the +spot where the trees fringe off into the moor and the straggling hamlet +of Hordle lies scattered on either side of the winding and deeply-rutted +track. The Company was already well-nigh through the village; but, as +the knight and his squires closed up upon them, they heard the clamor of +a strident voice, followed by a roar of deep-chested laughter from +the ranks of the archers. Another minute brought them up with the +rear-guard, where every man marched with his beard on his shoulder and a +face which was agrin with merriment. By the side of the column walked +a huge red-headed bowman, with his hands thrown out in argument and +expostulation, while close at his heels followed a little wrinkled +woman who poured forth a shrill volley of abuse, varied by an occasional +thwack from her stick, given with all the force of her body, though she +might have been beating one of the forest trees for all the effect that +she seemed likely to produce. + +"I trust, Aylward," said Sir Nigel gravely, as he rode up, "that this +doth not mean that any violence hath been offered to women. If such a +thing happened, I tell you that the man shall hang, though he were the +best archer that ever wore brassart." + +"Nay, my fair lord," Aylward answered with a grin, "it is violence which +is offered to a man. He comes from Hordle, and this is his mother who +hath come forth to welcome him." + +"You rammucky lurden," she was howling, with a blow between each catch +of her breath, "you shammocking, yaping, over-long good-for-nought. I +will teach thee! I will baste thee! Aye, by my faith!" + +"Whist, mother," said John, looking back at her from the tail of his +eye, "I go to France as an archer to give blows and to take them." + +"To France, quotha?" cried the old dame. "Bide here with me, and I shall +warrant you more blows than you are like to get in France. If blows be +what you seek, you need not go further than Hordle." + +"By my hilt! the good dame speaks truth," said Aylward. "It seems to be +the very home of them." + +"What have you to say, you clean-shaved galley-beggar?" cried the fiery +dame, turning upon the archer. "Can I not speak with my own son but you +must let your tongue clack? A soldier, quotha, and never a hair on +his face. I have seen a better soldier with pap for food and swaddling +clothes for harness." + +"Stand to it, Aylward," cried the archers, amid a fresh burst of +laughter. + +"Do not thwart her, comrade," said big John. "She hath a proper spirit +for her years and cannot abide to be thwarted. It is kindly and homely +to me to hear her voice and to feel that she is behind me. But I must +leave you now, mother, for the way is over-rough for your feet; but I +will bring you back a silken gown, if there be one in France or Spain, +and I will bring Jinny a silver penny; so good-bye to you, and God have +you in His keeping!" Whipping up the little woman, he lifted her lightly +to his lips, and then, taking his place in the ranks again, marched on +with the laughing Company. + +"That was ever his way," she cried, appealing to Sir Nigel, who reined +up his horse and listened with the greatest courtesy. "He would jog on +his own road for all that I could do to change him. First he must be a +monk forsooth, and all because a wench was wise enough to turn her back +on him. Then he joins a rascally crew and must needs trapse off to the +wars, and me with no one to bait the fire if I be out, or tend the cow +if I be home. Yet I have been a good mother to him. Three hazel switches +a day have I broke across his shoulders, and he takes no more notice +than you have seen him to-day." + +"Doubt not that he will come back to you both safe and prosperous, my +fair dame," quoth Sir Nigel. "Meanwhile it grieves me that as I have +already given my purse to a beggar up the road I----" + +"Nay, my lord," said Alleyne, "I still have some moneys remaining." + +"Then I pray you to give them to this very worthy woman." He cantered +on as he spoke, while Alleyne, having dispensed two more pence, left +the old dame standing by the furthest cottage of Hordle, with her shrill +voice raised in blessings instead of revilings. + +There were two cross-roads before they reached the Lymington Ford, and +at each of then Sir Nigel pulled up his horse, and waited with many a +curvet and gambade, craning his neck this way and that to see if fortune +would send him a venture. Crossroads had, as he explained, been rare +places for knightly spear-runnings, and in his youth it was no uncommon +thing for a cavalier to abide for weeks at such a point, holding gentle +debate with all comers, to his own advancement and the great honor of +his lady. The times were changed, however, and the forest tracks wound +away from them deserted and silent, with no trample of war-horse or +clang of armor which might herald the approach of an adversary--so that +Sir Nigel rode on his way disconsolate. At the Lymington River they +splashed through the ford, and lay in the meadows on the further side to +eat the bread and salt meat which they carried upon the sumpter horses. +Then, ere the sun was on the slope of the heavens, they had deftly +trussed up again, and were swinging merrily upon their way, two hundred +feet moving like two. + +There is a third cross-road where the track from Boldre runs down to the +old fishing village of Pitt's Deep. Down this, as they came abreast of +it, there walked two men, the one a pace or two behind the other. The +cavaliers could not but pull up their horses to look at them, for a +stranger pair were never seen journeying together. The first was a +misshapen, squalid man with cruel, cunning eyes and a shock of tangled +red hair, bearing in his hands a small unpainted cross, which he held +high so that all men might see it. He seemed to be in the last extremity +of fright, with a face the color of clay and his limbs all ashake as one +who hath an ague. Behind him, with his toe ever rasping upon the other's +heels, there walked a very stern, black-bearded man with a hard eye and +a set mouth. He bore over his shoulder a great knotted stick with three +jagged nails stuck in the head of it, and from time to time he whirled +it up in the air with a quivering arm, as though he could scarce hold +back from dashing his companion's brains out. So in silence they walked +under the spread of the branches on the grass-grown path from Boldre. + +"By St. Paul!" quoth the knight, "but this is a passing strange sight, +and perchance some very perilous and honorable venture may arise from +it. I pray you, Edricson, to ride up to them and to ask them the cause +of it." + +There was no need, however, for him to move, for the twain came swiftly +towards them until they were within a spear's length, when the man +with the cross sat himself down sullenly upon a tussock of grass by the +wayside, while the other stood beside him with his great cudgel still +hanging over his head. So intent was he that he raised his eyes neither +to knight nor squires, but kept them ever fixed with a savage glare upon +his comrade. + +"I pray you, friend," said Sir Nigel, "to tell us truthfully who you +are, and why you follow this man with such bitter enmity?" + +"So long as I am within the pale of the king's law," the stranger +answered, "I cannot see why I should render account to every passing +wayfarer." + +"You are no very shrewd reasoner, fellow," quoth the knight; "for if +it be within the law for you to threaten him with your club, then it is +also lawful for me to threaten you with my sword." + +The man with the cross was down in an instant on his knees upon the +ground, with hands clasped above him and his face shining with hope. +"For dear Christ's sake, my fair lord," he cried in a crackling voice, +"I have at my belt a bag with a hundred rose nobles, and I will give it +to you freely if you will but pass your sword through this man's body." + +"How, you foul knave?" exclaimed Sir Nigel hotly. "Do you think that +a cavalier's arm is to be bought like a packman's ware. By St. Paul! I +have little doubt that this fellow hath some very good cause to hold you +in hatred." + +"Indeed, my fair sir, you speak sooth," quoth he with the club, while +the other seated himself once more by the wayside. "For this man is +Peter Peterson, a very noted rieve, draw-latch, and murtherer, who has +wrought much evil for many years in the parts about Winchester. It was +but the other day, upon the feasts of the blessed Simon and Jude, that +he slew my younger brother William in Bere Forest--for which, by the +black thorn of Glastonbury! I shall have his heart's blood, though I +walk behind him to the further end of earth." + +"But if this be indeed so," asked Sir Nigel, "why is it that you have +come with him so far through the forest?" + +"Because I am an honest Englishman, and will take no more than the law +allows. For when the deed was done this foul and base wretch fled to +sanctuary at St. Cross, and I, as you may think, after him with all +the posse. The prior, however, hath so ordered that while he holds this +cross no man may lay hand upon him without the ban of church, which +heaven forfend from me or mine. Yet, if for an instant he lay the cross +aside, or if he fail to journey to Pitt's Deep, where it is ordered that +he shall take ship to outland parts, or if he take not the first ship, +or if until the ship be ready he walk not every day into the sea as far +as his loins, then he becomes outlaw, and I shall forthwith dash out his +brains." + +At this the man on the ground snarled up at him like a rat, while the +other clenched his teeth, and shook his club, and looked down at him +with murder in his eyes. Knight and squire gazed from rogue to avenger, +but as it was a matter which none could mend they tarried no longer, but +rode upon their way. Alleyne, looking back, saw that the murderer had +drawn bread and cheese from his scrip, and was silently munching it, +with the protecting cross still hugged to his breast, while the other, +black and grim, stood in the sunlit road and threw his dark shadow +athwart him. + + + +CHAPTER XV. HOW THE YELLOW COG SAILED FORTH FROM LEPE. + + +That night the Company slept at St. Leonard's, in the great monastic +barns and spicarium--ground well known both to Alleyne and to John, for +they were almost within sight of the Abbey of Beaulieu. A strange thrill +it gave to the young squire to see the well-remembered white dress once +more, and to hear the measured tolling of the deep vespers bell. +At early dawn they passed across the broad, sluggish, reed-girt +stream--men, horses, and baggage in the flat ferry barges--and so +journeyed on through the fresh morning air past Exbury to Lepe. +Topping the heathy down, they came of a sudden full in sight of the old +sea-port--a cluster of houses, a trail of blue smoke, and a bristle of +masts. To right and left the long blue curve of the Solent lapped in a +fringe of foam upon the yellow beach. Some way out from the town a line +of pessoners, creyers, and other small craft were rolling lazily on the +gentle swell. Further out still lay a great merchant-ship, high ended, +deep waisted, painted of a canary yellow, and towering above the +fishing-boats like a swan among ducklings. + +"By St. Paul!" said the knight, "our good merchant of Southampton hath +not played us false, for methinks I can see our ship down yonder. He +said that she would be of great size and of a yellow shade." + +"By my hilt, yes!" muttered Aylward; "she is yellow as a kite's claw, +and would carry as many men as there are pips in a pomegranate." + +"It is as well," remarked Terlake; "for methinks, my fair lord, that +we are not the only ones who are waiting a passage to Gascony. Mine eye +catches at times a flash and sparkle among yonder houses which assuredly +never came from shipman's jacket or the gaberdine of a burgher." + +"I can also see it," said Alleyne, shading his eyes with his hand. "And +I can see men-at-arms in yonder boats which ply betwixt the vessel and +the shore. But methinks that we are very welcome here, for already they +come forth to meet us." + +A tumultuous crowd of fishermen, citizens, and women had indeed swarmed +out from the northern gate, and approached them up the side of the moor, +waving their hands and dancing with joy, as though a great fear had been +rolled back from their minds. At their head rode a very large and solemn +man with a long chin and a drooping lip. He wore a fur tippet round his +neck and a heavy gold chain over it, with a medallion which dangled in +front of him. + +"Welcome, most puissant and noble lord," he cried, doffing his bonnet +to Black Simon. "I have heard of your lordship's valiant deeds, and in +sooth they might be expected from your lordship's face and bearing. Is +there any small matter in which I may oblige you?" + +"Since you ask me," said the man-at-arms, "I would take it kindly if you +could spare a link or two of the chain which hangs round your neck." + +"What, the corporation chain!" cried the other in horror. "The ancient +chain of the township of Lepe! This is but a sorry jest, Sir Nigel." + +"What the plague did you ask me for then?" said Simon. "But if it is +Sir Nigel Loring with whom you would speak, that is he upon the black +horse." + +The Mayor of Lepe gazed with amazement on the mild face and slender +frame of the famous warrior. + +"Your pardon, my gracious lord," he cried. "You see in me the mayor and +chief magistrate of the ancient and powerful town of Lepe. I bid you +very heartily welcome, and the more so as you are come at a moment when +we are sore put to it for means of defence." + +"Ha!" cried Sir Nigel, pricking up his ears. + +"Yes, my lord, for the town being very ancient and the walls as old +as the town, it follows that they are very ancient too. But there is a +certain villainous and bloodthirsty Norman pirate hight Tete-noire, who, +with a Genoan called Tito Caracci, commonly known as Spade-beard, hath +been a mighty scourge upon these coasts. Indeed, my lord, they are very +cruel and black-hearted men, graceless and ruthless, and if they should +come to the ancient and powerful town of Lepe then--" + +"Then good-bye to the ancient and powerful town of Lepe," quoth Ford, +whose lightness of tongue could at times rise above his awe of Sir +Nigel. + +The knight, however, was too much intent upon the matter in hand to give +heed to the flippancy of his squire. "Have you then cause," he asked, +"to think that these men are about to venture an attempt upon you?" + +"They have come in two great galleys," answered the mayor, "with two +bank of oars on either side, and great store of engines of war and +of men-at-arms. At Weymouth and at Portland they have murdered and +ravished. Yesterday morning they were at Cowes, and we saw the smoke +from the burning crofts. To-day they lie at their ease near Freshwater, +and we fear much lest they come upon us and do us a mischief." + +"We cannot tarry," said Sir Nigel, riding towards the town, with the +mayor upon his left side; "the Prince awaits us at Bordeaux, and we may +not be behind the general muster. Yet I will promise you that on our way +we shall find time to pass Freshwater and to prevail upon these rovers +to leave you in peace." + +"We are much beholden to you!" cried the mayor "But I cannot see, my +lord, how, without a war-ship, you may venture against these men. With +your archers, however, you might well hold the town and do them great +scath if they attempt to land." + +"There is a very proper cog out yonder," said Sir Nigel, "it would be a +very strange thing if any ship were not a war-ship when it had such men +as these upon her decks. Certes, we shall do as I say, and that no later +than this very day." + +"My lord," said a rough-haired, dark-faced man, who walked by the +knight's other stirrup, with his head sloped to catch all that he was +saying. "By your leave, I have no doubt that you are skilled in land +fighting and the marshalling of lances, but, by my soul! you will find +it another thing upon the sea. I am the master-shipman of this yellow +cog, and my name is Goodwin Hawtayne. I have sailed since I was as high +as this staff, and I have fought against these Normans and against the +Genoese, as well as the Scotch, the Bretons, the Spanish, and the Moors. +I tell you, sir, that my ship is over light and over frail for such +work, and it will but end in our having our throats cut, or being sold +as slaves to the Barbary heathen." + +"I also have experienced one or two gentle and honorable ventures upon +the sea," quoth Sir Nigel, "and I am right blithe to have so fair a task +before us. I think, good master-shipman, that you and I may win great +honor in this matter, and I can see very readily that you are a brave +and stout man." + +"I like it not," said the other sturdily. "In God's name, I like it not. +And yet Goodwin Hawtayne is not the man to stand back when his fellows +are for pressing forward. By my soul! be it sink or swim, I shall +turn her beak into Freshwater Bay, and if good Master Witherton, of +Southampton, like not my handling of his ship then he may find another +master-shipman." + +They were close by the old north gate of the little town, and Alleyne, +half turning in his saddle, looked back at the motley crowd who +followed. The bowmen and men-at-arms had broken their ranks and were +intermingled with the fishermen and citizens, whose laughing faces +and hearty gestures bespoke the weight of care from which this welcome +arrival had relieved them. Here and there among the moving throng of +dark jerkins and of white surcoats were scattered dashes of scarlet and +blue, the whimples or shawls of the women. Aylward, with a fishing lass +on either arm, was vowing constancy alternately to her on the right and +her on the left, while big John towered in the rear with a little chubby +maiden enthroned upon his great shoulder, her soft white arm curled +round his shining headpiece. So the throng moved on, until at the very +gate it was brought to a stand by a wondrously fat man, who came darting +forth from the town with rage in every feature of his rubicund face. + +"How now, Sir Mayor?" he roared, in a voice like a bull. "How now, Sir +Mayor? How of the clams and the scallops?" + +"By Our Lady! my sweet Sir Oliver," cried the mayor. "I have had so much +to think of, with these wicked villains so close upon us, that it had +quite gone out of my head." + +"Words, words!" shouted the other furiously. "Am I to be put off with +words? I say to you again, how of the clams and scallops?" + +"My fair sir, you flatter me," cried the mayor. "I am a peaceful trader, +and I am not wont to be so shouted at upon so small a matter." + +"Small!" shrieked the other. "Small! Clams and scallops! Ask me to your +table to partake of the dainty of the town, and when I come a barren +welcome and a bare board! Where is my spear-bearer?" + +"Nay, Sir Oliver, Sir Oliver!" cried Sir Nigel, laughing. + +"Let your anger be appeased, since instead of this dish you come upon an +old friend and comrade." + +"By St. Martin of Tours!" shouted the fat knight, his wrath all changed +in an instant to joy, "if it is not my dear little game rooster of the +Garonne. Ah, my sweet coz, I am right glad to see you. What days we have +seen together!" + +"Aye, by my faith," cried Sir Nigel, with sparkling eyes, "we have +seen some valiant men, and we have shown our pennons in some noble +skirmishes. By St. Paul! we have had great joys in France." + +"And sorrows also," quoth the other. "I have some sad memories of the +land. Can you recall that which befell us at Libourne?" + +"Nay, I cannot call to mind that we ever so much as drew sword at the +place." + +"Man, man," cried Sir Oliver, "your mind still runs on nought but blades +and bassinets. Hast no space in thy frame for the softer joys. Ah, +even now I can scarce speak of it unmoved. So noble a pie, such tender +pigeons, and sugar in the gravy instead of salt! You were by my side +that day, as were Sir Claude Latour and the Lord of Pommers." + +"I remember it," said Sir Nigel, laughing, "and how you harried the cook +down the street, and spoke of setting fire to the inn. By St. Paul! most +worthy mayor, my old friend is a perilous man, and I rede you that you +compose your difference with him on such terms as you may." + +"The clams and scallops shall be ready within the hour," the mayor +answered. "I had asked Sir Oliver Buttesthorn to do my humble board +the honor to partake at it of the dainty upon which we take some little +pride, but in sooth this alarm of pirates hath cast such a shadow on my +wits that I am like one distrait. But I trust, Sir Nigel, that you will +also partake of none-meat with me?" + +"I have overmuch to do," Sir Nigel answered, "for we must be aboard, +horse and man, as early as we may. How many do you muster, Sir Oliver?" + +"Three and forty. The forty are drunk, and the three are but indifferent +sober. I have them all safe upon the ship." + +"They had best find their wits again, for I shall have work for every +man of them ere the sun set. It is my intention, if it seems good to +you, to try a venture against these Norman and Genoese rovers." + +"They carry caviare and certain very noble spices from the Levant aboard +of ships from Genoa," quoth Sir Oliver. "We may come to great profit +through the business. I pray you, master-shipman, that when you go on +board you pour a helmetful of sea-water over any of my rogues whom you +may see there." + +Leaving the lusty knight and the Mayor of Lepe, Sir Nigel led the +Company straight down to the water's edge, where long lines of flat +lighters swiftly bore them to their vessel. Horse after horse was slung +by main force up from the barges, and after kicking and plunging in +empty air was dropped into the deep waist of the yellow cog, where rows +of stalls stood ready for their safe keeping. Englishmen in those days +were skilled and prompt in such matters, for it was so not long before +that Edward had embarked as many as fifty thousand men in the port +of Orwell, with their horses and their baggage, all in the space of +four-and-twenty hours. So urgent was Sir Nigel on the shore, and so +prompt was Goodwin Hawtayne on the cog, that Sir Oliver Buttesthorn had +scarce swallowed his last scallop ere the peal of the trumpet and clang +of nakir announced that all was ready and the anchor drawn. In the last +boat which left the shore the two commanders sat together in the sheets, +a strange contrast to one another, while under the feet of the rowers +was a litter of huge stones which Sir Nigel had ordered to be carried to +the cog. These once aboard, the ship set her broad mainsail, purple +in color, and with a golden St. Christopher bearing Christ upon his +shoulder in the centre of it. The breeze blew, the sail bellied, over +heeled the portly vessel, and away she plunged through the smooth blue +rollers, amid the clang of the minstrels on her poop and the shouting of +the black crowd who fringed the yellow beach. To the left lay the green +Island of Wight, with its long, low, curving hills peeping over each +other's shoulders to the sky-line; to the right the wooded Hampshire +coast as far as eye could reach; above a steel-blue heaven, with a +wintry sun shimmering down upon them, and enough of frost to set the +breath a-smoking. + +"By St. Paul!" said Sir Nigel gayly, as he stood upon the poop and +looked on either side of him, "it is a land which is very well worth +fighting for, and it were pity to go to France for what may be had at +home. Did you not spy a crooked man upon the beach?" + +"Nay, I spied nothing," grumbled Sir Oliver, "for I was hurried down +with a clam stuck in my gizzard and an untasted goblet of Cyprus on the +board behind me." + +"I saw him, my fair lord," said Terlake, "an old man with one shoulder +higher than the other." + +"'Tis a sign of good fortune," quoth Sir Nigel. "Our path was also +crossed by a woman and by a priest, so all should be well with us. What +say you, Edricson?" + +"I cannot tell, my fair lord. The Romans of old were a very wise people, +yet, certes, they placed their faith in such matters. So, too, did +the Greeks, and divers other ancient peoples who were famed for their +learning. Yet of the moderns there are many who scoff at all omens." + +"There can be no manner of doubt about it," said Sir Oliver Buttesthorn. +"I can well remember that in Navarre one day it thundered on the left +out of a cloudless sky. We knew that ill would come of it, nor had we +long to wait. Only thirteen days after, a haunch of prime venison was +carried from my very tent door by the wolves, and on the same day two +flasks of old vernage turned sour and muddy." + +"You may bring my harness from below," said Sir Nigel to his squires, +"and also, I pray you, bring up Sir Oliver's and we shall don it here. +Ye may then see to your own gear; for this day you will, I hope, make a +very honorable entrance into the field of chivalry, and prove yourselves +to be very worthy and valiant squires. And now, Sir Oliver, as to our +dispositions: would it please you that I should order them or will you?" + +"You, my cockerel, you. By Our Lady! I am no chicken, but I cannot claim +to know as much of war as the squire of Sir Walter Manny. Settle the +matter to your own liking." + +"You shall fly your pennon upon the fore part, then, and I upon the +poop. For foreguard I shall give you your own forty men, with two-score +archers. Two-score men, with my own men-at-arms and squires, will serve +as a poop-guard. Ten archers, with thirty shipmen, under the master, may +hold the waist while ten lie aloft with stones and arbalests. How like +you that?" + +"Good, by my faith, good! But here comes my harness, and I must to work, +for I cannot slip into it as I was wont when first I set my face to the +wars." + +Meanwhile there had been bustle and preparation in all parts of the +great vessel. The archers stood in groups about the decks, new-stringing +their bows, and testing that they were firm at the nocks. Among them +moved Aylward and other of the older soldiers, with a few whispered +words of precept here and of warning there. + +"Stand to it, my hearts of gold," said the old bowman as he passed from +knot to knot. "By my hilt! we are in luck this journey. Bear in mind the +old saying of the Company." + +"What is that, Aylward?" cried several, leaning on their bows and +laughing at him. + +"'Tis the master-bowyer's rede: 'Every bow well bent. Every shaft well +sent. Every stave well nocked. Every string well locked.' There, with +that jingle in his head, a bracer on his left hand, a shooting glove on +his right, and a farthing's-worth of wax in his girdle, what more doth a +bowman need?" + +"It would not be amiss," said Hordle John, "if under his girdle he had +four farthings'-worth of wine." + +"Work first, wine afterwards, mon camarade. But it is time that we +took our order, for methinks that between the Needle rocks and the Alum +cliffs yonder I can catch a glimpse of the topmasts of the galleys. +Hewett, Cook, Johnson, Cunningham, your men are of the poop-guard. +Thornbury, Walters, Hackett, Baddlesmere, you are with Sir Oliver on the +forecastle. Simon, you bide with your lord's banner; but ten men must go +forward." + +Quietly and promptly the men took their places, lying flat upon their +faces on the deck, for such was Sir Nigel's order. Near the prow was +planted Sir Oliver's spear, with his arms--a boar's head gules upon a +field of gold. Close by the stern stood Black Simon with the pennon of +the house of Loring. In the waist gathered the Southampton mariners, +hairy and burly men, with their jerkins thrown off, their waists braced +tight, swords, mallets, and pole-axes in their hands. Their leader, +Goodwin Hawtayne, stood upon the poop and talked with Sir Nigel, casting +his eye up sometimes at the swelling sail, and then glancing back at the +two seamen who held the tiller. + +"Pass the word," said Sir Nigel, "that no man shall stand to arms or +draw his bow-string until my trumpeter shall sound. It would be well +that we should seem to be a merchant-ship from Southampton and appear to +flee from them." + +"We shall see them anon," said the master-shipman. "Ha, said I not so? +There they lie, the water-snakes, in Freshwater Bay; and mark the reek +of smoke from yonder point, where they have been at their devil's work. +See how their shallops pull from the land! They have seen us and called +their men aboard. Now they draw upon the anchor. See them like ants upon +the forecastle! They stoop and heave like handy ship men. But, my fair +lord, these are no niefs. I doubt but we have taken in hand more than +we can do. Each of these ships is a galeasse, and of the largest and +swiftest make." + +"I would I had your eyes," said Sir Nigel, blinking at the pirate +galleys. "They seem very gallant ships, and I trust that we shall have +much pleasance from our meeting with them. It would be well to pass the +word that we should neither give nor take quarter this day. Have you +perchance a priest or friar aboard this ship, Master Hawtayne?" + +"No, my fair lord." + +"Well, well, it is no great matter for my Company, for they were all +houseled and shriven ere we left Twynham Castle; and Father Christopher +of the Priory gave me his word that they were as fit to march to heaven +as to Gascony. But my mind misdoubts me as to these Winchester men who +have come with Sir Oliver, for they appear to be a very ungodly crew. +Pass the word that the men kneel, and that the under-officers repeat to +them the pater, the ave, and the credo." + +With a clank of arms, the rough archers and seamen took to their knees, +with bent heads and crossed hands, listening to the hoarse mutter from +the file-leaders. It was strange to mark the hush; so that the lapping +of the water, the straining of the sail, and the creaking of the timbers +grew louder of a sudden upon the ear. Many of the bowmen had drawn +amulets and relics from their bosoms, while he who possessed some +more than usually sanctified treasure passed it down the line of his +comrades, that all might kiss and reap the virtue. + +The yellow cog had now shot out from the narrow waters of the Solent, +and was plunging and rolling on the long heave of the open channel. The +wind blew freshly from the east, with a very keen edge to it; and the +great sail bellied roundly out, laying the vessel over until the water +hissed beneath her lee bulwarks. Broad and ungainly, she floundered from +wave to wave, dipping her round bows deeply into the blue rollers, and +sending the white flakes of foam in a spatter over her decks. On her +larboard quarter lay the two dark galleys, which had already hoisted +sail, and were shooting out from Freshwater Bay in swift pursuit, their +double line of oars giving them a vantage which could not fail to bring +them up with any vessel which trusted to sails alone. High and bluff the +English cog; long, black and swift the pirate galleys, like two fierce +lean wolves which have seen a lordly and unsuspecting stag walk past +their forest lair. + +"Shall we turn, my fair lord, or shall we carry on?" asked the +master-shipman, looking behind him with anxious eyes. + +"Nay, we must carry on and play the part of the helpless merchant." + +"But your pennons? They will see that we have two knights with us." + +"Yet it would not be to a knight's honor or good name to lower his +pennon. Let them be, and they will think that we are a wine-ship for +Gascony, or that we bear the wool-bales of some mercer of the Staple. Ma +foi, but they are very swift! They swoop upon us like two goshawks on a +heron. Is there not some symbol or device upon their sails?" + +"That on the right," said Edricson, "appears to have the head of an +Ethiop upon it." + +"'Tis the badge of Tete-noire, the Norman," cried a seaman-mariner. "I +have seen it before, when he harried us at Winchelsea. He is a wondrous +large and strong man, with no ruth for man, woman, or beast. They say +that he hath the strength of six; and, certes, he hath the crimes of six +upon his soul. See, now, to the poor souls who swing at either end of +his yard-arm!" + +At each end of the yard there did indeed hang the dark figure of a man, +jolting and lurching with hideous jerkings of its limbs at every plunge +and swoop of the galley. + +"By St. Paul!" said Sir Nigel, "and by the help of St. George and Our +Lady, it will be a very strange thing if our black-headed friend does +not himself swing thence ere he be many hours older. But what is that +upon the other galley?" + +"It is the red cross of Genoa. This Spade-beard is a very noted captain, +and it is his boast that there are no seamen and no archers in the world +who can compare with those who serve the Doge Boccanegra." + +"That we shall prove," said Goodwin Hawtayne; "but it would be well, +ere they close with us, to raise up the mantlets and pavises as a screen +against their bolts." He shouted a hoarse order, and his seamen worked +swiftly and silently, heightening the bulwarks and strengthening them. +The three ship's anchors were at Sir Nigel's command carried into the +waist, and tied to the mast, with twenty feet of cable between, each +under the care of four seamen. Eight others were stationed with leather +water-bags to quench any fire-arrows which might come aboard, while +others were sent up the mast, to lie along the yard and drop stones or +shoot arrows as the occasion served. + +"Let them be supplied with all that is heavy and weighty in the ship," +said Sir Nigel. + +"Then we must send them up Sir Oliver Buttesthorn," quoth Ford. + +The knight looked at him with a face which struck the smile from his +lips. "No squire of mine," he said, "shall ever make jest of a belted +knight. And yet," he added, his eyes softening, "I know that it is but +a boy's mirth, with no sting in it. Yet I should ill do my part towards +your father if I did not teach you to curb your tongue-play." + +"They will lay us aboard on either quarter, my lord," cried the master. +"See how they stretch out from each other! The Norman hath a mangonel +or a trabuch upon the forecastle. See, they bend to the levers! They are +about to loose it." + +"Aylward," cried the knight, "pick your three trustiest archers, and see +if you cannot do something to hinder their aim. Methinks they are within +long arrow flight." + +"Seventeen score paces," said the archer, running his eye backwards and +forwards. "By my ten finger-bones! it would be a strange thing if we +could not notch a mark at that distance. Here, Watkin of Sowley, Arnold, +Long Williams, let us show the rogues that they have English bowmen to +deal with." + +The three archers named stood at the further end of the poop, balancing +themselves with feet widely spread and bows drawn, until the heads of +the cloth-yard arrows were level with the centre of the stave. "You +are the surer, Watkin," said Aylward, standing by them with shaft upon +string. "Do you take the rogue with the red coif. You two bring down the +man with the head-piece, and I will hold myself ready if you miss. Ma +foi! they are about to loose her. Shoot, mes garcons, or you will be too +late." + +The throng of pirates had cleared away from the great wooden catapult, +leaving two of their number to discharge it. One in a scarlet cap +bent over it, steadying the jagged rock which was balanced on the +spoon-shaped end of the long wooden lever. The other held the loop of +the rope which would release the catch and send the unwieldy missile +hurtling through the air. So for an instant they stood, showing hard and +clear against the white sail behind them. The next, redcap had fallen +across the stone with an arrow between his ribs; and the other, struck +in the leg and in the throat, was writhing and spluttering upon the +ground. As he toppled backwards he had loosed the spring, and the huge +beam of wood, swinging round with tremendous force, cast the corpse of +his comrade so close to the English ship that its mangled and distorted +limbs grazed their very stern. As to the stone, it glanced off obliquely +and fell midway between the vessels. A roar of cheering and of laughter +broke from the rough archers and seamen at the sight, answered by a yell +of rage from their pursuers. + +"Lie low, mes enfants," cried Aylward, motioning with his left hand. +"They will learn wisdom. They are bringing forward shield and mantlet. +We shall have some pebbles about our ears ere long." + + + +CHAPTER XVI. HOW THE YELLOW COG FOUGHT THE TWO ROVER GALLEYS. + + +The three vessels had been sweeping swiftly westwards, the cog still +well to the front, although the galleys were slowly drawing in upon +either quarter. To the left was a hard skyline unbroken by a sail. The +island already lay like a cloud behind them, while right in front +was St. Alban's Head, with Portland looming mistily in the farthest +distance. Alleyne stood by the tiller, looking backwards, the fresh wind +full in his teeth, the crisp winter air tingling on his face and blowing +his yellow curls from under his bassinet. His cheeks were flushed and +his eyes shining, for the blood of a hundred fighting Saxon ancestors +was beginning to stir in his veins. + +"What was that?" he asked, as a hissing, sharp-drawn voice seemed to +whisper in his ear. The steersman smiled, and pointed with his foot to +where a short heavy cross-bow quarrel stuck quivering in the boards. +At the same instant the man stumbled forward upon his knees, and lay +lifeless upon the deck, a blood-stained feather jutting out from his +back. As Alleyne stooped to raise him, the air seemed to be alive with +the sharp zip-zip of the bolts, and he could hear them pattering on the +deck like apples at a tree-shaking. + +"Raise two more mantlets by the poop-lanthorn," said Sir Nigel quietly. + +"And another man to the tiller," cried the master-shipman. + +"Keep them in play, Aylward, with ten of your men," the knight +continued. "And let ten of Sir Oliver's bowmen do as much for the +Genoese. I have no mind as yet to show them how much they have to fear +from us." + +Ten picked shots under Aylward stood in line across the broad deck, and +it was a lesson to the young squires who had seen nothing of war to note +how orderly and how cool were these old soldiers, how quick the command, +and how prompt the carrying out, ten moving like one. Their comrades +crouched beneath the bulwarks, with many a rough jest and many a scrap +of criticism or advice. "Higher, Wat, higher!" "Put thy body into it, +Will!" "Forget not the wind, Hal!" So ran the muttered chorus, while +high above it rose the sharp twanging of the strings, the hiss of the +shafts, and the short "Draw your arrow! Nick your arrow! Shoot wholly +together!" from the master-bowman. + +And now both mangonels were at work from the galleys, but so covered +and protected that, save at the moment of discharge, no glimpse could +be caught of them. A huge brown rock from the Genoese sang over their +heads, and plunged sullenly into the slope of a wave. Another from the +Norman whizzed into the waist, broke the back of a horse, and crashed +its way through the side of the vessel. Two others, flying together, +tore a great gap in the St. Christopher upon the sail, and brushed three +of Sir Oliver's men-at-arms from the forecastle. The master-shipman +looked at the knight with a troubled face. + +"They keep their distance from us," said he. "Our archery is over-good, +and they will not close. What defence can we make against the stones?" + +"I think I may trick them," the knight answered cheerfully, and passed +his order to the archers. Instantly five of them threw up their hands +and fell prostrate upon the deck. One had already been slain by a bolt, +so that there were but four upon their feet. + +"That should give them heart," said Sir Nigel, eyeing the galleys, which +crept along on either side, with a slow, measured swing of their great +oars, the water swirling and foaming under their sharp stems. + +"They still hold aloof," cried Hawtayne. + +"Then down with two more," shouted their leader. "That will do. Ma foi! +but they come to our lure like chicks to the fowler. To your arms, men! +The pennon behind me, and the squires round the pennon. Stand fast with +the anchors in the waist, and be ready for a cast. Now blow out the +trumpets, and may God's benison be with the honest men!" + +As he spoke a roar of voices and a roll of drums came from either +galley, and the water was lashed into spray by the hurried beat of a +hundred oars. Down they swooped, one on the right, one on the left, the +sides and shrouds black with men and bristling with weapons. In heavy +clusters they hung upon the forecastle all ready for a spring--faces +white, faces brown, faces yellow, and faces black, fair Norsemen, +swarthy Italians, fierce rovers from the Levant, and fiery Moors from +the Barbary States, of all hues and countries, and marked solely by the +common stamp of a wild-beast ferocity. Rasping up on either side, +with oars trailing to save them from snapping, they poured in a +living torrent with horrid yell and shrill whoop upon the defenceless +merchantman. + +But wilder yet was the cry, and shriller still the scream, when there +rose up from the shadow of those silent bulwarks the long lines of +the English bowmen, and the arrows whizzed in a deadly sleet among the +unprepared masses upon the pirate decks. From the higher sides of the +cog the bowmen could shoot straight down, at a range which was so short +as to enable a cloth-yard shaft to pierce through mail-coats or to +transfix a shield, though it were an inch thick of toughened wood. +One moment Alleyne saw the galley's poop crowded with rushing figures, +waving arms, exultant faces; the next it was a blood-smeared shambles, +with bodies piled three deep upon each other, the living cowering behind +the dead to shelter themselves from that sudden storm-blast of death. +On either side the seamen whom Sir Nigel had chosen for the purpose +had cast their anchors over the side of the galleys, so that the three +vessels, locked in an iron grip, lurched heavily forward upon the swell. + +And now set in a fell and fierce fight, one of a thousand of which no +chronicler has spoken and no poet sung. Through all the centuries and +over all those southern waters nameless men have fought in nameless +places, their sole monuments a protected coast and an unravaged +country-side. + +Fore and aft the archers had cleared the galleys' decks, but from either +side the rovers had poured down into the waist, where the seamen and +bowmen were pushed back and so mingled with their foes that it was +impossible for their comrades above to draw string to help them. It +was a wild chaos where axe and sword rose and fell, while Englishman, +Norman, and Italian staggered and reeled on a deck which was cumbered +with bodies and slippery with blood. The clang of blows, the cries of +the stricken, the short, deep shout of the islanders, and the fierce +whoops of the rovers, rose together in a deafening tumult, while the +breath of the panting men went up in the wintry air like the smoke from +a furnace. The giant Tete-noire, towering above his fellows and clad +from head to foot in plate of proof, led on his boarders, waving a +huge mace in the air, with which he struck to the deck every man who +approached him. On the other side, Spade-beard, a dwarf in height, but +of great breadth of shoulder and length of arm, had cut a road almost +to the mast, with three-score Genoese men-at-arms close at his heels. +Between these two formidable assailants the seamen were being slowly +wedged more closely together, until they stood back to back under the +mast with the rovers raging upon every side of them. + +But help was close at hand. Sir Oliver Buttesthorn with his men-at-arms +had swarmed down from the forecastle, while Sir Nigel, with his three +squires, Black Simon, Aylward, Hordle John, and a score more, threw +themselves from the poop and hurled themselves into the thickest of the +fight. Alleyne, as in duty bound, kept his eyes fixed ever on his +lord and pressed forward close at his heels. Often had he heard of Sir +Nigel's prowess and skill with all knightly weapons, but all the tales +that had reached his ears fell far short of the real quickness and +coolness of the man. It was as if the devil was in him, for he sprang +here and sprang there, now thrusting and now cutting, catching blows on +his shield, turning them with his blade, stooping under the swing of an +axe, springing over the sweep of a sword, so swift and so erratic that +the man who braced himself for a blow at him might find him six paces +off ere he could bring it down. Three pirates had fallen before him, and +he had wounded Spade-beard in the neck, when the Norman giant sprang at +him from the side with a slashing blow from his deadly mace. Sir Nigel +stooped to avoid it, and at the same instant turned a thrust from the +Genoese swordsman, but, his foot slipping in a pool of blood, he fell +heavily to the ground. Alleyne sprang in front of the Norman, but his +sword was shattered and he himself beaten to the ground by a second +blow from the ponderous weapon. Ere the pirate chief could repeat it, +however, John's iron grip fell upon his wrist, and he found that for +once he was in the hands of a stronger man than himself. + +Fiercely he strove to disengage his weapon, but Hordle John bent his arm +slowly back until, with a sharp crack, like a breaking stave, it turned +limp in his grasp, and the mace dropped from the nerveless fingers. In +vain he tried to pluck it up with the other hand. Back and back still +his foeman bent him, until, with a roar of pain and of fury, the giant +clanged his full length upon the boards, while the glimmer of a knife +before the bars of his helmet warned him that short would be his shrift +if he moved. + +Cowed and disheartened by the loss of their leader, the Normans had +given back and were now streaming over the bulwarks on to their own +galley, dropping a dozen at a time on to her deck. But the anchor still +held them in its crooked claw, and Sir Oliver with fifty men was hard +upon their heels. Now, too, the archers had room to draw their bows +once more, and great stones from the yard of the cog came thundering and +crashing among the flying rovers. Here and there they rushed with wild +screams and curses, diving under the sail, crouching behind booms, +huddling into corners like rabbits when the ferrets are upon them, +as helpless and as hopeless. They were stern days, and if the honest +soldier, too poor for a ransom, had no prospect of mercy upon the +battle-field, what ruth was there for sea robbers, the enemies of +humankind, taken in the very deed, with proofs of their crimes still +swinging upon their yard-arm. + +But the fight had taken a new and a strange turn upon the other side. +Spade-beard and his men had given slowly back, hard pressed by Sir +Nigel, Aylward, Black Simon, and the poop-guard. Foot by foot the +Italian had retreated, his armor running blood at every joint, his +shield split, his crest shorn, his voice fallen away to a mere gasping +and croaking. Yet he faced his foemen with dauntless courage, dashing +in, springing back, sure-footed, steady-handed, with a point which +seemed to menace three at once. Beaten back on to the deck of his +own vessel, and closely followed by a dozen Englishmen, he disengaged +himself from them, ran swiftly down the deck, sprang back into the +cog once more, cut the rope which held the anchor, and was back in an +instant among his crossbow-men. At the same time the Genoese sailors +thrust with their oars against the side of the cog, and a rapidly +widening rift appeared between the two vessels. + +"By St. George!" cried Ford, "we are cut off from Sir Nigel." + +"He is lost," gasped Terlake. "Come, let us spring for it." The two +youths jumped with all their strength to reach the departing galley. +Ford's feet reached the edge of the bulwarks, and his hand clutching a +rope he swung himself on board. Terlake fell short, crashed in among the +oars, and bounded off into the sea. Alleyne, staggering to the side, was +about to hurl himself after him, but Hordle John dragged him back by the +girdle. + +"You can scarce stand, lad, far less jump," said he. "See how the blood +rips from your bassinet." + +"My place is by the flag," cried Alleyne, vainly struggling to break +from the other's hold. + +"Bide here, man. You would need wings ere you could reach Sir Nigel's +side." + +The vessels were indeed so far apart now that the Genoese could use the +full sweep of their oars, and draw away rapidly from the cog. + +"My God, but it is a noble fight!" shouted big John, clapping his +hands. "They have cleared the poop, and they spring into the waist. Well +struck, my lord! Well struck, Aylward! See to Black Simon, how he storms +among the shipmen! But this Spade-beard is a gallant warrior. He rallies +his men upon the forecastle. He hath slain an archer. Ha! my lord is +upon him. Look to it, Alleyne! See to the whirl and glitter of it!" + +"By heaven, Sir Nigel is down!" cried the squire. + +"Up!" roared John. "It was but a feint. He bears him back. He drives +him to the side. Ah, by Our Lady, his sword is through him! They cry for +mercy. Down goes the red cross, and up springs Simon with the scarlet +roses!" + +The death of the Genoese leader did indeed bring the resistance to an +end. Amid a thunder of cheering from cog and from galleys the forked +pennon fluttered upon the forecastle, and the galley, sweeping round, +came slowly back, as the slaves who rowed it learned the wishes of their +new masters. + +The two knights had come aboard the cog, and the grapplings having been +thrown off, the three vessels now moved abreast. Through all the storm +and rush of the fight Alleyne had been aware of the voice of Goodwin +Hawtayne, the master-shipman, with his constant "Hale the bowline! +Veer the sheet!" and strange it was to him to see how swiftly the +blood-stained sailors turned from the strife to the ropes and back. Now +the cog's head was turned Francewards, and the shipman walked the deck, +a peaceful master-mariner once more. + +"There is sad scath done to the cog, Sir Nigel," said he. "Here is a +hole in the side two ells across, the sail split through the centre, +and the wood as bare as a friar's poll. In good sooth, I know not what I +shall say to Master Witherton when I see the Itchen once more." + +"By St. Paul! it would be a very sorry thing if we suffered you to be +the worse of this day's work," said Sir Nigel. "You shall take these +galleys back with you, and Master Witherton may sell them. Then from the +moneys he shall take as much as may make good the damage, and the rest +he shall keep until our home-coming, when every man shall have his +share. An image of silver fifteen inches high I have vowed to the +Virgin, to be placed in her chapel within the Priory, for that she was +pleased to allow me to come upon this Spade-beard, who seemed to me from +what I have seen of him to be a very sprightly and valiant gentleman. +But how fares it with you, Edricson?" + +"It is nothing, my fair lord," said Alleyne, who had now loosened his +bassinet, which was cracked across by the Norman's blow. Even as he +spoke, however, his head swirled round, and he fell to the deck with the +blood gushing from his nose and mouth. + +"He will come to anon," said the knight, stooping over him and passing +his fingers through his hair. "I have lost one very valiant and gentle +squire this day. I can ill afford to lose another. How many men have +fallen?" + +"I have pricked off the tally," said Aylward, who had come aboard with +his lord. "There are seven of the Winchester men, eleven seamen, your +squire, young Master Terlake, and nine archers." + +"And of the others?" + +"They are all dead--save only the Norman knight who stands behind you. +What would you that we should do with him?" + +"He must hang on his own yard," said Sir Nigel. "It was my vow and must +be done." + +The pirate leader had stood by the bulwarks, a cord round his arms, +and two stout archers on either side. At Sir Nigel's words he started +violently, and his swarthy features blanched to a livid gray. + +"How, Sir Knight?" he cried in broken English. "Que dites vous? To hang, +le mort du chien! To hang!" + +"It is my vow," said Sir Nigel shortly. "From what I hear, you thought +little enough of hanging others." + +"Peasants, base roturiers," cried the other. "It is their fitting death. +Mais Le Seigneur d'Andelys, avec le sang des rois dans ses veins! C'est +incroyable!" + +Sir Nigel turned upon his heel, while two seamen cast a noose over the +pirate's neck. At the touch of the cord he snapped the bonds which bound +him, dashed one of the archers to the deck, and seizing the other round +the waist sprang with him into the sea. + +"By my hilt, he is gone!" cried Aylward, rushing to the side. "They have +sunk together like a stone." + +"I am right glad of it," answered Sir Nigel; "for though it was against +my vow to loose him, I deem that he has carried himself like a very +gentle and debonnaire cavalier." + + + +CHAPTER XVII. HOW THE YELLOW COG CROSSED THE BAR OF GIRONDE. + + +For two days the yellow cog ran swiftly before a northeasterly wind, and +on the dawn of the third the high land of Ushant lay like a mist upon +the shimmering sky-line. There came a plump of rain towards mid-day +and the breeze died down, but it freshened again before nightfall, and +Goodwin Hawtayne veered his sheet and held head for the south. Next +morning they had passed Belle Isle, and ran through the midst of a fleet +of transports returning from Guienne. Sir Nigel Loring and Sir Oliver +Buttesthorn at once hung their shields over the side, and displayed +their pennons as was the custom, noting with the keenest interest the +answering symbols which told the names of the cavaliers who had been +constrained by ill health or wounds to leave the prince at so critical a +time. + +That evening a great dun-colored cloud banked up in the west, and an +anxious man was Goodwin Hawtayne, for a third part of his crew had been +slain, and half the remainder were aboard the galleys, so that, with +an injured ship, he was little fit to meet such a storm as sweeps over +those waters. All night it blew in short fitful puffs, heeling the great +cog over until the water curled over her lee bulwarks. As the wind still +freshened the yard was lowered half way down the mast in the morning. +Alleyne, wretchedly ill and weak, with his head still ringing from +the blow which he had received, crawled up upon deck. Water-swept and +aslant, it was preferable to the noisome, rat-haunted dungeons which +served as cabins. There, clinging to the stout halliards of the sheet, +he gazed with amazement at the long lines of black waves, each with +its curling ridge of foam, racing in endless succession from out the +inexhaustible west. A huge sombre cloud, flecked with livid blotches, +stretched over the whole seaward sky-line, with long ragged streamers +whirled out in front of it. Far behind them the two galleys labored +heavily, now sinking between the rollers until their yards were level +with the waves, and again shooting up with a reeling, scooping motion +until every spar and rope stood out hard against the sky. On the left +the low-lying land stretched in a dim haze, rising here and there into +a darker blur which marked the higher capes and headlands. The land +of France! Alleyne's eyes shone as he gazed upon it. The land of +France!--the very words sounded as the call of a bugle in the ears of +the youth of England. The land where their fathers had bled, the home of +chivalry and of knightly deeds, the country of gallant men, of courtly +women, of princely buildings, of the wise, the polished and the sainted. +There it lay, so still and gray beneath the drifting wrack--the home of +things noble and of things shameful--the theatre where a new name +might be made or an old one marred. From his bosom to his lips came the +crumpled veil, and he breathed a vow that if valor and goodwill could +raise him to his lady's side, then death alone should hold him back from +her. His thoughts were still in the woods of Minstead and the old armory +of Twynham Castle, when the hoarse voice of the master-shipman brought +them back once more to the Bay of Biscay. + +"By my troth, young sir," he said, "you are as long in the face as the +devil at a christening, and I cannot marvel at it, for I have sailed +these waters since I was as high as this whinyard, and yet I never saw +more sure promise of an evil night." + +"Nay, I had other things upon my mind," the squire answered. + +"And so has every man," cried Hawtayne in an injured voice. "Let the +shipman see to it. It is the master-shipman's affair. Put it all upon +good Master Hawtayne! Never had I so much care since first I blew +trumpet and showed cartel at the west gate of Southampton." + +"What is amiss then?" asked Alleyne, for the man's words were as gusty +as the weather. + +"Amiss, quotha? Here am I with but half my mariners, and a hole in the +ship where that twenty-devil stone struck us big enough to fit the fat +widow of Northam through. It is well enough on this tack, but I would +have you tell me what I am to do on the other. We are like to have +salt water upon us until we be found pickled like the herrings in an +Easterling's barrels." + +"What says Sir Nigel to it?" + +"He is below pricking out the coat-armor of his mother's uncle. 'Pester +me not with such small matters!' was all that I could get from him. Then +there is Sir Oliver. 'Fry them in oil with a dressing of Gascony,' quoth +he, and then swore at me because I had not been the cook. 'Walawa,' +thought I, 'mad master, sober man'--so away forward to the archers. +Harrow and alas! but they were worse than the others." + +"Would they not help you then?" + +"Nay, they sat tway and tway at a board, him that they call Aylward +and the great red-headed man who snapped the Norman's arm-bone, and the +black man from Norwich, and a score of others, rattling their dice in +an archer's gauntlet for want of a box. 'The ship can scarce last much +longer, my masters,' quoth I. 'That is your business, old swine's-head,' +cried the black galliard. 'Le diable t'emporte,' says Aylward. 