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THE  BOY  KNIGHT 


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G,A, 


Presented  to  the 
LIBRARY  of  the 

UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO 

by 


THE  ESTATE  OF  THE  LATE 
GLSM  S.  MORGAN 


"7  £f 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


A  TALE  OF  THE  CRUSADE. 


BY  G.  A.  HENTY, 

Author  of  "Jack  Archer,"  "  The  Young  Buglert"  "  Tk* 
Colonists,"  etc.,  et 


WITH   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


NEW  YORK 

HURST  &     COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  f^ 

rheOatlaws.  .........  ........  .  ........  •••••••••••••••••••••     1 

CHAPTER  II. 
A  Rescue  ............................  .......................    J* 

CHAPTER  IIL 
The  Capture  of  Wortham  Hold  ................  „  .........  .....    £8 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Crusades  ......  .  .............................  ..........    88 

CHAPTER  V. 
Preparations  ................................................   44 

CHAPTER  VI. 
TheLists  ...................................................   88 

CHAPTER  VH. 
Revenge   .....  ,....  ..............................  .  .......  •   67 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Th*  AttacV  .......  .  .............  ....................  .........    78 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  Princ*  T«  Berengaria.  .  ........»......•*•«.«»•»•«••«•»••*«    88 

CHAPTER  X. 
Pirates.  .......................  ............................  101 

CHAPTER  XL 
In  the  Holy  Land  ...............................  .  ........  ....  113 


CHAPTER 

.   .  .  .................  124 


fr  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XHL 
In  the  Hands  of  the  Saracens ...........  185 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
An  Effort  for  Freedom. ••..  14? 

CHAPTER  XV. 
A  Hermit's  Tale 158 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
A  Fight  of  Heroes 170 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
An  Alpine  Storm 183 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
Sentenced  to  Death.... 196 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Dresden _ 310 

CHAPTER  XX. 
Under  the  Greenwood. ,.  222 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
The  Attempt  on  the  Convent 


CHAPTER  XXIt 
A  Dastardly  Stratagem , 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
The  False  and  Perjured  Knight 263 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
The  Siege  of  Evesham  Castle . 276 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
In  Search  of  the  King. 290 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
King  Richard's  Return  to  iSnglaud. ,.    306 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


CHAPTER    I. 

THE     OUTLAWS. 

IT  was  a  bright  morning  in  the  month  of  August^ 
when  a  lad  of  some  fifteen  years  of  age,  sitting  on  a  low 
wall,  watched  party  after  party  of  armed  men  riding  up 
to  the  castle  of  the  Earl  of  Evesham.  A  casual  observer 
glancing  at  his  curling  hair  and  bright,  open  face,  as  also 
at  the  fashion  of  his  dress,  would  at  once  have  assigned 
to  him  a  purely  Saxon  origin;  but  a  keener  eye  would 
have  detected  signs  that  Norman  blood  ran  also  in  his 
veins,  for  his  figure  was  lither  and  lighter,  his  features 
more  straightly  and  shapely  cut,  than  was  common 
among  Saxons.  His  dress  consisted  of  a  tight-fitting 
jerkin,  descending  nearly  to  his  knees.  The  material 
was  a  light-blue  cloth,  while  over  his  shoulder  hung  a 
short  cloak  of  a  darker  hue.  His  cap  was  of  Saxon 
fashion,  and  he  wore  on  one  side  a  little  plume  of  a 
heron.  In  a  somewhat  costly  belt  hung  a  light  short 
sword,  while  across  his  knees  lay  a  crossbow,  in  itself 
almost  a  sure  sign  of  its  bearer  being  of  other  than  Saxon 
blood.  The  boy  looked  anxiously  as  party  after  party 
rode  past  toward  the  castle. 

"I  would  give  something,"  he  said,  "to  know  what 
wind  blows  these  knaves  here.  From  every  petty  castle 
in  the  earl's  feu  the  retainers  seem  hurrying  here.  Is  he 
bent,  I  wonder,  on  settling  once  and  for  all  his  quarrels 


2  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

with  the  Baron  of  Wortham?  or  can  he  be  intending  to 
make  a  clear  sweep  of  the  woods?  Ah!  here  comes  my 
gossip  Hubert;  he  may  tell  me  the  meaning  of  this 
gathering." 

Leaping  to  his  feet,  the  speaker  started  at  a  brisk  walk 
to  meet  a  jovial-looking  personage  coming  down  from 
the  direction  of  the  castle.  The  newcomer  was  dressed 
in  the  attire  of  a  falconer,  and  two  dogs  followed  at  his 
heels. 

"Ah,  Master  Cuthbert,"  he  said,  "what  brings  you  so 
near  to  the  castle?  It  is  not  often  that  you  favor  us 
with  your  presence. " 

"I  am  happier  in  the  woods,  as  you  well  know,  and 
was  on  my  way  thither  but  now,  when  I  paused  at  the 
sight  of  all  these  troopers  flocking  in  to  Evesham.  What 
enterprise  has  Sir  Walter  on  hand  now,  think  you  ?" 

"The  earl  keeps  his  own  council,"  said  the  falconer, 
"but  methinks  a  shrewd  guess  might  be  made  at  the 
purport  of  the  gathering.  It  was  but  three  days  since 
that  his  foresters  were  beaten  back  by  the  landless  men, 
whom  they  caught  in  the  very  act  of  cutting  up  a  fat 
buck.  As  thou  knowest,  my  lord,  though  easy  and  well- 
disposed  to  all,  and  not  fond  of  harassing  and  driving 
the  people  as  are  many  of  his  neighbors,  is  yet  to  the 
full  as  fanatical  anent  his  forest  privileges  as  the  worst 
of  them.  They  tell  me  that  when  the  news  came  in  of 
the  poor  figure  that  his  foresters  cut  with  broken  bows 
and  draggled  plumes — for  the  varlets  had  soused  them 
in  a  pond  of  not  over  savory  water — he  swore  a  great 
oath  that  he  would  clear  the  forest  of  the  bands.  It  may 
be,  indeed,  that  this  gathering  is  for  the  purpose  of  fall- 
ing in  force  upon  that  evil-disposed  and  most  treacher- 
ous baron,  Sir  John  of  Wortham,  who  has  already  begun 
to  harry  some  of  the  outlying  lands,  and  has  driven  off, 
I  hear,  many  heads  of  cattle.  It  is  a  quarrel  which  will 


THE  EOT  KNIGHT.  3 

have  to  be  fought  out  sooner  or  later,  and  the  sooner  the 
better,  say  I.  Although  I  am  no  man  of  war,  and  love 
looking  after  my  falcons  or  giving  food  to  my  dogs  far 
more  than  exchanging  hard  blows,  yet  would  I  gladly 
don  the  buff  and  steel  coat  to  aid  in  leveling  the  keep  of 
that  robber  and  tyrant,  Sir  John  of  Wortham." 

"Thanks,  good  Hubert,"  said  the  lad.  "I  must  not 
stand  gossiping  here.  The  news  you  have  told  me,  as 
you  know,  touches  me  closely,  for  I  would  not  that  harm 
should  come  to  the  forest  men." 

"Let  it  not  out,  I  beseech  thee,  Cuthbert,  that  the 
news  came  from  me,  for  temperate  as  Sir  Walter  is  at 
most  times,  he  would,  methinks,  give  me  short  shift  did 
he  know  that  the  wagging  of  my  tongue  might  have 
given  warning  through  which  the  outlaws  of  the  Chase 
should  slip  through  his  fingers." 

"Fear  not,  Hubert;  I  can  be  mum  when  the  occasion 
needs.  Can  you  tell  me  further,  when  the  bands  now 
gathering  are  likely  to  set  forth?" 

"In  brief  breathing  space,"  the  falconer  replied. 
"Those  who  first  arrived  I  left  swilling  beer,  and  devour- 
ing pies  and  other  provisions  cooked  for  them  last  night, 
and  from  what  I  hear,  they  will  set  forth  as  soon  as  the 
last  comer  has  arrived.  Whichever  be  their  quarry, 
they  will  try  to  fall  upon  it  before  the  news  of  their 
arrival  is  bruited  abroad." 

With  a  wave  of  his  hand  to  the  falconer  the  boy  started. 
Leaving  the  road,  and  striking  across  the  slightly  un- 
dulated country  dotted  here  and  there  by  groups  of 
trees,  the  lad  ran  at  a  brisk  trot,  without  stopping  to 
halt  or  breathe,  until  after  half  an  hour's  run  he  arrived 
at  the  entrance  of  a  building  whose  aspect  proclaimed 
:t,  to  be  the  abode  of  a  Saxon  franklin  of  some  impor- 
tance. It  would  nob  be  called  a  castle,  but  was  rather  a 
fortified  house,  with  a  few  windows  looking  without, 


4  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

and  surrounded  by  a  moat  crossed  by  a  drawbridge,  and 
capable  of  sustaining  anything  short  of  a  real  attack. 
Erstwood  had  but  lately  passed  into  Norman  hands,  and 
was  indeed  at  present  owned  by  a  Saxon.  Sir  William 
de  Lance,  the  father  of  the  lad  who  is  now  entering  its 
portals,  was  a  friend  and  follower  of  the  Earl  of  Evesham; 
and  soon  after  his  lord  had  married  Gweneth  the  heiress 
of  all  these  fair  lands — given  to  him  by  the  will  of  the 
king,  to  whom  by  the  death  of  her  father  she  became  a 
ward— Sir  William  had  married  Editha,  the  daughter 
and  heiress  of  the  franklin  of  Erstwood,  a  cousin  and 
dear  friend  of  the  new  Countess  of  Evesham. 

In  neither  couple  could  the  marriage  at  first  have  been 
called  one  of  inclination  on  the  part  of  the  ladies,  but 
love  came  after  marriage.  Although  the  knights  and 
barons  of  the  Norman  invasion  would,  no  doubt,  be  con- 
sidered rude  and  rough  in  these  days  of  broadcloth  and 
civilization,  yet  their  manners  were  gentle  and  polished 
by  the  side  of  those  of  the  rough  though  kindly  Saxon 
franklins;  and  although  the  Saxon  maids  were  doubtless 
as  patriotic  as  their  fathers  and  mothers,  yet  the  female 
mind  is  greatly  led  by  gentle  manners  and  courteous 
address.  Thus,  then,  when  bidden  or  forced  to  give  their 
hands  to  the  Norman  knights,  they  speedily  accepted 
their  lot,  and  for  the  most  part  grew  contented  and 
happy  enough.  In  their  changed  circumstances  it  was 
pleasanter  to  ride  by  the  side  of  their  Norman  husbands, 
surrounded  by  a  gay  cavalcade,  to  hawk  and  to  uunt, 
than  to  discharge  the  quiet  duties  of  mistress  of  a  Saxon 
farmhouse.  In  many  cases,  of  course,  their  lot  was  ren- 
dered wretched  by  the  violence  and  brutality  of  their 
lords;  but  in  the  majority  they  were  well  satisfied  with 
their  lot,  and  these  mixed  marriages  did  more  to  bring 
the  peoples  together  and  weld  them  in  one  than  all  the 
laws  and  decrees  of  the  Norman  sovereigns. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  5 

This  had  certainly  been  the  case  with  Editha,  whose 
marriage  with  Sir  William  had  been  one  of  the  greatest 
happiness.  She  had  lost  him,  three  years  before  the 
story  begins,  fighting  in  Normandy,  in  one  of  the  in- 
numerable wars  in  which  our  first  Norman  kings  were 
constantly  involved.  On  entering  the  gates  of  Erstwood 
Cutlioert  had  rushed  hastily  to  the  room  where  his 
mother  was  sitting  with  three  or  four  of  her  maidens, 
engaged  in  work. 

"I  want  to  speak  to  you  at  once,  mother,"  he  said. 

"What  is  it  now,  my  son?"  said  his  mother,  who  was 
still  young  and  very  comely.  Waving  her  hand  to  the 
girls,  they  left  her. 

"Mother,"  he  said,  when  they  were  alone,  "I  fear  me 
that  Sir  Walter  is  about  to  make  a  great  raid  upon  the 
outlaws.  Armed  men  have  been  coming  in  all  the  morn- 
ing from  the  castles  round,  and  if  it  be  not  against  the 
Baron  de  Wortham  that  these  preparations  are  intended, 
and  methinks  it  is  not,  it  must  needs  be  against  the 
landless  men." 

"What  would  you  do,  Cuthbert?"  his  mother  asked 
anxiously.  "It  will  not  do  for  you  to  be  found  meddling  in 
these  matters.  At  present  you  stand  well  in  the  favor  of 
the  earl,  who  loves  you  for  the  sake  of  his  wife,  to  whom 
you  are  kin,  and  of  your  father,  who  did  him  good  liege- 
man's service." 

"But,  mother,  I  have  many  friends  in  the  wood. 
There  is  Cnut,  their  chief,  your  own  first  cousin,  and 
many  others  of  our  friends,  all  good  men  and  true, 
though  forced  by  the  cruel  Norman  laws  to  refuge  in  the 
woods." 

"What  would  you  do?"  again  his  mother  asked. 

"I  would  take  Ronald  my  pony  and  ride  to  varn  them 
of  the  danger  that  threatens." 

"You  had  best  go  on  foot,  my  son.     Doub^V^s  men 


6  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

have  been  set  to  see  that  none  from  the  Saxon  home- 
steads carry  the  warning  to  the  woods.  The  distance  is 
not  beyond  your  reach,  for  you  have  often  wandered 
there,  and  on  foot  you  can  evade  the  eye  of  the  watchers; 
but  one  thing,  my  son,  you  must  promise,  and  that  is, 
that  in  no  case,  should  the  earl  and  his  bands  meet  with 
the  outlaws,  will  you  take  part  in  any  fray  or  struggle." 

"That  will  I  willingly,  mother,"  he  said.  "I  have  no 
cause  for  offense  against  the  castle  or  the  forest,  and  my 
blood  and  my  kin  are  with  both.  I  would  fain  save 
shedding  of  blood  in  a  quarrel  like  this.  I  hope  that 
the  time  may  come  when  Saxon  and  Norman  may  fight 
side  by  side,  and  I  may  be  there  to  see." 

A  few  minutes  later,  having  changed  his  blue  doublet 
for  one  of  more  sober  and  less  noticeable  color,  Cuthbert 
started  for  the  great  forest,  which  then  stretched  to 
within  a  mile  of  Erstwood.  In  those  days  a  large  part 
of  the  country  was  covered  with  forest,  and  the  policy  of 
the  Normans  in  preserving  these  woods  for  the  chase 
tended  to  prevent  the  increase  of  cultivation. 

The  farms  and  cultivated  lands  were  all  held  by  Saxons, 
who  although  nominally  handed  over  to  the  nobles  to 
whom  William  and  his  successors  had  given  the  fiefs,  saw 
but  little  of  their  Norman  masters.  These  stood,  indeed, 
much  in  the  position  in  which  landlords  stand  to  theii 
tenants,  payment  being  made,  for  the  most  part,  in  pro- 
duce. At  the  edge  of  the  wood  the  trees  grew  compara- 
tively far  apart,  but  as  Cuthbert  proceeded  further  into 
its  recesses  the  trees  in  the  virgin  forest  stood  thick  and 
close  together.  Here  and  there  open  glades  ran  across 
each  other,  and  in  these  his  sharp  eye,  accustomed  to 
the  forest,  could  often  see  the  stags  starting  away  at  the 
sound  of  his  footsteps. 

It  was  a  full  hour's  journey  before  Cuthbert  reached 
the  point  for  which  he  was  bound.  Here,  in  an  open 


THE  BO  T  KNIQHT.  7 

space,  probably  cleared  by  a  storm  ages  before,  and  over- 
shadowed by  giant  trees,  was  a  group  of  men  of  all  ages 
and  appearances.  Some  were  occupied  in  stripping  the 
skin  off  a  buck  which  hung  from  the  bough  of  one  of  the 
trees.  Others  were  roasting  portions  of  the  carcass  of 
another  deer.  A  few  sat  apart,  some  talking,  others 
busy  in  making  arrows,  while  a  few  lay  asleep  on  the 
greensward.  As  Cuthbert  entered  the  clearing  several 
of  the  party  rose  to  their  feet. 

"Ah,  Cuthbert/'  shouted  a  man  of  almost  gigantic 
stature,  who  appeared  to  be  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
party,  "what  brings  you  here,  lad,  so  early?  You  are 
not  wont  to  visit  us  till  even,  when  you  can  lay  your 
crossbow  at  a  stag  by  moonlight." 

"No,  no,  Cousin  Cnut,"  Cuthbert  said,  "thou  canst 
not  say  that  I  have  ever  broken  the  forest  laws,  though 
I  have  looked  on  often  and  often,  while  you  have  done 
so." 

"The  abettor  is  as  bad  as  the  thief,"  laughed  Cnut, 
"and  if  the  foresters  caught  us  in  the  act  I  wot  they 
would  make  but  little  difference  whether  it  was  the  shaft 
of  my  long  bow  or  the  quarrel  from  thy  crossbow  which 
brought  down  the  quarry.  But  again,  lad,  why  comest 
thou  here?  for  I  see  by  the  sweat  on  your  face  and  by 
the  heaving  of  your  sides  that  you  have  run  fast  and  far." 

"I  have,  Cnut;  I  have  not  once  stopped  for  breathing 
since  I  left  Erstwood.  I  have  come  to  warn  you  of  dan- 
ger. The  earl  is  preparing  for  a  raid." 

Cnut  laughed  somewhat  disdainfully. 

"He  has  raided  here  before,  and  I  trow  has  carried  off 
no  game.  The  landless  men  of  the  forest  can  hold  their 
own  against  a  handful  of  Norman  knights  and  retainers 
in  their  own  home." 

"Ay,"  said  Cuthbert,  "but  this  will  be  no  common 
raid.  This  morning  bands  from  all  the  holds  within 


8 


THE  EOT  KNIOHT. 


miles  round  are  riding  in,  and  at  least  five  hundred 
men-at-arms  are  likely  to  do  chase  to-day." 

"Is  it  so?"  said  Onut,  while  exclamations  of  surprise, 
but  not  of  apprehension,  broke  from  those  standing 
round.  "If  that  be  so,  lad,  you  have  done  us  good  serv- 
ice indeed.  With  fair  warning  we  can  slip  through  the 
fingers  of  ten  times  five  hundred  men,  but  if  they  came 
upon  us  unawares,  and  hemmed  us  in,  it  would  fare  but 
badly  with  us,  though  we  should,  I  doubt  not,  give  a 
good  account  of  them  before  their  battle-axes  and  macea 
ended  the  strife.  Have  you  any  idea  by  which  road  they 
will  enter  the  forest,  or  what  are  their  intentions?" 

"I  know  not, "  Cuthbert  said;  "all  that  I  gathered  was 
that  the  earl  intended  to  sweep  the  forest,  and  to  put 
an  end  to  the  breaches  of  the  laws,  not  to  say  of  the 
rough  treatment  that  his  foresters  have  met  with  at  your 
hands.  You  had  best,  methinks,  be  off  before  Sir  Walter 
and  his  heavily  armed  men  are  here.  The  forest,  large 
as  it  is,  will  scarce  hold  you  both,  and  methinks  you  had 
best  shift  your  quarters  to  Langholm  Chase  until  the 
storm  has  passed." 

"To  Langholm  be  it,  then,"  said  Cnut,  "though  I  love 
not  the  place.  Sir  John  of  Wortham  is  a  worse  neighbor 
by  far  than  the  earl.  Against  the  latter  we  bear  no 
malice,  he  is  a  good  knight  and  a  fair  lord;  and  could  he 
free  himself  of  the  Norman  notions  that  the  birds  of  the 
air,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  the  fishes  of  the 
water  all  belong  to  Normans,  and  that  we  Saxons  nave 
no  share  in  them,  I  should  have  no  quarrel  with  him. 
He  grinds  not  his  neighbors,  he  is  content  with  a  fail 
tithe  of  the  produce,  and  as  between  man  and  man  is  $ 
fair  judge  without  favor.  The  baron  is  a  fiend  incarnate; 
did  he  not  fear  that  he  would  lose  by  so  doing,  he  would 
gladly  cut  the  throats,  or  burn,  or  drown,  or  hang  ever} 
Saxon  within  twenty  miles  of  his  hold.  He  is  a  disgrace 


THE  EOT  KNIGHT.  e 

to  his  order,  and  some  day  when  our  band  gathers  a 
little  stronger,  we  will  burn  his  nest  about  his  ears." 

"It  will  be  a  hard  nut  to  crack,"  Cuthbert  said,  laugh- 
ing. "With  such  arms  as  you  have  in  the  forest  the 
enterprise  would  be  something  akin  to  scaling  the 
skies." 

"Ladders  and  axes  will  go  far,  lad,  and  the  Norman 
men-at-arms  have  learned  to  dread  our  shafts.  But 
enough  of  the  baron;  if  we  must  be  his  neighbors  for  a 
time,  so  be  it." 

"You  have  heard,  my  mates,"  he  said,  turning  to  his 
comrades  gathered  around  him,  "what  Cuthbert  tells  us. 
Are  you  of  my  opinion,  that  it  is  better  to  move  away 
till  the  storm  is  past  than  to  fight  against  heavy  odds, 
without  much  chance  of  either  booty  or  victory?" 

A  general  chorus  proclaimed  that  the  outlaws  approved 
of  the  proposal  for  a  move  to  Langholm  Chase.  The 
preparations  were  simple.  Bows  were  taken  down  from 
the  boughs  on  which  they  were  hanging,  quivers  slung 
across  the  backs,  short  cloaks  thrown  over  the  shoulders. 
The  deer  was  hurriedly  dismembered,  and  the  joints 
fastened  to  a  pole  slung  on  the  shouders  of  two  of  the 
men.  The  drinking  cups,  some  of  which  were  of  silver, 
looking  strangely  out  of  place  among  the  rough  horn 
implements  and  platters,  were  bundled  together,  carried 
a  short  distance  and  dropped  among  some  thick  bushes 
for  safety;  and  then  the  band  started  for  Wortham. 

With  a  cordial  farewell  and  many  thanks  to  Cuthbert, 
who  declined  their  invitations  to  accompany  them,  the 
retreat  to  Langholm  commenced. 

Cuthbert,  not  knowing  in  which  direction  the  bands 
were  likely  to  approach,  remained  for  awhile  motionless 
intently  listening. 

In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  he  heard  the  distant  note  of  a 
bugle. 


10 


TEE  EOT  KNIGHT. 


It  was  answered  in  three  different  directions,  and  Cuth- 
bert, who  knew  every  path  and  glade  of  the  forest,  was 
able  pretty  accurately  to  surmise  those  routes  by  which 
the  various  bands  were  then  commencing  to  enter  the 
wood. 

Knowing  that  they  were  still  a  long  way  off,  he  ad- 
vanced as  rapidly  as  he  could  in  the  direction  in  which 
they  were  coming.  When  by  the  sound  of  distant  voices 
and  the  breaking  of  branches  he  knew  that  one  at  least 
of  the  parties  was  near  at  hand,  he  rapidly  climbed  a 
thick  tree  and  ensconced  himself  in  the  branches,  and 
there  watched,  secure  and  hidden  from  the  sharpest  eye, 
the  passage  of  a  body  of  men-at-arms,  fully  a  hundred 
strong,  led  by  Sir  Walter  himself,  accompanied  by  some 
half-dozen  of  his  knights. 

When  they  had  passed  Cuthbert  again  slipped  down 
the  tree  and  made  at  all  speed  for  home.  He  reached 
it,  so  far  as  he  knew,  without  having  been  observed  by 
a  single  passer-by. 

After  a  brief  talk  with  his  mother  he  started  for  the 
castle,  as  his  appearance  there  would  divert  any  suspicion 
that  might  arise;  and  it  would  also  appear  natural  that, 
seeing  the  movements  of  so  large  a  body  of  men,  he 
should  go  up  to  gossip  with  his  acquaintances  there. 

When  distant  a  mile  from  Evesham  he  came  upon  a 
small  party. 

On  a  white  palfrey  rode  Margaret,  the  little  daughter 
of  the  earl.  She  was  accompanied  by  her  nurse  and  two 
retainers  on  foot. 

Cuthbert — who  was  a  great  favorite  with  the  earFs 
daughter,  for  whom  he  frequently  brought  pets,  such  as 
nests  of  young  owlets,  falcons,  and  other  creatures — was 
about  to  join  the  party  when  from  a  clump  of  trees  near 
burst  a  body  of  ten  mounted  men. 

Without  a  word  they  rode  straight  at  the  astonished 


THE  SO  Y  KNIGHT.  II 

group.     The  retainers  were  cut  to  the  ground  before 
they  had  thought  of  drawing  a  sword  in  defense. 

The  nurse  was  slain  by  a  blow  with  a  battle-ax,  and 
Margaret,  snatched  from  her  palfrey,  was  thrown  across 
the  saddlebow  of  one  of  the  mounted  men,  who  thea 
with  his  comrades  dashed  oft  at  full  speed. 


i» 


THE  BOY  KNIQHT. 


CHAPTER  H. 

A  RESCUE. 

THE  whole  of  the  startling  scene  of  the  abduction  of 
the  Earl  of  Evesham's  daughter  occupied  but  a  few 
seconds.  Cuthbert  was  so  astounded  at  the  sudden 
calamity  that  he  remained  rooted  to  the  ground  at  the 
spot  where,  fortunately  for  himself,  unnoticed  by  the 
assailants,  he  had  stood  when  they  first  burst  from  their 
concealment. 

For  a  short  time  he  hesitated  as  to  the  course  he  should 
take. 

The  men-at-arms  who  remained  in  the  castle  were 
scarce  strong  enough  to  rescue  the  child,  whose  captors 
would  no  doubt  be  reinforced  by  a  far  stronger  party 
lurking  near. 

The  main  body  of  Sir  Walter's  followers  were  deep  in 
the  recesses  of  the  forest,  and  this  lay  altogether  out  of 
the  line  for  Wortham,  and  there  would  be  no  chance 
whatever  of  bringing  them  up  in  time  to  cut  off  the 
marauders  on  their  way  back. 

There  remained  only  the  outlaws,  who  by  this  time 
would  be  in  Langholm  Forest,  perhaps  within  a  mile  or 
two  of  the  castle  itself.  The  road  by  which  the  horse- 
men would  travel  would  be  far  longer  than  the  direct 
line  across  the  country,  and  he  resolved  at  once  to  strain 
every  nerve  to  reach  his  friends  in  time  to  get  them  to 
interpose  between  the  captors  of  the  Lady  Margaret  and 
their  stronghold. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  13 

For  an  instant  he  hesitated  whether  to  run  back  to 
Erstwood  to  get  a  horse;  but  he  decided  that  it  would 
be  as  quick  to  go  on  foot,  and  far  easier  so  to  find  the 
outlaws. 

These  thoughts  occupied  but  a  few  moments,  and  he 
at  once  started  at  the  top  of  his  speed  for  his  long  run 
acrosb  the  country. 

Had  Cuthbert  been  running  in  a  race  of  hare  and 
hound,  he  would  assuredly  have  \)rne  away  the  prize 
from  most  boys  of  his  age.  At  headlong  pace  he  made 
across  the  country,  every  foot  of  which,  as  far  as  the 
edge  of  Langholm  Chase,  he  knew  by  heart. 

The  distance  to  the  woods  was  some  twelve  miles,  and 
in  an  hour  and  a  half  from  the  moment  of  his  starting 
Cuthbert  was  deep  within  its  shades.  Where  he  would 
be  likely  to  find  the  outlaws  he  knew  not;  and,  putting 
a  whistle  to  his  lips,  he  shrilly  blew  the  signal,  which 
Would  he  knew  be  recognized  by  any  of  the  band  within 
hearing. 

He  thought  that  he  heard  an  answer,  but  was  not 
certain,  and  again  dashed  forward  almost  as  speedily  as  if 
he  had  but  just  started. 

Five  minutes  later  a  man  stood  in  the  glade  up  which 
he  was  running.  He  recognized  him  at  once  as  one  of 
Cnut's  party. 

"Where  are  the  band?"  he  gasped. 

"Half  a  mile  or  so  to  the  right,"  replied  the  man. 

Guided  u;y  the  man,  Cuthbert  ran  at  full  speed,  till, 
panting  and  scarce  able  to  speak,  he  arrived  at  the  spot 
where  Cnnt's  band  were  gathered. 

In  a  few  words  he  told  them  what  had  happened,  and 
although  they  had  just  been  chased  by  the  father  of  the 
captured  child,  there  was  not  a  moment  of  hesitation  in 
promising  their  aid  to  rescue  her  from  a  man  whom  they 
regarded  as  a  far  more  bitter  enemy,  both  of  themselves 
and  their  race. 


14  THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 

•'I  fear  we  shall  be  too  late  -to  cut  them  off,"  Cnnt 
said,  "they  have  so  long  a  start;  but  at  least  we  will 
waste  no  time  in  gossiping." 

Winding  a  Horn  to  call  together  some  of  the  members 
of  the  band  who  had  scattered,  and  leaving  one  at  the 
meeting-place  to  give  instructions  to  the  rest,  Cnut,  fol- 
lowed by  those  assembled  there,  went  off  at  a  swinging 
trot  through  the  glades  toward  Wortham  Castle. 

After  a  rapid  calcu  ation  of  distances,  and  allowing  for 
the  fact  that  the  baron's  men— knowing  that  Sir  Walter's 
retainers  and  friends  were  all  deep  in  the  forest,  and 
even  if  they  heard  of  the  outrage  could  not  be  on  their 
traces  for  hours — would  take  matters  quietly,  Cnut  con- 
cluded that  they  had  arrived  in  time. 

Turning  off,  they  made  their  way  along  the  edge  of 
the  wood,  to  the  point  where  the  road  from  Evesham  ran 
through  the  forest. 

Scarcely  had  the  party  reached  this  point  when  they 
heard  a  faint  clatter  of  steel. 

"Here  they  come!"  exclaimed  Cuthbert. 

Cnut  gave  rapid  directions,  and  the  band  took  up  their 
posts  behind  the  trees,  on  either  side  of  the  path. 

"Remember,"  Cnnt  said,  "above  all  things  be  careful 
not  to  hit  the  child,  but  pierce  the  horse  on  which  she 
is  riding.  The  instant  he  falls,  rush  forward.  We  must 
trust  to  surprise  to  give  us  the  victory." 

Three  minutes  later  the  head  of  a  band  of  horsemen 
was  seen  through  the  trees.  They  were  some  thirty  in 
number,  and,  closely  grouped  as  they  were  together,  the 
watchers  behind  the  trees  could  not  see  the  form  of  the 
child  carried  in  their  midst. 

When  they  came  abreast  of  the  concealed  outlaws 
Cnut  gave  a  sharp  whistle,  and  fifty  arrows  flew  from 
tree  and  bush  into  the  closely  gathered  party  of  horsemen. 
More  than  half  their  number  fell  at  once;  some,  drawing 


THE  EOT  KNIGHT.  15 

their  swords,  endeavored  to  rush  at  their  concealed  foes, 
while  others  dashed  forward  in  the  hope  of  riding 
through  the  snare  into  which  they  had  fallen.  Cuth- 
bert  had  leveled  his  crossbow,  but  had  not  fired;  he  was 
watching  with  intense  anxiety  for  a  glimpse  of  the 
bright-colored  dress  of  the  child.  Soon  he  saw  a  horse- 
man separate  himself  from  the  rest  and  dash  forward  at 
full  speed.  Several  arrows  flew  by  him,  and  one  or  two 
struck  the  horse  on  which  he  rode. 

The  animal,  however,  kept  on  its  way. 

Cuthbert  leveled  his  crossbow  on  the  low  arm  of  a 
tree,  and  as  the  rider  came  abreast  of  him  touched  the 
trigger,  and  the  steel-pointed  quarrel  flew  true  and  strong 
against  the  temple  of  the  passing  horseman.  He  fell 
from  his  horse  like  a  stone,  and  the  well-trained  animal 
at  once  stood  still  by  the  side  of  his  rider. 

Cuthbert  leaped  forward,  and  to  his  delight  the  child 
at  once  opened  her  arms  and  cried  in  a  joyous  tone: 

"Cuthbert!" 

The  fight  was  still  raging  fiercely,  and  Cuthbert,  rais- 
ing her  from  the  ground,  ran  with  her  into  the  wood, 
where  they  remained  hidden  until  the  combat  ceased, 
and  the  last  survivors  of  the  baron's  band  had  ridden 
past  toward  the  castle. 

Then  Cuthbert  went  forward  with  his  charge  and 
joined  the  band  of  outlaws,  who,  absorbed  in  the  fight, 
had  not  witnessed  the  incident  of  her  rescue,  and  now 
received  them  with  loud  shouts  of  joy  and  triumph. 

"This  is  a  good  day's  work  indeed  for  all,"  Cuthbert 
said;  "it  will  make  of.  the  earl  a  firm  friend  instead  of  a 
'bitter  enemy;  and  I  doubt  not  that  better  days  are  damn- 
ing for  Evesham  Forest." 

A  litter  was  speedily  made  with  boughs;  on  this  Mar- 
garet was  placed,  and  on  the  shoulders  of  two  stout 
foresters  started  for  home,  Cnut  and  Cuthbert  walking 


16  SHE  BOY  KNIGHT. 

beside,  and  a  few  of  the  band  keeping  at  a  short  distance 
behind,  as  a  sort  of  rearguard  should  the  baron  attempt 
to  regain  his  prey. 

There  was  now  no  cause  for  speed,  and  Cuthbert  in 
truth  could  scarce  drag  one  foot  before  another,  for  he 
had  already  traversed  over  twenty  miles,  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  distance  at  his  highest  rate  of  speed. 