'A five, +a four and the main,' shouted the big man, with a voice like the flap of +a sail. Hark to them now, young sir, and say if I speak not sooth." + +As he spoke, there sounded high above the shriek of the gale and the +straining of the timbers a gust of oaths with a roar of deep-chested +mirth from the gamblers in the forecastle. + +"Can I be of avail?" asked Alleyne. "Say the word and the thing is done, +if two hands may do it." + +"Nay, nay, your head I can see is still totty, and i' faith little head +would you have, had your bassinet not stood your friend. All that may be +done is already carried out, for we have stuffed the gape with sails and +corded it without and within. Yet when we bale our bowline and veer the +sheet our lives will hang upon the breach remaining blocked. See how +yonder headland looms upon us through the mist! We must tack within +three arrow flights, or we may find a rock through our timbers. Now, St. +Christopher be praised! here is Sir Nigel, with whom I may confer." + +"I prythee that you will pardon me," said the knight, clutching his way +along the bulwark. "I would not show lack of courtesy toward a worthy +man, but I was deep in a matter of some weight, concerning which, +Alleyne, I should be glad of your rede. It touches the question of +dimidiation or impalement in the coat of mine uncle, Sir John Leighton +of Shropshire, who took unto wife the widow of Sir Henry Oglander +of Nunwell. The case has been much debated by pursuivants and +kings-of-arms. But how is it with you, master shipman?" + +"Ill enough, my fair lord. The cog must go about anon, and I know not +how we may keep the water out of her." + +"Go call Sir Oliver!" said Sir Nigel, and presently the portly knight +made his way all astraddle down the slippery deck. + +"By my soul, master-shipman, this passes all patience!" he cried +wrathfully. "If this ship of yours must needs dance and skip like a +clown at a kermesse, then I pray you that you will put me into one +of these galeasses. I had but sat down to a flask of malvoisie and a +mortress of brawn, as is my use about this hour, when there comes a +cherking, and I find my wine over my legs and the flask in my lap, and +then as I stoop to clip it there comes another cursed cherk, and there +is a mortress of brawn stuck fast to the nape of my neck. At this moment +I have two pages coursing after it from side to side, like hounds behind +a leveret. Never did living pig gambol more lightly. But you have sent +for me, Sir Nigel?" + +"I would fain have your rede, Sir Oliver, for Master Hawtayne hath fears +that when we veer there may come danger from the hole in our side." + +"Then do not veer," quoth Sir Oliver hastily. "And now, fair sir, I must +hasten back to see how my rogues have fared with the brawn." + +"Nay, but this will scarce suffice," cried the shipman. "If we do not +veer we will be upon the rocks within the hour." + +"Then veer," said Sir Oliver. "There is my rede; and now, Sir Nigel, I +must crave----" + +At this instant, however, a startled shout rang out from two seamen upon +the forecastle. "Rocks!" they yelled, stabbing into the air with their +forefingers. "Rocks beneath our very bows!" Through the belly of a great +black wave, not one hundred paces to the front of them, there thrust +forth a huge jagged mass of brown stone, which spouted spray as though +it were some crouching monster, while a dull menacing boom and roar +filled the air. + +"Yare! yare!" screamed Goodwin Hawtayne, flinging himself upon the long +pole which served as a tiller. "Cut the halliard! Haul her over! Lay her +two courses to the wind!" + +Over swung the great boom, and the cog trembled and quivered within five +spear-lengths of the breakers. + +"She can scarce draw clear," cried Hawtayne, with his eyes from the sail +to the seething line of foam. "May the holy Julian stand by us and the +thrice-sainted Christopher!" + +"If there be such peril, Sir Oliver," quoth Sir Nigel, "it would be +very knightly and fitting that we should show our pennons. I pray you, +Edricson, that you will command my guidon-bearer to put forward my +banner." + +"And sound the trumpets!" cried Sir Oliver. "In manus tuas, Domine! I +am in the keeping of James of Compostella, to whose shrine I shall make +pilgrimage, and in whose honor I vow that I will eat a carp each year +upon his feast-day. Mon Dieu, but the waves roar! How is it with us now, +master-shipman?" + +"We draw! We draw!" cried Hawtayne, with his eyes still fixed upon the +foam which hissed under the very bulge of the side. "Ah, Holy Mother, be +with us now!" + +As he spoke the cog rasped along the edge of the reef, and a long white +curling sheet of wood was planed off from her side from waist to poop by +a jutting horn of the rock. At the same instant she lay suddenly over, +the sail drew full, and she plunged seawards amid the shoutings of the +seamen and the archers. + +"The Virgin be praised!" cried the shipman, wiping his brow. "For this +shall bell swing and candle burn when I see Southampton Water once more. +Cheerily, my hearts! Pull yarely on the bowline!" + +"By my soul! I would rather have a dry death," quoth Sir Oliver. +"Though, Mort Dieu! I have eaten so many fish that it were but justice +that the fish should eat me. Now I must back to the cabin, for I have +matters there which crave my attention." + +"Nay, Sir Oliver, you had best bide with us, and still show your +ensign," Sir Nigel answered; "for, if I understand the matter aright, we +have but turned from one danger to the other." + +"Good Master Hawtayne," cried the boatswain, rushing aft, "the water +comes in upon us apace. The waves have driven in the sail wherewith we +strove to stop the hole." As he spoke the seamen came swarming on to the +poop and the forecastle to avoid the torrent which poured through the +huge leak into the waist. High above the roar of the wind and the clash +of the sea rose the shrill half-human cries of the horses, as they found +the water rising rapidly around them. + +"Stop it from without!" cried Hawtayne, seizing the end of the wet sail +with which the gap had been plugged. "Speedily, my hearts, or we are +gone!" Swiftly they rove ropes to the corners, and then, rushing forward +to the bows, they lowered them under the keel, and drew them tight in +such a way that the sail should cover the outer face of the gap. The +force of the rush of water was checked by this obstacle, but it still +squirted plentifully from every side of it. At the sides the horses +were above the belly, and in the centre a man from the poop could scarce +touch the deck with a seven-foot spear. The cog lay lower in the water +and the waves splashed freely over the weather bulwark. + +"I fear that we can scarce bide upon this tack," cried Hawtayne; "and +yet the other will drive us on the rocks." + +"Might we not haul down sail and wait for better times?" suggested Sir +Nigel. + +"Nay, we should drift upon the rocks. Thirty years have I been on the +sea, and never yet in greater straits. Yet we are in the hands of the +Saints." + +"Of whom," cried Sir Oliver, "I look more particularly to St. James of +Compostella, who hath already befriended us this day, and on whose feast +I hereby vow that I shall eat a second carp, if he will but interpose a +second time." + +The wrack had thickened to seaward, and the coast was but a blurred +line. Two vague shadows in the offing showed where the galeasses rolled +and tossed upon the great Atlantic rollers. Hawtayne looked wistfully in +their direction. + +"If they would but lie closer we might find safety, even should the cog +founder. You will bear me out with good Master Witherton of Southampton +that I have done all that a shipman might. It would be well that you +should doff camail and greaves, Sir Nigel, for, by the black rood! it is +like enough that we shall have to swim for it." + +"Nay," said the little knight, "it would be scarce fitting that a +cavalier should throw off his harness for the fear of every puff of wind +and puddle of water. I would rather that my Company should gather round +me here on the poop, where we might abide together whatever God may be +pleased to send. But, certes, Master Hawtayne, for all that my sight +is none of the best, it is not the first time that I have seen that +headland upon the left." + +The seaman shaded his eyes with his hand, and gazed earnestly through +the haze and spray. Suddenly he threw up his arms and shouted aloud in +his joy. + +"'Tis the point of La Tremblade!" he cried. "I had not thought that we +were as far as Oleron. The Gironde lies before us, and once over the +bar, and under shelter of the Tour de Cordouan, all will be well with +us. Veer again, my hearts, and bring her to try with the main course!" + +The sail swung round once more, and the cog, battered and torn and +well-nigh water-logged, staggered in for this haven of refuge. A bluff +cape to the north and a long spit to the south marked the mouth of the +noble river, with a low-lying island of silted sand in the centre, all +shrouded and curtained by the spume of the breakers. A line of broken +water traced the dangerous bar, which in clear day and balmy weather has +cracked the back of many a tall ship. + +"There is a channel," said Hawtayne, "which was shown to me by the +Prince's own pilot. Mark yonder tree upon the bank, and see the tower +which rises behind it. If these two be held in a line, even as we hold +them now, it may be done, though our ship draws two good ells more than +when she put forth." + +"God speed you, Master Hawtayne!" cried Sir Oliver. "Twice have we come +scathless out of peril, and now for the third time I commend me to the +blessed James of Compostella, to whom I vow----" + +"Nay, nay, old friend," whispered Sir Nigel. "You are like to bring a +judgment upon us with these vows, which no living man could accomplish. +Have I not already heard you vow to eat two carp in one day, and now you +would venture upon a third?" + +"I pray you that you will order the Company to lie down," cried +Hawtayne, who had taken the tiller and was gazing ahead with a fixed +eye. "In three minutes we shall either be lost or in safety." + +Archers and seamen lay flat upon the deck, waiting in stolid silence for +whatever fate might come. Hawtayne bent his weight upon the tiller, and +crouched to see under the bellying sail. Sir Oliver and Sir Nigel stood +erect with hands crossed in front of the poop. Down swooped the great +cog into the narrow channel which was the portal to safety. On either +bow roared the shallow bar. Right ahead one small lane of black swirling +water marked the pilot's course. But true was the eye and firm the hand +which guided. A dull scraping came from beneath, the vessel quivered +and shook, at the waist, at the quarter, and behind sounded that grim +roaring of the waters, and with a plunge the yellow cog was over the bar +and speeding swiftly up the broad and tranquil estuary of the Gironde. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. HOW SIR NIGEL LORING PUT A PATCH UPON HIS EYE. + + +It was on the morning of Friday, the eight-and-twentieth day of +November, two days before the feast of St. Andrew, that the cog and her +two prisoners, after a weary tacking up the Gironde and the Garonne, +dropped anchor at last in front of the noble city of Bordeaux. With +wonder and admiration, Alleyne, leaning over the bulwarks, gazed at the +forest of masts, the swarm of boats darting hither and thither on the +bosom of the broad curving stream, and the gray crescent-shaped city +which stretched with many a tower and minaret along the western shore. +Never had he in his quiet life seen so great a town, nor was there in +the whole of England, save London alone, one which might match it in +size or in wealth. Here came the merchandise of all the fair countries +which are watered by the Garonne and the Dordogne--the cloths of the +south, the skins of Guienne, the wines of the Medoc--to be borne away to +Hull, Exeter, Dartmouth, Bristol or Chester, in exchange for the wools +and woolfels of England. Here too dwelt those famous smelters and +welders who had made the Bordeaux steel the most trusty upon earth, and +could give a temper to lance or to sword which might mean dear life to +its owner. Alleyne could see the smoke of their forges reeking up in the +clear morning air. The storm had died down now to a gentle breeze, which +wafted to his ears the long-drawn stirring bugle-calls which sounded +from the ancient ramparts. + +"Hola, mon petit!" said Aylward, coming up to where he stood. "Thou art +a squire now, and like enough to win the golden spurs, while I am still +the master-bowman, and master-bowman I shall bide. I dare scarce wag +my tongue so freely with you as when we tramped together past Wilverley +Chase, else I might be your guide now, for indeed I know every house in +Bordeaux as a friar knows the beads on his rosary." + +"Nay, Aylward," said Alleyne, laying his hand upon the sleeve of his +companion's frayed jerkin, "you cannot think me so thrall as to throw +aside an old friend because I have had some small share of good fortune. +I take it unkind that you should have thought such evil of me." + +"Nay, mon gar. 'Twas but a flight shot to see if the wind blew steady, +though I were a rogue to doubt it." + +"Why, had I not met you, Aylward, at the Lynhurst inn, who can say where +I had now been! Certes, I had not gone to Twynham Castle, nor become +squire to Sir Nigel, nor met----" He paused abruptly and flushed to his +hair, but the bowman was too busy with his own thoughts to notice his +young companion's embarrassment. + +"It was a good hostel, that of the 'Pied Merlin,'" he remarked. "By my +ten finger bones! when I hang bow on nail and change my brigandine for a +tunic, I might do worse than take over the dame and her business." + +"I thought," said Alleyne, "that you were betrothed to some one at +Christchurch." + +"To three," Aylward answered moodily, "to three. I fear I may not go +back to Christchurch. I might chance to see hotter service in Hampshire +than I have ever done in Gascony. But mark you now yonder lofty turret +in the centre, which stands back from the river and hath a broad banner +upon the summit. See the rising sun flashes full upon it and sparkles +on the golden lions. 'Tis the royal banner of England, crossed by the +prince's label. There he dwells in the Abbey of St. Andrew, where he +hath kept his court these years back. Beside it is the minster of the +same saint, who hath the town under his very special care." + +"And how of yon gray turret on the left?" + +"'Tis the fane of St. Michael, as that upon the right is of St. Remi. +There, too, above the poop of yonder nief, you see the towers of Saint +Croix and of Pey Berland. Mark also the mighty ramparts which are +pierced by the three water-gates, and sixteen others to the landward +side." + +"And how is it, good Aylward, that there comes so much music from the +town? I seem to hear a hundred trumpets, all calling in chorus." + +"It would be strange else, seeing that all the great lords of England +and of Gascony are within the walls, and each would have his trumpeter +blow as loud as his neighbor, lest it might be thought that his dignity +had been abated. Ma foi! they make as much louster as a Scotch army, +where every man fills himself with girdle-cakes, and sits up all night +to blow upon the toodle-pipe. See all along the banks how the pages +water the horses, and there beyond the town how they gallop them over +the plain! For every horse you see a belted knight hath herbergage in +the town, for, as I learn, the men-at-arms and archers have already gone +forward to Dax." + +"I trust, Aylward," said Sir Nigel, coming upon deck, "that the men are +ready for the land. Go tell them that the boats will be for them within +the hour." + +The archer raised his hand in salute, and hastened forward. In the +meantime Sir Oliver had followed his brother knight, and the two paced +the poop together, Sir Nigel in his plum-colored velvet suit with flat +cap of the same, adorned in front with the Lady Loring's glove and girt +round with a curling ostrich feather. The lusty knight, on the other +hand, was clad in the very latest mode, with cote-hardie, doublet, +pourpoint, court-pie, and paltock of olive-green, picked out with +pink and jagged at the edges. A red chaperon or cap, with long hanging +cornette, sat daintily on the back of his black-curled head, while his +gold-hued shoes were twisted up _a la poulaine_, as though the toes +were shooting forth a tendril which might hope in time to entwine itself +around his massive leg. + +"Once more, Sir Oliver," said Sir Nigel, looking shorewards with +sparkling eyes, "do we find ourselves at the gate of honor, the door +which hath so often led us to all that is knightly and worthy. There +flies the prince's banner, and it would be well that we haste ashore and +pay our obeisance to him. The boats already swarm from the bank." + +"There is a goodly hostel near the west gate, which is famed for the +stewing of spiced pullets," remarked Sir Oliver. "We might take the edge +of our hunger off ere we seek the prince, for though his tables are +gay with damask and silver he is no trencherman himself, and hath no +sympathy for those who are his betters." + +"His betters!" + +"His betters before the tranchoir, lad. Sniff not treason where none is +meant. I have seen him smile in his quiet way because I had looked for +the fourth time towards the carving squire. And indeed to watch +him dallying with a little gobbet of bread, or sipping his cup of +thrice-watered wine, is enough to make a man feel shame at his own +hunger. Yet war and glory, my good friend, though well enough in their +way, will not serve to tighten such a belt as clasps my waist." + +"How read you that coat which hangs over yonder galley, Alleyne?" asked +Sir Nigel. + +"Argent, a bend vert between cotises dancette gules." + +"It is a northern coat. I have seen it in the train of the Percies. From +the shields, there is not one of these vessels which hath not knight or +baron aboard. I would mine eyes were better. How read you this upon the +left?" + +"Argent and azure, a barry wavy of six." + +"Ha, it is the sign of the Wiltshire Stourtons! And there beyond I see +the red and silver of the Worsleys of Apuldercombe, who like myself are +of Hampshire lineage. Close behind us is the moline cross of the gallant +William Molyneux, and beside it the bloody chevrons of the Norfork +Woodhouses, with the amulets of the Musgraves of Westmoreland. By St. +Paul! it would be a very strange thing if so noble a company were to +gather without some notable deed of arms arising from it. And here is +our boat, Sir Oliver, so it seems best to me that we should go to the +abbey with our squires, leaving Master Hawtayne to have his own way in +the unloading." + +The horses both of knights and squires were speedily lowered into a +broad lighter, and reached the shore almost as soon as their masters. +Sir Nigel bent his knee devoutly as he put foot on land, and taking a +small black patch from his bosom he bound it tightly over his left eye. + +"May the blessed George and the memory of my sweet lady-love raise high +my heart!" quoth he. "And as a token I vow that I will not take this +patch from my eye until I have seen something of this country of Spain, +and done such a small deed as it lies in me to do. And this I swear upon +the cross of my sword and upon the glove of my lady." + +"In truth, you take me back twenty years, Nigel," quoth Sir Oliver, as +they mounted and rode slowly through the water-gate. "After Cadsand, +I deem that the French thought that we were an army of the blind, for +there was scarce a man who had not closed an eye for the greater love +and honor of his lady. Yet it goes hard with you that you should darken +one side, when with both open you can scarce tell a horse from a mule. +In truth, friend, I think that you step over the line of reason in this +matter." + +"Sir Oliver Buttesthorn," said the little knight shortly, "I would have +you to understand that, blind as I am, I can yet see the path of honor +very clearly, and that that is the road upon which I do not crave +another man's guidance." + +"By my soul," said Sir Oliver, "you are as tart as verjuice this +morning! If you are bent upon a quarrel with me I must leave you to your +humor and drop into the 'Tete d'Or' here, for I marked a varlet pass +the door who bare a smoking dish, which had, methought, a most excellent +smell." + +"Nenny, nenny," cried his comrade, laying his hand upon his knee; "we +have known each other over long to fall out, Oliver, like two raw pages +at their first epreuves. You must come with me first to the prince, and +then back to the hostel; though sure I am that it would grieve his heart +that any gentle cavalier should turn from his board to a common tavern. +But is not that my Lord Delewar who waves to us? Ha! my fair lord, God +and Our Lady be with you! And there is Sir Robert Cheney. Good-morrow, +Robert! I am right glad to see you." + +The two knights walked their horses abreast, while Alleyne and Ford, +with John Norbury, who was squire to Sir Oliver, kept some paces behind +them, a spear's-length in front of Black Simon and of the Winchester +guidon-bearer. Norbury, a lean, silent man, had been to those parts +before, and sat his horse with a rigid neck; but the two young squires +gazed eagerly to right or left, and plucked each other's sleeves to call +attention to the many strange things on every side of them. + +"See to the brave stalls!" cried Alleyne. "See to the noble armor set +forth, and the costly taffeta--and oh, Ford, see to where the scrivener +sits with the pigments and the ink-horns, and the rolls of sheepskin as +white as the Beaulieu napery! Saw man ever the like before?" + +"Nay, man, there are finer stalls in Cheapside," answered Ford, whose +father had taken him to London on occasion of one of the Smithfield +joustings. "I have seen a silversmith's booth there which would serve to +buy either side of this street. But mark these houses, Alleyne, how they +thrust forth upon the top. And see to the coats-of-arms at every window, +and banner or pensil on the roof." + +"And the churches!" cried Alleyne. "The Priory at Christchurch was a +noble pile, but it was cold and bare, methinks, by one of these, with +their frettings, and their carvings, and their traceries, as though some +great ivy-plant of stone had curled and wantoned over the walls." + +"And hark to the speech of the folk!" said Ford. "Was ever such a +hissing and clacking? I wonder that they have not wit to learn English +now that they have come under the English crown. By Richard of Hampole! +there are fair faces amongst them. See the wench with the brown whimple! +Out on you, Alleyne, that you would rather gaze upon dead stone than on +living flesh!" + +It was little wonder that the richness and ornament, not only of church +and of stall, but of every private house as well, should have impressed +itself upon the young squires. The town was now at the height of its +fortunes. Besides its trade and its armorers, other causes had combined +to pour wealth into it. War, which had wrought evil upon so many fair +cities around, had brought nought but good to this one. As her French +sisters decayed she increased, for here, from north, and from east, +and from south, came the plunder to be sold and the ransom money to be +spent. Through all her sixteen landward gates there had set for many +years a double tide of empty-handed soldiers hurrying Francewards, and +of enriched and laden bands who brought their spoils home. The prince's +court, too, with its swarm of noble barons and wealthy knights, many of +whom, in imitation of their master, had brought their ladies and their +children from England, all helped to swell the coffers of the burghers. +Now, with this fresh influx of noblemen and cavaliers, food and lodging +were scarce to be had, and the prince was hurrying forward his forces to +Dax in Gascony to relieve the overcrowding of his capital. + +In front of the minster and abbey of St. Andrew's was a large square +crowded with priests, soldiers, women, friars, and burghers, who made it +their common centre for sight-seeing and gossip. Amid the knot of noisy +and gesticulating townsfolk, many small parties of mounted knights and +squires threaded their way towards the prince's quarters, where the +huge iron-clamped doors were thrown back to show that he held audience +within. Two-score archers stood about the gateway, and beat back from +time to time with their bow-staves the inquisitive and chattering crowd +who swarmed round the portal. Two knights in full armor, with lances +raised and closed visors, sat their horses on either side, while in the +centre, with two pages to tend upon him, there stood a noble-faced man +in flowing purple gown, who pricked off upon a sheet of parchment the +style and title of each applicant, marshalling them in their due order, +and giving to each the place and facility which his rank demanded. His +long white beard and searching eyes imparted to him an air of masterful +dignity, which was increased by his tabardlike vesture and the heraldic +barret cap with triple plume which bespoke his office. + +"It is Sir William de Pakington, the prince's own herald and scrivener," +whispered Sir Nigel, as they pulled up amid the line of knights who +waited admission. "Ill fares it with the man who would venture to +deceive him. He hath by rote the name of every knight of France or of +England; and all the tree of his family, with his kinships, coat-armor, +marriages, augmentations, abatements, and I know not what beside. We +may leave our horses here with the varlets, and push forward with our +squires." + +Following Sir Nigel's counsel, they pressed on upon foot until they were +close to the prince's secretary, who was in high debate with a young and +foppish knight, who was bent upon making his way past him. + +"Mackworth!" said the king-at-arms. "It is in my mind, young sir, that +you have not been presented before." + +"Nay, it is but a day since I set foot in Bordeaux, but I feared lest +the prince should think it strange that I had not waited upon him." + +"The prince hath other things to think upon," quoth Sir William de +Pakington; "but if you be a Mackworth you must be a Mackworth of +Normanton, and indeed I see now that your coat is sable and ermine." + +"I am a Mackworth of Normanton," the other answered, with some +uneasiness of manner. + +"Then you must be Sir Stephen Mackworth, for I learn that when old +Sir Guy died he came in for the arms and the name, the war-cry and the +profit." + +"Sir Stephen is my elder brother, and I am Arthur, the second son," said +the youth. + +"In sooth and in sooth!" cried the king-at-arms with scornful eyes. "And +pray, sir second son, where is the cadency mark which should mark your +rank. Dare you to wear your brother's coat without the crescent which +should stamp you as his cadet. Away to your lodgings, and come not +nigh the prince until the armorer hath placed the true charge upon your +shield." As the youth withdrew in confusion, Sir William's keen eye +singled out the five red roses from amid the overlapping shields and +cloud of pennons which faced him. + +"Ha!" he cried, "there are charges here which are above counterfeit. +The roses of Loring and the boar's head of Buttesthorn may stand back +in peace, but by my faith! they are not to be held back in war. Welcome, +Sir Oliver, Sir Nigel! Chandos will be glad to his very heart-roots when +he sees you. This way, my fair sirs. Your squires are doubtless worthy +the fame of their masters. Down this passage, Sir Oliver! Edricson! Ha! +one of the old strain of Hampshire Edricsons, I doubt not. And Ford, +they are of a south Saxon stock, and of good repute. There are Norburys +in Cheshire and in Wiltshire, and also, as I have heard, upon the +borders. So, my fair sirs, and I shall see that you are shortly +admitted." + +He had finished his professional commentary by flinging open a folding +door, and ushering the party into a broad hall, which was filled with +a great number of people who were waiting, like themselves, for an +audience. The room was very spacious, lighted on one side by three +arched and mullioned windows, while opposite was a huge fireplace in +which a pile of faggots was blazing merrily. Many of the company had +crowded round the flames, for the weather was bitterly cold; but the +two knights seated themselves upon a bancal, with their squires standing +behind them. Looking down the room, Alleyne marked that both floor and +ceiling were of the richest oak, the latter spanned by twelve arching +beams, which were adorned at either end by the lilies and the lions of +the royal arms. On the further side was a small door, on each side of +which stood men-at-arms. From time to time an elderly man in black with +rounded shoulders and a long white wand in his hand came softly forth +from this inner room, and beckoned to one or other of the company, who +doffed cap and followed him. + +The two knights were deep in talk, when Alleyne became aware of a +remarkable individual who was walking round the room in their direction. +As he passed each knot of cavaliers every head turned to look after +him, and it was evident, from the bows and respectful salutations on +all sides, that the interest which he excited was not due merely to his +strange personal appearance. He was tall and straight as a lance, though +of a great age, for his hair, which curled from under his velvet cap of +maintenance, was as white as the new-fallen snow. Yet, from the swing of +his stride and the spring of his step, it was clear that he had not yet +lost the fire and activity of his youth. His fierce hawk-like face was +clean shaven like that of a priest, save for a long thin wisp of white +moustache which drooped down half way to his shoulder. That he had +been handsome might be easily judged from his high aquiline nose and +clear-cut chin; but his features had been so distorted by the seams and +scars of old wounds, and by the loss of one eye which had been torn +from the socket, that there was little left to remind one of the dashing +young knight who had been fifty years ago the fairest as well as the +boldest of the English chivalry. Yet what knight was there in that hall +of St. Andrew's who would not have gladly laid down youth, beauty, and +all that he possessed to win the fame of this man? For who could be +named with Chandos, the stainless knight, the wise councillor, the +valiant warrior, the hero of Crecy, of Winchelsea, of Poictiers, of +Auray, and of as many other battles as there were years to his life? + +"Ha, my little heart of gold!" he cried, darting forward suddenly and +throwing his arms round Sir Nigel. "I heard that you were here and have +been seeking you." + +"My fair and dear lord," said the knight, returning the warrior's +embrace, "I have indeed come back to you, for where else shall I go that +I may learn to be a gentle and a hardy knight?" + +"By my troth!" said Chandos with a smile, "it is very fitting that we +should be companions, Nigel, for since you have tied up one of your +eyes, and I have had the mischance to lose one of mine, we have but a +pair between us. Ah, Sir Oliver! you were on the blind side of me and I +saw you not. A wise woman hath made prophecy that this blind side will +one day be the death of me. We shall go in to the prince anon; but in +truth he hath much upon his hands, for what with Pedro, and the King of +Majorca, and the King of Navarre, who is no two days of the same mind, +and the Gascon barons who are all chaffering for terms like so many +hucksters, he hath an uneasy part to play. But how left you the Lady +Loring?" + +"She was well, my fair lord, and sent her service and greetings to you." + +"I am ever her knight and slave. And your journey, I trust that it was +pleasant?" + +"As heart could wish. We had sight of two rover galleys, and even came +to have some slight bickering with them." + +"Ever in luck's way, Nigel!" quoth Sir John. "We must hear the tale +anon. But I deem it best that ye should leave your squires and come with +me, for, howsoe'er pressed the prince may be, I am very sure that he +would be loth to keep two old comrades-in-arms upon the further side of +the door. Follow close behind me, and I will forestall old Sir William, +though I can scarce promise to roll forth your style and rank as is +his wont." So saying, he led the way to the inner chamber, the two +companions treading close at his heels, and nodding to right and left as +they caught sight of familiar faces among the crowd. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. HOW THERE WAS STIR AT THE ABBEY OF ST. ANDREW'S. + + +The prince's reception-room, although of no great size, was fitted up +with all the state and luxury which the fame and power of its owner +demanded. A high dais at the further end was roofed in by a broad canopy +of scarlet velvet spangled with silver fleurs-de-lis, and supported at +either corner by silver rods. This was approached by four steps carpeted +with the same material, while all round were scattered rich cushions, +oriental mats and costly rugs of fur. The choicest tapestries which the +looms of Arras could furnish draped the walls, whereon the battles of +Judas Maccabaeus were set forth, with the Jewish warriors in plate of +proof, with crest and lance and banderole, as the naive artists of the +day were wont to depict them. A few rich settles and bancals, choicely +carved and decorated with glazed leather hangings of the sort termed _or +basane_, completed the furniture of the apartment, save that at one side +of the dais there stood a lofty perch, upon which a cast of three solemn +Prussian gerfalcons sat, hooded and jesseled, as silent and motionless +as the royal fowler who stood beside them. + +In the centre of the dais were two very high chairs with dorserets, +which arched forwards over the heads of the occupants, the whole covered +with light-blue silk thickly powdered with golden stars. On that to the +right sat a very tall and well formed man with red hair, a livid face, +and a cold blue eye, which had in it something peculiarly sinister and +menacing. He lounged back in a careless position, and yawned repeatedly +as though heartily weary of the proceedings, stooping from time to time +to fondle a shaggy Spanish greyhound which lay stretched at his feet. On +the other throne there was perched bolt upright, with prim demeanor, as +though he felt himself to be upon his good behavior, a little, round, +pippin faced person, who smiled and bobbed to every one whose eye he +chanced to meet. Between and a little in front of them on a humble +charette or stool, sat a slim, dark young man, whose quiet attire and +modest manner would scarce proclaim him to be the most noted prince in +Europe. A jupon of dark blue cloth, tagged with buckles and pendants of +gold, seemed but a sombre and plain attire amidst the wealth of silk and +ermine and gilt tissue of fustian with which he was surrounded. He sat +with his two hands clasped round his knee, his head slightly bent, +and an expression of impatience and of trouble upon his clear, +well-chiselled features. Behind the thrones there stood two men in +purple gowns, with ascetic, clean-shaven faces, and half a dozen other +high dignitaries and office-holders of Aquitaine. Below on either side +of the steps were forty or fifty barons, knights, and courtiers, ranged +in a triple row to the right and the left, with a clear passage in the +centre. + +"There sits the prince," whispered Sir John Chandos, as they entered. +"He on the right is Pedro, whom we are about to put upon the Spanish +throne. The other is Don James, whom we purpose with the aid of God to +help to his throne in Majorca. Now follow me, and take it not to heart +if he be a little short in his speech, for indeed his mind is full of +many very weighty concerns." + +The prince, however, had already observed their entrance, and, springing +to his feet, he had advanced with a winning smile and the light of +welcome in his eyes. + +"We do not need your good offices as herald here, Sir John," said he in +a low but clear voice; "these valiant knights are very well known to me. +Welcome to Aquitaine, Sir Nigel Loring and Sir Oliver Buttesthorn. Nay, +keep your knee for my sweet father at Windsor. I would have your hands, +my friends. We are like to give you some work to do ere you see the +downs of Hampshire once more. Know you aught of Spain, Sir Oliver?" + +"Nought, my sire, save that I have heard men say that there is a dish +named an olla which is prepared there, though I have never been clear in +my mind as to whether it was but a ragout such as is to be found in the +south, or whether there is some seasoning such as fennel or garlic which +is peculiar to Spain." + +"Your doubts, Sir Oliver, shall soon be resolved," answered the prince, +laughing heartily, as did many of the barons who surrounded them. "His +majesty here will doubtless order that you have this dish hotly seasoned +when we are all safely in Castile." + +"I will have a hotly seasoned dish for some folk I know of," answered +Don Pedro with a cold smile. + +"But my friend Sir Oliver can fight right hardily without either bite or +sup," remarked the prince. "Did I not see him at Poictiers, when for two +days we had not more than a crust of bread and a cup of foul water, yet +carrying himself most valiantly. With my own eyes I saw him in the rout +sweep the head from a knight of Picardy with one blow of his sword." + +"The rogue got between me and the nearest French victual wain," muttered +Sir Oliver, amid a fresh titter from those who were near enough to catch +his words. + +"How many have you in your train?" asked the prince, assuming a graver +mien. + +"I have forty men-at-arms, sire," said Sir Oliver. + +"And I have one hundred archers and a score of lancers, but there are +two hundred men who wait for me on this side of the water upon the +borders of Navarre." + +"And who are they, Sir Nigel?" + +"They are a free company, sire, and they are called the White Company." + +To the astonishment of the knight, his words provoked a burst of +merriment from the barons round, in which the two kings and the prince +were fain to join. Sir Nigel blinked mildly from one to the other, until +at last perceiving a stout black-bearded knight at his elbow, whose +laugh rang somewhat louder than the others, he touched him lightly upon +the sleeve. + +"Perchance, my fair sir," he whispered, "there is some small vow of +which I may relieve you. Might we not have some honorable debate upon +the matter. Your gentle courtesy may perhaps grant me an exchange of +thrusts." + +"Nay, nay, Sir Nigel," cried the prince, "fasten not the offence upon +Sir Robert Briquet, for we are one and all bogged in the same mire. +Truth to say, our ears have just been vexed by the doings of the same +company, and I have even now made vow to hang the man who held the rank +of captain over it. I little thought to find him among the bravest of my +own chosen chieftains. But the vow is now nought, for, as you have +never seen your company, it would be a fool's act to blame you for their +doings." + +"My liege," said Sir Nigel, "it is a very small matter that I should be +hanged, albeit the manner of death is somewhat more ignoble than I had +hoped for. On the other hand, it would be a very grievous thing that +you, the Prince of England and the flower of knighthood, should make a +vow, whether in ignorance or no, and fail to bring it to fulfilment." + +"Vex not your mind on that," the prince answered, smiling. "We have had +a citizen from Montauban here this very day, who told us such a tale of +sack and murder and pillage that it moved our blood; but our wrath was +turned upon the man who was in authority over them." + +"My dear and honored master," cried Nigel, in great anxiety, "I fear me +much that in your gentleness of heart you are straining this vow which +you have taken. If there be so much as a shadow of a doubt as to the +form of it, it were a thousand times best----" + +"Peace! peace!" cried the prince impatiently. "I am very well able to +look to my own vows and their performance. We hope to see you both +in the banquet-hall anon. Meanwhile you will attend upon us with our +train." He bowed, and Chandos, plucking Sir Oliver by the sleeve, led +them both away to the back of the press of courtiers. + +"Why, little coz," he whispered, "you are very eager to have your neck +in a noose. By my soul! had you asked as much from our new ally Don +Pedro, he had not baulked you. Between friends, there is overmuch of +the hangman in him, and too little of the prince. But indeed this +White Company is a rough band, and may take some handling ere you find +yourself safe in your captaincy." + +"I doubt not, with the help of St. Paul, that I shall bring them to some +order," Sir Nigel answered. "But there are many faces here which are new +to me, though others have been before me since first I waited upon my +dear master, Sir Walter. I pray you to tell me, Sir John, who are these +priests upon the dais?" + +"The one is the Archbishop of Bordeaux, Nigel, and the other the Bishop +of Agen." + +"And the dark knight with gray-streaked beard? By my troth, he seems to +be a man of much wisdom and valor." + +"He is Sir William Felton, who, with my unworthy self, is the chief +counsellor of the prince, he being high steward and I the seneschal of +Aquitaine." + +"And the knights upon the right, beside Don Pedro?" + +"They are cavaliers of Spain who have followed him in his exile. The one +at his elbow is Fernando de Castro, who is as brave and true a man as +heart could wish. In front to the right are the Gascon lords. You may +well tell them by their clouded brows, for there hath been some ill-will +of late betwixt the prince and them. The tall and burly man is the +Captal de Buch, whom I doubt not that you know, for a braver knight +never laid lance in rest. That heavy-faced cavalier who plucks his +skirts and whispers in his ear is Lord Oliver de Clisson, known also as +the butcher. He it is who stirs up strife, and forever blows the dying +embers into flame. The man with the mole upon his cheek is the Lord +Pommers, and his two brothers stand behind him, with the Lord Lesparre, +Lord de Rosem, Lord de Mucident, Sir Perducas d'Albret, the Souldich de +la Trane, and others. Further back are knights from Quercy, Limousin, +Saintonge, Poitou, and Aquitaine, with the valiant Sir Guiscard d'Angle. +That is he in the rose-colored doublet with the ermine." + +"And the knights upon this side?" + +"They are all Englishmen, some of the household and others who like +yourself, are captains of companies. There is Lord Neville, Sir Stephen +Cossington, and Sir Matthew Gourney, with Sir Walter Huet, Sir Thomas +Banaster, and Sir Thomas Felton, who is the brother of the high steward. +Mark well the man with the high nose and flaxen beard who hath placed +his hand upon the shoulder of the dark hard-faced cavalier in the +rust-stained jupon." + +"Aye, by St. Paul!" observed Sir Nigel, "they both bear the print of +their armor upon their cotes-hardies. Methinks they are men who breathe +freer in a camp than a court." + +"There are many of us who do that, Nigel," said Chandos, "and the head +of the court is, I dare warrant, among them. But of these two men the +one is Sir Hugh Calverley, and the other is Sir Robert Knolles." + +Sir Nigel and Sir Oliver craned their necks to have the clearer view of +these famous warriors, the one a chosen leader of free companies, the +other a man who by his fierce valor and energy had raised himself from +the lowest ranks until he was second only to Chandos himself in the +esteem of the army. + +"He hath no light hand in war, hath Sir Robert," said Chandos. "If he +passes through a country you may tell it for some years to come. I have +heard that in the north it is still the use to call a house which hath +but the two gable ends left, without walls or roof, a Knolles' mitre." + +"I have often heard of him," said Nigel, "and I have hoped to be so far +honored as to run a course with him. But hark, Sir John, what is amiss +with the prince?" + +Whilst Chandos had been conversing with the two knights a continuous +stream of suitors had been ushered in, adventurers seeking to sell their +swords and merchants clamoring over some grievance, a ship detained +for the carriage of troops, or a tun of sweet wine which had the bottom +knocked out by a troop of thirsty archers. A few words from the prince +disposed of each case, and, if the applicant liked not the judgment, a +quick glance from the prince's dark eyes sent him to the door with the +grievance all gone out of him. The younger ruler had sat listlessly upon +his stool with the two puppet monarchs enthroned behind him, but of a +sudden a dark shadow passed over his face, and he sprang to his feet in +one of those gusts of passion which were the single blot upon his noble +and generous character. + +"How now, Don Martin de la Carra?" he cried. "How now, sirrah? What +message do you bring to us from our brother of Navarre?" + +The new-comer to whom this abrupt query had been addressed was a tall +and exceedingly handsome cavalier who had just been ushered into the +apartment. His swarthy cheek and raven black hair spoke of the fiery +south, and he wore his long black cloak swathed across his chest and +over his shoulders in a graceful sweeping fashion, which was neither +English nor French. With stately steps and many profound bows, he +advanced to the foot of the dais before replying to the prince's +question. + +"My powerful and illustrious master," he began, "Charles, King of +Navarre, Earl of Evreux, Count of Champagne, who also writeth himself +Overlord of Bearn, hereby sends his love and greetings to his dear +cousin Edward, the Prince of Wales, Governor of Aquitaine, Grand +Commander of----" + +"Tush! tush! Don Martin!" interrupted the prince, who had been beating +the ground with his foot impatiently during this stately preamble. "We +already know our cousin's titles and style, and, certes, we know our +own. To the point, man, and at once. Are the passes open to us, or does +your master go back from his word pledged to me at Libourne no later +than last Michaelmas?" + +"It would ill become my gracious master, sire, to go back from +promise given. He does but ask some delay and certain conditions and +hostages----" + +"Conditions! Hostages! Is he speaking to the Prince of England, or is it +to the bourgeois provost of some half-captured town! Conditions, quotha? +He may find much to mend in his own condition ere long. The passes are, +then, closed to us?" + +"Nay, sire----" + +"They are open, then?" + +"Nay, sire, if you would but----" + +"Enough, enough, Don Martin," cried the prince. "It is a sorry sight to +see so true a knight pleading in so false a cause. We know the doings of +our cousin Charles. We know that while with the right hand he takes our +fifty thousand crowns for the holding of the passes open, he hath his +left outstretched to Henry of Trastamare, or to the King of France, all +ready to take as many more for the keeping them closed. I know our good +Charles, and, by my blessed name-saint the Confessor, he shall learn +that I know him. He sets his kingdom up to the best bidder, like some +scullion farrier selling a glandered horse. He is----" + +"My lord," cried Don Martin, "I cannot stand there to hear such words +of my master. Did they come from other lips, I should know better how to +answer them." + +Don Pedro frowned and curled his lip, but the prince smiled and nodded +his approbation. + +"Your bearing and your words, Don Martin, are such I should have looked +for in you," he remarked. "You will tell the king, your master, that he +hath been paid his price and that if he holds to his promise he hath my +word for it that no scath shall come to his people, nor to their houses +or gear. If, however, we have not his leave, I shall come close at the +heels of this message without his leave, and bearing a key with me +which shall open all that he may close." He stooped and whispered to Sir +Robert Knolles and Sir Huge Calverley, who smiled as men well pleased, +and hastened from the room. + +"Our cousin Charles has had experience of our friendship," the prince +continued, "and now, by the Saints! he shall feel a touch of our +displeasure. I send now a message to our cousin Charles which his whole +kingdom may read. Let him take heed lest worse befall him. Where is my +Lord Chandos? Ha, Sir John, I commend this worthy knight to your care. +You will see that he hath refection, and such a purse of gold as may +defray his charges, for indeed it is great honor to any court to have +within it so noble and gentle a cavalier. How say you, sire?" he +asked, turning to the Spanish refugee, while the herald of Navarre was +conducted from the chamber by the old warrior. + +"It is not our custom in Spain to reward pertness in a messenger," Don +Pedro answered, patting the head of his greyhound. "Yet we have all +heard the lengths to which your royal generosity runs." + +"In sooth, yes," cried the King of Majorca. + +"Who should know it better than we?" said Don Pedro bitterly, "since we +have had to fly to you in our trouble as to the natural protector of all +who are weak." + +"Nay, nay, as brothers to a brother," cried the prince, with sparkling +eyes. "We doubt not, with the help of God, to see you very soon restored +to those thrones from which you have been so traitorously thrust." + +"When that happy day comes," said Pedro, "then Spain shall be to you as +Aquitaine, and, be your project what it may, you may ever count on every +troop and every ship over which flies the banner of Castile." + +"And," added the other, "upon every aid which the wealth and power of +Majorca can bestow." + +"Touching the hundred thousand crowns in which I stand your debtor," +continued Pedro carelessly, "it can no doubt----" + +"Not a word, sire, not a word!" cried the prince. "It is not now when +you are in grief that I would vex your mind with such base and sordid +matters. I have said once and forever that I am yours with every +bow-string of my army and every florin in my coffers." + +"Ah! here is indeed a mirror of chivalry," said Don Pedro. "I think, +Sir Fernando, since the prince's bounty is stretched so far, that we +may make further use of his gracious goodness to the extent of fifty +thousand crowns. Good Sir William Felton, here, will doubtless settle +the matter with you." + +The stout old English counsellor looked somewhat blank at this prompt +acceptance of his master's bounty. + +"If it please you, sire," he said, "the public funds are at their +lowest, seeing that I have paid twelve thousand men of the companies, +and the new taxes--the hearth-tax and the wine-tax--not yet come in. If +you could wait until the promised help from England comes----" + +"Nay, nay, my sweet cousin," cried Don Pedro. "Had we known that your +own coffers were so low, or that this sorry sum could have weighed one +way or the other, we had been loth indeed----" + +"Enough, sire, enough!" said the prince, flushing with vexation. "If +the public funds be, indeed, so backward, Sir William, there is still, +I trust, my own private credit, which hath never been drawn upon for my +own uses, but is now ready in the cause of a friend in adversity. Go, +raise this money upon our own jewels, if nought else may serve, and see +that it be paid over to Don Fernando." + +"In security I offer----" cried Don Pedro. + +"Tush! tush!" said the prince. "I am not a Lombard, sire. Your kingly +pledge is my security, without bond or seal. But I have tidings for you, +my lords and lieges, that our brother of Lancaster is on his way for our +capital with four hundred lances and as many archers to aid us in our +venture. When he hath come, and when our fair consort is recovered in +her health, which I trust by the grace of God may be ere many weeks be +past, we shall then join the army at Dax, and set our banners to the +breeze once more." + +A buzz of joy at the prospect of immediate action rose up from the group +of warriors. The prince smiled at the martial ardor which shone upon +every face around him. + +"It will hearten you to know," he continued, "that I have sure advices +that this Henry is a very valiant leader, and that he has it in his +power to make such a stand against us as promises to give us much honor +and pleasure. Of his own people he hath brought together, as I learn, +some fifty thousand, with twelve thousand of the French free companies, +who are, as you know very valiant and expert men-at-arms. It is certain +also, that the brave and worthy Bertrand de Guesclin hath ridden into +France to the Duke of Anjou, and purposes to take back with him great +levies from Picardy and Brittany. We hold Bertrand in high esteem, for +he has oft before been at great pains to furnish us with an honorable +encounter. What think you of it, my worthy Captal? He took you at +Cocherel, and, by my soul! you will have the chance now to pay that +score." + +The Gascon warrior winced a little at the allusion, nor were his +countrymen around him better pleased, for on the only occasion when they +had encountered the arms of France without English aid they had met with +a heavy defeat. + +"There are some who say, sire," said the burly De Clisson, "that the +score is already overpaid, for that without Gascon help Bertrand had not +been taken at Auray, nor had King John been overborne at Poictiers." + +"By heaven! but this is too much," cried an English nobleman. "Methinks +that Gascony is too small a cock to crow so lustily." + +"The smaller cock, my Lord Audley, may have the longer spur," remarked +the Captal de Buch. + +"May have its comb clipped if it make over-much noise," broke in an +Englishman. + +"By our Lady of Rocamadour!" cried the Lord of Mucident, "this is more +than I can abide. Sir John Charnell, you shall answer to me for those +words!" + +"Freely, my lord, and when you will," returned the Englishman +carelessly. + +"My Lord de Clisson," cried Lord Audley, "you look somewhat fixedly in +my direction. By God's soul! I should be right glad to go further into +the matter with you." + +"And you, my Lord of Pommers," said Sir Nigel, pushing his way to the +front, "it is in my mind that we might break a lance in gentle and +honorable debate over the question." + +For a moment a dozen challenges flashed backwards and forwards at this +sudden bursting of the cloud which had lowered so long between the +knights of the two nations. Furious and gesticulating the Gascons, white +and cold and sneering the English, while the prince with a half smile +glanced from one party to the other, like a man who loved to dwell upon +a fiery scene, and yet dreaded least the mischief go so far that he +might find it beyond his control. + +"Friends, friends!" he cried at last, "this quarrel must go no further. +The man shall answer to me, be he Gascon or English, who carries it +beyond this room. I have overmuch need for your swords that you should +turn them upon each other. Sir John Charnell, Lord Audley, you do not +doubt the courage of our friends of Gascony?" + +"Not I, sire," Lord Audley answered. "I have seen them fight too often +not to know that they are very hardy and valiant gentlemen." + +"And so say I," quoth the other Englishman; "but, certes, there is no +fear of our forgetting it while they have a tongue in their heads." + +"Nay, Sir John," said the prince reprovingly, "all peoples have their +own use and customs. There are some who might call us cold and dull and +silent. But you hear, my lords of Gascony, that these gentlemen had no +thought to throw a slur upon your honor or your valor, so let all anger +fade from your mind. Clisson, Captal, De Pommers, I have your word?" + +"We are your subjects, sire," said the Gascon barons, though with no +very good grace. "Your words are our law." + +"Then shall we bury all cause of unkindness in a flagon of Malvoisie," +said the prince, cheerily. "Ho, there! the doors of the banquet-hall! +I have been over long from my sweet spouse but I shall be back with you +anon. Let the sewers serve and the minstrels play, while we drain a +cup to the brave days that are before us in the south!" He turned away, +accompanied by the two monarchs, while the rest of the company, with +many a compressed lip and menacing eye, filed slowly through the +side-door to the great chamber in which the royal tables were set forth. + + + +CHAPTER XX. HOW ALLEYNE WON HIS PLACE IN AN HONORABLE GUILD. + + +Whilst the prince's council was sitting, Alleyne and Ford had remained +in the outer hall, where they were soon surrounded by a noisy group of +young Englishmen of their own rank, all eager to hear the latest news +from England. + +"How is it with the old man at Windsor?" asked one. + +"And how with the good Queen Philippa?" + +"And how with Dame Alice Perrers?" cried a third. + +"The devil take your tongue, Wat!" shouted a tall young man, seizing +the last speaker by the collar and giving him an admonitory shake. "The +prince would take your head off for those words." + +"By God's coif! Wat would miss it but little," said another. "It is as +empty as a beggar's wallet." + +"As empty as an English squire, coz," cried the first speaker. "What a +devil has become of the maitre-des-tables and his sewers? They have not +put forth the trestles yet." + +"Mon Dieu! if a man could eat himself into knighthood, Humphrey, you +had been a banneret at the least," observed another, amid a burst of +laughter. + +"And if you could drink yourself in, old leather-head, you had been +first baron of the realm," cried the aggrieved Humphrey. "But how of +England, my lads of Loring?" + +"I take it," said Ford, "that it is much as it was when you were there +last, save that perchance there is a little less noise there." + +"And why less noise, young Solomon?" + +"Ah, that is for your wit to discover." + +"Pardieu! here is a paladin come over, with the Hampshire mud still +sticking to his shoes. He means that the noise is less for our being out +of the country." + +"They are very quick in these parts," said Ford, turning to Alleyne. + +"How are we to take this, sir?" asked the ruffling squire. + +"You may take it as it comes," said Ford carelessly. + +"Here is pertness!" cried the other. + +"Sir, I honor your truthfulness," said Ford. + +"Stint it, Humphrey," said the tall squire, with a burst of laughter. +"You will have little credit from this gentleman, I perceive. Tongues +are sharp in Hampshire, sir." + +"And swords?" + +"Hum! we may prove that. In two days' time is the vepres du tournoi, +when we may see if your lance is as quick as your wit." + +"All very well, Roger Harcomb," cried a burly, bull-necked young man, +whose square shoulders and massive limbs told of exceptional personal +strength. "You pass too lightly over the matter. We are not to be so +easily overcrowed. The Lord Loring hath given his proofs; but we know +nothing of his squires, save that one of them hath a railing tongue. +And how of you, young sir?" bringing his heavy hand down on Alleyne's +shoulder. + +"And what of me, young sir?" + +"Ma foi! this is my lady's page come over. Your cheek will be browner +and your hand harder ere you see your mother again." + +"If my hand is not hard, it is ready." + +"Ready? Ready for what? For the hem of my lady's train?" + +"Ready to chastise insolence, sir," cried Alleyne with flashing eyes. + +"Sweet little coz!" answered the burly squire. "Such a dainty color! +Such a mellow voice! Eyes of a bashful maid, and hair like a three +years' babe! Voila!" He passed his thick fingers roughly through the +youth's crisp golden curls. + +"You seek to force a quarrel, sir," said the young man, white with +anger. + +"And what then?" + +"Why, you do it like a country boor, and not like a gentle squire. Hast +been ill bred and as ill taught. I serve a master who could show you how +such things should be done." + +"And how would he do it, O pink of squires?" + +"He would neither be loud nor would he be unmannerly, but rather more +gentle than is his wont. He would say, 'Sir, I should take it as an +honor to do some small deed of arms against you, not for mine own glory +or advancement, but rather for the fame of my lady and for the upholding +of chivalry.' Then he would draw his glove, thus, and throw it on the +ground; or, if he had cause to think that he had to deal with a churl, +he might throw it in his face--as I do now!" + +A buzz of excitement went up from the knot of squires as Alleyne, his +gentle nature turned by this causeless attack into fiery resolution, +dashed his glove with all his strength into the sneering face of his +antagonist. From all parts of the hall squires and pages came running, +until a dense, swaying crowd surrounded the disputants. + +"Your life for this!" said the bully, with a face which was distorted +with rage. + +"If you can take it," returned Alleyne. + +"Good lad!" whispered Ford. "Stick to it close as wax." + +"I shall see justice," cried Norbury, Sir Oliver's silent attendant. + +"You brought it upon yourself, John Tranter," said the tall squire, +who had been addressed as Roger Harcomb. "You must ever plague the +new-comers. But it were shame if this went further. The lad hath shown a +proper spirit." + +"But a blow! a blow!" cried several of the older squires. "There must be +a finish to this." + +"Nay; Tranter first laid hand upon his head," said Harcomb. "How say +you, Tranter? The matter may rest where it stands?" + +"My name is known in these parts," said Tranter, proudly, "I can let +pass what might leave a stain upon another. Let him pick up his glove +and say that he has done amiss." + +"I would see him in the claws of the devil first," whispered Ford. + +"You hear, young sir?" said the peacemaker. "Our friend will overlook +the matter if you do but say that you have acted in heat and haste." + +"I cannot say that," answered Alleyne. + +"It is our custom, young sir, when new squires come amongst us from +England, to test them in some such way. Bethink you that if a man have +a destrier or a new lance he will ever try it in time of peace, lest in +days of need it may fail him. How much more then is it proper to test +those who are our comrades in arms." + +"I would draw out if it may honorably be done," murmured Norbury +in Alleyne's ear. "The man is a noted swordsman and far above your +strength." + +Edricson came, however, of that sturdy Saxon blood which is very slowly +heated, but once up not easily to be cooled. The hint of danger which +Norbury threw out was the one thing needed to harden his resolution. + +"I came here at the back of my master," he said, "and I looked on every +man here as an Englishman and a friend. This gentleman hath shown me a +rough welcome, and if I have answered him in the same spirit he has but +himself to thank. I will pick the glove up; but, certes, I shall abide +what I have done unless he first crave my pardon for what he hath said +and done." + +Tranter shrugged his shoulders. "You have done what you could to save +him, Harcomb," said he. "We had best settle at once." + +"So say I," cried Alleyne. + +"The council will not break up until the banquet," remarked a +gray-haired squire. "You have a clear two hours." + +"And the place?" + +"The tilting-yard is empty at this hour." + +"Nay; it must not be within the grounds of the court, or it may go hard +with all concerned if it come to the ears of the prince." + +"But there is a quiet spot near the river," said one youth. "We have +but to pass through the abbey grounds, along the armory wall, past the +church of St. Remi, and so down the Rue des Apotres." + +"En avant, then!" cried Tranter shortly, and the whole assembly flocked +out into the open air, save only those whom the special orders of their +masters held to their posts. These unfortunates crowded to the small +casements, and craned their necks after the throng as far as they could +catch a glimpse of them. + +Close to the banks of the Garonne there lay a little tract of green +sward, with the high wall of a prior's garden upon one side and an +orchard with a thick bristle of leafless apple-trees upon the other. The +river ran deep and swift up to the steep bank; but there were few boats +upon it, and the ships were moored far out in the centre of the stream. +Here the two combatants drew their swords and threw off their doublets, +for neither had any defensive armor. The duello with its stately +etiquette had not yet come into vogue, but rough and sudden encounters +were as common as they must ever be when hot-headed youth goes abroad +with a weapon strapped to its waist. In such combats, as well as in +the more formal sports of the tilting-yard, Tranter had won a name for +strength and dexterity which had caused Norbury to utter his well-meant +warning. On the other hand, Alleyne had used his weapons in constant +exercise and practice on every day for many months, and being by nature +quick of eye and prompt of hand, he might pass now as no mean swordsman. +A strangely opposed pair they appeared as they approached each other: +Tranter dark and stout and stiff, with hairy chest and corded arms, +Alleyne a model of comeliness and grace, with his golden hair and his +skin as fair as a woman's. An unequal fight it seemed to most; but there +were a few, and they the most experienced, who saw something in the +youth's steady gray eye and wary step which left the issue open to +doubt. + +"Hold, sirs, hold!" cried Norbury, ere a blow had been struck. "This +gentleman hath a two-handed sword, a good foot longer than that of our +friend." + +"Take mine, Alleyne," said Ford. + +"Nay, friends," he answered, "I understand the weight and balance of +mine own. To work, sir, for our lord may need us at the abbey!" + +Tranter's great sword was indeed a mighty vantage in his favor. He stood +with his feet close together, his knees bent outwards, ready for a dash +inwards or a spring out. The weapon he held straight up in front of him +with blade erect, so that he might either bring it down with a swinging +blow, or by a turn of the heavy blade he might guard his own head and +body. A further protection lay in the broad and powerful guard which +crossed the hilt, and which was furnished with a deep and narrow notch, +in which an expert swordsman might catch his foeman's blade, and by +a quick turn of his wrist might snap it across. Alleyne, on the other +hand, must trust for his defence to his quick eye and active foot--for +his sword, though keen as a whetstone could make it, was of a light and +graceful build with a narrow, sloping pommel and a tapering steel. + +Tranter well knew his advantage and lost no time in putting it to use. +As his opponent walked towards him he suddenly bounded forward and sent +in a whistling cut which would have severed the other in twain had he +not sprung lightly back from it. So close was it that the point ripped +a gash in the jutting edge of his linen cyclas. Quick as a panther, +Alleyne sprang in with a thrust, but Tranter, who was as active as he +was strong, had already recovered himself and turned it aside with a +movement of his heavy blade. Again he whizzed in a blow which made the +spectators hold their breath, and again Alleyne very quickly and swiftly +slipped from under