Cnut  offered  to  have  a  litter  made  for  him  also,  but 
this  Cuthbert  indignantly  refused;  however,  in  the  forest 
they  came  upon  the  hut  of  a  small  cultivator,  who  had  a 
rough  forest  pony,  which  was  borrowed  for  Cuthbert's 
use. 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  they  came  in  sight 
of  Evesham  Castle.  From  the  distance  could  be  seen 
bodies  of  armed  men  galloping  toward  it,  and  it  wac 
clear  that  only  now  the  party  were  returning  from  the 
wood,  and  had  learned  the  news  of  the  disappearance 
of  the  earl's  daughter,  and  of  the  finding  of  the  bodies 
of  her  attendants. 

Presently  they  met  one  of  the  mounted  retainers  rid- 
ing at  headlong  speed. 

"Have  you  heard  or  seen  anything,"  he  shouted,  as  he 
approached,  "of  the  Lady  Margaret?  She  is  missing, 
and  foul  play  has  taken  place." 

"Here  I  am  Kudolph,"  cried  the  child,  sitting  up  on 
the  rude  litter. 

The  horseman  gave  a  cry  of  astonishment  and  pleasure, 
and  without  a  word  wheeled  his  horse  and  galloped  past 
back  at  headlong  speed  toward  the  castle. 

As  Cuthbert  and  the  party  approached  the  gate  the 
earl  himself,  surrounded  by  his  knights  and  followers, 
rode  out  hastily  from  the  gate  and  halted  in  front  of  the 
little  party.  The  litter  was  lowered,  and  as  he  dis- 
mounted from  his  horse  his  daughter  sprang  out  and 
leaped  into  his  arms. 


SHE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  17 

For  a  few  minutes  the  confusion  and  babble  of  tongues 
were  too  great  for  anything  to  be  heard,  but  Cuthbert, 
as  soon  as  order  was  somewhat  restored,  stated  what  had 
happened,  and  the  earl  was  moved  to  fury  at  the  news 
of  the  outrage  which  had  been  perpetrated  by  the  Baron 
of  Wortham  upon  his  daughter  and  at  the  very  gates  of 
his  castle,  and  also  at  the  thought  that  she  should  have 
been  saved  by  the  bravery  and  devotion  of  the  very  men 
against  whom  he  had  so  lately  been  vowing  vengeance  in 
the  depths  of  the  forest. 

"This  is  not  a  time,"  he  said  to  Cnut,  "for  talking  or 
making  promises,  but  be  assured  that  henceforth  the 
deer  of  Evesham  Chase  are  as  free  to  you  and  your  men 
as  to  me.  Forest  laws  or  no  forest  laws,  I  will  no  more 
lift  a  hand  against  men  to  whom  I  owe  so  much.  Come 
when  you  will  to  the  castle,  my  friends,  and  let  us  talk 
over  what  can  be  done  to  rase  your  outlawry  and  restore 
you  to  an  honest  career  again." 

Cuthbert  returned  home  tired,  but  delighted  with  his 
day's  work,  and  Dame  Editha  was  surprised  indeed  with 
the  tale  of  adventure  he  had  to  tell.  The  next  morning 
he  went  over  to  the  castle,  and  heard  that  a  grand  coun- 
cil had  been  held  the  evening  before,  and  that  it  had  been 
determined  to  attack  Wortham  Castle  and  to  raze  it  to 
the  ground. 

Immediately  on  hearing  of  his  arrival  the  earl,  after 
again  expressing  his  gratitude  for  the  rescue  of  his 
daughter,  asked  him  if  he  would  go  into  the  forest  and 
invite  the  outlaws  to  join  their  forces  with  those  of  the 
castle  to  attack  the  baron. 

Cuthbert  willingly  undertook  the  mission,  as  he  felt 
that  this  alliance  would  further  strengthen  the  position 
of  the  forest  men. 

When  he  arrived  there  was  some  considerable  consul- 
tation and  discussion  between  the  outlaws  as  to  the  ex- 


lg  THE  BO  7  KNIGHT. 

pediency  of  mixing  themselves  in  the  quarrels  between 
the  Norman  barons.  However,  Cnut  persuaded  them 
that  as  the  Baron  of  Wortham  was  an  enemy  and  oppressor 
of  all  Saxons,  it  was  in  fact  their  own  quarrel  that  they 
were  fighting  rather  than  that  of  the  earl,  and  they 
therefore  agreed  to  give  their  aid,  and  promised  to  be  at 
the  rendezvous  outside  the  castle  to  be  attacked,  soon 
after  dawn  next  morning.  Cuthbert  returned  with  the 
news,  which  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  earl. 

The  castle  was  now  a  scene  of  bustle  and  business; 
armorers  were  at  work  repairing  headpieces  and  breast- 
plates, sharpening  swords  and  battle-axes,  while  the 
tletchers  prepared  sheaves  of  arrows.  In  the  courtyard 
a  number  of  men  were  engaged  oiling  the  catapults, 
ballistas,  and  other  machines  for  hurling  stones.  All 
were  discussing  the  chances  of  the  assault,  for  it  was  no 
easy  matter  which  they  had  set  themselves  to  do. 
TVortham  Hold  was  an  extremely  strong  one,  and  it 
needed  all  and  more  than  all  the  machines  at  their  dis- 
posal to  undertake  so  formidable  an  operation  as  a  siege. 
The  garrison,  too,  were  strong  and  desperate;  and  the 
baron,  knowing  what  must  follow  his  outrage  of  the  day 
before,  would  have  been  sure  to  send  off  messengers 
round  the  country  begging  his  friends  to  come  to  his 
assistance.  Cuthbert  had  begged  permission  of  his 
mother  to  ask  the  earl  to  allow  him  to  join  as  a  volun- 
teer, but  she  would  not  hear  of  it.  Neither  would  she 
suffer  him  to  mingle  with  the  foresters.  The  utmost 
that  he  could  obtain  was  that  he  might  go  as  a  spectator, 
with  strict  injunctions  to  keep  himself  out  of  the  fray, 
and  as  far  as  possible  beyond  bowshot  of  the  castle  wall. 

It  was  a  force  of  some  four  hundred  strong  that  issued 
from  the  wood  early  next  morning  to  attack  the  strong- 
hold at  Wortham.  The  force  consisted  of  some  ten  or 
twelve  knights  and  barons,  some  one  hundred  and  fifty 


THE  BO  T  KNIBHT.  19 

or  one  hundred  and  sixty  Norman  men-at-arms,  a  mis- 
cellaneous gathering  of  other  retainers,  two  hundred 
strong,  and  some  eighty  of  the  forest  men.  These  last 
were  not  to  fight  under  the  earl's  banner,  but  were  to 
act  on  their  own  account.  There  were  among  them 
outlaws,  escaped  serfs,  and  some  men  guilty  of  blood* 
shed.  The  earl,  then,  could  not  have  suffered  these  men 
to  fight  under  his  flag  until  purged  in  some  way  of  their 
offenses. 

This  arrangement  suited  the  foresters  well. 

Their  strong  point  was  shooting;  and  by  taking  up 
their  position,  and  following  their  own  tactics,  under 
the  leadership  of  Cnut,  they  would  be  able  to  do  far 
more  execution,  and  that  with  less  risk  to  themselves, 
than  if  compelled  to  fight  according  to  the  fashion  of 
the  Normans. 

As  they  approached  the  castle  a  trumpet  was  blown, 
and  the  herald,  advancing,  demanded  its  surrender,  stig- 
matized the  Baron  of  Wortham  as  a  false  knight  and  a 
disgrace  to  his  class,  and  warned  all  those  within  the 
castle  to  abstain  from  giving  him  aid  or  countenance, 
but  to  submit  themselves  to  the  earl,  Sir  Walter  of  Eves- 
ham,  the  representative  of  King  Richard. 

The  reply  to  the  summona  was  a  burst  of  taunting 
laughter  from  the  walls;  and  scarcely  had  the  herald 
withdrawn  than  a  flight  of  arrows  showed  that  the  be- 
sieged were  perfectly  ready  for  the  fray. 

Indeed,  the  baron  had  not  been  idle.  Already  the 
dispute  between  himself  and  the  earl  had  come  to  such  a 
point  that  it  was  certain  that  sooner  or  later  open  hostili- 
ties would  break  out. 

He  had  therefore  been  for  some  time  quietly  accumu- 
lating a  large  store  of  provisions  and  munitions  of  war, 
and  strengthening  the  castle  in  every  way. 

The  moat  had  been  cleaned  out,  and  filled  to  the  brim 


20  THE  EOT  KNIGHT. 

with  water.  Great  quantities  of  heavy  stones  had  been 
accumulated  on  the  most  exposed  points  of  the  walls,  in 
readiness  to  hurl  upon  any  who  might  try  to  climb. 
Huge  sheaves  of  arrows  and  piles  of  crossbow  bolts  were 
in  readiness,  and  in  all,  save  the  number  of  men, 
Wortham  had  for  weeks  been  prepared  for  the  siege. 

On  the  day  when  the  attempt  to  carry  off  the  earl's 
daughter  had  failed,  the  baron,  seeing  that  his  bold 
stroke  to  obtain  a  hostage  which  would  have  enabled  him 
to  make  his  own  terms  with  the  earl  had  been  thwarted, 
knew  that  the  straggle  was  inevitable. 

Fleet  messengers  had  been  sent  in  all  directions.  To 
Gloucester  and  Hereford,  Stafford,  and  even  Oxford, 
men  had  ridden,  with  letters  to  the  baron's  friends,  be- 
seeching them  to  march  to  his  assistance. 

"I  can,"  he  said,  "defend  my  hold  for  weeks.  But  it 
is  only  by  aid  from  without  that  I  can  finally  hope  to 
break  the  power  of  this  braggart  earl." 

Many  of  those  to  whom  he  addressed  his  call  had 
speedily  complied  with  his  demand,  while  those  at  a  dis- 
tance might  be  expected  to  reply  later  to  the  appeal. 

There  were  many  among  the  barons  who  considered 
the  mildness  of  the  Earl  of  Evesham  toward  the  Saxons 
in  his  district  to  be  a  mistake,  and  who,  although  not 
actually  approving  of  the  tyranny  and  brutality  of  the 
Baron  of  Wortham,  yet  looked  upon  his  cause  to  some 
extent  as  their  own. 

The  castle  of  Wortham  stood  upon  ground  but  very 
slightly  elevated  above  the  surrounding  country.  A 
deep  and  wide  moat  ran  round  it,  and  this  could,  by 
diverting  a  rivulet,  be  filled  at  will. 

From  the  edge  of  the  moat  the  walls  rose  high,  and 
with  strong  flanking  towers  and  battlements. 

There  were  strong  works  also  beyond  the  moat  oppo- 
site to  the  drawbridge;  while  in  the  center  of  the  castle 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  21 


22  THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 

Once  there,  the  combat  was  virtually  over. 

The  defenders  were  either  cut  down  or  taken  pris- 
oners, and  in  two  hours  after  the  assault  began  the 
outwork  of  Wortham  Castle  was  taken. 

This,  however,  was  but  the  commencement  of  the 
undertaking,  and  it  had  cost  more  than  twenty  lives  t« 
the  assailants. 

They  were  now,  indeed,  little  nearer  to  capturing  the 
castle  than  they  had  been  before. 

The  moat  was  wide  and  deep.  The  drawbridge  had 
been  lifted  at  the  instant  that  the  first  of  the  assailants 
gained  a  footing  upon  the  wail.  And  now  that  the  out- 
work was  captured,  a  storm  of  arrows,  stones,  and  other 
missiles  was  poured  into  it  from  the  castle  walls,  and 
rendered  it  impossible  for  any  of  its  new  masters  to  show 
themselves  above  it. 

Seeing  that  any  sudden  attack  was  impossible,  the  earl 
now  directed  a  strong  body  to  cut  down  trees,  and  prepare 
a  movable  bridge  to  throw  across  the  moat. 

This  would  be  a  work  of  fully  two  days;  and  in  the 
meantime  Cuthbert  returned  to  the  farm. 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT.  ** 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE  CAPTURE  OF  WOBTHAM  HOLD. 

UPON  his  return  home,  after  relating  to  his  mother 
the  events  of  the  morning's  conflict,  Cuthbert  took  his 
way  to  the  cottage  inhabited  by  an  old  man  who  had  in 
his  youth  been  a  mason. 

"Have  I  not  heard,  Gurth,"  he  said,  "that  you  helped 
to  build  the  Castle  of  Wortham?" 

"No,  no,  young  sir,"  he  said;  "old  as  I  am,  I  was  a 
child  when  the  castle  was  built.  My  father  worked  at 
it,  and  it  cost  him,  and  many  others,  his  life." 

"And  how  was  that,  prithee?"  asked  Cuthbert. 

"He  was,  with  several  others,  killed  by  the  baron,  the 
grandfather  of  the  present  man,  when  the  work  was 
finished." 

"But  why  was  that,  Gurth?" 

"We  were  but  Saxon  swine,"  said  Gurth  bitterly,  "and 
a  few  of  us  more  or  less  mattered  not.  We  were  then 
serfs  of  the  baron.  But  my  mother  fled  with  me  on  the 
news  of  my  father's  death.  For  years  we  remained  far 
away,  with  some  friends  in  a  forest  near  Oxford.  Then 
she  pined  for  her  native  air,  and  came  back  and  entered 
the  service  of  the  franklin." 

"But  why  should  your  mother  have  taken  you  away?" 
Cuthbert  asked. 

"She  always  believed,  Master  Cuthbert,  that  my  father 
was  killed  by  the  baron,  to  prevent  him  giving  any  news 


24  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

of  the  secrets  of  the  castle.  He  and  some  others  had 
been  kept  in  the  walls  for  many  months,  and  were  en- 
gaged in  the  making  of  secret  passages." 

"That  is  just  what  I  came  to  ask  you,  Gurth.  I  have 
heard  something  of  this  story  before,  and  now  that  we 
are  attacking  Wortham  Castle,  and  the  earl  has  sworn 
to  level  it  to  the  ground,  it  is  of  importance  if  possible 
to  find  out  whether  any  of  the  secret  passages  lead  be- 
yond the  castle,  and  if  so,  where.  Almost  all  the  castles 
have,  I  have  been  told,  an  exit  by  which  the  garrison  can 
at  will  make  sorties  or  escape;  and  I  thought  that  maybe 
you  might  have  heard  enough  to  give  us  some  clew  as  to 
the  existence  of  such  a  passage  at  Wortham." 

The  old  man  thought  for  some  time  in  silence,  and 
then  said: 

"I  may  be  mistaken,  but  methinks  a  diligent  search  in 
the  copse  near  the  stream  might  find  the  mouth  of  the 
outlet." 

"What  makes  you  think  that  this  is  so,  Gurth?" 

"I  had  been  with  my  mother  to  carry  ^ome  clothes  to 
my  father  on  the  last  occasion  on  which  I  saw  him.  As 
we  neared  the  castle  I  saw  my  father  and  three  other  of 
the  workmen,  together  with  the  baron,  coming  down 
from  the  castle  toward  the  spot.  As  my  mother  did  not 
wish  to  approach  while  the  baron  was  at  hand,  we  stood 
within  the  trees  at  the  edge  of  the  wood,  and  watched 
what  was  being  done.  The  baron  came  with  them  down 
to  the  bushes,  and  then  they  again  came  out,  crossed  the 
river,  and  one  of  them  cut  some  willows,  peeled  them, 
and  erected  the  white  staves  in  a  line  toward  the  castle. 
They  walked  for  a  bit  on  each  side,  and  seemed  to  be 
making  calculations.  Then  they  went  back  into  the 
castle,  and  I  never  saw  my  father  again." 

"Why  did  you  not  go  in  at  once  according  to  your 
intention?" 


THE  BO  7  KNIGHT.  25 

"'Because  my  mother  said  that  she  thought  some  im- 
portant work  was  on  hand,  and  that  maybe  the  baron 
would  not  like  that  women  should  know  aught  of  it,  for 
he  was  of  suspicious  and  evil  mind.  More  than  this  I 
know  not.  The  castle  had  already  been  finished,  and 
most  of  the  masons  discharged.  There  were,  however, 
a  party  of  serfs  kept  at  work,  and  also  some  masons,  and 
rumor  had  it  that  they  were  engaged  in  making  the 
secret  passages.  Whether  it  was  so  or  not  I  cannot  say, 
but  I  know  that  none  of  that  party  ever  left  the  castle 
alive.  It  was  given  out  that  a  bad  fever  had  raged 
there,  but  none  believed  it;  and  the  report  went  about, 
and  was  I  doubt  not  true,  that  all  had  been  killed,  to 
preserve  the  secret  of  the  passage." 

Cuthbert  lost  no  time  in  making  use  of  the  informa- 
tion that  he  had  gained. 

Early  next  morning,  at  daybreak,  he  started  on  his 
pony  to  Wortham. 

As  he  did  not  wish  the  earl  or  his  followers  to  know 
the  facts  that  he  had  learned  until  they  were  proved,  he 
made  his  way  round  the  camp  of  the  besiegers,  and  by 
means  of  his  whistle  called  one  of  the  foresters  to  him. 

"Where  is  Onut?"  he  asked. 

"He  is  with  a  party  occupied  in  making  ladders." 

"Go  to  him,"  Cuthbert  said,  "and  tell  him  to  with- 
draw quietly  and  make  his  way  here.  I  have  an  impor- 
tant matter  on  which  I  wish  to  speak  to  him." 

Cnut  arrived  in  a  few  minutes,  somewhat  wondering 
at  the  message.  He  brightened  greatly  when  Cuthbert 
told  him  what  he  had  learned. 

"This  is  indeed  important,"  he  said.  "We  will  lose 
no  time  in  searching  the  copse  you  speak  of.  You  and 
I  together  with  two  of  my  most  trusty  men,  with  axes  to 
clear  away  the  brush,  will  do.  At  present  a  thing  «f  this 
sort  had  best  be  kept  between  as  few  as  may  be." 


26  fHE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

They  started  at  once  and  soon  came  down  upon  the 
stream. 

It  ran  at  this  point  in  a  little  valley,  some  twenty  or 
thirty  feet  deep.  On  the  bank  not  far  from  th£  "tie 
grew  a  small  wood,  and  it  was  in  this  th*>t  '0"A"  rt 
hoped  to  find  the  passage  spoken  of  by  G 

The  trees  and  brushwood  were  so  th  .».  ^  ts 

apparent  at  once  that  if  the  passage  had  ever  existed  it 
had  been  unused  for  some  years. 

The  woodmen  were  obliged  to  chop  down  dozens  of 
young  saplings  to  make  their  way  up  from  the  water 
toward  the  steeper  yart  of  the  bank. 

The  wood  was  some  fifty  yards  in  length,  and  as  it  was 
uncertain  at  which  point  the  passage  had  come  out,  a 
very  minute  search  had  to  be  made. 

"What  do  you  think  it  would  be  like,  Cnut?"  Cuth- 
bert  asked. 

"Like  enough  to  a  rabbit-hole,  or  more  likely  still 
there  would  be  no  hole  whatever.  We  must  look  for 
moss  and  greenery,  for  it  is  likely  that  such  would  have 
been  planted,  so  as  to  conceal  the  door  from  any  passer- 
by, while  yet  allowing  a  party  from  inside  to  cut  their 
way  through  it  without  difficulty." 

After  a  search  of  two  hours  Cnut  decided  that  the 
only  place  in  the  copse  in  which  it  was  likely  that  the 
entrance  to  a  passage  could  be  hidden  was  a  spot  where 
the  ground  was  covered  thickly  with  ivy  and  trailing 
plants. 

"It  looks  level  enough  with  the  rest,"  Outhbert  said. 

"Ay,  lad,  but  we  know  not  what  lies  behind  this  thick 
screen  of  ivy.  Thrust  in  that  staff." 

One  of  the  woodmen  began  to  probe  with  the  end  of  a 
staff  among  the  ivy.  For  some  time  he  was  met  by  the 
solid  ground,  but  presently  the  butt  of  the  staff  went 
through  suddenly,  pitching  him  on  his  head,  amid  a 
suppressed  laugh  from  his  comrades. 


THE  EOT  KNIGHT.  27 

"Here  it  is,  if  anywhere,"  said  Cnut,  and  with  their 
billhooks  they  at  once  began  to  clear  away  the  thickly 
grown  creepers. 

Fiy~0  jynutes'  work  was  sufficient  to  show  a  narrow 
cut,  -ype  tw-O'feet  wide,  in  the  hillside,  at  the  end  of 
wl.  .  #  door. 

jfiid  Cnut,  with  triumph,  "and  the  castle 
is  ours.  Thanks,  Cuthbert,  for  your  thought  and  intel- 
ligence. It  has  not  been  used  lately,  that  is  clear,"  he 
went  on.  "These  creepers  have  not  been  moved  for 
years.  Shall  we  go  and  tell  the  earl  of  our  discovery? 
What  think  you,  Cuthbert?" 

"I  think  we  had  better  not,"  Cuthbert  said.  "We 
might  not  succeed  in  getting  in,  as  the  passage  may  have 
fallen  further  along;  but  I  will  speak  to  him  and  tell 
him  that  we  have  something  on  hand  which  may  alter  his 
dispositions  for  fighting  to-morrow." 

Cuthbert  made  his  way  to  the  earl,  who  had  taken  pos- 
session of  a  small  cottage  a  short  distance  from  the 
castle. 

"What  can  I  do  for  you?"  Sir  Walter  said. 

"I  want  to  ask  you,  sir,  not  to  attack  the  castle  to- 
morrow until  you  see  a  white  flag  waved  from  the  keep." 

"But  how  on  earth  is  a  white  flag  to  be  raised  from 
the  keep?" 

"It  may  be,"  Cuthbert  said,  "that  I  have  some  friends 
inside  who  will  be  able  to  make  a  diversion  in  our  favor. 
However,  sir,  it  can  do  no  harm  if  you  will  wait  till  iiiea, 
and  may  save  many  lives.  At  what  hour  do  you  mean 
to  attack?" 

"The  bridges  and  all  other  preparations  to  assist  us 
across  the  moat  will  be  ready  to-night.  We  will  advance 
then  under  cover  of  darkness,  and  as  soon  after  dawn  as 
may  be  attack  in  earnest." 

"Very  well,  sir,"  Cuthbert  said.     "I  trust  that  within 


28  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

five  minutes  after  your  bugle  has  sounded  the  white  flag 
will  make  its  appearance  on  the  keep,  but  it  cannot  do 
so  until  after  you  have  commenced  an  attack,  or  at  least 
a  pretense  of  an  attack." 

Two  or  three  hours  before  daylight  Cuthbert  accom- 
panied Cnut  and  twenty-five  picked  men  of  the  foresters 
to  the  copse.  They  were  provided  with  crowbars,  and 
all  carried  heavy  axes.  The  door  was  soon  pried  open. 
It  opened  silently  and  without  a  creak. 

"It  may  be,"  Cnut  said,  "that  the  door  has  not  been 
opened  as  you  say  for  years,  but  it  is  certain,"  and  he 
placed  his  torch  to  the  hinges,  "that  it  has  been  well 
oiled  within  the  last  two  or  three  days.  No  doubt  the 
baron  intended  to  make  his  escape  this  way  should  the 
worst  arrive.  Now  that  we  have  the  door  open  we  had 
better  wait  quiet  until  the  dawn  commences.  The  earl 
will  blow  his  bugle  as  a  signal  for  the  advance;  it  will 
be  another  ten  minutes  before  they  are  fairly  engaged, 
and  that  will  be  enough  for  us  to  break  open  any  doors 
that  there  may  be  between  this  and  the  castle,  and  to 
force  our  way  inside." 

It  seemed  a  long  time  waiting  before  the  dawn  fairly 
broke — still  longer  before  the  earl's  bugle  was  heard  to 
sound  the  attack.  Then  the  band,  headed  by  Cnut  and 
two  or  three  of  the  strongest  of  the  party,  entered  the 
passage. 

Cuthbert  had  had  some  misgivings  as  to  his  mother's 
injunctions  to  take  no  part  in  the  fray,  and  it  cannot  be 
said  that  in  accompanying  the  foresters  he  obeyed  the 
letter  of  her  instructions.  At  the  same  time,  as  he  felt 
sure  that  the  effect  of  a  surprise  would  be  complete  and 
crushing,  and  that  the  party  would  gain  the  top  of  the 
keep  without  any  serious  resistance,  he  considered  the 
risk  was  so  small  as  to  justify  him  in  accompanying 
the  foresters. 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  29 

The  passage  was  some  five  feet  high,  and  little  more 
than  two  feet  wide.  It  was  dry  and  dusty,  and  save  the 
marks  on  the  ground  of  a  human  foot  going  and  return- 
ing, doubtless  that  of  the  man  who  had  oiled  the  lock 
the  day  before,  the  passage  appeared  to  have  been  un- 
used from  the  time  that  it  left  the  hands  of  its  builders. 

Passing  along  for  some  distance  they  came  to  another 
strong  oaken  door.  This,  like  the  last,  yielded  to  the 
efforts  of  the  crowbars  of  the  foresters,  and  they  again 
advanced.  Presently  they  came  to  a  flight  of  steps. 

"We  must  now  be  near  the  castle/'  Cnut  said.  "In 
fact,  methinks  I  can  hear  confused  noises  ahead." 

Mounting  the  steps,  they  came  to  a  third  door;  this 
was  thickly  studded  with  iron,  and  appeared  of  very 
great  strength.  Fortunately  the  lock  was  upon  their 
side,  and  they  were  enabled  to  shoot  the  bolt;  but  upon 
the  other  side  the  door  was  firmly  secured  by  large  bolts, 
and  it  was  fully  five  minutes  before  the  foresters  could 
succeed  in  opening  it.  It  was  not  without  a  good  deal 
of  noise  that  they  at  last  did  so;  and  several  times  they 
paused,  fearing  that  the  alarm  must  have  been  given  iu 
the  castle.  As,  however,  the  door  remained  closed,  they 
supposed  that  the  occupants  were  fully  engaged  in  de- 
fending themselves  from  the  attacks  of  the  earl's  party. 

When  the  door  gave  way  they  found  hanging  across 
in  front  of  them  a  very  thick  arras,  and  pressing  this 
aside  they  entered  a  small  room  in  the  thickness  of  the 
wall  of  the  keep.  It  contained  the  merest  slit  for  light, 
and  was  clearly  unused.  Another  door,  this  time  un- 
fastened, led  into  a  larger  apartment,  which  was  also  at 
present  unoccupied.  They  could  hear  now  the  shouts  of 
the  combatants  without,  the  loud  orders  given  by  -;he 
leaders  on  the  walls,  the  crack,  as  the  stones  hurled  by 
the  mangonels  struck  the  walls,  and  the  ring  of  steel  as 
the  arrows  struck  against  steel  cap  and  cuirass. 


30  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

"It  is  fortunate  that  all  were  so  well  engaged,  or  they 
would  certainly  have  heard  the  noise  of  our  forcing  the 
door,  which  would  have  brought  all  of  them  upon  us. 
As  it  is,  we  are  in  the  heart  of  the  keep.  We  have  now 
but  to  make  a  rush  up  these  winding  steps,  and  me- 
thinks  we  shall  find  ourselves  on  the  battlements.  They 
will  be  so  surprised  that  no  real  resistance  can  be  offered 
to  us.  Now  let  us  advance." 

So  saying  Cnut  led  the  way  upstairs,  followed  by  the 
foresters,  Cuthbert,  as  before,  allowing  five  or  six  of 
them  to  intervene  between  him  and  the  leader.  He 
carried  his  short  sword  and  a  quarter- staff,  a  weapon  by 
no  means  to  be  despised  in  the  hands  of  an  active  and 
experienced  player. 

Presently,  after  mounting  some  fifty  or  sixty  steps, 
they  issued  on  the  platform  of  the  keep. 

Here  were  gathered  some  thirty  or  forty  men,  who 
were  so  busied  in  shooting  with  crossbows,  and  in  work- 
ing machines  casting  javelins,  stones,  and  other  missiles 
upon  the  besiegers,  that  they  were  unaware  of  the  addi- 
tion to  their  numbers  until  the  whole  of  the  foresters 
had  gathered  on  the  summit,  and  at  the  order  of  Cnut 
suddenly  fell  upon  them  with  a  loud  shout.  Taken 
wholly  by  surprise  by  the  foe,  who  seemed  to  have  risen 
from  the  bowels  of  the  earth  by  magic,  the  soldiers  of 
the  Baron  of  Wortham  offered  but  a  feeble  resistance. 
Some  were  cast  over  the  battlement  of  the  keep,  some 
driven  down  staircases,  others  cut  down,  and  then  Outh- 
bert,  fastening  a  small  white  flag  he  had  prepared  to  his 
quarter-staff,  waved  it  above  the  battlements. 

Even  now  the  combatants  on  the  outer  wall  were  in 
ignorance  of  what  had  happened  in  the  keep;  so  great 
was  the  -din  that  the  struggle  which  had  there  taken 
place  had  passed  unnoticed;  and  it  was  not  until  the 
fugitives,  rushing  out  into  the  courtyard,  shouted  that 


THE  BO  7  KNIGHT.  31 

the  keep  had  been  captured,  that  the  besieged  became 
aware  of  the  imminence  of  the  danger. 

Hitherto  the  battle  had  been  going  well  for  the  de- 
fenders of  the  castle.  The  Baron  of  Wortham  was  in- 
deed surprised  at  the  feebleness  of  the  assault.  The 
arrows  which  had  fallen  in  clouds  upon  the  first  day's 
attack  upon  the  castle  among  his  soldiers  were  now  com- 
paratively few  and  ineffective.  The  besiegers  scarcely 
appeared  to  push  forward  their  bridges  with  any  vigor, 
and  it  seemed  to  him  that  a  coldness  had  fallen  upon 
them,  and  that  some  disagreement  must  have  arisen  be- 
tween the  foresters  and  the  earl,  completely  crippling 
the  energy  of  the  attack. 

When  he  heard  the  words  shouted  from  the  courtyard 
below  he  could  not  believe  his  ears.  That  the  keep  be- 
hind should  have  been  carried  by  the  enemy  appeared  to 
him  impossible.  With  a  roar  he  called  upon  the  bravest 
of  his  men  to  follow,  and  rushing  across  the  courtyard, 
rapidly  ascended  the  staircase.  The  movement  was 
observed  from  the  keep,  and  Cnut  and  a  few  of  his  men 
stationed  themselves  with  their  battle-axes  at  the  top  of 
various  stairs  leading  below. 

The  signal  shown  by  Cuthbert  had  not  passed  unob- 
served. The  earl,  who  had  given  instructions  to  his 
followers  to  make  a  mere  feint  of  attacking,  now  blew 
the  signal  for  the  real  onslaught.  The  bridges  were 
rapidly  run  across  the  moat,  ladders  were  planted,  and 
the  garrison  being  paralyzed  and  confused  by  the  attack 
in  their  rear,  as  well  as  hindered  by  the  arrows  which 
now  flew  down  upon  them  from  the  keep  above,  offered 
but  a  feeble  resistance,  and  the  assailants,  led  by  Sir 
Walter  himself,  poured  over  the  walls. 

Now  there  was  a  scene  of  confusion  and  desperate 
strife.  The  baron  had  just  gained  the  top  of  the  stairs, 
and  was  engaged  in  a  fierce  conflict  with  Cnut  and  hi* 


32  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

men,  when  the  news  reached  him  that  the  wall  was 
carried  from  without.  With  an  execration  he  again 
turned  and  rushed  down  the  stairs,  hoping  by  a  vigorous 
effort  to  cast  hack  the  foe. 

It  was,  however,  all  too  late:  his  followers,  disheart- 
ened and  alarmed,  fought  without  method  or  order  in 
scattered  groups  of  threes  and  fours.  They  made  their 
last  stand  in  corners  and  passages.  They  knew  there 
was  but  little  hope  of  mercy  from  the  Saxon  foresters, 
and  against  these  they  fought  to  the  last.  To  the  Nor- 
man retainers,  however,  of  the  earl  they  offered  a  less 
determined  resistance,  throwing  down  their  arms  and 
surrendering  at  discretion. 

The  baron,  when  fiercely  fighting,  was  slain  by  an 
arrow  from  the  keep  above,  and  with  his  fall  the  last 
resistance  ceased.  A  short  time  was  spent  in  searching 
the  castle,  binding  the  prisoners,  and  carrying  off  the 
valuables  that  the  baron  had  collected  in  his  raids. 
Then  a  light  was  set  to  the  timbers,  the  granaries  were 
fired,  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  smoke  wreathing  out  of 
the  various  loopholes  and  openings  told  the  country 
round  that  the  stronghold  had  fallen,  and  that  they  were 
free  from  the  oppressor  at  last. 


THM  BOY  XJflGHR 


CHAPTEB    IV. 

THE     CRUSADES. 

WARM  thanks  and  much  praise  were  bestowed  upon 
Cuthbert  for  his  share  in  the  capture  of  the  castle,  and 
the  earl,  calling  the  foresters  round  him,  then  and  there 
bestowed  freedom  upon  any  of  them  who  might  have 
been  serfs  of  his,  and  called  upon  all  his  knights  and 
neighbors  to  do  the  same,  in  return  for  the  good  service 
which  they  had  rendered. 

This  was  willingly  done,  and  a  number  of  Cnut's  party 
who  had  before  borne  the  stigma  of  escaped  serfs  were 
now  free  men. 

We  are  too  apt  to  forget,  in  our  sympathy  with  the 
Saxons,  that  fond  as  they  were  of  freedom  for  them- 
selves, they  were  yet  severe  masters,  and  kept  the  mass 
of  the  people  in  a  state  of  serfage.  Although  their  laws 
provided  ample  justice  as  between  Saxon  man  and  man, 
there  was  no  justice  for  the  unhappy  serfs,  who  were 
either  the  original  inhabitants  or  captives  taken  in  war, 
and  who  were  distinguished  by  a  collar  of  brass  or  iron 
round  their  neck. 

Cnut's  party  had  indeed  long  got  rid  of  these  badges, 
the  first  act  of  a  serf  when  he  took  to  the  woods  being 
always  to  file  off  his  collar;  but  they  were  liable  when 
caught  to  be  punished,  even  by  death,  and  were  delighted 
at  having  achieved  their  freedom. 

"And  what  can  I  do  for  you,  Cuthbert?"  Sir  Walter 
said,  as  they  rode  homeward.  "It  is  to  you  that  I  am 


34  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

indebted:  in  the  first  place  for  the  rescue  of  my  daughter, 
in  the  second  for  the  capture  of  that  castle,  which  I 
doubt  me  much  whether  we  should  ever  have  taken  in 
fair  fight  had  it  not  been  for  your  aid." 

"Thanks,  Sir  Walter,"  the  lad  replied.  "At  present 
I  need  nothing,  but  should  the  time  come  when  you  may 
go  to  fche  wars,  I  would  fain  ride  with  you  as  your  page, 
in  the  hope  of  some  day  winning  my  spurs  also  in  the 
field." 

"So  shall  it  be,"  the  earl  said,  "and  right  willingly. 
But  who  have  we  here?" 

As  he  spoke  a  horseman  rode  up  and  presented  a 
paper  to  the  earl. 

"This  is  a  notice,"  the  earl  said,  after  perusing  it, 
"that  King  Richard  has  determined  to  take  up  the  cross, 
and  that  he  calls  upon  his  nobles  and  barons  to  join  him 
in  the  effort  to  free  the  holy  sepulcher  from  the  infidels. 
I  douat  whether  the  minds  of  the  people  are  quite  pre- 
pared, but  I  hear  that  there  has  been  much  preaching  by 
friars  and  monks  in  some  parts,  and  that  many  are  eager 
to  join  in  the  war." 

"Think  you  that  you  will  go  to  the  war,  Sir  Walter?" 
Cuthbert  asked. 

"I  know  not  as  yet;  it  must  much  depend  upon  the 
king's  mood.  For  myself,  I  care  not  so  greatly  as  some 
do  about  this  question  of  the  Holy  Land.  There  has 
been  blood  enough  shed  already  to  drown  it,  and  we  are 
no  nearer  than  when  the  first  swarms  of  pilgrims  made 
their  way  thither." 

On  Cuthbert's  returning  home  and  telling  his  mother 
all  that  had  passed,  she  shook  her  head,  but  said  that 
she  could  not  oppose  his  wishes  to  go  with  the  earl  when 
the  time  should  come,  and  that  it  was  only  right  he 
should  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  the  good  knight  his 
father* 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  35 

"I  have  heard  much  of  these  crusades, "  he  said; 
"canst  tell  me  about  them?" 

"In  truth  I  know  not  much,  my  son;  but  Father  Fran- 
cis, I  doubt  not,  can  tell  you  all  the  particulars  anent 
the  affair/' 

The  next  time  that  Father  Francis,  who  was  the 
special  adviser  of  Dame  Editha,  rode  over  from  the  con- 
vent on  his  ambling  nag,  Cuthbert  eagerly  asked  him  if 
he  would  tell  him  what  he  knew  of  the  Crusades. 

"Hitherto,  my  son,"  he  said,  "the  Crusades  have,  it 
must  be  owned,  brought  many  woes  upon  Europe. 
From  the  early  times  great  swarms  of  pilgrims  were 
accustomed  to  go  from  all  parts  of  Europe  to  the  holy 
shrines. 

"When  the  followers  of  the  evil  prophet  took  posses- 
sion of  the  land  they  laid  grievous  burdens  upon  the 
pilgrims,  heavily  they  fined  them,  persecuted  them  in 
every  way,  and  treated  them  as  if  indeed  they  were  but 
the  scum  of  the  earth  under  their  feet. 

"So  terrible  were  the  tales  that  reached  Europe  that 
men  came  to  think  that  it  would  be  a  good  deed,  truly, 
to  wrest  the  sepnlcher  of  the  Lord  from  the  hands  of 
these  heathens.  Pope  Urban  was  the  first  to  give  author- 
ity and  strength  to  the  movement,  nnd  at  a  vast  meeting 
at  Claremont  of  thirty  thousand  clergy  and  four  thou- 
sand barons  it  was  decided  that  war  must  be  made 
against  the  infidel.  From  all  parts  of  France  men 
flocked  to  hear  Pope  Urban  preach  there;  and  when  he 
had  finished  his  oration  the  vast  multitude,  carried  away 
by  enthusiasm,  swore  to  win  the  holy  sepulcher  or  to  die. 
"Mighty  was  the  throng  that  gathered  for  the  First 
Crusade.  Monks  threw  aside  their  gowns  and  took  to 
the  sword  and  cuirass;  even  women  and  children  joined 
in  the  throng.  What,  my  son,  could  be  expected  from 
a  great  army  so  formed?  Without  leaders,  without  dis- 


36  THE  BO  T  KXIGHT. 

cipline,  without  tactics,  without  means  of  getting  food, 
they  soon  became  a  scourge  of  the  country  through 
which  they  passed. 

"Passing  through  Hungary,  where  they  greatly  rav- 
aged the  fields,  they  came  to  Bulgaria.  Here  the  peo- 
ple, struck  with  astonishment  and  dismay  at  this  great 
horde  of  hungry  people  who  arrived  among  them  like 
locusts,  fell  upon  them  with  the  sword,  and  great  num- 
bers fell.  The  first  band  that  passed  into  that  country 
perished  miserably,  and  of  all  that  huge  assembly  it 
may  be  said  that,  numbering  at  the  start  not  less  than 
two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  persons,  only  about  one 
hundred  thousand  crossed  into  Asia  Minor.  The  fate  of 
these  was  no  better  than  that  of  those  who  had  perished 
in  Hungary  and  Bulgaria.  After  grievous  suffering  and 
loss  they  at  last  reached  Nicaea.  There  they  fell  into 
an  ambuscade;  and  out  of  the  whole  of  the  undisciplined 
masses  who  had  followed  Peter  the  Hermit,  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  ten  thousand  ever  returned  home. 

"This  first  attempt  to  rescue  the  holy  sepulcher  wag 
followed  by  others  equally  wild,  misguided,  and  unfor- 
tunate. Some  of  them  indeed  began  their  evil  deeds  as 
soon  as  they  had  left  their  home.  The  last  of  these 
bodies  fell  upon  the  Jews,  who  are  indeed  enemies  of 
the  Christian  faith,  but  who  have  now,  at  least,  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  question  of  the  holy  sepulcher.  As 
soon  as  they  entered  into  Germany  the  crusaders  put 
them  to  death  with  horrible  torture.  Plunder  and 
rapine  indeed  appeared  to  be  the  object  of  the  crusaders. 
On  this  as  well  as  on  most  other  preceding  bands,  their 
misdeeds  drew  down  the  vengeance  of  the  people.  At 
an  early  period  of  their  march,  and  as  soon  as  they 
reached  Hungary,  the  people  fell  upon  them,  and  put 
the  greater  portion  te  the  sword. 

"Thus,  in  these  irregular  expeditions  no  less  than  fiva 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  37 

hundred  thousand  people  are  supposed  to  have  perished. 
Godfrey  de  Bouillon  was  the  first  who  undertook  to  lead 
a  Crusade  according  to  the  military  knowledge  of  the 
day.  With  him  were  his  brothers,  Eustace  and  Bald- 
win, the  Counts  of  Anault  and  St.  Paul,  and  many  other 
nobles  and  gentlemen,  with  their  retainers,  well  armed 
and  ander  good  order;  and  so  firm  was  the  discipline  of 
Duke  Godfrey  that  they  were  allowed  to  pass  freely,  by 
the  people  of  the  countries  who  had  opposed  the  previous 
bands. 

"Through  Hungary,  Bulgaria,  and  Thrace  he  made 
his  way;  and  though  he  met  with  many  difficulties  from 
Alexius,  the  crafty  and  treacherous  Emperor  of  the 
Greeks,  he  at  last  succeeded  in  crossing  into  Asia. 
There  he  was  joined  by  many  from  England,  as  well  as 
from  France  and  other  countries.  Duke  Kobert,  the  son 
of  our  first  William,  led  a  strong  band  of  Normans  to 
the  war,  as  did  the  other  great  princes  of  France  and 
Spain. 

"The  army  which  crossed  the  narrow  passage  of  the 
Hellespont  is  estimated  at  no  less  than  seven  hundred 
thousand  fighting  men.  Of  these  one  hundred  thousand 
were  knights  clad  in  complete  armor,  the  remainder  were 
men-at-arms  and  bowmen. 

"Nicaea,  the  place  which  had  been  the  scene  of  the 
massacre  of  Peter  the  Hermit's  hosts,  was  taken  after  a 
desperate  conflict,  lasting  for  many  weeks,  and  the  cru- 
saders afterward  defeated  the  Turks  in  a  great  battle 
near  the  town  of  Doryleum.  After  these  successes  dis- 
putes arose  among  the  leaders,  and  Count  Baldwin, 
brother  of  Duke  Godfrey,  left  the  main  body  with  about 
fifteen  hundred  men,  and  founded  a  kingdom  for  him- 
self in  Mesopotamia. 

"The  main  body,  slowly  and  painfully,  and  suffering 
from  disease,  famine,  and  the  heat,  made  its  way  south. 


33  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

Antioch,  a  city  of  great  strength  and  importance,  was 
besieged,  .but  it  proved  so  strong  that  it  resisted  for 
many  months,  and  was  at  last  only  taken  by  treachery. 

*  After  the  capture  of  this  place  the  sufferings  of  the 
cn^aders  so  far  from  being  diminished  were  redoubled. 
They  themselves  during  the  siege  had  bought  up  all  the 
food  that  could  be  brought  from  the  surrounding  coun- 
trr  while  the  magazines  of  the  town  were  found,  when 
an  entry  was  effected,  to  be  entirely  deserted.  The 
enemy,  aided  by  a  great  Persian  host,  came  down,  and 
those  who  had  been  the  besiegers  were  now  besiegedc 
Hovsver,  when  in  the  last  strait  the  Christian  army  sal- 
lied out,  and  inspired  with  supernatural  strength, 
defeated  the  Turks  and  Persians,  with  a  slaughter  of  one 
hundred  thousand  men.  Another  slow  movement  to 
the  south  brought  them  into  the  Holy  Land,  and  press- 
ing forward  they  came  at  last  within  sight  of  Jerusalem 
itself. 

"So  fearful  had  been  the  losses  of  the  crusaders  that  of 
seven  hundred  thousand  who  crossed  the  Hellespont,  not 
more  than  forty  thousand  reached  the  end  of  the  pil- 
grimage. This  fragment  of  an  army,  which  had  appeared 
before  a  very  strongly  fortified  town,  possessed  no  means 
of  capturing  the  place — none  of  the  machines  of  war 
necessary  for  the  purpose,  no  provisions  or  munitions 
of  any  kind.  Water  was  scarce  also;  and  it  appeared  as 
if  the  remnant  of  the  great  army  of  Godfrey  de  Bouillon 
had  arrived  before  Jerusalem  only  to  perish  there. 

"Happily  just  at  this  time  a  further  band  of  crusaders 
from  Genoa,  who  had  reached  Jaffa,  made  their  appear- 
ance. They  were  provided  with  stores,  and  had  skilled 
workmen  capable  of  making  the  machines  for  the  siege. 
On  July  14,  1099,  the  attack  was  made,  and  after 
resistance  gallant  and  desperate  as  the  assault,  the  crusa- 
ders burst  into  the  city,  massacred  the  whole  of  the 


THE  BO  7  KNIQftT.  39 

defenders  and  inhabitants,  calculated  at  seventy  thou- 
sand in  number,  and  so  became  masters  of  the  holy 
sepulcher. 

"The  Sultan  of  Egypt  was  meanwhile  advancing  to 
the  assistance  of  the  Mohammedans  of  Syria;  but  God- 
frey, with  twenty  thousand  of  his  best  men,  advanced  to 
meet  the  vast  host,  and  scattered  them  as  if  they  had 
been  sheep.  Godfrey  was  now  chosen  King  of  Jeru- 
salem, and  the  rest  of  his  army — save  three  hundred 
knights  and  two  hundred  soldiers,  who  agreed  to  remain 
with  him — returned  to  their  homes.  The  news  of  the 
victory  led  other  armies  of  crusaders  to  follow  the  exam- 
ple of  that  of  Godfrey;  but  as  these  were  almost  as  com- 
pletely without  organization  or  leadership  as  those  of 
Peter  the  Hermit,  they  suffered  miserably  on  their  way, 
and  few  indeed  ever  reached  the  Holy  Land.  Godfrey 
died  in  1100,  and  his  brother  Baldwin  succeeded  him. 

"The  history  of  the  last  one  hundred  years  has  been  full 
of  fresh  efforts  to  crush  the  Moslem  power,  but  hitherto 
it  cannot  be  said  that  fortune  has  attended  the  efforts  of 
the  Christians.  Had  it  not  been  indeed  for  the  devotion 
of  the  Knights  of  St.  John  and  of  the  Templars,  two 
great  companies  formed  of  men  who  devoted  their  lives 
to  the  holding  of  the  sepulcher  against  the  infidel,  our 
held  of  the  Holy  Land  would  have  been  lost. 

"Gradually  the  Saracens  have  wrested  post  after  post 
from  our  hands.  Edessa  was  taken  in  1144,  and  the 
news  of  this  event  created  an  intense  excitement.  The 
holy  St.  Bernard  stirred  up  all  France,  and  Louis  VII. 
himself  took  the  vow  and  headed  a  noble  army.  The 
ways  of  God  are  not  our  ways,  and  although  the  army 
of  Germany  joined  that  of  France,  but  little  results  came 
of  this  great  effort.  The  Emperor  Conrad,  with  the 
Germans,  was  attacked  by  the  Turk  Saladin  of  Iconium, 
and  was  defeated  with  a  loss  of  sixty  thousand  menc 


40  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

The  King  of  France,  with  his  army,  was  also  attacked 
with  fury,  and  a  large  portion  of  his  force  were  slaugh- 
tered. Nothing  more  came  of  this  great  effort,  and  while 
the  first  Crusade  seemed  to  show  that  the  men-at-arms 
of  Europe  were  irresistible,  the  second  on  the  contrary 
gave  proof  that  the  Turks  were  equal  to  the  Christian 
knights.  Gradually  the  Christian  hold  of  the  Holy  Land 
was  shaken.  In  1187,  although  fighting  with  extraor- 
dinary bravery,  the  small  army  of  Christian  Knights  of 
the  Temple  and  of  St.  John  were  annihilated,  the  King  of 
Jerusalem  was  made  prisoner,  and  the  Christian  power 
was  crushed.  Then  Saladin,  who  commanded  the  Turks, 
advanced  against  Jerusalem,  and  forced  it  to  capitulate. 

"Such,  my  boy,  is  the  last  sad  news  which  has  reached 
us;  and  no  wonder  that  it  has  stirred  the  hearts  of  the 
monarchs  of  Europe,  and  that  every  effort  will  be  again 
made  to  recapture  the  holy  sepulcher,  and  to  avenge  our 
brethren  who  have  been  murdered  by  the  infidels.'' 

"But,  Father  Francis,  from  your  story  it  would  seem 
that  Europe  has  already  sacrificed  an  enormous  number 
of  lives  to  take  the  holy  sepulcher,  and  that  after  all  the 
fighting,  when  she  has  taken  it,  it  is  only  to  lose  it 
again." 

"That  is  so,  my  son;  but  we  will  trust  that  in  future 
things  will  be  better  managed.  The  Templars  and 
Hospitallers  now  number  so  vast  a  number  of  the  best 
lances  in  Europe,  and  are  grown  to  be  such  great  powers, 
that  we  may  believe  that  when  we  have  again  wrested 
the  holy  sepulcher  from  the  hands  of  the  infidels  they 
will  he  able  to  maintain  it  against  all  assaults.  Doubt- 
less the  great  misfortunes  which  have  fallen  upon  the 
Christian  armies  have  been  a  punishment  from  Heaven, 
because  they  have  not  gone  to  work  in  the  right  spirit. 
It  is  not  enough  to  take  up  lance  and  shield,  and  to 
place  a  red  cross  upon  the  shoulder.  Those  who  desire 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  41 

to  fight  the  battle  of  the  Lord  must  cleanse  their  hearts, 
and  go  forth  in  the  spirit  of  pilgrims  rather  than  knights. 
I  mean,  not  that  they  should  trust  wholly  to  spiritual 
weapons — for  in  truth  the  infidel  is  a  foe  not  to  be  de- 
spised— but  I  mean  that  they  should  lay  aside  all 
thoughts  of  worldly  glory  and  rivalry  one  against  an- 
other." 

"And  think  you,  Father,  that  such  is  the  spirit  with 
which  King  Richard  and  the  other  kings  and  nobles  now 
preparing  to  go  to  the  Holy  Land  are  animated?" 

Father  Francis  hesitated. 

"It  is  not  for  me,  my  son,  to  judge  motives,  or  to 
speak  well  or  ill  the  instruments  who  have  been  chosen 
for  this  great  work.  It  is  of  all  works  the  most  praise- 
worthy, most  holy.  It  is  horrible  to  think  that  the  holy 
shrines  of  Jerusalem  should  be  in  the  hands  of  men  who 
believe  not  in  our  Redeemer;  and  I  hold  it  to  be  the 
duty  of  every  man  who  can  bear  arms,  no  matter  what 
his  rank  or  his  station,  to  don  his  armor  and  to  go 
forth  to  battle  in  the  cause.  Whether  success  will 
crown  the  effort,  or  whether  God  wills  it  otherwise,  it  is 
not  for  man  to  discuss;  it  is  enough  that  the  work  is 
there,  and  it  is  our  duty  to  do  it." 

"And  think  you,  Father,  that  it  will  do  good  to  Eng- 
land?" 

"That  do  I,  my  son,  whether  we  gain  the  Holy  Land 
or  no.  Methinks  that  it  will  do  good  service  to  the 
nation  that  Saxon  and  Norman  should  fight  together 
under  the  holy  cross.  Hitherto  the  races  have  stood  far 
too  much  apart.  They  have  seen  each  other's  bad  quali- 
ties rather  than  good;  but  methinks  that  when  the  Saxon 
and  the  Norman  stand  side  by  side  on  the  soil  of  the 
Holy  Land,  and  shout  together  for  England,  it  must 
needs  bind  them  together,  and  lead  them  to  feel  that 
they  are  no  longer  Normans  and  Saxony  but  English- 


42  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

men.  I  intend  to  preach  on  the  village  green  at  Eves- 
ham  next  Sunday  morning  on  this  subject,  and  as  I 
know  you  are  in  communication  with  the  forest  men,  I 
would,  Outhbert,  that  you  would  persuade  them  to  come 
in  to  hear  me.  You  were  wondering  what  could  be 
found  for  these  vagrants.  They  have  many  of  them 
long  since  lost  the  habits  of  honest  labor.  Many  of  them 
are  still  serfs,  although  most  have  been  freed  by  the 
good  earl  and  the  knights  his  followers.  Some  of  those 
who  would  fain  leave  the  life  in  the  woods  still  cling  to 
it  because  they  think  that  it  would  be  mean  to  desert 
their  comrades,  who  being  serfs  are  still  bound  to  lurk 
there;  but  methinks  that  this  is  a  great  opportunity  for 
them.  They  are  valiant  men,  and  the  fact  that  they  are 
fond  of  drawing  an  arrow  at  a  buck  does  not  make  them 
one  whit  the  worse  Christians.  I  will  do  my  best  to 
move  their  hearts,  and  if  they  will  but  agree  together  to 
take  the  cross,  they  would  make  a  goodly  band  of  foot- 
men to  accompany  the  earl." 

"Is  the  earl  going?"  Cuthbert  asked  eagerly. 

"I  know  not  for  certain,"  said  Father  Francis;  "but 
I  think  from  what  I  hear  from  his  chaplain,  Father 
Eustace,  that  his  mind  turns  in  that  direction." 

"Then,  Father,  if  he  goes,  I  will  go  too,"  Cuthbert 
exclaimed.  '  -'He  promised  to  take  me  as  his  page  the 
first  time  he  went  to  war." 

Father  Francis  shook  his  head. 

"I  fear  me,  Cuthbert,  this  is  far  from  the  spirit  in 
which  we  awhile  ago  agreed  that  men  should  go  to  the 
holy  war." 

Cuthbert  hung  his  head  a  little. 

"Ay,  Father  Francis,  men;  but  I  am  a  boy,"  he  said, 
"and  after  all,  boys  are  fond  of  ad  venture  for  adventure's 
sake.  However,  Father,"  he  said,  with  a  smile,  "nc 
doubt  your  eloquence  on  the  green  will  turn  me  mightily 


THE  EOT  KNIGHT. 


43 


to  the  project,  for  you  must  allow  that  the  story  you 
have  told  me  this  morning  is  not  such  as  to  create  any 
very  strong  yearning  in  one's  mind  to  follow  the  millions 
of  men  who  have  perished  in  the  Holy  Land." 

"Go  to,"  said  Father  Francis,  smiling  "thou  art  a 
pert  varlet.  I  will  do  my  best  on  Sunday  to  turn  you  to 
a  better  frame  of  mind." 


44  THE  BO  T  KNIQHT. . 


CHAPTER   V. 

PREPARATIONS. 

NEXT  Sunday  a  large  number  of  people  from  some 
miles  round  were  gathered  on  the  green  at  Evesham,  to 
hear  Father  Francis  preach  on  the  holy  sepulcher.  The 
forest  men  in  their  green  jerkins  mingled  with  the 
crowd,  and  a  look  of  attention  and  seriousness  was  on 
the  faces  of  all,  for  the  news  of  the  loss  of  the  holy 
sepulcher  had  really  exercised  a  great  effect  upon  the 
minds  of  the  people  in  England  as  elsewhere. 

Those  were  the  days  of  pilgrimage  to  holy  places, 
when  the  belief  in  the  sanctity  of  places  and  things  was 
overwhelming,  and  when  men  believed  that  a  journey  to 
the  holy  shrines  was  sufficient  to  procure  for  them  a 
pardon  for  all  their  misdeeds.  The  very  word  "infidel" 
in  those  days  was  full  of  horror,  and  the  thought  that 
the  holy  places  of  the  Christians  were  in  the  hands  of 
Moslems  affected  all  Christians  throughout  Europe 
with  a  feeling  of  shame  as  well  as  of  grief. 

Among  the  crowd  were  many  of  the  Norman  retainers 
from  the  castle  and  from  many  of  the  holds  around,  and 
several  knights  with  the  ladies  of  their  family  stood  a 
little  apart  from  the  edge  of  the  gathering;  for  it  was 
known  that  Father  Francis  would  not  be  alone,  but  that 
he  would  be  accompanied  by  a  holy  friar  who  had  re- 
turned from  the  East,  and  who  could  tell  of  the  cruelties 
which  the  Christians  had  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the 
Saracens. 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


45 


Father  Francis,  at  ordinary  times  a  tranquil  preacher, 
was  moved  beyond  himself  by  the  theme  on  which  he  was 
holding  forth.  He  did  not  attempt  to  hide  from  those 
who  stood  around  that  the  task  to  be  undertaken  was 
one  of  grievous  peril  and  trial;  that  disease  and  heat, 
hunger  and  thirst  must  be  dared,  as  well  as  the  sword  of 
the  infidel.  But  he  spoke  of  the  grand  nature  of  the 
work,  of  the  humiliation  to  Christians  of  the  desecration 
of  the  shrines,  and  of  the  glory  which  awaited  those  who 
joined  the  crusade,  whether  they  lived  or  whether  they 
died  in  the  Holy  Land. 

His  words  had  a  strong  effect  upon  the  simple  people 
who  listened  to  him,  but  the  feelings  so  aroused  were  as 
naught  to  the  enthusiasm  which  greeted  the  address  of 
the  friar. 

Meager  and  pale,  with  a  worn,  anxious  face  as  one 
who  had  suffered  much,  the  friar,  holding  aloft  two 
pieces  of  wood  from  the  Mount  of  Olives  tied  together 
in  the  form  of  a  cross,  harangued  the  crowd.  His  words 
poured  forth  in  a  fiery  stream,  kindling  the  hearts  and 
stirring  at  once  the  devotion  and  the  anger  of  his 
listeners. 

He  told  of  the  holy  places,  he  spoke  of  the  scenes  of 
Holy  Writ,  which  had  there  been  enacted;  and  then  he 
depicted  the  men  who  had  died  for  them.  He  told  of 
the  knights  and  men-at-arms,  each  of  whom  proved  him- 
self again  and  again  a  match  for  a  score  of  infidels.  He 
spoke  of  the  holy  women,  who,  fearlessly  and  bravely 
as  the  knights  themselves,  had  borne  their  share  in  the 
horrors  of  the  siege  and  in  the  terrible  times  which  had 
preceded  it. 

He  told  them  that  this  misfortune  had  befallen  Chris- 
tianity because  of  the  lukewarmness  which  had  come 
upon  them. 

"What  profited  it,"  he  asked,  "if  the  few  knights  who 


46  THE  BOY  ENIQHT. 

remained  to  defend  the  holy  sepulcher  were  heroes?  A 
few  heroes  cannot  withstand  an  army.  If  Christendom 
after  making  a  mighty  effort  to  capture  the  holy 
sepulcher  had  not  fallen  away,  the  conquest  which  had 
been  made  with  so  vast  an  expenditure  of  blood  would 
not  have  been  lost.  This  is  a  work  in  which  no  mere 
passing  fervor  will  avail;  /ravery  at  first,  endurance 
afterward  are  needed.  Many  men  must  determine  not 
only  to  assist  to  wrest  the  holy  sepulcher  from  the  hands 
of  the  infidels,  but  to  give  their  lives,  so  long  as  they 
might  last,  to  retaining  it.  It  is  scarce  to  be  expected 
that  men  with  wives  and  families  will  take  a  view  like 
this,  indeed  it  is  not  to  be  desired.  But  there  are  single 
men,  men  of  no  ties,  who  can  devote  their  whole  lives, 
as  did  the  knights  of  the  Orders  of  the  Cross,  to  this 
great  object.  When  their  life  has  come  to  an  end 
doubtless  others  will  take  up  the  banner  that  their  hands 
can  no  longer  hold.  But  for  life  it  is,  indeed,  that  many 
of  humble  as  well  as  of  princely  class  must  bind  them- 
selves to  take  and  defend  to  death  the  holy  sepulcher." 

So,  gradually  raising  the  tone  of  his  speech,  the  friar 
proceeded;  until  at  length  by  his  intense  earnestness, 
his  wild  gesticulations,  his  impassioned  words,  he  drew 
the  whole  of  his  listeners  along  with  him;  and  when  he 
ceased  a  mighty  shout  of  "To  the  Holy  Land!"  burst 
from  flis  hearers. 

Falling  upon  their  knees,  the  crowd  begged  of  him  to 
give  them  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  to  bestow  his  bless- 
ing upon  their  swords  and  upon  their  efforts. 

Father  Francis  had  prepared,  in  contemplation  of  such 
a  movement,  a  large  number  of  small  white  crosses  of 
cloth.  These  he  and  the  friar  now  fastened  to  the 
shoulders  of  the  men  as  they  crowded  up  to  receive  it, 
holding  their  hands  aloft,  kissing  the  cross  that  the  friar 
extended  to  them,  and  swearing  to  give  their  lives,  if 
need  be,  to  rescue  the  holy  shrines  from  the  infidel. 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT.  4? 

When  all  had  received  the  holy  symbol  Father  Francis 
again  ascended  the  bank  from  which  they  had  addressed 
the  crowd: 

"Now  go  to  your  homes,  my  sons,"  he  said.  "Think 
of  the  oath  thgt  you  have  taken,  and  of  the  course  that 
lies  open  to  you  when  the  time  comes.  When  King 
Richard  is  prepared  to  start,  then  will  you  be  called  upon 
to  fulfill  your  vows.  It  may  be  that  all  who  have  sworn 
may  not  be  called  upon  to  go.  It  needs  that  the  land 
here  should  be  tilled,  it  needs  that  there  should  be  pro- 
tectors for  the  women  and  children,  it  needs  that  this 
England  of  ours  should  flourish,  and  we  cannot  give  all 
her  sons,  however  willing  they  might  be  to  take  the 
cross.  But  the  willingness  which  you  will,  I  am  sure, 
show  to  go  if  needs  be,  and  to  redeem  your  vows,  will  be 
sufficient.  Some  must  go  and  some  must  stay;  these 
are  matters  to  be  decided  hereafter;  for  the  time  let  us 
separate;  you  will  hear  when  the  hour  for  action  arrives." 

A  fortnight  later  the  Earl  of  Evesham,  who  had  been 
on  a  long  journey  to  London,  returned  with  full  author- 
ity to  raise  and  organize  a  force  as  his  contingent  to  the 
holy  wars. 

All  was  now  bustle  and  activity  in  the  castle. 

Father  Francis  informed  him  of  the  willingness  of  such 
of  the  forest  men  as  he  deemed  fit  to  enlist  under  his  ban- 
ner; and  the  earl  was  much  gratified  at  finding  that  the 
ranks  of  heavily  armed  retainers  whom  he  would  take 
with  him  were  to  be  swollen  by  the  addition  of  so  useful 
a  contingent  as  that  of  one  hundred  skillful  archers. 

Cuthbert  was  not  long  in  asking  for  an  interview  with 
the  earl. 

He  had  indeed  great  difficulty  in  persuading  Dame 
Editha  that  he  was  old  enough  to  share  in  the  fatigues 
of  so  great  an  expedition,  but  he  had  Father  Francis  on 
hia  side;  and  between  the  influence  of  her  confessor,  and 


48  THE  BO  7  KNIGHT. 

the  importunities  of  her  son,  the  opposition  of  the  good 
lady  fell  to  the  ground. 

Cuthbert  was  already,  for  his  age,  well  trained  to  arms. 
Many  of  the  old  soldiers  at  the  castle  who  had  known 
and  loved  his  father  had  been  ever  ready  to  give  lessons 
in  the  use  of  arms  to  Cuthbert,  who  was  enthu- 
siastic in  his  desire  to  prove  as  good  a  knight  as  his 
father  had  been.  His  friends,  the  outlaws,  had  taught 
him  the  use  of  the  bow  and  of  the  quarter-staff;  and 
Cuthbert,  strong  and  well-built  for  his  age,  and  having 
little  to  do  save  to  wield  the  sword  and  the  bow,  had  at- 
tained a  very  considerable  amount  of  skill  with  each. 

He  had  too,  which  was  unusual,  a  certain  amount  of 
book  learning,  although  this,  true  to  say,  had'not  been 
acquired  so  cheerfully  or  willingly  as  the  skill  at  arms. 
Father  Francis  had,  however,  taught  him  to  read  and  to 
write — accomplishments  which  were  at  that  time  rare, 
except  in  the  cloister.  In  those  days  if  a  knight  had  a 
firm  seat  in  his  saddle,  a  strong  arm,  a  keen  eye,  and 
high  courage,  it  was  thought  to  be  of  little  matter 
whether  he  could  or  could  not  do  more  than  make  his 
mark  on  the  parchment.  The  whole  life  of  the  young 
was  given  to  acquiring  skill  in  arms;  and  unless  intended 
for  the  convent,  any  idea  of  education  would  in  the  great 
majority  of  cases  have  been  considered  as  preposterous. 

To  do  Cuthbert  justice,  he  had  protested  with  all  his 
might  against  the  proposition  of  Father  Francis  to  his 
mother  to  teach  him  some  clerkly  knowledge.  He  had 
yielded  most  unwillingly  at  last  to  her  entreaties,  backed 
as  they  were  by  the  sound  arguments  and  good  sense  of 
Father  Francis. 

The  Earl  of  Evesham  received  Cuthbert's  application 
very  graciously. 

"Certainly,  Cuthbert,"  he  said,  "you  shall  accompany 
me;  first,  on  account  of  my  promise  to  you;  secondly, 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


49 


because  from  the  readiness  you  displayed  both  in  the 
matter  of  my  daughter  and  of  the  attack  on  Wortham 
you  will  be  a  notable  aid  and  addition  to  my  party; 
thirdly,  from  my  friendship  for  your  father  and  Dame 
Editha." 

This  point  being  settled,  Cuthbert  at  once  assumed 
his  new  duties.  There  was  plenty  for  him  to  do — to  see 
that  the  orders  of  the  earl  were  properly  carried  out;  to 
bear  messages  to  the  knights  who  followed  the  earl's  for- 
tunes, at  their  various  holds;  to  stand  by  and  watch  the 
armorers  at  work,  and  the  preparation  of  the  stores  of 
arms  and  missiles  which  would  be  necessary  for  the 
expedition. 

Sometimes  he  would  go  round  to  summon  the  tenants 
of  the  various  farms  and  lands,  who  held  from  the  earl, 
to  come  to  the  castle;  and  here  Sir  Walter  would,  as  far 
as  might  be  without  oppression,  beg  of  them  to  con- 
tribute largely  to  the  expedition. 

In  these  appeals  he  was  in  no  slight  way  assisted  by 
Father  Francis,  who  pointed  out  loudly  to  the  people 
that  those  who  stayed  behind  were  bound  to  make  as 
much  sacrifice  of  their  worldly  goods  as  those  who  went 
to  the  war  might  make  of  their  lives.  Life  and  land  are 
alike  at  the  service  of  God.  Could  the  land  be  sold,  it 
would  be  a  good  deed  to  sell  it;  but  as  this  could  not 
be,  they  should  at  least  sell  all  that  they  could,  and 
pledge  their  property  if  they  could  find  lenders,  in  order 
to  contribute  to  the  needs  of  their  lord,  and  the  fitting 
out  of  this  great  enterprise. 

The  preparations  were  at  last  complete,  and  a  gallant 
band  gathered  at  the  castle  ready  for  starting.  It  con- 
sisted of  some  two  hundred  men-at-arms  led  by  six 
knights,  and  of  one  hundred  bowmen  dressed  in  Lincoln 
green,  with  quilted  jerkins  to  keep  out  the  arrows  of  the 
enemy.  All  the  country  from  around  gathered  to  see 


50  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

the  start.  Dame  Bditha  was  there,  and  by- her  side  stood 
the  earl's  little  daughter.  The  earl  himself  was  in 
armor,  and  beside  him  rode  Cuthbert  in  the  gay  attire  of 
a  page. 