it, and sent back two lightning thrusts which the +other could scarce parry. So close were they to each other that Alleyne +had no time to spring back from the next cut, which beat down his sword +and grazed his forehead, sending the blood streaming into his eyes and +down his cheeks. He sprang out beyond sword sweep, and the pair stood +breathing heavily, while the crowd of young squires buzzed their +applause. + +"Bravely struck on both sides!" cried Roger Harcomb. "You have both +won honor from this meeting, and it would be sin and shame to let it go +further." + +"You have done enough, Edricson," said Norbury. + +"You have carried yourself well," cried several of the older squires. + +"For my part, I have no wish to slay this young man," said Tranter, +wiping his heated brow. + +"Does this gentleman crave my pardon for having used me despitefully?" +asked Alleyne. + +"Nay, not I." + +"Then stand on your guard, sir!" With a clatter and dash the two blades +met once more, Alleyne pressing in so as to keep within the full sweep +of the heavy blade, while Tranter as continually sprang back to have +space for one of his fatal cuts. A three-parts-parried blow drew blood +from Alleyne's left shoulder, but at the same moment he wounded Tranter +slightly upon the thigh. Next instant, however, his blade had slipped +into the fatal notch, there was a sharp cracking sound with a tinkling +upon the ground, and he found a splintered piece of steel fifteen inches +long was all that remained to him of his weapon. + +"Your life is in my hands!" cried Tranter, with a bitter smile. + +"Nay, nay, he makes submission!" broke in several squires. + +"Another sword!" cried Ford. + +"Nay, sir," said Harcomb, "that is not the custom." + +"Throw down your hilt, Edricson," cried Norbury. + +"Never!" said Alleyne. "Do you crave my pardon, sir?" + +"You are mad to ask it." + +"Then on guard again!" cried the young squire, and sprang in with a fire +and a fury which more than made up for the shortness of his weapon. It +had not escaped him that his opponent was breathing in short, hoarse +gasps, like a man who is dizzy with fatigue. Now was the time for the +purer living and the more agile limb to show their value. Back and back +gave Tranter, ever seeking time for a last cut. On and on came Alleyne, +his jagged point now at his foeman's face, now at his throat, now at +his chest, still stabbing and thrusting to pass the line of steel which +covered him. Yet his experienced foeman knew well that such efforts +could not be long sustained. Let him relax for one instant, and his +death-blow had come. Relax he must! Flesh and blood could not stand +the strain. Already the thrusts were less fierce, the foot less ready, +although there was no abatement of the spirit in the steady gray eyes. +Tranter, cunning and wary from years of fighting, knew that his chance +had come. He brushed aside the frail weapon which was opposed to him, +whirled up his great blade, sprang back to get the fairer sweep--and +vanished into the waters of the Garonne. + +So intent had the squires, both combatants and spectators, been on +the matter in hand, that all thought of the steep bank and swift still +stream had gone from their minds. It was not until Tranter, giving back +before the other's fiery rush, was upon the very brink, that a general +cry warned him of his danger. That last spring, which he hoped would +have brought the fight to a bloody end, carried him clear of the edge, +and he found himself in an instant eight feet deep in the ice-cold +stream. Once and twice his gasping face and clutching fingers broke up +through the still green water, sweeping outwards in the swirl of the +current. In vain were sword-sheaths, apple-branches and belts linked +together thrown out to him by his companions. Alleyne had dropped his +shattered sword and was standing, trembling in every limb, with his rage +all changed in an instant to pity. For the third time the drowning man +came to the surface, his hands full of green slimy water-plants, his +eyes turned in despair to the shore. Their glance fell upon Alleyne, +and he could not withstand the mute appeal which he read in them. In an +instant he, too, was in the Garonne, striking out with powerful strokes +for his late foeman. + +Yet the current was swift and strong, and, good swimmer as he was, it +was no easy task which Alleyne had set himself. To clutch at Tranter and +to seize him by the hair was the work of a few seconds, but to hold his +head above water and to make their way out of the current was another +matter. For a hundred strokes he did not seem to gain an inch. Then at +last, amid a shout of joy and praise from the bank, they slowly drew +clear into more stagnant water, at the instant that a rope, made of a +dozen sword-belts linked together by the buckles, was thrown by +Ford into their very hands. Three pulls from eager arms, and the two +combatants, dripping and pale, were dragged up the bank, and lay panting +upon the grass. + +John Tranter was the first to come to himself, for although he had been +longer in the water, he had done nothing during that fierce battle with +the current. He staggered to his feet and looked down upon his rescuer, +who had raised himself upon his elbow, and was smiling faintly at the +buzz of congratulation and of praise which broke from the squires around +him. + +"I am much beholden to you, sir," said Tranter, though in no very +friendly voice. "Certes, I should have been in the river now but for +you, for I was born in Warwickshire, which is but a dry county, and +there are few who swim in those parts." + +"I ask no thanks," Alleyne answered shortly. "Give me your hand to rise, +Ford." + +"The river has been my enemy," said Tranter, "but it hath been a good +friend to you, for it has saved your life this day." + +"That is as it may be," returned Alleyne. + +"But all is now well over," quoth Harcomb, "and no scath come of it, +which is more than I had at one time hoped for. Our young friend here +hath very fairly and honestly earned his right to be craftsman of +the Honorable Guild of the Squires of Bordeaux. Here is your doublet, +Tranter." + +"Alas for my poor sword which lies at the bottom of the Garonne!" said +the squire. + +"Here is your pourpoint, Edricson," cried Norbury. "Throw it over your +shoulders, that you may have at least one dry garment." + +"And now away back to the abbey!" said several. + +"One moment, sirs," cried Alleyne, who was leaning on Ford's shoulder, +with the broken sword, which he had picked up, still clutched in his +right hand. "My ears may be somewhat dulled by the water, and perchance +what has been said has escaped me, but I have not yet heard this +gentleman crave pardon for the insults which he put upon me in the +hall." + +"What! do you still pursue the quarrel?" asked Tranter. + +"And why not, sir? I am slow to take up such things, but once afoot I +shall follow it while I have life or breath." + +"Ma foi! you have not too much of either, for you are as white as +marble," said Harcomb bluntly. "Take my rede, sir, and let it drop, for +you have come very well out from it." + +"Nay," said Alleyne, "this quarrel is none of my making; but, now that I +am here, I swear to you that I shall never leave this spot until I have +that which I have come for: so ask my pardon, sir, or choose another +glaive and to it again." + +The young squire was deadly white from his exertions, both on the land +and in the water. Soaking and stained, with a smear of blood on his +white shoulder and another on his brow, there was still in his whole +pose and set of face the trace of an inflexible resolution. His +opponent's duller and more material mind quailed before the fire and +intensity of a higher spiritual nature. + +"I had not thought that you had taken it so amiss," said he awkwardly. +"It was but such a jest as we play upon each other, and, if you must +have it so, I am sorry for it." + +"Then I am sorry too," quoth Alleyne warmly, "and here is my hand upon +it." + +"And the none-meat horn has blown three times," quoth Harcomb, as they +all streamed in chattering groups from the ground. "I know not what the +prince's maitre-de-cuisine will say or think. By my troth! master Ford, +your friend here is in need of a cup of wine, for he hath drunk deeply +of Garonne water. I had not thought from his fair face that he had stood +to this matter so shrewdly." + +"Faith," said Ford, "this air of Bordeaux hath turned our turtle-dove +into a game-cock. A milder or more courteous youth never came out of +Hampshire." + +"His master also, as I understand, is a very mild and courteous +gentleman," remarked Harcomb; "yet I do not think that they are either +of them men with whom it is very safe to trifle." + + + +CHAPTER XXI. HOW AGOSTINO PISANO RISKED HIS HEAD. + + +Even the squires' table at the Abbey of St. Andrew's at Bordeaux was +on a very sumptuous scale while the prince held his court there. Here +first, after the meagre fare of Beaulieu and the stinted board of the +Lady Loring, Alleyne learned the lengths to which luxury and refinement +might be pushed. Roasted peacocks, with the feathers all carefully +replaced, so that the bird lay upon the dish even as it had strutted in +life, boars' heads with the tusks gilded and the mouth lined with silver +foil, jellies in the shape of the Twelve Apostles, and a great pasty +which formed an exact model of the king's new castle at Windsor--these +were a few of the strange dishes which faced him. An archer had brought +him a change of clothes from the cog, and he had already, with the +elasticity of youth, shaken off the troubles and fatigues of the +morning. A page from the inner banqueting-hall had come with word that +their master intended to drink wine at the lodgings of the Lord Chandos +that night, and that he desired his squires to sleep at the hotel of the +"Half Moon" on the Rue des Apotres. Thither then they both set out in +the twilight after the long course of juggling tricks and glee-singing +with which the principal meal was concluded. + +A thin rain was falling as the two youths, with their cloaks over their +heads, made their way on foot through the streets of the old town, +leaving their horses in the royal stables. An occasional oil lamp at the +corner of a street, or in the portico of some wealthy burgher, threw a +faint glimmer over the shining cobblestones, and the varied motley crowd +who, in spite of the weather, ebbed and flowed along every highway. In +those scattered circles of dim radiance might be seen the whole +busy panorama of life in a wealthy and martial city. Here passed the +round-faced burgher, swollen with prosperity, his sweeping dark-clothed +gaberdine, flat velvet cap, broad leather belt and dangling pouch all +speaking of comfort and of wealth. Behind him his serving wench, her +blue whimple over her head, and one hand thrust forth to bear the +lanthorn which threw a golden bar of light along her master's path. +Behind them a group of swaggering, half-drunken Yorkshire dalesmen, +speaking a dialect which their own southland countrymen could scarce +comprehend, their jerkins marked with the pelican, which showed that +they had come over in the train of the north-country Stapletons. The +burgher glanced back at their fierce faces and quickened his step, while +the girl pulled her whimple closer round her, for there was a meaning in +their wild eyes, as they stared at the purse and the maiden, which +men of all tongues could understand. Then came archers of the guard, +shrill-voiced women of the camp, English pages with their fair skins and +blue wondering eyes, dark-robed friars, lounging men-at-arms, swarthy +loud-tongued Gascon serving-men, seamen from the river, rude peasants +of the Medoc, and becloaked and befeathered squires of the court, all +jostling and pushing in an ever-changing, many-colored stream, while +English, French, Welsh, Basque, and the varied dialects of Gascony and +Guienne filled the air with their babel. From time to time the throng +would be burst asunder and a lady's horse-litter would trot past towards +the abbey, or there would come a knot of torch-bearing archers walking +in front of Gascon baron or English knight, as he sought his lodgings after +the palace revels. Clatter of hoofs, clinking of weapons, shouts from the +drunken brawlers, and high laughter of women, they all rose up, like +the mist from a marsh, out of the crowded streets of the dim-lit city. + +One couple out of the moving throng especially engaged the attention +of the two young squires, the more so as they were going in their own +direction and immediately in front of them. They consisted of a man and +a girl, the former very tall with rounded shoulders, a limp of one +foot, and a large flat object covered with dark cloth under his arm. +His companion was young and straight, with a quick, elastic step and +graceful bearing, though so swathed in a black mantle that little could +be seen of her face save a flash of dark eyes and a curve of raven hair. +The tall man leaned heavily upon her to take the weight off his tender +foot, while he held his burden betwixt himself and the wall, cuddling it +jealously to his side, and thrusting forward his young companion to act +as a buttress whenever the pressure of the crowd threatened to bear him +away. The evident anxiety of the man, the appearance of his attendant, +and the joint care with which they defended their concealed possession, +excited the interest of the two young Englishmen who walked within +hand-touch of them. + +"Courage, child!" they heard the tall man exclaim in strange hybrid +French. "If we can win another sixty paces we are safe." + +"Hold it safe, father," the other answered, in the same soft, mincing +dialect. "We have no cause for fear." + +"Verily, they are heathens and barbarians," cried the man; "mad, +howling, drunken barbarians! Forty more paces, Tita mia, and I swear to +the holy Eloi, patron of all learned craftsmen, that I will never set +foot over my door again until the whole swarm are safely hived in their +camp of Dax, or wherever else they curse with their presence. Twenty +more paces, my treasure! Ah, my God! how they push and brawl! Get +in their way, Tita mia! Put your little elbow bravely out! Set your +shoulders squarely against them, girl! Why should you give way to these +mad islanders? Ah, cospetto! we are ruined and destroyed!" + +The crowd had thickened in front, so that the lame man and the girl had +come to a stand. Several half-drunken English archers, attracted, as +the squires had been, by their singular appearance, were facing towards +them, and peering at them through the dim light. + +"By the three kings!" cried one, "here is an old dotard shrew to have +so goodly a crutch! Use the leg that God hath given you, man, and do not +bear so heavily upon the wench." + +"Twenty devils fly away with him!" shouted another. "What, how, man! +are brave archers to go maidless while an old man uses one as a +walking-staff?" + +"Come with me, my honey-bird!" cried a third, plucking at the girl's +mantle. + +"Nay, with me, my heart's desire!" said the first. "By St. George! our +life is short, and we should be merry while we may. May I never see +Chester Bridge again, if she is not a right winsome lass!" + +"What hath the old toad under his arm?" cried one of the others. "He +hugs it to him as the devil hugged the pardoner." + +"Let us see, old bag of bones; let us see what it is that you have +under your arm!" They crowded in upon him, while he, ignorant of their +language, could but clutch the girl with one hand and the parcel with +the other, looking wildly about in search of help. + +"Nay, lads, nay!" cried Ford, pushing back the nearest archer. "This +is but scurvy conduct. Keep your hands off, or it will be the worse for +you." + +"Keep your tongue still, or it will be the worse for you," shouted the +most drunken of the archers. "Who are you to spoil sport?" + +"A raw squire, new landed," said another. "By St. Thomas of Kent! we are +at the beck of our master, but we are not to be ordered by every babe +whose mother hath sent him as far as Aquitaine." + +"Oh, gentlemen," cried the girl in broken French, "for dear Christ's +sake stand by us, and do not let these terrible men do us an injury." + +"Have no fears, lady," Alleyne answered. "We shall see that all is +well with you. Take your hand from the girl's wrist, you north-country +rogue!" + +"Hold to her, Wat!" said a great black-bearded man-at-arms, whose steel +breast-plate glimmered in the dusk. "Keep your hands from your bodkins, +you two, for that was my trade before you were born, and, by God's soul! +I will drive a handful of steel through you if you move a finger." + +"Thank God!" said Alleyne suddenly, as he spied in the lamp-light a +shock of blazing red hair which fringed a steel cap high above the heads +of the crowd. "Here is John, and Aylward, too! Help us, comrades, for +there is wrong being done to this maid and to the old man." + +"Hola, mon petit," said the old bowman, pushing his way through the +crowd, with the huge forester at his heels. "What is all this, then? +By the twang of string! I think that you will have some work upon your +hands if you are to right all the wrongs that you may see upon this side +of the water. It is not to be thought that a troop of bowmen, with the +wine buzzing in their ears, will be as soft-spoken as so many young +clerks in an orchard. When you have been a year with the Company +you will think less of such matters. But what is amiss here? The +provost-marshal with his archers is coming this way, and some of you may +find yourselves in the stretch-neck, if you take not heed." + +"Why, it is old Sam Aylward of the White Company!" shouted the +man-at-arms. "Why, Samkin, what hath come upon thee? I can call to mind +the day when you were as roaring a blade as ever called himself a free +companion. By my soul! from Limoges to Navarre, who was there who would +kiss a wench or cut a throat as readily as bowman Aylward of Hawkwood's +company?" + +"Like enough, Peter," said Aylward, "and, by my hilt! I may not have +changed so much. But it was ever a fair loose and a clear mark with me. +The wench must be willing, or the man must be standing up against me, +else, by these ten finger bones! either were safe enough for me." + +A glance at Aylward's resolute face, and at the huge shoulders of Hordle +John, had convinced the archers that there was little to be got by +violence. The girl and the old man began to shuffle on in the crowd +without their tormentors venturing to stop them. Ford and Alleyne +followed slowly behind them, but Aylward caught the latter by the +shoulder. + +"By my hilt! camarade," said he, "I hear that you have done great things +at the Abbey to-day, but I pray you to have a care, for it was I who +brought you into the Company, and it would be a black day for me if +aught were to befall you." + +"Nay, Aylward, I will have a care." + +"Thrust not forward into danger too much, mon petit. In a little time +your wrist will be stronger and your cut more shrewd. There will be some +of us at the 'Rose de Guienne' to-night, which is two doors from the +hotel of the 'Half Moon,' so if you would drain a cup with a few simple +archers you will be right welcome." + +Alleyne promised to be there if his duties would allow, and then, +slipping through the crowd, he rejoined Ford, who was standing in talk +with the two strangers, who had now reached their own doorstep. + +"Brave young signor," cried the tall man, throwing his arms round +Alleyne, "how can we thank you enough for taking our parts against those +horrible drunken barbarians. What should we have done without you? My +Tita would have been dragged away, and my head would have been shivered +into a thousand fragments." + +"Nay, I scarce think that they would have mishandled you so," said +Alleyne in surprise. + +"Ho, ho!" cried he with a high crowing laugh, "it is not the head upon +my shoulders that I think of. Cospetto! no. It is the head under my arm +which you have preserved." + +"Perhaps the signori would deign to come under our roof, father," said +the maiden. "If we bide here, who knows that some fresh tumult may not +break out." + +"Well said, Tita! Well said, my girl! I pray you, sirs, to honor my +unworthy roof so far. A light, Giacomo! There are five steps up. Now +two more. So! Here we are at last in safety. Corpo di Bacco! I would +not have given ten maravedi for my head when those children of the devil +were pushing us against the wall. Tita mia, you have been a brave girl, +and it was better that you should be pulled and pushed than that my head +should be broken." + +"Yes indeed, father," said she earnestly. + +"But those English! Ach! Take a Goth, a Hun, and a Vandal, mix them +together and add a Barbary rover; then take this creature and make him +drunk--and you have an Englishman. My God! were ever such people upon +earth! What place is free from them? I hear that they swarm in Italy +even as they swarm here. Everywhere you will find them, except in +heaven." + +"Dear father," cried Tita, still supporting the angry old man, as he +limped up the curved oaken stair. "You must not forget that these good +signori who have preserved us are also English." + +"Ah, yes. My pardon, sirs! Come into my rooms here. There are some who +might find some pleasure in these paintings, but I learn the art of war +is the only art which is held in honor in your island." + +The low-roofed, oak-panelled room into which he conducted them was +brilliantly lit by four scented oil lamps. Against the walls, upon the +table, on the floor, and in every part of the chamber were great sheets +of glass painted in the most brilliant colors. Ford and Edricson gazed +around them in amazement, for never had they seen such magnificent works +of art. + +"You like them then," the lame artist cried, in answer to the look of +pleasure and of surprise in their faces. "There are then some of you who +have a taste for such trifling." + +"I could not have believed it," exclaimed Alleyne. "What color! What +outlines! See to this martyrdom of the holy Stephen, Ford. Could you not +yourself pick up one of these stones which lie to the hand of the wicked +murtherers?" + +"And see this stag, Alleyne, with the cross betwixt its horns. By my +faith! I have never seen a better one at the Forest of Bere." + +"And the green of this grass--how bright and clear! Why all the painting +that I have seen is but child's play beside this. This worthy gentleman +must be one of those great painters of whom I have oft heard brother +Bartholomew speak in the old days at Beaulieu." + +The dark mobile face of the artist shone with pleasure at the unaffected +delight of the two young Englishmen. His daughter had thrown off her +mantle and disclosed a face of the finest and most delicate Italian +beauty, which soon drew Ford's eyes from the pictures in front of him. +Alleyne, however, continued with little cries of admiration and of +wonderment to turn from the walls to the table and yet again to the +walls. + +"What think you of this, young sir?" asked the painter, tearing off the +cloth which concealed the flat object which he had borne beneath his +arm. It was a leaf-shaped sheet of glass bearing upon it a face with a +halo round it, so delicately outlined, and of so perfect a tint, that it +might have been indeed a human face which gazed with sad and thoughtful +eyes upon the young squire. He clapped his hands, with that thrill of +joy which true art will ever give to a true artist. + +"It is great!" he cried. "It is wonderful! But I marvel, sir, that you +should have risked a work of such beauty and value by bearing it at +night through so unruly a crowd." + +"I have indeed been rash," said the artist. "Some wine, Tita, from the +Florence flask! Had it not been for you, I tremble to think of what +might have come of it. See to the skin tint: it is not to be replaced, +for paint as you will, it is not once in a hundred times that it is not +either burned too brown in the furnace or else the color will not hold, +and you get but a sickly white. There you can see the very veins and the +throb of the blood. Yes, diavolo! if it had broken, my heart would have +broken too. It is for the choir window in the church of St. Remi, and +we had gone, my little helper and I, to see if it was indeed of the size +for the stonework. Night had fallen ere we finished, and what could we +do save carry it home as best we might? But you, young sir, you speak as +if you too knew something of the art." + +"So little that I scarce dare speak of it in your presence," Alleyne +answered. "I have been cloister-bred, and it was no very great matter to +handle the brush better than my brother novices." + +"There are pigments, brush, and paper," said the old artist. "I do not +give you glass, for that is another matter, and takes much skill in the +mixing of colors. Now I pray you to show me a touch of your art. I thank +you, Tita! The Venetian glasses, cara mia, and fill them to the brim. A +seat, signor!" + +While Ford, in his English-French, was conversing with Tita in her +Italian-French, the old man was carefully examining his precious head to +see that no scratch had been left upon its surface. When he glanced up +again, Alleyne had, with a few bold strokes of the brush, tinted in a +woman's face and neck upon the white sheet in front of him. + +"Diavolo!" exclaimed the old artist, standing with his head on one side, +"you have power; yes, cospetto! you have power, it is the face of an +angel!" + +"It is the face of the Lady Maude Loring!" cried Ford, even more +astonished. + +"Why, on my faith, it is not unlike her!" said Alleyne, in some +confusion. + +"Ah! a portrait! So much the better. Young man, I am Agostino Pisano, +the son of Andrea Pisano, and I say again that you have power. Further, +I say, that, if you will stay with me, I will teach you all the secrets +of the glass-stainers' mystery: the pigments and their thickening, +which will fuse into the glass and which will not, the furnace and the +glazing--every trick and method you shall know." + +"I would be right glad to study under such a master," said Alleyne; "but +I am sworn to follow my lord whilst this war lasts." + +"War! war!" cried the old Italian. "Ever this talk of war. And the men +that you hold to be great--what are they? Have I not heard their names? +Soldiers, butchers, destroyers! Ah, per Bacco! we have men in Italy who +are in very truth great. You pull down, you despoil; but they build up, +they restore. Ah, if you could but see my own dear Pisa, the Duomo, the +cloisters of Campo Santo, the high Campanile, with the mellow throb of +her bells upon the warm Italian air! Those are the works of great men. +And I have seen them with my own eyes, these very eyes which look upon +you. I have seen Andrea Orcagna, Taddeo Gaddi, Giottino, Stefano, Simone +Memmi--men whose very colors I am not worthy to mix. And I have seen the +aged Giotto, and he in turn was pupil to Cimabue, before whom there was +no art in Italy, for the Greeks were brought to paint the chapel of the +Gondi at Florence. Ah, signori, there are the real great men whose names +will be held in honor when your soldiers are shown to have been the +enemies of humankind." + +"Faith, sir," said Ford, "there is something to say for the soldiers +also, for, unless they be defended, how are all these gentlemen whom you +have mentioned to preserve the pictures which they have painted?" + +"And all these!" said Alleyne. "Have you indeed done them all?--and +where are they to go?" + +"Yes, signor, they are all from my hand. Some are, as you see, upon one +sheet, and some are in many pieces which may fasten together. There are +some who do but paint upon the glass, and then, by placing another sheet +of glass upon the top and fastening it, they keep the air from their +painting. Yet I hold that the true art of my craft lies as much in the +furnace as in the brush. See this rose window, which is from the model +of the Church of the Holy Trinity at Vendome, and this other of the +'Finding of the Grail,' which is for the apse of the Abbey church. Time +was when none but my countrymen could do these things; but there is +Clement of Chartres and others in France who are very worthy workmen. +But, ah! there is that ever shrieking brazen tongue which will not let +us forget for one short hour that it is the arm of the savage, and not +the hand of the master, which rules over the world." + +A stern, clear bugle call had sounded close at hand to summon some +following together for the night. + +"It is a sign to us as well," said Ford. "I would fain stay here forever +amid all these beautiful things--" staring hard at the blushing Tita as +he spoke--"but we must be back at our lord's hostel ere he reach it." +Amid renewed thanks and with promises to come again, the two squires +bade their leave of the old Italian glass-stainer and his daughter. The +streets were clearer now, and the rain had stopped, so they made their +way quickly from the Rue du Roi, in which their new friends dwelt, to +the Rue des Apotres, where the hostel of the "Half Moon" was situated. + + + +CHAPTER XXII. HOW THE BOWMEN HELD WASSAIL AT THE "ROSE DE GUIENNE." + + +"Mon Dieu! Alleyne, saw you ever so lovely a face?" cried Ford as they +hurried along together. "So pure, so peaceful, and so beautiful!" + +"In sooth, yes. And the hue of the skin the most perfect that ever I +saw. Marked you also how the hair curled round the brow? It was wonder +fine." + +"Those eyes, too!" cried Ford. "How clear and how tender--simple, and +yet so full of thought!" + +"If there was a weakness it was in the chin," said Alleyne. + +"Nay. I saw none." + +"It was well curved, it is true." + +"Most daintily so." + +"And yet----" + +"What then, Alleyne? Wouldst find flaw in the sun?" + +"Well, bethink you, Ford, would not more power and expression have been +put into the face by a long and noble beard?" + +"Holy Virgin!" cried Ford, "the man is mad. A beard on the face of +little Tita!" + +"Tita! Who spoke of Tita?" + +"Who spoke of aught else?" + +"It was the picture of St. Remi, man, of which I have been discoursing." + +"You are indeed," cried Ford, laughing, "a Goth, Hun, and Vandal, with +all the other hard names which the old man called us. How could you +think so much of a smear of pigments, when there was such a picture +painted by the good God himself in the very room with you? But who is +this?" + +"If it please you, sirs," said an archer, running across to them, +"Aylward and others would be right glad to see you. They are within +here. He bade me say to you that the Lord Loring will not need your +service to-night, as he sleeps with the Lord Chandos." + +"By my faith!" said Ford, "we do not need a guide to lead us to their +presence." As he spoke there came a roar of singing from the tavern upon +the right, with shouts of laughter and stamping of feet. Passing under +a low door, and down a stone-flagged passage, they found themselves in a +long narrow hall lit up by a pair of blazing torches, one at either end. +Trusses of straw had been thrown down along the walls, and reclining on +them were some twenty or thirty archers, all of the Company, their +steel caps and jacks thrown off, their tunics open and their great limbs +sprawling upon the clay floor. At every man's elbow stood his leathern +blackjack of beer, while at the further end a hogshead with its end +knocked in promised an abundant supply for the future. Behind the +hogshead, on a half circle of kegs, boxes, and rude settles, sat +Aylward, John, Black Simon and three or four other leading men of the +archers, together with Goodwin Hawtayne, the master-shipman, who had +left his yellow cog in the river to have a last rouse with his friends +of the Company. Ford and Alleyne took their seats between Aylward and +Black Simon, without their entrance checking in any degree the hubbub +which was going on. + +"Ale, mes camarades?" cried the bowman, "or shall it be wine? Nay, +but ye must have the one or the other. Here, Jacques, thou limb of the +devil, bring a bottrine of the oldest vernage, and see that you do not +shake it. Hast heard the news?" + +"Nay," cried both the squires. + +"That we are to have a brave tourney." + +"A tourney?" + +"Aye, lads. For the Captal du Buch hath sworn that he will find +five knights from this side of the water who will ride over any five +Englishmen who ever threw leg over saddle; and Chandos hath taken up the +challenge, and the prince hath promised a golden vase for the man who +carries himself best, and all the court is in a buzz over it." + +"Why should the knights have all the sport?" growled Hordle John. "Could +they not set up five archers for the honor of Aquitaine and of Gascony?" + +"Or five men-at-arms," said Black Simon. + +"But who are the English knights?" asked Hawtayne. + +"There are three hundred and forty-one in the town," said Aylward, "and +I hear that three hundred and forty cartels and defiances have already +been sent in, the only one missing being Sir John Ravensholme, who is in +his bed with the sweating sickness, and cannot set foot to ground." + +"I have heard of it from one of the archers of the guard," cried a +bowman from among the straw; "I hear that the prince wished to break a +lance, but that Chandos would not hear of it, for the game is likely to +be a rough one." + +"Then there is Chandos." + +"Nay, the prince would not permit it. He is to be marshal of the lists, +with Sir William Felton and the Duc d'Armagnac. The English will be the +Lord Audley, Sir Thomas Percy, Sir Thomas Wake, Sir William Beauchamp, +and our own very good lord and leader." + +"Hurrah for him, and God be with him!" cried several. "It is honor to +draw string in his service." + +"So you may well say," said Aylward. "By my ten finger-bones! if you +march behind the pennon of the five roses you are like to see all that a +good bowman would wish to see. Ha! yes, mes garcons, you laugh, but, by +my hilt! you may not laugh when you find yourselves where he will take +you, for you can never tell what strange vow he may not have sworn to. I +see that he has a patch over his eye, even as he had at Poictiers. There +will come bloodshed of that patch, or I am the more mistaken." + +"How chanced it at Poictiers, good Master Aylward?" asked one of the +young archers, leaning upon his elbows, with his eyes fixed respectfully +upon the old bowman's rugged face. + +"Aye, Aylward, tell us of it," cried Hordle John. + +"Here is to old Samkin Aylward!" shouted several at the further end of +the room, waving their blackjacks in the air. + +"Ask him!" said Aylward modestly, nodding towards Black Simon. "He saw +more than I did. And yet, by the holy nails! there was not very much +that I did not see either." + +"Ah, yes," said Simon, shaking his head, "it was a great day. I never +hope to see such another. There were some fine archers who drew their +last shaft that day. We shall never see better men, Aylward." + +"By my hilt! no. There was little Robby Withstaff, and Andrew +Salblaster, and Wat Alspaye, who broke the neck of the German. Mon Dieu! +what men they were! Take them how you would, at long butts or short, +hoyles, rounds, or rovers, better bowmen never twirled a shaft over +their thumb-nails." + +"But the fight, Aylward, the fight!" cried several impatiently. + +"Let me fill my jack first, boys, for it is a thirsty tale. It was at +the first fall of the leaf that the prince set forth, and he passed +through Auvergne, and Berry, and Anjou, and Touraine. In Auvergne the +maids are kind, but the wines are sour. In Berry it is the women that +are sour, but the wines are rich. Anjou, however, is a very good +land for bowmen, for wine and women are all that heart could wish. In +Touraine I got nothing save a broken pate, but at Vierzon I had a great +good fortune, for I had a golden pyx from the minster, for which I +afterwards got nine Genoan janes from the goldsmith in the Rue +Mont Olive. From thence we went to Bourges, where I had a tunic of +flame-colored silk and a very fine pair of shoes with tassels of silk +and drops of silver." + +"From a stall, Aylward?" asked one of the young archers. + +"Nay, from a man's feet, lad. I had reason to think that he might not +need them again, seeing that a thirty-inch shaft had feathered in his +back." + +"And what then, Aylward?" + +"On we went, coz, some six thousand of us, until we came to Issodun, and +there again a very great thing befell." + +"A battle, Aylward?" + +"Nay, nay; a greater thing than that. There is little to be gained out +of a battle, unless one have the fortune to win a ransom. At Issodun I +and three Welshmen came upon a house which all others had passed, and +we had the profit of it to ourselves. For myself, I had a fine +feather-bed--a thing which you will not see in a long day's journey in +England. You have seen it, Alleyne, and you, John. You will bear me out +that it is a noble bed. We put it on a sutler's mule, and bore it after +the army. It was on my mind that I would lay it by until I came to +start house of mine own, and I have it now in a very safe place near +Lyndhurst." + +"And what then, master-bowman?" asked Hawtayne. "By St. Christopher! it +is indeed a fair and goodly life which you have chosen, for you gather +up the spoil as a Warsash man gathers lobsters, without grace or favor +from any man." + +"You are right, master-shipman," said another of the older archers. +"It is an old bowyer's rede that the second feather of a fenny goose is +better than the pinion of a tame one. Draw on old lad, for I have come +between you and the clout." + +"On we went then," said Aylward, after a long pull at his blackjack. +"There were some six thousand of us, with the prince and his knights, +and the feather-bed upon a sutler's mule in the centre. We made great +havoc in Touraine, until we came into Romorantin, where I chanced upon +a gold chain and two bracelets of jasper, which were stolen from me the +same day by a black-eyed wench from the Ardennes. Mon Dieu! there are +some folk who have no fear of Domesday in them, and no sign of grace in +their souls, for ever clutching and clawing at another man's chattels." + +"But the battle, Aylward, the battle!" cried several, amid a burst of +laughter. + +"I come to it, my young war-pups. Well, then, the King of France had +followed us with fifty thousand men, and he made great haste to catch +us, but when he had us he scarce knew what to do with us, for we were +so drawn up among hedges and vineyards that they could not come nigh us, +save by one lane. On both sides were archers, men-at-arms and knights +behind, and in the centre the baggage, with my feather-bed upon a +sutler's mule. Three hundred chosen knights came straight for it, and, +indeed, they were very brave men, but such a drift of arrows met them +that few came back. Then came the Germans, and they also fought very +bravely, so that one or two broke through the archers and came as far +as the feather-bed, but all to no purpose. Then out rides our own little +hothead with the patch over his eye, and my Lord Audley with his four +Cheshire squires, and a few others of like kidney, and after them went +the prince and Chandos, and then the whole throng of us, with axe and +sword, for we had shot away our arrows. Ma foi! it was a foolish thing, +for we came forth from the hedges, and there was naught to guard the +baggage had they ridden round behind us. But all went well with us, and +the king was taken, and little Robby Withstaff and I fell in with a wain +with twelve firkins of wine for the king's own table, and, by my hilt! +if you ask me what happened after that, I cannot answer you, nor can +little Robby Withstaff either." + +"And next day?" + +"By my faith! we did not tarry long, but we hied back to Bordeaux, where +we came in safety with the King of France and also the feather-bed. I +sold my spoil, mes garcons, for as many gold-pieces as I could hold in +my hufken, and for seven days I lit twelve wax candles upon the altar of +St. Andrew; for if you forget the blessed when things are well with you, +they are very likely to forget you when you have need of them. I have a +score of one hundred and nineteen pounds of wax against the holy Andrew, +and, as he was a very just man, I doubt not that I shall have full weigh +and measure when I have most need of it." + +"Tell me, master Aylward," cried a young fresh-faced archer at the +further end of the room, "what was this great battle about?" + +"Why, you jack-fool, what would it be about save who should wear the +crown of France?" + +"I thought that mayhap it might be as to who should have this +feather-bed of thine." + +"If I come down to you, Silas, I may lay my belt across your shoulders," +Aylward answered, amid a general shout of laughter. "But it is time +young chickens went to roost when they dare cackle against their elders. +It is late, Simon." + +"Nay, let us have another song." + +"Here is Arnold of Sowley will troll as good a stave as any man in the +Company." + +"Nay, we have one here who is second to none," said Hawtayne, laying his +hand upon big John's shoulder. "I have heard him on the cog with a voice +like the wave upon the shore. I pray you, friend, to give us 'The Bells +of Milton,' or, if you will, 'The Franklin's Maid.'" + +Hordle John drew the back of his hand across his mouth, fixed his eyes +upon the corner of the ceiling, and bellowed forth, in a voice which +made the torches flicker, the southland ballad for which he had been +asked:-- + + The franklin he hath gone to roam, + The franklin's maid she bides at home, + But she is cold and coy and staid, + And who may win the franklin's maid? + + There came a knight of high renown + In bassinet and ciclatoun; + On bended knee full long he prayed, + He might not win the franklin's maid. + + There came a squire so debonair + His dress was rich, his words were fair, + He sweetly sang, he deftly played: + He could not win the franklin's maid. + + There came a mercer wonder-fine + With velvet cap and gaberdine; + For all his ships, for all his trade + He could not buy the franklin's maid. + + There came an archer bold and true, + With bracer guard and stave of yew; + His purse was light, his jerkin frayed; + Haro, alas! the franklin's maid! + + Oh, some have laughed and some have cried + And some have scoured the country-side! + But off they ride through wood and glade, + The bowman and the franklin's maid. + +A roar of delight from his audience, with stamping of feet and beating +of blackjacks against the ground, showed how thoroughly the song was +to their taste, while John modestly retired into a quart pot, which he +drained in four giant gulps. "I sang that ditty in Hordle ale-house ere +I ever thought to be an archer myself," quoth he. + +"Fill up your stoups!" cried Black Simon, thrusting his own goblet into +the open hogshead in front of him. "Here is a last cup to the White +Company, and every brave boy who walks behind the roses of Loring!" + +"To the wood, the flax, and the gander's wing!" said an old gray-headed +archer on the right. + +"To a gentle loose, and the King of Spain for a mark at fourteen score!" +cried another. + +"To a bloody war!" shouted a fourth. "Many to go and few to come!" + +"With the most gold to the best steel!" added a fifth. + +"And a last cup to the maids of our heart!" cried Aylward. "A steady +hand and a true eye, boys; so let two quarts be a bowman's portion." +With shout and jest and snatch of song they streamed from the room, and +all was peaceful once more in the "Rose de Guienne." + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. HOW ENGLAND HELD THE LISTS AT BORDEAUX. So used were the +good burghers of Bordeaux to martial display and knightly sport, that an +ordinary joust or tournament was an everyday matter with them. The fame +and brilliancy of the prince's court had drawn the knights-errant and +pursuivants-of-arms from every part of Europe. In the long lists by the +Garonne on the landward side of the northern gate there had been many a +strange combat, when the Teutonic knight, fresh from the conquest of the +Prussian heathen, ran a course against the knight of Calatrava, hardened +by continual struggle against the Moors, or cavaliers from Portugal +broke a lance with Scandinavian warriors from the further shore of the +great Northern Ocean. Here fluttered many an outland pennon, bearing +symbol and blazonry from the banks of the Danube, the wilds of Lithuania +and the mountain strongholds of Hungary; for chivalry was of no clime +and of no race, nor was any land so wild that the fame and name of the +prince had not sounded through it from border to border. + +Great, however, was the excitement through town and district when it +was learned that on the third Wednesday in Advent there would be held +a passage-at-arms in which five knights of England would hold the lists +against all comers. The great concourse of noblemen and famous soldiers, +the national character of the contest, and the fact that this was a last +trial of arms before what promised to be an arduous and bloody war, +all united to make the event one of the most notable and brilliant that +Bordeaux had ever seen. On the eve of the contest the peasants flocked +in from the whole district of the Medoc, and the fields beyond the walls +were whitened with the tents of those who could find no warmer lodging. +From the distant camp of Dax, too, and from Blaye, Bourge, Libourne, St. +Emilion, Castillon, St. Macaire, Cardillac, Ryons, and all the cluster +of flourishing towns which look upon Bordeaux as their mother, there +thronged an unceasing stream of horsemen and of footmen, all converging +upon the great city. By the morning of the day on which the courses were +to be run, not less than eighty people had assembled round the lists +and along the low grassy ridge which looks down upon the scene of the +encounter. + +It was, as may well be imagined, no easy matter among so many noted +cavaliers to choose out five on either side who should have precedence +over their fellows. A score of secondary combats had nearly arisen from +the rivalries and bad blood created by the selection, and it was only +the influence of the prince and the efforts of the older barons which +kept the peace among so many eager and fiery soldiers. Not till the day +before the courses were the shields finally hung out for the inspection +of the ladies and the heralds, so that all men might know the names +of the champions and have the opportunity to prefer any charge against +them, should there be stain upon them which should disqualify them from +taking part in so noble and honorable a ceremony. + +Sir Hugh Calverley and Sir Robert Knolles had not yet returned from +their raid into the marches of the Navarre, so that the English party +were deprived of two of their most famous lances. Yet there remained so +many good names that Chandos and Felton, to whom the selection had been +referred, had many an earnest consultation, in which every feat of +arms and failure or success of each candidate was weighed and balanced +against the rival claims of his companions. Lord Audley of Cheshire, +the hero of Poictiers, and Loring of Hampshire, who was held to be the +second lance in the army, were easily fixed upon. Then, of the younger +men, Sir Thomas Percy of Northumberland, Sir Thomas Wake of Yorkshire, +and Sir William Beauchamp of Gloucestershire, were finally selected to +uphold the honor of England. On the other side were the veteran Captal +de Buch and the brawny Olivier de Clisson, with the free companion +Sir Perducas d'Albret, the valiant Lord of Mucident, and Sigismond von +Altenstadt, of the Teutonic Order. The older soldiers among the English +shook their heads as they looked upon the escutcheons of these famous +warriors, for they were all men who had spent their lives upon the +saddle, and bravery and strength can avail little against experience and +wisdom of war. + +"By my faith! Sir John," said the prince as he rode through the winding +streets on his way to the list, "I should have been glad to have +splintered a lance to-day. You have seen me hold a spear since I had +strength to lift one, and should know best whether I do not merit a +place among this honorable company." + +"There is no better seat and no truer lance, sire," said Chandos; "but, +if I may say so without fear of offence, it were not fitting that you +should join in this debate." + +"And why, Sir John?" + +"Because, sire, it is not for you to take part with Gascons against +English, or with English against Gascons, seeing that you are lord of +both. We are not too well loved by the Gascons now, and it is but the +golden link of your princely coronet which holds us together. If that be +snapped I know not what would follow." + +"Snapped, Sir John!" cried the prince, with an angry sparkle in his dark +eyes. "What manner of talk is this? You speak as though the allegiance +of our people were a thing which might be thrown off or on like a +falcon's jessel." + +"With a sorry hack one uses whip and spur, sire," said Chandos; "but +with a horse of blood and spirit a good cavalier is gentle and soothing, +coaxing rather than forcing. These folk are strange people, and you must +hold their love, even as you have it now, for you will get from their +kindness what all the pennons in your army could not wring from them." + +"You are over-grave to-day, John," the prince answered. "We may keep +such questions for our council-chamber. But how now, my brothers of +Spain, and of Majorca, what think you of this challenge?" + +"I look to see some handsome joisting," said Don Pedro, who rode with +the King of Majorca upon the right of the prince, while Chandos was on +the left. "By St. James of Compostella! but these burghers would bear +some taxing. See to the broadcloth and velvet that the rogues bear upon +their backs! By my troth! if they were my subjects they would be glad +enough to wear falding and leather ere I had done with them. But mayhap +it is best to let the wool grow long ere you clip it." + +"It is our pride," the prince answered coldly, "that we rule over +freemen and not slaves." + +"Every man to his own humor," said Pedro carelessly. "Carajo! there is a +sweet face at yonder window! Don Fernando, I pray you to mark the house, +and to have the maid brought to us at the abbey." + +"Nay, brother, nay!" cried the prince impatiently. "I have had occasion +to tell you more than once that things are not ordered in this way in +Aquitaine." + +"A thousand pardons, dear friend," the Spaniard answered quickly, for a +flush of anger had sprung to the dark cheek of the English prince. "You +make my exile so like a home that I forget at times that I am not in +very truth back in Castile. Every land hath indeed its ways and manners; +but I promise you, Edward, that when you are my guest in Toledo or +Madrid you shall not yearn in vain for any commoner's daughter on whom +you may deign to cast your eye." + +"Your talk, sire," said the prince still more coldly, "is not such as +I love to hear from your lips. I have no taste for such amours as you +speak of, and I have sworn that my name shall be coupled with that of no +woman save my ever dear wife." + +"Ever the mirror of true chivalry!" exclaimed Pedro, while James of +Majorca, frightened at the stern countenance of their all-powerful +protector, plucked hard at the mantle of his brother exile. + +"Have a care, cousin," he whispered; "for the sake of the Virgin have a +care, for you have angered him." + +"Pshaw! fear not," the other answered in the same low tone. "If I miss +one stoop I will strike him on the next. Mark me else. Fair cousin," he +continued, turning to the prince, "these be rare men-at-arms and lusty +bowmen. It would be hard indeed to match them." + +"They have journeyed far, sire, but they have never yet found their +match." + +"Nor ever will, I doubt not. I feel myself to be back upon my throne +when I look at them. But tell me, dear coz, what shall we do next, +when we have driven this bastard Henry from the kingdom which he hath +filched?" + +"We shall then compel the King of Aragon to place our good friend and +brother James of Majorca upon the throne." + +"Noble and generous prince!" cried the little monarch. + +"That done," said King Pedro, glancing out of the corners of his eyes +at the young conqueror, "we shall unite the forces of England, of +Aquitaine, of Spain and of Majorca. It would be shame to us if we did +not do some great deed with such forces ready to our hand." + +"You say truly, brother," cried the prince, his eyes kindling at the +thought. "Methinks that we could not do anything more pleasing to Our +Lady than to drive the heathen Moors out of the country." + +"I am with you, Edward, as true as hilt to blade. But, by St. James! +we shall not let these Moors make mock at us from over the sea. We must +take ship and thrust them from Africa." + +"By heaven, yes!" cried the prince. "And it is the dream of my heart +that our English pennons shall wave upon the Mount of Olives, and the +lions and lilies float over the holy city." + +"And why not, dear coz? Your bowmen have cleared a path to Paris, and +why not to Jerusalem? Once there, your arms might rest." + +"Nay, there is more to be done," cried the prince, carried away by the +ambitious dream. "There is still the city of Constantine to be taken, +and war to be waged against the Soldan of Damascus. And beyond him again +there is tribute to be levied from the Cham of Tartary and from the +kingdom of Cathay. Ha! John, what say you? Can we not go as far eastward +as Richard of the Lion Heart?" + +"Old John will bide at home, sire," said the rugged soldier. "By my +soul! as long as I am seneschal of Aquitaine I will find enough to do +in guarding the marches which you have entrusted to me. It would be +a blithe day for the King of France when he heard that the seas lay +between him and us." + +"By my soul! John," said the prince, "I have never known you turn +laggard before." + +"The babbling hound, sire, is not always the first at the mort," the old +knight answered. + +"Nay, my true-heart! I have tried you too often not to know. But, by my +soul! I have not seen so dense a throng since the day that we brought +King John down Cheapside." + +It was indeed an enormous crowd which covered the whole vast plain from +the line of vineyards to the river bank. From the northern gate the +prince and his companions looked down at a dark sea of heads, brightened +here and there by the colored hoods of the women, or by the sparkling +head-pieces of archers and men-at-arms. In the centre of this vast +assemblage the lists seemed but a narrow strip of green marked out with +banners and streamers, while a gleam of white with a flutter of pennons +at either end showed where the marquees were pitched which served as the +dressing-rooms of the combatants. A path had been staked off from the +city gate to the stands which had been erected for the court and the +nobility. Down this, amid the shouts of the enormous multitude, the +prince cantered with his two attendant kings, his high officers of +state, and his long train of lords and ladies, courtiers, counsellors, +and soldiers, with toss of plume and flash of jewel, sheen of silk and +glint of gold--as rich and gallant a show as heart could wish. The head +of the cavalcade had reached the lists ere the rear had come clear of +the city gate, for the fairest and the bravest had assembled from all +the broad lands which are watered by the Dordogne and the Garonne. Here +rode dark-browed cavaliers from the sunny south, fiery soldiers from +Gascony, graceful courtiers of Limousin or Saintonge, and gallant young +Englishmen from beyond the seas. Here too were the beautiful brunettes +of the Gironde, with eyes which out-flashed their jewels, while beside +them rode their blonde sisters of England, clear cut and aquiline, +swathed in swans'-down and in ermine, for the air was biting though +the sun was bright. Slowly the long and glittering train wound into the +lists, until every horse had been tethered by the varlets in waiting, +and every lord and lady seated in the long stands which stretched, rich +in tapestry and velvet and blazoned arms, on either side of the centre +of the arena. + +The holders of the lists occupied the end which was nearest to the city +gate. There, in front of their respective pavilions, flew the martlets +of Audley, the roses of Loring, the scarlet bars of Wake, the lion of +the Percies and the silver wings of the Beauchamps, each supported by +a squire clad in hanging green stuff to represent so many Tritons, and +bearing a huge conch-shell in their left hands. Behind the tents the +great war-horses, armed at all points, champed and reared, while their +masters sat at the doors of their pavilions, with their helmets upon +their knees, chatting as to the order of the day's doings. The English +archers and men-at-arms had mustered at that end of the lists, but the +vast majority of the spectators were in favor of the attacking party, +for the English had declined in popularity ever since the bitter dispute +as to the disposal of the royal captive after the battle of Poictiers. +Hence the applause was by no means general when the herald-at-arms +proclaimed, after a flourish of trumpets, the names and styles of the +knights who were prepared, for the honor of their country and for the +love of their ladies, to hold the field against all who might do them +the favor to run a course with them. On the other hand, a deafening +burst of cheering greeted the rival herald, who, advancing from the +other end of the lists, rolled forth the well-known titles of the five +famous warriors who had accepted the defiance. + +"Faith, John," said the prince, "it sounds as though you were right. +Ha! my grace D'Armagnac, it seems that our friends on this side will not +grieve if our English champions lose the day." + +"It may be so, sire," the Gascon nobleman answered. "I have little doubt +that in Smithfield or at Windsor an English crowd would favor their own +countrymen." + +"By my faith! that's easily seen," said the prince, laughing, "for a few +score English archers at yonder end are bellowing as though they would +out-shout the mighty multitude. I fear that they will have little to +shout over this tourney, for my gold vase has small prospect of crossing +the water. What are the conditions, John?" + +"They are to tilt singly not less than three courses, sire, and the +victory to rest with that party which shall have won the greater number +of courses, each pair continuing till one or other have the vantage. He +who carries himself best of the victors hath the prize, and he who is +judged best of the other party hath a jewelled clasp. Shall I order that +the nakirs sound, sire?" + +The prince nodded, and the trumpets rang out, while the champions rode +forth one after the other, each meeting his opponent in the centre of +the lists. Sir William Beauchamp went down before the practiced lance +of the Captal de Buch. Sir Thomas Percy won the vantage over the Lord +of Mucident, and the Lord Audley struck Sir Perducas d'Albret from +the saddle. The burly De Clisson, however, restored the hopes of the +attackers by beating to the ground Sir Thomas Wake of Yorkshire. So far, +there was little to choose betwixt challengers and challenged. + +"By Saint James of Santiago!" cried Don Pedro, with a tinge of color +upon his pale cheeks, "win who will, this has been a most notable +contest." + +"Who comes next for England, John?" asked the prince in a voice which +quivered with excitement. + +"Sir Nigel Loring of Hampshire, sire." + +"Ha! he is a man of good courage, and skilled in the use of all +weapons." + +"He is indeed, sire. But his eyes, like my own, are the worse for wars. +Yet he can tilt or play his part at hand-strokes as merrily as ever. It +was he, sire, who won the golden crown which Queen Philippa, your royal +mother, gave to be jousted for by all the knights of England after +the harrying of Calais. I have heard that at Twynham Castle there is a +buffet which groans beneath the weight of his prizes." + +"I pray that my vase may join them," said the prince. "But here is the +cavalier of Germany, and by my soul! he looks like a man of great valor +and hardiness. Let them run their full three courses, for the issue is +over-great to hang upon one." + +As the prince spoke, amid a loud flourish of trumpets and the shouting +of the Gascon party, the last of the assailants rode gallantly into the +lists. He was a man of great size, clad in black armor without blazonry +or ornament of any kind, for all worldly display was forbidden by the +rules of the military brotherhood to which he belonged. No plume or +nobloy fluttered from his plain tilting salade, and even his lance was +devoid of the customary banderole. A white mantle fluttered behind him, +upon the left side of which was marked the broad black cross picked +out with silver which was the well-known badge of the Teutonic Order. +Mounted upon a horse as large, as black, and as forbidding as himself, +he cantered slowly forward, with none of those prancings and gambades +with which a cavalier was accustomed to show his command over his +charger. Gravely and sternly he inclined his head to the prince, and +took his place at the further end of the arena. + +He had scarce done so before Sir Nigel rode out from the holders' +enclosure, and galloping at full speed down the lists, drew his charger +up before the prince's stand with a jerk which threw it back upon +its haunches. With white armor, blazoned shield, and plume of +ostrich-feathers from his helmet, he carried himself in so jaunty and +joyous a fashion, with tossing pennon and curveting charger, that a +shout of applause ran the full circle of the arena. With the air of a +man who hastes to a joyous festival, he waved his lance in salute, and +reining the pawing horse round without permitting its fore-feet to touch +the ground, he hastened back to his station. + +A great hush fell over the huge multitude as the two last champions +faced each other. A double issue seemed to rest upon their contest, for +their personal fame was at stake as well as their party's honor. Both +were famous warriors, but as their exploits had been performed in widely +sundered countries, they had never before been able to cross lances. A +course between such men would have been enough in itself to cause the +keenest interest, apart from its being the crisis which would decide who +should be the victors of the day. For a moment they waited--the German +sombre and collected, Sir Nigel quivering in every fibre with +eagerness and fiery resolution. Then, amid a long-drawn breath from +the spectators, the glove fell from the marshal's hand, and the two +steel-clad horsemen met like a thunderclap in front of the royal stand. +The German, though he reeled for an instant before the thrust of the +Englishman, struck his opponent so fairly upon the vizor that the laces +burst, the plumed helmet flew to pieces, and Sir Nigel galloped on down +the lists with his bald head shimmering in the sunshine. A thousand +waving scarves and tossing caps announced that the first bout had fallen +to the popular party. + +The Hampshire knight was not a man to be disheartened by a reverse. He +spurred back to the pavilion, and was out in a few instants with another +helmet. The second course was so equal that the keenest judges could not +discern any vantage. Each struck fire from the other's shield, and each +endured the jarring shock as though welded to the horse beneath him. In +the final bout, however, Sir Nigel struck his opponent with so true an +aim that the point of the lance caught between the bars of his vizor and +tore the front of his helmet out, while the German, aiming somewhat +low, and half stunned by the shock, had the misfortune to strike his +adversary upon the thigh, a breach of the rules of the tilting-yard, by +which he not only sacrificed his chances of success, but would also +have forfeited his horse and his armor, had the English knight chosen +to claim them. A roar of applause from the English soldiers, with an +ominous silence from the vast crowd who pressed round the barriers, +announced that the balance of victory lay with the holders. Already the +ten champions had assembled in front of the prince to receive his award, +when a harsh bugle call from the further end of the lists drew all eyes +to a new and unexpected arrival. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. HOW A CHAMPION CAME FORTH FROM THE EAST. + + +The Bordeaux lists were, as has already been explained, situated +upon the plain near the river upon those great occasions when the +tilting-ground in front of the Abbey of St. Andrew's was deemed to be +too small to contain the crowd. On the eastern side of this plain the +country-side sloped upwards, thick with vines in summer, but now ridged +with the brown bare enclosures. Over the gently rising plain curved the +white road which leads inland, usually flecked with travellers, but now +with scarce a living form upon it, so completely had the lists drained +all the district of its inhabitants. Strange it was to see such a vast +concourse of people, and then to look upon that broad, white, empty +highway which wound away, bleak and deserted, until it narrowed itself +to a bare streak against the distant uplands. + +Shortly after the contest had begun, any one looking from the lists +along this road might have remarked, far away in the extreme distance, +two brilliant and sparkling points which glittered and twinkled in +the bright shimmer of the winter sun. Within an hour these had become +clearer and nearer, until they might be seen to come from the reflection +from the head-pieces of two horsemen who were riding at the top of their +speed in the direction of Bordeaux. Another half-hour had brought +them so close that every point of their bearing and equipment could be +discerned. The first was a knight in full armor, mounted upon a brown +horse with a white blaze upon breast and forehead. He was a short man of +great breadth of shoulder, with vizor closed, and no blazonry upon his +simple white surcoat or plain black shield. The other, who was evidently +his squire and attendant, was unarmed save for the helmet upon his +head, but bore in his right hand a very long and heavy oaken spear which +belonged to his master. In his left hand the squire held not only the +reins of his own horse but those of a great black war-horse, fully +harnessed, which trotted along at his side. Thus the three horses and +their two riders rode swiftly to the lists, and it was the blare of the +trumpet sounded by the squire as his lord rode into the arena which +had broken in upon the prize-giving and drawn away the attention and +interest of the spectators. + +"Ha, John!" cried the prince, craning his neck, "who is this cavalier, +and what is it that he desires?" + +"On my word, sire," replied Chandos, with the utmost surprise upon his +face, "it is my opinion that he is a Frenchman." + +"A Frenchman!" repeated Don Pedro. "And how can you tell that, my Lord +Chandos, when he has neither coat-armor, crest, or blazonry?" + +"By his armor, sire, which is rounder at elbow and at shoulder than any +of Bordeaux or of England. Italian he might be were his bassinet more +sloped, but I will swear that those plates were welded betwixt this and +Rhine. Here comes his squire, however, and we shall hear what strange +fortune hath brought him over the marches." + +As he spoke the attendant cantered up the grassy enclosure, and pulling +up his steed in front of the royal stand, blew a second fanfare upon +his bugle. He was a raw-boned, swarthy-cheeked man, with black bristling +beard and a swaggering bearing. + +Having sounded his call, he thrust the bugle into his belt, and, pushing +his way betwixt the groups of English and of Gascon knights, he reined +up within a spear's length of the royal party. + +"I come," he shouted in a hoarse, thick voice, with a strong Breton +accent, "as squire and herald from my master, who is a very valiant +pursuivant-of-arms, and a liegeman to the great and powerful monarch, +Charles, king of the French. My master has heard that there is jousting +here, and prospect of honorable advancement, so he has come to ask that +some English cavalier will vouchsafe for the love of his lady to run a +course with sharpened lances with him, or to meet him with sword, mace, +battle-axe, or dagger. He bade me say, however, that he would fight only +with a true Englishman, and not with any mongrel who is neither English +nor French, but speaks with the tongue of the one, and fights under the +banner of the other." + +"Sir!" cried De Clisson, with a voice of thunder, while his countrymen +clapped their hands to their swords. The squire, however, took no notice +of their angry faces, but continued with his master's message. + +"He is now ready, sire," he said, "albeit his destrier has travelled +many miles this day, and fast, for we were in fear lest we come too late +for the jousting." + +"Ye have indeed come too late," said the prince, "seeing that the prize +is about to be awarded; yet I doubt not that one of these gentlemen will +run a course for the sake of honor with this cavalier of France." + +"And as to the prize, sire," quoth Sir Nigel, "I am sure that I speak +for all when I say this French knight hath our leave to bear it away +with him if he can fairly win it." + +"Bear word of this to your master," said the prince, "and ask him which +of these five Englishmen he would desire to meet. But stay; your master +bears no coat-armor, and we have not yet heard his name." + +"My master, sire, is under vow to the Virgin neither to reveal his name +nor to open his vizor until he is back upon French ground once more." + +"Yet what assurance have we," said the prince, "that this is not some +varlet masquerading in his master's harness, or some caitiff knight, +the very touch of whose lance might bring infamy upon an honorable +gentleman?" + +"It is not so, sire," cried the squire earnestly. "There is no man upon +earth who would demean himself by breaking a lance with my master." + +"You speak out boldly, squire," the prince answered; "but unless I have +some further assurance of your master's noble birth and gentle name I +cannot match the choicest lances of my court against him." + +"You refuse, sire?" + +"I do refuse." + +"Then, sire, I was bidden to ask you from my master whether you would +consent if Sir John Chandos, upon hearing my master's name, should +assure you that he was indeed a man with whom you might yourself cross +swords without indignity." + +"I ask no better," said the prince. + +"Then I must ask, Lord Chandos, that you will step forth. I have your +pledge that the name shall remain ever a secret, and that you will +neither say nor write one word which might betray it. The name is----" +He stooped down from his horse and whispered something into the old +knight's ear which made him start with surprise, and stare with much +curiosity at the distant Knight, who was sitting his charger at the +further end of the arena. + +"Is this indeed sooth?" he exclaimed. + +"It is, my lord, and I swear it by St. Ives of Brittany." + +"I might have known it," said Chandos, twisting his moustache, and still +looking thoughtfully at the cavalier. + +"What then, Sir John?" asked the prince. + +"Sire, this is a knight whom it is indeed great honor to meet, and I +would that your grace would grant me leave to send my squire for my +harness, for I would dearly love to run a course with him." + +"Nay, nay, Sir John, you have gained as much honor as one man can bear, +and it were hard if you could not rest now. But I pray you, squire, to +tell your master that he is very welcome to our court, and that wines +and spices will be served him, if he would refresh himself before +jousting." + +"My master will not drink," said the squire. + +"Let him then name the gentleman with whom he would break a spear." + +"He would contend with these five knights, each to choose such weapons +as suit him best." + +"I perceive," said the prince, "that your master is a man of great heart +and high of enterprise. But the sun already is low in the west, and +there will scarce be light for these courses. I pray you, gentlemen, to +take your places, that we may see whether this stranger's deeds are as +bold as his words." + +The unknown knight had sat like a statue of steel, looking neither to +the right nor to the left during these preliminaries. He had changed +from the horse upon which he had ridden, and bestrode the black charger +which his squire had led beside him. His immense breadth, his stern +composed appearance, and the mode in which he handled his shield and his +lance, were enough in themselves to convince the thousands of critical +spectators that he was a dangerous opponent. Aylward, who stood in +the front row of the archers with Simon, big John, and others of the +Company, had been criticising the proceedings from the commencement with +the ease and freedom of a man who had spent his life under arms and had +learned in a hard school to know at a glance the points of a horse and +his rider. He stared now at the stranger with a wrinkled brow and the +air of a man who is striving to stir his memory. + +"By my hilt! I have seen the thick body of him before to-day. Yet I +cannot call to mind where it could have been. At Nogent belike, or was +it at Auray? Mark me, lads, this man will prove to be one of the best +lances of France, and there are no better in the world." + +"It is but child's play, this poking game," said John. "I would fain +try my hand at it, for, by the black rood! I think that it might be +amended." + +"What then would you do, John?" asked several. + +"There are many things which might be done," said the forester +thoughtfully. "Methinks that I would begin by breaking my spear." + +"So they all strive to do." + +"Nay, but not upon another man's shield. I would break it over my own +knee." + +"And what the better for that, old beef and bones?" asked Black Simon. + +"So I would turn what is but a lady's bodkin of a weapon into a very +handsome club." + +"And then, John?" + +"Then I would take the other's spear into my arm or my leg, or where +it pleased him best to put it, and I would dash out his brains with my +club." + +"By my ten finger-bones! old John," said Aylward, "I would give my +feather-bed to see you at a spear-running. This is a most courtly and +gentle sport which you have devised." + +"So it seems to me," said John seriously. "Or, again, one might seize +the other round the middle, pluck him off his horse and bear him to the +pavilion, there to hold him to ransom." + +"Good!" cried Simon, amid a roar of laughter from all the archers round. +"By Thomas of Kent! we shall make a camp-marshal of thee, and thou +shalt draw up rules for our jousting. But, John, who is it that you +would uphold in this knightly and pleasing fashion?" + +"What mean you?" + +"Why, John, so strong and strange a tilter must fight for the brightness +of his lady's eyes or the curve of her eyelash, even as Sir Nigel does +for the Lady Loring." + +"I know not about that," said the big archer, scratching his head in +perplexity. "Since Mary hath played me false, I can scarce fight for +her." + +"Yet any woman will serve." + +"There is my mother then," said John. "She was at much pains at my +upbringing, and, by my soul! I will uphold the curve of her eyelashes, +for it tickleth my very heart-root to think of her. But who is here?" + +"It is Sir William Beauchamp. He is a valiant man, but I fear that he is +scarce firm enough upon the saddle to bear the thrust of such a tilter +as this stranger promises to be." + +Aylward's words were speedily justified, for even as he spoke the two +knights met in the centre of the lists. Beauchamp struck his opponent a +shrewd blow upon the helmet, but was met with so frightful a thrust that +he whirled out of his saddle and rolled over and over upon the ground. +Sir Thomas Percy met with little better success, for his shield was +split, his vambrace torn and he himself wounded slightly in the side. +Lord Audley and the unknown knight struck each other fairly upon the +helmet; but, while the stranger sat as firm and rigid as ever upon his +charger, the Englishman was bent back to his horse's cropper by the +weight of the blow, and had galloped half-way down the lists ere he +could recover himself. Sir Thomas Wake was beaten to the ground with a +battle-axe--that being the weapon which he had selected--and had to be +carried to his pavilion. These rapid successes, gained one after the +other over four celebrated warriors, worked the crowd up to a pitch of +wonder and admiration. Thunders of applause from the English soldiers, +as well as from the citizens and peasants, showed how far the love of +brave and knightly deeds could rise above the rivalries of race. + +"By my soul! John," cried the prince, with his cheek flushed and his +eyes shining, "this is a man of good courage and great hardiness. I +could not have thought that there was any single arm upon earth which +could have overthrown these four champions." + +"He is indeed, as I have said, sire, a knight from whom much honor is to +be gained. But the lower edge of the sun is wet, and it will be beneath +the sea ere long." + +"Here is Sir Nigel Loring, on foot and with his sword," said the prince. +"I have heard that he is a fine swordsman." + +"The finest in your army, sire," Chandos answered. "Yet I doubt not that +he will need all his skill this day." + +As he spoke, the two combatants advanced from either end in full armor +with their two-handed swords sloping over their shoulders. The stranger +walked heavily and with a measured stride, while the English knight +advanced as briskly as though there was no iron shell to weigh down the +freedom of his limbs. At four paces distance they stopped, eyed each +other for a moment, and then in an instant fell to work with a clatter +and clang as though two sturdy smiths were busy upon their anvils. Up +and down went the long, shining blades, round and round they circled in +curves of glimmering light, crossing, meeting, disengaging, with flash +of sparks at every parry. Here and there bounded Sir Nigel, his head +erect, his jaunty plume fluttering in the air, while his dark opponent +sent in crashing blow upon blow, following fiercely up with cut and with +thrust, but never once getting past the practised blade of the skilled +swordsman. The crowd roared with delight as Sir Nigel would stoop his +head to avoid a blow, or by some slight movement of his body allow some +terrible thrust to glance harmlessly past him. Suddenly, however, his +time came. The Frenchman, whirling up his sword, showed for an instant +a chink betwixt his shoulder piece and the rerebrace which guarded his +upper arm. In dashed Sir Nigel, and out again so swiftly that the eye +could not follow the quick play of his blade, but a trickle of blood +from the stranger's shoulder, and a rapidly widening red smudge upon his +white surcoat, showed where the thrust had taken effect. The wound was, +however, but a slight one, and the Frenchman was about to renew his +onset, when, at a sign from the prince, Chandos threw down his baton, +and the marshals of the lists struck up the weapons and brought the +contest to an end. + +"It were time to check it," said the prince, smiling, "for Sir Nigel is +too good a man for me to lose, and, by the five holy wounds! if one of +those cuts came home I should have fears for our champion. What think +you, Pedro?" + +"I think, Edward, that the little man was very well able to take care of +himself. For my part, I should wish to see so well matched a pair fight +on while a drop of blood remained in their veins." + +"We must have speech with him. Such a man must not go from my court +without rest or sup. Bring him hither, Chandos, and, certes, if the Lord +Loring hath resigned his claim upon this goblet, it is right and proper +that this cavalier should carry it to France with him as a sign of the +prowess that he has shown this day." + +As he spoke, the knight-errant, who had remounted his warhorse, galloped +forward to the royal stand, with a silken kerchief bound round his +wounded arm. The setting sun cast a ruddy glare upon his burnished +arms, and sent his long black shadow streaming behind him up the level +clearing. Pulling up his steed, he slightly inclined his head, and +sat in the stern and composed fashion with which he had borne himself +throughout, heedless of the applauding shouts and the flutter of +kerchiefs from the long lines of brave men and of fair women who were +looking down upon him. + +"Sir knight," said the prince, "we have all marvelled this day at this +great skill and valor with which God has been pleased to endow you. +I would fain that you should tarry at our court, for a time at least, +until your hurt is healed and your horses rested." + +"My hurt is nothing, sire, nor are my horses weary," returned the +stranger in a deep, stern voice. + +"Will you not at least hie back to Bordeaux with us, that you may drain +a cup of muscadine and sup at our table?" + +"I will neither drink your wine nor sit at your table," returned the +other. "I bear no love for you or for your race, and there is nought +that I wish at your hands until the day when I see the last sail which +bears you back to your island vanishing away against the western sky." + +"These are bitter words, sir knight," said Prince Edward, with an angry +frown. + +"And they come from a bitter heart," answered the unknown knight. "How +long is it since there has been peace in my hapless country? Where are +the steadings, and orchards, and vineyards, which made France fair? +Where are the cities which made her great? From Providence to Burgundy +we are beset by every prowling hireling in Christendom, who rend and +tear the country which you have left too weak to guard her own marches. +Is it not a by-word that a man may ride all day in that unhappy land +without seeing thatch upon roof or hearing the crow of cock? Does not +one fair kingdom content you, that you should strive so for this other +one which has no love for you? Pardieu! a true Frenchman's words may +well be bitter, for bitter is his lot and bitter his thoughts as he +rides through his thrice unhappy country." + +"Sir knight," said the prince, "you speak like a brave man, and our +cousin of France is happy in having a cavalier who is so fit to uphold +his cause either with tongue or with sword. But if you think such evil +of us, how comes it that you have trusted yourselves to us without +warranty or safe-conduct?" + +"Because I knew that you would be here, sire. Had the man who sits upon +your right been ruler of this land, I had indeed thought twice before I +looked to him for aught that was knightly or generous." With a soldierly +salute, he wheeled round his horse, and, galloping down the lists, +disappeared amid the dense crowd of footmen and of horsemen who were +streaming away from the scene of the tournament. + +"The insolent villain!" cried Pedro, glaring furiously after him. "I +have seen a man's tongue torn from his jaws for less. Would it not be +well even now, Edward, to send horsemen to hale him back? Bethink you +that it may be one of the royal house of France, or at least some knight +whose loss would be a heavy blow to his master. Sir William Felton, you +are well mounted, gallop after the caitiff, I pray you." + +"Do so, Sir William," said the prince, "and give him this purse of a +hundred nobles as a sign of the respect which I bear for him; for, +by St. George! he has served his master this day even as I would wish +liegeman of mine to serve me." So saying, the prince turned his back +upon the King of Spain, and springing upon his horse, rode slowly +homewards to the Abbey of Saint Andrew's. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. HOW SIR NIGEL WROTE TO TWYNHAM CASTLE. + + +On the morning after the jousting, when Alleyne Edricson went, as was +his custom, into his master's chamber to wait upon him in his dressing +and to curl his hair, he found him already up and very busily at work. +He sat at a table by the window, a deer-hound on one side of him and a +lurcher on the other, his feet tucked away under the trestle on which +he sat, and his tongue in his cheek, with the air of a man who is much +perplexed. A sheet of vellum lay upon the board in front of him, and +he held a pen in his hand, with which he had been scribbling in a rude +schoolboy hand. So many were the blots, however, and so numerous the +scratches and erasures, that he had at last given it up in despair, and +sat with his single uncovered eye cocked upwards at the ceiling, as one +who waits upon inspiration. + +"By Saint Paul!" he cried, as Alleyne entered, "you are the man who will +stand by me in this matter. I have been in sore need of you, Alleyne." + +"God be with you, my fair lord!" the squire answered. "I trust that you +have taken no hurt from all that you have gone through yesterday." + +"Nay; I feel the fresher for it, Alleyne. It has eased my joints, which +were somewhat stiff from these years of peace. I trust, Alleyne, that +thou didst very carefully note and mark the bearing and carriage of +this knight of France; for it is time, now when you are young, that you +should see all that is best, and mould your own actions in accordance. +This was a man from whom much honor might be gained, and I have seldom +met any one for whom I have conceived so much love and esteem. Could +I but learn his name, I should send you to him with my cartel, that we +might have further occasion to watch his goodly feats of arms." + +"It is said, my fair lord, that none know his name save only the Lord +Chandos, and that he is under vow not to speak it. So ran the gossip at +the squires' table." + +"Be he who he might, he was a very hardy gentleman. But I have a task +here, Alleyne, which is harder to me than aught that was set before me +yesterday." + +"Can I help you, my lord?" + +"That indeed you can. I have been writing my greetings to my sweet wife; +for I hear that a messenger goes from the prince to Southampton within +the week, and he would gladly take a packet for me. I pray you, Alleyne, +to cast your eyes upon what I have written, and see it they are such +words as my lady will understand. My fingers, as you can see, are more +used to iron and leather than to the drawing of strokes and turning of +letters. What then? Is there aught amiss, that you should stare so?" + +"It is this first word, my lord. In what tongue were you pleased to +write?" + +"In English; for my lady talks it more than she doth French. + +"Yet this is no English word, my sweet lord. Here are four t's and never +a letter betwixt them." + +"By St. Paul! it seemed strange to my eye when I wrote it," said Sir +Nigel. "They bristle up together like a clump of lances. We must break +their ranks and set them farther apart. The word is 'that.' Now I will +read it to you, Alleyne, and you shall write it out fair; for we leave +Bordeaux this day, and it would be great joy to me to think that the +Lady Loring had word from me." + +Alleyne sat down as ordered, with a pen in his hand and a fresh sheet +of parchment before him, while Sir Nigel slowly spelled out his letter, +running his forefinger on from word to word. + +"That my heart is with thee, my dear sweeting, is what thine own heart +will assure thee of. All is well with us here, save that Pepin hath +the mange on his back, and Pommers hath scarce yet got clear of his +stiffness from being four days on ship-board, and the more so because +the sea was very high, and we were like to founder on account of a hole +in her side, which was made by a stone cast at us by certain sea-rovers, +who may the saints have in their keeping, for they have gone from +amongst us, as has young Terlake, and two-score mariners and archers, +who would be the more welcome here as there is like to be a very fine +war, with much honor and all hopes of advancement, for which I go to +gather my Company together, who are now at Montaubon, where they pillage +and destroy; yet I hope that, by God's help, I may be able to show that +I am their master, even as, my sweet lady, I am thy servant." + +"How of that, Alleyne?" continued Sir Nigel, blinking at his squire, +with an expression of some pride upon his face. "Have I not told her all +that hath befallen us?" + +"You have said much, my fair lord; and yet, if I may say so, it is +somewhat crowded together, so that my Lady Loring can, mayhap, scarce +follow it. Were it in shorter periods----" + +"Nay, it boots me not how you marshal them, as long as they are all +there at the muster. Let my lady have the words, and she will place +them in such order as pleases her best. But I would have you add what it +would please her to know." + +"That will I," said Alleyne, blithely, and bent to the task. + +"My fair lady and mistress," he wrote, "God hath had us in His keeping, +and my lord is well and in good cheer. He hath won much honor at the +jousting before the prince, when he alone was able to make it good +against a very valiant man from France. Touching the moneys, there is +enough and to spare until we reach Montaubon. Herewith, my fair lady, +I send my humble regards, entreating you that you will give the same +to your daughter, the Lady Maude. May the holy saints have you both in +their keeping is ever the prayer of thy servant, + + "ALLEYNE EDRICSON." + +"That is very fairly set forth," said Sir Nigel, nodding his bald head +as each sentence was read to him. "And for thyself, Alleyne, if there be +any dear friend to whom you would fain give greeting, I can send it for +thee within this packet." + +"There is none," said Alleyne, sadly. + +"Have you no kinsfolk, then?" + +"None, save my brother." + +"Ha! I had forgotten that there was ill blood betwixt you. But are there +none in all England who love thee?" + +"None that I dare say so." + +"And none whom you love?" + +"Nay, I will not say that," said Alleyne. + +Sir Nigel shook his head and laughed softly to himself, "I see how it +is with you," he said. "Have I not noted your frequent sighs and vacant +eye? Is she fair?" + +"She is indeed," cried Alleyne from his heart, all tingling at this +sudden turn of the talk. + +"And good?" + +"As an angel." + +"And yet she loves you not?" + +"Nay, I cannot say that she loves another." + +"Then you have hopes?" + +"I could not live else." + +"Then must you strive to be worthy of her love. Be brave and pure, +fearless to the strong and humble to the weak; and so, whether this love +prosper or no, you will have fitted yourself to be honored by a maiden's +love, which is, in sooth, the highest guerdon which a true knight can +hope for." + +"Indeed, my lord, I do so strive," said Alleyne; "but she is so sweet, +so dainty, and of so noble a spirit, that I fear me that I shall never +be worthy of her." + +"By thinking so you become worthy. Is she then of noble birth?" + +"She is, my lord," faltered Alleyne. + +"Of a knightly house?" + +"Yes." + +"Have a care, Alleyne, have a care!" said Sir Nigel, kindly. "The higher +the steed the greater the fall. Hawk not at that which may be beyond thy +flight." + +"My lord, I know little of the ways and usages of the world," cried +Alleyne, "but I would fain ask your rede upon the matter. You have known +my father and my kin: is not my family one of good standing and repute?" + +"Beyond all question." + +"And yet you warn me that I must not place my love too high." + +"Were Minstead yours, Alleyne, then, by St. Paul! I cannot think that +any family in the land would not be proud to take you among them, seeing +that you come of so old a strain. But while the Socman lives----Ha, by +my soul! if this is not Sir Oliver's step I am the more mistaken." + +As he spoke, a heavy footfall was heard without, and the portly knight +flung open the door and strode into the room. + +"Why, my little coz," said he, "I have come across to tell you that +I live above the barber's in the Rue de la Tour, and that there is a +venison pasty in the oven and two flasks of the right vintage on the +table. By St. James! a blind man might find the place, for one has but +to get in the wind from it, and follow the savory smell. Put on your +cloak, then, and come, for Sir Walter Hewett and Sir Robert Briquet, +with one or two others, are awaiting us." + +"Nay, Oliver, I cannot be with you, for I must to Montaubon this day." + +"To Montaubon? But I have heard that your Company is to come with my +forty Winchester rascals to Dax." + +"If you will take charge of them, Oliver. For I will go to Montaubon +with none save my two squires and two archers. Then, when I have found +the rest of my Company I shall lead them to Dax. We set forth this +morning." + +"Then I must back to my pasty," said Sir Oliver. "You will find us at +Dax, I doubt not, unless the prince throw me into prison, for he is very +wroth against me." + +"And why, Oliver?" + +"Pardieu! because I have sent my cartel, gauntlet, and defiance to Sir +John Chandos and to Sir William Felton." + +"To Chandos? In God's name, Oliver, why have you done this?" + +"Because he and the other have used me despitefully." + +"And how?" + +"Because they have passed me over in choosing those who should joust for +England. Yourself and Audley I could pass, coz, for you are mature men; +but who are Wake, and Percy, and Beauchamp? By my soul! I was prodding +for my food into a camp-kettle when they were howling for their pap. Is +a man of my weight and substance to be thrown aside for the first three +half-grown lads who have learned the trick of the tilt-yard? But hark +ye, coz, I think of sending my cartel also to the prince." + +"Oliver! Oliver! You are mad!" + +"Not I, i' faith! I care not a denier whether he be prince or no. By +Saint James! I see that your squire's eyes are starting from his head +like a trussed crab. Well, friend, we are all three men of Hampshire, +and not lightly to be jeered at." + +"Has he jeered at you than?" + +"Pardieu! yes, 'Old Sir Oliver's heart is still stout,' said one of his +court. 'Else had it been out of keeping with the rest of him,' quoth the +prince. 'And his arm is strong,' said another. 'So is the backbone of +his horse,' quoth the prince. This very day I will send him my cartel +and defiance." + +"Nay, nay, my dear Oliver," said Sir Nigel, laying his hand upon his +angry friend's arm. "There is naught in this, for it was but saying that +you were a strong and robust man, who had need of a good destrier. And +as to Chandos and Felton, bethink you that if when you yourself were +young the older lances had ever been preferred, how would you then have +had the chance to earn the good name and fame which you now bear? You do +not ride as light as you did, Oliver, and I ride lighter by the weight +of my hair, but it would be an ill thing if in the evening of our lives +we showed that our hearts were less true and loyal than of old. If such +a knight as Sir Oliver Buttesthorn may turn against his own prince for +the sake of a light word, then where are we to look for steadfast faith +and constancy?" + +"Ah! my dear little coz, it is easy to sit in the sunshine and preach to +the man in the shadow. Yet you could ever win me over to your side with +that soft voice of yours. Let us think no more of it then. But, holy +Mother! I had forgot the pasty, and it will be as scorched as Judas +Iscariot! Come, Nigel, lest the foul fiend get the better of me again." + +"For one hour, then; for we march at mid-day. Tell Aylward, Alleyne, +that he is to come with me to Montaubon, and to choose one archer for +his comrade. The rest will to Dax when the prince starts, which will be +before the feast of the Epiphany. Have Pommers ready at mid-day with my +sycamore lance, and place my harness on the sumpter mule." + +With these brief directions, the two old soldiers strode off together, +while Alleyne hastened to get all in order for their journey. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. HOW THE THREE COMRADES GAINED A MIGHTY TREASURE + + +It was a bright, crisp winter's day when the little party set off from +Bordeaux on their journey to Montaubon, where the missing half of their +Company had last been heard of. Sir Nigel and Ford had ridden on in +advance, the knight upon his hackney, while his great war-horse trotted +beside his squire. Two hours later Alleyne Edricson followed; for he had +the tavern reckoning to settle, and many other duties which fell to him +as squire of the body. With him came Aylward and Hordle John, armed +as of old, but mounted for their journey upon a pair of clumsy Landes +horses, heavy-headed and shambling, but of great endurance, and capable +of jogging along all day, even when between the knees of the huge +archer, who turned the scale at two hundred and seventy pounds. They +took with them the sumpter mules, which carried in panniers the wardrobe +and table furniture of Sir Nigel; for the knight, though neither fop nor +epicure, was very dainty in small matters, and loved, however bare the +board or hard the life, that his napery should still be white and his +spoon of silver. + +There had been frost during the night, and the white hard road rang loud +under their horses' irons as they spurred through the east gate of the +town, along the same broad highway which the unknown French champion +had traversed on the day of the jousts. The three rode abreast, Alleyne +Edricson with his eyes cast down and his mind distrait, for his thoughts +were busy with the conversation which he had had with Sir Nigel in the +morning. Had he done well to say so much, or had he not done better to +have said more? What would the knight have said had he confessed to his +love for the Lady Maude? Would he cast him off in disgrace, or might he +chide him as having abused the shelter of his roof? It had been ready +upon his tongue to tell him all when Sir Oliver had broken in upon them. +Perchance Sir Nigel, with his love of all the dying usages of chivalry, +might have contrived some strange ordeal or feat of arms by which his +love should be put to the test. Alleyne smiled as he wondered what +fantastic and wondrous deed would be exacted from him. Whatever it was, +he was ready for it, whether it were to hold the lists in the court of +the King of Tartary, to carry a cartel to the Sultan of Baghdad, or to +serve a term against the wild heathen of Prussia. Sir Nigel had said +that his birth was high enough for any lady, if his fortune could but +be amended. Often had Alleyne curled his lip at the beggarly craving for +land or for gold which blinded man to the higher and more lasting issues +of life. Now it seemed as though it were only by this same land and gold +that he might hope to reach his heart's desire. But then, again, the +Socman of Minstead was no friend to the Constable of Twynham Castle. It +might happen that, should he amass riches by some happy fortune of war, +this feud might hold the two families aloof. Even if Maude loved him, he +knew her too well to think that she would wed him without the blessing +of her father. Dark and murky was it all, but hope mounts high in youth, +and it ever fluttered over all the turmoil of his thoughts like a white +plume amid the shock of horsemen. + +If Alleyne Edricson had enough to ponder over as he rode through the +bare plains of Guienne, his two companions were more busy with the +present and less thoughtful of the future. Aylward rode for half a mile +with his chin upon his shoulder, looking back at a white kerchief which +fluttered out of the gable window of a high house which peeped over the +corner of the battlements. When at last a dip of the road hid it from +his view, he cocked his steel cap, shrugged his broad shoulders, and +rode on with laughter in his eyes, and his weather-beaten face all +ashine with pleasant memories. John also rode in silence, but his eyes +wandered slowly from one side of the road to the other, and he stared +and pondered and nodded his head like a traveller who makes his notes +and saves them up for the re-telling. + +"By the rood!" he broke out suddenly, slapping his thigh with his great +red hand, "I knew that there was something a-missing, but I could not +bring to my mind what it was." + +"What was it then?" asked Alleyne, coming with a start out of his +reverie. + +"Why, it is the hedgerows," roared John, with a shout of laughter. "The +country is all scraped as clear as a friar's poll. But indeed I cannot +think much of the folk in these parts. Why do they not get to work and +dig up these long rows of black and crooked stumps which I see on every +hand? A franklin of Hampshire would think shame to have such litter upon +his soil." + +"Thou foolish old John!" quoth Aylward. "You should know better, since +I have heard that the monks of Beaulieu could squeeze a good cup of +wine from their own grapes. Know then that if these rows were dug up +the wealth of the country would be gone, and mayhap there would be dry +throats and gaping mouths in England, for in three months' time these +black roots will blossom and shoot and burgeon, and from them will come +many a good ship-load of Medoc and Gascony which will cross the narrow +seas. But see the church in the hollow, and the folk who cluster in the +churchyard! By my hilt! it is a burial, and there is a passing bell!" +He pulled off his steel cap as he spoke and crossed himself, with a +muttered prayer for the repose of the dead. + +"There too," remarked Alleyne, as they rode on again, "that which seems +to the eye to be dead is still full of the sap of life, even as the +vines were. Thus God hath written Himself and His laws very broadly on +all that is around us, if our poor dull eyes and duller souls could but +read what He hath set before us." + +"Ha! mon petit," cried the bowman, "you take me back to the days when +you were new fledged, as sweet a little chick as ever pecked his way +out of a monkish egg. I had feared that in gaining our debonair young +man-at-arms we had lost our soft-spoken clerk. In truth, I have noted +much change in you since we came from Twynham Castle." + +"Surely it would be strange else, seeing that I have lived in a world +so new to me. Yet I trust that there are many things in which I have not +changed. If I have turned to serve an earthly master, and to carry arms +for an earthly king, it would be an ill thing if I were to lose all +thought of the great high King and Master of all, whose humble and +unworthy servant I was ere ever I left Beaulieu. You, John, are also +from the cloisters, but I trow that you do not feel that you have +deserted the old service in taking on the new." + +"I am a slow-witted man," said John, "and, in sooth, when I try to think +about such matters it casts a gloom upon me. Yet I do not look upon +myself as a worse man in an archer's jerkin than I was in a white cowl, +if that be what you mean." + +"You have but changed from one white company to the other," quoth +Aylward. "But, by these ten finger-bones! it is a passing strange thing +to me to think that it was but in the last fall of the leaf that we +walked from Lyndhurst together, he so gentle and maidenly, and you, +John, like a great red-limbed overgrown moon-calf; and now here you +are as sprack a squire and as lusty an archer as ever passed down the +highway from Bordeaux, while I am still the same old Samkin Aylward, +with never a change, save that I have a few more sins on my soul and a +few less crowns in my pouch. But I have never yet heard, John, what the +reason was why you should come out of Beaulieu." + +"There were seven reasons," said John thoughtfully. "The first of them +was that they threw me out." + +"Ma foi! camarade, to the devil with the other six! That is enough for +me and for thee also. I can see that they are very wise and discreet +folk at Beaulieu. Ah! mon ange, what have you in the pipkin?" + +"It is milk, worthy sir," answered the peasant-maid, who stood by the +door of a cottage with a jug in her hand. "Would it please you, gentles, +that I should bring you out three horns of it?" + +"Nay, ma petite, but here is a two-sous piece for thy kindly tongue and +for the sight of thy pretty face. Ma foi! but she has a bonne mine. I +have a mind to bide and speak with her." + +"Nay, nay, Aylward," cried Alleyne. "Sir Nigel will await us, and he in +haste." + +"True, true, camarade! Adieu, ma cherie! mon coeur est toujours a +toi. Her mother is a well-grown woman also. See where she digs by the +wayside. Ma foi! the riper fruit is ever the sweeter. Bon jour, ma belle +dame! God have you in his keeping! Said Sir Nigel where he would await +us?" + +"At Marmande or Aiguillon. He said that we could not pass him, seeing +that there is but the one road." + +"Aye, and it is a road that I know as I know the Midhurst parish +butts," quoth the bowman. "Thirty times have I journeyed it, forward and +backward, and, by the twang of string! I am wont to come back this way +more laden than I went. I have carried all that I had into France in +a wallet, and it hath taken four sumpter-mules to carry it back again. +God's benison on the man who first turned his hand to the making of war! +But there, down in the dingle, is the church of Cardillac, and you may +see the inn where three poplars grow beyond the village. Let us on, for +a stoup of wine would hearten us upon our way." + +The highway had lain through the swelling vineyard country, which +stretched away to the north and east in gentle curves, with many a +peeping spire and feudal tower, and cluster of village houses, all clear +cut and hard in the bright wintry air. To their right stretched the blue +Garonne, running swiftly seawards, with boats and barges dotted over its +broad bosom. On the other side lay a strip of vineyard, and beyond it +the desolate and sandy region of the Landes, all tangled with faded +gorse and heath and broom, stretching away in unbroken gloom to the blue +hills which lay low upon the furthest sky-line. Behind them might still +be seen the broad estuary of the Gironde, with the high towers of +Saint Andre and Saint Remi shooting up from the plain. In front, amid +radiating lines of poplars, lay the riverside townlet of Cardillac--gray +walls, white houses, and a feather of blue smoke. + +"This is the 'Mouton d'Or,'" said Aylward, as they pulled up their +horses at a whitewashed straggling hostel. "What ho there!" he +continued, beating upon the door with the hilt of his sword. "Tapster, +ostler, varlet, hark hither, and a wannion on your lazy limbs! Ha! +Michel, as red in the nose as ever! Three jacks of the wine of the +country, Michel--for the air bites shrewdly. I pray you, Alleyne, to +take note of this door, for I have a tale concerning it." + +"Tell me, friend," said Alleyne to the portly red-faced inn-keeper, "has +a knight and a squire passed this way within the hour?" + +"Nay, sir, it would be two hours back. Was he a small man, weak in the +eyes, with a want of hair, and speaks very quiet when he is most to be +feared?" + +"The same," the squire answered. "But I marvel how you should know how +he speaks when he is in wrath, for he is very gentle-minded with those +who are beneath him." + +"Praise to the saints! it was not I who angered him," said the fat +Michel. + +"Who, then?" + +"It was young Sieur de Crespigny of Saintonge, who chanced to be here, +and made game of the Englishman, seeing that he was but a small man and +hath a face which is full of peace. But indeed this good knight was a +very quiet and patient man, for he saw that the Sieur de Crespigny +was still young and spoke from an empty head, so he sat his horse +and quaffed his wine, even as you are doing now, all heedless of the +clacking tongue." + +"And what then, Michel?" + +"Well, messieurs, it chanced that the Sieur de Crespigny, having said +this and that, for the laughter of the varlets, cried out at last about +the glove that the knight wore in his coif, asking if it was the custom +in England for a man to wear a great archer's glove in his cap. Pardieu! +I have never seen a man get off his horse as quick as did that stranger +Englishman. Ere the words were past the other's lips he was beside him, +his face nigh touching, and his breath hot upon his cheeks. 'I think, +young sir,' quoth he softly, looking into the other's eyes, 'that now +that I am nearer you will very clearly see that the glove is not an +archer's glove.' 'Perchance not,' said the Sieur de Crespigny with a +twitching lip. 'Nor is it large, but very small,' quoth the Englishman. +'Less large than I had thought,' said the other, looking down, for the +knight's gaze was heavy upon his eyelids. 'And in every way such a glove +as might be worn by the fairest and sweetest lady in England,' quoth +the Englishman. 'It may be so,' said the Sieur de Crespigny, turning his +face from him. 'I am myself weak in the eyes, and have often taken one +thing for another,' quoth the knight, as he sprang back into his saddle +and rode off, leaving the Sieur de Crespigny biting his nails before the +door. Ha! by the five wounds, many men of war have drunk my wine, but +never one was more to my fancy than this little Englishman." + +"By my hilt! he is our master, Michel," quoth Aylward, "and such men as +we do not serve under a laggart. But here are four deniers, Michel, and +God be with you! En avant, camarades! for we have a long road before +us." + +At a brisk trot the three friends left Cardillac and its wine-house +behind them, riding without a halt past St. Macaire, and on by ferry +over the river Dorpt. At the further side the road winds through La +Reolle, Bazaille, and Marmande, with the sunlit river still gleaming +upon the right, and the bare poplars bristling up upon either side. John +and Alleyne rode silent on either side, but every inn, farm-steading, +or castle brought back to Aylward some remembrance of love, foray, or +plunder, with which to beguile the way. + +"There is the smoke from Bazas, on the further side of Garonne," quoth +he. "There were three sisters yonder, the daughters of a farrier, and, +by these ten finger-bones! a man might ride for a long June day and +never set eyes upon such maidens. There was Marie, tall and grave, and +Blanche petite and gay, and the dark Agnes, with eyes that went through +you like a waxed arrow. I lingered there as long as four days, and was +betrothed to them all; for it seemed shame to set one above her sisters, +and might make ill blood in the family. Yet, for all my care, things +were not merry in the house, and I thought it well to come away. There, +too, is the mill of Le Souris. Old Pierre Le Caron, who owned it, was a +right good comrade, and had ever a seat and a crust for a weary archer. +He was a man who wrought hard at all that he turned his hand to; but he +heated himself in grinding bones to mix with his flour, and so through +over-diligence he brought a fever upon himself and died." + +"Tell me, Aylward," said Alleyne, "what was amiss with the door of +yonder inn that you should ask me to observe it." + +"Pardieu! yes, I had well-nigh forgot. What saw you on yonder door?" + +"I saw a square hole, through which doubtless the host may peep when he +is not too sure of those who knock." + +"And saw you naught else?" + +"I marked that beneath this hole there was a deep cut in the door, as +though a great nail had been driven in." + +"And naught else?" + +"No." + +"Had you looked more closely you might have seen that there was a stain +upon the wood. The first time that I ever heard my comrade Black Simon +laugh was in front of that door. I heard him once again when he slew a +French squire with his teeth, he being unarmed and the Frenchman having +a dagger." + +"And why did Simon laugh in front of the inn-door!" asked John. + +"Simon is a hard and perilous man when he hath the bitter drop in him; +and, by my hilt! he was born for war, for there is little sweetness or +rest in him. This inn, the 'Mouton d'Or,' was kept in the old days by +one Francois Gourval, who had a hard fist and a harder heart. It was +said that many and many an archer coming from the wars had been served +with wine with simples in it, until he slept, and had then been stripped +of all by this Gourval. Then on the morrow, if he made complaint, this +wicked Gourval would throw him out upon the road or beat him, for he +was a very lusty man, and had many stout varlets in his service. This +chanced to come to Simon's ears when we were at Bordeaux together, and +he would have it that we should ride to Cardillac with a good hempen +cord, and give this Gourval such a scourging as he merited. Forth we +rode then, but when we came to the 'Mouton d'Or,' Gourval had had word of +our coming and its purpose, so that the door was barred, nor was there +any way into the house. 'Let us in, good Master Gourval!' cried Simon, +and 'Let us in, good Master Gourval!' cried I, but no word could we get +through the hole in the door, save that he would draw an arrow upon us +unless we went on our way. 'Well, Master Gourval,' quoth Simon at last, +'this is but a sorry welcome, seeing that we have ridden so far just to +shake you by the hand.' 'Canst shake me by the hand without coming in,' +said Gourval. 'And how that?' asked Simon. 'By passing in your hand +through the hole,' said he. 'Nay, my hand is wounded,' quoth Simon, 'and +of such a size that I cannot pass it in.' 'That need not hinder,' said +Gourval, who was hot to be rid of us, 'pass in your left hand.' 'But I +have something for thee, Gourval,' said Simon. 'What then?' he asked. +'There was an English archer who slept here last week of the name of +Hugh of Nutbourne.' 'We have had many rogues here,' said Gourval. 'His +conscience hath been heavy within him because he owes you a debt of +fourteen deniers, having drunk wine for which he hath never paid. +For the easing of his soul, he asked me to pay the money to you as I +passed.' Now this Gourval was very greedy for money, so he thrust forth +his hand for the fourteen deniers, but Simon had his dagger ready and +he pinned his hand to the door. 'I have paid the Englishman's debt, +Gourval!' quoth he, and so rode away, laughing so that he could scarce +sit his horse, leaving mine host still nailed to his door. Such is the +story of the hole which you have marked, and of the smudge upon the +wood. I have heard that from that time English archers have been better +treated in the auberge of Cardillac. But what have we here by the +wayside?" + +"It appears to be a very holy man," said Alleyne. + +"And, by the rood! he hath some strange wares," cried John. "What are +these bits of stone, and of wood, and rusted nails, which are set out in +front of him?" + +The man whom they had remarked sat with his back against a cherry-tree, +and his legs shooting out in front of him, like one who is greatly at +his ease. Across his thighs was a wooden board, and scattered over it +all manner of slips of wood and knobs of brick and stone, each laid +separate from the other, as a huckster places his wares. He was dressed +in a long gray gown, and wore a broad hat of the same color, much +weather-stained, with three scallop-shells dangling from the brim. As +they approached, the travellers observed that he was advanced in years, +and that his eyes were upturned and yellow. + +"Dear knights and gentlemen," he cried in a high crackling voice, +"worthy Christian cavaliers, will ye ride past and leave an aged pilgrim +to die of hunger? The sight hast been burned from mine eyes by the sands +of the Holy Land, and I have had neither crust of bread nor cup of wine +these two days past." + +"By my hilt! father," said Aylward, looking keenly at him, "it is a +marvel to me that thy girdle should have so goodly a span and clip thee +so closely, if you have in sooth had so little to place within it." + +"Kind stranger," answered the pilgrim, "you have unwittingly spoken +words which are very grievous to me to listen to. Yet I should be loth +to blame you, for I doubt not that what you said was not meant to sadden +me, nor to bring my sore affliction back to my mind. It ill becomes me +to prate too much of what I have endured for the faith, and yet, since +you have observed it, I must tell you that this thickness and roundness +of the waist is caused by a dropsy brought on by over-haste in +journeying from the house of Pilate to the Mount of Olives." + +"There, Aylward," said Alleyne, with a reddened cheek, "let that curb +your blunt tongue. How could you bring a fresh pang to this holy man, +who hath endured so much and hath journeyed as far as Christ's own +blessed tomb?" + +"May the foul fiend strike me dumb!" cried the bowman in hot repentance; +but both the palmer and Alleyne threw up their hands to stop him. + +"I forgive thee from my heart, dear brother," piped the blind man. "But, +oh, these wild words of thine are worse to mine ears than aught which +you could say of me." + +"Not another word shall I speak," said Aylward; "but here is a franc for +thee and I crave thy blessing." + +"And here is another," said Alleyne. + +"And another," cried Hordle John. + +But the blind palmer would have none of their alms. "Foolish, foolish +pride!" he cried, beating upon his chest with his large brown hand. +"Foolish, foolish pride! How long then will it be ere I can scourge it +forth? Am I then never to conquer it? Oh, strong, strong are the ties of +flesh, and hard it is to subdue the spirit! I come, friends, of a noble +house, and I cannot bring myself to touch this money, even though it be +to save me from the grave." + +"Alas! father," said Alleyne, "how then can we be of help to thee?" + +"I had sat down here to die," quoth the palmer; "but for many years I +have carried in my wallet these precious things which you see set forth +now before me. It were sin, thought I, that my secret should perish with +me. I shall therefore sell these things to the first worthy passers-by, +and from them I shall have money enough to take me to the shrine of Our +Lady at Rocamadour, where I hope to lay these old bones." + +"What are these treasures, then, father?" asked Hordle John. "I can but +see an old rusty nail, with bits of stone and slips of wood." + +"My friend," answered the palmer, "not all the money that is in this +country could pay a just price for these wares of mine. This nail," he +continued, pulling off his hat and turning up his sightless orbs, "is +one of those wherewith man's salvation was secured. I had it, together +with this piece of the true rood, from the five-and-twentieth descendant +of Joseph of Arimathea, who still lives in Jerusalem alive and well, +though latterly much afflicted by boils. Aye, you may well cross +yourselves, and I beg that you will not breathe upon it or touch it with +your fingers." + +"And the wood and stone, holy father?" asked Alleyne, with bated breath, +as he stared awe-struck at his precious relics. + +"This cantle of wood is from the true cross, this other from Noah his +ark, and the third is from the door-post of the temple of the wise King +Solomon. This stone was thrown at the sainted Stephen, and the other two +are from the Tower of Babel. Here, too, is part of Aaron's rod, and a +lock of hair from Elisha the prophet." + +"But, father," quoth Alleyne, "the holy Elisha was bald, which brought +down upon him the revilements of the wicked children." + +"It is very true that he had not much hair," said the palmer quickly, +"and it is this which makes this relic so exceeding precious. Take now +your choice of these, my worthy gentlemen, and pay such a price as +your consciences will suffer you to offer; for I am not a chapman nor +a huckster, and I would never part with them, did I not know that I am +very near to my reward." + +"Aylward," said Alleyne excitedly, "this is such a chance as few folk +have twice in one life. The nail I must have, and I will give it to the +abbey of Beaulieu, so that all the folk in England may go thither to +wonder and to pray." + +"And I will have the stone from the temple," cried Hordle John. "What +would not my old mother give to have it hung over her bed?" + +"And I will have Aaron's rod," quoth Aylward. "I have but five florins +in the world, and here are four of them." + +"Here are three more," said John. + +"And here are five more," added Alleyne. "Holy father, I hand you twelve +florins, which is all that we can give, though we well know how poor a +pay it is for the wondrous things which you sell us." + +"Down, pride, down!" cried the pilgrim, still beating upon his chest. +"Can I not bend myself then to take this sorry sum which is offered me +for that which has cost me the labors of a life. Give me the dross! Here +are the precious relics, and, oh, I pray you that you will handle them +softly and with reverence, else had I rather left my unworthy bones here +by the wayside." + +With doffed caps and eager hands, the comrades took their new and +precious possessions, and pressed onwards upon their journey, leaving +the aged palmer still seated under the cherry-tree. They rode in +silence, each with his treasure in his hand, glancing at it from time to +time, and scarce able to believe that chance had made them sole owners +of relics of such holiness and worth that every abbey and church +in Christendom would have bid eagerly for their possession. So they +journeyed, full of this good fortune, until opposite the town of Le Mas, +where John's horse cast a shoe, and they were glad to find a wayside +smith who might set the matter to rights. To him Aylward narrated the +good hap which had befallen them; but the smith, when his eyes lit upon +the relics, leaned up against his anvil and laughed, with his hand to +his side, until the tears hopped down his sooty cheeks. + +"Why, masters," quoth he, "this man is a coquillart, or seller of false +relics, and was here in the smithy not two hours ago. This nail that +he hath sold you was taken from my nail-box, and as to the wood and the +stones, you will see a heap of both outside from which he hath filled +his scrip." + +"Nay, nay," cried Alleyne, "this was a holy man who had journeyed to +Jerusalem, and acquired a dropsy by running from the house of Pilate to +the Mount of Olives." + +"I know not about that," said the smith; "but I know that a man with a +gray palmer's hat and gown was here no very long time ago, and that he +sat on yonder stump and ate a cold pullet and drank a flask of wine. +Then he begged from me one of my nails, and filling his scrip with +stones, he went upon his way. Look at these nails, and see if they are +not the same as that which he has sold you." + +"Now may God save us!" cried Alleyne, all aghast. "Is there no end then +to the wickedness of humankind? He so humble, so aged, so loth to take +our money--and yet a villain and a cheat. Whom can we trust or believe +in?" + +"I will after him," said Aylward, flinging himself into the saddle. +"Come, Alleyne, we may catch him ere John's horse be shod." + +Away they galloped together, and ere long they saw the old gray palmer +walking slowly along in front of them. He turned, however, at the sound +of their hoofs, and it was clear that his blindness was a cheat like all +the rest of him, for he ran swiftly through a field and so into a wood, +where none could follow him. They hurled their relics after him, and so +rode back to the blacksmith's the poorer both in pocket and in faith. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. HOW ROGER CLUB-FOOT WAS PASSED INTO PARADISE. + + +It was evening before the three comrades came into Aiguillon. There they +found Sir Nigel Loring and Ford safely lodged at the sign of the +"Baton Rouge," where they supped on good fare and slept between +lavender-scented sheets. It chanced, however, that a knight of Poitou, +Sir Gaston d'Estelle, was staying there on his way back from Lithuania, +where he had served a term with the Teutonic knights under the +land-master of the presbytery of Marienberg. He and Sir Nigel sat late +in high converse as to bushments, outfalls, and the intaking of cities, +with many tales of warlike men and valiant deeds. Then their talk turned +to minstrelsy, and the stranger knight drew forth a cittern, upon which +he played the minne-lieder of the north, singing the while in a high +cracked voice of Hildebrand and Brunhild and Siegfried, and all the +strength and beauty of the land of Almain. To this Sir Nigel answered +with the romances of Sir Eglamour, and of Sir Isumbras, and so through +the long winter night they sat by the crackling wood-fire answering each +other's songs until the crowing cocks joined in their concert. Yet, with +scarce an hour of rest, Sir Nigel was as blithe and bright as ever as +they set forth after breakfast upon their way. + +"This Sir Gaston is a very worthy man," said he to his squires as they +rode from the "Baton Rouge." "He hath a very strong desire to advance +himself, and would have entered upon some small knightly debate with me, +had he not chanced to have his arm-bone broken by the kick of a horse. +I have conceived a great love for him, and I have promised him that when +his bone is mended I will exchange thrusts with him. But we must keep to +this road upon the left." + +"Nay, my fair lord," quoth Aylward. "The road to Montaubon is over the +river, and so through Quercy and the Agenois." + +"True, my good Aylward; but I have learned from this worthy knight, who +hath come over the French marches, that there is a company of Englishmen +who are burning and plundering in the country round Villefranche. I have +little doubt, from what he says, that they are those whom we seek." + +"By my hilt! it is like enough," said Aylward. "By all accounts they had +been so long at Montaubon, that there would be little there worth the +taking. Then as they have already been in the south, they would come +north to the country of the Aveyron." + +"We shall follow the Lot until we come to Cahors, and then cross the +marches into Villefranche," said Sir Nigel. "By St. Paul! as we are but +a small band, it is very likely that we may have some very honorable +and pleasing adventure, for I hear that there is little peace upon the +French border." + +All morning they rode down a broad and winding road, barred with the +shadows of poplars. Sir Nigel rode in front with his squires, while the +two archers followed behind with the sumpter mule between them. They +had left Aiguillon and the Garonne far to the south, and rode now by +the tranquil Lot, which curves blue and placid through a gently rolling +country. Alleyne could not but mark that, whereas in Guienne there had +been many townlets and few castles, there were now many castles and few +houses. On either hand gray walls and square grim keeps peeped out at +every few miles from amid the forests while the few villages which +they passed were all ringed round with rude walls, which spoke of the +constant fear and sudden foray of a wild frontier land. Twice during the +morning there came bands of horsemen swooping down upon them from the +black gateways of wayside strongholds, with short, stern questions as to +whence they came and what their errand. Bands of armed men clanked +along the highway, and the few lines of laden mules which carried the +merchandise of the trader were guarded by armed varlets, or by archers +hired for the service. + +"The peace of Bretigny hath not made much change in these parts," +quoth Sir Nigel, "for the country is overrun with free companions and +masterless men. Yonder towers, between the wood and the hill, mark the +town of Cahors, and beyond it is the land of France. But here is a man +by the wayside, and as he hath two horses and a squire I make little +doubt that he is a knight. I pray you, Alleyne, to give him greeting +from me, and to ask him for his titles and coat-armor. It may be that I +can relieve him of some vow, or perchance he hath a lady whom he would +wish to advance." + +"Nay, my fair lord," said Alleyne, "these are not horses and a squire, +but mules and a varlet. The man is a mercer, for he hath a great bundle +beside him." + +"Now, God's blessing on your honest English voice!" cried the stranger, +pricking up his ears at the sound of Alleyne's words. "Never have I +heard music that was so sweet to mine ear. Come, Watkin lad, throw the +bales over Laura's back! My heart was nigh broke, for it seemed that I +had left all that was English behind me, and that I would never set eyes +upon Norwich market square again." He was a tall, lusty, middle-aged +man with a ruddy face, a brown forked beard shot with gray, and a +broad Flanders hat set at the back of his head. His servant, as tall as +himself, but gaunt and raw-boned, had swung the bales on the back of +one mule, while the merchant mounted upon the other and rode to join +the party. It was easy to see, as he approached, from the quality of +his dress and the richness of his trappings, that he was a man of some +wealth and position. + +"Sir knight," said he, "my name is David Micheldene, and I am a burgher +and alderman of the good town of Norwich, where I live five doors from +the church of Our Lady, as all men know on the banks of Yare. I have +here my bales of cloth which I carry to Cahors--woe worth the day that +ever I started on such an errand! I crave your gracious protection upon +the way for me, my servant, and my mercery; for I have already had +many perilous passages, and have now learned that Roger Club-foot, the +robber-knight of Quercy, is out upon the road in front of me. I hereby +agree to give you one rose-noble if you bring me safe to the inn of the +'Angel' in Cahors, the same to be repaid to me or my heirs if any harm +come to me or my goods." + +"By Saint Paul!" answered Sir Nigel, "I should be a sorry knight if I +ask pay for standing by a countryman in a strange land. You may ride +with me and welcome, Master Micheldene, and your varlet may follow with +my archers." + +"God's benison upon thy bounty!" cried the stranger. "Should you come to +Norwich you may have cause to remember that you have been of service to +Alderman Micheldene. It is not very far to Cahors, for surely I see the +cathedral towers against the sky-line; but I have heard much of this +Roger Clubfoot, and the more I hear the less do I wish to look upon his +face. Oh, but I am sick and weary of it all, and I would give half that +I am worth to see my good dame sitting in peace beside me, and to hear +the bells of Norwich town." + +"Your words are strange to me," quoth Sir Nigel, "for you have the +appearance of a stout man, and I see that you wear a sword by your +side." + +"Yet it is not my trade," answered the merchant. "I doubt not that if +I set you down in my shop at Norwich you might scarce tell fustian from +falding, and know little difference between the velvet of Genoa and the +three-piled cloth of Bruges. There you might well turn to me for help. +But here on a lone roadside, with thick woods and robber-knights, I turn +to you, for it is the business to which you have been reared." + +"There is sooth in what you say, Master Micheldene," said Sir Nigel, +"and I trust that we may come upon this Roger Clubfoot, for I have heard +that he is a very stout and skilful soldier, and a man from whom much +honor is to be gained." + +"He is a bloody robber," said the trader, curtly, "and I wish I saw him +kicking at the end of a halter." + +"It is such men as he," Sir Nigel remarked, "who give the true knight +honorable deeds to do, whereby he may advance himself." + +"It is such men as he," retorted Micheldene, "who are like rats in +a wheat-rick or moths in a woolfels, a harm and a hindrance to all +peaceful and honest men." + +"Yet, if the dangers of the road weigh so heavily upon you, master +alderman, it is a great marvel to me that you should venture so far from +home." + +"And sometimes, sir knight, it is a marvel to myself. But I am a man who +may grutch and grumble, but when I have set my face to do a thing I +will not turn my back upon it until it be done. There is one, Francois +Villet, at Cahors, who will send me wine-casks for my cloth-bales, so to +Cahors I will go, though all the robber-knights of Christendom were to +line the roads like yonder poplars." + +"Stoutly spoken, master alderman! But how have you fared hitherto?" + +"As a lamb fares in a land of wolves. Five times we have had to beg and +pray ere we could pass. Twice I have paid toll to the wardens of the +road. Three times we have had to draw, and once at La Reolle we stood +over our wool-bales, Watkin and I, and we laid about us for as long as a +man might chant a litany, slaying one rogue and wounding two others. By +God's coif! we are men of peace, but we are free English burghers, not +to be mishandled either in our country or abroad. Neither lord, baron, +knight, or commoner shall have as much as a strike of flax of mine +whilst I have strength to wag this sword." + +"And a passing strange sword it is," quoth Sir Nigel. "What make you, +Alleyne, of these black lines which are drawn across the sheath?" + +"I cannot tell what they are, my fair lord." + +"Nor can I," said Ford. + +The merchant chuckled to himself. "It was a thought of mine own," +said he; "for the sword was made by Thomas Wilson, the armorer, who is +betrothed to my second daughter Margery. Know then that the sheath is +one cloth-yard, in length, marked off according to feet and inches to +serve me as a measuring wand. It is also of the exact weight of two +pounds, so that I may use it in the balance." + +"By Saint Paul!" quoth Sir Nigel, "it is very clear to me that the sword +is like thyself, good alderman, apt either for war or for peace. But +I doubt not that even in England you have had much to suffer from the +hands of robbers and outlaws." + +"It was only last Lammastide, sir knight, that I was left for dead near +Reading as I journeyed to Winchester fair. Yet I had the rogues up at +the court of pie-powder, and they will harm no more peaceful traders." + +"You travel much then!" + +"To Winchester, Linn mart, Bristol fair, Stourbridge, and Bartholomew's +in London Town. The rest of the year you may ever find me five doors +from the church of Our Lady, where I would from my heart that I was at +this moment, for there is no air like Norwich air, and no water like the +Yare, nor can all the wines of France compare with the beer of old Sam +Yelverton who keeps the 'Dun Cow.' But, out and alack, here is an evil +fruit which hangs upon this chestnut-tree!" + +As he spoke they had ridden round a curve of the road and come upon a +great tree which shot one strong brown branch across their path. From +the centre of this branch there hung a man, with his head at a horrid +slant to his body and his toes just touching the ground. He was naked +save for a linen under shirt and pair of woollen drawers. Beside him +on a green bank there sat a small man with a solemn face, and a great +bundle of papers of all colors thrusting forth from the scrip which lay +beside him. He was very richly dressed, with furred robes, a scarlet +hood, and wide hanging sleeves lined with flame-colored silk. A great +gold chain hung round his neck, and rings glittered from every finger of +his hands. On his lap he had a little pile of gold and of silver, which +he was dropping, coin by coin, into a plump pouch which hung from his +girdle. + +"May the saints be with you, good travellers!" he shouted, as the +party rode up. "May the four Evangelists watch over you! May the twelve +Apostles bear you up! May the blessed army of martyrs direct your feet +and lead you to eternal bliss!" + +"Gramercy for these good wishes!" said Sir Nigel. "But I perceive, +master alderman, that this man who hangs here is, by mark of foot, the +very robber-knight of whom we have spoken. But there is a cartel pinned +upon his breast, and I pray you, Alleyne, to read it to me." + +The dead robber swung slowly to and fro in the wintry wind, a fixed +smile upon his swarthy face, and his bulging eyes still glaring down the +highway of which he had so long been the terror; on a sheet of parchment +upon his breast was printed in rude characters; + + ROGER PIED-BOT. + + Par l'ordre du Senechal de + Castelnau, et de l'Echevin de + Cahors, servantes fideles du + tres vaillant et tres puissant + Edouard, Prince de Galles et + d'Aquitaine. + Ne touchez pas, + Ne coutez pas, + Ne depechez pas. + +"He took a sorry time in dying," said the man who sat beside him. "He +could stretch one toe to the ground and bear himself up, so that I +thought he would never have done. Now at last, however, he is safely in +paradise, and so I may jog on upon my earthly way." He mounted, as he +spoke, a white mule which had been grazing by the wayside, all gay +with fustian of gold and silver bells, and rode onward with Sir Nigel's +party. + +"How know you then that he is in paradise?" asked Sir Nigel. "All things +are possible to God, but, certes, without a miracle, I should scarce +expect to find the soul of Roger Clubfoot amongst the just." + +"I know that he is there because I have just passed him in there," +answered the stranger, rubbing his bejewelled hands together in placid +satisfaction. "It is my holy mission to be a sompnour or pardoner. I am +the unworthy servant and delegate of him who holds the keys. A contrite +heart and ten nobles to holy mother Church may stave off perdition; but +he hath a pardon of the first degree, with a twenty-five livre benison, +so that I doubt if he will so much as feel a twinge of purgatory. I came +up even as the seneschal's archers were tying him up, and I gave him my +fore-word that I would bide with him until he had passed. There were two +leaden crowns among the silver, but I would not for that stand in the +way of his salvation." + +"By Saint Paul!" said Sir Nigel, "if you have indeed this power to open +and to shut the gates of hope, then indeed you stand high above mankind. +But if you do but claim to have it, and yet have it not, then it seems +to me, master clerk, that you may yourself find the gate barred when you +shall ask admittance." + +"Small of faith! Small of faith!" cried the sompnour. "Ah, Sir Didymus +yet walks upon earth! And yet no words of doubt can bring anger to mine +heart, or a bitter word to my lip, for am I not a poor unworthy worker +in the cause of gentleness and peace? Of all these pardons which I bear +every one is stamped and signed by our holy father, the prop and centre +of Christendom." + +"Which of them?" asked Sir Nigel. + +"Ha, ha!" cried the pardoner, shaking a jewelled forefinger. "Thou +wouldst be deep in the secrets of mother Church? Know then that I have +both in my scrip. Those who hold with Urban shall have Urban's pardon, +while I have Clement's for the Clementist--or he who is in doubt may +have both, so that come what may he shall be secure. I pray you that you +will buy one, for war is bloody work, and the end is sudden with little +time for thought or shrift. Or you, sir, for you seem to me to be a man +who would do ill to trust to your own merits." This to the alderman of +Norwich, who had listened to him with a frowning brow and a sneering +lip. + +"When I sell my cloth," quoth he, "he who buys may weigh and feel and +handle. These goods which you sell are not to be seen, nor is there +any proof that you hold them. Certes, if mortal man might control God's +mercy, it would be one of a lofty and God-like life, and not one who is +decked out with rings and chains and silks, like a pleasure-wench at a +kermesse. + +"Thou wicked and shameless man!" cried the clerk. "Dost thou dare to +raise thy voice against the unworthy servant of mother Church?" + +"Unworthy enough!" quoth David Micheldene. "I would have you to know, +clerk, that I am a free English burgher, and that I dare say my mind to +our father the Pope himself, let alone such a lacquey's lacquey as you!" + +"Base-born and foul-mouthed knave!" cried the sompnour. "You prate of +holy things, to which your hog's mind can never rise. Keep silence, lest +I call a curse upon you!" + +"Silence yourself!" roared the other. "Foul bird! we found thee by the +gallows like a carrion-crow. A fine life thou hast of it with thy silks +and thy baubles, cozening the last few shillings from the pouches of +dying men. A fig for thy curse! Bide here, if you will take my rede, for +we will make England too hot for such as you, when Master Wicliff has +the ordering of it. Thou vile thief! it is you, and such as you, who +bring an evil name upon the many churchmen who lead a pure and a holy +life. Thou outside the door of heaven! Art more like to be inside the +door of hell." + +At this crowning insult the sompnour, with a face ashen with rage, +raised up a quivering hand and began pouring Latin imprecations upon +the angry alderman. The latter, however, was not a man to be quelled by +words, for he caught up his ell-measure sword-sheath and belabored the +cursing clerk with it. The latter, unable to escape from the shower +of blows, set spurs to his mule and rode for his life, with his enemy +thundering behind him. At sight of his master's sudden departure, the +varlet Watkin set off after him, with the pack-mule beside him, so that +the four clattered away down the road together, until they swept round +a curve and their babble was but a drone in the distance. Sir Nigel +and Alleyne gazed in astonishment at one another, while Ford burst out +a-laughing. + +"Pardieu!" said the knight, "this David Micheldene must be one of those +Lollards about whom Father Christopher of the priory had so much to say. +Yet he seemed to be no bad man from what I have seen of him." + +"I have heard that Wicliff hath many followers in Norwich," answered +Alleyne. + +"By St. Paul! I have no great love for them," quoth Sir Nigel. "I am a +man who am slow to change; and, if you take away from me the faith that +I have been taught, it would be long ere I could learn one to set in its +place. It is but a chip here and a chip there, yet it may bring the tree +down in time. Yet, on the other hand, I cannot but think it shame that a +man should turn God's mercy on and off, as a cellarman doth wine with a +spigot." + +"Nor is it," said Alleyne, "part of the teachings of that mother Church +of which he had so much to say. There was sooth in what the alderman +said of it." + +"Then, by St. Paul! they may settle it betwixt them," quoth Sir Nigel. +"For me, I serve God, the king and my lady; and so long as I can keep +the path of honor I am well content. My creed shall ever be that of +Chandos: + + "Fais ce que dois--adviegne que peut, + C'est commande au chevalier." + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. HOW THE COMRADES CAME OVER THE MARCHES OF FRANCE + + +After passing Cahors, the party branched away from the main road, and +leaving the river to the north of them, followed a smaller track which +wound over a vast and desolate plain. This path led them amid marshes +and woods, until it brought them out into a glade with a broad stream +swirling swiftly down the centre of it. Through this the horses splashed +their way, and on the farther shore Sir Nigel announced to them that +they were now within the borders of the land of France. For some miles +they still followed the same lonely track, which led them through +a dense wood, and then widening out, curved down to an open rolling +country, such as they had traversed between Aiguillon and Cahors. + +If it were grim and desolate upon the English border, however, what +can describe the hideous barrenness of this ten times harried tract +of France? The whole face of the country was scarred and disfigured, +mottled over with the black blotches of burned farm-steadings, and +the gray, gaunt gable-ends of what had been chateaux. Broken fences, +crumbling walls, vineyards littered with stones, the shattered arches of +bridges--look where you might, the signs of ruin and rapine met the eye. +Here and there only, on the farthest sky-line, the gnarled turrets of a +castle, or the graceful pinnacles of church or of monastery showed where +the forces of the sword or of the spirit had preserved some small islet +of security in this universal flood of misery. Moodily and in silence +the little party rode along the narrow and irregular track, their hearts +weighed down by this far-stretching land of despair. It was indeed +a stricken and a blighted country, and a man might have ridden from +Auvergne in the north to the marches of Foix, nor ever seen a smiling +village or a thriving homestead. + +From time to time as they advanced they saw strange lean figures +scraping and scratching amid the weeds and thistles, who, on sight +of the band of horsemen, threw up their arms and dived in among the +brushwood, as shy and as swift as wild animals. More than once, however, +they came on families by the wayside, who were too weak from hunger and +disease to fly, so that they could but sit like hares on a tussock, with +panting chests and terror in their eyes. So gaunt were these poor folk, +so worn and spent--with bent and knotted frames, and sullen, hopeless, +mutinous faces--that it made the young Englishman heart-sick to look +upon them. Indeed, it seemed as though all hope and light had gone so +far from them that it was not to be brought back; for when Sir Nigel +threw down a handful of silver among them there came no softening of +their lined faces, but they clutched greedily at the coins, peering +questioningly at him, and champing with their animal jaws. Here and +there amid the brushwood the travellers saw the rude bundle of +sticks which served them as a home--more like a fowl's nest than the +dwelling-place of man. Yet why should they build and strive, when the +first adventurer who passed would set torch to their thatch, and when +their own feudal lord would wring from them with blows and curses the +last fruits of their toil? They sat at the lowest depth of human misery, +and hugged a bitter comfort to their souls as they realized that they +could go no lower. Yet they had still the human gift of speech, and +would take council among themselves in their brushwood hovels, glaring +with bleared eyes and pointing with thin fingers at the great widespread +chateaux which ate like a cancer into the life of the country-side. When +such men, who are beyond hope and fear, begin in their dim minds to see +the source of their woes, it may be an evil time for those who have wronged +them. The weak man becomes strong when he has nothing, for then only can +he feel the wild, mad thrill of despair. High and strong the chateaux, +lowly and weak the brushwood hut; but God help the seigneur and his lady +when the men of the brushwood set their hands to the work of revenge! + +Through such country did the party ride for eight or it might be nine +miles, until the sun began to slope down in the west and their shadows +to stream down the road in front of them. Wary and careful they must +be, with watchful eyes to the right and the left, for this was no man's +land, and their only passports were those which hung from their belts. +Frenchmen and Englishmen, Gascon and Provencal, Brabanter, Tardvenu, +Scorcher, Flayer, and Free Companion, wandered and struggled over the +whole of this accursed district. So bare and cheerless was the outlook, +and so few and poor the dwellings, that Sir Nigel began to have fears as +to whether he might find food and quarters for his little troop. It was +a relief to him, therefore, when their narrow track opened out upon a +larger road, and they saw some little way down it a square white house +with a great bunch of holly hung out at the end of a stick from one of +the upper windows. + +"By St. Paul!" said he, "I am right glad; for I had feared that we might +have neither provant nor herbergage. Ride on, Alleyne, and tell this +inn-keeper that an English knight with his party will lodge with him +this night." + +Alleyne set spurs to his horse and reached the inn door a long bow-shot +before his companions. Neither varlet nor ostler could be seen, so he +pushed open the door and called loudly for the landlord. Three times he +shouted, but, receiving no reply, he opened an inner door and advanced +into the chief guest-room of the hostel. + +A very cheerful wood-fire was sputtering and cracking in an open grate +at the further end of the apartment. At one side of this fire, in a +high-backed oak chair, sat a lady, her face turned towards the door. +The firelight played over her features, and Alleyne thought that he had +never seen such queenly power, such dignity and strength, upon a woman's +face. She might have been five-and-thirty years of age, with aquiline +nose, firm yet sensitive mouth, dark curving brows, and deep-set eyes +which shone and sparkled with a shifting brilliancy. Beautiful as she +was, it was not her beauty which impressed itself upon the beholder; +it was her strength, her power, the sense of wisdom which hung over +the broad white brow, the decision which lay in the square jaw and +delicately moulded chin. A chaplet of pearls sparkled amid her black +hair, with a gauze of silver network flowing back from it over her +shoulders; a black mantle was swathed round her, and she leaned back in +her chair as one who is fresh from a journey. + +In the opposite corner there sat a very burly and broad-shouldered man, +clad in a black jerkin trimmed with sable, with a black velvet cap with +curling white feather cocked upon the side of his head. A flask of red +wine stood at his elbow, and he seemed to be very much at his ease, for +his feet were stuck up on a stool, and between his thighs he held a dish +full of nuts. These he cracked between his strong white teeth and chewed +in a leisurely way, casting the shells into the blaze. As Alleyne gazed +in at him he turned his face half round and cocked an eye at him over +his shoulder. It seemed to the young Englishman that he had never seen +so hideous a face, for the eyes were of the lightest green, the nose was +broken and driven inwards, while the whole countenance was seared and +puckered with wounds. The voice, too, when he spoke, was as deep and as +fierce as the growl of a beast of prey. + +"Young man," said he, "I know not who you may be, and I am not much +inclined to bestir myself, but if it were not that I am bent upon taking +my ease, I swear, by the sword of Joshua! that I would lay my dog-whip +across your shoulders for daring to fill the air with these discordant +bellowings." + +Taken aback at this ungentle speech, and scarce knowing how to answer it +fitly in the presence of the lady, Alleyne stood with his hand upon the +handle of the door, while Sir Nigel and his companions dismounted. At +the sound of these fresh voices, and of the tongue in which they spoke, +the stranger crashed his dish of nuts down upon the floor, and began +himself to call for the landlord until the whole house re-echoed with +his roarings. With an ashen face the white-aproned host came running +at his call, his hands shaking and his very hair bristling with +apprehension. "For the sake of God, sirs," he whispered as he passed, +"speak him fair and do not rouse him! For the love of the Virgin, be +mild with him!" + +"Who is this, then?" asked Sir Nigel. + +Alleyne was about to explain, when a fresh roar from the stranger +interrupted him. + +"Thou villain inn-keeper," he shouted, "did I not ask you when I brought +my lady here whether your inn was clean?" + +"You did, sire." + +"Did I not very particularly ask you whether there were any vermin in +it?" + +"You did, sire." + +"And you answered me?" + +"That there were not, sire." + +"And yet ere I have been here an hour I find Englishmen crawling about +within it. Where are we to be free from this pestilent race? Can a +Frenchman upon French land not sit down in a French auberge without +having his ears pained by the clack of their hideous talk? Send them +packing, inn-keeper, or it may be the worse for them and for you." + +"I will, sire, I will!" cried the frightened host, and bustled from +the room, while the soft, soothing voice of the woman was heard +remonstrating with her furious companion. + +"Indeed, gentlemen, you had best go," said mine host. "It is but six +miles to Villefranche, where there are very good quarters at the sign of +the 'Lion Rouge.'" + +"Nay," answered Sir Nigel, "I cannot go until I have seen more of this +person, for he appears to be a man from whom much is to be hoped. What +is his name and title?" + +"It is not for my lips to name it unless by his desire. But I beg and +pray you, gentlemen, that you will go from my house, for I know not what +may come of it if his rage should gain the mastery of him." + +"By Saint Paul!" lisped Sir Nigel, "this is certainly a man whom it +is worth journeying far to know. Go tell him that a humble knight of +England would make his further honorable acquaintance, not from any +presumption, pride, or ill-will, but for the advancement of chivalry and +the glory of our ladies. Give him greeting from Sir Nigel Loring, and +say that the glove which I bear in my cap belongs to the most peerless +and lovely of her sex, whom I am now ready to uphold against any lady +whose claim he might be desirous of advancing." + +The landlord was hesitating whether to carry this message or no, when +the door of the inner room was flung open, and the stranger bounded out +like a panther from its den, his hair bristling and his deformed face +convulsed with anger. + +"Still here!" he snarled. "Dogs of England, must ye be lashed hence? +Tiphaine, my sword!" He turned to seize his weapon, but as he did so his +gaze fell upon the blazonry of sir Nigel's shield, and he stood staring, +while the fire in his strange green eyes softened into a sly and +humorous twinkle. + +"Mort Dieu!" cried he, "it is my little swordsman of Bordeaux. I should +remember that coat-armor, seeing that it is but three days since I +looked upon it in the lists by Garonne. Ah! Sir Nigel, Sir Nigel! you +owe me a return for this," and he touched his right arm, which was girt +round just under the shoulder with a silken kerchief. + +But the surprise of the stranger at the sight of Sir Nigel was as +nothing compared with the astonishment and the delight which shone upon +the face of the knight of Hampshire as he looked upon the strange face +of the Frenchman. Twice he opened his mouth and twice he peered again, +as though to assure himself that his eyes had not played him a trick. + +"Bertrand!" he gasped at last. "Bertrand du Guesclin!" + +"By Saint Ives!" shouted the French soldier, with a hoarse roar of +laughter, "it is well that I should ride with my vizor down, for he that +has once seen my face does not need to be told my name. It is indeed I, +Sir Nigel, and here is my hand! I give you my word that there are but +three Englishmen in this world whom I would touch save with the sharp +edge of the sword: the prince is one, Chandos the second, and you the +third; for I have heard much that is good of you." + +"I am growing aged, and am somewhat spent in the wars," quoth Sir Nigel; +"but I can lay by my sword now with an easy mind, for I can say that +I have crossed swords with him who hath the bravest heart and the +strongest arm of all this great kingdom of France. I have longed for it, +I have dreamed of it, and now I can scarce bring my mind to understand +that this great honor hath indeed been mine." + +"By the Virgin of Rennes! you have given me cause to be very certain of +it," said Du Guesclin, with a gleam of his broad white teeth. + +"And perhaps, most honored sir, it would please you to continue the +debate. Perhaps you would condescend to go farther into the matter. +God He knows that I am unworthy of such honor, yet I can show my +four-and-sixty quarterings, and I have been present at some bickerings +and scufflings during these twenty years." + +"Your fame is very well known to me, and I shall ask my lady to enter +your name upon my tablets," said Sir Bertrand. "There are many who wish +to advance themselves, and who bide their turn, for I refuse no man who +comes on such an errand. At present it may not be, for mine arm is stiff +from this small touch, and I would fain do you full honor when we cross +swords again. Come in with me, and let your squires come also, that my +sweet spouse, the Lady Tiphaine, may say that she hath seen so famed and +gentle a knight." + +Into the chamber they went in all peace and concord, where the Lady +Tiphaine sat like queen on throne for each in turn to be presented to +her. Sooth to say, the stout heart of Sir Nigel, which cared little for +the wrath of her lion-like spouse, was somewhat shaken by the calm, cold +face of this stately dame, for twenty years of camp-life had left him +more at ease in the lists than in a lady's boudoir. He bethought him, +too, as he looked at her set lips and deep-set questioning eyes, that he +had heard strange tales of this same Lady Tiphaine du Guesclin. Was +it not she who was said to lay hands upon the sick and raise them from +their couches when the leeches had spent their last nostrums? Had she +not forecast the future, and were there not times when in the loneliness +of her chamber she was heard to hold converse with some being upon whom +mortal eye never rested--some dark familiar who passed where doors were +barred and windows high? Sir Nigel sunk his eye and marked a cross on +the side of his leg as he greeted this dangerous dame, and yet ere +five minutes had passed he was hers, and not he only but his two young +squires as well. The mind had gone out of them, and they could but look +at this woman and listen to the words which fell from her lips--words +which thrilled through their nerves and stirred their souls like the +battle-call of a bugle. + +Often in peaceful after-days was Alleyne to think of that scene of the +wayside inn of Auvergne. The shadows of evening had fallen, and the +corners of the long, low, wood-panelled room were draped in darkness. +The sputtering wood fire threw out a circle of red flickering light +which played over the little group of wayfarers, and showed up every +line and shadow upon their faces. Sir Nigel sat with elbows upon knees, +and chin upon hands, his patch still covering one eye, but his other +shining like a star, while the ruddy light gleamed upon his smooth white +head. Ford was seated at his left, his lips parted, his eyes staring, +and a fleck of deep color on either cheek, his limbs all rigid as one +who fears to move. On the other side the famous French captain leaned +back in his chair, a litter of nut-shells upon his lap, his huge head +half buried in a cushion, while his eyes wandered with an amused gleam +from his dame to the staring, enraptured Englishmen. Then, last of +all, that pale clear-cut face, that sweet clear voice, with its high +thrilling talk of the deathlessness of glory, of the worthlessness of +life, of the pain of ignoble joys, and of the joy which lies in all +pains which lead to a noble end. Still, as the shadows deepened, she +spoke of valor and virtue, of loyalty, honor, and fame, and still they +sat drinking in her words while the fire burned down and the red ash +turned to gray. + +"By the sainted Ives!" cried Du Guesclin at last, "it is time that we +spoke of what we are to do this night, for I cannot think that in this +wayside auberge there are fit quarters for an honorable company." + +Sir Nigel gave a long sigh as he came back from the dreams of chivalry +and hardihood into which this strange woman's words had wafted him. "I +care not where I sleep," said he; "but these are indeed somewhat rude +lodgings for this fair lady." + +"What contents my lord contents me," quoth she. "I perceive, Sir Nigel, +that you are under vow," she added, glancing at his covered eye. + +"It is my purpose to attempt some small deed," he answered. + +"And the glove--is it your lady's?" + +"It is indeed my sweet wife's." + +"Who is doubtless proud of you." + +"Say rather I of her," quoth he quickly. "God He knows that I am not +worthy to be her humble servant. It is easy, lady, for a man to ride +forth in the light of day, and do his devoir when all men have eyes for +him. But in a woman's heart there is a strength and truth which asks no +praise, and can but be known to him whose treasure it is." + +The Lady Tiphaine smiled across at her husband. "You have often told +me, Bertrand, that there were very gentle knights amongst the English," +quoth she. + +"Aye, aye," said he moodily. "But to horse, Sir Nigel, you and yours +and we shall seek the chateau of Sir Tristram de Rochefort, which is +two miles on this side of Villefranche. He is Seneschal of Auvergne, and +mine old war companion." + +"Certes, he would have a welcome for you," quoth Sir Nigel; "but indeed +he might look askance at one who comes without permit over the marches." + +"By the Virgin! when he learns that you have come to draw away these +rascals he will be very blithe to look upon your face. Inn-keeper, here +are ten gold pieces. What is over and above your reckoning you may take +off from your charges to the next needy knight who comes this way. Come +then, for it grows late and the horses are stamping in the roadway." + +The Lady Tiphaine and her spouse sprang upon their steeds without +setting feet to stirrup, and away they jingled down the white moonlit +highway, with Sir Nigel at the lady's bridle-arm, and Ford a spear's +length behind them. Alleyne had lingered for an instant in the passage, +and as he did so there came a wild outcry from a chamber upon the +left, and out there ran Aylward and John, laughing together like two +schoolboys who are bent upon a prank. At sight of Alleyne they slunk +past him with somewhat of a shame-faced air, and springing upon their +horses galloped after their party. The hubbub within the chamber did not +cease, however, but rather increased, with yells of: "A moi, mes amis! A +moi, camarades! A moi, l'honorable champion de l'Eveque de Montaubon! A +la recousse de l'eglise sainte!" So shrill was the outcry that both the +inn-keeper and Alleyne, with every varlet within hearing, rushed wildly +to the scene of the uproar. + +It was indeed a singular scene which met their eyes. The room was a long +and lofty one, stone floored and bare, with a fire at the further end +upon which a great pot was boiling. A deal table ran down the centre, +with a wooden wine-pitcher upon it and two horn cups. Some way from it +was a smaller table with a single beaker and a broken wine-bottle. From +the heavy wooden rafters which formed the roof there hung rows of hooks +which held up sides of bacon, joints of smoked beef, and strings of +onions for winter use. In the very centre of all these, upon the +largest hook of all, there hung a fat little red-faced man with enormous +whiskers, kicking madly in the air and clawing at rafters, hams, and +all else that was within hand-grasp. The huge steel hook had been passed +through the collar of his leather jerkin, and there he hung like a fish +on a line, writhing, twisting, and screaming, but utterly unable to free +himself from his extraordinary position. It was not until Alleyne and +the landlord had mounted on the table that they were able to lift him +down, when he sank gasping with rage into a seat, and rolled his eyes +round in every direction. + +"Has he gone?" quoth he. + +"Gone? Who?" + +"He, the man with the red head, the giant man." + +"Yes," said Alleyne, "he hath gone." + +"And comes not back?" + +"No." + +"The better for him!" cried the little man, with a long sigh of relief. +"Mon Dieu! What! am I not the champion of the Bishop of Montaubon? Ah, +could I have descended, could I have come down, ere he fled! Then you +would have seen. You would have beheld a spectacle then. There would +have been one rascal the less upon earth. Ma foi, yes!" + +"Good master Pelligny," said the landlord, "these gentlemen have not +gone very fast, and I have a horse in the stable at your disposal, for +I would rather have such bloody doings as you threaten outside the four +walls of mine auberge." + +"I hurt my leg and cannot ride," quoth the bishop's champion. "I +strained a sinew on the day that I slew the three men at Castelnau." + +"God save you, master Pelligny!" cried the landlord. "It must be an +awesome thing to have so much blood upon one's soul. And yet I do not +wish to see so valiant a man mishandled, and so I will, for friendship's +sake, ride after this Englishman and bring him back to you." + +"You shall not stir," cried the champion, seizing the inn-keeper in a +convulsive grasp. "I have a love for you, Gaston, and I would not +bring your house into ill repute, nor do such scath to these walls and +chattels as must befall if two such men as this Englishman and I fall to +work here." + +"Nay, think not of me!" cried the inn-keeper. "What are my walls when +set against the honor of Francois Poursuivant d'Amour Pelligny, champion +of the Bishop of Montaubon. My horse, Andre!" + +"By the saints, no! Gaston, I will not have it! You have said truly that +it is an awesome thing to have such rough work upon one's soul. I am +but a rude soldier, yet I have a mind. Mon Dieu! I reflect, I weigh, I +balance. Shall I not meet this man again? Shall I not bear him in mind? +Shall I not know him by his great paws and his red head? Ma foi, yes!" + +"And may I ask, sir," said Alleyne, "why it is that you call yourself +champion of the Bishop of Montaubon?" + +"You may ask aught which it is becoming to me to answer. The bishop hath +need of a champion, because, if any cause be set to test of combat, it +would scarce become his office to go down into the lists with leather +and shield and cudgel to exchange blows with any varlet. He looks around +him then for some tried fighting man, some honest smiter who can give a +blow or take one. It is not for me to say how far he hath succeeded, but +it is sooth that he who thinks that he hath but to do with the Bishop of +Montaubon, finds himself face to face with Francois Poursuivant d'Amour +Pelligny." + +At this moment there was a clatter of hoofs upon the road, and a varlet +by the door cried out that one of the Englishmen was coming back. +The champion looked wildly about for some corner of safety, and was +clambering up towards the window, when Ford's voice sounded from +without, calling upon Alleyne to hasten, or he might scarce find his +way. Bidding adieu to landlord and to champion, therefore, he set off at +a gallop, and soon overtook the two archers. + +"A pretty thing this, John," said he. "Thou wilt have holy Church upon +you if you hang her champions upon iron hooks in an inn kitchen." + +"It was done without thinking," he answered apologetically, while +Aylward burst into a shout of laughter. + +"By my hilt! mon petit," said he, "you would have laughed also could +you have seen it. For this man was so swollen with pride that he would +neither drink with us, nor sit at the same table with us, nor as much as +answer a question, but must needs talk to the varlet all the time that +it was well there was peace, and that he had slain more Englishmen than +there were tags to his doublet. Our good old John could scarce lay his +tongue to French enough to answer him, so he must needs reach out his +great hand to him and place him very gently where you saw him. But we +must on, for I can scarce hear their hoofs upon the road." + +"I think that I can see them yet," said Ford, peering down the moonlit +road. + +"Pardieu! yes. Now they ride forth from the shadow. And yonder dark +clump is the Castle of Villefranche. En avant camarades! or Sir Nigel +may reach the gates before us. But hark, mes amis, what sound is that?" + +As he spoke the hoarse blast of a horn was heard from some woods upon +the right. An answering call rung forth upon their left, and hard upon +it two others from behind them. + +"They are the horns of swine-herds," quoth Aylward. "Though why they +blow them so late I cannot tell." + +"Let us on, then," said Ford, and the whole party, setting their spurs +to their horses, soon found themselves at the Castle of Villefranche, +where the drawbridge had already been lowered and the portcullis raised +in response to the summons of Du Guesclin. + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. HOW THE BLESSED HOUR OF SIGHT CAME TO THE LADY TIPHAINE. + + +Sir Tristram de Rochefort, Seneschal of Auvergne and Lord of +Villefranche, was a fierce and renowned soldier who had grown gray in +the English wars. As lord of the marches and guardian of an exposed +country-side, there was little rest for him even in times of so-called +peace, and his whole life was spent in raids and outfalls upon the +Brabanters, late-comers, flayers, free companions, and roving archers +who wandered over his province. At times he would come back in triumph, +and a dozen corpses swinging from the summit of his keep would warn +evil-doers that there was still a law in the land. At others his +ventures were not so happy, and he and his troop would spur it over +the drawbridge with clatter of hoofs hard at their heels and whistle of +arrows about their ears. Hard he was of hand and harder of heart, hated +by his foes, and yet not loved by those whom he protected, for twice he +had been taken prisoner, and twice his ransom had been wrung by dint +of blows and tortures out of the starving peasants and ruined farmers. +Wolves or watch-dogs, it was hard to say from which the sheep had most +to fear. + +The Castle of Villefranche was harsh and stern as its master. A broad +moat, a high outer wall turreted at the corners, with a great black keep +towering above all--so it lay before them in the moonlight. By the light +of two flambeaux, protruded through the narrow slit-shaped openings at +either side of the ponderous gate, they caught a glimpse of the glitter +of fierce eyes and of the gleam of the weapons of the guard. The sight +of the two-headed eagle of Du Guesclin, however, was a passport into +any fortalice in France, and ere they had passed the gate the old border +knight came running forwards with hands out-thrown to greet his famous +countryman. Nor was he less glad to see Sir Nigel, when the Englishman's +errand was explained to him, for these archers had been a sore thorn in +his side and had routed two expeditions which he had sent against them. +A happy day it would be for the Seneschal of Auvergne when they should +learn that the last yew bow was over the marches. + +The material for a feast was ever at hand in days when, if there was +grim want in the cottage, there was at least rude plenty in the castle. +Within an hour the guests were seated around a board which creaked under +the great pasties and joints of meat, varied by those more dainty +dishes in which the French excelled, the spiced ortolan and the truffled +beccaficoes. The Lady Rochefort, a bright and laughter-loving dame, sat +upon the left of her warlike spouse, with Lady Tiphaine upon the right. +Beneath sat Du Guesclin and Sir Nigel, with Sir Amory Monticourt, of the +order of the Hospitallers, and Sir Otto Harnit, a wandering knight +from the kingdom of Bohemia. These with Alleyne and Ford, four French +squires, and the castle chaplain, made the company who sat together that +night and made good cheer in the Castle of Villefranche. The great fire +crackled in the grate, the hooded hawks slept upon their perches, the +rough deer-hounds with expectant eyes crouched upon the tiled floor; +close at the elbows of the guests stood the dapper little lilac-coated +pages; the laugh and jest circled round and all was harmony and comfort. +Little they recked of the brushwood men who crouched in their rags along +the fringe of the forest and looked with wild and haggard eyes at the +rich, warm glow which shot a golden bar of light from the high arched +windows of the castle. + +Supper over, the tables dormant were cleared away as by magic and +trestles and bancals arranged around the blazing fire, for there was a +bitter nip in the air. The Lady Tiphaine had sunk back in her cushioned +chair, and her long dark lashes drooped low over her sparkling eyes. +Alleyne, glancing at her, noted that her breath came quick and short, +and that her cheeks had blanched to a lily white. Du Guesclin eyed her +keenly from time to time, and passed his broad brown fingers through his +crisp, curly black hair with the air of a man who is perplexed in his +mind. + +"These folk here," said the knight of Bohemia, "they do not seem too +well fed." + +"Ah, canaille!" cried the Lord of Villefranche. "You would scarce credit +it, and yet it is sooth that when I was taken at Poictiers it was all +that my wife and foster-brother could do to raise the money from them +for my ransom. The sulky dogs would rather have three twists of a rack, +or the thumbikins for an hour, than pay out a denier for their own +feudal father and liege lord. Yet there is not one of them but hath an +old stocking full of gold pieces hid away in a snug corner." + +"Why do they not buy food then?" asked Sir Nigel. "By St. Paul! it +seemed to me their bones were breaking through their skin." + +"It is their grutching and grumbling which makes them thin. We have a +saying here, Sir Nigel, that if you pummel Jacques Bonhomme he will pat +you, but if you pat him he will pummel you. Doubtless you find it so in +England." + +"Ma foi, no!" said Sir Nigel. "I have two Englishmen of this class in +my train, who are at this instant, I make little doubt, as full of your +wine as any cask in your cellar. He who pummelled them might come by +such a pat as he would be likely to remember." + +"I cannot understand it," quoth the seneschal, "for the English knights +and nobles whom I have met were not men to brook the insolence of the +base born." + +"Perchance, my fair lord, the poor folk are sweeter and of a better +countenance in England," laughed the Lady Rochefort. "Mon Dieu! you +cannot conceive to yourself how ugly they are! Without hair, without +teeth, all twisted and bent; for me, I cannot think how the good God +ever came to make such people. I cannot bear it, I, and so my trusty +Raoul goes ever before me with a cudgel to drive them from my path." + +"Yet they have souls, fair lady, they have souls!" murmured the +chaplain, a white-haired man with a weary, patient face. + +"So I have heard you tell them," said the lord of the castle; "and for +myself, father, though I am a true son of holy Church, yet I think +that you were better employed in saying your mass and in teaching the +children of my men-at-arms, than in going over the country-side to put +ideas in these folks' heads which would never have been there but for +you. I have heard that you have said to them that their souls are as +good as ours, and that it is likely that in another life they may stand +as high as the oldest blood of Auvergne. For my part, I believe that +there are so many worthy knights and gallant gentlemen in heaven who +know how such things should be arranged, that there is little fear that +we shall find ourselves mixed up with base roturiers and swine-herds. +Tell your beads, father, and con your psalter, but do not come between +me and those whom the king has given to me!" + +"God help them!" cried the old priest. "A higher King than yours has +given them to me, and I tell you here in your own castle hall, Sir +Tristram de Rochefort, that you have sinned deeply in your dealings with +these poor folk, and that the hour will come, and may even now be at +hand, when God's hand will be heavy upon you for what you have done." He +rose as he spoke, and walked slowly from the room. + +"Pest take him!" cried the French knight. "Now, what is a man to do with +a priest, Sir Bertrand?--for one can neither fight him like a man nor +coax him like a woman." + +"Ah, Sir Bertrand knows, the naughty one!" cried the Lady Rochefort. +"Have we not all heard how he went to Avignon and squeezed fifty +thousand crowns out of the Pope." + +"Ma foi!" said Sir Nigel, looking with a mixture of horror and +admiration at Du Guesclin. "Did not your heart sink within you? Were you +not smitten with fears? Have you not felt a curse hang over you?" + +"I have not observed it," said the Frenchman carelessly. "But by Saint +Ives! Tristram, this chaplain of yours seems to me to be a worthy man, +and you should give heed to his words, for though I care nothing for +the curse of a bad pope, it would be a grief to me to have aught but a +blessing from a good priest." + +"Hark to that, my fair lord," cried the Lady Rochefort. "Take heed, I +pray thee, for I do not wish to have a blight cast over me, nor a palsy +of the limbs. I remember that once before you angered Father Stephen, +and my tire-woman said that I lost more hair in seven days than ever +before in a month." + +"If that be sign of sin, then, by Saint Paul! I have much upon my soul," +said Sir Nigel, amid a general laugh. "But in very truth, Sir Tristram, +if I may venture a word of counsel, I should advise that you make your +peace with this good man." + +"He shall have four silver candlesticks," said the seneschal moodily. +"And yet I would that he would leave the folk alone. You cannot conceive +in your mind how stubborn and brainless they are. Mules and pigs are +full of reason beside them. God He knows that I have had great patience +with them. It was but last week that, having to raise some money, +I called up to the castle Jean Goubert, who, as all men know, has a +casketful of gold pieces hidden away in some hollow tree. I give you my +word that I did not so much as lay a stripe upon his fool's back, but +after speaking with him, and telling him how needful the money was to +me, I left him for the night to think over the matter in my dungeon. +What think you that the dog did? Why, in the morning we found that he +had made a rope from strips of his leathern jerkin, and had hung himself +to the bar of the window." + +"For me, I cannot conceive such wickedness!" cried the lady. + +"And there was Gertrude Le Boeuf, as fair a maiden as eye could see, but +as bad and bitter as the rest of them. When young Amory de Valance was +here last Lammastide he looked kindly upon the girl, and even spoke of +taking her into his service. What does she do, with her dog of a father? +Why, they tie themselves together and leap into the Linden Pool, where +the water is five spears'-lengths deep. I give you my word that it was +a great grief to young Amory, and it was days ere he could cast it +from his mind. But how can one serve people who are so foolish and so +ungrateful?" + +Whilst the Seneschal of Villefranche had been detailing the evil doings +of his tenants, Alleyne had been unable to take his eyes from the face +of Lady Tiphaine. She had lain back in her chair, with drooping eyelids +and bloodless face, so that he had feared at first her journey had +weighed heavily upon her, and that the strength was ebbing out of her. +Of a sudden, however, there came a change, for a dash of bright color +flickered up on to either cheek, and her lids were slowly raised again +upon eyes which sparkled with such lustre as Alleyne had never seen +in human eyes before, while their gaze was fixed intently, not on the +company, but on the dark tapestry which draped the wall. So transformed +and so ethereal was her expression, that Alleyne, in his loftiest dream +of archangel or of seraph, had never pictured so sweet, so womanly, and +yet so wise a face. Glancing at Du Guesclin, Alleyne saw that he also +was watching his wife closely, and from the twitching of his features, +and the beads upon his brick-colored brow, it was easy to see that he +was deeply agitated by the change which he marked in her. + +"How is it with you, lady?" he asked at last, in a tremulous voice. + +Her eyes remained fixed intently upon the wall, and there was a long +pause ere she answered him. Her voice, too, which had been so clear +and ringing, was now low and muffled as that of one who speaks from a +distance. + +"All is very well with me, Bertrand," said she. "The blessed hour of +sight has come round to me again." + +"I could see it come! I could see it come!" he exclaimed, passing his +fingers through his hair with the same perplexed expression as before. + +"This is untoward, Sir Tristram," he said at last. "And I scarce know +in what words to make it clear to you, and to your fair wife, and to Sir +Nigel Loring, and to these other stranger knights. My tongue is a blunt +one, and fitter to shout word of command than to clear up such a matter +as this, of which I can myself understand little. This, however, I know, +that my wife is come of a very sainted race, whom God hath in His +wisdom endowed with wondrous powers, so that Tiphaine Raquenel was known +throughout Brittany ere ever I first saw her at Dinan. Yet these powers +are ever used for good, and they are the gift of God and not of the +devil, which is the difference betwixt white magic and black." + +"Perchance it would be as well that we should send for Father Stephen," +said Sir Tristram. + +"It would be best that he should come," cried the Hospitaller. + +"And bring with him a flask of holy water," added the knight of Bohemia. + +"Not so, gentlemen," answered Sir Bertrand. "It is not needful that this +priest should be called, and it is in my mind that in asking for this ye +cast some slight shadow or slur upon the good name of my wife, as though +it were still doubtful whether her power came to her from above or +below. If ye have indeed such a doubt I pray that you will say so, that +we may discuss the matter in a fitting way." + +"For myself," said Sir Nigel, "I have heard such words fall from the +lips of this lady that I am of the opinion that there is no woman, +save only one, who can be in any way compared to her in beauty and in +goodness. Should any gentleman think otherwise, I should deem it great +honor to run a small course with him, or debate the matter in whatever +way might be most pleasing to him." + +"Nay, it would ill become me to cast a slur upon a lady who is both +my guest and the wife of my comrade-in-arms," said the Seneschal of +Villefranche. "I have perceived also that on her mantle there is marked +a silver cross, which is surely sign enough that there is nought of evil +in these strange powers which you say that she possesses." + +This argument of the seneschal's appealed so powerfully to the Bohemian +and to the Hospitaller that they at once intimated that their objections +had been entirely overcome, while even the Lady Rochefort, who had sat +shivering and crossing herself, ceased to cast glances at the door, and +allowed her fears to turn to curiosity. + +"Among the gifts which have been vouchsafed to my wife," said Du +Guesclin, "there is the wondrous one of seeing into the future; but it +comes very seldom upon her, and goes as quickly, for none can command +it. The blessed hour of sight, as she hath named it, has come but twice +since I have known her, and I can vouch for it that all that she hath +told me was true, for on the evening of the Battle of Auray she said +that the morrow would be an ill day for me and for Charles of Blois. +Ere the sun had sunk again he was dead, and I the prisoner of Sir John +Chandos. Yet it is not every question that she can answer, but only +those----" + +"Bertrand, Bertrand!" cried the lady in the same muttering far-away +voice, "the blessed hour passes. Use it, Bertrand, while you may." + +"I will, my sweet. Tell me, then, what fortune comes upon me?" + +"Danger, Bertrand--deadly, pressing danger--which creeps upon you and +you know it not." + +The French soldier burst into a thunderous laugh, and his green eyes +twinkled with amusement. "At what time during these twenty years would +not that have been a true word?" he cried. "Danger is in the air that I +breathe. But is this so very close, Tiphaine?" + +"Here--now--close upon you!" The words came out in broken, strenuous +speech, while the lady's fair face was writhed and drawn like that of +one who looks upon a horror which strikes the words from her lips. Du +Guesclin gazed round the tapestried room, at the screens, the tables, +the abace, the credence, the buffet with its silver salver, and the +half-circle of friendly, wondering faces. There was an utter stillness, +save for the sharp breathing of the Lady Tiphaine and for the gentle +soughing of the wind outside, which wafted to their ears the distant +call upon a swine-herd's horn. + +"The danger may bide," said he, shrugging his broad shoulders. "And now, +Tiphaine, tell us what will come of this war in Spain." + +"I can see little," she answered, straining her eyes and puckering her +brow, as one who would fain clear her sight. "There are mountains, and +dry plains, and flash of arms and shouting of battle-cries. Yet it is +whispered to me that by failure you will succeed." + +"Ha! Sir Nigel, how like you that?" quoth Bertrand, shaking his head. +"It is like mead and vinegar, half sweet, half sour. And is there no +question which you would ask my lady?" + +"Certes there is. I would fain know, fair lady, how all things are at +Twynham Castle, and above all how my sweet lady employs herself." + +"To answer this I would fain lay hand upon one whose thoughts turn +strongly to this castle which you have named. Nay, my Lord Loring, it is +whispered to me that there is another here who hath thought more deeply +of it than you." + +"Thought more of mine own home?" cried Sir Nigel. "Lady, I fear that in +this matter at least you are mistaken." + +"Not so, Sir Nigel. Come hither, young man, young English squire with +the gray eyes! Now give me your hand, and place it here across my brow, +that I may see that which you have seen. What is this that rises before +me? Mist, mist, rolling mist with a square black tower above it. See it +shreds out, it thins, it rises, and there lies a castle in green plain, +with the sea beneath it, and a great church within a bow-shot. There are +two rivers which run through the meadows, and between them lie the tents +of the besiegers." + +"The besiegers!" cried Alleyne, Ford, and Sir Nigel, all three in a +breath. + +"Yes, truly, and they press hard upon the castle, for they are an +exceeding multitude and full of courage. See how they storm and rage +against the gate, while some rear ladders, and others, line after line, +sweep the walls with their arrows. There are many leaders who shout and +beckon, and one, a tall man with a golden beard, who stands before the +gate stamping his foot and hallooing them on, as a pricker doth the +hounds. But those in the castle fight bravely. There is a woman, two +women, who stand upon the walls, and give heart to the men-at-arms. They +shower down arrows, darts and great stones. Ah! they have struck down +the tall leader, and the others give back. The mist thickens and I can +see no more." + +"By Saint Paul!" said Sir Nigel, "I do not think that there can be any +such doings at Christchurch, and I am very easy of the fortalice so long +as my sweet wife hangs the key of the outer bailey at the head of her +bed. Yet I will not deny that you have pictured the castle as well as I +could have done myself, and I am full of wonderment at all that I have +heard and seen." + +"I would, Lady Tiphaine," cried the Lady Rochefort, "that you would use +your power to tell me what hath befallen my golden bracelet which I wore +when hawking upon the second Sunday of Advent, and have never set eyes +upon since." + +"Nay, lady," said du Guesclin, "it does not befit so great and wondrous +a power to pry and search and play the varlet even to the beautiful +chatelaine of Villefranche. Ask a worthy question, and, with the +blessing of God, you shall have a worthy answer." + +"Then I would fain ask," cried one of the French squires, "as to which +may hope to conquer in these wars betwixt the English and ourselves." + +"Both will conquer and each will hold its own," answered the Lady +Tiphaine. + +"Then we shall still hold Gascony and Guienne?" cried Sir Nigel. + +The lady shook her head. "French land, French blood, French speech," she +answered. "They are French, and France shall have them." + +"But not Bordeaux?" cried Sir Nigel excitedly. + +"Bordeaux also is for France." + +"But Calais?" + +"Calais too." + +"Woe worth me then, and ill hail to these evil words! If Bordeaux and +Calais be gone, then what is left for England?" + +"It seems indeed that there are evil times coming upon your country," +said Du Guesclin. "In our fondest hopes we never thought to hold +Bordeaux. By Saint Ives! this news hath warmed the heart within me. Our +dear country will then be very great in the future, Tiphaine?" + +"Great, and rich, and beautiful," she cried. "Far down the course of +time I can see her still leading the nations, a wayward queen among the +peoples, great in war, but greater in peace, quick in thought, deft in +action, with her people's will for her sole monarch, from the sands of +Calais to the blue seas of the south." + +"Ha!" cried Du Guesclin, with his eyes flashing in triumph, "you hear +her, Sir Nigel?--and she never yet said word which was not sooth." + +The English knight shook his head moodily. "What of my own poor +country?" said he. "I fear, lady, that what you have said bodes but +small good for her." + +The lady sat with parted lips, and her breath came quick and fast. "My +God!" she cried, "what is this that is shown me? Whence come they, these +peoples, these lordly nations, these mighty countries which rise up +before me? I look beyond, and others rise, and yet others, far and +farther to the shores of the uttermost waters. They crowd! They swarm! +The world is given to them, and it resounds with the clang of their +hammers and the ringing of their church bells. They call them many +names, and they rule them this way or that but they are all English, +for I can hear the voices of the people. On I go, and onwards over seas +where man hath never yet sailed, and I see a great land under new +stars and a stranger sky, and still the land is England. Where have her +children not gone? What have they not done? Her banner is planted on +ice. Her banner is scorched in the sun. She lies athwart the lands, and +her shadow is over the seas. Bertrand, Bertrand! we are undone for the +buds of her bud are even as our choicest flower!" Her voice rose into +a wild cry, and throwing up her arms she sank back white and nerveless +into the deep oaken chair. + +"It is over," said Du Guesclin moodily, as he raised her drooping head +with his strong brown hand. "Wine for the lady, squire! The blessed hour +of sight hath passed." + + + +CHAPTER XXX. HOW THE BRUSHWOOD MEN CAME TO THE CHATEAU OF VILLEFRANCHE. + + +It was late ere Alleyne Edricson, having carried Sir Nigel the goblet +of spiced wine which it was his custom to drink after the curling of his +hair, was able at last to seek his chamber. It was a stone-flagged room +upon the second floor, with a bed in a recess for him, and two smaller +pallets on the other side, on which Aylward and Hordle John were already +snoring. Alleyne had knelt down to his evening orisons, when there came +a tap at his door, and Ford entered with a small lamp in his hand. His +face was deadly pale, and his hand shook until the shadows flickered up +and down the wall. + +"What is it, Ford?" cried Alleyne, springing to his feet. + +"I can scarce tell you," said he, sitting down on the side of the couch, +and resting his chin upon his hand. "I know not what to say or what to +think." + +"Has aught befallen you, then?" + +"Yes, or I have been slave to my own fancy. I tell you, lad, that I am +all undone, like a fretted bow-string. Hark hither, Alleyne! it +cannot be that you have forgotten little Tita, the daughter of the old +glass-stainer at Bordeaux?" + +"I remember her well." + +"She and I, Alleyne, broke the lucky groat together ere we parted, and +she wears my ring upon her finger. 'Caro mio,' quoth she when last we +parted, 'I shall be near thee in the wars, and thy danger will be my +danger.' Alleyne, as God is my help, as I came up the stairs this night +I saw her stand before me, her face in tears, her hands out as though in +warning--I saw it, Alleyne, even as I see those two archers upon their +couches. Our very finger-tips seemed to meet, ere she thinned away like +a mist in the sunshine." + +"I would not give overmuch thought to it," answered Alleyne. "Our minds +will play us strange pranks, and bethink you that these words of the +Lady Tiphaine Du Guesclin have wrought upon us and shaken us." + +Ford shook his head. "I saw little Tita as clearly as though I were back +at the Rue des Apotres at Bordeaux," said he. "But the hour is late, and +I must go." + +"Where do you sleep, then?" + +"In the chamber above you. May the saints be with us all!" He rose +from the couch and left the chamber, while Alleyne could hear his feet +sounding upon the winding stair. The young squire walked across to the +window and gazed out at the moonlit landscape, his mind absorbed by +the thought of the Lady Tiphaine, and of the strange words that she +had spoken as to what was going forward at Castle Twynham. Leaning his +elbows upon the stonework, he was deeply plunged in reverie, when in a +moment his thoughts were brought back to Villefranche and to the scene +before him. + +The window at which he stood was in the second floor of that portion of +the castle which was nearest to the keep. In front lay the broad moat, +with the moon lying upon its surface, now clear and round, now drawn +lengthwise as the breeze stirred the waters. Beyond, the plain sloped +down to a thick wood, while further to the left a second wood shut +out the view. Between the two an open glade stretched, silvered in the +moonshine, with the river curving across the lower end of it. + +As he gazed, he saw of a sudden a man steal forth from the wood into the +open clearing. He walked with his head sunk, his shoulders curved, and +his knees bent, as one who strives hard to remain unseen. Ten paces from +the fringe of trees he glanced around, and waving his hand he crouched +down, and was lost to sight among a belt of furze-bushes. After him +there came a second man, and after him a third, a fourth, and a fifth +stealing across the narrow open space and darting into the shelter of +the brushwood. Nine-and-seventy Alleyne counted of these dark figures +flitting across the line of the moonlight. Many bore huge burdens upon +their backs, though what it was that they carried he could not tell at +the distance. Out of the one wood and into the other they passed, all +with the same crouching, furtive gait, until the black bristle of trees +had swallowed up the last of them. + +For a moment Alleyne stood in the window, still staring down at the +silent forest, uncertain as to what he should think of these midnight +walkers. Then he bethought him that there was one beside him who was +fitter to judge on such a matter. His fingers had scarce rested upon +Aylward's shoulder ere the bowman was on his feet, with his hand +outstretched to his sword. + +"Qui va?" he cried. "Hola! mon petit. By my hilt! I thought there had +been a camisade. What then, mon gar.?" + +"Come hither by the window, Aylward," said Alleyne. "I have seen +four-score men pass from yonder shaw across the glade, and nigh every +man of them had a great burden on his back. What think you of it?" + +"I think nothing of it, mon camarade! There are as many masterless folk +in this country as there are rabbits on Cowdray Down, and there are many +who show their faces by night but would dance in a hempen collar if +they stirred forth in the day. On all the French marches are droves +of outcasts, reivers, spoilers, and draw-latches, of whom I judge that +these are some, though I marvel that they should dare to come so nigh +to the castle of the seneschal. All seems very quiet now," he added, +peering out of the window. + +"They are in the further wood," said Alleyne. + +"And there they may bide. Back to rest, mon petit; for, by my hilt! each +day now will bring its own work. Yet it would be well to shoot the bolt +in yonder door when one is in strange quarters. So!" He threw himself +down upon his pallet and in an instant was fast asleep. + +It might have been about three o'clock in the morning when Alleyne was +aroused from a troubled sleep by a low cry or exclamation. He listened, +but, as he heard no more, he set it down as the challenge of the guard +upon the walls, and dropped off to sleep once more. A few minutes later +he was disturbed by a gentle creaking of his own door, as though some +one were pushing cautiously against it, and immediately afterwards he +heard the soft thud of cautious footsteps upon the stair which led +to the room above, followed by a confused noise and a muffled groan. +Alleyne sat up on his couch with all his nerves in a tingle, uncertain +whether these sounds might come from a simple cause--some sick archer +and visiting leech perhaps--or whether they might have a more sinister +meaning. But what danger could threaten them here in this strong castle, +under the care of famous warriors, with high walls and a broad moat +around them? Who was there that could injure them? He had well-nigh +persuaded himself that his fears were a foolish fancy, when his eyes +fell upon that which sent the blood cold to his heart and left him +gasping, with hands clutching at the counterpane. + +Right in front of him was the broad window of the chamber, with the moon +shining brightly through it. For an instant something had obscured the +light, and now a head was bobbing up and down outside, the face looking +in at him, and swinging slowly from one side of the window to the other. +Even in that dim light there could be no mistaking those features. +Drawn, distorted and blood-stained, they were still those of the young +fellow-squire who had sat so recently upon his own couch. With a cry of +horror Alleyne sprang from his bed and rushed to the casement, while the +two archers, aroused by the sound, seized their weapons and stared about +them in bewilderment. One glance was enough to show Edricson that his +fears were but too true. Foully murdered, with a score of wounds upon +him and a rope round his neck, his poor friend had been cast from +the upper window and swung slowly in the night wind, his body rasping +against the wall and his disfigured face upon a level with the casement. + +"My God!" cried Alleyne, shaking in every limb. "What has come upon us? +What devil's deed is this?" + +"Here is flint and steel," said John stolidly. "The lamp, Aylward! This +moonshine softens a man's heart. Now we may use the eyes which God hath +given us." + +"By my hilt!" cried Aylward, as the yellow flame flickered up, "it is +indeed young master Ford, and I think that this seneschal is a black +villain, who dare not face us in the day but would murther us in our +sleep. By the twang of string! if I do not soak a goose's feather with +his heart's blood, it will be no fault of Samkin Aylward of the White +Company." + +"But, Aylward, think of the men whom I saw yesternight," said Alleyne. +"It may not be the seneschal. It may be that others have come into the +castle. I must to Sir Nigel ere it be too late. Let me go, Aylward, for +my place is by his side." + +"One moment, mon gar. Put that steel head-piece on the end of my +yew-stave. So! I will put it first through the door; for it is ill to +come out when you can neither see nor guard yourself. Now, camarades, +out swords and stand ready! Hola, by my hilt! it is time that we were +stirring!" + +As he spoke, a sudden shouting broke forth in the castle, with the +scream of a woman and the rush of many feet. Then came the sharp clink +of clashing steel, and a roar like that of an angry lion--"Notre Dame Du +Guesclin! St. Ives! St. Ives!" The bow-man pulled back the bolt of the +door, and thrust out the headpiece at the end of the bow. A clash, the +clatter of the steel-cap upon the ground, and, ere the man who struck +could heave up for another blow, the archer had passed his sword through +his body. "On, camarades, on!" he cried; and, breaking fiercely past two +men who threw themselves in his way, he sped down the broad corridor in +the direction of the shouting. + +A sharp turning, and then a second one, brought them to the head of a +short stair, from which they looked straight down upon the scene of the +uproar. A square oak-floored hall lay beneath them, from which opened +the doors of the principal guest-chambers. This hall was as light as +day, for torches burned in numerous sconces upon the walls, throwing +strange shadows from the tusked or antlered heads which ornamented them. +At the very foot of the stair, close to the open door of their chamber, +lay the seneschal and his wife: she with her head shorn from her +shoulders, he thrust through with a sharpened stake, which still +protruded from either side of his body. Three servants of the castle lay +dead beside them, all torn and draggled, as though a pack of wolves had +been upon them. In front of the central guest-chamber stood Du Guesclin +and Sir Nigel, half-clad and unarmored, with the mad joy of battle +gleaming in their eyes. Their heads were thrown back, their lips +compressed, their blood-stained swords poised over their right +shoulders, and their left feet thrown out. Three dead men lay huddled +together in front of them: while a fourth, with the blood squirting +from a severed vessel, lay back with updrawn knees, breathing in +wheezy gasps. Further back--all panting together, like the wind in a +tree--there stood a group of fierce, wild creatures, bare-armed and +bare-legged, gaunt, unshaven, with deep-set murderous eyes and wild +beast faces. With their flashing teeth, their bristling hair, their mad +leapings and screamings, they seemed to Alleyne more like fiends from +the pit than men of flesh and blood. Even as he looked, they broke +into a hoarse yell and dashed once more upon the two knights, hurling +themselves madly upon their sword-points; clutching, scrambling, biting, +tearing, careless of wounds if they could but drag the two soldiers to +earth. Sir Nigel was thrown down by the sheer weight of them, and Sir +Bertrand with his thunderous war-cry was swinging round his heavy sword +to clear a space for him to rise, when the whistle of two long English +arrows, and the rush of the squire and the two English archers down the +stairs, turned the tide of the combat. The assailants gave back, the +knights rushed forward, and in a very few moments the hall was cleared, +and Hordle John had hurled the last of the wild men down the steep steps +which led from the end of it. + +"Do not follow them," cried Du Guesclin. "We are lost if we scatter. For +myself I care not a denier, though it is a poor thing to meet one's end +at the hands of such scum; but I have my dear lady here, who must by no +means be risked. We have breathing-space now, and I would ask you, Sir +Nigel, what it is that you would counsel?" + +"By St. Paul!" answered Sir Nigel, "I can by no means understand what +hath befallen us, save that I have been woken up by your battle-cry, +and, rushing forth, found myself in the midst of this small bickering. +Harrow and alas for the lady and the seneschal! What dogs are they who +have done this bloody deed?" + +"They are the Jacks, the men of the brushwood. They have the castle, +though I know not how it hath come to pass. Look from this window into +the bailey." + +"By heaven!" cried Sir Nigel, "it is as bright as day with the torches. +The gates stand open, and there are three thousand of them within the +walls. See how they rush and scream and wave! What is it that they +thrust out through the postern door? My God! it is a man-at-arms, and +they pluck him limb from limb like hounds on a wolf. Now another, and +yet another. They hold the whole castle, for I see their faces at the +windows. See, there are some with great bundles on their backs." + +"It is dried wood from the forest. They pile them against the walls and +set them in a blaze. Who is this who tries to check them? By St. Ives! +it is the good priest who spake for them in the hall. He kneels, he +prays, he implores! What! villains, would ye raise hands against those +who have befriended you? Ah, the butcher has struck him! He is down! +They stamp him under their feet! They tear off his gown and wave it in +the air! See now, how the flames lick up the walls! Are there none left +to rally round us? With a hundred men we might hold our own." + +"Oh, for my Company!" cried Sir Nigel. "But where is Ford, Alleyne?" + +"He is foully murdered, my fair lord." + +"The saints receive him! May he rest in peace! But here come some at +last who may give us counsel, for amid these passages it is ill to stir +without a guide." + +As he spoke, a French squire and the Bohemian knight came rushing down +the steps, the latter bleeding from a slash across his forehead. + +"All is lost!" he cried. "The castle is taken and on fire, the seneschal +is slain, and there is nought left for us." + +"On the contrary," quoth Sir Nigel, "there is much left to us, for there +is a very honorable contention before us, and a fair lady for whom to +give our lives. There are many ways in which a man might die, but none +better than this." + +"You can tell us, Godfrey," said Du Guesclin to the French squire: "how +came these men into the castle, and what succors can we count upon? By +St. Ives! if we come not quickly to some counsel we shall be burned like +young rooks in a nest." + +The squire, a dark, slender stripling, spoke firmly and quickly, as one +who was trained to swift action. "There is a passage under the earth +into the castle," said he, "and through it some of the Jacks made their +way, casting open the gates for the others. They have had help from +within the walls, and the men-at-arms were heavy with wine: they must +have been slain in their beds, for these devils crept from room to room +with soft step and ready knife. Sir Amory the Hospitaller was struck +down with an axe as he rushed before us from his sleeping-chamber. Save +only ourselves, I do not think that there are any left alive." + +"What, then, would you counsel?" + +"That we make for the keep. It is unused, save in time of war, and the +key hangs from my poor lord and master's belt." + +"There are two keys there." + +"It is the larger. Once there, we might hold the narrow stair; and at +least, as the walls are of a greater thickness, it would be longer ere +they could burn them. Could we but carry the lady across the bailey, all +might be well with us." + +"Nay; the lady hath seen something of the work of war," said Tiphaine +coming forth, as white, as grave, and as unmoved as ever. "I would not +be a hamper to you, my dear spouse and gallant friend. Rest assured of +this, that if all else fail I have always a safeguard here"--drawing a +small silver-hilted poniard from her bosom--"which sets me beyond the +fear of these vile and blood-stained wretches." + +"Tiphaine," cried Du Guesclin, "I have always loved you; and now, by Our +Lady of Rennes! I love you more than ever. Did I not know that your hand +will be as ready as your words I would myself turn my last blow upon +you, ere you should fall into their hands. Lead on, Godfrey! A new +golden pyx will shine in the minster of Dinan if we come safely through +with it." + +The attention of the insurgents had been drawn away from murder to +plunder, and all over the castle might be heard their cries and whoops +of delight as they dragged forth the rich tapestries, the silver +flagons, and the carved furniture. Down in the courtyard half-clad +wretches, their bare limbs all mottled with blood-stains, strutted +about with plumed helmets upon their heads, or with the Lady Rochefort's +silken gowns girt round their loins and trailing on the ground behind +them. Casks of choice wine had been rolled out from the cellars, and +starving peasants squatted, goblet in hand, draining off vintages which +De Rochefort had set aside for noble and royal guests. Others, with +slabs of bacon and joints of dried meat upon the ends of their pikes, +held them up to the blaze or tore at them ravenously with their teeth. +Yet all order had not been lost amongst them, for some hundreds of the +better armed stood together in a silent group, leaning upon their rude +weapons and looking up at the fire, which had spread so rapidly as to +involve one whole side of the castle. Already Alleyne could hear the +crackling and roaring of the flames, while the air was heavy with heat +and full of the pungent whiff of burning wood. + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. HOW FIVE MEN HELD THE KEEP OF VILLEFRANCHE + + +Under the guidance of the French squire the party passed down two narrow +corridors. The first was empty, but at the head of the second stood a +peasant sentry, who started off at the sight of them, yelling loudly to +his comrades. "Stop him, or we are undone!" cried Du Guesclin, and had +started to run, when Aylward's great war-bow twanged like a harp-string, +and the man fell forward upon his face, with twitching limbs and +clutching fingers. Within five paces of where he lay a narrow and +little-used door led out into the bailey. From beyond it came such a +Babel of hooting and screaming, horrible oaths and yet more horrible +laughter, that the stoutest heart might have shrunk from casting down +the frail barrier which faced them. + +"Make straight for the keep!" said Du Guesclin, in a sharp, stern +whisper. "The two archers in front, the lady in the centre, a squire +on either side, while we three knights shall bide behind and beat back +those who press upon us. So! Now open the door, and God have us in his +holy keeping!" + +For a few moments it seemed that their object would be attained without +danger, so swift and so silent had been their movements. They were +half-way across the bailey ere the frantic, howling peasants made a +movement to stop them. The few who threw themselves in their way were +overpowered or brushed aside, while the pursuers were beaten back by the +ready weapons of the three cavaliers. Unscathed they fought their way to +the door of the keep, and faced round upon the swarming mob, while the +squire thrust the great key into the lock. + +"My God!" he cried, "it is the wrong key." + +"The wrong key!" + +"Dolt, fool that I am! This is the key of the castle gate; the other +opens the keep. I must back for it!" He turned, with some wild intention +of retracing his steps, but at the instant a great jagged rock, hurled +by a brawny peasant, struck him full upon the ear, and he dropped +senseless to the ground. + +"This is key enough for me!" quoth Hordle John, picking up the huge +stone, and hurling it against the door with all the strength of his +enormous body. The lock shivered, the wood smashed, the stone flew into +five pieces, but the iron clamps still held the door in its position. +Bending down, he thrust his great fingers under it, and with a heave +raised the whole mass of wood and iron from its hinges. For a moment it +tottered and swayed, and then, falling outward, buried him in its ruin, +while his comrades rushed into the dark archway which led to safety. + +"Up the steps, Tiphaine!" cried Du Guesclin. "Now round, friends, and +beat them back!" The mob of peasants had surged in upon their heels, but +the two trustiest blades in Europe gleamed upon that narrow stair, and +four of their number dropped upon the threshold. The others gave back, +and gathered in a half circle round the open door, gnashing their teeth +and shaking their clenched hands at the defenders. The body of the +French squire had been dragged out by them and hacked to pieces. Three +or four others had pulled John from under the door, when he suddenly +bounded to his feet, and clutching one in either hand dashed them +together with such force that they fell senseless across each other upon +the ground. With a kick and a blow he freed himself from two others +who clung to him, and in a moment he was within the portal with his +comrades. + +Yet their position was a desperate one. The peasants from far and near +had been assembled for this deed of vengeance, and not less than six +thousand were within or around the walls of the Chateau of Villefranche. +Ill armed and half starved, they were still desperate men, to whom +danger had lost all fears: for what was death that they should shun +it to cling to such a life as theirs? The castle was theirs, and the +roaring flames were spurting through the windows and flickering high +above the turrets on two sides of the quadrangle. From either side they +were sweeping down from room to room and from bastion to bastion in the +direction of the keep. Faced by an army, and girt in by fire, were six +men and one woman; but some of them were men so trained to danger and +so wise in war that even now the combat was less unequal than it seemed. +Courage and resource were penned in by desperation and numbers, while +the great yellow sheets of flame threw their lurid glare over the scene +of death. + +"There is but space for two upon a step to give free play to our +sword-arms," said Du Guesclin. "Do you stand with me, Nigel, upon the +lowest. France and England will fight together this night. Sir Otto, I +pray you to stand behind us with this young squire. The archers may go +higher yet and shoot over our heads. I would that we had our harness, +Nigel." + +"Often have I heard my dear Sir John Chandos say that a knight should +never, even when a guest, be parted from it. Yet it will be more honor +to us if we come well out of it. We have a vantage, since we see them +against the light and they can scarce see us. It seems to me that they +muster for an onslaught." + +"If we can but keep them in play," said the Bohemian, "it is likely +that these flames may bring us succor if there be any true men in the +country." + +"Bethink you, my fair lord," said Alleyne to Sir Nigel, "that we have +never injured these men, nor have we cause of quarrel against them. +Would it not be well, if but for the lady's sake, to speak them fair and +see if we may not come to honorable terms with them?" + +"Not so, by St. Paul!" cried Sir Nigel. "It does not accord with mine +honor, nor shall it ever be said that I, a knight of England, was ready +to hold parley with men who have slain a fair lady and a holy priest." + +"As well hold parley with a pack of ravening wolves," said the French +captain. "Ha! Notre Dame Du Guesclin! Saint Ives! Saint Ives!" + +As he thundered forth his war-cry, the Jacks who had been gathering +before the black arch of the gateway rushed in madly in a desperate +effort to carry the staircase. Their leaders were a small man, dark in +the face, with his beard done up in two plaits, and another larger man, +very bowed in the shoulders, with a huge club studded with sharp nails +in his hand. The first had not taken three steps ere an arrow from +Aylward's bow struck him full in the chest, and he fell coughing and +spluttering across the threshold. The other rushed onwards, and breaking +between Du Guesclin and Sir Nigel he dashed out the brains of the +Bohemian with a single blow of his clumsy weapon. With three swords +through him he still struggled on, and had almost won his way through +them ere he fell dead upon the stair. Close at his heels came a hundred +furious peasants, who flung themselves again and again against the five +swords which confronted them. It was cut and parry and stab as quick as +eye could see or hand act. The door was piled with bodies, and the stone +floor was slippery with blood. The deep shout of Du Guesclin, the hard, +hissing breath of the pressing multitude, the clatter of steel, the +thud of falling bodies, and the screams of the stricken, made up such +a medley as came often in after years to break upon Alleyne's sleep. +Slowly and sullenly at last the throng drew off, with many a fierce +backward glance, while eleven of their number lay huddled in front of +the stair which they had failed to win. + +"The dogs have had enough," said Du Guesclin. + +"By Saint Paul! there appear to be some very worthy and valiant persons +among them," observed Sir Nigel. "They are men from whom, had they been +of better birth, much honor and advancement might be gained. Even as it +is, it is a great pleasure to have seen them. But what is this that they +are bringing forward?" + +"It is as I feared," growled Du Guesclin. "They will burn us out, since +they cannot win their way past us. Shoot straight and hard, archers; +for, by St. Ives! our good swords are of little use to us." + +As he spoke, a dozen men rushed forward, each screening himself behind a +huge fardel of brushwood. Hurling their burdens in one vast heap within +the portal, they threw burning torches upon the top of it. The wood +had been soaked in oil, for in an instant it was ablaze, and a long, +hissing, yellow flame licked over the heads of the defenders, and drove +them further up to the first floor of the keep. They had scarce reached +it, however, ere they found that the wooden joists and planks of the +flooring were already on fire. Dry and worm-eaten, a spark upon them +became a smoulder, and a smoulder a blaze. A choking smoke filled the +air, and the five could scarce grope their way to the staircase which +led up to the very summit of the square tower. + +Strange was the scene which met their eyes from this eminence. Beneath +them on every side stretched the long sweep of peaceful country, +rolling plain, and tangled wood, all softened and mellowed in the silver +moonshine. No light, nor movement, nor any sign of human aid could be +seen, but far away the hoarse clangor of a heavy bell rose and fell upon +the wintry air. Beneath and around them blazed the huge fire, roaring +and crackling on every side of the bailey, and even as they looked the +two corner turrets fell in with a deafening crash, and the whole castle +was but a shapeless mass, spouting flames and smoke from every window +and embrasure. The great black tower upon which they stood rose like a +last island of refuge amid this sea of fire but the ominous crackling +and roaring below showed that it would not be long ere it was engulfed +also in the common ruin. At their very feet was the square courtyard, +crowded with the howling and dancing peasants, their fierce faces +upturned, their clenched hands waving, all drunk with bloodshed and with +vengeance. A yell of execration and a scream of hideous laughter burst +from the vast throng, as they saw the faces of the last survivors of +their enemies peering down at them from the height of the keep. They +still piled the brushwood round the base of the tower, and gambolled +hand in hand around the blaze, screaming out the doggerel lines which +had long been the watchword of the Jacquerie: + + Cessez, cessez, gens d'armes et pietons, + De piller et manger le bonhomme + Qui de longtemps Jacques Bonhomme + Se nomme. + +Their thin, shrill voices rose high above the roar of the flames and the +crash of the masonry, like the yelping of a pack of wolves who see their +quarry before them and know that they have well-nigh run him down. + +"By my hilt!" said Aylward to John, "it is in my mind that we shall not +see Spain this journey. It is a great joy to me that I have placed +my feather-bed and other things of price with that worthy woman at +Lyndhurst, who will now have the use of them. I have thirteen arrows +yet, and if one of them fly unfleshed, then, by the twang of string! I +shall deserve my doom. First at him who flaunts with my lady's silken +frock. Clap in the clout, by God! though a hand's-breadth lower than +I had meant. Now for the rogue with the head upon his pike. Ha! to +the inch, John. When my eye is true, I am better at rovers than at +long-butts or hoyles. A good shoot for you also, John! The villain hath +fallen forward into the fire. But I pray you, John, to loose gently, and +not to pluck with the drawing-hand, for it is a trick that hath marred +many a fine bowman." + +Whilst the two archers were keeping up a brisk fire upon the mob beneath +them, Du Guesclin and his lady were consulting with Sir Nigel upon their +desperate situation. + +"'Tis a strange end for one who has seen so many stricken fields," said +the French chieftain. "For me one death is as another, but it is the +thought of my sweet lady which goes to my heart." + +"Nay, Bertrand, I fear it as little as you," said she. "Had I my dearest +wish, it would be that we should go together." + +"Well answered, fair lady!" cried Sir Nigel. "And very sure I am that my +own sweet wife would have said the same. If the end be now come, I have +had great good fortune in having lived in times when so much glory was +to be won, and in knowing so many valiant gentlemen and knights. But why +do you pluck my sleeve, Alleyne?" + +"If it please you, my fair lord, there are in this corner two great +tubes of iron, with many heavy balls, which may perchance be those +bombards and shot of which I have heard." + +"By Saint Ives! it is true," cried Sir Bertrand, striding across to +the recess where the ungainly, funnel-shaped, thick-ribbed engines were +standing. "Bombards they are, and of good size. We may shoot down upon +them." + +"Shoot with them, quotha?" cried Aylward in high disdain, for pressing +danger is the great leveller of classes. "How is a man to take aim with +these fool's toys, and how can he hope to do scath with them?" + +"I will show you," answered Sir Nigel; "for here is the great box of +powder, and if you will raise it for me, John, I will show you how it +may be used. Come hither, where the folk are thickest round the fire. +Now, Aylward, crane thy neck and see what would have been deemed an old +wife's tale when we first turned our faces to the wars. Throw back the +lid, John, and drop the box into the fire!" + +A deafening roar, a fluff of bluish light, and the great square tower +rocked and trembled from its very foundations, swaying this way and that +like a reed in the wind. Amazed and dizzy, the defenders, clutching at +the cracking parapets for support, saw great stones, burning beams of +wood, and mangled bodies hurtling past them through the air. When they +staggered to their feet once more, the whole keep had settled down upon +one side, so that they could scarce keep their footing upon the sloping +platform. Gazing over the edge, they looked down upon the horrible +destruction which had been caused by the explosion. For forty yards +round the portal the ground was black with writhing, screaming figures, +who struggled up and hurled themselves down again, tossing this way +and that, sightless, scorched, with fire bursting from their tattered +clothing. Beyond this circle of death their comrades, bewildered and +amazed, cowered away from this black tower and from these invincible +men, who were most to be dreaded when hope was furthest from their +hearts. + +"A sally, Du Guesclin, a sally!" cried Sir Nigel. "By Saint Paul! they +are in two minds, and a bold rush may turn them." He drew his sword as +he spoke and darted down the winding stairs, closely followed by his +four comrades. Ere he was at the first floor, however, he threw up his +arms and stopped. "Mon Dieu!" he said, "we are lost men!" + +"What then?" cried those behind him. + +"The wall hath fallen in, the stair is blocked, and the fire still rages +below. By Saint Paul! friends, we have fought a very honorable fight, +and may say in all humbleness that we have done our devoir, but I think +that we may now go back to the Lady Tiphaine and say our orisons, for we +have played our parts in this world, and it is time that we made ready +for another." + +The narrow pass was blocked by huge stones littered in wild confusion +over each other, with the blue choking smoke reeking up through the +crevices. The explosion had blown in the wall and cut off the only path +by which they could descend. Pent in, a hundred feet from earth, with +a furnace raging under them and a ravening multitude all round who +thirsted for their blood, it seemed indeed as though no men had ever +come through such peril with their lives. Slowly they made their way +back to the summit, but as they came out upon it the Lady Tiphaine +darted forward and caught her husband by the wrist. + +"Bertrand," said she, "hush and listen! I have heard the voices of men +all singing together in a strange tongue." + +Breathless they stood and silent, but no sound came up to them, save the +roar of the flames and the clamor of their enemies. + +"It cannot be, lady," said Du Guesclin. "This night hath over wrought +you, and your senses play you false. What men are there in this country +who would sing in a strange tongue?" + +"Hola!" yelled Aylward, leaping suddenly into the air with waving hands +and joyous face. "I thought I heard it ere we went down, and now I hear +it again. We are saved, comrades! By these ten finger-bones, we are +saved! It is the marching song of the White Company. Hush!" + +With upraised forefinger and slanting head, he stood listening. Suddenly +there came swelling up a deep-voiced, rollicking chorus from somewhere +out of the darkness. Never did choice or dainty ditty of Provence or +Languedoc sound more sweetly in the ears than did the rough-tongued +Saxon to the six who strained their ears from the blazing keep: + + We'll drink all together + To the gray goose feather + And the land where the gray goose flew. + +"Ha, by my hilt!" shouted Aylward, "it is the dear old bow song of the +Company. Here come two hundred as tight lads as ever twirled a shaft +over their thumbnails. Hark to the dogs, how lustily they sing!" + +Nearer and clearer, swelling up out of the night, came the gay marching +lilt: + + What of the bow? + The bow was made in England. + Of true wood, of yew wood, + The wood of English bows; + For men who are free + Love the old yew-tree + And the land where the yew tree grows. + + What of the men? + The men were bred in England, + The bowmen, the yeomen, + The lads of the dale and fell, + Here's to you and to you, + To the hearts that are true, + And the land where the true hearts dwell. + +"They sing very joyfully," said Du Guesclin, "as though they were going +to a festival." + +"It is their wont when there is work to be done." + +"By Saint Paul!" quoth Sir Nigel, "it is in my mind that they come too +late, for I cannot see how we are to come down from this tower." + +"There they come, the hearts of gold!" cried Aylward. "See, they move +out from the shadow. Now they cross the meadow. They are on the further +side of the moat. Hola camarades, hola! Johnston, Eccles, Cooke, +Harward, Bligh! Would ye see a fair lady and two gallant knights done +foully to death?" + +"Who is there?" shouted a deep voice from below. "Who is this who speaks +with an English tongue?" + +"It is I, old lad. It is Sam Aylward of the Company; and here is your +captain, Sir Nigel Loring, and four others, all laid out to be grilled +like an Easterling's herrings." + +"Curse me if I did not think that it was the style of speech of old +Samkin Aylward," said the voice, amid a buzz from the ranks. "Wherever +there are knocks going there is Sammy in the heart of it. But who are +these ill-faced rogues who block the path? To your kennels, canaille! +What! you dare look us in the eyes? Out swords, lads, and give them the +flat of them! Waste not your shafts upon such runagate knaves." + +There was little fight left in the peasants, however, still dazed by the +explosion, amazed at their own losses and disheartened by the arrival of +the disciplined archers. In a very few minutes they were in full flight +for their brushwood homes, leaving the morning sun to rise upon a +blackened and blood-stained ruin, where it had left the night before the +magnificent castle of the Seneschal of Auvergne. Already the white lines +in the east were deepening into pink as the archers gathered round the +keep and took counsel how to rescue the survivors. + +"Had we a rope," said Alleyne, "there is one side which is not yet on +fire, down which we might slip." + +"But how to get a rope?" + +"It is an old trick," quoth Aylward. "Hola! Johnston, cast me up a rope, +even as you did at Maupertuis in the war time." + +The grizzled archer thus addressed took several lengths of rope from his +comrades, and knotting them firmly together, he stretched them out in +the long shadow which the rising sun threw from the frowning keep. Then +he fixed the yew-stave of his bow upon end and measured the long, thin, +black line which it threw upon the turf. + +"A six-foot stave throws a twelve-foot shadow," he muttered. "The keep +throws a shadow of sixty paces. Thirty paces of rope will be enow and to +spare. Another strand, Watkin! Now pull at the end that all may be safe. +So! It is ready for them." + +"But how are they to reach it?" asked the young archer beside him. + +"Watch and see, young fool's-head," growled the old bowman. He took a +long string from his pouch and fastened one end to an arrow. + +"All ready, Samkin?" + +"Ready, camarade." + +"Close to your hand then." With an easy pull he sent the shaft +flickering gently up, falling upon the stonework within a foot of where +Aylward was standing. The other end was secured to the rope, so that in +a minute a good strong cord was dangling from the only sound side of the +blazing and shattered tower. The Lady Tiphaine was lowered with a noose +drawn fast under the arms, and the other five slid swiftly down, amid +the cheers and joyous outcry of their rescuers. + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. HOW THE COMPANY TOOK COUNSEL ROUND THE FALLEN TREE. + + +"Where is Sir Claude Latour?" asked Sir Nigel, as his feet touched +ground. + +"He is in camp, near Montpezat, two hours' march from here, my fair +lord," said Johnston, the grizzled bowman who commanded the archers. + +"Then we shall march thither, for I would fain have you all back at Dax +in time to be in the prince's vanguard." + +"My lord," cried Alleyne, joyfully, "here are our chargers in the field, +and I see your harness amid the plunder which these rogues have left +behind them." + +"By Saint Ives! you speak sooth, young squire," said Du Guesclin. "There +is my horse and my lady's jennet. The knaves led them from the stables, +but fled without them. Now, Nigel, it is great joy to me to have seen +one of whom I have often heard. Yet we must leave you now, for I must be +with the King of Spain ere your army crosses the mountains." + +"I had thought that you were in Spain with the valiant Henry of +Trastamare." + +"I have been there, but I came to France to raise succor for him. I +shall ride back, Nigel, with four thousand of the best lances of France +at my back, so that your prince may find he hath a task which is worthy +of him. God be with you, friend, and may we meet again in better times!" + +"I do not think," said Sir Nigel, as he stood by Alleyne's side looking +after the French knight and his lady, "that in all Christendom you will +meet with a more stout-hearted man or a fairer and sweeter dame. But +your face is pale and sad, Alleyne! Have you perchance met with some +hurt during the ruffle?" + +"Nay, my fair lord, I was but thinking of my friend Ford, and how he sat +upon my couch no later than yesternight." + +Sir Nigel shook his head sadly. "Two brave squires have I lost," said +he. "I know not why the young shoots should be plucked, and an old weed +left standing, yet certes there must be some good reason, since God hath +so planned it. Did you not note, Alleyne, that the Lady Tiphaine did +give us warning last night that danger was coming upon us?" + +"She did, my lord." + +"By Saint Paul! my mind misgives me as to what she saw at Twynham +Castle. And yet I cannot think that any Scottish or French rovers could +land in such force as to beleaguer the fortalice. Call the Company +together, Aylward; and let us on, for it will be shame to us if we are +not at Dax upon the trysting day." + +The archers had spread themselves over the ruins, but a blast upon a +bugle brought them all back to muster, with such booty as they could +bear with them stuffed into their pouches or slung over their shoulders. +As they formed into ranks, each man dropping silently into his place, +Sir Nigel ran a questioning eye over them, and a smile of pleasure +played over his face. Tall and sinewy, and brown, clear-eyed, +hard-featured, with the stern and prompt bearing of experienced +soldiers, it would be hard indeed for a leader to seek for a choicer +following. Here and there in the ranks were old soldiers of the French +wars, grizzled and lean, with fierce, puckered features and shaggy, +bristling brows. The most, however, were young and dandy archers, with +fresh English faces, their beards combed out, their hair curling from +under their close steel hufkens, with gold or jewelled earrings gleaming +in their ears, while their gold-spangled baldrics, their silken belts, +and the chains which many of them wore round their thick brown necks, +all spoke of the brave times which they had had as free companions. Each +had a yew or hazel stave slung over his shoulder, plain and serviceable +with the older men, but gaudily painted and carved at either end with +the others. Steel caps, mail brigandines, white surcoats with the red +lion of St. George, and sword or battle-axe swinging from their belts, +completed this equipment, while in some cases the murderous maule or +five-foot mallet was hung across the bowstave, being fastened to their +leathern shoulder-belt by a hook in the centre of the handle. Sir +Nigel's heart beat high as he looked upon their free bearing and +fearless faces. + +For two hours they marched through forest and marshland, along the left +bank of the river Aveyron; Sir Nigel riding behind his Company, with +Alleyne at his right hand, and Johnston, the old master bowman, walking +by his left stirrup. Ere they had reached their journey's end the knight +had learned all that he would know of his men, their doings and their +intentions. Once, as they marched, they saw upon the further bank of the +river a body of French men-at-arms, riding very swiftly in the direction +of Villefranche. + +"It is the Seneschal of Toulouse, with his following," said Johnston, +shading his eyes with his hand. "Had he been on this side of the water +he might have attempted something upon us." + +"I think that it would be well that we should cross," said Sir Nigel. +"It were pity to balk this worthy seneschal, should he desire to try +some small feat of arms." + +"Nay, there is no ford nearer than Tourville," answered the old archer. +"He is on his way to Villefranche, and short will be the shrift of any +Jacks who come into his hands, for he is a man of short speech. It +was he and the Seneschal of Beaucaire who hung Peter Wilkins, of the +Company, last Lammastide; for which, by the black rood of Waltham! they +shall hang themselves, if ever they come into our power. But here are +our comrades, Sir Nigel, and here is our camp." + +As he spoke, the forest pathway along which they marched opened out into +a green glade, which sloped down towards the river. High, leafless trees +girt it in on three sides, with a thick undergrowth of holly between +their trunks. At the farther end of this forest clearing there stood +forty or fifty huts, built very neatly from wood and clay, with the +blue smoke curling out from the roofs. A dozen tethered horses and mules +grazed around the encampment, while a number of archers lounged about: +some shooting at marks, while others built up great wooden fires in the +open, and hung their cooking kettles above them. At the sight of their +returning comrades there was a shout of welcome, and a horseman, who +had been exercising his charger behind the camp, came cantering down +to them. He was a dapper, brisk man, very richly clad, with a round, +clean-shaven face, and very bright black eyes, which danced and sparkled +with excitement. + +"Sir Nigel!" he cried. "Sir Nigel Loring, at last! By my soul we have +awaited you this month past. Right welcome, Sir Nigel! You have had my +letter?" + +"It was that which brought me here," said Sir Nigel. "But indeed, Sir +Claude Latour, it is a great wonder to me that you did not yourself lead +these bowmen, for surely they could have found no better leader?" + +"None, none, by the Virgin of L'Esparre!" he cried, speaking in the +strange, thick Gascon speech which turns every _v_ into a _b_. "But you +know what these islanders of yours are, Sir Nigel. They will not be led +by any save their own blood and race. There is no persuading them. +Not even I, Claude Latour Seigneur of Montchateau, master of the high +justice, the middle and the low, could gain their favor. They must needs +hold a council and put their two hundred thick heads together, and then +there comes this fellow Aylward and another, as their spokesmen, to say +that they will disband unless an Englishman of good name be set over +them. There are many of them, as I understand, who come from some great +forest which lies in Hampi, or Hampti--I cannot lay my tongue to the +name. Your dwelling is in those parts, and so their thoughts turned to +you as their leader. But we had hoped that you would bring a hundred men +with you." + +"They are already at Dax, where we shall join them," said Sir Nigel. +"But let the men break their fast, and we shall then take counsel what +to do." + +"Come into my hut," said Sir Claude. "It is but poor fare that I can lay +before you--milk, cheese, wine, and bacon--yet your squire and yourself +will doubtless excuse it. This is my house where the pennon flies before +the door--a small residence to contain the Lord of Montchateau." + +Sir Nigel sat silent and distrait at his meal, while Alleyne hearkened +to the clattering tongue of the Gascon, and to his talk of the glories +of his own estate, his successes in love, and his triumphs in war. + +"And now that you are here, Sir Nigel," he said at last, "I have many +fine ventures all ready for us. I have heard that Montpezat is of no +great strength, and that there are two hundred thousand crowns in the +castle. At Castelnau also there is a cobbler who is in my pay, and who +will throw us a rope any dark night from his house by the town wall. I +promise you that you shall thrust your arms elbow-deep among good silver +pieces ere the nights are moonless again; for on every hand of us are +fair women, rich wine, and good plunder, as much as heart could wish." + +"I have other plans," answered Sir Nigel curtly; "for I have come hither +to lead these bowmen to the help of the prince, our master, who may have +sore need of them ere he set Pedro upon the throne of Spain. It is my +purpose to start this very day for Dax upon the Adour, where he hath now +pitched his camp." + +The face of the Gascon darkened, and his eyes flashed with resentment. +"For me," he said, "I care little for this war, and I find the life +which I lead a very joyous and pleasant one. I will not go to Dax." + +"Nay, think again, Sir Claude," said Sir Nigel gently; "for you have +ever had the name of a true and loyal knight. Surely you will not hold +back now when your master hath need of you." + +"I will not go to Dax," the other shouted. + +"But your devoir--your oath of fealty?" + +"I say that I will not go." + +"Then, Sir Claude, I must lead the Company without you." + +"If they will follow," cried the Gascon with a sneer. "These are not +hired slaves, but free companions, who will do nothing save by their own +good wills. In very sooth, my Lord Loring, they are ill men to trifle +with, and it were easier to pluck a bone from a hungry bear than to lead +a bowman out of a land of plenty and of pleasure." + +"Then I pray you to gather them together," said Sir Nigel, "and I will +tell them what is in my mind; for if I am their leader they must to Dax, +and if I am not then I know not what I am doing in Auvergne. Have my +horse ready, Alleyne; for, by St. Paul! come what may, I must be upon +the homeward road ere mid-day." + +A blast upon the bugle summoned the bowmen to counsel, and they gathered +in little knots and groups around a great fallen tree which lay athwart +the glade. Sir Nigel sprang lightly upon the trunk, and stood with +blinking eye and firm lips looking down at the ring of upturned warlike +faces. + +"They tell me, bowmen," said he, "that ye have grown so fond of ease and +plunder and high living that ye are not to be moved from this pleasant +country. But, by Saint Paul! I will believe no such thing of you, for +I can readily see that you are all very valiant men, who would scorn to +live here in peace when your prince hath so great a venture before him. +Ye have chosen me as a leader, and a leader I will be if ye come with +me to Spain; and I vow to you that my pennon of the five roses shall, if +God give me strength and life, be ever where there is most honor to +be gained. But if it be your wish to loll and loiter in these glades, +bartering glory and renown for vile gold and ill-gotten riches, then +ye must find another leader; for I have lived in honor, and in honor I +trust that I shall die. If there be forest men or Hampshire men amongst +ye, I call upon them to say whether they will follow the banner of +Loring." + +"Here's a Romsey man for you!" cried a young bowman with a sprig of +evergreen set in his helmet. + +"And a lad from Alresford!" shouted another. + +"And from Milton!" + +"And from Burley!" + +"And from Lymington!" + +"And a little one from Brockenhurst!" shouted a huge-limbed fellow who +sprawled beneath a tree. + +"By my hilt! lads," cried Aylward, jumping upon the fallen trunk, "I +think that we could not look the girls in the eyes if we let the prince +cross the mountains and did not pull string to clear a path for him. +It is very well in time of peace to lead such a life as we have had +together, but now the war-banner is in the wind once more, and, by these +ten finger-bones! if he go alone, old Samkin Aylward will walk beside +it." + +These words from a man as popular as Aylward decided many of the +waverers, and a shout of approval burst from his audience. + +"Far be it from me," said Sir Claude Latour suavely, "to persuade you +against this worthy archer, or against Sir Nigel Loring; yet we have +been together in many ventures, and perchance it may not be amiss if I +say to you what I think upon the matter." + +"Peace for the little Gascon!" cried the archers. "Let every man have +his word. Shoot straight for the mark, lad, and fair play for all." + +"Bethink you, then," said Sir Claude, "that you go under a hard rule, +with neither freedom nor pleasure--and for what? For sixpence a day, +at the most; while now you may walk across the country and stretch out +either hand to gather in whatever you have a mind for. What do we not +hear of our comrades who have gone with Sir John Hawkwood to Italy? In +one night they have held to ransom six hundred of the richest noblemen +of Mantua. They camp before a great city, and the base burghers come +forth with the keys, and then they make great spoil; or, if it please +them better, they take so many horse-loads of silver as a composition; +and so they journey on from state to state, rich and free and feared by +all. Now, is not that the proper life for a soldier?" + +"The proper life for a robber!" roared Hordle John, in his thundering +voice. + +"And yet there is much in what the Gascon says," said a swarthy fellow +in a weather-stained doublet; "and I for one would rather prosper in +Italy than starve in Spain." + +"You were always a cur and a traitor, Mark Shaw," cried Aylward. "By +my hilt! if you will stand forth and draw your sword I will warrant you +that you will see neither one nor the other." + +"Nay, Aylward," said Sir Nigel, "we cannot mend the matter by broiling. +Sir Claude, I think that what you have said does you little honor, and +if my words aggrieve you I am ever ready to go deeper into the matter +with you. But you shall have such men as will follow you, and you may +go where you will, so that you come not with us. Let all who love +their prince and country stand fast, while those who think more of a +well-lined purse step forth upon the farther side." + +Thirteen bowmen, with hung heads and sheepish faces, stepped forward +with Mark Shaw and ranged themselves behind Sir Claude. Amid the +hootings and hissings of their comrades, they marched off together to +the Gascon's hut, while the main body broke up their meeting and set +cheerily to work packing their possessions, furbishing their weapons, +and preparing for the march which lay before them. Over the Tarn and the +Garonne, through the vast quagmires of Armagnac, past the swift-flowing +Losse, and so down the long valley of the Adour, there was many a +long league to be crossed ere they could join themselves to that dark +war-cloud which was drifting slowly southwards to the line of the snowy +peaks, beyond which the banner of England had never yet been seen. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. HOW THE ARMY MADE THE PASSAGE OF RONCESVALLES. + + +The whole vast plain of Gascony and of Languedoc is an arid and +profitless expanse in winter save where the swift-flowing Adour and her +snow-fed tributaries, the Louts, the Oloron and the Pau, run down to +the sea of Biscay. South of the Adour the jagged line of mountains which +fringe the sky-line send out long granite claws, running down into the +lowlands and dividing them into "gaves" or stretches of valley. Hillocks +grow into hills, and hills into mountains, each range overlying its +neighbor, until they soar up in the giant chain which raises its +spotless and untrodden peaks, white and dazzling, against the pale blue +wintry sky. + +A quiet land is this--a land where the slow-moving Basque, with his flat +biretta-cap, his red sash and his hempen sandals, tills his scanty farm +or drives his lean flock to their hill-side pastures. It is the country +of the wolf and the isard, of the brown bear and the mountain-goat, a +land of bare rock and of rushing water. Yet here it was that the will of +a great prince had now assembled a gallant army; so that from the Adour +to the passes of Navarre the barren valleys and wind-swept wastes were +populous with soldiers and loud with the shouting of orders and the +neighing of horses. For the banners of war had been flung to the wind +once more, and over those glistening peaks was the highway along which +Honor pointed in an age when men had chosen her as their guide. + +And now all was ready for the enterprise. From Dax to St. Jean +Pied-du-Port the country was mottled with the white tents of Gascons, +Aquitanians and English, all eager for the advance. From all sides the +free companions had trooped in, until not less than twelve thousand of +these veteran troops were cantoned along the frontiers of Navarre. From +England had arrived the prince's brother, the Duke of Lancaster, with +four hundred knights in his train and a strong company of archers. Above +all, an heir to the throne had been born in Bordeaux, and the prince +might leave his spouse with an easy mind, for all was well with mother +and with child. + +The keys of the mountain passes still lay in the hands of the shifty and +ignoble Charles of Navarre, who had chaffered and bargained both with +the English and with the Spanish, taking money from the one side to hold +them open and from the other to keep them sealed. The mallet hand of +Edward, however, had shattered all the schemes and wiles of the plotter. +Neither entreaty nor courtly remonstrance came from the English prince; +but Sir Hugh Calverley passed silently over the border with his company, +and the blazing walls of the two cities of Miranda and Puenta de la +Reyna warned the unfaithful monarch that there were other metals besides +gold, and that he was dealing with a man to whom it was unsafe to lie. +His price was paid, his objections silenced, and the mountain gorges lay +open to the invaders. From the Feast of the Epiphany there was mustering +and massing, until, in the first week of February--three days after the +White Company joined the army--the word was given for a general advance +through the defile of Roncesvalles. At five in the cold winter's morning +the bugles were blowing in the hamlet of St. Jean Pied-du-Port, and by +six Sir Nigel's Company, three hundred strong, were on their way for the +defile, pushing swiftly in the dim light up the steep curving road; for +it was the prince's order that they should be the first to pass through, +and that they should remain on guard at the further end until the whole +army had emerged from the mountains. Day was already breaking in the +east, and the summits of the great peaks had turned rosy red, while the +valleys still lay in the shadow, when they found themselves with the +cliffs on either hand and the long, rugged pass stretching away before +them. + +Sir Nigel rode his great black war-horse at the head of his archers, +dressed in full armor, with Black Simon bearing his banner behind him, +while Alleyne at his bridle-arm carried his blazoned shield and his +well-steeled ashen spear. A proud and happy man was the knight, and many +a time he turned in his saddle to look at the long column of bowmen who +swung swiftly along behind him. + +"By Saint Paul! Alleyne," said he, "this pass is a very perilous place, +and I would that the King of Navarre had held it against us, for it +would have been a very honorable venture had it fallen to us to win a +passage. I have heard the minstrels sing of one Sir Roland who was slain +by the infidels in these very parts." + +"If it please you, my fair lord," said Black Simon, "I know something +of these parts, for I have twice served a term with the King of Navarre. +There is a hospice of monks yonder, where you may see the roof among the +trees, and there it was that Sir Roland was slain. The village upon the +left is Orbaiceta, and I know a house therein where the right wine of +Jurancon is to be bought, if it would please you to quaff a morning +cup." + +"There is smoke yonder upon the right." + +"That is a village named Les Aldudes, and I know a hostel there also +where the wine is of the best. It is said that the inn-keeper hath a +buried treasure, and I doubt not, my fair lord, that if you grant me +leave I could prevail upon him to tell us where he hath hid it." + +"Nay, nay, Simon," said Sir Nigel curtly, "I pray you to forget these +free companion tricks. Ha! Edricson, I see that you stare about you, and +in good sooth these mountains must seem wondrous indeed to one who hath +but seen Butser or the Portsdown hill." + +The broken and rugged road had wound along the crests of low hills, +with wooded ridges on either side of it over which peeped the loftier +mountains, the distant Peak of the South and the vast Altabisca, which +towered high above them and cast its black shadow from left to right +across the valley. From where they now stood they could look forward +down a long vista of beech woods and jagged rock-strewn wilderness, all +white with snow, to where the pass opened out upon the uplands beyond. +Behind them they could still catch a glimpse of the gray plains of +Gascony, and could see her rivers gleaming like coils of silver in the +sunshine. As far as eye could see from among the rocky gorges and the +bristles of the pine woods there came the quick twinkle and glitter of +steel, while the wind brought with it sudden distant bursts of martial +music from the great host which rolled by every road and by-path towards +the narrow pass of Roncesvalles. On the cliffs on either side might also +be seen the flash of arms and the waving of pennons where the force of +Navarre looked down upon the army of strangers who passed through their +territories. + +"By Saint Paul!" said Sir Nigel, blinking up at them, "I think that +we have much to hope for from these cavaliers, for they cluster very +thickly upon our flanks. Pass word to the men, Aylward, that they +unsling their bows, for I have no doubt that there are some very +worthy gentlemen yonder who may give us some opportunity for honorable +advancement." + +"I hear that the prince hath the King of Navarre as hostage," said +Alleyne, "and it is said that he hath sworn to put him to death if there +be any attack upon us." + +"It was not so that war was made when good King Edward first turned his +hand to it," said Sir Nigel sadly. "Ah! Alleyne, I fear that you will +never live to see such things, for the minds of men are more set upon +money and gain than of old. By Saint Paul! it was a noble sight when two +great armies would draw together upon a certain day, and all who had +a vow would ride forth to discharge themselves of it. What noble +spear-runnings have I not seen, and even in an humble way had a part in, +when cavaliers would run a course for the easing of their souls and for +the love of their ladies! Never a bad word have I for the French, for, +though I have ridden twenty times up to their array, I have never yet +failed to find some very gentle and worthy knight or squire who was +willing to do what he might to enable me to attempt some small feat of +arms. Then, when all cavaliers had been satisfied, the two armies would +come to hand-strokes, and fight right merrily until one or other had the +vantage. By Saint Paul! it was not our wont in those days to pay gold +for the opening of passes, nor would we hold a king as hostage lest +his people come to thrusts with us. In good sooth, if the war is to be +carried out in such a fashion, then it is grief to me that I ever came +away from Castle Twynham, for I would not have left my sweet lady had I +not thought that there were deeds of arms to be done." + +"But surely, my fair lord," said Alleyne, "you have done some great +feats of arms since we left the Lady Loring." + +"I cannot call any to mind," answered Sir Nigel. + +"There was the taking of the sea-rovers, and the holding of the keep +against the Jacks." + +"Nay, nay," said the knight, "these were not feats of arms, but mere +wayside ventures and the chances of travel. By Saint Paul! if it were +not that these hills are over-steep for Pommers, I would ride to these +cavaliers of Navarre and see if there were not some among them who would +help me to take this patch from mine eye. It is a sad sight to see this +very fine pass, which my own Company here could hold against an army, +and yet to ride through it with as little profit as though it were the +lane from my kennels to the Avon." + +All morning Sir Nigel rode in a very ill-humor, with his Company +tramping behind him. It was a toilsome march over broken ground and +through snow, which came often as high as the knee, yet ere the sun had +begun to sink they had reached the spot where the gorge opens out on to +the uplands of Navarre, and could see the towers of Pampeluna jutting +up against the southern sky-line. Here the Company were quartered in a +scattered mountain hamlet, and Alleyne spent the day looking down +upon the swarming army which poured with gleam of spears and flaunt of +standards through the narrow pass. + +"Hola, mon gar.," said Aylward, seating himself upon a boulder by his +side. "This is indeed a fine sight upon which it is good to look, and a +man might go far ere he would see so many brave men and fine horses. +By my hilt! our little lord is wroth because we have come peacefully +through the passes, but I will warrant him that we have fighting +enow ere we turn our faces northward again. It is said that there are +four-score thousand men behind the King of Spain, with Du Guesclin and +all the best lances of France, who have sworn to shed their heart's +blood ere this Pedro come again to the throne." + +"Yet our own army is a great one," said Alleyne. + +"Nay, there are but seven-and-twenty thousand men. Chandos hath +persuaded the prince to leave many behind, and indeed I think that he is +right, for there is little food and less water in these parts for which +we are bound. A man without his meat or a horse without his fodder is +like a wet bow-string, fit for little. But voila, mon petit, here comes +Chandos and his company, and there is many a pensil and banderole among +yonder squadrons which show that the best blood of England is riding +under his banners." + +Whilst Aylward had been speaking, a strong column of archers had defiled +through the pass beneath them. They were followed by a banner-bearer +who held high the scarlet wedge upon a silver field which proclaimed the +presence of the famous warrior. He rode himself within a spear's-length +of his standard, clad from neck to foot in steel, but draped in the long +linen gown or parement which was destined to be the cause of his death. +His plumed helmet was carried behind him by his body-squire, and his +head was covered by a small purple cap, from under which his snow-white +hair curled downwards to his shoulders. With his long beak-like nose and +his single gleaming eye, which shone brightly from under a thick tuft +of grizzled brow, he seemed to Alleyne to have something of the look +of some fierce old bird of prey. For a moment he smiled, as his eye lit +upon the banner of the five roses waving from the hamlet; but his course +lay for Pampeluna, and he rode on after the archers. + +Close at his heels came sixteen squires, all chosen from the highest +families, and behind them rode twelve hundred English knights, with +gleam of steel and tossing of plumes, their harness jingling, their long +straight swords clanking against their stirrup-irons, and the beat of +their chargers' hoofs like the low deep roar of the sea upon the shore. +Behind them marched six hundred Cheshire and Lancashire archers, bearing +the badge of the Audleys, followed by the famous Lord Audley himself, +with the four valiant squires, Dutton of Dutton, Delves of Doddington, +Fowlehurst of Crewe, and Hawkestone of Wainehill, who had all won such +glory at Poictiers. Two hundred heavily-armed cavalry rode behind the +Audley standard, while close at their heels came the Duke of Lancaster +with a glittering train, heralds tabarded with the royal arms riding +three deep upon cream-colored chargers in front of him. On either side +of the young prince rode the two seneschals of Aquitaine, Sir Guiscard +d'Angle and Sir Stephen Cossington, the one bearing the banner of the +province and the other that of Saint George. Away behind him as far as +eye could reach rolled the far-stretching, unbroken river of steel--rank +after rank and column after column, with waving of plumes, glitter of +arms, tossing of guidons, and flash and flutter of countless armorial +devices. All day Alleyne looked down upon the changing scene, and all +day the old bowman stood by his elbow, pointing out the crests of famous +warriors and the arms of noble houses. Here were the gold mullets of the +Pakingtons, the sable and ermine of the Mackworths, the scarlet bars of +the Wakes, the gold and blue of the Grosvenors, the cinque-foils of +the Cliftons, the annulets of the Musgraves, the silver pinions of the +Beauchamps, the crosses of the Molineaux, the bloody chevron of the +Woodhouses, the red and silver of the Worsleys, the swords of the +Clarks, the boars'-heads of the Lucies, the crescents of the Boyntons, +and the wolf and dagger of the Lipscombs. So through the sunny winter +day the chivalry of England poured down through the dark pass of +Roncesvalles to the plains of Spain. + +It was on a Monday that the Duke of Lancaster's division passed safely +through the Pyrenees. On the Tuesday there was a bitter frost, and the +ground rung like iron beneath the feet of the horses; yet ere evening +the prince himself, with the main battle of his army, had passed the +gorge and united with his vanguard at Pampeluna. With him rode the King +of Majorca, the hostage King of Navarre, and the fierce Don Pedro of +Spain, whose pale blue eyes gleamed with a sinister light as they rested +once more upon the distant peaks of the land which had disowned him. +Under the royal banners rode many a bold Gascon baron and many a +hot-blooded islander. Here were the high stewards of Aquitaine, of +Saintonge, of La Rochelle, of Quercy, of Limousin, of Agenois, of +Poitou, and of Bigorre, with the banners and musters of their provinces. +Here also were the valiant Earl of Angus, Sir Thomas Banaster with his +garter over his greave, Sir Nele Loring, second cousin to Sir Nigel, +and a long column of Welsh footmen who marched under the red banner +of Merlin. From dawn to sundown the long train wound through the pass, +their breath reeking up upon the frosty air like the steam from a +cauldron. + +The weather was less keen upon the Wednesday, and the rear-guard +made good their passage, with the bombards and the wagon-train. Free +companions and Gascons made up this portion of the army to the number of +ten thousand men. The fierce Sir Hugh Calverley, with his yellow mane, +and the rugged Sir Robert Knolles, with their war-hardened and veteran +companies of English bowmen, headed the long column; while behind them +came the turbulent bands of the Bastard of Breteuil, Nandon de Bagerant, +one-eyed Camus, Black Ortingo, La Nuit and others whose very names seem +to smack of hard hands and ruthless deeds. With them also were the +pick of the Gascon chivalry--the old Duc d'Armagnac, his nephew Lord +d'Albret, brooding and scowling over his wrongs, the giant Oliver de +Clisson, the Captal de Buch, pink of knighthood, the sprightly Sir +Perducas d'Albret, the red-bearded Lord d'Esparre, and a long train of +needy and grasping border nobles, with long pedigrees and short purses, +who had come down from their hill-side strongholds, all hungering for +the spoils and the ransoms of Spain. By the Thursday morning the whole +army was encamped in the Vale of Pampeluna, and the prince had called +his council to meet him in the old palace of the ancient city of +Navarre. + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. HOW THE COMPANY MADE SPORT IN THE VALE OF PAMPELUNA. + + +Whilst the council was sitting in Pampeluna the White Company, having +encamped in a neighboring valley, close to the companies of La Nuit and +of Black Ortingo, were amusing themselves with sword-play, wrestling, +and shooting at the shields, which they had placed upon the hillside +to serve them as butts. The younger archers, with their coats of mail +thrown aside, their brown or flaxen hair tossing in the wind, and their +jerkins turned back to give free play to their brawny chests and arms, +stood in lines, each loosing his shaft in turn, while Johnston, Aylward, +Black Simon, and half-a-score of the elders lounged up and down with +critical eyes, and a word of rough praise or of curt censure for the +marksmen. Behind stood knots of Gascon and Brabant crossbowmen from +the companies of Ortingo and of La Nuit, leaning upon their unsightly +weapons and watching the practice of the Englishmen. + +"A good shot, Hewett, a good shot!" said old Johnston to a young bowman, +who stood with his bow in his left hand, gazing with parted lips after +his flying shaft. "You see, she finds the ring, as I knew she would from +the moment that your string twanged." + +"Loose it easy, steady, and yet sharp," said Aylward. "By my hilt! mon +gar., it is very well when you do but shoot at a shield, but when there +is a man behind the shield, and he rides at you with wave of sword and +glint of eyes from behind his vizor, you may find him a less easy mark." + +"It is a mark that I have found before now," answered the young bowman. + +"And shall again, camarade, I doubt not. But hola! Johnston, who is this +who holds his bow like a crow-keeper?" + +"It is Silas Peterson, of Horsham. Do not wink with one eye and look +with the other, Silas, and do not hop and dance after you shoot, with +your tongue out, for that will not speed it upon its way. Stand straight +and firm, as God made you. Move not the bow arm, and steady with the +drawing hand!" + +"I' faith," said Black Simon, "I am a spearman myself, and am more +fitted for hand-strokes than for such work as this. Yet I have spent my +days among bowmen, and I have seen many a brave shaft sped. I will not +say but that we have some good marksmen here, and that this Company +would be accounted a fine body of archers at any time or place. Yet I +do not see any men who bend so strong a bow or shoot as true a shaft as +those whom I have known." + +"You say sooth," said Johnston, turning his seamed and grizzled face +upon the man-at-arms. "See yonder," he added, pointing to a bombard +which lay within the camp: "there is what hath done scath to good +bowmanship, with its filthy soot and foolish roaring mouth. I wonder +that a true knight, like our prince, should carry such a scurvy thing in +his train. Robin, thou red-headed lurden, how oft must I tell thee not +to shoot straight with a quarter-wind blowing across the mark?" + +"By these ten finger-bones! there were some fine bowmen at the intaking +of Calais," said Aylward. "I well remember that, on occasion of an +outfall, a Genoan raised his arm over his mantlet, and shook it at us, a +hundred paces from our line. There were twenty who loosed shafts at him, +and when the man was afterwards slain it was found that he had taken +eighteen through his forearm." + +"And I can call to mind," remarked Johnston, "that when the great +cog 'Christopher,' which the French had taken from us, was moored two +hundred paces from the shore, two archers, little Robin Withstaff and +Elias Baddlesmere, in four shots each cut every strand of her hempen +anchor-cord, so that she well-nigh came upon the rocks." + +"Good shooting, i' faith rare shooting!" said Black Simon. "But I have +seen you, Johnston, and you, Samkin Aylward, and one or two others who +are still with us, shoot as well as the best. Was it not you, Johnston, +who took the fat ox at Finsbury butts against the pick of London town?" + +A sunburnt and black-eyed Brabanter had stood near the old archers, +leaning upon a large crossbow and listening to their talk, which had +been carried on in that hybrid camp dialect which both nations could +understand. He was a squat, bull-necked man, clad in the iron helmet, +mail tunic, and woollen gambesson of his class. A jacket with hanging +sleeves, slashed with velvet at the neck and wrists, showed that he was +a man of some consideration, an under-officer, or file-leader of his +company. + +"I cannot think," said he, "why you English should be so fond of your +six-foot stick. If it amuse you to bend it, well and good; but why +should I strain and pull, when my little moulinet will do all for me, +and better than I can do it for myself?" + +"I have seen good shooting with the prod and with the latch," said +Aylward, "but, by my hilt! camarade, with all respect to you and to your +bow, I think that is but a woman's weapon, which a woman can point and +loose as easily as a man." + +"I know not about that," answered the Brabanter, "but this I know, +that though I have served for fourteen years, I have never yet seen an +Englishman do aught with the long-bow which I could not do better with +my arbalest. By the three kings! I would even go further, and say that I +have done things with my arbalest which no Englishman could do with his +long-bow." + +"Well said, mon gar.," cried Aylward. "A good cock has ever a brave +call. Now, I have shot little of late, but there is Johnston here who +will try a round with you for the honor of the Company." + +"And I will lay a gallon of Jurancon wine upon the long-bow," said Black +Simon, "though I had rather, for my own drinking, that it were a quart +of Twynham ale." + +"I take both your challenge and your wager," said the man of Brabant, +throwing off his jacket and glancing keenly about him with his black, +twinkling eyes. "I cannot see any fitting mark, for I care not to waste +a bolt upon these shields, which a drunken boor could not miss at a +village kermesse." + +"This is a perilous man," whispered an English man-at-arms, plucking at +Aylward's sleeve. "He is the best marksman of all the crossbow companies +and it was he who brought down the Constable de Bourbon at Brignais. I +fear that your man will come by little honor with him." + +"Yet I have seen Johnston shoot these twenty years, and I will not +flinch from it. How say you, old war-hound, will you not have a flight +shot or two with this springald?" + +"Tut, tut, Aylward," said the old bowman. "My day is past, and it is +for the younger ones to hold what we have gained. I take it unkindly of +thee, Samkin, that thou shouldst call all eyes thus upon a broken bowman +who could once shoot a fair shaft. Let me feel that bow, Wilkins! It is +a Scotch bow, I see, for the upper nock is without and the lower within. +By the black rood! it is a good piece of yew, well nocked, well strung, +well waxed, and very joyful to the feel. I think even now that I might +hit any large and goodly mark with a bow like this. Turn thy quiver to +me, Aylward. I love an ash arrow pierced with cornel-wood for a roving +shaft." + +"By my hilt! and so do I," cried Aylward. "These three gander-winged +shafts are such." + +"So I see, comrade. It has been my wont to choose a saddle-backed +feather for a dead shaft, and a swine-backed for a smooth flier. I will +take the two of them. Ah! Samkin, lad, the eye grows dim and the hand +less firm as the years pass." + +"Come then, are you not ready?" said the Brabanter, who had watched +with ill-concealed impatience the slow and methodic movements of his +antagonist. + +"I will venture a rover with you, or try long-butts or hoyles," said old +Johnston. "To my mind the long-bow is a better weapon than the arbalest, +but it may be ill for me to prove it." + +"So I think," quoth the other with a sneer. He drew his moulinet from +his girdle, and fixing it to the windlass, he drew back the powerful +double cord until it had clicked into the catch. Then from his quiver he +drew a short, thick quarrel, which he placed with the utmost care upon +the groove. Word had spread of what was going forward, and the rivals +were already surrounded, not only by the English archers of the Company, +but by hundreds of arbalestiers and men-at-arms from the bands of +Ortingo and La Nuit, to the latter of which the Brabanter belonged. + +"There is a mark yonder on the hill," said he; "mayhap you can discern +it." + +"I see something," answered Johnston, shading his eyes with his hand; +"but it is a very long shoot." + +"A fair shoot--a fair shoot! Stand aside, Arnaud, lest you find a bolt +through your gizzard. Now, comrade, I take no flight shot, and I give +you the vantage of watching my shaft." + +As he spoke he raised his arbalest to his shoulder and was about to pull +the trigger, when a large gray stork flapped heavily into view skimming +over the brow of the hill, and then soaring up into the air to pass the +valley. Its shrill and piercing cries drew all eyes upon it, and, as it +came nearer, a dark spot which circled above it resolved itself into a +peregrine falcon, which hovered over its head, poising itself from time +to time, and watching its chance of closing with its clumsy quarry. +Nearer and nearer came the two birds, all absorbed in their own contest, +the stork wheeling upwards, the hawk still fluttering above it, until +they were not a hundred paces from the camp. The Brabanter raised his +weapon to the sky, and there came the short, deep twang of his powerful +string. His bolt struck the stork just where its wing meets the body, +and the bird whirled aloft in a last convulsive flutter before falling +wounded and flapping to the earth. A roar of applause burst from the +crossbowmen; but at the instant that the bolt struck its mark old +Johnston, who had stood listlessly with arrow on string, bent his bow +and sped a shaft through the body of the falcon. Whipping the other from +his belt, he sent it skimming some few feet from the earth with so true +an aim that it struck and transfixed the stork for the second time ere +it could reach the ground. A deep-chested shout of delight burst from +the archers at the sight of this double feat, and Aylward, dancing with +joy, threw his arms round the old marksman and embraced him with such +vigor that their mail tunics clanged again. + +"Ah! camarade," he cried, "you shall have a stoup with me for this! What +then, old dog, would not the hawk please thee, but thou must have the +stork as well. Oh, to my heart again!" + +"It is a pretty piece of yew, and well strung," said Johnston with a +twinkle in his deep-set gray eyes. "Even an old broken bowman might find +the clout with a bow like this." + +"You have done very well," remarked the Brabanter in a surly voice. +"But it seems to me that you have not yet shown yourself to be a better +marksman than I, for I have struck that at which I aimed, and, by the +three kings! no man can do more." + +"It would ill beseem me to claim to be a better marksman," answered +Johnston, "for I have heard great things of your skill. I did but wish +to show that the long-bow could do that which an arbalest could not do, +for you could not with your moulinet have your string ready to speed +another shaft ere the bird drop to the earth." + +"In that you have vantage," said the crossbowman. "By Saint James! it +is now my turn to show you where my weapon has the better of you. I pray +you to draw a flight shaft with all your strength down the valley, that +we may see the length of your shoot." + +"That is a very strong prod of yours," said Johnston, shaking his +grizzled head as he glanced at the thick arch and powerful strings of +his rival's arbalest. "I have little doubt that you can overshoot me, +and yet I have seen bowmen who could send a cloth-yard arrow further +than you could speed a quarrel." + +"So I have heard," remarked the Brabanter; "and yet it is a strange +thing that these wondrous bowmen are never where I chance to be. Pace +out the distances with a wand at every five score, and do you, Arnaud, +stand at the fifth wand to carry back my bolts to me." + +A line was measured down the valley, and Johnston, drawing an arrow to +the very head, sent it whistling over the row of wands. + +"Bravely drawn! A rare shoot!" shouted the bystanders. + +"It is well up to the fourth mark." + +"By my hilt! it is over it," cried Aylward. "I can see where they have +stooped to gather up the shaft." + +"We shall hear anon," said Johnston quietly, and presently a young +archer came running to say that the arrow had fallen twenty paces beyond +the fourth wand. + +"Four hundred paces and a score," cried Black Simon. "I' faith, it is a +very long flight. Yet wood and steel may do more than flesh and blood." + +The Brabanter stepped forward with a smile of conscious triumph, and +loosed the cord of his weapon. A shout burst from his comrades as they +watched the swift and lofty flight of the heavy bolt. + +"Over the fourth!" groaned Aylward. "By my hilt! I think that it is well +up to the fifth." + +"It is over the fifth!" cried a Gascon loudly, and a comrade came +running with waving arms to say that the bolt had pitched eight paces +beyond the mark of the five hundred. + +"Which weapon hath the vantage now?" cried the Brabanter, strutting +proudly about with shouldered arbalest, amid the applause of his +companions. + +"You can overshoot me," said Johnston gently. + +"Or any other man who ever bent a long-bow," cried his victorious +adversary. + +"Nay, not so fast," said a huge archer, whose mighty shoulders and red +head towered high above the throng of his comrades. "I must have a word +with you ere you crow so loudly. Where is my little popper? By sainted +Dick of Hampole! it will be a strange thing if I cannot outshoot that +thing of thine, which to my eyes is more like a rat-trap than a bow. +Will you try another flight, or do you stand by your last?" + +"Five hundred and eight paces will serve my turn," answered the +Brabanter, looking askance at this new opponent. + +"Tut, John," whispered Aylward, "you never were a marksman. Why must you +thrust your spoon into this dish?" + +"Easy and slow, Aylward. There are very many things which I cannot do, +but there are also one or two which I have the trick of. It is in my +mind that I can beat this shoot, if my bow will but hold together." + +"Go on, old babe of the woods!" "Have at it, Hampshire!" cried the +archers laughing. + +"By my soul! you may grin," cried John. "But I learned how to make the +long shoot from old Hob Miller of Milford." He took up a great black +bow, as he spoke, and sitting down upon the ground he placed his two +feet on either end of the stave. With an arrow fitted, he then pulled +the string towards him with both hands until the head of the shaft was +level with the wood. The great bow creaked and groaned and the cord +vibrated with the tension. + +"Who is this fool's-head who stands in the way of my shoot?" said he, +craning up his neck from the ground. + +"He stands on the further side of my mark," answered the Brabanter, "so +he has little to fear from you." + +"Well, the saints assoil him!" cried John. "Though I think he is +over-near to be scathed." As he spoke he raised his two feet, with the +bow-stave upon their soles, and his cord twanged with a deep rich hum +which might be heard across the valley. The measurer in the distance +fell flat upon his face, and then jumping up again, he began to run in +the opposite direction. + +"Well shot, old lad! It is indeed over his head," cried the bowmen. + +"Mon Dieu!" exclaimed the Brabanter, "who ever saw such a shoot?" + +"It is but a trick," quoth John. "Many a time have I won a gallon of ale +by covering a mile in three flights down Wilverley Chase." + +"It fell a hundred and thirty paces beyond the fifth mark," shouted an +archer in the distance. + +"Six hundred and thirty paces! Mon Dieu! but that is a shoot! And yet it +says nothing for your weapon, mon gros camarade, for it was by turning +yourself into a crossbow that you did it." + +"By my hilt! there is truth in that," cried Aylward. "And now, friend, +I will myself show you a vantage of the long-bow. I pray you to speed +a bolt against yonder shield with all your force. It is an inch of elm +with bull's hide over it." + +"I scarce shot as many shafts at Brignais," growled the man of Brabant; +"though I found a better mark there than a cantle of bull's hide. But +what is this, Englishman? The shield hangs not one hundred paces from +me, and a blind man could strike it." He screwed up his string to the +furthest pitch, and shot his quarrel at the dangling shield. Aylward, +who had drawn an arrow from his quiver, carefully greased the head of +it, and sped it at the same mark. + +"Run, Wilkins," quoth he, "and fetch me the shield." + +Long were the faces of the Englishmen and broad the laugh of the +crossbowmen as the heavy mantlet was carried towards them, for there in +the centre was the thick Brabant bolt driven deeply into the wood, while +there was neither sign nor trace of the cloth-yard shaft. + +"By the three kings!" cried the Brabanter, "this time at least there is +no gainsaying which is the better weapon, or which the truer hand that +held it. You have missed the shield, Englishman." + +"Tarry a bit! tarry a bit, mon gar.!" quoth Aylward, and turning round +the shield he showed a round clear hole in the wood at the back of it. +"My shaft has passed through it, camarade, and I trow the one which goes +through is more to be feared than that which bides on the way." + +The Brabanter stamped his foot with mortification, and was about to make +some angry reply, when Alleyne Edricson came riding up to the crowds of +archers. + +"Sir Nigel will be here anon," said he, "and it is his wish to speak +with the Company." + +In an instant order and method took the place of general confusion. +Bows, steel caps, and jacks were caught up from the grass. A long cordon +cleared the camp of all strangers, while the main body fell into four +lines with under-officers and file-leaders in front and on either flank. +So they stood, silent and motionless, when their leader came riding +towards them, his face shining and his whole small figure swelling with +the news which he bore. + +"Great honor has been done to us, men," cried he: "for, of all the army, +the prince has chosen us out that we should ride onwards into the lands +of Spain to spy upon our enemies. Yet, as there are many of us, and as +the service may not be to the liking of all, I pray that those will step +forward from the ranks who have the will to follow me." + +There was a rustle among the bowmen, but when Sir Nigel looked up at +them no man stood forward from his fellows, but the four lines of men +stretched unbroken as before. Sir Nigel blinked at them in amazement, +and a look of the deepest sorrow shadowed his face. + +"That I should live to see the day!" he cried. "What! not one----" + +"My fair lord," whispered Alleyne, "they have all stepped forward." + +"Ah, by Saint Paul! I see how it is with them. I could not think that +they would desert me. We start at dawn to-morrow, and ye are to have +the horses of Sir Robert Cheney's company. Be ready, I pray ye, at early +cock-crow." + +A buzz of delight burst from the archers, as they broke their ranks and +ran hither and thither, whooping and cheering like boys who have news of +a holiday. Sir Nigel gazed after them with a smiling face, when a heavy +hand fell upon his shoulder. + +"What ho! my knight-errant of Twynham!" said a voice, "You are off to +Ebro, I hear; and, by the holy fish of Tobias! you must take me under +your banner." + +"What! Sir Oliver Buttesthorn!" cried Sir Nigel. "I had heard that you +were come into camp, and had hoped to see you. Glad and proud shall I be +to have you with me." + +"I have a most particular and weighty reason for wishing to go," said +the sturdy knight. + +"I can well believe it," returned Sir Nigel; "I have met no man who is +quicker to follow where honor leads." + +"Nay, it is not for honor that I go, Nigel." + +"For what then?" + +"For pullets." + +"Pullets?" + +"Yes, for the rascal vanguard have cleared every hen from the +country-side. It was this very morning that Norbury, my squire, +lamed his horse in riding round in quest of one, for we have a bag of +truffles, and nought to eat with them. Never have I seen such locusts as +this vanguard of ours. Not a pullet shall we see until we are in front +of them; so I shall leave my Winchester runagates to the care of the +provost-marshal, and I shall hie south with you, Nigel, with my truffles +at my saddle-bow." + +"Oliver, Oliver, I know you over-well," said Sir Nigel, shaking his +head, and the two old soldiers rode off together to their pavilion. + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. HOW SIR NIGEL HAWKED AT AN EAGLE. + + +To the south of Pampeluna in the kingdom of Navarre there stretched +a high table-land, rising into bare, sterile hills, brown or gray in +color, and strewn with huge boulders of granite. On the Gascon side of +the great mountains there had been running streams, meadows, forests, +and little nestling villages. Here, on the contrary, were nothing but +naked rocks, poor pasture, and savage, stone-strewn wastes. Gloomy +defiles or barrancas intersected this wild country with mountain +torrents dashing and foaming between their rugged sides. The clatter +of waters, the scream of the eagle, and the howling of wolves the only +sounds which broke upon the silence in that dreary and inhospitable +region. + +Through this wild country it was that Sir Nigel and his Company pushed +their way, riding at times through vast defiles where the brown, gnarled +cliffs shot up on either side of them, and the sky was but a long +winding blue slit between the clustering lines of box which fringed the +lips of the precipices; or, again leading their horses along the narrow +and rocky paths worn by the muleteers upon the edges of the chasm, where +under their very elbows they could see the white streak which marked +the _gave_ which foamed a thousand feet below them. So for two days they +pushed their way through the wild places of Navarre, past Fuente, +over the rapid Ega, through Estella, until upon a winter's evening the +mountains fell away from in front of them, and they saw the broad blue +Ebro curving betwixt its double line of homesteads and of villages. The +fishers of Viana were aroused that night by rough voices speaking in a +strange tongue, and ere morning Sir Nigel and his men had ferried the +river and were safe upon the land of Spain. + +All the next day they lay in a pine wood near to the town of Logrono, +resting their horses and taking counsel as to what they should do. Sir +Nigel had with him Sir William Felton, Sir Oliver Buttesthorn, stout old +Sir Simon Burley, the Scotch knight-errant, the Earl of Angus, and Sir +Richard Causton, all accounted among the bravest knights in the army, +together with sixty veteran men-at-arms, and three hundred and twenty +archers. Spies had been sent out in the morning, and returned after +nightfall to say that the King of Spain was encamped some fourteen miles +off in the direction of Burgos, having with him twenty thousand horse +and forty-five thousand foot. + +A dry-wood fire had been lit, and round this the leaders crouched, the +glare beating upon their rugged faces, while the hardy archers lounged +and chatted amid the tethered horses, while they munched their scanty +provisions. + +"For my part," said Sir Simon Burley, "I am of opinion that we have +already done that which we have come for. For do we not now know where +the king is, and how great a following he hath, which was the end of our +journey." + +"True," answered Sir William Felton, "but I have come on this venture +because it is a long time since I have broken a spear in war, and, +certes, I shall not go back until I have run a course with some cavalier +of Spain. Let those go back who will, but I must see more of these +Spaniards ere I turn." + +"I will not leave you, Sir William," returned Sir Simon Burley; "and +yet, as an old soldier and one who hath seen much of war, I cannot but +think that it is an ill thing for four hundred men to find themselves +between an army of sixty thousand on the one side and a broad river on +the other." + +"Yet," said Sir Richard Causton, "we cannot for the honor of England go +back without a blow struck." + +"Nor for the honor of Scotland either," cried the Earl of Angus. "By +Saint Andrew! I wish that I may never set eyes upon the water of +Leith again, if I pluck my horse's bridle ere I have seen this camp of +theirs." + +"By Saint Paul! you have spoken very well," said Sir Nigel, "and I have +always heard that there were very worthy gentlemen among the Scots, and +fine skirmishing to be had upon their border. Bethink you, Sir Simon, +that we have this news from the lips of common spies, who can scarce +tell us as much of the enemy and of his forces as the prince would wish +to hear." + +"You are the leader in this venture, Sir Nigel," the other answered, +"and I do but ride under your banner." + +"Yet I would fain have your rede and counsel, Sir Simon. But, touching +what you say of the river, we can take heed that we shall not have it +at the back of us, for the prince hath now advanced to Salvatierra, and +thence to Vittoria, so that if we come upon their camp from the further +side we can make good our retreat." + +"What then would you propose?" asked Sir Simon, shaking his grizzled +head as one who is but half convinced. + +"That we ride forward ere the news reach them that we have crossed the +river. In this way we may have sight of their army, and perchance even +find occasion for some small deed against them." + +"So be it, then," said Sir Simon Burley; and the rest of the council +having approved, a scanty meal was hurriedly snatched, and the advance +resumed under the cover of the darkness. All night they led their +horses, stumbling and groping through wild defiles and rugged valleys, +following the guidance of a frightened peasant who was strapped by the +wrist to Black Simon's stirrup-leather. With the early dawn they found +themselves in a black ravine, with others sloping away from it on either +side, and the bare brown crags rising in long bleak terraces all round +them. + +"If it please you, fair lord," said Black Simon, "this man hath misled +us, and since there is no tree upon which we may hang him, it might be +well to hurl him over yonder cliff." + +The peasant, reading the soldier's meaning in his fierce eyes and harsh +accents dropped upon his knees, screaming loudly for mercy. + +"How comes it, dog?" asked Sir William Felton in Spanish. "Where is this +camp to which you swore that you would lead us?" + +"By the sweet Virgin! By the blessed Mother of God!" cried the trembling +peasant, "I swear to you that in the darkness I have myself lost the +path." + +"Over the cliff with him!" shouted half a dozen voices; but ere the +archers could drag him from the rocks to which he clung Sir Nigel had +ridden up and called upon them to stop. + +"How is this, sirs?" said he. "As long as the prince doth me the honor +to entrust this venture to me, it is for me only to give orders; and, +by Saint Paul! I shall be right blithe to go very deeply into the +matter with any one to whom my words may give offence. How say you, Sir +William? Or you, my Lord of Angus? Or you, Sir Richard?" + +"Nay, nay, Nigel!" cried Sir William. "This base peasant is too small +a matter for old comrades to quarrel over. But he hath betrayed us, and +certes he hath merited a dog's death." + +"Hark ye, fellow," said Sir Nigel. "We give you one more chance to +find the path. We are about to gain much honor, Sir William, in this +enterprise, and it would be a sorry thing if the first blood shed were +that of an unworthy boor. Let us say our morning orisons, and it may +chance that ere we finish he may strike upon the track." + +With bowed heads and steel caps in hand, the archers stood at their +horse's heads, while Sir Simon Burley repeated the Pater, the Ave, and +the Credo. Long did Alleyne bear the scene in mind--the knot of knights +in their dull leaden-hued armor, the ruddy visage of Sir Oliver, the +craggy features of the Scottish earl, the shining scalp of Sir Nigel, +with the dense ring of hard, bearded faces and the long brown heads of +the horses, all topped and circled by the beetling cliffs. Scarce had +the last deep "amen" broken from the Company, when, in an instant, there +rose the scream of a hundred bugles, with the deep rolling of drums and +the clashing of cymbals, all sounding together in one deafening uproar. +Knights and archers sprang to arms, convinced that some great host was +upon them; but the guide dropped upon his knees and thanked Heaven for +its mercies. + +"We have found them, caballeros!" he cried. "This is their morning call. +If ye will but deign to follow me, I will set them before you ere a man +might tell his beads." + +As he spoke he scrambled down one of the narrow ravines, and, climbing +over a low ridge at the further end, he led them into a short valley +with a stream purling down the centre of it and a very thick growth of +elder and of box upon either side. Pushing their way through the dense +brushwood, they looked out upon a scene which made their hearts beat +harder and their breath come faster. + +In front of them there lay a broad plain, watered by two winding streams +and covered with grass, stretching away to where, in the furthest +distance, the towers of Burgos bristled up against the light blue +morning sky. Over all this vast meadow there lay a great city of +tents--thousands upon thousands of them, laid out in streets and in +squares like a well-ordered town. High silken pavilions or colored +marquees, shooting up from among the crowd of meaner dwellings, marked +where the great lords and barons of Leon and Castile displayed their +standards, while over the white roofs, as far as eye could reach, the +waving of ancients, pavons, pensils, and banderoles, with flash of gold +and glow of colors, proclaimed that all the chivalry of Iberia were +mustered in the plain beneath them. Far off, in the centre of the camp, +a huge palace of red and white silk, with the royal arms of Castile +waiving from the summit, announced that the gallant Henry lay there in +the midst of his warriors. + +As the English adventurers, peeping out from behind their brushwood +screen, looked down upon this wondrous sight they could see that the +vast army in front of them was already afoot. The first pink light of +the rising sun glittered upon the steel caps and breastplates of dense +masses of slingers and of crossbowmen, who drilled and marched in the +spaces which had been left for their exercise. A thousand columns of +smoke reeked up into the pure morning air where the faggots were piled +and the camp-kettles already simmering. In the open plain clouds of +light horse galloped and swooped with swaying bodies and waving +javelins, after the fashion which the Spanish had adopted from their +Moorish enemies. All along by the sedgy banks of the rivers long lines +of pages led their masters' chargers down to water, while the knights +themselves lounged in gayly-dressed groups about the doors of their +pavilions, or rode out, with their falcons upon their wrists and their +greyhounds behind them, in quest of quail or of leveret. + +"By my hilt! mon gar.!" whispered Aylward to Alleyne, as the young +squire stood with parted lips and wondering eyes, gazing down at the +novel scene before him, "we have been seeking them all night, but now +that we have found them I know not what we are to do with them." + +"You say sooth, Samkin," quoth old Johnston. "I would that we were upon +the far side of Ebro again, for there is neither honor nor profit to be +gained here. What say you, Simon?" + +"By the rood!" cried the fierce man-at-arms, "I will see the color of +their blood ere I turn my mare's head for the mountains. Am I a child, +that I should ride for three days and nought but words at the end of +it?" + +"Well said, my sweet honeysuckle!" cried Hordle John. "I am with you, +like hilt to blade. Could I but lay hands upon one of those gay prancers +yonder, I doubt not that I should have ransom enough from him to buy my +mother a new cow." + +"A cow!" said Aylward. "Say rather ten acres and a homestead on the +banks of Avon." + +"Say you so? Then, by our Lady! here is for yonder one in the red +jerkin!" + +He was about to push recklessly forward into the open, when Sir Nigel +himself darted in front of him, with his hand upon his breast. + +"Back!" said he. "Our time is not yet come, and we must lie here until +evening. Throw off your jacks and headpieces, least their eyes catch the +shine, and tether the horses among the rocks." + +The order was swiftly obeyed, and in ten minutes the archers were +stretched along by the side of the brook, munching the bread and the +bacon which they had brought in their bags, and craning their necks to +watch the ever-changing scene beneath them. Very quiet and still they +lay, save for a muttered jest or whispered order, for twice during the +long morning they heard bugle-calls from amid the hills on either side +of them, which showed that they had thrust themselves in between the +outposts of the enemy. The leaders sat amongst the box-wood, and took +counsel together as to what they should do; while from below there +surged up the buzz of voices, the shouting, the neighing of horses, and +all the uproar of a great camp. + +"What boots it to wait?" said Sir William Felton. "Let us ride down upon +their camp ere they discover us." + +"And so say I," cried the Scottish earl; "for they do not know that +there is any enemy within thirty long leagues of them." + +"For my part," said Sir Simon Burley, "I think that it is madness, for +you cannot hope to rout this great army; and where are you to go and +what are you to do when they have turned upon you? How say you, Sir +Oliver Buttesthorn?" + +"By the apple of Eve!" cried the fat knight, "it appears to me that +this wind brings a very savory smell of garlic and of onions from their +cooking-kettles. I am in favor of riding down upon them at once, if my +old friend and comrade here is of the same mind." + +"Nay," said Sir Nigel, "I have a plan by which we may attempt some small +deed upon them, and yet, by the help of God, may be able to draw off +again; which, as Sir Simon Burley hath said, would be scarce possible in +any other way." + +"How then, Sir Nigel?" asked several voices. + +"We shall lie here all day; for amid this brushwood it is ill for them +to see us. Then when evening comes we shall sally out upon them and see +if we may not gain some honorable advancement from them." + +"But why then rather than now?" + +"Because we shall have nightfall to cover us when we draw off, so that +we may make our way back through the mountains. I would station a score +of archers here in the pass, with all our pennons jutting forth from the +rocks, and as many nakirs and drums and bugles as we have with us, so +that those who follow us in the fading light may think that the whole +army of the prince is upon them, and fear to go further. What think you +of my plan, Sir Simon?" + +"By my troth! I think very well of it," cried the prudent old commander. +"If four hundred men must needs run a tilt against sixty thousand, I +cannot see how they can do it better or more safely." + +"And so say I," cried Felton, heartily. "But I wish the day were over, +for it will be an ill thing for us if they chance to light upon us." + +The words were scarce out of his mouth when there came a clatter of +loose stones, the sharp clink of trotting hoofs, and a dark-faced +cavalier, mounted upon a white horse, burst through the bushes and rode +swiftly down the valley from the end which was farthest from the Spanish +camp. Lightly armed, with his vizor open and a hawk perched upon his +left wrist, he looked about him with the careless air of a man who is +bent wholly upon pleasure, and unconscious of the possibility of danger. +Suddenly, however, his eyes lit upon the fierce faces which glared out +at him from the brushwood. With a cry of terror, he thrust his spurs +into his horse's sides and dashed for the narrow opening of the gorge. +For a moment it seemed as though he would have reached it, for he had +trampled over or dashed aside the archers who threw themselves in his +way; but Hordle John seized him by the foot in his grasp of iron and +dragged him from the saddle, while two others caught the frightened +horse. + +"Ho, ho!" roared the great archer. "How many cows wilt buy my mother, if +I set thee free?" + +"Hush that bull's bellowing!" cried Sir Nigel impatiently. "Bring the +man here. By St. Paul! it is not the first time that we have met; for, +if I mistake not, it is Don Diego Alvarez, who was once at the prince's +court." + +"It is indeed I," said the Spanish knight, speaking in the French +tongue, "and I pray you to pass your sword through my heart, for how can +I live--I, a caballero of Castile--after being dragged from my horse by +the base hands of a common archer?" + +"Fret not for that," answered Sir Nigel. "For, in sooth, had he not +pulled you down, a dozen cloth-yard shafts had crossed each other in +your body." + +"By St. James! it were better so than to be polluted by his touch," +answered the Spaniard, with his black eyes sparkling with rage and +hatred. "I trust that I am now the prisoner of some honorable knight or +gentleman." + +"You are the prisoner of the man who took you, Sir Diego," answered Sir +Nigel. "And I may tell you that better men than either you or I have +found themselves before now prisoners in the hands of archers of +England." + +"What ransom, then, does he demand?" asked the Spaniard. + +Big John scratched his red head and grinned in high delight when the +question was propounded to him. "Tell him," said he, "that I shall have +ten cows and a bull too, if it be but a little one. Also a dress of +blue sendall for mother and a red one for Joan; with five acres of +pasture-land, two scythes, and a fine new grindstone. Likewise a small +house, with stalls for the cows, and thirty-six gallons of beer for the +thirsty weather." + +"Tut, tut!" cried Sir Nigel, laughing. "All these things may be had for +money; and I think, Don Diego, that five thousand crowns is not too much +for so renowned a knight." + +"It shall be duly paid him." + +"For some days we must keep you with us; and I must crave leave also to +use your shield, your armor, and your horse." + +"My harness is yours by the law of arms," said the Spaniard, gloomily. + +"I do but ask the loan of it. I have need of it this day, but it shall +be duly returned to you. Set guards, Aylward, with arrow on string, at +either end of the pass; for it may happen that some other cavaliers may +visit us ere the time be come." All day the little band of Englishmen +lay in the sheltered gorge, looking down upon the vast host of their +unconscious enemies. Shortly after mid-day, a great uproar of shouting +and cheering broke out in the camp, with mustering of men and calling of +bugles. Clambering up among the rocks, the companions saw a long rolling +cloud of dust along the whole eastern sky-line, with the glint of spears +and the flutter of pennons, which announced the approach of a large body +of cavalry. For a moment a wild hope came upon them that perhaps the +prince had moved more swiftly than had been planned, that he had crossed +the Ebro, and that this was his vanguard sweeping to the attack. + +"Surely I see the red pile of Chandos at the head of yonder squadron!" +cried Sir Richard Causton, shading his eyes with his hand. + +"Not so," answered Sir Simon Burley, who had watched the approaching +host with a darkening face. "It is even as I feared. That is the double +eagle of Du Guesclin." + +"You say very truly," cried the Earl of Angus. "These are the levies of +France, for I can see the ensigns of the Marshal d'Andreghen, with +that of the Lord of Antoing and of Briseuil, and of many another from +Brittany and Anjou." + +"By St. Paul! I am very glad of it," said Sir Nigel. "Of these Spaniards +I know nothing; but the French are very worthy gentlemen, and will do +what they can for our advancement." + +"There are at the least four thousand of them, and all men-at-arms," +cried Sir William Felton. "See, there is Bertrand himself, beside his +banner, and there is King Henry, who rides to welcome him. Now they all +turn and come into the camp together." + +As he spoke, the vast throng of Spaniards and of Frenchmen trooped +across the plain, with brandished arms and tossing banners. All day long +the sound of revelry and of rejoicing from the crowded camp swelled up +to the ears of the Englishmen, and they could see the soldiers of the +two nations throwing themselves into each other's arms and dancing +hand-in-hand round the blazing fires. The sun had sunk behind a +cloud-bank in the west before Sir Nigel at last gave word that the men +should resume their arms and have their horses ready. He had himself +thrown off his armor, and had dressed himself from head to foot in the +harness of the captured Spaniard. + +"Sir William," said he, "it is my intention to attempt a small deed, and +I ask you therefore that you will lead this outfall upon the camp. For +me, I will ride into their camp with my squire and two archers. I pray +you to watch me, and to ride forth when I am come among the tents. You +will leave twenty men behind here, as we planned this morning, and you +will ride back here after you have ventured as far as seems good to +you." + +"I will do as you order, Nigel; but what is it that you propose to do?" + +"You will see anon, and indeed it is but a trifling matter. Alleyne, you +will come with me, and lead a spare horse by the bridle. I will have the +two archers who rode with us through France, for they are trusty men and +of stout heart. Let them ride behind us, and let them leave their bows +here among the bushes for it is not my wish that they should know that +we are Englishmen. Say no word to any whom we may meet, and, if any +speak to you, pass on as though you heard them not. Are you ready?" + +"I am ready, my fair lord," said Alleyne. + +"And I," "And I," cried Aylward and John. + +"Then the rest I leave to your wisdom, Sir William; and if God sends us +fortune we shall meet you again in this gorge ere it be dark." + +So saying, Sir Nigel mounted the white horse of the Spanish cavalier, +and rode quietly forth from his concealment with his three companions +behind him, Alleyne leading his master's own steed by the bridle. So +many small parties of French and Spanish horse were sweeping hither and +thither that the small band attracted little notice, and making its way +at a gentle trot across the plain, they came as far as the camp without +challenge or hindrance. On and on they pushed past the endless lines of +tents, amid the dense swarms of horsemen and of footmen, until the huge +royal pavilion stretched in front of them. They were close upon it when +of a sudden there broke out a wild hubbub from a distant portion of the +camp, with screams and war-cries and all the wild tumult of battle. At +the sound soldiers came rushing from their tents, knights shouted loudly +for their squires, and there was mad turmoil on every hand of bewildered +men and plunging horses. At the royal tent a crowd of gorgeously dressed +servants ran hither and thither in helpless panic for the guard +of soldiers who were stationed there had already ridden off in the +direction of the alarm. A man-at-arms on either side of the doorway were +the sole protectors of the royal dwelling. + +"I have come for the king," whispered Sir Nigel; "and, by Saint Paul! he +must back with us or I must bide here." + +Alleyne and Aylward sprang from their horses, and flew at the two +sentries, who were disarmed and beaten down in an instant by so furious +and unexpected an attack. Sir Nigel dashed into the royal tent, and was +followed by Hordle John as soon as the horses had been secured. From +within came wild screamings and the clash of steel, and then the two +emerged once more, their swords and forearms reddened with blood, +while John bore over his shoulder the senseless body of a man whose gay +surcoat, adorned with the lions and towers of Castile, proclaimed him +to belong to the royal house. A crowd of white-faced sewers and pages +swarmed at their heels, those behind pushing forwards, while the +foremost shrank back from the fierce faces and reeking weapons of the +adventurers. The senseless body was thrown across the spare horse, the +four sprang to their saddles, and away they thundered with loose reins +and busy spurs through the swarming camp. + +But confusion and disorder still reigned among the Spaniards for Sir +William Felton and his men had swept through half their camp, leaving +a long litter of the dead and the dying to mark their course. Uncertain +who were their attackers, and unable to tell their English enemies +from their newly-arrived Breton allies, the Spanish knights rode wildly +hither and thither in aimless fury. The mad turmoil, the mixture of +races, and the fading light, were all in favor of the four who alone +knew their own purpose among the vast uncertain multitude. Twice ere +they reached open ground they had to break their way through small +bodies of horses, and once there came a whistle of arrows and singing of +stones about their ears; but, still dashing onwards, they shot out +from among the tents and found their own comrades retreating for the +mountains at no very great distance from them. Another five minutes of +wild galloping over the plain, and they were all back in their gorge, +while their pursuers fell back before the rolling of drums and blare of +trumpets, which seemed to proclaim that the whole army of the prince was +about to emerge from the mountain passes. + +"By my soul! Nigel," cried Sir Oliver, waving a great boiled ham over +his head, "I have come by something which I may eat with my truffles! I +had a hard fight for it, for there were three of them with their mouths +open and the knives in their hands, all sitting agape round the table, +when I rushed in upon them. How say you, Sir William, will you not try +the smack of the famed Spanish swine, though we have but the brook water +to wash it down?" + +"Later, Sir Oliver," answered the old soldier, wiping his grimed face. +"We must further into the mountains ere we be in safety. But what have +we here, Nigel?" + +"It is a prisoner whom I have taken, and in sooth, as he came from the +royal tent and wears the royal arms upon his jupon, I trust that he is +the King of Spain." + +"The King of Spain!" cried the companions, crowding round in amazement. + +"Nay, Sir Nigel," said Felton, peering at the prisoner through the +uncertain light, "I have twice seen Henry of Transtamare, and certes +this man in no way resembles him." + +"Then, by the light of heaven! I will ride back for him," cried Sir +Nigel. + +"Nay, nay, the camp is in arms, and it would be rank madness. Who are +you, fellow?" he added in Spanish, "and how is it that you dare to wear +the arms of Castile?" + +The prisoner was bent recovering the consciousness which had been +squeezed from him by the grip of Hordle John. "If it please you," he +answered, "I and nine others are the body-squires of the king, and must +ever wear his arms, so as to shield him from even such perils as have +threatened him this night. The king is at the tent of the brave Du +Guesclin, where he will sup to night. But I am a caballero of Aragon, +Don Sancho Penelosa, and, though I be no king, I am yet ready to pay a +fitting price for my ransom." + +"By Saint Paul! I will not touch your gold," cried Sir Nigel. "Go back +to your master and give him greeting from Sir Nigel Loring of Twynham +Castle, telling him that I had hoped to make his better acquaintance +this night, and that, if I have disordered his tent, it was but in my +eagerness to know so famed and courteous a knight. Spur on, comrades! +for we must cover many a league ere we can venture to light fire or to +loosen girth. I had hoped to ride without this patch to-night, but it +seems that I must carry it yet a little longer." + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. HOW SIR NIGEL TOOK THE PATCH FROM HIS EYE. + + +It was a cold, bleak morning in the beginning of March, and the mist was +drifting in dense rolling clouds through the passes of the Cantabrian +mountains. The Company, who had passed the night in a sheltered gully, +were already astir, some crowding round the blazing fires and others +romping or leaping over each other's backs for their limbs were chilled +and the air biting. Here and there, through the dense haze which +surrounded them, there loomed out huge pinnacles and jutting boulders +of rock: while high above the sea of vapor there towered up one gigantic +peak, with the pink glow of the early sunshine upon its snow-capped +head. The ground was wet, the rocks dripping, the grass and ever-greens +sparkling with beads of moisture; yet the camp was loud with laughter +and merriment, for a messenger had ridden in from the prince with words +of heart-stirring praise for what they had done, and with orders that +they should still abide in the forefront of the army. + +Round one of the fires were clustered four or five of the leading men +of the archers, cleaning the rust from their weapons, and glancing +impatiently from time to time at a great pot which smoked over the +blaze. There was Aylward squatting cross-legged in his shirt, while he +scrubbed away at his chain-mail brigandine, whistling loudly the while. +On one side of him sat old Johnston, who was busy in trimming the +feathers of some arrows to his liking; and on the other Hordle John, who +lay with his great limbs all asprawl, and his headpiece balanced upon +his uplifted foot. Black Simon of Norwich crouched amid the rocks, +crooning an Eastland ballad to himself, while he whetted his sword upon +a flat stone which lay across his knees; while beside him sat Alleyne +Edricson, and Norbury, the silent squire of Sir Oliver, holding out +their chilled hands towards the crackling faggots. + +"Cast on another culpon, John, and stir the broth with thy +sword-sheath," growled Johnston, looking anxiously for the twentieth +time at the reeking pot. + +"By my hilt!" cried Aylward, "now that John hath come by this great +ransom, he will scarce abide the fare of poor archer lads. How say you, +camarade? When you see Hordle once more, there will be no penny ale and +fat bacon, but Gascon wines and baked meats every day of the seven." + +"I know not about that," said John, kicking his helmet up into the air +and catching it in his hand. "I do but know that whether the broth be +ready or no, I am about to dip this into it." + +"It simmers and it boils," cried Johnston, pushing his hard-lined face +through the smoke. In an instant the pot had been plucked from the +blaze, and its contents had been scooped up in half a dozen steel +head-pieces, which were balanced betwixt their owners' knees, while, +with spoon and gobbet of bread, they devoured their morning meal. + +"It is ill weather for bows," remarked John at last, when, with a long +sigh, he drained the last drop from his helmet. "My strings are as limp +as a cow's tail this morning." + +"You should rub them with water glue," quoth Johnston. "You remember, +Samkin, that it was wetter than this on the morning of Crecy, and yet I +cannot call to mind that there was aught amiss with our strings." + +"It is in my thoughts," said Black Simon, still pensively grinding his +sword, "that we may have need of your strings ere sundown. I dreamed of +the red cow last night." + +"And what is this red cow, Simon?" asked Alleyne. + +"I know not, young sir; but I can only say that on the eve of Cadsand, +and on the eve of Crecy, and on the eve of Nogent, I dreamed of a red +cow; and now the dream has come upon me again, so I am now setting a +very keen edge to my blade." + +"Well said, old war-dog!" cried Aylward. "By my hilt! I pray that your +dream may come true, for the prince hath not set us out here to drink +broth or to gather whortle-berries. One more fight, and I am ready to +hang up my bow, marry a wife, and take to the fire corner. But how now, +Robin? Whom is it that you seek?" + +"The Lord Loring craves your attendance in his tent," said a young +archer to Alleyne. + +The squire rose and proceeded to the pavilion, where he found the knight +seated upon a cushion, with his legs crossed in front of him and a broad +ribbon of parchment laid across