Just  at  that  moment,  however,  his  face  did  not  agree 
with  his  costume,  for  although  he  strove  his  best  to  look 
bright  and  smiling,  it  was  a  hard  task  to  prevent  the 
tears  from  filling  his  eyes  at  his  departure  from  his 
mother.  The  good  lady  cried  unrestrainedly,  and  Mar- 
garet joined  in  her  tears.  The  people  who  had  gathered 
round  cheered  lustily;  the  trumpets  blew  a  gayfanfaron- 
ade;  and  the  squire  threw  to  the  wind  the  earl's  colors. 

It  was  no  mere  pleasure  trip  on  which  they  were  start- 
ing, for  all  knew  that  of  the  preceding  crusades  not  one 
in  ten  of  those  who  had  gone  so  gladly  forth  had  ever 
returned. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  whole  of  those  pres- 
ent were  animated  by  any  strong  religious  feeling.  No 
doubt  there  existed  a  desire,  which  was  carefully  fanned 
by  the  preaching  of  the  priests  and  monks,  to  rescue  the 
holy  sepulcher  from  the  hands  of  the  Saracens;  but  a  far 
stronger  feeling  was  to  be  found  in  the  warlike  nature 
of  the  people  in  those  days.  Knights,  men-at-arms,  and 
indeed  men  of  all  ranks,  were  full  of  a  combative  spirit. 
Life  in  the  castle  and  hut  was  alike  dull  and  monotonous, 
and  the  excitement  of  war  and  adventure  was  greatly 
looked  for,  both  as  a  means  of  obtaining  glory  and  booty, 
and  for  the  change  they  afforded  to  the  dreary  monotony 
of  life. 

There  is  little  to  tell  of  the  journey  of  the  Earl  of 
Evesham's  band  through  England  to  Southampton,  at 
which  place  they  took  ship  and  crossed  to  France— or 
rather  to  Normandy,  for  in  those  days  Normandy  was 
regarded,  as  indeed  it  formed,  a  part  of  England. 
J  Cuthbert,  as  was  natural  to  his  age  was  full  of  delight  at 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


51 


all  the  varying  scenes  through  which  they  passed.  The 
towns  were  to  him  an  especial  source  of  wonder,  for  he 
had  never  visited  any  other  than  that  of  Worcester,  to 
which  he  had  once  or  twice  been  taken  on  occasions  of 
high  festival.  Havre  was  in  those  days  an  important 
place,  and  being  the  landing-place  of  a  greafc  portion  of 
the  English  bands,  it  was  full  of  bustle  and  excitement. 
Every  day  ships  brought  in  nobles  and  their  followings. 

The  King  of  England  was  already  in  Normandy  has- 
tening the  preparations,  and  each  band,  as  it  landed, 
marched  down  to  the  meeting-place  on  the  plains  of 
Vezelay.  Already  they  began  to  experience  a  taste  of 
the  hardships  which  they  were  to  endure. 

In  those  days  there  was  no  regular  supply  train  for  an 
army,  but  each  division  or  band  supported  itself  by  pur- 
chase or  pillage,  as  the  case  might  be,  from  the  surround- 
ing country. 

As  the  English  troops  were  marching  through  a 
friendly  country,  pillage  was  of  course  strictly  forbidden; 
but  while  many  of  the  leaders  paid  for  all  they  had,  it 
must  be  owned  that  among  the  smaller  leaders  were 
many  who  took  anything  that  they  required  with  or 
without  payment. 

The  country  was  eaten  up. 

The  population  in  those  days  was  sparse,  and  the 
movement  of  so  large  a  number  of  men  along  a  certain 
route  completely  exhausted  all  the  resources  of  the  in- 
habitants; and  although  willing  to  pay  for  all  that  his 
men  required,  the  Earl  of  Evesham  had  frequently  to  lie 
down  on  the  turf  supperless  himself. 

"If  this  is  the  case  now,"  he  said  to  Cuthbert,  "what 
will  it  be  after  we  have  joined  the  French  army?  Me- 
thinks  whatever  we  may  do  if  we  reach  the  Holy  Land, 
that  we  have  a  fair  chance  of  being  starved  before  we 
sail." 


52  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

After  a  long  succession  of  marches  they  arrived  in 
sight  of  the  great  camp  at  Vezelay.  It  was  indeed  rather 
a  canvas  town  than  a  camp.  Here  were  gathered  nearly 
one  hundred  thousand  men,  a  vast  host  at  any  time,  but 
in  those  days  far  greater  in  proportion  to  the  strength  of 
the  countries  than  at  present.  The  tents  of  the  leaders, 
nobleb,  and  other  knights  and  gentlemen  rose  in  regular 
lines,  forming  streets  and  squares. 

The  great  mass  of  troops,  however,  were  contented  to 
sleep  in  the  open  air;  indeed  the  difficulties  of  carriage 
were  so  great  that  it  was  only  the  leaders  who  could  carry 
with  them  their  canvas  abodes.  Before  each  tent  stood 
the  lance  and  colors  of  its  owner,  and  side  by  side  in  the 
center  of  the  camp  stood  the  royal  pavilions  of  Philip  of 
France  and  Richard  of  England,  round  which  could  be 
seen  the  gonfalons  of  all  the  nobles  of  Western  Europe. 

Nothing  could  be  gayer  than  the  aspect  of  this  camp 
as  the  party  rode  into  it.  They  were  rather  late,  and 
the  great  body  of  the  host  were  already  assembled. 

Outhbert  gazed  with  delight  at  the  varied  colors,  the 
gay  dresses,  the  martial  knights,  and  the  air  of  disci- 
pline and  order  which  reigned  everywhere. 

This  was  indeed  war  in  its  most  picturesque  form,  a 
form  which,  as  far  as  beauty  is  concerned,  has  been  alto- 
gether altered,  and  indeed  destroyed,  by  modern  arms. 

In  those  days  individual  prowess  and  bravery  went  for 
everything.  A  handful  of  armored  knights  were  a  match 
for  thousands  of  footmen,  and  battles  were  decided  as 
much  by  the  prowess  and  bravery  of  the  leader  and  his 
immediate  following  as  by  that  of  the  great  mass  of  the 
army. 

The  earl  had  the  day  before  sent  on  a  messenger  to 
state  that  he  was  coming,  and  as  the  party  entered  the 
camp  they  were  met  by  a  squire  of  the  camp  marshal, 
!vho  conducted  them  to  the  position  allotted  to  them. 


THiS  BOY  KNIQHT. 


53 


The  earl's  tent  was  soon  erected,  with  four  or  five 
grouped  around  it  for  his  knights,  one  being  set  aside 
for  his  squires  and  pages. 

When  this  was  done  Cuthbert  strolled  away  to  look 
at  the  varied  sights  of  the  camp.  A  military  officer  in 
these  days  would  be  scandalized  at  the  scenes  which  were 
going1  on,  but  the  strict,  hard  military  discipline  of 
modern  times  was  then  absolutely  unknown. 

A  camp  was  a  moving  town,  and  to  it  flocked  the 
country  people  with  their  goods;  smiths  and  armorers 
erected  their  forges;  minstrels  and  troubadours  flocked 
in  to  sing  of  former  battles,  and  to  raise  the  spirits  of  the 
soldiers  by  merry  lays  of  love  and  war;  simple  country- 
men and  women  came  in  to  bring  their  presents  of  fowls 
or  cakes  to  their  friends  in  camp;  knights  rode  to  and 
fro  on  their  gayly  caparisoned  horses  through  the  crowd; 
the  newly  raised  levies,  in  many  cases  composed  of  wood- 
men and  peasants  who  had  not  in  the  course  of  their 
lives  wandered  a  league  from  their  birthplaces,  gaped  in 
unaffected  wonder  at  the  sights  around  them;  while  last, 
but  by  no  means  least,  the  maidens  and  good  wives  of 
the  neighborhood,  fond  then  as  now  of  brave  men  and  gay 
dresses,  thronged  the  streets  of  the  camp,  and  joined  in, 
and  were  the  cause  of,  merry  laughter  and  jest. 

Here  and  there  a  little  apart  from  the  main  stream  of 
traffic,  the  minstrels  would  take  up  their  position,  and 
playing  a  gay  air,  the  soldier  lads  and  lasses  would  fall 
to  and  foot  it  merrily  to  the  strains.  Sometimes  there 
would  be  a  break  in  the  gayety,  and  loud  shouts,  and  per- 
haps fierce  oaths,  would  rise.  Ihen  the  maidens  would 
fly  like  startled  fawns,  and  men  hasten  to  the  spot; 
though  the  quarrel  might  be  purely  a  private  one,  yet 
should  it  happen  between  the  retainers  of  two  nobles, 
the  friends  of  each  would  be  sure  to  strike  in,  and  serious 
frays  would  arise  before  the  marshal  of  the  camp  with 


54 


THE  EOT 


his  posse  could  arrive  to  interfere.  Sometimes  indeed 
these  quarrels  became  so  serious  and  desperate  that 
alliances  were  broken  up  and  great  intentions  frustrated 
by  the  quarrels  of  the  soldiery. 

Here  and  there,  on  elevated  platforms,  or  even  on  the 
top  of  a  pile  of  tubs,  were  friars  occupied  in  haranguing 
the  soldiers,  and  in  inspiring  them  with  enthusiasm  for 
the  cause  upon  which  they  were  embarked.  The  con- 
duct of  their  listeners  showed  easily  enough  the  motives 
which  had  brought  them  to  war.  Some  stood  with 
clasped  hands  and  eager  eyes  listening  to  the  exhorta- 
tions of  the  priests,  and  ready,  as  might  be  seen  from 
their  earnest  gaze,  to  suffer  martyrdom  in  the  cause. 
More,  however,  stood  indifferently  round,  or  after  listen- 
ing to  a  few  words  walked  on  with  a  laugh  or  a  scoff; 
indeed  preaching  had  already  done  all  that  lay  in  its 
power.  All  those  who  could  be  moved  by  exhortations 
of  this  kind  were  there,  and  upon  the  rest  the  discourses 
and  sermons  were  thrown  away. 

Several  times  in  the  course  of  his  stroll  round  the 
camp  Cuthbert  observed  the  beginnings  of  quarrels, 
which  were  in  each  case  only  checked  by  the  interven- 
tion of  some  knight  or  other  person  in  authority  coming 
past,  and  he  observed  that  these  in  every  instance 
occurred  between  men  of  the  English  and  those  of  the 
French  army. 

Between  the  Saxon  contingent  of  King  Richard's  army 
and  the  French  soldiers  there  could  indeed  be  no  quarrel, 
for  the  Saxons  understood  no  word  of  their  language; 
but  with  the  Normans  the  case  was  different,  for  the 
Norman-French,  which  was  spoken  by  all  the  nobles  and 
their  retainers  in  Britain,  was  as  nearly  as  possible  the 
same  as  that  in  use  in  France. 

It  seemed,  however,  to  Cuthbert,  watching  narrowly 
what  was  going  on,  that  there  existed  by  no  means  a 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  55 

good  feeling  between  the  men  of  the  different  armies; 
and  he  thought  that  this  divergence  so  early  in  the 
campaign  boded  but  little  good  for  the  final  success  of 
the  expedition. 

When  he  returned  to  the  tent  the  earl  questioned  him 
as  to  what  he  had  seen,  and  Cuthbert  frankly  acknowl- 
edged that  it  appeared  to  him  that  the  feeling  between 
the  men  of  the  two  armies  was  not  good. 

"I  have  been,"  the  earl  said,  "to  the  royal  camp,  and 
from  what  I  hear,  Cuthbert,  methinks  that  there  is 
reason  for  what  you  say.  King  Eichard  is  the  most 
loyal  and  gallant  of  kings,  but  he  is  haughty,  and  hasty 
in  speech.  The  Normans,  too,  have  been  somewhat 
accustomed  to  conquer  our  neighbors,  and  it  may  well  be 
that  the  chivalry  of  France  love  us  not.  However,  it 
must  be  hoped  that  this  feeling  will  die  away,  and  that 
we  shall  emulate  each  other  only  in  our  deeds  on  the 
battlefield." 


THE  BOT  xmam. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  LISTS. 

THE  third  day  after  the  arrival  of  the  Earl  of  Evesham 
there  was  a  great  banquet  given  by  the  King  of  France 
to  King  Richard  and  his  principal  nobles. 

Among  those  present  was  the  Earl  of  Evesham,  and 
Cuthbert  as  his  page  followed  him  to  the  great  tent 
where  the  banquet  was  prepared. 

Here,  at  the  top  of  the  tent,  on  a  raised  dai's,  sat  the 
King  of  France  surrounded  by  his  courtiers. 

The  Earl  of  Evesham,  having  been  conducted  by  the 
herald  to  the  dais,  paid  his  compliments  to  the  king, 
and  was  saluted  by  him  with  many  flattering  words. 

The  sound  of  a  trumpet  was  heard,  and  Richard  of 
England,  accompanied  by  his  principal  nobles,  entered. 

It  was  the  first  time  that  Cuthbert  had  seen  the  king. 

Richard  was  a  man  of  splendid  stature  and  of  enor- 
mous strength.  His  appearance  was  in  some  respects 
rather  Saxon  than  Norman,  for  his  hair  was  light  and 
his  complexion  clear  and  bright.-  He  wore  the  mus- 
tache and  pointed  beard  at  that  time  in  fashion;  and 
although  his  expression  was  generally  that  of  frankness 
and  good  humor,  there  might  be  observed  in  his  quick 
motions  and  piercing  glances  signs  of  the  hasty  temper 
and  unbridled  passion  which  went  far  to  wreck  the  suc- 
cess of  the  enterprise  upon  which  he  was  embarked. 

Richard  possessed  mdst  of  the  qualities  which  make  a 
man  a  great  king  and  render  him  the  idol  of  his  subjects, 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  57 

•specially  in  a  time  of  semi-civilization,  when  personal 
prowess  is  placed  at  the  summit  of  all  human  virtues. 
In  all  his  dominions  there  was  not  one  man  who  in  per- 
sonal conflict  was  a  match  for  his  king. 

Except  during  his  fits  of  passion,  King  Eichard  was 
generous,  forgiving,  and  royal  in  his  moods.  He  was 
incapable  of  bearing  malice.  Although  haughty  of  hia 
dignity,  he  was  entirely  free  from  any  personal  pride, 
and  while  he  would  maintain  to  the  death  every  right 
and  privilege  against  another  monarch,  he  could  laugh 
and  joke  with  the  humblest  of  his  subjects  on  terms  of 
hearty  good  fellowship.  He  was  impatient  of  contradic- 
tion, eager  to  carry  out  whatever  he  had  determined 
upon;  and  nothing  enraged  him  so  much  as  hesitation  or 
procrastination.  The  delays  which  were  experienced  in 
the  course  of  the  Crusade  angered  him  more  than  all  the 
opposition  offered  by  the  Saracens,  or  than  the  hardships 
through  which  the  Christian  host  had  to  pass. 

At  a  flourish  of  trumpets  all  took  their  seats  at  dinner, 
their  places  being  marked  for  them  by  a  herald,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  regulate  nicely  the  various  ranks  and 
dignities. 

The  Earl  of  Evesham  was  placed  next  to  a  noble  of 
Brabant.  Cuthbert  took  his  place  behind  his  lord  and 
served  him  with  wines  and  meats,  the  Brabant  being 
attended  by  a  tall  youth,  who  was  indeed  on  the  verge 
of  manhood. 

As  the  dinner  went  on  the  buzz  of  conversation  became 
fast  and  furious.  In  those  days  men  drank  deep,  and 
quarrels  often  arose  over  the  cups.  From  the  time  that 
the  dinner  began  Cuthbert  noticed  that  the  manner  of 
Sir  de  Jacquelin  Barras,  Count  of  Brabant,  was  rude 
and  offensive. 

It  might  be  that  he  was  accustomed  to  live  alone  with 
bis  retainers,  and  that  his  manners  were  rude  and  coarse 


58  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

to  all.  It  might  be  that  he  had  a  special  hostility  to  the 
English.  At  any  rate,  his  remarks  were  calculated  to 
fire  the  anger  of  the  earl. 

He  began  the  conversation  by  wondering  how  a  Nor- 
man  baron  could  live  in  a  country  like  England,  inhabited 
by  a  race  but  little  above  pigs. 

The  earl  at  once  fired  up  at  this,  for  the  Normans 
were  now  beginning  to  feel  themselves  English,  and  to 
resent  attacks  upon  a  people  for  whom  their  grand- 
fathers had  entertained  contempt. 

He  angrily  repelled  the  attack  upon  them  by  the  Bra- 
bant knight  and  asserted  at  once  that  the  Saxons  were 
«very  bit  as  civilized  and  in  some  respects  superior  to  the 
Normans  or  French. 

The  ill-feeling  thus  begun  at  starting  clearly  waxed 
stronger  as  dinner  went  on.  The  Brabant  knight  drank 
deeply,  and  although  his  talk  was  not  clearly  directed 
against  the  English,  yet  he  continued  to  throw  out 
innuendoes  and  side  attacks  and  to  talk  with  a  vague  boast- 
fulness  which  greatly  irritated  Sir  Walter.  Presently,  as 
Cnthbert  was  about  to  serve  his  master  with  a  cup  of 
wine,  the  tall  page  pushed  suddenly  against  him,  spilling 
a  portion  of  the  wine  over  his  dress. 

"What  a  clumsy  child!"  he  said  scoffingly. 

"You  are  a  rough  and  ill-mannered  loon,"  Cuthbert 
said  angrily.  "Were  you  in  any  other  presence  I  would 
chastise  you  as  you  deserve." 

The  tall  page  burst  into  a  mocking  laugh. 

"Chastise  me!"  he  said.  "Why,  I  could  put  you  in 
my  pocket  for  a  little  hop-of-my-thnmb  as  you  are." 

"I  think,"  said  Sir  Jacquelin— for  the  boys'  voices 
both  rose  loud — to  the  earl,  "you  had  better  send  that 
brat  home  and  order  him  tc  %^e  whipped." 

"Sir  count,"  said  the  earl,  "your  manners  are  insolent, 
and  were  we  not  engaged  upon  a  Crusade,  it  would 
please  me  much  to  give  you  a  lesson  on  that*  score, '* 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  59 

Higher  and  higher  the  dispute  rose,  until  some  angry 
word  caught  the  ear  of  the  king. 

Amid  the  general  buzz  of  voices  King  Philip  rose,  and 
speaking  a  word  to  King  Richard,  moved  from  the  table, 
thus  giving  the  sign  for  the  breaking  up  of  the  feast. 

Immediately  afterward  a  page  touched  the  earl  and 
Sir  Jacquelin  upon  the  shoulder  and  told  them  that  the 
kings  desired  to  speak  with  them  in  the  tent  of  the  King 
of  France. 

The  two  nobles  strode  through  the  crowd,  regarding 
each  other  with  eyes  much  like  those  of  two  dogs  eager 
to  fly  at  each  other's  throat. 

"My  lords,  my  lords,"  said  King  Philip  when  they 
entered,  "this  is  against  all  law  and  reason.  For  shame, 
to  be  brawling  at  my  table.  I  would  not  say  aught 
openly,  but  methinks  it  is  early  indeed  for  the  knights 
and  nobles  engaged  in  a  common  work  to  fall  to  words." 

"Your  majesty,"  said  the  Earl  of  Evesham,  "I  regret 
deeply  what  has  happened.  .But  it  seemed,  from  the 
time  we  sat  down  to  the  meal,  that  this  lord  sought  to 
pass  a  quarrel  upon  me,  and  I  now  beseech  your  majesty 
that  you  will  permit  us  to  settle  our  differences  in  the 
lists." 

King  Richard  gave  a  sound  of  assent,  but  the  King  of 
France  shook  his  head  gravely. 

"Do  you  forget,"  he  said,  "the  mission  upon  which 
rou  are  assembled  here?  Has  not  every  knight  and 
noble  in  these  armies  taken  a  solemn  oath  to  put  aside 
>rivate  quarrels  and  feuds  until  the  holy  sepulcher  is 

iken?  Shall  we  at  this  very  going  off  show  that  the 
>ath  is  a  mere  form  of  words?  Shall  we  show  before 
:he  face  of  Christendom  that  the  knights  of  the  cross 
ire  unable  to  avoid  flying  at  each  other's  throats,  even 
while  on  their  way  to  wrest  the  holy  sepulcher  from  the 
infidel?  No,  sirs,  you  must  lay  aside  your  feuds,  and 


60  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

must  promise  me  and  my  good  brother  here  that  you 
will  keep  the  peace  between  you  until  this  war  is  over. 
Whose  fault  it  was  that  the  quarrel  began  I  know  not. 
It  may  be  that  my  Lord  of  Brabant  was  discourteous.  It 
may  be  that  the  earl  here  was  too  hot.  But  whichever 
it  be,  it  matters  not." 

"The  quarrel,  sire,"  said  Sir  Jacquelin,  "arose  from 
a  dispute  between  our  pages,  who  were  nigh  coming  to 
blows  in  your  majesty's  presence.  I  desired  the  earl  to 
chide  the  insolence  of  his  varlet,  and  instead  of  so  doing 
he  met  my  remarks  with  scorn." 

"Pooh,  pooh,"  said  King  Kichard,  "there  are  plenty 
of  grounds  for  quarrel  without  two  nobles  interfering  in 
the  squabbles  of  boys.  Let  them  fight;  it  will  harm  no 
one.  By  the  bye,  your  majesty,"  he  said,  turning  to  the 
King  of  France  with  a  laugh,  "if  the  masters  may  not 
fight,  there  is  no  reason  in  the  world  why  the  varlets 
should  not.  We  are  sorely  dull  for  want  of  amusement. 
Let  us  have  a  list  to-morrow,  and  let  the  pages  fight  it 
out  for  the  honor  of  their  masters  and  their  nations." 

"It  were  scarce  worth  while  to  have  the  lists  set  for 
two  boys  to  fight,"  said  the  King  of  France. 

"Oh,  we  need  not  have  regular  lists,"  said  King 
Richard.  "Leave  that  matter  in  my  hands.  I  warrant 
you  that  if  the  cockerels  are  well  plucked  they  will  make 
us  sport.  What  say  you,  gentlemen?" 

The  Brabant  noble  at  once  assented,  answering  that  he 
was  sure  that  his  page  would  be  glad  to  enter  the  lists: 
and  the  earl  gave  a  similar  assent,  for  he  had  not 
noticed  how  great  was  the  discrepancy  between  the  size 
of  the  future  combatants. 

"That  is  agreed,  then,"  said  King  Richard  joyously. 
"I  will  have  a  piece  of  ground  marked  out  on  the 
edge  of  the  camp  to-morrow  morning.  It  shall  be  kept 
by  my  men-at-arms,  and  there  shall  be  a  raised  place  for 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  61 

King  Philip  and  myself,  who  will  be  the  judges  of  the 
conflict.  Will  they  fight  on  foot  or  on  horse?" 

"On  foot,  on  foot,"  said  the  King  of  France.  "It 
would  be  a  pity  that  knightly  exercises  should  be  brought 
to  scorn  by  any  failure  on  their  part  on  horseback.  On 
foot  at  least  it  will  be  a  fair  struggle." 

"What  arms  shall  they  use?"  the  Brabant  knight 
asked. 

"Oh,  swords  and  battle-axes,  of  course,"  said  King 
Eichard  with  a  laugh. 

"Before  you  go,"  King  Philip  said,  "you  must  shake 
hands,  and  swear  to  let  the  quarrel  between  you  drop,  at 
least  until  after  our  return.  If  you  still  wish  to  shed 
each  other's  blood  I  shall  offer  no  hindrance  thereto." 

The  earl  and  Count  Jacquelin  touched  each  other's 
hands  in  obedience  to  the  order,  went  out  of  the  tent 
together,  and  strode  off  without  a  word  in  different  direc- 
tions. 

"My  dear  lad,"  the  Earl  of  Evesham  said  on  entering 
his  tent  where  his  page  was  waiting  him,  "this  is  a 
serious  business.  The  kings  have  ordered  this  little 
count  and  myself  to  put  aside  our  differences  till  after 
the  Crusade,  in  accordance  with  our  oath.  But  as  you 
have  in  no  wise  pledged  yourself  in  the  same  fashion,  and 
as  their  majesties  feel  somewhat  dull  while  waiting  here, 
it  is  determined  that  the  quarrel  between  the  count  and 
me,  and  between  you  and  the  count's  page,  shall  be  settled 
by  a  fight  between  you  two  in  the  presence  of  the  kings." 

"Well,  sir,"  Cuthbert  rsaid,  "I  am  glad  that  it  should 
be,  seeing  the  varlet  insulted  me  without  any  cause,  and 
purposely  upset  the  cup  over  me." 

"What  is  he  like?"  the  earl  asked.  "Dost  think  that 
you  are  a  fair  match?" 

"I  doubt  not  that  we  are  fair  match  enough,"  Cuth- 
bert said.  "As  you  know,  sir,  I  have  been  well  trained 


6£  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

to  arms  of  all  kinds,  both  by  my  father  and  by  the  men- 
at-arms  at  the  castle,  and  could  hold  my  own  against  any 
of  your  men  with  light  weapons,  and  have  then  no  fear 
that  these  gawky  loon,  twenty  years  old  though  he  seems 
to  be,  will  bring  disgrace  upon  me  or  discredit  upon  my 
nation." 

"If  thou  thinkest  so,"  the  earl  said,  "the  matter  can 
go  on.  But  had  it  been  otherwise,  I  would  have  gone  to 
the  king  and  protested  that  the  advantage  of  age  was  so 
great  that  it  would  be  murder  to  place  you  in  the  list 
together." 

"There  is,"  CuVfibert  said,  "at  most  no  greater  differ- 
ence between  us  than  between  a  strong  man  and  a  weak 
one,  and  these,  in  the  ordeal  of  battle,  have  to  meet  in 
the  lists.  Indeed  I  doubt  if  the  difference  is  so  great, 
for  if  he  be  a  foot  taller  than  I,  methinks  that  round  the 
shoulders  I  should  have  the  advantage  of  him." 

"Send  hither  my  armorer,"  the  earl  said;  "we  must 
choose  a  proper  suit  for  you.  I  fear  that  mine  would  be 
of  little  use;  but  doubtless  there  are  some  smaller  suits 
among  my  friends." 

"The  simpler  and  lighter  the  better,"  Cuthbert  said. 
"I'd  rather  have  a  light  coat  of  mail  and  a  steel  cap 
than  heavy  armor  and  a  helmet  which  would  press  me 
down  and  a  visor  through  which  I  could  scarce  see. 
The  lighter  the  better,  for  after  all  if  my  sword  cannot 
keep  my  head,  sooner  or  later  the  armor  would  fail  to 
do  so  too." 

The  armorer  speedily  arrived,  and  the  knights  and 
followers  of  the  earl  being  called  in  and  the  case  stated, 
there  was  soon  found  a  coat  of  fine  linked  mail,  which 
fitted  Cuthbert  well.  As  to  the  steel  cap,  there  was  no 
difficulty  whatever. 

"You  must  have  a  plume  at  least,"  the  earl  said,  and 
took  some  feathers  from  his  own  casque  and  fastened 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  68 

them  in.     "Will  you  want  a  light  sword  and  battle-ax?" 

"No,"  Cuthbert  said,  "my  arms  are  pretty  well  used 
to  those  of  the  men-at-arms.  1  could  wield  my  father's 
sword,  and  that  was  a  heavy  one." 

The  lightest  of  the  earl's  weapons  were  chosen,  and  it 
was  agreed  that  all  was  now  ready  for  the  conflict  to- 
morrow. 

In  the  morning  there  was  a  slight  bustle  in  the  camp. 

The  news  that  a  fight  was  to  take  place  between  an 
English  and  a  Brabant  page,  by  the  permission  of  the 
Kings  of  England  and  France,  that  their  majesties  were 
to  be  present,  and  that  all  was  to  be  conducted  on  regu- 
lar rules,  caused  a  stir  of  excitement  and  novelty  in  the 
camp. 

Nowhere  is  life  duller  than  among  a  large  body  of  men 
kept  together  for  any  time  under  canvas,  and  the  thought 
of  a  combat  of  this  novel  kind  excited  general  interest. 

In  a  meadow  at  a  short  distance  from  the  camp,  a  body 
of  King  Richard's  men-at-arms  marked  off  an  oval  space 
of  about  an  acre.  Upon  one  side  of  this  a  tent  wa's 
pitched  for  the  kings  and  a  small  tent  was  placed  at 
each  end  for  the  combatants.  Round  the  inclosure  the 
men-at-arms  forced  the  ring,  and  behind  them  a  dense 
body  of  spectators  gathered,  a  place  being  set  aside  for 
nobles  and  others  of  gentle  blood. 

At  the  hour  fixed  the  Kings  of  England  and  France 
arrived  together.  King  Richard  was  evidently  in  a  state 
of  high  good  humor,  for  he  preferred  the  clash  of  arms 
and  the  sight  of  combat  to  any  other  pleasure. 

The  King  <&  France,  on  the  other  hand,  looked  grave. 
He  was  a  far  wiser  and  more  politic  king  than  Richard; 
and  although  he  had  consented  to  the  sudden  proposal, 
yet  he  felt  in  his  heart  that  the  contest  was  a  foolish 
one,  and  that  it  might  create  bad  feeling  among  the 
men  of  the  two  nationalities  whichever  way  it  went. 


64 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


He  had  reserved  to  himself  the  right  of  throwing  down 
the  baton  when  the  combat  was  to  cease,  and  he  deter- 
mined to  avail  himself  of  this  right,  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
conflict  before  either  party  was  likely  to  sustain  any 
deadly  injury. 

When  the  monarchs  had  taken  their  places  the  trum- 
peters sounded  their  trumpets,  and  the  two  combatants 
advanced  on  foot  from  their  ends  of  the  lists.  A  murmur 
of  surprise  and  dissatisfaction  broke  from  the  crowd. 

"My  Lord  of  Evesham,"  the  king  said  angrily  to  the 
earl,  who  with  Count  Jacquelin  was  standing  by  the 
royal  party,  "thou  shouldst  have  said  that  the  difference 
between  the  two  was  too  great  to  allow  the  combat  to  be 
possible.  The  Frenchman  appears  to  be  big  enough  to 
take  your  page  under  his  arm  and  walk  off  with  him." 

The  difference  was  indeed  very  striking.  The  French 
champion  was  arrayed  in  a  full  suit  of  knightly  armor — 
of  course  without  the  gold  spurs  which  were  the  distin- 
guishing mark  of  that  rank — and  with  his  helmet  and 
lofty  plume  of  feathers  he  appeared  to  tower  above 
Cuthbert,  who,  in  his  close-fitting  steel  cap  and  link 
armor,  seemed  a  very  dwarf  by  the  side  of  a  giant. 

"It  is  not  size,  sire,  but  muscle  and  pluck  will  win  in 
a  combat  like  this.  Your  majesty  need  not  be  afraid 
that  my  page  will  disgrace  me.  He  is  of  my  blood, 
though  the  kinship  is  not  close.  He  is  of  mixed  Saxon 
and  Norman  strain,  and  will,  believe  me,  do  no  discredit 
to  either." 

The  king's  brow  cleared,  for  in  truth  he  was  very 
proud  of  his  English  nationality,  and  would  have  been 
sorely  vexed  to  see  the  discomfiture  of  an  English  cham- 
pion, even  though  that  champion  were  a  boy. 

"Brother  Philip,"  he  said,  turning  to  the  king,  "I 
will  wager  my  gold  chain  against  yours  on  yonder  strip- 
Lng." 


SHE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  65 

"Methinks  that  it  were  robbery  to  take  your  wager," 
the  King  of  France  said.  "The  difference  between  their 
bulk  is  disproportionate.  However,  I  will  not  balk 
your  wish.  My  chain  against  yours." 

The  rule  of  the  fight  was  that  they  were  to  commence 
with  swords,  but  that  either  could,  if  he  chose,  use  his 
battle-ax. 

The  fight  need  scarcely  be  described  at  length,  for  the 
advantage  was  all  one  way.  Cuthbert  was  fully  a  match 
in  strength  for  his  antagonist,  although  standing  nigh  a 
a  foot  shorter.  Constant  exercise,  however,  had  hard- 
ened his  muscles  into  something  like  steel,  while  the 
teaching  that  he  had  received  had  embraced  all  that  was 
then  known  of  the  use  of  arms. 

Science  in  those  days  there  was  but  little  of;  it  was  a 
case  rather  of  hard,  heavy  hitting  than  of  what  we  now 
call  swordsmanship. 

With  the  sword  Cuthbert  gained  but  slight  advantage 
over  his  adversary,  whose  superior  height  enabled  him  to 
rain  blows  down  upon  the  lad,  which  he  was  with  diffi- 
culty enabled  to  guard;  but  when  the  first  paroxysm  of 
his  adversary's  attack  had  passed,  he  took  to  the  offen- 
sive, and  drove  his  opponent  back  step  by  step.  With 
his  sword,  however,  he  was  unable  to  cut  through  the 
armor  of  the  Frenchman,  but  in  the  course  of  the  en- 
counter, guarding  a  severe  blow  aimed  at  him,  his  sword 
was  struck  from  his  hand,  and  he  then,  seizing  his  ax, 
made  such  play  with  it  that  his  foe  dropped  his  own 
sword  and  took  to  the  same  weapon. 

In  this  the  superior  height  and  weight  of  his  opponent 
gave  him  even  a  greater  advantage  than  with  the  sword, 
and  Cuthbert  knowing  this,  used  his  utmost  dexterity 
and  speed  to.  avoid  the  sweeping  blows  showered  upon 
him.  He  himself  had  been  enabled  to  strike  one  or  two 
sweeping  strokes,  always  aiming  at  the  same  place,  the 


66  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

juncture  of  the  visor  with  the  helmet.  At  last  the 
Frenchman  struck  him  so  heavy  a  blow  that  it  beat  down 
his  guard  and  struck  his  steel  cap  from  his  head,  bring- 
ing him  to  the  knee.  In  an  instant  he  was  up,  and  be- 
fore his  foe  could  be  again  on  guard,  he  whirled  his  ax 
round  with  all  its  force,  and  bringing  it  just  at  the  point 
of  the  visor  which  he  had  already  weakened  with  re- 
peated blows,  the  edge  of  the  ax  stove  clean  through 
the  armor,  and  the  page  was  struck  senseless  to  the 
ground. 

A  great  shout  broke  from  the  English  portion  of  the 
soldiery  as  Cuthbert  leaned  over  his  prostrate  foe,  and 
receiving  no  answer  to  the  question,  "Do  you  yield?" 
rose  to  his  feet,  and  signified  to  the  squire  who  had  kept 
near  that  his  opponent  was  insensible. 

King  Richard  ordered  the  pursuivant  to  lead  Cuth- 
bert to  the  royal  inclosure. 

"Thou  art  a  brave  lad  and  a  lusty,"  the  king  said, 
"and  hast  borne  thee  in  the  fight  as  well  as  many  a 
knight  would  have  done.  Wert  thou  older,  I  would 
myself  dub  thee  knight;  and  I  doubt  not  that  the  occa- 
sion will  yet  come  when  thou  wilt  do  as  good  deeds  upon 
the  bodies  of  the  Saracens  as  thou  hast  upon  that  long- 
shanked  opponent  of  thine.  Here  is  a  gold  chain;  take 
it  as  a  proof  that  the  King  of  England  holds  that  you 
have  sustained  well  the  honor  of  his  country;  and  mark 
me,  if  at  any  time  you  require  a  boon,  bring  or  send  me 
that  chain,  and  thou  shalt  have  it  freely.  Sir  Walter,'' 
he  said,  turning  to  the  earl,  "in  this  lad  thou  hast  a 
worthy  champion,  and  I  trust  me  that  thou  wilt  give 
him  every  chance  of  distinguishing  himseif.  So  soon  as 
thou  thinkest  him  fit  for  the  knightly  rank  I  myself  will 
administer  the  accolade." 


BO  7  KNIGHT. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

REVENGE. 

AFTER  his  interview  with  the  king,  Cuthhert  was  led 
to  his  tent  amid  the  hearty  plaudits  of  the  English 
troops. 

His  own  comrades  flocked  round  him;  the  men  of  the 
greenwood  headed  by  Cnut  were  especially  jubilant  over 
his  victory. 

"Who  would  have  thought,"  said  the  tall  forester, 
"that  the  lad  who  but  a  short  time  ago  was  a  child 
should  now  have  sustained  the  honor  of  the  country? 
We  feel  proud  of  you,  Cuthbert;  and  trust  us  some  day 
or  other  to  follow  wherever  you  may  lead,  and  to  do 
some  deed  which  will  attain  for  you  honor  and  glery,  and 
show  that  the  men  of  Evesham  are  as  doughty  as  any 
under  King  Richard's  rule." 

"You  must  be  wary,  Cuthbert,"  the  earl  said  to  him 
that  evening.  "Believe  me  that  you  and  I  have  made  a 
foe,  who,  although  he  may  not  have  the  power,  has  cer- 
tainly the  will  to  injure  us  to  the  death.  I  marked  the 
eye  of  Count  Jacqueline  during  the  fight,  and  again 
when  you  were  led  up  to  the  king.  There  was  hatred 
and  fury  in  his  eye.  The  page,  too,  I  hear,  is  his  own 
nephew,  and  he  will  be  the  laughing-stock  of  the  French 
camp  at  having  been  conquered  by  one  so  much  younger 
than  himself.  It  will  be  well  to  keep  upon  your  guard, 
and  not  to  go  out  at  night  unattended.  Keep  Cnut  neai 
you;  he  is  faithful  as  a  watch-dog^  and  would  give  his 


Qg  THE  BO  T  KNIQHT. 

life,  I  am  sure  for  you.  I  will  myself  be  also  upon  my 
guard,  for  it  was  after  all  my  quarrel,  and  the  fury  of 
this  fierce  knight  will  vent  itself  upon  both  of  us  if  the 
opportunity  should  come.  I  hear  but  a  poor  account  of 
him  among  his  confreres.  They  say  he  is  one  of  those 
disgraces  to  the  name  of  knight  who  are  but  a  mixture 
of  robber  and  soldier;  that  he  harries  all  the  lands  in  his 
neighborhood;  and  that  he  has  now  only  joined  the 
Crusade  to  avoid  the  vengeance  which  the  cries  of  the 
oppressed  people  had  invoked  from  his  liege  lord.  I  am 
told  indeed  that  the  choice  was  given  him  to  be  out- 
lawed, or  to  join  the  Crusades  with  all  the  strength  he 
could  raise.  Naturally  he  adopted  the  latter  alternative; 
but  he  has  the  instincts  of  the  robber  still,  and  will  do  us 
an  evil  turn,  if  he  have  the  chance. " 

Two  days  later  the  great  army  broke  up  its  camp  and 
marched  south.  After  a  week's  journeying  they  en- 
camped near  a  town,  and  halted  there  two  or  three  days 
in  order  to  collect  provisions  for  the  next  advance;  for 
the  supplies  which  they  could  obtain  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts were  wholly  insufficient  for  so  great  a  host  of  men. 
Here  the  armies  were  to  separate,  the  French  marching 
to  Genoa,  the  English  to  Marseilles,  the  town  at  which 
they  were  to  take  ship. 

One  evening  the  earl  sent  Cuthbert  with  a  message  to 
another  English  lord,  staying  in  the  town  at  the  palace 
of  the  bishop,  who  was  a  friend  of  his. 

Cnut  accompanied  Cuthbert,  for  he  now  made  a  point 
of  seldom  letting  him  out  of  his  sight.  It  was  light 
when  they  reached  the  bishop's  palace,  but  here  they 
ttere  delayed  for  some  time,  and  night  had  fallen  when 
they  sallied  out. 

The  town  was  already  quiet,  for  the  inhabitants  cared 
not  to  show  themselves  in  the  streets  now  that  such  a 
large  army  of  fierce  men  were  in  the  neighborhood. 


THE  BOY  RNIQHT.  69 

The  orders  indeed  of  the  monarchs  were  stringent, 
but  discipline  there  was  but  little  of,  and  the  soldiery  in 
those  days  regarded  peaceful  citizens  as  fair  game; 
hence,  when  they  came  from  the  palace  the  streets  of 
the  city  were  already  hushed  and  quiet,  for  the  orders  of 
the  king  had  been  peremptory  that  no  men-at-arms,  or 
others  except  those  on  duty,  were  to  be  away  from  their 
camp  after  nightfall.  This  order  had  been  absolutely 
necessary,  so  many  were  the  complaints  brought  in  by 
country  peasants  and  farmers  of  the  doings  of  bands  of 
soldiers. 

Cnut  and  Cuthbert  proceeded  along  the  streets  unmo- 
lested for  some  distance.  Occasionally  a  solitary  passer- 
by, with  hooded  cape,  hurried  past.  The  moon  was  half 
full,  and  her  light  was  welcome  indeed,  for  in  those 
days  the  streets  were  unlighted,  and  the  pavement  so 
bad  that  passage  through  the  streets  after  dark  was  a 
matter  of  difficulty  and  even  of  danger. 

Here  and  there  before  some  roadside  shrine  a  lamp 
dimly  burned;  before  these  they  paused,  and,  as  good 
Catholics,  Cnut  and  Cuthbert  crossed  themselves.  Just 
as  they  had  passed  one  of  these  wayside  shrines  a  sud- 
den shout  was  heard,  and  a  party  of  eight  or  ten  men 
sprang  out  from  a  side  street  and  fell  upon  them. 

Cnut  and  Cuthbert  drew  their  swords  and  laid  about 
them  heartily,  but  their  assailants  were  too  strong. 
Cnut  was  stricken  to  the  ground,  and  Cuthbert,  seeing 
that  defense  was  hopeless,  took  to  his  heels  and  ran  for 
his  life.  He  was  already  wounded,  but  happily  not  so 
severely  as  in  any  way  to  disable  him. 

Seeing  that  it  was  speed,  and  speed  alone,  which  now 
could  save  him,  he  flung  aside  his  belt  and  scabbard  as 
he  ran,  and  with  rapid  steps  flew  along  the  streets,  not 
knowing  whither  he  went,  and  striving  only  to  keep 
ahead  of  his  pursuers.  They,  more  encumbered  by  arms 


70  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

and  armor,  were  unable  to  keep  up  with  the  flying 
footsteps  of  a  lad  clothed  in  the  light  attire  of  a  page; 
but  Outhbert  felt  that  the  blood  running  from  his  wound 
was  weakening  him  fast,  and  that  unless  he  could  gain 
some  refuge  his  course  must  speedily  come  to  an  end. 
Happily  he  saw  at  some  little  distance  ahead  of  him  a 
man  standing  by  a  door.  Just  as  he  arrived  the  door 
opened,  and  a  glow  of  light  from  within  fell  on  the  road, 
showing  that  the  person  entering  was  a  monk. 

Without  a  moment's  hesitation  Cuthbert  rushed 
through  the  door  shouting  "Sanctuary!"  and  sank  almost 
fainting  on  the  ground. 

The  monks,  accustomed  to  wild  pursuits  and  scenes 
of  outrage  in  those  warlike  days,  hastily  closed  the  door, 
barring  it  securely.  In  a  moment  there  was  a  rush  of 
men  against  it  from  without. 

One  of  the  monks  opened  a  lattice  above  the  door. 

"What  mean  you,"  he  said,  "by  this  outrage?  Know 
ye  not  that  this  is  the  Monastery  of  St.  John,  and  that  it 
is  sacrilege  to  lay  a  hand  of  violence  even  against  its 
postern?  Begone,"  he  said,  "or  we'll  lodge  a  complaint 
before  the  king." 

The  assailants,  nothing  daunted,  continued  to  batter 
at  the  door;  but  at  this  moment  the  monks,  aroused 
from  their  beds,  hastened  to  the  spot,  and  seizing  bill 
and  sword— for  in  those  days  even  monks  were  obliged  at 
times  to  depend  upon  carnal  weapons— they  opened  the 
door,  and  flung  themselves  upon  the  assailants  with  such 
force  that  the  latter,  surprised  and  discomfited,  were 
forced  to  make  a  hasty  retreat. 

The  doors  were  then  again  barred,  and  Cuthbert  was 
Carried  up  to  a  cell  in  the  building  where  the  leech  of 
jhe  monastery  speedily  examined  his  wound,  and  pro- 
nounced that  although  his  life  was  not  in  danger  by  it, 
he  was  greatly  weakened  by  the  loss  of  blood,  that  the 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  71 

wound  was  a  serious  one,  and  that  it  would  be  some 
time  before  the  patient  would  recover. 

It  was  two  days  before  Cuthbert  was  sufficiently  re- 
stored to  be  able  to  speak.  His  first  question  to  the 
monk  was  as  to  his  whereabouts,  and  how  long  he  had 
been  there-  Upon  being  answered,  he  entreated  that  a 
messenger  might  be  dispatched  to  the  camp  of  the  Earl 
of  Evesham,  to  beg  that  a  litter  might  be  sent  for  him, 
and  to  inquire  what  had  become  of  Cnut,  whom  he  had 
last  seen  stricken  down. 

The  monk  replied,  "My  son,  I  grieve  to  tell  you  that 
your  request  cannot  be  complied  with.  The  army 
moved  away  yesternoon,  and  is  now  some  twenty-five 
miles  distant.  There  is  nothing  for  you  but  patience, 
and  when  restored  you  can  follow  the  army,  and  rejoin 
your  master  before  he  embarks  at  Marseilles.  But  how 
is  it  that  a  lad  so  young  as  you  can  have  incurred  the 
enmity  of  those  who  sought  your  life.  For  it  is  clear 
from  the  pertinacity  with  which  they  urged  their  attack 
that  their  object  was  not  plunder,  of  which  indeed  they 
would  get  but  little  from  you  but  to  take  your  life." 

Cuthbert  recounted  the  circumstances  which  had  led 
to  the  feud  of  the  Count  of  Brabant  against  him,  for  he 
doubted  not  that  this  truculent  knight  was  at  the  bottom 
of  the  attack. 

"After  what  has  happened,"  the  monk  said,  "you  will 
need  have  caution  when  you  leave  here.  The  place 
where  yo^  have  taken  refuge  is  known  to  theft,  and 
should  this  wild  noble  persist  in  his  desire  for  vengeance 
against  you,  he  will  doubtless  leave  some  of  his  ruffians 
to  watch  the  monastery.  We  will  keep  a  lookout,  and 
note  if  any  strangers  are  to  be  seen  near  the  gates;  if  we 
find  that  it  is  so  we  shall  consider  what  is  best  to  be 
done.  We  could  of  course  appeal  to  the  mayor  for  pro- 
tection against  them,  and  could  even  have  the  strangers 


73  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

ejected  from  the  town  or  cast  into  prison;  but  it  is  not 
likely  that  we  should  succeed  in  capturing  more  than  the 
fellow  who  may  be  placed  on  the  lookout,  and  the  dan- 
ger would  be  in  no  wise  lessened  to  yourself.  But  there 
is  time  to  talk  over  this  matter  before  you  leave.  It  will 
be  another  fortnight  at  least  before  you  will  be  able  to 
pursue  your  journey." 

Cuthbert  gained  strength  more  rapidly  than  the  monk 
had  expected.  He  was  generously  fed,  and  this  and  his 
good  constitution  soon  enabled  him  to  recover  from  the 
loss  of  blood;  and  at  the  end  of  five  days  he  expressed 
his  hope  that  he  could  on  the  following  day  pursue  his 
journey.  The  monk  who  attended  him  shook  his  head. 

"Thou  mightst,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  quit 
us  to-morrow,  for  thou  art  well  enough  to  take  part  in 
the  ordinary  pursuits  of  a  page;  but  to  journey  is  a 
different  thing.  You  may  have  all  sorts  of  hardships  to 
endure;  you  may  have  even  to  trust  for  your  life  to  your 
speed  and  endurance;  and  it  would  be  madness  for  you  to 
go  until  your  strength  is  fully  established.  I  regret  to 
tell  you  that  we  have  ascertained  beyond  a  doubt  that 
the  monastery  is  closely  watched.  We  have  sent  some 
of  the  acolytes  out,  dressed  in  the  garbs  of  monks,  and 
attended  by  one  of  our  elder  brethren;  and  in  each  case 
a  monk  who  followed  at  a  distance  of  fifty  yards  was  able 
to  perceive  that  they  were  watched.  The  town  is  full  of 
rough  men,  the  hangers-on  of  the  army;  some,  indeed, 
are  followers  of  laggard  knights,  but  the  greater  portion 
are  men  who  merely  pursue  the  army  with  a  view  to 
gain  by  its  necessities,  to  buy  plunder  from  the  soldiers, 
and  to  rob,  and,  if  necessary,  to  murder  should  there  be 
a  hope  of  obtaining  gold.  Among  these  men  your 
enemies  would  have  little  difficulty  in  recruiting  any 
number,  and  no  appeal  that  we  could  make  to  the  mayor 
would  protect  you  from  them  when  you  have  left  the 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  73 

walls.  We  must  trust  to  our  ingenuity  in  smuggling 
you  out.  After  that,  it  is  upon  your  own  strength  and 
shrewdness  that  you  must  rely  for  an  escape  from  any 
snares  that  may  be  laid  for  you.  You  will  see,  then, 
that  at  least  another  three  or  four  days  are  needed  before 
you  can  set  forth.  Your  countrymen  are  so  far  away 
that  a  matter  of  a  few  days  will  make  but  little  differ- 
ence. They  will  in  any  case  be  delayed  for  a  long  time 
at  Marseilles  before  they  embark;  and  whether  you  leave 
now  or  a  month  hence,  you  would  be  equally  in  time  to 
join  them  before  their  embarkation — that  is,  supposing 
that  you  make  your  way  through  the  snares  which  beset 

you." 

Outhbert  saw  the  justice  of  the  reasoning,  and  it  was 
another  week  before  he  announced  himself  as  feeling 
absolutely  restored  to  strength  again,  and  capable  of 
bearing  as  much  exertion  as  he  could  have  done  before 
his  attack. 

A  long  consultation  was  held  with  the  prior  and  a 
monk  who  had  acted  as  his  leech,  as  to  the  best  plan  of 
getting  Cuthbert  beyond  the  walls  of  the  city.  Many 
schemes  were  proposed  and  rejected.  Every  monk  who 
ventured  beyond  the  walls  had  been  closely  scrutinized, 
and  one  or  two  of  short  stature  had  even  been  jostled  in 
the  streets,  so  as  to  throw  back  their  hoods  and  expose  a 
sight  of  their  faces.  It  was  clear,  then,  that  it  would  be 
dangerous  to  trust  to  a  disguise.  Cuthbert  proposed 
that  he  should  leave  at  night,  trusting  solely  to  their 
directions  as  to  the  turnings  he  should  take  to  bring  him 
to  the  city  walls,  and  that,  taking  a  rope,  he  should  there 
let  himself  down,  and  make  the  best  of  his  way  forward. 
This,  however,  the  monks  would  not  consent  to,  assur- 
ing him  that  the  watch  was  so  strictly  kept  round  the 
monastery  that  he  would  inevitably  be  seen. 

"No,"  the  prior  said,  "the  method,  whatever  it  is, 


74  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

must  be  as  open  as  possible;  and  though  I  cannot  at  this 
moment  hit  upon  a  plan,  I  will  think  it  over  to-night, 
and  putting  my  ideas  with  those  of  Father  Jerome,  here, 
and  the  sacristan,  who  has  a  shrewd  head,  it  will  be  hard 
if  we  cannot  between  us  contrive  some  plan  to  evade  the 
watch  of  those  robber  villains  who  beset  the  convent." 

The  next  morning  when  the  prior  came  in  to  see  Cuth- 
bert,  the  latter  said,  "Good  Father,  I  have  determined 
not  to  endeavor  to  make  off  in  disguise.  I  doubt  that 
your  wit  could  contrive  some  means  by  which  I  should 
get  clear  of  the  walls  without  observation  from  the  scouts 
of  this  villain  noble.  But  once  in  the  country  I  should 
have  neither  horse  nor  armor,  and  should  have  hard 
work  indeed  to  make  my  way  down  through  France,  even 
though  none  of  my  enemies  were  on  my  track.  I  will 
therefore,  if  it  please  you,  go  down  boldly  to  the  mayor, 
and  claim  a  protection  and  escort.  If  he  will  but  grant 
me  a  few  men-at-arms  for  one  day's  ride  from  the  town, 
I  can  choose  my  own  route,  and  riding  out  in  mail  can 
then  take  my  chance  of  finding  my  way  down  to 
Marseilles." 

"I  will  go  down  with  you,  my  son,"  the  prior  said, 
"to  the  mayor.  Two  of  my  monks  shall  accompany  us; 
and  assuredly  no  insult  will  be  offered  to  you  in  the 
street  thus  accompanied."  Shortly  afterward  Cuthbert 
started  as  arranged,  and  soon  arrived  at  the  house  of  the 
mayor,  Sir  John  de  Cahors. 

Upon  the  prior  making  known  to  this  knight  whom 
he  had  brought  with  him,  the  mayor  exclaimed: 

"Pestel  young  gentleman;  you  have  caused  us  no  small 
trouble  and  concern.  We  have  had  ridings  to  and  fro 
concerning  you,  and  furious  messages  from  your  fiery 
king.  When  in  the  morning  a  tall,  stalwart  knave 
dressed  in  green  was  found,  slashed  about  in  various 
places,  lying  on  the  pavement,  the  townsmen,  not  know- 


I 


TEE  BOY  KNIGHT.  ^ 

ing  who  lie  was,  but  finding  that  he  still  breathed,  car- 
ried him  to  the  English  camp,  and  he  was  claimed  as  a 
follower  of  the  Earl  of  Evesham.  There  was  great  wrath 
and  anger  over  this;  and  an  hour  later  the  earl  himself 
came  down  and  stated  that  his  page  was  missing,  and 
that  there  was  reason  to  believe  that  he  had  been  foully 
murdered,  as  he  had  accompanied  the  man  found 
wounded.  Fortunately  the  bulk  of  the  armies  had. 
marched  away  at  early  dawn,  and  the  earl  had  only  re-* 
mained  behind  in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  his 
followers.  I  assured  the  angry  Englishman  that  I  would 
have  a  thorough  search  made  in  the  town;  and  although 
in  no  way  satisfied,  he  rode  off  after  his  king  with  all  his 
force,  carrying  with  him  the  long-limbed  man  whom  we 
had  picked  up.  Two  days  after  a  message  came  back 
from  King  Richard  himself,  saying  that  unless  this  miss- 
ing page  were  discovered,  or  if,  he  being  killed,  his 
murderers  were  not  brought  to  justice  and  punished,  he 
would  assuredly  on  his  return  from  the  Holy  Land  burn 
the  town  over  our  ears.  Your  king  is  not  a  man  who 
minces  matters.  However,  threatened  men  live  long, 
especially  when  the  person  who  threatens  is  starting  for 
a  journey,  from  which,  as  like  as  not,  he  may  never  re- 
turn. However,  I  have  had  diligent  search  made  for 
you.  All  the  houses  of  bad  repute  have  been  examined, 
and  their  inhabitants  questioned.  But  there  are  so 
many  camp-followers  and  other  rabble  at  present  in  the 
town  that  a  hundred  men  might  disappear  without  our 
being  able  to  obtain  a  clew.  I  doubted  not  indeed  that 
your  body  had  been  thrown  in  the  river,  and  that  we 
should  never  hear  more  of  you.  I  am  right  glad  that 
you  have  been  restored;  not  indeed  from  any  fear  of  the 
threats  of  the  king,  your  master,  but  because,  from  what 
the  Earl  of  Evesham  said,  you  were  a  lad  likely  to  come 
to  great  fame  and  honor.  The  earl  left  in  my  charge 


76 


THE  EOT  KNIGHT. 


your  horse,  and  the  armor  which  he  said  you  wore  at  8 
tournament  lately,  in  case  we  should  hear  aught  of  you." 

Cuthbert  gate  an  exclamation  of  pleasure.  His  purse 
contained  but  a  few  pieces  of  silver,  and  being  without 
arms  except  for  his  short  dagger,  or  means  of  locomo- 
tion, the  difficulties  of  the  journey  down  to  Marseilles 
had  borely  puzzled  him.  But  with  his  good  horse  be- 
tween his  knees,  and  his  suit  of  Milan  armor  on  his  back, 
he  thought  that  he  might  make  his  way  through  any 
dangers  which  threatened  him. 

The  prior  now  told  the  knight  that  circumstances  had 
occurred,  which  showed  that  it  was  known  to  the  assail- 
ants of  Cuthbert  that  he  had  taken  refuge  in  the 
convent,  over  which  a  strict  watch  had  been  kept  by 
Cuthbert's  enemies. 

"If  I  could  find  the  varlets,  I  would  hang  them  over 
the  gates  of  the  town,"  the  knight  said  wrathfully.  "But 
as  at  the  present  moment  there  are  nearly  as  many  rogues 
as  honest  men  in  the  place,  it  would  be  a  wholesale  hang- 
ing indeed  to  insure  getting  hold  of  the  right  people. 
Moreover,  it  is  not  probable  that  another  attempt  upon 
his  life  will  be  made  inside  our  walls;  and  doubtless  the 
main  body  of  this  gang  are  somewhere  without,  intend- 
ing to  assault  him  when  he  continues  his  journey,  and 
they  have  left  but  a  spy  or  two  here  to  inform  them  as  to 
his  movements.  I  will  give  you  any  aid  in  my  power, 
young  sir.  The  army  is  by  this  time  nigh  Marseilles, 
and,  sooth  to  say,  I  have  no  body  of  men-at-arms  whom 
I  could  send  as  your  escort  for  so  long  a  distance.  I 
have  but  a  small  body  here,  and  they  are  needed,  and 
sorely  too,  to  keep  order  within  the  walls." 

"I  thought,  sir,"  Cuthbert  said,  "that  if  you  could 
lend  me  a  party  of  say  four  men-at-arms  to  ride  with  me 
for  the  first  day,  I  could  then  trust  to  myself,  especially 
if  you  could  procure  me  one  honest  man  to  act  as  guide 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT.  77 

and  companion.  Doubtless  they  suppose  that  I  should 
travel  by  the  main  road  south;  but  by  going  the  first 
day's  journey  either  east  or  west,  and  then  striking  some 
southward  road,  I  should  get  a  fair  start  of  them,  throw 
all  their  plans  out  and  perchance  reach  Marseilles  with- 
out interruption/' 

The  knight  willingly  agreed  to  furnish  four  men-at- 
arms,  and  a  trustworthy  guide  who  would  at  least  take 
him  as  far  south  as  Avignon. 

"I  will,"  he  said,  "tell  the  men-at-arms  off  to-night. 
They  shall  be  at  the  western  gate  at  daybreak  with  the 
pass  permitting  them  to  ride  through.  The  guide  shall 
be  at  the  convent  door  half  an  hour  earlier.  I  will  send 
up  to-night  your  armor  and  horse.  Here  is  a  purse 
which  the  Earl  of  Evesham  also  left  for  your  use.  Is 
there  aught  else  I  can  do  for  you?" 

"Nothing,  sir,"  Cuthbert  said;  "and  if  I  regain  the 
army  in  safety  I  shall  have  pleasure  in  reporting  to 
King  Richard  how  kindly  and  courteously  you  have 
treated  me." 

The  arrangements  were  carried  out. 

An  hour  before  daybreak  Cuthbert  was  aroused, 
donned  his  armor  and  steel  casque,  drank  a  flask  of  wine, 
and  ate  a  manchet  of  bread  which  the  prior  himself 
brought  him;  and  then,  with  a  cordial  adieu  to  the  kind 
monks,  issued  forth. 

The  guide  had  just  reached  the  gate,  and  together  they 
trotted  down  the  narrow  streets  to  the  west  gate  of  the 
city,  where  four  men-at-arms  were  awaiting  them. 

The  gates  were  at  once  opened,  and  Cuthbert  and  his 
little  troop  sallied  forth. 


78 


THE  BOY  KNIQHT. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

THE  ATTACKc 

ALL  day  they  rode  with  their  faces  west,  and  before 
nightfall  had  made  a  journey  of  over  forty  miles.  Then 
bestowing  a  largess  upon  the  men-at-arms,  Cuthbert  dis- 
missed them,  and  took  up  his  abode  at  a  hostelry,  his 
guide  looking  to  the  two  horses. 

Cuthbert  was  pleased  with  the  appearance  of  the  man 
who  had  been  placed  at  his  disposal.  He  was  a  young 
fellow  of  twenty-two  or  twenty-three,  with  an  honest  face. 
He  was,  he  told  Cuthbert,  the  son  of  a  small  farmer 
near  Avignon;  but  having  a  fancy  for  trade,  he  had  been 
apprenticed  to  a  master  smith.  Having  served  his 
apprenticeship,  he  found  that  he  had  mistaken  his  voca- 
tion, and  intended  to  return  to  the  paternal  vineyards. 

Cuthbert  calculated  that  he  would  make  at  least  four 
days'  journey  to  the  south  before  he  could  meet  with 
any  dangers.  Doubtless  his  exit  from  the  convent  had 
been  discovered,  and  the  moment  the  gates  of  the  city  were 
opened  the  spy  would  have  proceeded  south  to  warn  his 
comrades,  and  these  would  doubtless  have  taken  a  road 
which  at  a  distance  would  again  take  them  on  to  that 
by  which  Cuthbert  would  be  now  traveling.  As,  how- 
ever, he  rode  fast,  and  made  long  marches  each  day,  he 
hoped  that  he  might  succeed  in  distancing  them.  Un- 
fortunately, upon  the  third  day  his  horse  cast  his  shoe, 
and  no  smith  could  be  met  with  until  the  end  of  the 
day's  journey.  Consequently,  but  a  short  distance  could 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  79 

be  done,  and  this  at  a  slow  pace.  Upon  the  fifth  day 
after  their  first  start  they  arrived  at  a  small  town. 

The  next  morning  Cuthbert  on  rising  found  that  his 
guide  did  not  present  himself  as  usual.  Making  in- 
quiries, he  found  that  the  young  man  had  gone  out  the 
evening  before,  and  had  not  returned.  Extremely  un- 
easy «it  the  circumstance  Cuthbert  went  to  the  city 
guard,  thinking  that  perhaps  his  guide  might  have  got 
drunk,  and  been  shut  up  in  the  cells.  No  news,  however, 
was  to  be  obtained  there,  and  after  waiting  some  hours, 
feeling  sure  that  some  harm  had  befallen  him,  he  gave 
notice  to  the  authorities  of  his  loss,  and  then,  mounting 
his  horse,  and  leaving  some  money  with  the  landlord  of 
the  hostelry  to  give  to  his  guide  in  case  the  latter  should 
return,  he  started  at  midday  by  the  southern  road. 

He  felt  sure  now  that  he  was  overtaken,  and  deter- 
mined to  keep  his  eyes  and  faculties  thoroughly  on 
watch. 

The  roads  in  those  days  were  mere  tracks.  Here  and 
there  a  little  village  was  to  be  met  with;  but  the  country 
was  sparsely  cultivated,  and  traveling  lonely  work. 
Cuthbert  rode  fast,  carefully  avoiding  all  copses  and 
small  woods  through  which  the  road  ran,  by  making  a 
circuit  round  them  and  coming  on  to  it  again  on  the 
other  side. 

His  horse  was  an  excellent  one,  the  gift  of  the  earl, 
and  he  had  little  fear,  with  his  light  weight,  of  being 
overtaken,  if  he  could  once  leave  his  enemies  behind 
him. 

At  length  he  approached  an  extensive  forest,  which 
stretched  for  miles  on  either  side. 

Half  a  mile  before  he  reached  it  the  track  divided. 

He  had  for  some  little  time  eased  his  horse  down  to  a 
walk,  as  he  felt  that  the  wood  would  be  the  spot  where 
he  would  in  all  probability  be  attacked,  and  he  needed 
that  his  steed  should  be  possessed  of  its  utmost  vigor. 


80  THE  BOY  KNIQHT. 

At  the  spot  where  the  track  branched  a  man  in  the 
guise  of  a  mendicant  was  sitting.  He  begged  for  alms, 
and  Cuthbert  threw  him  a  small  coin. 

A  sudden  thought  struck  him  as  he  heard  a  rustling 
in  the  bushes  near. 

"Which  is  the  nearest  and  best  road  to  Avignon?"  he 
said. 

"The  right-hand  road  is  the  best  and  shortest,"  the 
beggar  said.  "The  other  makes  a  long  circuit,  and 
leads  through  several  marshes,  which  your  honor  will 
find  it  hard  to  pass/' 

Guthbert  thanked  him,  and  moved  forward,  still  at  a 
walk,  along  the  right-hand  road. 

When  he  had  gone  about  two  hundred  yards,  and  was 
hidden  from  the  sight  of  the  man  he  had  left — the  country 
being  rough,  and  scattered  with  clumps  of  bushes — he 
halted,  and,  as  he  expected,  heard  the  sound  of  horses' 
hoofs  coming  on  at  full  gallop  along  the  other  road. 

"Your  master  must  have  thought  me  young  indeed/' 
he  said,  "to  try  and  catch  me  with  such  a  transparent 
trick  as  that.  I  do  not  suppose  that  accursed  page  has 
more  than  ten  men  with  him,  and  doubtless  has  placed 
five  on  each  road.  This  fellow  was  placed  here  to  see 
which  track  I  would  follow,  and  has  now  gone  to  give 
the  party  on  the  left  hand  the  news  that  I  have  taken  this 
way.  Had  it  not  been  for  him  I  should  have  had  to  run 
the  gantlet  with  four  or  five  of  my  enemies.  A«  it  is, 
the  path  will  doubtless  be  clear." 

So  saying,  he  turned  his  horse,  galloped  back  to  the 
spot  where  the  tracks  separated,  and  then  followed  the 
left-hand  route. 

As  he  had  hoped,  he  passed  through  the  wood  without 
incident  or  interruption,  and  arrived  safely  that  night  at 
a  small  town,  having  seen  no  signs  of  his  enemies. 

The  next  day  he  started  again  early,  and  rode  on  until 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  81 

midday,  when  he  halted  at  a  large  village,  at  which  was 
the  only  inn  between  the  place  from  which  he  started 
and  his  destination.  He  declined  the  offer  of  the  servant 
of  the  inn  to  take  his  horse  round  to  the  stable,  telling 
the  man  to  hold  him  outside  the  door  and  give  him  from 
a  sieve  a  few  handfuls  of  grain. 

Tnen  he  entered  the  inn  and  ate  a  hearty  meal.  As 
he  appeared  at  the  door  he  saw  several  men  gathered 
near.  With  a  single  spring  he  threw  himself  into  the 
saddle,  just  as  a  rush  forward  was  made  by  those  stand- 
ing round.  The  man  next  to  him  sprang  upon  him,  and 
endeavored  to  drag  him  from  the  saddle.  Cuthbert  drew 
the  little  dagger  called  a  Misericorde  from  his  belt,  and 
plunged  it  into  his  throat.  Then  seizing  the  short  mace 
which  hung  at  the  saddlebow,  he  hurled  it  with  all  his 
force  full  in  the  face  of  his  enemy,  the  page  of  Sir 
Philip,  who  was  rushing  upon  him  sword  in  hand.  The 
heavy  weapon  struck  him  fairly  between  the  eyes,  and 
with  a  cry  he  fell  back,  his  face  completely  smashed  in 
by  the  blow,  the  sword  which  he  held  uplifted  to  strike 
flying  far  through  the  air. 

Cuthbert  struck  his  spurs  into  his  horse  and  the  animal 
dashed  forward  with  a  bound,  Cuthbert  striking  with  his 
long  sword  at  one  or  two  men  who  made  a  snatch  at  the 
reins.  In  another  minute  he  was  cantering  out  of  the 
village,  convinced  that  he  had  killed  the  leader  of  his 
foes,  and  that  he  was  safe  now  to  pursue  the  rest  of  his 
journey  on  to  Marseilles. 

So  it  turned  out. 

Without  further  incident  he  traveled  through  the 
south  of  France,  and  arrived  at  the  great  seaport.  He 
speedily  discovered  the  quarters  in  which  the  Earl  of 
Evesham's  contingent  were  encamped,  and  made  toward 
this  without  delay.  As  he  entered  a  wild  shout  of  joy 
was  heard,  and  Cnut  ran  forward  with  many  gestures  of 
delight. 


82  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

"My  dear  Cuthbert,  my  dear  Cuthbert!"  he  exclaimed. 
''Can  it  be  true  that  you  have  escaped?  We  all  gave 
you  up;  and  although  I  did  my  best,  yet  had  you  not 
survived  it  I  should  never  have  forgiven  myself,  believ- 
ing that  I  might  have  somehow  done  better,  and  have 
saved  you  from  the  cutthroats  who  attacked  us." 

"Thanks,  thanks,  my  good  Cnut,"  Cuthbert  cried. 
"I  have  been  through  a  time  of  peril,  no  doubt;  but  as 
you  see,  I  am  hale  and  well — better  methinks  than  you 
are,  for  you  look  pale  and  ill;  and  I  doubt  not  that  the 
wound  which  I  received  was  a  mere  scratch  to  that  which 
bore  you  down.  It  sounded  indeed  like  the  blow  of  a 
smith's  hammer  upon  an  anvil." 

"Fortunately,  my  steel  cap  saved  my  head  somewhat," 
Cnut  said,  "and  the  head  itself  is  none  of  the  thin- 
nest; but  it  tried  it  sorely,  I  confess.  However,  now 
that  you  are  back  I  shall,  doubt  not,  soon  be  as  strong  as 
ever  I  was.  I  think  that  fretting  for  your  absence  has 
kept  me  back  more  than  the  inflammation  from  the  wound 
itself — but  there  is  the  earl  at  the  door  of  his  tent." 

Through  the  foresters  and  retainers  who  had  at  Cnut's 
shout  of  joy  crowded  up,  Cuthbert  made  his  way,  shak- 
ing hands  right  and  left  with  the  men,  among  whom  he 
was  greatly  loved,  for  they  regarded  him  as  being  in  a 
great  degree  the  cause  of  their  having  been  freed  from 
outlawry,  and  restored  to  civil  life  again.  The  earl  was 
really  affected.  As  Cuthbert  rode  up  he  held  out  both 
arms,  and  as  his  page  alighted  he  embraced  liiin  as  a 
father. 

"My  dear  Cuthbert!"  he  exclaimed.  "What  anxiety 
have  we  not  suffered.  Had  you  been  my  own  son  I 
could  not  have  felt  more  your  loss.  We  did  not  doubt 
for  an  instant  that  you  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  some 
of  the  retainers  of  that  villain  count;  and  from  all  we 
could  learn,  and  from  the  absence  of  any  dead  body  by 


THE  BOY  KNIGH1. 


83 


the  side  of  that  of  Cnut,  I  imagined  that  you  must  have 
been  carried  off.  It  was  clear  that  your  chance  of  life., 
if  you  fell  into  the  hands  of  that  evil  page,  or  his  equally 
vile  master,  was  small  indeed.  The  very  day  that  Cnut 
was  brought  in  I  visited  the  French  camp  and  accused 
him  of  having  been  the  cause  of  your  disappearance  and 
Cnut;s  wounds.  He  affected  the  greatest  astonishment 
at  the  charge.  He  had  not,  as  he  said,  been  out  of  the 
camp  for  two  days.  My  accusation  was  unfounded  and 
malicious,  and  I  should  answer  this  as  well  as  the  pre- 
vious outrage,  when  the  vow  of  the  Crusaders  to  keep 
peace  among  themselves  was  at  an  end.  Of  course  I  had 
no  means  of  proving  what  I  said,  or  I  would  have  gone 
direct  to  the  king  and  charged  him  with  the  outrage. 
As  it  was  I  gained  nothing  by  my  pains.  He  has  accom- 
panied the  French  division  to  Genoa;  but  when  we  meet 
at  Sicily,  where  the  two  armies  are  to  rendezvous,  I  will 
bring  the  matter  before  the  king,  as  the  fact  that  his 
page  was  certainly  concerned  in  it  must  be  taken  as 
showing  that  he  was  the  instigator." 

"It  would,  my  lord  earl,  be  perhaps  better,"  Cuthbert 
said,  "if  I  might  venture  to  advise,  to  leave  the  matter 
alone.  No  doubt  the  count  would  say  that  he  had  dis- 
charged his  page  after  the  tournament,  and  that  the 
latter  was  only  carrying  out  his  private  feud  with  me. 
We  should  not  be  able  to  disprove  the  story,  and  should 
gain  no  satisfaction  by  the  matter." 

The  earl  admitted  the  justice  of  Cuthbert's  reasoning, 
but  reserved  to  himself  the  task  of  punishing  the  author 
of  the  outrage  upon  the  first  fitting  opportunity. 

There  was  a  weary  delay  at  Marseilles  before  the  ex- 
pedition set  sail.  This  was  caused  by  the  fact  of  the 
English  fleet,  which  had  been  ordered  to  be  there  upon 
their  arrival,  failing  to  keep  the  agreement. 

The  words  English  fleet  badly  describe   the  vessels 


84  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

which  were  to  carry  the  English  contingent  to  their 
destination.  They  were  ships  belonging  to  the  maritime 
nations  of  Italy— the  Venetians,  Genoese,  Pisans,  etc.; 
for  England  at  that  time  had  but  few  of  her  own,  and 
these  scarcely  fitted  for  the  stormy  navigation  of  the 
Bay  of  Biscay. 

King  Bichard,  impatient  as  ever  of  delay,  at  last  lost 
his  temper,  and  embarked  on  board  a  ship  with  a  few  of 
his  chosen  knights,  and  set  sail  by  himself  for  Sicily,  the 
point  at  which  the  two  armies  of  the  expedition  were  to 
reunite.  A  few  days  after  his  departure  the  long- 
looked-for  fleet  arrived,  and  a  portion  of  the  English 
host  embarked  at  once,  and  set  sail  for  Sicily,  where 
they  were  to  be  landed,  and  the  ships  were  to  return  to 
fetch  the  remaining  contingent. 

A  sea  voyage  of  this  kind  in  those  days  was  a  serious 
matter.  Long  voyages  were  rare,  and  troops  were  car- 
ried very  much  upon  the  principle  of  herrings;  that  is, 
were  packed  as  close  as  they  could  be,  without  any 
reference  to  their  comfort.  As  the  voyages  seldom  lasted 
more  than  twenty-four  hours  this  did  not  much  matter, 
but  during  long  voyages  the  discomforts,  or  as  may  be 
said  sufferings,  of  the  troops  were  considerable.  So 
tightly  packed  were  the  galleys  in  which  the  English  set 
sail  from  Marseilles  that  there  was  no  walking  about. 
Every  man  slept  where  he  sat,  and  considered  himself 
lucky  indeed  if  he  could  obtain  room  sufficient  to  stretch 
himself  at  full  length.  Most  slept  sitting  against  bul- 
warks or  other  supports.  In  the  cabins,  where  the 
knights,  their  pages  and  squires,  were  placed,  the  crowd- 
ing was  of  course  less  excessive,  but  even  here  the 
amount  of  space,  which  a  subaltern  traveling  to  India 
for  the  first  time  nowadays  would  grumble  at,  was  con- 
sidered amply  sufficient  for  half  a  dozen  knights  of  dis- 
tinction. It  was  a  week  after  sailing  when  Cnut  touched 


THE  BO  7  KNIGHT.  85 

Cuthbert's  arm  as  he  came  on  deck  one  morning  and 
said: 

"Look,  look,  Cuthbert!  that  mountain  standing  up  in 
the  water  has  caught  fire  on  the  top.  Did  you  ever  see 
such  a  thing?" 

The  soldiers  crowded  to  the  side  of  the  vessel,  in  in- 
tense astonishment  and  no  little  awe.  From  the  top  of  a 
lofty  and  rugged  hill,  rising  almost  straight  from  the 
sea,  flames  were  roaring  up,  smoke  hung  over  the  island, 
and  stones  were  thrown  into  the  air  and  rattled  down  the 
side  of  the  hill,  or  fell  into  the  sea  with  a  splash. 

"That  is  a  fearsome  sight,"  Cnut  said,  crossing  him- 
self. 

"It  looks  as  if  it  was  the  mouth  of  purgatory,"  ex- 
claimed another,  standing  by.  • 

Outhbert  himself  was  amazed,  for  the  instruction  he 
had  received  from  Father  Francis  was  of  too  slight  a 
nature  to  include  the  story  of  volcanoes.  A  priest,  how- 
ever, who  accompanied  the  ship  in  the  character  of  leech 
and  confessor,  explained  the  nature  of  the  phenomenon 
to  his  astonished  listeners,  and  told  them  that  over  on 
the  mainland  was  a  mountain  which  at  times  vomited 
forth  such  masses  of  stones  and  of  liquid  rock  that  it 
had  swallowed  up  and  covered  many  great  cities.  There 
was  also,  he  told  them,  another  mountain  of  the  same 
sort,  even  more  vast,  on  the  island  of  Sicily  itself;  but 
that  this  had  seldom,  as  far  back  as  man  could  remem- 
ber, done  any  great  harm. 

Sailing  on,  in  another  day  they  arrived  off  the  coast  of 
Sicily  itself,  and  sailing  up  the  straits  between  it  and 
the  mainland,  they  landed  at  Messina.  Here  a  consid- 
erable portion  of  the  French  army  had  already  arrived, 
having  been  brought  down  from  Genoa. 

There  was  no  news  of  the  King  of  England;  and,  as 
often  happens,  the  saying,  "the  more  haste  the  less 
speed,"  had  been  verified  here. 


86  TEE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

It  was  some  days  later  before  King  Richard  arrived, 
having  been  driven  from  his  course  by  tempests,  well- 
nigh  cast  ashore,  and  having  besides  gone  through  many 
adventures.  Three  weeks  later  the  whole  of  the  army 
of  the  Crusaders  were  gathered  around  Messina,  where 
it  was  intended  to  remain  some  little  time  before  start- 
ing, it  was  a  gay  time,  and  the  kings  vied  with  each 
other  in  entertainments,  joustings,  and  tournaments. 
The  Italian  knights  also  made  a  brave  show,  and  it 
might  have  been  thought  that  this  huge  army  of  men 
were  gathered  there  simply  for  amusement  and  feasting. 
In  the  tournaments  every  effort  was  made  to  prevent  any 
feeling  of  national  rivalry,  and  although  parties  of 
knights  held  their  own  against  all  comers,  these  were 
most  carefully  selected  to  represent  several  nationalities, 
and  therefore  victory,  on  whichsoever  side  it  fell,  excited 
no  feelings  of  bitterness. 

Alone,  King  Richard  was  undoubtedly  the  strongest 
cavalier  of  the  two  armies.  Against  his  ponderous 
strength  no  knight  could  keep  his  seat;  and  this  was  so 
palpable  that  after  many  victories  King  Richard  was 
forced  to  retire  from  the  lists  from  want  of  competitors, 
and  to  take  his  place  on  the  dais  with  the  more  peace- 
loving  King  of  France. 

The  gayety  of  the  camp  was  heightened  by  the  arrival 
of  many  nobles  and  dames  from  Italy.  Here,  too,  came 
the  Queen  of  Navarre,  bringing  with  her  the  beautiful 
Princess  Berengaria. 

"Methinks,"  the  Earl  of  Evesham  said  to  Cuthbert  a 
fortnight  after  the  arrival  of  the  queen,  "that  unless  my 
eyes  deceive  me  the  princess  is  likely  to  be  a  cause  of 
trouble. " 

"In  what  way?"  asked  Cuthbert  with  surprise,  for  he 
had  been  struck  with  her  marvelous  beauty,  and  won- 
dered greatly  what  mischief  so  fair  a  being  could  do. 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


87 


"By  the  way  in  which  our  good  lord,  the  king,  gazes 
upon  her,  methinks  that  it  were  like  enough  that  he 
broke  oS  his  engagement  with  the  Princess  of  France, 
for  the  sake  01  the  fair  eyes  of  this  damsel." 

"That  were  indeed  a  misfortune,"  Cuthbert  said 
gravely,  for  he  saw  at  once  the  anger  which  such  a 
courso  would  excite  in  the  minds  of  the  French  king  and 
his  knights,  who  would  naturally  be  indignant  in  the 
extreme  at  the  slight  put  upon  their  princess.  As  day 
after  day  passed  it  became  evident  to  all  that  the  King 
of  England  was  infatuated  by  the  princess.  Again  he 
entered  the  lists  himself,  and  as  some  fresh  Italian 
knights  and  others  had  arrived,  he  found  fresh  oppo- 
nents, and  conspicuously  laid  the  spoils  of  victory  at  the 
feet  of  the  princess,  whom  he  selected  as  the  Queen  of 
Beauty. 

All  sorts  of  rumors  now  became  current  in  camp;  vio- 
lent quarrels  between  the  kings,  and  bad  feeling  between 
the  French  and  English  knights,  broke  out  again  in  con- 
sequence, and  this  more  violently  than  before. 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE  PRINCESS  BERENGARIA. 

ONE  night  it  chanced  that  Cuthbert  was  late  in  his 
return  to  camp,  and  his  road  took  him  through  a  por- 
tion of  the  French  encampment;  the  night  was  dark, 
and  Cuthbert  presently  completely  lost  all  idea  as  to  his 
bearings.  Presently  he  nearly  ran  against  a  tent;  he 
made  his  way  to  the  entrance  in  order  to  crave  directions 
as  to  his  way — for  it  was  a  wet  night;  the  rain  was  pour- 
ing in  torrents,  and  few  were  about  of  whom  he  could 
demand  the  way— and,  as  he  was  about  to  draw  aside  the 
hangings,  he  heard  words  said  in  a  passionate  voice  which 
caused  him  to  withdraw  his  hand  suddenly. 

"I  tell  you,"  said  a  voice,  "I  would  rather  drive  a 
dagger  myself  into  her  heart  than  allow  our  own  prin- 
cess to  be  insulted  by  this  hot-headed  island  dog." 

"It  is  sad  indeed,"  said  another,  but  in  a  calmer  and 
smoother  tone,  "that  the  success  of  a  great  expedition 
like  this,  which  has  for  its  object  the  recovery  of  the 
holy  sepulcher  from  the  infidels,  should  be  wrecked  by 
the  headstrong  fancies  of  one  man.  It  is  even,  as  is  told 
by  the  old  Grecian  poet,  as  when  Helen  caused  a  great  war 
between  peoples  of  that  nation." 

"I  know  nothing,"  another  voice  said,  "either  of 
Helen  or  the  Greeks,  or  of  their  poets.  They  are  a  shifty 
race,  and  I  can  believe  aught  that  is  bad  of  them.  But 
touching  this  Princess  of  Navarre,  I  agree  with  our 
friend,  it  would  be  a  righteous  deed  to  poniard  her,  and 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  89 

so  to  remove  the  cause  of  dispute  between  the  two  kings, 
and,  indeed,  the  two  nations.  This  insult  laid  upon  our 
princess  is  more  than  we,  as  French  knights  and  gentle- 
men, can  brook;  and  if  the  king  says  the  word,  there  is 
not  a  gentleman  in  the  army  but  will  be  ready  to  turn 
his  sword  against  the  islanders." 

Then  the  smooth  voice  spoke  again. 

"It  would,  my  brethren,  be  wrong  and  useless  to  shed 
blood;  but  methinks  that  if  this  apple  of  discord  could 
be  removed  a  good  work  would  be  done;  not  as  our 
friend  the  count  has  suggested,  by  a  stab  of  the  dagger; 
that  indeed  would  be  worse  than  useless.  But  surely 
there  are  scores  of  religious  houses,  where  this  bird 
might  be  placed  in  a  cage  without  a  soul  knowing  where 
she  was,  and  where  she  might  pass  her  life  in  prayer  that 
she  may  be  pardoned  for  having  caused  grave  hazards  of 
the  failure  of  an  enterprise  in  which  all  the  Christian 
world  is  concerned." 

The  voices  of  the  speakers  now  fell,  and  Cuthbert  was 
straining  his  ear  to  listen,  when  he  heard  footsteps  ap- 
proaching the  tent,  and  he  glided  away  into  the  darkness. 

With  great  difficulty  he  recovered  the  road  to  the 
camp,  and  when  he  reached  his  tent  he  confided  to  the 
Earl  of  Evesham  what  he  had  heard. 

"This  is  serious  indeed,"  the  earl  said,  "and  bodes  no 
little  trouble  and  danger.  It  is  true  that  the  passion 
which  King  Richard  has  conceived  for  Berengaria  bids 
fair  to  wreck  the  Crusade,  by  the  anger  which  it  has  ex- 
cited in  the  French  king  and  his  nobles;  but  the  disap- 
pearance of  the  princess  would  no  less  fatally  interfere 
with  it,  for  the  king  would  be  like  a  raging  lion  deprived 
of  his  whelps,  and  would  certainly  move  no  foot  eastward 
until  he  had  exhausted  all  the  means  in  his  power  of 
tracing  his  lost  lady  love.  You  could  not,  I  suppose, 
Cuthbert,  point  out  the  tent  where  this  conversation 
took  place?" 


90  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

"1  <#otiM  not,"  Cuthbert  answered;  "in  the  daikness 
one  tent  is  like  another.  I  think  I  should  recognize  the 
voices  of  the  speakers  did  I  hear  them  again;  indeed, 
one  voice  I  did  recognize;  it  was  that  of  the  Count  of  Bra- 
bant, with  whom  we  had  trouble  before." 

"That  is  good,"  the  earl  said,  "because  we  have  at 
least  an  object  to  watch.  It  would  never  do  to  tell  the 
king  what  you  have  heard.  In  the  first  place,  his  anger 
would  be  so  great  that  it  would  burst  all  bounds,  and 
would  cause,  likely  enough,  a  battle  at  once  between  the 
two  armies;  nor  would  it  have  any  good  effect,  for  he  of 
Brabant  would  of  course  deny  the  truth  of  your  asser- 
tions, and  would  declare  it  was  merely  a  got-up  story  to 
discredit  him  with  the  king,  and  so  to  wipe  out  the  old 
score  now  standing  between  us.  No,  if  we  are  to  suc- 
ceed, alike  in  preventing  harm  happening  to  the  princess 
and  an  open  break  between  the  two  monarchs,  it  must  be 
done  by  keeping  a  guard  over  the  princess,  unsuspected 
by  all,  and  ourselves  frustrating  any  attempt  which  may 
be  made." 

Cuthbert  expressed  his  willingness  to  carry  out  the 
instructions  which  the  earl  might  give  him;  and,  much 
disturbed  by  the  events  of  the  day,  both  earl  and  page 
retired  to  rest,  to  think  over  what  plan  had  best  be 
adopted. 

The  princess  was  staying  at  the  palace  of  the  bishop  of 
the  town;  this  he,  having  another  residence  a  short  dis- 
tance outside  the  walls,  had  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Queen  of  Navarre  and  her  suite;  and  the  first  step  of 
Cuthbert  in  the  morning  was  to  go  into  the  town,  to 
reconnoiter  the  position  and  appearance  of  the  building. 
It  was  a  large  and  irregular  pile,  and  communicated  with 
the  two  monasteries  lying  alongside  of  it.  It  would 
therefore  clearly  be  a  most  difficult  thing  to  keep  up  a 
complete  watch  on  the  exterior  of  so  large  a  building. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  91 

There  were  so  many  ways  in  which  the  princess  might 
be  captured  and  carried  off  by  unscrupulous  men  that 
Cuthbert  in  vain  thought  over  every  plan  by  which  it 
could  be  possible  to  safeguard  her.  She  might  be  seized 
upon  returning  from  a  tournament  or  entertainment; 
but  this  was  improbable,  as  the  queen  would  always  have 
an  escort  of  knights  with  her,  and  no  attempt  could  be 
successful  except  at  the  cost  of  a  public  fracas  and 
much  loss  of  blood.  Cuthbert  regarded  as  out  of  the 
question  that  an  outrage  of  this  kind  would  be  attempted. 

The  fact  that  one  of  the  speakers  in  the  tent  had  used 
the  words  "my  sons,"  showed  that  one  priest  or  monk, 
at  least,  was  connected  with  the  plot.  It  was  possible 
that  this  man  might  have  power  in  one  of  the  monas- 
teries, or  he  might  be  an  agent  of  the  bishop  himself; 
and  Cuthbert  saw  that  it  would  be  easy  enough  in  the 
night  for  a  party  from  one  or  other  of  the  monasteries 
to  enter  by  the  door  of  communication  with  the  palace, 
and  carry  off  the  princess  without  the  slightest  alarm 
being  given.  Once  within  the  walls  of  the  convent,  she 
could  be  either  hidden  in  the  dungeons  or  secret  places, 
which  buildings  of  that  kind  were  sure  to  possess,  or 
could  be  at  once  carried  out  by  some  quiet  entrance,  and 
taken  into  the  country,  or  transferred  to  some  other 
building  in  the  town. 

When  Cuthbert  joined  the  earl  he  told  him  the  observ- 
ations that  he  had  made,  and  Sir  Walter  praised  the 
judgment  which  he  had  shown  in  his  conclusions.  The 
earl  was  of  opinion  that  it  would  be  absolutely  necessary 
to  get  some  clew  as  to  the  course  which  the  abductors 
purposed  to  take;  indeed  it  was  possible  that  on  after- 
consideration  they  might  drop  their  plan  altogether,  for 
the  words  which  Cuthbert  had  overheard  scarcely  be- 
tokened a  plan  completely  formed  and  finally  decided 
upon. 


9$  THE  BO  7  KNIGHT. 

The  great  point  he  considered,  therefore,  was  that  the 
tent  of  his  old  enemy  should  be  carefully  watched,  and 
that  an  endeavor  should  be  made  to  hear  something  of 
what  passed  within,  which  might  give  a  clew  to  the  plan 
fixed  upon.  They  did  not,  of  course,  know  whether  the 
tent  in  which  the  conversation  had  been  heard  by  Cufch- 
bert  was  that  of  Sir  de  Jacquelin  Barras  or  of  one  of  the 
other  persons  who  had  spoken;  and  Cuthbert  suggested 
that  the  first  thing  would  be  to  find  out  whether  the 
count,  after  nightfall,  was  in  the  habit  of  going  to  some 
other  tent,  or  whether,  on  the  other  hand,  he  remained 
within  and  was  visited  by  others. 

It  was  easy,  of  course,  to  disover  which  was  his  tent; 
and  Cuthbert  soon  got  its  position,  and  then  took  Cnut 
into  his  counsels. 

"The  matter  is  difficult,"  Cnut  said,  "and  I  see  no 
way  by  which  a  watch  can  be  kept  up  by  day;  but  after 
dark — I  have  several  men  in  my  band  who  can  track  a 
deer,  and  surely  could  manage  to  follow  the  steps  of  this 
baron  without  being  observed.  There  is  little  Jack, 
who  is  no  bigger  than  a  boy  of  twelve,  although  he  can 
shoot,  and  run  and  play  with  a  quarter-staff,  or,  if  need 
be,  with  the  bill,  against  the  best  man  in  the  troop.  I 
warrant  me  that  if  you  show  him  the  tent  he  will  keep 
such  sharp  watch  that  no  one  shall  enter  or  depart  with- 
out his  knowing  where  they  go  to.  On  a  dark  night  he 
will  be  able  to  slip  among  the  tents,  and  to  move  here 
and  there  without  being  seen.  He  can  creep  on  his 
stomach  without  moving  a  leaf,  and  trust  me  the  eyes  of 
these  French  men-at-arms  will  look  in  vain  for  a  glimpse 
of  him." 

"You  understand,  Cnut,  all  that  I  want  to  know  is 
whether  the  other  conspirators  in  this  matter  visit  his 
tent,  or  whether  he  goes  to  theirs." 

"I  understand,"  Cnut  said.  "That  is  the  first  point 
to  be  arrived  at." 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  93 

Three  days  later  Cnut  brought  news  that  each  night 
after  dark  a  party  of  five  men  met  in  the  tent  that  was 
watched;  that  one  of  the  five  always  came  out  when  all 
had  assembled,  and  took  his  station  before  the  entrance 
of  the  tent,  so  as  to  be  sure  that  no  eavesdropper  was 
near. 

Outhbert  smiled: 

"It  is  a  case  of  locking  the  door  after  the  horse  has 
gone." 

"What  is  to  be  done  now?"  Cnut  asked. 

"I  will  talk  with  the  earl  before  I  tell  you,  Cnut. 
This  matter  is  too  serious  for  me  to  take  a  step  without 
consulting  Sir  Walter." 

That  night  there  was  a  long  talk  between  the  earl  and 
his  page  as  to  the  best  course  to  be  pursued.  It  was 
clear  that  their  old  enemy  was  the  leading  person  in  the 
plot,  and  that  the  only  plan  to  baffle  it  with  any  fair 
chances  of  success  was  to  keep  a  constant  eye  upon  his 
movements,  and  also  to  have  three  or  four  of  the  sturdiest 
men  of  the  band  told  off  to  watch,  without  being  per- 
ceived, each  time  that  the  princess  was  in  her  palace. 

The  Earl  of  Evesham  left  the  arrangements  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  his  page,  of  whose  good  sense  and  sagac- 
ity he  had  a  very  high  opinion. 

His  own  first  impulse  had  been  to  go  before  the  king 
and  denounce  the  Count  of  Brabant.  But  the  ill-will 
between  them  was  already  well  known;  for  not  only  was 
there  the  original  dispute  at  the  banquet,  but  when  the 
two  armies  had  joined  at  Sicily,  King  Richard,  who  had 
heard  from  the  earl  of  the  attempt  at  the  assassination 
of  Cuthbert,  had  laid  a  complaint  before  King  Philip  of 
the  conduct  of  his  subject. 

Sir  de  Jacquelin  Barras,  however,  had  denied  that  he 
had  any  finger  in  the  matter. 

"He  had,"  he  said,  "discharged  his  page  after  the 


94  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

encounter  with   Cuthbert,  and    knew  nothing  further 
whatever  of  his  movements." 

Although  it  was  morally  certain  that  the  page  could 
not  have  purchased  tha  services  of  the  men  who  assisted 
him,  from  his  own  purse,  or  gained  them  by  any  means  of 
persuasion,  but  that  they  were  either  the  followers  of 
Counu  of  Brabant,  or  ruffians  hired  with  his  money,  as 
no  proof  could  be  obtained,  the  matter  was  allowed  to 
drop. 

The  earl  felt,  however,  that  an  accusation  against  the 
count  by  him  of  an  intention  to  commit  a  high  crime, 
and  this  merely  on  the  evidence  of  his  page,  would 
appear  like  an  attempt  to  injure  the  fair  fame  of  his 
rival. 

Feeling,  therefore,  that  nothing  could  be  done  save  to 
watch,  he  left  the  matter  entirely  in  the  hands  of  his 
page,  telling  him  that  he  could  take  as  many  men-at- 
arms  or  archers  as  ho  might  choose  and  use  them  in  his 
name. 

Cnut  entered  warmly  into  Cuthbert's  plans;  and 
finally  it  was  arranged  between  them  that  six  of  the 
archers  should  nightly  keep  watch  opposite  the  various 
entrances  of  the  bishop's  palace  and  of  the  two  monas- 
teries joining.  Of  course  they  could  not  patrol  up  and 
down  without  attracting  attention,  but  they  were  to 
take  up  posts  where  they  could  closely  observe  the  en- 
trances, and  were  either  to  lie  down  and  feign  drunken 
sleep,  or  to  conceal  themselves  within  the  shadow  of  an 
arch  or  other  hiding-place. 

Down  on  the  seashore,  Cuthbert  made  an  arrange- 
ment with  one  of  the  owners  of  small  craft  lying  there 
that  ten  of  his  men  should  sleep  on  board  every  night,  to- 
gether with  some  fishermen  accustomed  to  the  use  of  the 
oar. 

Cuthbert  himself  determined  to  be  always  with  this 
party. 


THE  BO  ?  KNIQHI.  95 

Night  after  night  passed,  and  so  long  a  time  went  by 
that  Cuthbert  began  to  think  the  design  must  have  been 
given  up. 

However,  he  resolved  to  relax  none  of  his  watchful- 
ness during  the  remaining  time  that  the  expedition 
might  stop  in  Sicily. 

It  was  in  January,  three  weeks  after  the  first  watch 
had  been  set,  when  one  of  the  men  who  had  been  placed 
to  watch  the  entrance  to  one  of  the  monasteries,  leaped 
on  board  the  craft  and  shook  Cuthbert  by  the  shoulder. 

"A  party  of  some  five  men,"  he  said,  "have  just  issued 
out  from  the  monastery.  They  are  bearing  a  burden — 
what,  I  cannot  see.  They  were  making  in  the  direction 
of  the  water.  I  whistled  to  Dick,  who  was  next  to  me 
in  the  lane.  He  is  following  them,  and  I  came  on  to  tell 
you  to  prepare." 

The  night  was  pitch  dark,  and  it  was  difficult  in  the 
extreme  to  see  any  one  moving  at  a  short  distance  off. 

There  were  two  or  three  streets  that  led  from  the 
monastery,  which  stood  at  the  top  of  the  town,  toward 
the  sea;  and  a  party  coming  down  might  take  any  of 
these,  according  to  the  position  in  which  the  boat  they 
were  seeking  was  placed. 

Cuthbert  now  instantly  sent  five  or  six  of  his  men, 
with  instructions  to  avoid  all  noise,  along  the  line  of  the 
port,  with  orders  to  bring  in  word  should  any  one  come 
down  and  take  boat,  or  should  /they  hear  any  noise  in 
the  town. 

He  himself  with  the  sailors  loosed  the  ropes  which 
fastened  the  boat  to  shore,  got  out  the  oars,  and  pre- 
pared to  put  off  at  a  moment's  notice. 

He  was  of  course  ignorant  whether  the  abductors 
would  try  to  carry  the  princess  off  by  water,  or  would 
hide  her  in  one  of  the  convents  of  the  town;  but  he  was 
inclined  to  think  that  the  former  would  be  the  course 


96 


THE  EOT  KNIGHT. 


adopted;  for  the  king  in  his  wrath  would  be  ready  to 
lay  the  town  in  flames,  and  to  search  every  convent  from 
top  to  bottom  for  the  princess.  Besides,  there  would  be 
too  many  aware  of  the  secret. 

Cuthbert  was  not  wrong  in  his  supposition. 

Soon  the  man  he  had  sent  to  the  extreme  right  came 
running  up  with  the  news  that  a  boat  had  embarked  at 
the  further  end,  with  a  party  of  some  ten  men  on  board. 
As  he  came  along  he  had  warned  the  others,  and  in  five 
minutes  the  whole  party  were  collected  in  the  craft, 
numbering  in  all  twelve  of  Cuthbert's  men  and  six 
sailors.  They  instantly  put  out,  and  rowed  in  the 
direction  in  which  the  boat  would  have  gone,  the  boat- 
men expressing  their  opinion  that  probably  the  party 
would  make  for  a  vessel  which  was  lying  anchored  at 
some  little  distance  from  shore.  The  bearings  of  the 
position  of  this  ship  was  known  to  the  boatmen,  but  the 
night  was  so  dark  that  they  were  quite  unable  to  find  it. 
Orders  had  been  given  that  no  sound  or  whisper  was  to 
be  heard  on  board  the  boat;  and  after  rowing  as  far  as 
they  could,  the  boatmen  said  they  were  in  the  direction 
of  the  ship. 

The  boatmen  all  lay  on  their  oars,  and  all  listened  in- 
tently. Presently  the  creaking  of  a  pulley  was  heard  in 
the  still  night,  at  a  distance  of  a  few  hundred  yards. 
This  was  enough.  It  was  clear  that  the  vessel  was  get- 
ting up  sail.  The  boat's  head  was  turned  in  that  direc- 
tion; the  crew  rowed  steadily  but  noiselessly,  and  in  a 
few  minutes  the  tall  mast  of  a  vessel  could  be  seen 
faintly  against  the  sky.  Just  as  they  perceived  the  situ- 
ation a  hail  from  on  board  showed  that  their  approach 
was  now  observed. 

"Stretch  to  your  oars,"  Cuthbert  said;  "we  must  make 
a  dash  for  it  now." 

The  rowers  bent  to  their  work  and  in  a  minute  the 
boat  ran  alongside  the  craft. 


THE  BO  7  RNIGHT.  97 

As  Cuthbert  and  his  followers  scrambled  upon  the 
deck  they  were  attacked  by  those  of  the  crew  and  pas- 
sengers who  were  standing  near;  but  it  was  evident  at 
once  that  the  chiefs  of  the  expedition  had  not  heard  the 
hail,  and  that  there  was  no  general  plan  of  defense 
against  them. 

It  was  not  until  the  last  of  them  had  gained  a  footing, 
and  were  beginning  to  fight  their  way  along  the  vessel 
that  from  below  three  or  four  men-at-arms  ran  up,  and 
one  in  a  tone  of  authority  demanded  what  was  the  mat- 
ter. When  he  heard  the  clash  of  swords  and  the  shouts 
of  the  combatants  he  put  himself  at  once  at  the  head  of 
the  party,  and  a  fierce  and  obstinate  fight  now  took 
place. 

The  assailants  had,  however,  the  advantage. 

Cuthbert  and  his  men  were  all  lightly  clad,  and  this 
on  the  deck  of  a  ship  lumbered  with  ropes  and  gear,  and 
in  the  dark,  was  a  great  advantage,  for  the  mailed  men- 
at-arms  frequently  stumbled  and  fell.  The  fight  lasted 
for  several  minutes.  Cnut,  who  was  armed  with  a  heavy 
mace,  did  great  service,  for  with  each  of  his  sweeping; 
blows  he  broke  down  the  guard  of  an  opponent,  and  gen- 
erally leveled  him  to  the  deck. 

The  numbers  at  the  beginning  of  the  fight  were  not 
unequal,  but  the  men  to  whom  the  vessel  belonged  made 
but  a  faint  resistance  when  they  perceived  that  the  day 
was  going  against  them.  The  men-at-arms,  however, 
consisting  of  three,  who  appeared  to  be  the  leaders,  and 
of  eight  pikemen,  fought  stubbornly  and  well. 

Cuthbert  was  not  long  in  detecting  in  the  tones  of  the 
man  who  was  clearly  at  the  head  of  affairs  the  voice  of 
Sir  de  Jacquelin  Barras.  To  do  him  justice  he  fought 
with  extreme  bravery,  and  when  almost  all  his  followers 
were  cut  down  or  beaten  overboard,  he  resisted  stanchly 
and  well.  With  a  heavy  two-handed  sword  he  cleaved  a 


98  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

space  at  the  end  of  the  boat,  and  kept  the  whole  of 

Cuthbert's  party  at  bay. 

At  last  Cnut,  who  had  been  engaged  elsewhere,  came 
to  the  front,  and  a  tough  fight  ensued  between  them. 

It  might  have  ended  badly  for  the  brave  forester,  for 
his  lack  of  armor  gave  an  enormous  advantage  to  his 
opponent.  Soon,  however,  the  count's  foot  slipped  on 
the  boards  of  the  deck,  and  before  he  could  recover  him- 
self the  mace  of  Cnut  descended  with  tremendous  force 
upon  his  head,  which  was  unprotected,  as  he  had  taken 
off  his  casque  on  arriving  at  the  ship.  Without  a  word 
or  a  cry  the  count  fell  forward  on  the  deck,  killed  as  a 
bullock  by  a  blow  of  a  pole-ax. 

While  this  conflict  had  been  going  on,  occasionally  the 
loud  screams  of  a  woman  had  been  heard  below. 

Guthbert,  attended  by  Cnut  and  two  of  his  followers, 
now  descended. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  steps  they  found  a  man-at-arms 
placed  at  the  door  of  a  cabin.  He  challenged  them  as 
they  approached,  but  being  speedily  convinced  that  the 
vessel  was  in  their  hands,  and  that  his  employer  and 
party  were  all  conquered,  he  made  a  virtue  of  necessity, 
and  laid  down  his  arms. 

"You  had  better  go  in  alone,"  Cnut  said,  "Master 
Cuthbert.  The  lady  is  less  likely  to  be  frightened  by 
your  appearance  than  by  us,  for  she  must  wonder  indeed 
what  is  going  on." 

On  entering  the  cabin,  which  had  evidently  been  fitted 
up  for  the  use  of  a  lady,  Cuthbert  saw  standing  at  the 
other  end  the  princess,  whom  of  course  he  knew  well  by 
eight.  A  lamp  was  burning  in  the  cabin,  and  by  its  light 
he  could  see  that  her  face  was  deadly  pale.  Her  robes 
were  torn  and  disarranged,  and  she  wore  a  look  at  once  of 
grave  alarm  and  surprise  upon  seeing  a  handsomely 
dressed  page  enter  with  a  deep  reverence. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  99 

"What  means  this  outrage,  young  sir?  Whoever  you 
be,  I  warn  you  that  the  King  of  England  will  revenge 
this  indignity." 

"Your  highness,"  Cuthbert  said,  "you  have  no  further 
reason  for  alarm;  the  knaves  who  carried  you  off  from 
the  bishop's  palace  and  conveyed  you  to  this  ship  are  all 
either  killed  or  in  our  power.  I  am  the  page  of  the  Earl 
of  Evesham,  a  devoted  follower  of  King  Richard.  Some 
of  the  designs  of  the  bold  men  came  to  the  ears  of  my 
lord,  and  he  ordered  me  and  a  band  of  his  followers  to 
keep  good  guard  over  the  palace  and  buildings  adjoin- 
ing. We  were  unable  to  gather  our  strength  in  time  to 
prevent  your  being  taken  on  board,  but  we  lost  no  time 
in  putting  forth  when  we  found  that  your  abductors 
had  taken  boat,  and  by  good  fortune  arrived  here  in 
time;  a  few  minutes  later,  and  the  knaves  would  have 
succeeded  in  their  object,  for  the  sails  were  already  being 
hoisted,  and  the  vessel  making  way,  when  we  arrived. 
Your  abductors  are  all  either  killed  or  thrown  overboard, 
and  the  vessel's  head  is  now  turned  toward  the  shore, 
and  I  hope  in  a  few  minutes  to  have  the  honor  of  escort- 
ing you  to  the  palace." 

The  princess,  with  a  sigh  of  much  satisfaction  and 
relief,  sank  on  to  a  couch. 

"I  am  indeed  indebted  to  you,  young  sir,"  she  said. 
"Believe  me,  the  Princess  Berengaria  is  not  ungrateful, 
and  should  it  be  ever  in  her  power  to  do  aught  for  your 
lord,  or  for  yourself,  or  for  those  who  have  accompanied 
you  to  rescue  her,  believe  me  that  she  will  do  it.>; 

"May  I  be  so  bold  as  to  ask  a  boon?"  Cuthbert  said 
dropping  on  one  knee  before  her. 

"It  is  granted  at  once,  whatever  it  be,  if  in  my  power/3 

"My  boon  is,  lady,"  he  said,  "that  you  will  do  your 
best  to  assuage  the  natural  anger  which  the  King  of 
England  will  feel  at  this  bold  and  most  violent  attempt. 
That  he  should  be  told,  is  of  course  necessary;  but,  lady, 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

much  depends  upon  the  telling,  and  I  am  sure  that  at 
your  request  the  king  would  restrain  his  anger.  Were 
it  not  for  that,  I  fear  that  such  quarrels  and  disputes 
might  arise  as  would  bring  the  two  armies  to  blows,  and 
destroy  forever  all  hope  of  the  successful  termination  of 
our  joint  enterprise." 

"You  are  a  wise  and  good  youth,"  the  princess  said, 
holding  out  her  hand  to  Cuthbert,  which,  as  in  duty 
bound,  he  placed  to  his  lips.  "Your  request  is  wise 
and  most  thoughtful.  I  will  use  any  poor  influence 
which  I  may  possess" — and  Cuthbert  could  see  that  the 
blood  came  back  now  to  the  white  face — "to  induce  King 
Richard  to  allow  this  matter  to  pass  over.  There  is  no 
reason  why  he  should  take  up  the  case.  I  am  no  more 
under  his  protection  than  under  that  of  the  King  of 
France,  and  it  is  to  the  latter  I  should  appeal,  for  as  I 
believe  the  men  who  abducted  me  were  his  subjects." 

"The  leader  of  them,  madam,  was  a  certain  Sir  de 
Jacquelin  Barras,  a  Count  of  Brabant,  with  whom  my 
master  has  had  an  old  feud,  and  who  has  been  just  killed 
by  the  leader  of  our  menrat-arms.  The  others,  who  have 
had  the  most  active  hand  in  the  matter,  have  also 
perished;  and  it  would,  I  think,  be  doubtful  whether 
any  clew  could  be  obtained  to  those  who  were  in  league 
with  them.  The  only  man  in  the  party  who  is  alive  was 
placed  as  a  sentry  at  youjr  door,  and  as  he  is  but  a  man- 
at-arms,  we  may  be  sure  thajb  he  knows  naught  of  the 
enterprise,  but  has  merely  parried  out  the  orders  of  his 
master." 

The  vessel  had  by  this  time  brought  up  close  to  the 
port.  The  princess  determined  to  wait  on  board  until 
the  first  dawn  was  seen  in  the  skies,  and  then  under  the 
escort  of  her  deliverers  to  go  back  to  the  palace,  before 
the  town  was  moving.  This  plan  was  carried  out,  and 
soon  after  dawn  the  princess  was  safe  in  the  palace  from 
which  she  had  been  carrje<J  a  few  hours  previously. 


THE  B07  RNIQHT. 


CHAPTER  X. 

PIRATES. 

IT  was  not  possible  that  a  matter  of  this  sort  could  be 
entirely  hushed  up.  Not  many  hours  passed  before 
rumors  were  current  of  events  which  had  taken  place, 
though  none  knew  what  those  events  were. 

There  were  reports  that  the  tire-woman  of  the  Prin- 
cess Berengaria  had  in  the  night  discovered  that  her 
mistress'  couch  was  unocupied,  that  she  had  found 
signs  of  a  struggle,  and  had  picked  up  a  dagger  on  the 
floor,  where  it  had  evidently  fallen  from  the  sheath;  also 
it  was  said  that  the  princess  had  returned  at  daylight 
escorted  by  an  armed  party,  and  that  she  was  unable  to 
obtain  entrance  to  the  palace  until  one  of  the  ladies  of 
the  queen  had  been  fetched  down  to  order  the  sentries 
at  the  gate  to  allow  her  to  enter. 

This  was  the  news  which  rumor  carried  through  the 
camp.  Few,  however,  believed  it,  and  none  who  could 
have  enlightened  them  opened  their  lips  upon  the 
subject. 

It  was  known,  however,  that  a  messenger  had  come 
to  King  Richard  early,  and  that  he  had  at  once  mounted, 
and  ridden  off  to  the  bishop's  palace.  What  had  hap- 
pened there  none  could  say,  but  there  were  rumors  that 
his  voice  had  been  heard  in  furious  outbursts  of  passion. 
He  remained  there  until  the  afternoon,  when  he  sent 
for  a  number  of  his  principal  nobles. 


102  THE  BO  T  KNIQHT. 

When  these  arrived  they  found  him  standing  on  a 
dais  in  the  principal  hall  of  the  palace,  and  he  there 
formally  introduced  to  them  the  Princess  Berengaria  as 
his  affianced  wife.  The  ceremony  of  the  marriage,  he 
told  them,  would  shortly  take  place. 

This  announcement  caused  a  tremendous  stir  in  both 
armies.  The  English,  who  had  never  been  favorable 
to  the  alliance  with  the  French  princess,  were  glad 
to  hear  that  this  was  broken  off,  and  were  well  con- 
tent that  the  Princess  Berengaria  should  be  their  future 
queen,  for  her  beauty,  high  spirit,  and  kindness  had  won 
all  hearts. 

On  the  part  of  the  French,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
was  great  indignation,  and  for  some  time  it  was  feared 
that  the  armies  would  come  to  open  blows. 

King  Philip,  however,  although  much  angered,  was 
politic  enough  to  deprecate  any  open  outbreak.  He 
knew  that  a  dispute  now  begun  would  not  only  at  once 
put  a  stop  to  the  Crusade,  but  that  it  might  lead  to  more 
serious  consequences  at  home.  The  fiery  bravery  of  the 
English  king,  backed  as  it  would  be  by  the  whole 
strength  of  his  subjects,  might  render  him  a  very  for- 
midable opponent;  and  the  king  felt  that  private  griev- 
ances must  be  laid  aside  where  the  good  of  France  was 
concerned. 

Still  the  coldness  between  the  armies  increased,  their 
camps  were  moved  further  apart,  and  during  the  time 
that  they  remained  in  Sicily  there  was  but  little  com- 
merce between  the  two  forces. 

As  soon  as  the  winter  had  broken  the  French  mon- 
arch broke  up  his  camp,  and  in  March  sailed  for  the 
Holy  Land. 

The  English  had  expected  that  the  marriage  ceremony 
of  the  king  and  Princess  Berengaria  would  be  celebrated 
before  they  left  Sicily,  but  this  was  not  the  case.  There 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  103 

were  high  joustings  and  fetes  in  honor  of  the  princess, 
but  the  marriage  was  delayed.  A  fortnight  after  the 
French  had  sailed  the  English  embarked  in  the  two 
hundred  ships  which  had  been  prepared,  and  sailed  also 
on  their  way  to  Acre. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  attempted  abduction 
of  the  Princess  Berengaria  was  unimportant  in  its  results 
to  Cuthbert.  After  returning  from  the  palace  the  king, 
who  had  heard  from  her  the  details  of  what  had  taken 
place,  and  the  names  of  her  rescuers,  sent  for  the  Earl 
of  Evesham.  The  latter  had  of  course  learned  from 
Cuthbert  all  that  had  happened,  and  had  expressed  his 
high  approval  of  his  conduct,  and  his  gratification  at 
the  result. 

"I  learn,  Sir  Earl,"  said  King  Richard,  "that  it  is  to 
you  that  I  am  indebted  for  the  rescue  of  the  princess. 
She  tells  me  that,  suspecting  some  plot,  you  placed  a 
guard  around  the  bishop's  palace,  with  a  strong  body 
on  the  shore  ready  to  rescue  her  from  the  hands  of  any 
who  might  attempt  to  take  her  to  sea." 

"It  is  as  you  say,  sire,"  replied  the  earl;  "but  the 
whole  merit  of  the  affair  rests  upon  my  page,  the  lad 
whom  you  may  remember  as  having  fought  with  and 
conquered  the  French  page,  and  of  whose  conduct  you 
then  approved  highly.  You  may  also  remember  that  he 
escaped  by  some  display  of  bravery  and  shrewdness  the 
further  attempts  to  assassinate  him,  and  your  majesty 
was  good  enough  to  make  a  complaint  to  King  Puiiip  of 
the  conduct  of  one  of  his  nobles  on  that  head.  It  seems 
that  some  two  months  since  the  lad  in  coming  through 
the  French  camp  at  night  missed  his  way,  and  accidentally 
overheard  a  few  words  spoken  in  a  voice  which  he  recog- 
nized as  that  of  his  enemy.  The  name  of  your  majesty 
being  mentioned,  he  deemed  it  his  duty  to  listen,  and 
thus  discovered  that  a  plot  was  on  foot  for  carrying  off 


104  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

the  princess.  After  consultation  with  me,  we  agreed 
npon  the  course  to  be  adopted,  namely,  to  place  sentries 
round  the  bishop's  palace  and  the  buildings  adjoining, 
who  should  follow  and  bring  word  should  she  be  taken 
to  another  place  in  town,  while  a  band  was  placed  on  the 
shore  in  readiness  to  interfere  at  once  to  prevent  her 
being  carried  away  by  sea.  He  undertook  the  manage- 
ment of  all  details,  having  with  him  a  trusty  squire  who 
commands  my  Saxon  bowmen." 

"For  your  own  part  I  thank  you,  my  lord,"  the  king 
said,  "and  believe  me,  you  shall  not  find  Richard  un- 
grateful. As  to  your  page,  he  appears  brave  and  wise 
beyond  his  years.  Were  it  not  that  I  think  that  it  would 
not  be  good  for  him,  and  might  attract  some  envy  upon 
the  part  of  others,  I  would  at  once  make  him  a  knight. 
He  already  has  my  promise  that  I  will  do  so  on  the  first 
occasion  when  he  can  show  his  prowess  upon  the  infi- 
dels. Bring  him  to  me  to-morrow,  when  the  princess 
Will  be  here  with  the  Queen  of  Navarre  at  a  banquet.  I 
would  fain  thank  him  before  her;  and  although  I  have 
agreed — at  the  princess'  earnest  solicitation — to  take  no 
further  notice  of  the  matter,  and  to  allow  it  to  pass  as  if 
it  had  not  been,  yet  I  cannot  forgive  the  treachery  which 
has  been  used,  and,  without  letting  all  know  exactly 
what  has  occnrred,  would  fain  by  my  reception  of  your 
page  let  men  see  that  something  of  great  import  has 
happened,  of  the  nature  of  which  I  doubt  not  that  rumor 
will  give  some  notion." 

Upon  the  following  day,  therefore,  Cuthbert  to  his 
confusion  found  himself  the  center  of  the  royal  circle. 
The  king  expressed  himself  to  him  in  the  most  gracious 
manner,  patting  him  on  the  shoulder,  and  said  that  he 
would  be  one  day  one  of  the  best  and  bravest  of  his 
knights.  The  princess  and  the  Queen  of  Navarre  gave 
him  their  hands  to  kiss;  and  somewhat  overwhelmed  he 


THE  BO  7  KNIGHT.  10$ 

withdrew  from  the  royal  presence,  the  center  of  atten- 
tion, and,  in  some  minds,  of  envy. 

Onut  too  did  not  pass  unrewarded. 

His  majesty,  finding  that  Cnut  was  of  gentle  Saxon 
blood,  gave  him  a  gold  chain  in  token  of  his  favor,  and 
distributed  a  heavy  purse  among  the  men  who  had  fol» 
lowed  him. 

When  the  British  fleet,  numbering  two  hundred  ships$ 
set  sail  from  Sicily,  it  was  a  grand  and  martial  sight* 
From  the  masts  were  the  colors  of  England  and  those  oi 
the  nobles  who  commanded;  while  the  pennons  of  thei 
knights,  the  bright  plumes  and  mantles,  the  flash  of 
armor  and  arms,  made  the  decks  alive  with  light  and 
color. 

The  king's  ship  advanced  in  the  van,  and  round  hint 
were  the  vessels  containing  his  principal  followers.  The 
Queen  of  Navarre  and  the  Princess  Berengaria  were 
with  the  fleet.  Strains  of  music  rose  from  the  waters, 
and  never  were  the  circumstances  of  war  exhibited  in  a 
more  picturesque  form. 

For  two  days  the  expedition  sailed  on,  and  then  £ 
change  of  a  sudden  and  disastrous  kind  took  place. 

"What  is  all  this  bustle  about?"  Cuthbert  said  to 
Cnut.  "The  sailors  are  running  up  the  ladders,  and  all 
seems  confusion." 

"Methinks,"  said  Cnut,  "that  we  are  about  to  have  a 
storm.  A  few  minutes  ago  scarce  a  cloud  was  to  be  seen; 
now  that  bank  over  there  has  risen  halfway  up  tue  sky* 
The  sailors  are  accustomed  to  these  treacherous  seas,  and 
the  warnings  which  we  have  not  noticed  have  no  doubt 
been  clear  enough  to  them." 

With  great  rapidity  the  sails  of  the  fleet  came  down, 
and  in  five  minutes  its  whole  aspect  was  changed;  but 
quickly  as  the  sailors  had  done  their  work,  the  storm 
was  even  more  rapid  in  its  progress.  Some  of  the  ships 


T  otf  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

whose  crews  were  slower  or  less  skillful  than  the  others 
were  caught  by  the  gale  before  they  could  get  their  sails 
snug,  and  the  great  sheets  of  white  canvas  were  blowr. 
from  the  bolt  ropes  as  if  made  of  paper,  and  a  blackness 
which  could  almost  be  felt  covered  the  sea,  the  only 
light  being  that  given  by  the  frothing  waters.  There 
was  no  longer  any  thought  of  order.  Each  ship  had  to 
shift  for  herself;  and  each  captain  to  do  his  best  to  save 
those  under  his  charge,  without  thought  of  what  might 
befall  the  others. 

In  the  ship  which  carried  the  Earl  of  Evesham's  con- 
tingent, order  and  discipline  prevailed.  The  earl's  voice 
had  been  heard  at  the  first  puff  of  wind,  shouting  to  the 
men  to  go  below,  save  a  few  who  might  be  of  use  to  haul 
at  ropes.  His  standard  was  lowered,  the  bright  flags 
removed  from  the  sides  of  the  ship,  the  shields  which 
were  hanging  over  the  bulwarks  were  hurriedly  taken 
below,  and  when  the  gale  smote  them,  the  ship  was  trim, 
and  in 'readiness  to  receive  it.  A  few  square  yards  of 
sail  alone  were  all  that  the  captain  had  thought  it  pru- 
dent to  keep  spread,  and  in  a  minute  from  the  time  she 
was  struck  the  lofty  hulk  was  tearing  along  through  the 
waters  at  a  tremendous  speed.  Four  of  the  best  hands 
were  placed  at  the  helm;  and  here  the  captain  took  his 
post. 

The  danger  was  now  that  in  the  darkness  they  might 
run  against  one  of  their  consorts.  Even  in  the  war  of 
the  elements  they  could  hear  from  time  to  time  crashes 
as  of  vessels  striking  against  each  other,  with  shouts  and 
cries.  Once  or  twice  from  the  darkness  ships  emerged, 
close  on  one  hand  or  the  other;  but  the  steadiness  of  the 
captain  in  each  case  saved  the  ship  from  collision. 

As  the  storm  continued  these  glimpses  of  other  ves- 
sels became  more  and  more  rare,  and  the  ship  being  a 
very  fast  sailer,  the  captain  indulged  the  hope  that  he 
was  now  clear  of  the  rest  of  the  fleeto 


THE  SOY  KNIGHT. 


107 


He  now  attempted  to  lie-to  to  the  storm,  but  the  wind 
Y/as  too  strong.  The  ships  in  those  days,  too,  were  so 
high  out  of  the  water,  and  offered  in  themselves  such  a 
target  to  the  wind,  that  it  was  useless  to  adopt  any  other 
maneuver  than  to  run  before  it. 

For  two  days  and  nights  the  tempest  raged. 

"\Vhat  think  you,"  the  earl  said  to  the  captain,  "of 
cur  position?  Where  are  we,  and  where  will  the  course 
upon  which  we  are  running  take  us?" 

"I  cannot  say  with  certainty,"  the  captain  said,  "for 
the  wind  has  shifted  several  times.  I  had  hoped  to  gain 
the  shelter  of  Ehodes,  but  a  shift  of  wind  bore  us  away 
from  there,  and  I  much  fear  that  from  the  direction  in 
which  we  have  been  running  we  must  be  very  nigh  on 
the  coast  of  Africa." 

"Pestel"  the  earl  said.  "That  would  indeed  be  a 
speedy  end  to  our  Crusade.  These  Moors  are  pirates 
and  cutthroats  to  a  man;  and  even  should  we  avoid  the 
risk  of  being  dashed  to  pieces,  we  should  end  our  lives 
as  slaves  to  one  of  these  black  infidels." 

Three  hours  later  the  captain's  prophecies  turned  out 
right.  Breakers  were  seen  at  various  points  in  front, 
and  with  the  greatest  difficulty  the  vessel  was  steered 
through  an  opening  between  them;  but  in  another  few 
minutes  she  struck  heavily,  one  of  her  masts  went  over 
the  side,  and  she  lay  fast  and  immovable.  Fortunately, 
the  outside  bank  of  sand  acted  as  a  sort  of  breakwater; 
had  she  struck  upon  this,  the  good  ship  would  have  gone 
to  pieces  instantly;  but  although  the  waves  still  struck 
her  with  considerable  force,  the  captain  had  good  hope 
that  she  would  not  break  up.  Darkness  came  on;  the 
tempest  seemed  to  lull.  As  there  was  no  immediate 
danger,  and  all  were  exhausted  by  the  tossing  which 
they  had  received  during  the  last  forty-eight  hours,  the 
crew  of  the  Rose  slept  soundly. 


108  THE  BO  T  KNIQHT. 

In  the  morning  the  sun  rose  brilliantly,  and  there  was 
no  sign  of  the  great  storm  which  had  scattered  the  fleet 
of  England.  The  shore  was  to  be  seen  at  a  distance  of 
some  four  miles.  It  was  low  and  sandy,  with  lofty  moun- 
tains in  the  distance.  Far  inland  a  white  town  with 
minaret  and  dome  could  be  seen. 

"Know  you  where  we  are?"  the  earl  asked. 

"As  far  as  I  can  tell,"  the  captain  said,  "we  have 
been  driven  up  the  bay  called  the  Little  Syrtis — a  place 
full  of  shoals  and  shallows,  and  abounding  with  pirates 
of  the  worst  kind." 

"Think  you  that  the  ship  has  suffered  injury?" 

"Whether  she  has  done  so  or  not,"  the  captain  said, 
"I  fear  greatly  that  she  is  fast  in  the  sand,  and  even  the 
lightening  of  all  her  cargo  will  scarce  get  her  off;  but  we 
must  try  at  least." 

"It  is  little  time  that  we  shall  have  to  try,  Master 
Captain,"  Cuthbert,  who  was  standing  close,  said. 
"Methinks  those  two  long  ships  which  are  putting  out 
from  that  town  will  have  something  to  say  to  that." 

"It  is  too  true,"  the  captain  said.  "Those  are  the 
galleys  of  the  Moorish  corsairs.  They  are  thirty  or  forty 
oars,  draw  but  little  water,  and  will  be  here  like  the 
wind." 

"What  do  you  advise?"  asked  the  earl.  "The  fal- 
conets which  you  have  upon  the  poop  can  make  but  a 
poor  resistance  to  boats  that  can  row  around  us,  and  are 
no  doubt  furnished  with  heavy  metal.  They  will  quickly 
perceive  that  we  are  aground  and  defenseless,  and  will 
be  able  to  plump  their  shot  into  us  until  they  have 
knocked  the  good  ship  to  pieces.  However,  we  will 
fight  to  the  last.  It  shall  not  be  said  that  the  Earl  of 
Evesham  was  taken  by  infidel  dogs  and  sold  as  a  slave* 
without  striking  a  blow  in  his  defense." 

Cuthbert  stood  watching  the  corsairs,  which  were  now 
rowing  toward  them  at  all  speed. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  109 

"Methinks,  my  lord/'  he  said  presently,  "if  I  might 
venture  to  give  an  opinion,  that  we  might  yet  trick  the 
infidel.*1 

"As  how,  Cuthbert?"  the  earl  said.  "Speak  out; 
you  know  that  I  have  great  faith  in  your  sagacity." 

"I  think,  sir,"  the  page  said,  "that  did  we  send  all 
your  men  below,  leaving  only  the  crew  of  the  vessel  on 
deck,  they  would  take  us  for  a  merchant  ship  which  has 
been  wrecked  here,  and  exercise  but  little  care  how  they 
approach  us.  The  men  on  deck  might  make  a  show 
of  firing  once  or  twice  with  the  falconets.  The  pirates, 
disdaining  such  a  foe,  would  row  alongside.  Once  there, 
we  might  fasten  one  or  both  to  our  side  with  grapnels, 
and  then,  methinks  that  English  bill  and  bow  will  ren- 
der us  more  than  a  match  for  Moorish  pirates,  and  one 
of  these  craft  can  scarcely  carry  more  men  than  we  have. 
I  should  propose  to  take  one  of  them  by  force,  and  drive 
the  pirates  overboard;  take  possession  of,  if  possible,  or 
beat  off  her  consort;  and  then  take  the  most  valuable 
stores  from  the  ship,  and  make  our  way  as  best  we  can 
to  the  north." 

"Well  thought  of !"  exclaimed  the  earl  cordially. 
"You  have  indeed  imagined  a  plan  which  promises  well. 
What  think  you,  captain?" 

"I  think,  my  lord,"  the  Genoese  said,  "that  the  plan 
is  an  excellent  one,  and  promises  every  success.  If  your 
men  will  all  go  below,  holding  their  arms  in  readiness  for 
the  signal,  mine  shall  prepare  grapnels  and  ropes,  and 
the  first  of  these  craft  which  comes  alongside  they  will 
lash  so  securely  to  the  Hose  that  I  warrant  me  she 
gets  not  away." 

These  preparations  were  soon  made. 

The  soldiers,  who  at  first  had  been  filled  with  appre- 
hension at  the  thought  of  slavery  among  the  infidels, 
•were  now  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  a  struggle  enamg 
in  escape. 


11<>  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

The  archers  prepared  their  bows  and  arrows,  and  stood 
behind  the  portholes  in  readiness  to  pour  a  volley  into 
the  enemy;  the  men-at-arms  grasped  their  pikes  and 
swords;  while  above  the  sailors  moved  hither  and  thither 
as  if  making  preparations  for  defense,  but  in  reality  pre- 
paring the  grapnels  and  ropes. 

One  of  the  pirates  was  faster  than  the  other,  and  soon 
coming  within  reach,  opened  fire  upon  the  Rose  with 
a  heavy  cannon,  which  she  carried  in  her  bow. 

The  crew  of  the  Rose  replied  with  their  falconets 
and  sakers  from  the  poop. 

The  corsair  at  first  did  not  keep  her  course  direct  for 
the  ship,  but  rowed  once  or  twice  round  her,  firing  as  she 
did  so.  Then,  apparently  satisfied  that  no  great  precau- 
tion need  be  observed  with  a  feebly-manned  ship  in  so 
great  a  strait  as  the  Rose,  they  set  up  a  wild  cry  of 
"Allah!"  and  rowed  toward  her. 

In  two  minutes  the  corsair  was  alongside  of  the 
Rose,  and  the  fierce  crew  were  climbing  up  her  sides. 
As  she  came  alongside  the  sailors  cast  grapnels  into 
her  rigging,  and  fastened  her  to  the  Rose;  and  then  a 
loud  shout  of  "Hurrah  for  England!"  was  heard;  the 
ports  opened,  and  a  volley  of  arrows  was  poured  upon 
the  astonished  corsair;  and  from  the  deck  above  the  as- 
sailants were  thrown  back  into  the  galley,  and  a  swarm 
of  heavily  armed  men  leaped  down  from  the  ship  upon 
them. 

Taken  by  surprise,  and  indeed  outnumbered,  the  re- 
sistance of  the  corsairs  was  but  slight.  In  a  close,  fierce 
melee  like  this  the  light-armed  Moors  had  but  little 
chance  with  the  mail-clad  English,  whose  heavy  swords 
and  axes  clove  their  defenses  at  a  blow.  The  fight  lasted 
but  three  minutes,  and  then  the  last  of  the  corsairs  was 
overboard. 

The  men  who  rowed  the  galley  had  uttered  the  most 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  HI 

piercing  cries  while  this  conflict  had  been  raging.  Jhey 
were  unable  to  take  any  part  in  it,  had  they  been  dis- 
posed to  do  so,  for  they  were  all  slaves  chained  to  the 
oars. 

Scarcely  had  the  conflict  ended  when  the  other  galley 
arrived  upon  the  scene;  but  seeing  what  had  happened, 
and  tha,t  her  consort  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
English,  she  at  once  turned  her  head,  and  rowed  back 
rapidly  to  the  town  from  which  she  had  come. 

Among  the  slaves  who  rowed  the  galley  were  many 
white  men,  and  their  cries  of  joy  at  their  liberation 
greatly  affected  those  who  had  thus  unexpectedly  rescued 
them.  Hammers  were  soon  brought  into  requisition, 
the  shackles  struck  off  them,  and  a  scene  of  affecting 
joy  took  place.  The  slaves  were  of  all  nationalities,  but 
Italians  and  Spaniards,  French  and  Greeks,  formed  the 
principal  part.  There  was  no  time,  however,  to  be  lost; 
the  arms  and  munitions  of  war  were  hastily  removed 
from  the  Rose,  together  with  the  most  valuable  of  the 
stores. 

The  galley-slaves  again  took  their  places,  and  thia 
time  willingly,  at  the  oars,  the  places  of  the  weakest 
being  supplied  by  the  English,  whose  want  of  skill  was 
made  up  by  the  alacrity  with  which  they  threw  their 
strength  into  the  work;  and  in  an  hour  from  the  time 
that  the  galley  had  arrived  alongside  of  the  Eose,  her 
head  was  turned  north,  and  with  sixty  oars  she  was  row- 
ing at  all  speed  for  the  mouth  of  the  bay. 


112  TEE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 


CHAPTER  XL 

IN  THE  HOLY   LAND. 

As  soon  as  the  galley  which  had  escaped  reached  the 
town  from  which  it  had  started,  it  with  three  others  at 
once  set  out  in  pursuit;  while  from  a  narrow  creek  two 
other  galleys  made  their  appearance. 

There  were  a  few  words  of  question  among  the  Eng- 
lish whether  to  stop  and  give  battle  to  these  opponents 
or  to  make  their  way  with  all  speed.  The  latter  counsel 
prevailed;  the  earl  pointing  out  that  their  lives  were  now 
scarcely  their  own,  and  that  they  had  no  right  on  their 
way  to  the  holy  sepulcher  to  risk  them  unnecessarily. 

Fortunately  they  had  it  in  their  hands  to  fight  or 
escape,  as  they  chose;  for  doubly  banked  as  the  oars  now 
were,  there  was  little  chance  of  the  enemy's  galleys  over- 
taking them.  Gradually  as  they  rowed  to  sea  the  pursu- 
ing vessels  became  smaller  and  smaller  to  view,  until  at 
last  they  were  seen  to  turn  about  and  make  again  for 
land. 

After  some  consultation  between  the  earl  and  the  cap- 
tain of  the  lost  ship,  it  was  determined  to  make  for 
Rhodes.  This  had  been  settled  as  a  halting-point  for  the 
fleet,  and  the  earl  thought  it  probable  that  the  greater 
portion  of  those  scattered  by  the  storm  would  rendezvous 
there. 

So  it  proved;  after  a  voyage  which  although  not  very 
long  was  tedious,  owing  to  the  number  of  men  cramped 
up  in  so  small  a  craft,  they  came  within  sight  of  the  port 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  113 

of  Rhodes,  and  were  greatly  pleased  at  seeing  a  perfect 
forest  of  masts  there,  showing  that  at  least  the  greater 
portion  of  the  fleet  had  survived  the  storm. 

This  was  indeed  the  fact,  and  a  number  of  other  single 
ships  dropped  in  during  the  next  day  or  two. 

There  was  great  astonishment  on  the  part  of  the  fleet 
when  the  long,  swift  galley  was  seen  approaching,  and 
numerous  conjectures  were  offered  as  to  what  message 
the  pirates  could  be  bringing — for  there  was  no  mistak- 
ing the  appearance  of  the  long,  dangerous-looking  craft. 

When,  upon  her  approach,  the  standard  of  the  Earl  of 
Evesham  was  seen  flying  on  the  bow,  a  great  shout  of  wel- 
come arose  from  the  fleet;  and  King  Richard  himself, 
who  happened  to  be  on  the  deck  of  the  royal  ship, 
shouted  to  the  earl  to  come  on  board  and  tell  him  what 
masquerading  he  was  doing  there.  The  earl  of  course 
obeyed  the  order,  anchoring  near  the  royal  vessel,  and 
going  on  board  in  a  small  boat,  taking  with  him  his  page 
and  squire. 

The  king  heard  with  great  interest  the  tale  of  the  ad- 
ventures of  the  Rose;  and  when  the  Earl  of  Evesham 
said  that  it  was  to  Cuthbert  that  was  due  the  thought  of 
the  stratagem  by  which  the  galley  was  captured,  and  its 
crew  saved  from  being  carried  away  into  hopeless 
slavery,  the  king  patted  the  boy  on  the  shoulder  with 
such  hearty  force  as  nearly  to  throw  Cuthbert  off  his 
feet. 

"By  St.  George!"  said  the  monarch,  "you  are  fated  to 
be  a  very  pink  of  knights.  You  seem  as  thoughtful  as 
you  are  brave;  and  whatever  your  age  may  be,  I  declare 
that  the  next  time  your  name  is  brought  before  me  I  will 
call  a  chapter  of  knights,  and  they  shall  agree  that  ex- 
ception shall  be  made  'in  your  favor,  and  that  you  shall 
at  once  be  admitted  to  the  honorable  post.  You  will 
miss  your  page,  Sir  Walter;  but  I  am  sure  you  will  not 
grudge  him  that." 


THE  B0  Y 

"No,  no,  sire/'  said  the  earl.  "The  lad,  as  I  have 
told  your  majesty,  is  a  connection  of  mine — distant,  it  is 
true,  but  one  of  the  nearest  I  have — and  it  will  give  me 
the  greatest  pleasure  to  see  him  rising  so  rapidly,  and  on 
a  fair  way  to  distinguish;  himself  highly.  I  feel  already 
as  proud  of  him  as  if  he  were  my  own  son." 

The  fleet  remained  some  two  or  three  weeks  at  Rhodes, 
for  many  of  the  vessels  were  sorely  buffeted  and  injured, 
masts  were  carried  away  as  well  as  bulwarks  battered  in, 
and  the  efforts  of  the  crews  and  of  those  of  the  whole  of 
the  artificers  of  Rhodes  were  called  into  requisition. 
Light  sailing  craft  were  sent  off  in  all  directions,  for  the 
king  was  in  a  fever  of  anxiety.  Among  the  vessels  still 
missing  was  that  which  bore  the  Queen  of  Navarre  and 
the  fair  Berengaria. 

One  day  a  solitary  vessel  was  seen  approaching. 

"Another  of  our  lost  sheep,"  the  earl  said,  looking  out 
over  the  poop. 

She  proved,  however,  to  be  a  merchant  ship  of  Greece, 
and  newly  come  from  Cyprus. 

Her  captain  went  on  board  the  royal  ship,  and  deliv- 
ered a  message  to  the  king,  to  the  effect  that  two  of  the 
vessels  had  been  cast  upon  the  coast  of  Cyprus,  that  they 
had  been  plundered  by  the  people,  the  crews  ill-treated 
and  made  prisoners  by  the  king,  and  that  the  Queen  of 
Navarre  and  the  princess  were  in  their  hands. 

This  roused  King  Richard  into  one  of  his  furies. 

"Before  I  move  a  step  toward  the  Holy  Land,"  Le 
said,  "I  will  avenge  these  injuries  upon  this  faithless 
and  insolent  king.  I  swear  that  I  will  make  him  pay 
dearly  for  having  laid  a  hand  upon  these  ladies." 

At  once  the  signal  was  hoisted  for  all  the  vessels  in  a 
condition  to  sail  to  take  on  board  water  and  provisions, 
and  to  prepare  to  sail  for  Cyprus;  and  the  next  morning 
at  daybreak  the  fleet  sailed  out,  and  made  their  way 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  115 

toward  that  island,  casting  anchor  off  the  harbor  of 
Famagosta. 

King  Richard  sent  a  messenger  on  shore  to  the  king, 
ordering  him  at  once  to  release  the  prisoners;  to  make 
the  most  ample  compensation  to  them;  to  place  ships  at 
their  service  equal  to  those  which  had  been  destroyed; 
and  to  pay  a  handsome  sum  of  money  as  indemnity. 

The  King  of  Cyprus,  however,  an  insolent  and 
haughty  despot,  sent  back  a  message  of  defiance.  King 
Kichard  at  once  ordered  the  anchors  to  be  raised,  and  all 
to  follow  the  royal  ship. 

The  fleet  entered  the  harbor  of  Famagosta;  the  Eng- 
lish'archers  began  the  fight  by  sending  a  flight  of  arrows 
into  the  town.  This  was  answered  from  the  walls  by  a 
shower  of  stones  and  darts  from  the  machines. 

There  was  no  time  wasted.  The  vessels  were  headed 
toward  the  shore,  and  as  the  water  was  deep,  many  of 
them  were  able  to  run  close  alongside  the  rocky  wharves. 
In  an  instant,  regardless  of  the  storm  of  weapons  poured 
down  by  the  defenders,  the  English  leaped  ashore. 

The  archers  kept  up  so  terrible  a  rain  Eof  missiles 
against  the  battlements  that  the  defenders  could  scarcely 
show  themselves  for  an  instant  there,  and  the  men-at- 
arms,  placing  ladders  against  them,  speedily  mounted, 
and  putting  aside  all  opposition,  poured  into  the  town. 
The  effeminate  Greek  soldiers  of  the  monarch  could 
offer  no  effectual  resistance  whatever,  and  he  himself  fled 
from  the  palace  and  gained  the  open  country,  followed 
by  a  few  adherents.  The  English  gained  a  considerable 
booty,  for  in. those  days  a  town  taken  by  assault  was 
always  looked  upon  as  the  property  of  the  captors.  The 
Queen  of  Navarre  and  the  princess  were  rescued. 

King  Richard,  however,  was  not  satisfied  with  the  suc- 
cess he  had  gained,  and  was  determined  to  punish  this 
insolent  little  king.  Accordingly  the  English  were  set 


116  THE  BO  T  KNIQHT. 

in  motion  into  the  interior,  and  town  after  town  speedily 
fell  or  opened  their  gates  to  him.  The  king,  deserted 
by  his  troops  and  detested  by  his  people  for  having 
brought  so  terrible  a  scourge  upon  them  by  his  reckless 
conduct,  now  sued  for  peace;  but  King  Richard  would 
give  him  no  terms  except  dethronement,  and  this  he  was 
forced  to  accept.  He  was  deprived  of  his  crown  and 
banished  from  the  island. 

The  king  now,  to  the  surprise  of  his  barons,  announced 
his  intention  of  at  once  marrying  the  Princess  Beren- 
garia. 

Popular  as  he  was,  there  was  yet  some  quiet  grum- 
bling among  his  troops;  as  they  said  with  justice,  they 
had  been  waiting  nearly  six  months  in  the  island  of 
Sicily,  and  the  king  might  well  have  married  there, 
instead  of  a  fresh  delay  being  caused  when  so  near  their 
place  of  destination. 

However,  the  king  as  usual  had  his  own  way,  and  the 
marriage  was  solemnized  amid  great  rejoicing  and 
solemnity. 

It  was  a  brilliant  scene  indeed  in  the  cathedral  of 
Limasol.  There  were  assembled  all  the  principal  barons 
of  England,  together  with  a  great  number  of  the  nobles 
of  Cyprus. 

Certainly  no  better  matched  pair  ever  stood  at  the  altar 
together,  for  as  King  Richard  was  one  of  the  strongest 
and  bravest  men  of  his  own  or  any  other  time,  so  Beren- 
garia  is  admitted  to  have  been  one  of  the  loveliest 
maidens. 

The  air  was  rent  with  the  acclamations  of  the  as- 
sembled English  host  and  of  the  numerous  inhabitants 
of  Limasol  as  they  emerged  from  the  cathedral.  For  a 
fortnight  the  town  was  given  up  to  festivity;  tourna- 
ments, joustings,  banquets  succeeded  each  other  day 
after  day,  and  the  islanders,  who  were  fond  of  pleasure, 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  117 

and  indeed  very  wealthy,  vied  with  the  English  in  the 
entertainments  which  they  gave  in  honor  of  the  occa- 
sion. 

The  festivities  over,  the  king  gave  the  welcome  order 
to  proceed  on  their  voyage.  They  had  now  been  joined 
by  all  the  vessels  left  behind  at  Rhodes,  and  it  was 
found  that  only  a  few  were  missing,  and  that  the  great 
storm,  terrible  as  it  had  been,  had  inflicted  less  damage 
upon  the  fleet  than  was  at  first  feared. 

Two  days'  sail  brought  them  within  sight  of  the  white 
walls  of  Acre,  and  it  was  on  June  8,  1191,  that  the  fleet 
sailed  into  the  port  of  that  town.  Tremendous  acclama- 
tions greeted  the  arrival  of  the  English  army  by  the  host 
assembled  on  the  shores. 

Acre  had  been  besieged  for  two  years,  but  in  vain;  and 
even  the  arrival  of  the  French  army  under  Philip 
Augustus  had  failed  to  turn  the  scale.  The  inhabitants 
defended  themselves  with  desperate  bravery;  every  assault 
upon  the  walls  had  been  repulsed  with  immense  slaugh- 
ter; and  at  no  great  distance  off  the  Sultan  Saladin, 
with  a  large  army,  was  watching  the  progress  of  the 
siege. 

The  fame  of  King  Richard  and  the  English  was  so 
great,  however,  that  the  besiegers  had  little  doubt  that 
his  arrival  would  change  the  position  of  things;  and  even 
the  French,  in  spite  of  the  bad  feeling  which  had  existed 
in  Sicily,  joined  with  the  knights  and  army  of  the  King 
of  Jerusalem  in  acclaiming  the  arrival  of  the  English. 

Philip  Augustus,  the  French  king,  was  of  a  somewhat 
weak  and  wavering  disposition.  It  would  have  been 
thought  that  after  his  dispute  with  King  Richard  he 
would  have  gladly  done  all  in  his  power  to  carry  Acre 
before  the  arrival  of  his  great  rival.  To  the  great  disap- 
pointment of  the  French,  however,  he  declared  that  he 
would  take  no  step  in  the  general  assault  until  the  ar- 


118  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

rival  of  Richard;  and  although  the  French  had  given 
some  assistance  to  the  besiegers,  the  army  had  really 
remained  passive  for  many  weeks. 

Now,  however,  that  the  English  had  arrived,  little 
time  was  lost;  for  the  moment  the  dissensions  and  jeal- 
ousies between  the  monarchs  were  patched  up,  the  two 
nosts  naturally  imitated  the  example  of  their  sovereigns, 
and  French  and  English  worked  side  by  side  in  throwing 
up  trenches  against  the  walls,  in  building  movable  towers 
for  the  attack,  and  in  preparing  for  the  great  onslaught. 

The  French  were  the  first  to  finish  their  preparations, 
and  they  delivered  a  tremendous  assault  upon  the  walls. 
The  besieged,  however,  did  not  lose  heart,  and  with  the 
greatest  bravery  repulsed  every  attempt.  The  scaling 
ladders  were  hurled  backward;  the  towers  were  destroyed 
by  Greek  fire;  boiling  oil  was  hurled  down  upon  the  men 
who  advanced  under  the  shelter  of  machines  to  under- 
mine the  walls;  and  after  desperate  fighting  the  French 
fell  back,  baffled  and  beaten. 

There  was  some  quiet  exultation  in  the  English  lines 
at  the  defeat  of  the  French,  for  they  believed  that  a  bet- 
ter fortune  would  crown  their  own  efforts.  Such,  how- 
ever, to  their  surprise  and  mortification,  was  not  the 
case.  When  their  preparations  were  completed  they 
attacked  with  splendid  bravery.  They  were  fighting 
under  the  eyes  of  their  king,  and  in  sight  of  the  French 
army,  who  had  a  few  days  before  been  baffled;  and  if 
bravery  and  devotion  could  have  carried  the  walls  t>i 
Acre,  assuredly  King  Richard's  army  would  have  accom- 
plished the  task. 

It  was,  however,  too  great  for  them,  and  with  vast  loss 
the  army  fell  back  to  its  camp,  King  Richard  raging  like 
a  wounded  lion.  Many  ©f  his  barons  had  been  killed  in 
the  assault,  and  the  pikemen  and  men-at-arms  had  suf- 
fered heavily.  The  Earl  of  Evesham  had  been  wounded; 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  119 

Cuthbert  had  taken  no  part  in  the  assault,  for  the  earl, 
knowing  his  bravery,  had  forbidden  his  doing  so,  as  he 
foresaw  the  struggle  would  be  of  the  most  desperate 
character;  and  as  it  was  not  usual  for  pages  to  accom- 
pany their  lords  on  the  battlefield,  Cuthbert  could  not 
complain  of  his  being  forbidden  to  take  part  in  the  fight. 

The  earl,  however,  permitted  him  to  accompany  Cnut 
and  the  bowmen,  who  did  great  service  by  the  accuracy 
of  their  aim,  preventing  by  their  storm  of  arrows  the 
men  on  the  battlements  from  taking  steady  aim  and 
working  their  machines,  and  so  saved  the  Earl  of  Eves- 
ham's  troop  and  those  fighting  near  him  from  suffering 
nearly  as  heavy  loss  as  some  of  those  engaged  in  other 
quarters. 

But  while  successful  in  beating  off  all  assaults,  the 
defenders  of  Acre  were  now  nearly  at  the  end  of  their 
resources.  The  Emperor  Saladin,  although  he  had  col- 
lected an  army  of  two  hundred  thousand  men,  yet  feared 
to  advance  and  give  battle  to  the  Crusaders  in  their  own 
lines — for  they  had  thrown  up  round  their  camp  strong 
intrenchments,  to  prevent  the  progress  of  the  siege  being 
disturbed  by  forces  from  without. 

The  people  of  Acre,  seeing  the  time  pass  and  no  sign  of 
a  rescuing  force,  their  provisions  being  utterly  exhausted, 
and  pestilence  and  fever  making  frightful  ravages  in  the 
city,  at  last  determined  to  surrender. 

For  over  two  years  they  had  made  a  resistance  of  the 
most  valiant  description,  and  now,  despairing  of  success 
or  rescue,  and  seeing  the  hosts  of  their  besiegers  increas- 
ing day  by  day,  they  hoisted  a  flag  upon  the  walls,  and 
sent  a  deputation  to  the  kings,  asking  for  terms  if  they 
submitted.  They  would  have  done  well  had  they  sub- 
mitted upon  the  arrival  of  the  French  and  English  rein- 
forcements. For  the  monarchs,  annoyed  by  the  defeat 
of  their  forces  and  by  the  heavy  losses  they  had  sus- 


120  THE  BOY  ENIQHT. 

tained,  and  knowing  that  the  besieged  were  now  at  their 
last  crust,  were  not  disposed  to  be  merciful. 

However,  the  horrors  which  then  attended  the  capture 
of  cities  in  a  war  in  which  so  little  quarter  was  given 
on  either  side  were  avoided.  The  city  was  to  be  sur- 
rendered; the  much-prized  relic  contained  within  its 
walls — said  to  be  a  piece  of  the  true  Cross  which  had 
been  captured  by  the  Saracens  at  the  battle  of  Tiberias, 
in  which  they  had  almost  annihilated  the  Christian 
armies  a  few  years  before— was  to  be  surrendered;  the 
Christian  prisoners  in  their  hands  were  to  be  given  up 
unharmed;  and  the  inhabitants  undertook  to  pay  two 
hundred  thousand  pieces  of  gold  to  the  kings  within 
forty  days,  under  the  condition  that  the  fighting  men 
now  taken  prisoners  were  to  be  put  to  death  should  this 
ransom  not  be  paid. 

The  conquest  of  Acre  was  hailed  throughout  Christen- 
dom as  a  triumph  of  the  highest  importance.  It  opened 
again  the  gates  of  the  Holy  Land;  and  so  tremendous 
was  the  strength  of  the  fortress  that  it  was  deemed  that 
if  this  stronghold  were  unable  to  resist  effectually  the 
arms  of  the  Crusaders,  and  that  if  Saladin  with  so  great 
an  army  did  not  dare  to  advance  to  its  rescue,  then  the 
rest  of  the  Holy  Land  would  speedily  fall  under  the 
hands  of  the  invading  army. 

With  the  fall  of  Acre,  however,  the  dissensions  be- 
tween the  two  kings,  which  had  for  awhile  been  allowed 
to  rest  while  the  common  work  was  to  be  done,  broke 
out  again  with  renewed  intensity.  The  jealousy  of 
Philip  Augustus  was  raised  to  the  highest  point  by  the 
general  enthusiasm  of  the  combined  armies  for  the  vali- 
ant King  of  England,  and  by  the  authority  which  that 
monarch  exercised  in  the  councils.  He  therefore  sud- 
denly announced  his  intention  of  returning  to  France. 

This  decision  at  first  occasioned  the  greatest  conster- 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

nation  in  the  ranks  of  the  Crusaders;  but  this  feeling  was 
lessened  when  the  king  announced  that  he  should  leave 
a  large  portion  of  the  French  army  behind,  under  the 
command  of  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  The  wiser  coun- 
cilors were  satisfied  with  the  change.  Although  there 
was  a  reduction  of  the  total  fighting  force,  yet  the  fact 
thai,  it  was  now  centered  under  one  head,  and  that  King 
Richard  would  now  be  in  supreme  command,  was  deemed 
to  more  than  counterbalance  the  loss  of  a  portion  of  the 
French  army. 

Before  starting  on  the  march  for  Jerusalem  King 
Richard  sullied  his  reputation  by  causing  all  the  de- 
fenders of  Acre  to  be  put  to  death,  their  ransom  not 
having  arrived  at  the  stipulated  time. 

Then  the  allied  army  set  out  upon  their  journey.  The 
fleet  cruised  along  near  them,  and  from  it  they  obtained 
all  that  was  requisite  for  their  wants,  and  yet,  notwith- 
standing these  advantages,  the  toil  and  fatigue  were  ter- 
rible. Roads  scarcely  existed,  and  the  army  marched 
across  the  rough  and  broken  country.  There  was  no 
straggling,  but  each  kept  his  place;  and  if  unable  to  do 
so,  fell  and  died.  The  blazing  sun  poured  down  upon 
them  with  an  appalling  force;  the  dust  which  rose  when 
they  left  the  rocks  and  came  upon  flat  sandy  ground 
almost  smothered  them.  Water  was  only  obtainable  at 
the  halts,  and  then  was  frequently  altogether  insufficient 
for  the  wants  of  the  army;  while  in  front,  on  flank,  and 
in  rear  hovered  clouds  of  the  cavalry  of  Saladin. 

At  times  King  Richard  would  allow  parties  of  his 
knights  to  detach  themselves  from  the  force  to  drive  off 
these  enemies.  But  it  was  the  chase  of  a  lion  after  a 
hare.  The  knights  in  their  heavy  armor  and  powerful 
steeds  were  left  behind  as  if  standing  still,  by  the  fleet 
Bedouins  on  their  desert  coursers;  and  the  pursuers,  ex- 
hausted and  worn  out,  were  always  glad  to  regam  the 
ranks  of  the  army. 


122  THE  B0  T  KNIGHT. 

These  clouds  of  cavalry  belonging  to  the  enemy  did 
not  content  themselves  with  merely  menacing  and  cut- 
ting off  stragglers.  At  times,  when  they  thought  they 
saw  an  opening,  they  would  dash  in  and  attack  the 
column  desperately,  sometimes  gaining  temporary  ad- 
vantages, killing  and  wounding  many,  then  fleeing  away 
agau  into  the  desert. 

Finding  that  it  was  impossible  to  catch  these  wary 
horsemen,  King  Eichard  ordered  his  bowmen  to  march 
outside  his  cavalry,  so  that  when  the  enemy's  horse  ap- 
proached within  bowshot  they  should  open  upon  them 
with  arrows;  then,  should  the  horsemen  persist  in  charg- 
ing, the  archers  were  at  once  to  take  refuge  behind  the 
lines  of  the  knights. 

Day  after  day  passed  in  harassing  conflicts.  The  dis- 
tance passed  over  each  day  was  very  small,  and  the  suf- 
ferings of  the  men  from  thirst,  heat,  and  fatigue 
enormous.  Cuthbert  could  well  understand  now  what 
he  had  heard  of  great  armies  melting  away,  for  already 
men  began  to  succumb  in  large  numbers  to  the  terrible 
heat,  and  the  path  traversed  by  the  army  was  scattered 
with  corpses  of  those  who  had  fallen  victims  to  sun- 
stroke. Not  even  at  night  did  the  attacks  of  the  enemy 
cease,  and  a  portion  of  the  harassed  force  was  obliged  to 
keep  under  arms  to  repel  assaults. 

So  passed  the  time  until  the  army  arrived  at  Azotus, 
and  there,  to  the  delight  of  the  Crusaders,  who  only 
longed  to  get  at  their  foes,  they  beheld  the  whole  iorce 
of  Saladin,  two  hundred  thousand  strong,  barring  their 
way.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  stern  discipline  enforced 
by  King  Kichard,  the  knights  of  England  and  France 
would  have  repeated  the  mistake  which  had  caused  the 
extermination  of  the  Christian  force  at  Tiberias,  and 
would  have  leveled  their  lances  and  charged  recklessly 
into  the  mass  of  their  enemies.  But  the  king,  riding 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


123 


round  the  flanks  and  front  of  the  force,  gave  his  orders 
in  the  sternest  way,  with  the  threat  that  any  man  who 
moved  from  the  ranks  should  die  by  his  hand. 

The  army  was  halted,  the  leaders  gathered  round  the 
king,  and  a  hasty  consultation  was  held.  Richard  in- 
sisted upon  the  fight  being  conducted  upon  the  same 
principles  as  the  march — that  the  line  of  archers  should 
stand  outside  the  knights,  and  should  gall  the  advancing 
force  with  arrows  till  the  last  moment,  and  then  retire 
among  the  cavalry,  only  to  sally  out  again  as  the 
Bedouins  fell  back  from  the  steel  wall  of  horsemen. 

Cuthbert  had  now  for  the  first  time  donned  full  armor 
and  rode  behind  the  Earl  of  Evesham  as  his  esquire,  for 
the  former  esquire  had  been  left  behind,  ill  with  fever,  at 
Acre. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   A  CCO  LADE. 

IT  was  now  a  year  since  they  had  left  England,  and 
Cuthbert  had  much  grown  and  widened  out  in  the  inter- 
val, and  had  never  neglected  an  opportunity  of  practic- 
ing with  arms;  and  the  earl  was  well  aware  that  he 
should  obtain  as  efficient  assistance  from  him  in  time  of 
need  as  he  could  desire. 

This  was  the  first  time  that  Cuthbert,  and  indeed  the 
great  proportion  of  those  present  in  the  Christian  host, 
had  seen  the  enemy  in  force,  and  they  eagerly  watched 
the  vast  array.  It  was  picturesque  in  the  extreme,  with 
a  variety  and  brightness  of  color  rivaling  that  of  the 
Christian  host.  In  banners  and  pennons  the  latter  made 
a  braver  show;  but  the  floating  robes  of  the  infidels 
showed  a  far  brighter  mass  of  color  than  the  steel  armor 
of  the  Christians. 

Here  were  people  drawn  from  widely  separated  parts  of 
Saladin's  dominions.  Here  were  Nubians  from  the 
Nile,  tall  and  powerful  men,  jet  black  in  skin,  with  lines 
of  red  and  white  paint  on  their  faces,  giving  a  ghastly 
and  wild  appearance  to  them.  On  their  shoulders  were 
skins  of  lions  and  other  wild  animals.  They  carried  short 
bows,  and  heavy  clubs  studded  with  iron.  By  them 
were  the  Bedouin  cavalry,  light,  sinewy  men,  brown  as 
berries,  with  white  turbans  and  garments.  Near  these 
were  the  cavalry  from  Syria  and  the  plains  of  Assyria — 
wild  horsemen  with  semi-barbarous  armor  and  scarlet 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  125 

trappings.  Here  were  the  solid  lines  of  the  Egyptian 
infantry,  steady  troops,  upon  whom  Saladin  much  relied. 
Here  were  other  tribes,  gathered  from  afar,  each  distin- 
guished by  its  own  particular  marks.  In  silence  did  this 
vast  array  view  awhile  the  solid  mass  of  the  Christians. 
Suddenly  a  strange  din  of  discordant  music  from  thou- 
sands of  musical  instruments — conches  and  horns,  cymbals 
and  drums — arose  in  wild  confusion.  Shouts  of  defiance 
in  a  dozen  tongues  and  from  two  hundred  thousand 
throats  rose  wild  and  shrill  upon  the  air,  while  clear 
above  all  the  din  were  heard  the  strange  vibratory  cries 
of  the  warriors  from  the  Egyptian  highlands. 

"One  would  think/7  said  Cnut  grimly  to  Cuthbert, 
"that  the  infidels  imagine  we  are  a  flock  of  antelopes  to 
be  frightened  by  an  outcry.  They  would  do  far  better  to 
save  their  wind  for  future  use.  They  will  want  it,  me- 
thinks,  when  we  get  fairly  among  them.  Who  would 
have  thought  that  a  number  of  men,  heathen  and  infidel 
though  they  be,  could  have  made  so  foul  an  outcry?" 

Cuthbert  laughed. 

"Every  one  fights  according  to  his  own  method,  Cnut; 
and  I  am  not  sure  that  there  is  not  something  to  be  said 
for  this  outcry,  for  it  is  really  so  wild  and  fearful  that  it 
makes  my  blood  almost  curdle  in  my  veins;  and  were  it 
not  that  I  know  the  proved  valor  of  our  knights  and 
footmen,  I  should  feel  shaken  by  this  terrible  introduc- 
tion to  the  fight." 

"I  heed  it  no  more,"  said  Cnut,  "than  the  outcry  of 
wild  fowl,  when  one  comes  upon  them  suddenly  on  a 
lake  in  winter.  It  means  no  more  than  that;  and  I 
reckon  that  they  are  trying  to  encourage  themselves 
fully  as  much  as  to  frighten  us.  However,  we  shall 
soon  see.  If  they  can  fight  as  well  as  they  can  scream 
they  certainly  will  get  no  answering  shouts  from  us. 
The  English  bulldog  fights  silently,  and  bite  as  hard  as 


126  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 


he  will,  you  will  hear  little  beyond  a  low  growl.  Now, 
my  men,"  he  said,  turning  to  his  archers,  "methinks 
the  heathen  are  about  to  begin  in  earnest.  Keep  steady; 
do  not  fire  until  you  are  sure  that  they  are  within  range. 
Draw  your  bows  well  to  your  ears,  and  straightly  and 
steadily  let  fly.  Never  heed  the  outcry  or  the  rush, 
keep  steady  to  the  last  moment.  There  is  shelter  behind 
you,  and  fierce  as  the  attack  may  be,  you  can  find  a  sure 
refuge  behind  the  line  of  the  knights." 

Cnut  with  his  archers  formed  part  of  the  line  outside 
the  array  of  English  knights,  and  the  arrows  of  the  Eng- 
lish bowmen  fell  fast  as  bands  of  the  Bedouin  horse 
circled  round  them  in  the  endeavor  to  draw  the  Chris- 
tians on  to  the  attack.  For  some  time  Saladin  persisted 
in  these  tactics.  With  his  immense  superiority  of  force 
he  reckoned  that  if  the  Christian  chivalry  would  bnt 
charge  him,  the  victory  of  Tiberias  would  be  repeated. 
Hemmed  in  by  numbers,  borne  down  by  the  weight  of 
armor  and  the  effects  of  the  blazing  sun,  the  knights 
would  succumb  as  much  to  fatigue  as  to  the  force  of 
their  foes.  King  Richard's  orders,  however,  were  well 
obeyed,  and  at  last  the  Moslem  chief,  urged  by  the  en- 
treaties of  his  leading  emirs,  who  felt  ashamed  that  so 
large  a  force  should  hesitate  to  attack  one  so  vastly 
inferior  in  numbers,  determined  upon  taking  the  initia- 
tive, and  forming  his  troops  in  a  semicircle  round  the 
Christian  army,  launched  his  horsemen  to  the  attack. 
The  instant  they  came  within  range  a  cloud  of  arrows 
from  the  English  archers  fell  among  them,  but  the  speed 
at  which  the  desert  horses  covered  the  ground  rendered 
it  impossible  for  the  archers  to  discharge  more  than  one 
or  two  shafts  before  the  enemy  were  upon  them. 
Quickly  as  they  now  slipped  back  and  sought  refuge 
under  the  lances  of  the  knights,  many  of  them  were 
unable  to  get  back  in  time,  and  were  cut  down  by  the 


TEE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  127 

Saracens.  The  rest  crept  between  the  horses  or  under 
their  bellies  into  the  rear,  and  there  prepared  to  sally  out 
again  as  soon  as  the  enemy  retired.  The  Christian 
knights  sat  like  a  wall  of  steel  upon  their  horses,  their 
lances  were  leveled,  and,  brave  as  the  Bedouin  horse- 
men were,  they  felt  to  break  this  massive  line  was  impos- 
sible. The  front  line,  however,  charged  well  up  to  the 
points  of  the  lances,  against  which  they  hewed  with  their 
sharp  scimiters,  frequently  severing  the  steel  top  from 
the  ashpole,  and  then  breaking  through  and  engaging  in 
hand-to-hand  conflict  with  the  knights.  Behind  the 
latter  sat  their  squires,  with  extra  spears  and  arms  ready 
to  hand  to  their  masters;  and  in  close  combat,  the  heavy 
maces  with  their  spike  ends  were  weapons  before  which 
the  light-clad  horsemen  went  down  like  reeds  before  a 
storm. 

Hour  after  hour  the  Arab  horsemen  persisted  in  their 
attack,  suffering  heavily,  but  determined  to  conquer  if 
possible.  Then  Saladin  suddenly  ordered  a  retreat,  and 
fct  seeing  their  enemy  fly  the  impetuosity  of  the  Crusad- 
ers at  last  broke  out.  With  a  shout  they  dashed  after 
the  foe.  King  Richard,  knowing  that  his  followers  had 
already  shown  a  patience  far  beyond  what  he  could  have 
expected,  now  headed  the  onslaught,  performing  prodi- 
gies of  valor  with  his  single  arm,  and  riding  from  point 
to  point  to  see  that  all  was  well. 

The  early  resistance  of  the  infidel  host  was  compara- 
tively slight.  The  heavy  mass  of  the  Christian  cavalry, 
with  their  leveled  lances,  swept  through  the  ranks  of 
the  light  horsemen,  and  trampled  them  down  like  grass 
beneath  their  feet;  but  every  moment  the  resistance 
became  more  stubborn. 

Saladin,  knowing  the  Christians  would  sooner  or  later 
assume  the  offensive,  had  gathered  his  troops  line  in  line 
behind  the  front  ranks,  and  as  the  force  of  the  Crusa- 


128  TEE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

ders*  charge  abated,  so  did  the  number  of  foes  in  their 
front  multiply.  Not  only  this,  but  upon  either  side 
chosen  bands  swept  down,  and  ere  long  the  Christians 
were  brought  to  a  stand,  and  all  were  fighting  hand  to 
hand  with  their  enemies.  The  lances  were  thrown  away 
now,  and  with  ax  and  mace  each  fought  for  himself. 

Thb  Earl  of  Evesham  was  one  of  a  group  of  knights 
whom  King  Kichard  had  that  day  ordered  to  keep  close 
to  his  person,  and  around  this  group  the  fight  raged 
most  furiously. 

Saladin,  aware  of  the  extreme  personal  valor  and  war- 
like qualities  of  King  Richard,  set  the  greatest  value 
upon  his  death  or  capture,  and  had  ordered  a  large  num- 
ber of  his  best  troops  to  devote  their  whole  attention  to 
attacking  the  King  of  England.  The  royal  standard 
carried  behind  the  king  was  a  guide  to  their  onslaught, 
and  great  as  was  the  strength  and  valor  of  King  Rich- 
ard, he  with  difficulty  was  able  to  keep  at  bay  the  hosts 
that  swept  around  him. 

Now  that  the  lance  had  been  abandoned  for  battle- 
ax,  Cuthbert  was  able  to  take  an  active  part  in  the 
struggle,  his  duties  consisting  mainly  in  guarding  the 
rear  of  his  master,  and  preventing  his  being  overthrown 
by  any  sudden  attack  on  the  flank  or  from  behind. 

King  Richard  was  bent  not  only  on  defending  himself 
from  the  attacks  of  his  foes,  but  on  directing  the  general 
course  of  the  batt:.^;  and  from  time  to  time  he  burst, 
with  his  own  trusr  knights,  through  the  ring  of  iocs, 
and  rode  from  poin  .o  point  of  the  field,  calling  the 
knights  together,  exhorting  them  to  steadiness,  and  re- 
storing the  fight  where  its  fortunes  seemed  doubtful.  At 
one  time  the  impetuosity  of  the  king  led  him  into 
extreme  danger.  He  had  burst  through  the  enemy  sur- 
rounding him,  and  these,  by  order  of  their  captain, allowed 
him  to  pass  through  their  ranks,  and  then  threw  them- 


THE  BO T  KNIGHT.  129 

selves  together  in  his  rear,  to  cut  him  off  from  the 
knights  who  rode  behind.  The  maneuver  was  success- 
ful. The  rush  of  horsemen  fairly  carried  away  the 
Christian  knights,  and  one  or  two