his knees, over which he was poring with +frowning brows and pursed lips. + +"It came this morning by the prince's messenger," said he, "and was +brought from England by Sir John Fallislee, who is new come from Sussex. +What make you of this upon the outer side?" + +"It is fairly and clearly written," Alleyne answered, "and it signifies +To Sir Nigel Loring, Knight Constable of Twynham Castle, by the hand of +Christopher, the servant of God at the Priory of Christchurch." + +"So I read it," said Sir Nigel. "Now I pray you to read what is set +forth within." + +Alleyne turned to the letter, and, as his eyes rested upon it, his face +turned pale and a cry of surprise and grief burst from his lips. + +"What then?" asked the knight, peering up at him anxiously. "There is +nought amiss with the Lady Mary or with the Lady Maude?" + +"It is my brother--my poor unhappy brother!" cried Alleyne, with his +hand to his brow. "He is dead." + +"By Saint Paul! I have never heard that he had shown so much love for +you that you should mourn him so." + +"Yet he was my brother--the only kith or kin that I had upon earth. +Mayhap he had cause to be bitter against me, for his land was given to +the abbey for my upbringing. Alas! alas! and I raised my staff against +him when last we met! He has been slain--and slain, I fear, amidst crime +and violence." + +"Ha!" said Sir Nigel. "Read on, I pray you." + +"'God be with thee, my honored lord, and have thee in his holy keeping. +The Lady Loring hath asked me to set down in writing what hath befallen +at Twynham, and all that concerns the death of thy ill neighbor the +Socman of Minstead. For when ye had left us, this evil man gathered +around him all outlaws, villeins, and masterless men, until they were +come to such a force that they slew and scattered the king's men who +went against them. Then, coming forth from the woods, they laid siege to +thy castle, and for two days they girt us in and shot hard against us, +with such numbers as were a marvel to see. Yet the Lady Loring held the +place stoutly, and on the second day the Socman was slain--by his own +men, as some think--so that we were delivered from their hands; for +which praise be to all the saints, and more especially to the holy +Anselm, upon whose feast it came to pass. The Lady Loring, and the Lady +Maude, thy fair daughter, are in good health; and so also am I, save for +an imposthume of the toe-joint, which hath been sent me for my sins. May +all the saints preserve thee!'" + +"It was the vision of the Lady Tiphaine," said Sir Nigel, after a pause. +"Marked you not how she said that the leader was one with a yellow +beard, and how he fell before the gate. But how came it, Alleyne, that +this woman, to whom all things are as crystal, and who hath not said one +word which has not come to pass, was yet so led astray as to say that +your thoughts turned to Twynham Castle even more than my own?" + +"My fair lord," said Alleyne, with a flush on his weather-stained +cheeks, "the Lady Tiphaine may have spoken sooth when she said it; for +Twynham Castle is in my heart by day and in my dreams by night." + +"Ha!" cried Sir Nigel, with a sidelong glance. + +"Yes, my fair lord; for indeed I love your daughter, the Lady Maude; +and, unworthy as I am, I would give my heart's blood to serve her." + +"By St. Paul! Edricson," said the knight coldly, arching his eyebrows, +"you aim high in this matter. Our blood is very old." + +"And mine also is very old," answered the squire. + +"And the Lady Maude is our single child. All our name and lands centre +upon her." + +"Alas! that I should say it, but I also am now the only Edricson." + +"And why have I not heard this from you before, Alleyne? In sooth, I +think that you have used me ill." + +"Nay, my fair lord, say not so; for I know not whether your daughter +loves me, and there is no pledge between us." + +Sir Nigel pondered for a few moments, and then burst out a-laughing. "By +St. Paul!" said he, "I know not why I should mix in the matter; for I +have ever found that the Lady Maud was very well able to +look to her own affairs. Since first she could stamp her little foot, +she hath ever been able to get that for which she craved; and if she set +her heart on thee, Alleyne, and thou on her, I do not think that this +Spanish king, with his three-score thousand men, could hold you apart. +Yet this I will say, that I would see you a full knight ere you go to my +daughter with words of love. I have ever said that a brave lance should +wed her; and, by my soul! Edricson, if God spare you, I think that you +will acquit yourself well. But enough of such trifles, for we have our +work before us, and it will be time to speak of this matter when we see +the white cliffs of England once more. Go to Sir William Felton, I pray +you, and ask him to come hither, for it is time that we were marching. +There is no pass at the further end of the valley, and it is a perilous +place should an enemy come upon us." + +Alleyne delivered his message, and then wandered forth from the camp, +for his mind was all in a whirl with this unexpected news, and with his +talk with Sir Nigel. Sitting upon a rock, with his burning brow resting +upon his hands, he thought of his brother, of their quarrel, of the Lady +Maude in her bedraggled riding-dress, of the gray old castle, of the +proud pale face in the armory, and of the last fiery words with which +she had sped him on his way. Then he was but a penniless, monk-bred lad, +unknown and unfriended. Now he was himself Socman of Minstead, the head +of an old stock, and the lord of an estate which, if reduced from its +former size, was still ample to preserve the dignity of his family. +Further, he had become a man of experience, was counted brave among +brave men, had won the esteem and confidence of her father, and, above +all, had been listened to by him when he told him the secret of his +love. As to the gaining of knighthood, in such stirring times it was no +great matter for a brave squire of gentle birth to aspire to that honor. +He would leave his bones among these Spanish ravines, or he would do +some deed which would call the eyes of men upon him. + +Alleyne was still seated on the rock, his griefs and his joys drifting +swiftly over his mind like the shadow of clouds upon a sunlit meadow, +when of a sudden he became conscious of a low, deep sound which came +booming up to him through the fog. Close behind him he could hear the +murmur of the bowmen, the occasional bursts of hoarse laughter, and the +champing and stamping of their horses. Behind it all, however, came that +low-pitched, deep-toned hum, which seemed to come from every quarter and +to fill the whole air. In the old monastic days he remembered to +have heard such a sound when he had walked out one windy night at +Bucklershard, and had listened to the long waves breaking upon the +shingly shore. Here, however, was neither wind nor sea, and yet the dull +murmur rose ever louder and stronger out of the heart of the rolling sea +of vapor. He turned and ran to the camp, shouting an alarm at the top of +his voice. + +It was but a hundred paces, and yet ere he had crossed it every bowman +was ready at his horse's head, and the group of knights were out and +listening intently to the ominous sound. + +"It is a great body of horse," said Sir William Felton, "and they are +riding very swiftly hitherwards." + +"Yet they must be from the prince's army," remarked Sir Richard Causton, +"for they come from the north." + +"Nay," said the Earl of Angus, "it is not so certain; for the peasant +with whom we spoke last night said that it was rumored that Don Tello, +the Spanish king's brother, had ridden with six thousand chosen men to +beat up the prince's camp. It may be that on their backward road they +have come this way." + +"By St. Paul!" cried Sir Nigel, "I think that it is even as you say, for +that same peasant had a sour face and a shifting eye, as one who bore us +little good will. I doubt not that he has brought these cavaliers upon +us." + +"But the mist covers us," said Sir Simon Burley. "We have yet time to +ride through the further end of the pass." + +"Were we a troop of mountain goats we might do so," answered Sir William +Felton, "but it is not to be passed by a company of horsemen. If these +be indeed Don Tello and his men, then we must bide where we are, and do +what we can to make them rue the day that they found us in their path." + +"Well spoken, William!" cried Sir Nigel, in high delight. "If there be +so many as has been said, then there will be much honor to be gained +from them and every hope of advancement. But the sound has ceased, and I +fear that they have gone some other way." + +"Or mayhap they have come to the mouth of the gorge, and are marshalling +their ranks. Hush and hearken! for they are no great way from us." + +The Company stood peering into the dense fog-wreath, amidst a silence so +profound that the dripping of the water from the rocks and the breathing +of the horses grew loud upon the ear. Suddenly from out the sea of mist +came the shrill sound of a neigh, followed by a long blast upon a bugle. + +"It is a Spanish call, my fair lord," said Black Simon. "It is used by +their prickers and huntsmen when the beast hath not fled, but is still +in its lair." + +"By my faith!" said Sir Nigel, smiling, "if they are in a humor for +venerie we may promise them some sport ere they sound the mort over us. +But there is a hill in the centre of the gorge on which we might take +our stand." + +"I marked it yester-night," said Felton, "and no better spot could be +found for our purpose, for it is very steep at the back. It is but a +bow-shot to the left, and, indeed, I can see the shadow of it." + +The whole Company, leading their horses, passed across to the small hill +which loomed in front of them out of the mist. It was indeed admirably +designed for defence, for it sloped down in front, all jagged and +boulder-strewn, while it fell away in a sheer cliff of a hundred feet or +more. On the summit was a small uneven plateau, with a stretch across of +a hundred paces, and a depth of half as much again. + +"Unloose the horses!" said Sir Nigel. "We have no space for them, and if +we hold our own we shall have horses and to spare when this day's work +is done. Nay, keep yours, my fair sirs, for we may have work for them. +Aylward, Johnston, let your men form a harrow on either side of the +ridge. Sir Oliver and you, my Lord Angus, I give you the right wing, and +the left to you, Sir Simon, and to you, Sir Richard Causton. I and Sir +William Felton will hold the centre with our men-at-arms. Now order +the ranks, and fling wide the banners, for our souls are God's and our +bodies the king's, and our swords for Saint George and for England!" + +Sir Nigel had scarcely spoken when the mist seemed to thin in the +valley, and to shred away into long ragged clouds which trailed from +the edges of the cliffs. The gorge in which they had camped was a mere +wedge-shaped cleft among the hills, three-quarters of a mile deep, with +the small rugged rising upon which they stood at the further end, and +the brown crags walling it in on three sides. As the mist parted, and +the sun broke through, it gleamed and shimmered with dazzling brightness +upon the armor and headpieces of a vast body of horsemen who stretched +across the barranca from one cliff to the other, and extended backwards +until their rear guard were far out upon the plain beyond. Line after +line, and rank after rank, they choked the neck of the valley with +a long vista of tossing pennons, twinkling lances, waving plumes and +streaming banderoles, while the curvets and gambades of the chargers +lent a constant motion and shimmer to the glittering, many-colored mass. +A yell of exultation, and a forest of waving steel through the length +and breadth of their column, announced that they could at last see their +entrapped enemies, while the swelling notes of a hundred bugles and +drums, mixed with the clash of Moorish cymbals, broke forth into a proud +peal of martial triumph. Strange it was to these gallant and sparkling +cavaliers of Spain to look upon this handful of men upon the hill, the +thin lines of bowmen, the knots of knights and men-at-arms with armor +rusted and discolored from long service, and to learn that these were +indeed the soldiers whose fame and prowess had been the camp-fire talk +of every army in Christendom. Very still and silent they stood, leaning +upon their bows, while their leaders took counsel together in front of +them. No clang of bugle rose from their stern ranks, but in the centre +waved the leopards of England, on the right the ensign of their Company +with the roses of Loring, and on the left, over three score of Welsh +bowmen, there floated the red banner of Merlin with the boars'-heads of +the Buttesthorns. Gravely and sedately they stood beneath the morning +sun waiting for the onslaught of their foemen. + +"By Saint Paul!" said Sir Nigel, gazing with puckered eye down the +valley, "there appear to be some very worthy people among them. What is +this golden banner which waves upon the left?" + +"It is the ensign of the Knights of Calatrava," answered Felton. + +"And the other upon the right?" + +"It marks the Knights of Santiago, and I see by his flag that their +grand-master rides at their head. There too is the banner of Castile +amid yonder sparkling squadron which heads the main battle. There are +six thousand men-at-arms with ten squadrons of slingers as far as I may +judge their numbers." + +"There are Frenchmen among them, my fair lord," remarked Black Simon. +"I can see the pennons of De Couvette, De Brieux, Saint Pol, and many +others who struck in against us for Charles of Blois." + +"You are right," said Sir William, "for I can also see them. There is +much Spanish blazonry also, if I could but read it. Don Diego, you know +the arms of your own land. Who are they who have done us this honor?" + +The Spanish prisoner looked with exultant eyes upon the deep and serried +ranks of his countrymen. + +"By Saint James!" said he, "if ye fall this day ye fall by no mean +hands, for the flower of the knighthood of Castile ride under the banner +of Don Tello, with the chivalry of Asturias, Toledo, Leon, Cordova, +Galicia, and Seville. I see the guidons of Albornez, Cacorla, Rodriguez, +Tavora, with the two great orders, and the knights of France and of +Aragon. If you will take my rede you will come to a composition with +them, for they will give you such terms as you have given me." + +"Nay, by Saint Paul! it were pity if so many brave men were drawn +together, and no little deed of arms to come of it. Ha! William, they +advance upon us; and, by my soul! it is a sight that is worth coming +over the seas to see." + +As he spoke, the two wings of the Spanish host, consisting of the +Knights of Calatrava on the one side and of Santiago upon the other, +came swooping swiftly down the valley, while the main body followed more +slowly behind. Five hundred paces from the English the two great bodies +of horse crossed each other, and, sweeping round in a curve, retired +in feigned confusion towards their centre. Often in bygone wars had the +Moors tempted the hot-blooded Spaniards from their places of strength by +such pretended flights, but there were men upon the hill to whom every +ruse and trick of war were as their daily trade and practice. Again and +even nearer came the rallying Spaniards, and again with cry of fear +and stooping bodies they swerved off to right and left, but the English +still stood stolid and observant among their rocks. The vanguard halted +a long bow shot from the hill, and with waving spears and vaunting +shouts challenged their enemies to come forth, while two cavaliers, +pricking forward from the glittering ranks, walked their horses slowly +between the two arrays with targets braced and lances in rest like the +challengers in a tourney. + +"By Saint Paul!" cried Sir Nigel, with his one eye glowing like an +ember, "these appear to be two very worthy and debonair gentlemen. I do +not call to mind when I have seen any people who seemed of so great a +heart and so high of enterprise. We have our horses, Sir William: shall +we not relieve them of any vow which they may have upon their souls?" + +Felton's reply was to bound upon his charger, and to urge it down the +slope, while Sir Nigel followed not three spears'-lengths behind him. +It was a rugged course, rocky and uneven, yet the two knights, choosing +their men, dashed onwards at the top of their speed, while the gallant +Spaniards flew as swiftly to meet them. The one to whom Felton found +himself opposed was a tall stripling with a stag's head upon his shield, +while Sir Nigel's man was broad and squat with plain steel harness, and +a pink and white torse bound round his helmet. The first struck Felton +on the target with such force as to split it from side to side, but Sir +William's lance crashed through the camail which shielded the Spaniard's +throat, and he fell, screaming hoarsely, to the ground. Carried away by +the heat and madness of fight, the English knight never drew rein, but +charged straight on into the array of the knights of Calatrava. Long +time the silent ranks upon the hill could see a swirl and eddy deep down +in the heart of the Spanish column, with a circle of rearing chargers +and flashing blades. Here and there tossed the white plume of the +English helmet, rising and falling like the foam upon a wave, with the +fierce gleam and sparkle ever circling round it until at last it had +sunk from view, and another brave man had turned from war to peace. + +Sir Nigel, meanwhile, had found a foeman worthy of his steel for his +opponent was none other than Sebastian Gomez, the picked lance of +the monkish Knights of Santiago, who had won fame in a hundred bloody +combats with the Moors of Andalusia. So fierce was their meeting that +their spears shivered up to the very grasp, and the horses reared +backwards until it seemed that they must crash down upon their riders. +Yet with consummate horsemanship they both swung round in a long curvet, +and then plucking out their swords they lashed at each other like two +lusty smiths hammering upon an anvil. The chargers spun round each +other, biting and striking, while the two blades wheeled and whizzed and +circled in gleams of dazzling light. Cut, parry, and thrust followed +so swiftly upon each other that the eye could not follow them, until at +last coming thigh to thigh, they cast their arms around each other +and rolled off their saddles to the ground. The heavier Spaniard threw +himself upon his enemy, and pinning him down beneath him raised his +sword to slay him, while a shout of triumph rose from the ranks of his +countrymen. But the fatal blow never fell, for even as his arm quivered +before descending, the Spaniard gave a shudder, and stiffening himself +rolled heavily over upon his side, with the blood gushing from his +armpit and from the slit of his vizor. Sir Nigel sprang to his feet with +his bloody dagger in his left hand and gazed down upon his adversary, +but that fatal and sudden stab in the vital spot, which the Spaniard had +exposed by raising his arm, had proved instantly mortal. The Englishman +leaped upon his horse and made for the hill, at the very instant that a +yell of rage from a thousand voices and the clang of a score of bugles +announced the Spanish onset. + +But the islanders were ready and eager for the encounter. With feet +firmly planted, their sleeves rolled back to give free play to their +muscles, their long yellow bow-staves in their left hands, and their +quivers slung to the front, they had waited in the four-deep harrow +formation which gave strength to their array, and yet permitted every +man to draw his arrow freely without harm to those in front. Aylward and +Johnston had been engaged in throwing light tufts of grass into the air +to gauge the wind force, and a hoarse whisper passed down the ranks from +the file-leaders to the men, with scraps of advice and admonition. + +"Do not shoot outside the fifteen-score paces," cried Johnston. "We may +need all our shafts ere we have done with them." + +"Better to overshoot than to undershoot," added Aylward. "Better to +strike the rear guard than to feather a shaft in the earth." + +"Loose quick and sharp when they come," added another. "Let it be the +eye to the string, the string to the shaft, and the shaft to the mark. +By Our Lady! their banners advance, and we must hold our ground now if +ever we are to see Southampton Water again." + +Alleyne, standing with his sword drawn amidst the archers, saw a long +toss and heave of the glittering squadrons. Then the front ranks began +to surge slowly forward, to trot, to canter, to gallop, and in an +instant the whole vast array was hurtling onward, line after line, the +air full of the thunder of their cries, the ground shaking with the beat +of their hoofs, the valley choked with the rushing torrent of steel, +topped by the waving plumes, the slanting spears and the fluttering +banderoles. On they swept over the level and up to the slope, ere they +met the blinding storm of the English arrows. Down went the whole ranks +in a whirl of mad confusion, horses plunging and kicking, bewildered men +falling, rising, staggering on or back, while ever new lines of horsemen +came spurring through the gaps and urged their chargers up the fatal +slope. All around him Alleyne could hear the stern, short orders of the +master-bowmen, while the air was filled with the keen twanging of the +strings and the swish and patter of the shafts. Right across the foot +of the hill there had sprung up a long wall of struggling horses and +stricken men, which ever grew and heightened as fresh squadrons poured +on the attack. One young knight on a gray jennet leaped over his fallen +comrades and galloped swiftly up the hill, shrieking loudly upon Saint +James, ere he fell within a spear-length of the English line, with the +feathers of arrows thrusting out from every crevice and joint of his +armor. So for five long minutes the gallant horsemen of Spain and of +France strove ever and again to force a passage, until the wailing +note of a bugle called them back, and they rode slowly out of bow-shot, +leaving their best and their bravest in the ghastly, blood-mottled heap +behind them. + +But there was little rest for the victors. Whilst the knights had +charged them in front the slingers had crept round upon either flank and +had gained a footing upon the cliffs and behind the outlying rocks. +A storm of stones broke suddenly upon the defenders, who, drawn up in +lines upon the exposed summit, offered a fair mark to their hidden +foes. Johnston, the old archer, was struck upon the temple and fell dead +without a groan, while fifteen of his bowmen and six of the men-at-arms +were struck down at the same moment. The others lay on their faces to +avoid the deadly hail, while at each side of the plateau a fringe of +bowmen exchanged shots with the slingers and crossbowmen among the +rocks, aiming mainly at those who had swarmed up the cliffs, and +bursting into laughter and cheers when a well-aimed shaft brought one of +their opponents toppling down from his lofty perch. + +"I think, Nigel," said Sir Oliver, striding across to the little knight, +"that we should all acquit ourselves better had we our none-meat, for +the sun is high in the heaven." + +"By Saint Paul!" quoth Sir Nigel, plucking the patch from his eye, +"I think that I am now clear of my vow, for this Spanish knight was a +person from whom much honor might be won. Indeed, he was a very worthy +gentleman, of good courage, and great hardiness, and it grieves me that +he should have come by such a hurt. As to what you say of food, Oliver, +it is not to be thought of, for we have nothing with us upon the hill." + +"Nigel!" cried Sir Simon Burley, hurrying up with consternation upon his +face, "Aylward tells me that there are not ten-score arrows left in all +their sheaves. See! they are springing from their horses, and cutting +their sollerets that they may rush upon us. Might we not even now make a +retreat?" + +"My soul will retreat from my body first!" cried the little knight. +"Here I am, and here I bide, while God gives me strength to lift a +sword." + +"And so say I!" shouted Sir Oliver, throwing his mace high into the air +and catching it again by the handle. + +"To your arms, men!" roared Sir Nigel. "Shoot while you may, and then +out sword, and let us live or die together!" + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII. HOW THE WHITE COMPANY CAME TO BE DISBANDED. + + +Then up rose from the hill in the rugged Cantabrian valley a sound such +as had not been heard in those parts before, nor was again, until +the streams which rippled amid the rocks had been frozen by over four +hundred winters and thawed by as many returning springs. Deep and full +and strong it thundered down the ravine, the fierce battle-call of a +warrior race, the last stern welcome to whoso should join with them in +that world-old game where the stake is death. Thrice it swelled forth +and thrice it sank away, echoing and reverberating amidst the crags. +Then, with set faces, the Company rose up among the storm of stones, +and looked down upon the thousands who sped swiftly up the slope against +them. Horse and spear had been set aside, but on foot, with sword and +battle-axe, their broad shields slung in front of them, the chivalry of +Spain rushed to the attack. + +And now arose a struggle so fell, so long, so evenly sustained, +that even now the memory of it is handed down amongst the Cantabrian +mountaineers and the ill-omened knoll is still pointed out by fathers +to their children as the "Altura de los Inglesos," where the men from +across the sea fought the great fight with the knights of the south. The +last arrow was quickly shot, nor could the slingers hurl their stones, +so close were friend and foe. From side to side stretched the thin line +of the English, lightly armed and quick-footed, while against it stormed +and raged the pressing throng of fiery Spaniards and of gallant Bretons. +The clink of crossing sword-blades, the dull thudding of heavy blows, +the panting and gasping of weary and wounded men, all rose together in +a wild, long-drawn note, which swelled upwards to the ears of the +wondering peasants who looked down from the edges of the cliffs upon the +swaying turmoil of the battle beneath them. Back and forward reeled the +leopard banner, now borne up the slope by the rush and weight of the +onslaught, now pushing downwards again as Sir Nigel, Burley, and Black +Simon with their veteran men-at arms, flung themselves madly into the +fray. Alleyne, at his lord's right hand, found himself swept hither and +thither in the desperate struggle, exchanging savage thrusts one instant +with a Spanish cavalier, and the next torn away by the whirl of men and +dashed up against some new antagonist. To the right Sir Oliver, Aylward, +Hordle John, and the bowmen of the Company fought furiously against the +monkish Knights of Santiago, who were led up the hill by their prior--a +great, deep-chested man, who wore a brown monastic habit over his suit +of mail. Three archers he slew in three giant strokes, but Sir Oliver +flung his arms round him, and the two, staggering and straining, reeled +backwards and fell, locked in each other's grasp, over the edge of the +steep cliff which flanked the hill. In vain his knights stormed and +raved against the thin line which barred their path: the sword of +Aylward and the great axe of John gleamed in the forefront of the battle +and huge jagged pieces of rock, hurled by the strong arms of the bowmen, +crashed and hurtled amid their ranks. Slowly they gave back down the +hill, the archers still hanging upon their skirts, with a long litter of +writhing and twisted figures to mark the course which they had taken. At +the same instant the Welshmen upon the left, led on by the Scotch earl, +had charged out from among the rocks which sheltered them, and by the +fury of their outfall had driven the Spaniards in front of them in +headlong flight down the hill. In the centre only things seemed to be +going ill with the defenders. Black Simon was down--dying, as he would +wish to have died, like a grim old wolf in its lair with a ring of his +slain around him. Twice Sir Nigel had been overborne, and twice Alleyne +had fought over him until he had staggered to his feet once more. +Burley lay senseless, stunned by a blow from a mace, and half of the +men-at-arms lay littered upon the ground around him. Sir Nigel's shield +was broken, his crest shorn, his armor cut and smashed, and the vizor +torn from his helmet; yet he sprang hither and thither with light +foot and ready hand, engaging two Bretons and a Spaniard at the same +instant--thrusting, stooping, dashing in, springing out--while Alleyne +still fought by his side, stemming with a handful of men the fierce tide +which surged up against them. Yet it would have fared ill with them +had not the archers from either side closed in upon the flanks of the +attackers, and pressed them very slowly and foot by foot down the long +slope, until they were on the plain once more, where their fellows were +already rallying for a fresh assault. + +But terrible indeed was the cost at which the last had been repelled. +Of the three hundred and seventy men who had held the crest, one hundred +and seventy-two were left standing, many of whom were sorely wounded and +weak from loss of blood. Sir Oliver Buttesthorn, Sir Richard Causton, +Sir Simon Burley, Black Simon, Johnston, a hundred and fifty archers, +and forty-seven men-at-arms had fallen, while the pitiless hail of +stones was already whizzing and piping once more about their ears, +threatening every instant to further reduce their numbers. + +Sir Nigel looked about him at his shattered ranks, and his face flushed +with a soldier's pride. + +"By St. Paul!" he cried, "I have fought in many a little bickering, but +never one that I would be more loth to have missed than this. But you +are wounded, Alleyne?" + +"It is nought," answered his squire, stanching the blood which dripped +from a sword-cut across his forehead. + +"These gentlemen of Spain seem to be most courteous and worthy people. I +see that they are already forming to continue this debate with us. Form +up the bowmen two deep instead of four. By my faith! some very brave men +have gone from among us. Aylward, you are a trusty soldier, for all +that your shoulder has never felt accolade, nor your heels worn the gold +spurs. Do you take charge of the right; I will hold the centre, and you, +my Lord of Angus, the left." + +"Ho! for Sir Samkin Aylward!" cried a rough voice among the archers, and +a roar of laughter greeted their new leader. + +"By my hilt!" said the old bowman, "I never thought to lead a wing in a +stricken field. Stand close, camarades, for, by these finger-bones! we +must play the man this day." + +"Come hither, Alleyne," said Sir Nigel, walking back to the edge of the +cliff which formed the rear of their position. "And you, Norbury," he +continued, beckoning to the squire of Sir Oliver, "do you also come +here." + +The two squires hurried across to him, and the three stood looking down +into the rocky ravine which lay a hundred and fifty feet beneath them. + +"The prince must hear of how things are with us," said the knight. +"Another onfall we may withstand, but they are many and we are few, so +that the time must come when we can no longer form line across the hill. +Yet if help were brought us we might hold the crest until it comes. See +yonder horses which stray among the rocks beneath us?" + +"I see them, my fair lord." + +"And see yonder path which winds along the hill upon the further end of +the valley?" + +"I see it." + +"Were you on those horses, and riding up yonder track, steep and rough +as it is, I think that ye might gain the valley beyond. Then on to the +prince, and tell him how we fare." + +"But, my fair lord, how can we hope to reach the horses?" asked Norbury. + +"Ye cannot go round to them, for they would be upon ye ere ye could come +to them. Think ye that ye have heart enough to clamber down this cliff?" + +"Had we but a rope." + +"There is one here. It is but one hundred feet long, and for the rest ye +must trust to God and to your fingers. Can you try it, Alleyne?" + +"With all my heart, my dear lord, but how can I leave you in such a +strait?" + +"Nay, it is to serve me that ye go. And you, Norbury?" + +The silent squire said nothing, but he took up the rope, and, having +examined it, he tied one end firmly round a projecting rock. Then he +cast off his breast-plate, thigh pieces, and greaves, while Alleyne +followed his example. + +"Tell Chandos, or Calverley, or Knolles, should the prince have gone +forward," cried Sir Nigel. "Now may God speed ye, for ye are brave and +worthy men." + +It was, indeed, a task which might make the heart of the bravest sink +within him. The thin cord dangling down the face of the brown cliff +seemed from above to reach little more than half-way down it. Beyond +stretched the rugged rock, wet and shining, with a green tuft here and +there thrusting out from it, but little sign of ridge or foothold. Far +below the jagged points of the boulders bristled up, dark and menacing. +Norbury tugged thrice with all his strength upon the cord, and then +lowered himself over the edge, while a hundred anxious faces peered over +at him as he slowly clambered downwards to the end of the rope. Twice he +stretched out his foot, and twice he failed to reach the point at which +he aimed, but even as he swung himself for a third effort a stone from +a sling buzzed like a wasp from amid the rocks and struck him full upon +the side of his head. His grasp relaxed, his feet slipped, and in +an instant he was a crushed and mangled corpse upon the sharp ridges +beneath him. + +"If I have no better fortune," said Alleyne, leading Sir Nigel aside. "I +pray you, my dear lord, that you will give my humble service to the Lady +Maude, and say to her that I was ever her true servant and most unworthy +cavalier." + +The old knight said no word, but he put a hand on either shoulder, and +kissed his squire, with the tears shining in his eyes. Alleyne sprang to +the rope, and sliding swiftly down, soon found himself at its extremity. +From above it seemed as though rope and cliff were well-nigh touching, +but now, when swinging a hundred feet down, the squire found that he +could scarce reach the face of the rock with his foot, and that it was +as smooth as glass, with no resting-place where a mouse could stand. +Some three feet lower, however, his eye lit upon a long jagged crack +which slanted downwards, and this he must reach if he would save not +only his own poor life, but that of the eight-score men above him. Yet +it were madness to spring for that narrow slit with nought but the wet, +smooth rock to cling to. He swung for a moment, full of thought, and +even as he hung there another of the hellish stones sang through his +curls, and struck a chip from the face of the cliff. Up he clambered +a few feet, drew up the loose end after him, unslung his belt, held on +with knee and with elbow while he spliced the long, tough leathern belt +to the end of the cord: then lowering himself as far as he could go, he +swung backwards and forwards until his hand reached the crack, when he +left the rope and clung to the face of the cliff. Another stone struck +him on the side, and he heard a sound like a breaking stick, with a keen +stabbing pain which shot through his chest. Yet it was no time now to +think of pain or ache. There was his lord and his eight-score comrades, +and they must be plucked from the jaws of death. On he clambered, with +his hand shuffling down the long sloping crack, sometimes bearing all +his weight upon his arms, at others finding some small shelf or tuft +on which to rest his foot. Would he never pass over that fifty feet? He +dared not look down and could but grope slowly onwards, his face to +the cliff, his fingers clutching, his feet scraping and feeling for a +support. Every vein and crack and mottling of that face of rock remained +forever stamped upon his memory. At last, however, his foot came upon +a broad resting-place and he ventured to cast a glance downwards. Thank +God! he had reached the highest of those fatal pinnacles upon which his +comrade had fallen. Quickly now he sprang from rock to rock until his +feet were on the ground, and he had his hand stretched out for the +horse's rein, when a sling-stone struck him on the head, and he dropped +senseless upon the ground. + +An evil blow it was for Alleyne, but a worse one still for him who +struck it. The Spanish slinger, seeing the youth lie slain, and judging +from his dress that he was no common man, rushed forward to plunder him, +knowing well that the bowmen above him had expended their last shaft. +He was still three paces, however, from his victim's side when John +upon the cliff above plucked up a huge boulder, and, poising it for +an instant, dropped it with fatal aim upon the slinger beneath him. It +struck upon his shoulder, and hurled him, crushed and screaming, to the +ground, while Alleyne, recalled to his senses by these shrill cries in +his very ear, staggered on to his feet, and gazed wildly about him. His +eyes fell upon the horses, grazing upon the scanty pasture, and in an +instant all had come back to him--his mission, his comrades, the need +for haste. He was dizzy, sick, faint, but he must not die, and he must +not tarry, for his life meant many lives that day. In an instant he +was in his saddle and spurring down the valley. Loud rang the swift +charger's hoofs over rock and reef, while the fire flew from the stroke +of iron, and the loose stones showered up behind him. But his head was +whirling round, the blood was gushing from his brow, his temple, his +mouth. Ever keener and sharper was the deadly pain which shot like a +red-hot arrow through his side. He felt that his eye was glazing, his +senses slipping from him, his grasp upon the reins relaxing. Then with +one mighty effort, he called up all his strength for a single minute. +Stooping down, he loosened the stirrup-straps, bound his knees tightly +to his saddle-flaps, twisted his hands in the bridle, and then, putting +the gallant horse's head for the mountain path, he dashed the spurs +in and fell forward fainting with his face buried in the coarse, black +mane. + +Little could he ever remember of that wild ride. Half conscious, but +ever with the one thought beating in his mind, he goaded the horse +onwards, rushing swiftly down steep ravines over huge boulders, along +the edges of black abysses. Dim memories he had of beetling cliffs, of a +group of huts with wondering faces at the doors, of foaming, clattering +water, and of a bristle of mountain beeches. Once, ere he had ridden +far, he heard behind him three deep, sullen shouts, which told him that +his comrades had set their faces to the foe once more. Then all was +blank, until he woke to find kindly blue English eyes peering down upon +him and to hear the blessed sound of his country's speech. They were but +a foraging party--a hundred archers and as many men-at-arms--but their +leader was Sir Hugh Calverley, and he was not a man to bide idle when +good blows were to be had not three leagues from him. A scout was sent +flying with a message to the camp, and Sir Hugh, with his two hundred +men, thundered off to the rescue. With them went Alleyne, still bound to +his saddle, still dripping with blood, and swooning and recovering, and +swooning once again. On they rode, and on, until, at last, topping a +ridge, they looked down upon the fateful valley. Alas! and alas! for the +sight that met their eyes. + +There, beneath them, was the blood-bathed hill, and from the highest +pinnacle there flaunted the yellow and white banner with the lions and +the towers of the royal house of Castile. Up the long slope rushed ranks +and ranks of men exultant, shouting, with waving pennons and brandished +arms. Over the whole summit were dense throngs of knights, with no enemy +that could be seen to face them, save only that at one corner of the +plateau an eddy and swirl amid the crowded mass seemed to show that all +resistance was not yet at an end. At the sight a deep groan of rage and +of despair went up from the baffled rescuers, and, spurring on their +horses, they clattered down the long and winding path which led to the +valley beneath. + +But they were too late to avenge, as they had been too late to save. +Long ere they could gain the level ground, the Spaniards, seeing them +riding swiftly amid the rocks, and being ignorant of their numbers, drew +off from the captured hill, and, having secured their few prisoners, +rode slowly in a long column, with drum-beating and cymbal-clashing, out +of the valley. Their rear ranks were already passing out of sight ere +the new-comers were urging their panting, foaming horses up the slope +which had been the scene of that long drawn and bloody fight. + +And a fearsome sight it was that met their eyes! Across the lower end +lay the dense heap of men and horses where the first arrow-storm had +burst. Above, the bodies of the dead and the dying--French, Spanish, and +Aragonese--lay thick and thicker, until they covered the whole ground +two and three deep in one dreadful tangle of slaughter. Above them lay +the Englishmen in their lines, even as they had stood, and higher yet +upon the plateau a wild medley of the dead of all nations, where the +last deadly grapple had left them. In the further corner, under the +shadow of a great rock, there crouched seven bowmen, with great John +in the centre of them--all wounded, weary, and in sorry case, but still +unconquered, with their blood-stained weapons waving and their voices +ringing a welcome to their countrymen. Alleyne rode across to John, +while Sir Hugh Calverley followed close behind him. + +"By Saint George!" cried Sir Hugh, "I have never seen signs of so stern +a fight, and I am right glad that we have been in time to save you." + +"You have saved more than us," said John, pointing to the banner which +leaned against the rock behind him. + +"You have done nobly," cried the old free companion, gazing with a +soldier's admiration at the huge frame and bold face of the archer. "But +why is it, my good fellow, that you sit upon this man." + +"By the rood! I had forgot him," John answered, rising and dragging +from under him no less a person than the Spanish caballero, Don Diego +Alvarez. "This man, my fair lord, means to me a new house, ten cows, +one bull--if it be but a little one--a grindstone, and I know not what +besides; so that I thought it well to sit upon him, lest he should take +a fancy to leave me." + +"Tell me, John," cried Alleyne faintly: "where is my dear lord, Sir +Nigel Loring?" + +"He is dead, I fear. I saw them throw his body across a horse and ride +away with it, but I fear the life had gone from him." + +"Now woe worth me! And where is Aylward?" + +"He sprang upon a riderless horse and rode after Sir Nigel to save him. +I saw them throng around him, and he is either taken or slain." + +"Blow the bugles!" cried Sir Hugh, with a scowling brow. "We must back +to camp, and ere three days I trust that we may see these Spaniards +again. I would fain have ye all in my company." + +"We are of the White Company, my fair lord," said John. + +"Nay, the White Company is here disbanded," answered Sir Hugh solemnly, +looking round him at the lines of silent figures. "Look to the brave +squire, for I fear that he will never see the sun rise again." + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII. OF THE HOME-COMING TO HAMPSHIRE. + + +It was a bright July morning four months after that fatal fight in the +Spanish barranca. A blue heaven stretched above, a green rolling plain +undulated below, intersected with hedge-rows and flecked with grazing +sheep. The sun was yet low in the heaven, and the red cows stood in the +long shadow of the elms, chewing the cud and gazing with great vacant +eyes at two horsemen who were spurring it down the long white road which +dipped and curved away back to where the towers and pinnacles beneath +the flat-topped hill marked the old town of Winchester. + +Of the riders one was young, graceful, and fair, clad in plain doublet +and hosen of blue Brussels cloth, which served to show his active and +well-knit figure. A flat velvet cap was drawn forward to keep the glare +from his eyes, and he rode with lips compressed and anxious face, as one +who has much care upon his mind. Young as he was, and peaceful as +was his dress, the dainty golden spurs which twinkled upon his heels +proclaimed his knighthood, while a long seam upon his brow and a +scar upon his temple gave a manly grace to his refined and delicate +countenance. His comrade was a large, red-headed man upon a great black +horse, with a huge canvas bag slung from his saddle-bow, which jingled +and clinked with every movement of his steed. His broad, brown face was +lighted up by a continual smile, and he looked slowly from side to +side with eyes which twinkled and shone with delight. Well might John +rejoice, for was he not back in his native Hampshire, had he not Don +Diego's five thousand crowns rasping against his knee, and above all was +he not himself squire now to Sir Alleyne Edricson, the young Socman of +Minstead lately knighted by the sword of the Black Prince himself, and +esteemed by the whole army as one of the most rising of the soldiers of +England. + +For the last stand of the Company had been told throughout Christendom +wherever a brave deed of arms was loved, and honors had flowed in upon +the few who had survived it. For two months Alleyne had wavered betwixt +death and life, with a broken rib and a shattered head; yet youth and +strength and a cleanly life were all upon his side, and he awoke from +his long delirium to find that the war was over, that the Spaniards +and their allies had been crushed at Navaretta, and that the prince had +himself heard the tale of his ride for succor and had come in person to +his bedside to touch his shoulder with his sword and to insure that so +brave and true a man should die, if he could not live, within the order +of chivalry. The instant that he could set foot to ground Alleyne had +started in search of his lord, but no word could he hear of him, dead +or alive, and he had come home now sad-hearted, in the hope of raising +money upon his estates and so starting upon his quest once more. Landing +at London, he had hurried on with a mind full of care, for he had heard +no word from Hampshire since the short note which had announced his +brother's death. + +"By the rood!" cried John, looking around him exultantly, "where have we +seen since we left such noble cows, such fleecy sheep, grass so green, +or a man so drunk as yonder rogue who lies in the gap of the hedge?" + +"Ah, John," Alleyne answered wearily, "it is well for you, but I never +thought that my home-coming would be so sad a one. My heart is heavy for +my dear lord and for Aylward, and I know not how I may break the news to +the Lady Mary and to the Lady Maude, if they have not yet had tidings of +it." + +John gave a groan which made the horses shy. "It is indeed a black +business," said he. "But be not sad, for I shall give half these crowns +to my old mother, and half will I add to the money which you may have, +and so we shall buy that yellow cog wherein we sailed to Bordeaux, and +in it we shall go forth and seek Sir Nigel." + +Alleyne smiled, but shook his head. "Were he alive we should have had +word of him ere now," said he. "But what is this town before us?" + +"Why, it is Romsey!" cried John. "See the tower of the old gray church, +and the long stretch of the nunnery. But here sits a very holy man, and +I shall give him a crown for his prayers." + +Three large stones formed a rough cot by the roadside, and beside it, +basking in the sun, sat the hermit, with clay-colored face, dull eyes, +and long withered hands. With crossed ankles and sunken head, he sat +as though all his life had passed out of him, with the beads slipping +slowly through his thin, yellow fingers. Behind him lay the narrow cell, +clay-floored and damp, comfortless, profitless and sordid. Beyond it +there lay amid the trees the wattle-and-daub hut of a laborer, the +door open, and the single room exposed to the view. The man ruddy and +yellow-haired, stood leaning upon the spade wherewith he had been at +work upon the garden patch. From behind him came the ripple of a happy +woman's laughter, and two young urchins darted forth from the hut, +bare-legged and towsy, while the mother, stepping out, laid her hand +upon her husband's arm and watched the gambols of the children. The +hermit frowned at the untoward noise which broke upon his prayers, but +his brow relaxed as he looked upon the broad silver piece which John +held out to him. + +"There lies the image of our past and of our future," cried Alleyne, as +they rode on upon their way. "Now, which is better, to till God's earth, +to have happy faces round one's knee, and to love and be loved, or +to sit forever moaning over one's own soul, like a mother over a sick +babe?" + +"I know not about that," said John, "for it casts a great cloud over me +when I think of such matters. But I know that my crown was well spent, +for the man had the look of a very holy person. As to the other, there +was nought holy about him that I could see, and it would be cheaper for +me to pray for myself than to give a crown to one who spent his days in +digging for lettuces." + +Ere Alleyne could answer there swung round the curve of the road a +lady's carriage drawn by three horses abreast with a postilion upon +the outer one. Very fine and rich it was, with beams painted and gilt, +wheels and spokes carved in strange figures, and over all an arched +cover of red and white tapestry. Beneath its shade there sat a stout +and elderly lady in a pink cote-hardie, leaning back among a pile of +cushions, and plucking out her eyebrows with a small pair of silver +tweezers. None could seem more safe and secure and at her ease than this +lady, yet here also was a symbol of human life, for in an instant, even +as Alleyne reined aside to let the carriage pass, a wheel flew out +from among its fellows, and over it all toppled--carving, tapestry +and gilt--in one wild heap, with the horses plunging, the postilion +shouting, and the lady screaming from within. In an instant Alleyne and +John were on foot, and had lifted her forth all in a shake with fear, +but little the worse for her mischance. + +"Now woe worth me!" she cried, "and ill fall on Michael Easover of +Romsey! for I told him that the pin was loose, and yet he must needs +gainsay me, like the foolish daffe that he is." + +"I trust that you have taken no hurt, my fair lady," said Alleyne, +conducting her to the bank, upon which John had already placed a +cushion. + +"Nay, I have had no scath, though I have lost my silver tweezers. Now, +lack-a-day! did God ever put breath into such a fool as Michael Easover +of Romsey? But I am much beholden to you, gentle sirs. Soldiers ye are, +as one may readily see. I am myself a soldier's daughter," she added, +casting a somewhat languishing glance at John, "and my heart ever goes +out to a brave man." + +"We are indeed fresh from Spain," quoth Alleyne. + +"From Spain, say you? Ah! it was an ill and sorry thing that so many +should throw away the lives that Heaven gave them. In sooth, it is bad +for those who fall, but worse for those who bide behind. I have but now +bid farewell to one who hath lost all in this cruel war." + +"And how that, lady?" + +"She is a young damsel of these parts, and she goes now into a nunnery. +Alack! it is not a year since she was the fairest maid from Avon to +Itchen, and now it was more than I could abide to wait at Romsey Nunnery +to see her put the white veil upon her face, for she was made for a wife +and not for the cloister. Did you ever, gentle sir, hear of a body of +men called 'The White Company' over yonder?" + +"Surely so," cried both the comrades. + +"Her father was the leader of it, and her lover served under him as +squire. News hath come that not one of the Company was left alive, and +so, poor lamb, she hath----" + +"Lady!" cried Alleyne, with catching breath, "is it the Lady Maude +Loring of whom you speak?" + +"It is, in sooth." + +"Maude! And in a nunnery! Did, then, the thought of her father's death +so move her?" + +"Her father!" cried the lady, smiling. "Nay; Maude is a good daughter, +but I think it was this young golden-haired squire of whom I have heard +who has made her turn her back upon the world." + +"And I stand talking here!" cried Alleyne wildly. "Come, John, come!" + +Rushing to his horse, he swung himself into the saddle, and was off down +the road in a rolling cloud of dust as fast as his good steed could bear +him. + +Great had been the rejoicing amid the Romsey nuns when the Lady Maude +Loring had craved admission into their order--for was she not sole child +and heiress of the old knight, with farms and fiefs which she could +bring to the great nunnery? Long and earnest had been the talks of the +gaunt lady abbess, in which she had conjured the young novice to turn +forever from the world, and to rest her bruised heart under the broad +and peaceful shelter of the church. And now, when all was settled, and +when abbess and lady superior had had their will, it was but fitting +that some pomp and show should mark the glad occasion. Hence was it that +the good burghers of Romsey were all in the streets, that gay flags and +flowers brightened the path from the nunnery to the church, and that a +long procession wound up to the old arched door leading up the bride to +these spiritual nuptials. There was lay-sister Agatha with the high gold +crucifix, and the three incense-bearers, and the two-and-twenty garbed +in white, who cast flowers upon either side of them and sang sweetly the +while. Then, with four attendants, came the novice, her drooping head +wreathed with white blossoms, and, behind, the abbess and her council of +older nuns, who were already counting in their minds whether their own +bailiff could manage the farms of Twynham, or whether a reeve would be +needed beneath him, to draw the utmost from these new possessions which +this young novice was about to bring them. + +But alas! for plots and plans when love and youth and nature, and above +all, fortune are arrayed against them. Who is this travel-stained youth +who dares to ride so madly through the lines of staring burghers? Why +does he fling himself from his horse and stare so strangely about +him? See how he has rushed through the incense-bearers, thrust aside +lay-sister Agatha, scattered the two-and-twenty damosels who sang so +sweetly--and he stands before the novice with his hands out-stretched, +and his face shining, and the light of love in his gray eyes. Her foot +is on the very lintel of the church, and yet he bars the way--and she, +she thinks no more of the wise words and holy rede of the lady abbess, +but she hath given a sobbing cry and hath fallen forward with his arms +around her drooping body and her wet cheek upon his breast. A sorry +sight this for the gaunt abbess, an ill lesson too for the stainless +two-and-twenty who have ever been taught that the way of nature is the +way of sin. But Maude and Alleyne care little for this. A dank, cold +air comes out from the black arch before them. Without, the sun shines +bright and the birds are singing amid the ivy on the drooping beeches. +Their choice is made, and they turn away hand-in-hand, with their backs +to the darkness and their faces to the light. + +Very quiet was the wedding in the old priory church at Christchurch, +where Father Christopher read the service, and there were few to see +save the Lady Loring and John, and a dozen bowmen from the castle. The +Lady of Twynham had drooped and pined for weary months, so that her face +was harsher and less comely than before, yet she still hoped on, for her +lord had come through so many dangers that she could scarce believe that +he might be stricken down at last. It had been her wish to start for +Spain and to search for him, but Alleyne had persuaded her to let him +go in her place. There was much to look after, now that the lands of +Minstead were joined to those of Twynham, and Alleyne had promised her +that if she would but bide with his wife he would never come back to +Hampshire again until he had gained some news, good or ill, of her lord +and lover. + +The yellow cog had been engaged, with Goodwin Hawtayne in command, and a +month after the wedding Alleyne rode down to Bucklershard to see if she +had come round yet from Southampton. On the way he passed the fishing +village of Pitt's Deep, and marked that a little creyer or brig was +tacking off the land, as though about to anchor there. On his way back, +as he rode towards the village, he saw that she had indeed anchored, and +that many boats were round her, bearing cargo to the shore. + +A bow-shot from Pitt's Deep there was an inn a little back from the +road, very large and wide-spread, with a great green bush hung upon a +pole from one of the upper windows. At this window he marked, as he rode +up, that a man was seated who appeared to be craning his neck in his +direction. Alleyne was still looking up at him, when a woman came +rushing from the open door of the inn, and made as though she would +climb a tree, looking back the while with a laughing face. Wondering +what these doings might mean, Alleyne tied his horse to a tree, and +was walking amid the trunks towards the inn, when there shot from the +entrance a second woman who made also for the trees. Close at her heels +came a burly, brown-faced man, who leaned against the door-post and +laughed loudly with his hand to his side, "Ah, mes belles!" he cried, +"and is it thus you treat me? Ah, mes petites! I swear by these +finger-bones that I would not hurt a hair of your pretty heads; but I +have been among the black paynim, and, by my hilt! it does me good to +look at your English cheeks. Come, drink a stoup of muscadine with me, +mes anges, for my heart is warm to be among ye again." + +At the sight of the man Alleyne had stood staring, but at the sound of +his voice such a thrill of joy bubbled up in his heart that he had +to bite his lip to keep himself from shouting outright. But a deeper +pleasure yet was in store. Even as he looked, the window above was +pushed outwards, and the voice of the man whom he had seen there came +out from it. "Aylward," cried the voice, "I have seen just now a very +worthy person come down the road, though my eyes could scarce discern +whether he carried coat-armor. I pray you to wait upon him and tell him +that a very humble knight of England abides here, so that if he be in +need of advancement, or have any small vow upon his soul, or desire to +exalt his lady, I may help him to accomplish it." + +Aylward at this order came shuffling forward amid the trees, and in an +instant the two men were clinging in each other's arms, laughing and +shouting and patting each other in their delight; while old Sir Nigel +came running with his sword, under the impression that some small +bickering had broken out, only to embrace and be embraced himself, +until all three were hoarse with their questions and outcries and +congratulations. + +On their journey home through the woods Alleyne learnt their +wondrous story: how, when Sir Nigel came to his senses, he with his +fellow-captive had been hurried to the coast, and conveyed by sea to +their captor's castle; how upon the way they had been taken by a Barbary +rover, and how they exchanged their light captivity for a seat on a +galley bench and hard labor at the pirate's oars; how, in the port at +Barbary, Sir Nigel had slain the Moorish captain, and had swum with +Aylward to a small coaster which they had taken, and so made their way +to England with a rich cargo to reward them for their toils. All this +Alleyne listened to, until the dark keep of Twynham towered above them +in the gloaming, and they saw the red sun lying athwart the rippling +Avon. No need to speak of the glad hearts at Twynham Castle that night, +nor of the rich offerings from out that Moorish cargo which found their +way to the chapel of Father Christopher. + +Sir Nigel Loring lived for many years, full of honor and laden with +every blessing. He rode no more to the wars, but he found his way to +every jousting within thirty miles; and the Hampshire youth treasured +it as the highest honor when a word of praise fell from him as to their +management of their horses, or their breaking of their lances. So he +lived and so he died, the most revered and the happiest man in all his +native shire. + +For Sir Alleyne Edricson and for his beautiful bride the future had also +naught but what was good. Twice he fought in France, and came back each +time laden with honors. A high place at court was given to him, and +he spent many years at Windsor under the second Richard and the fourth +Henry--where he received the honor of the Garter, and won the name of +being a brave soldier, a true-hearted gentleman, and a great lover and +patron of every art and science which refines or ennobles life. + +As to John, he took unto himself a village maid, and settled in +Lyndhurst, where his five thousand crowns made him the richest franklin +for many miles around. For many years he drank his ale every night at +the "Pied Merlin," which was now kept by his friend Aylward, who had +wedded the good widow to whom he had committed his plunder. The strong +men and the bowmen of the country round used to drop in there of an +evening to wrestle a fall with John or to shoot a round with Aylward; +but, though a silver shilling was to be the prize of the victory, it has +never been reported that any man earned much money in that fashion. +So they lived, these men, in their own lusty, cheery fashion--rude and +rough, but honest, kindly and true. Let us thank God if we have outgrown +their vices. Let us pray to God that we may ever hold their virtues. The +sky may darken, and the clouds may gather, and again the day may come +when Britain may have sore need of her children, on whatever shore of +the sea they be found. Shall they not muster at her call? + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The White Company, by Arthur Conan Doyle + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WHITE COMPANY *** + +***** This file should be named 903.txt or 903.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/0/903/ + +Produced by Charles Keller, Carlo Traverso, Tonya Allen +and Samuel S. Johnson + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |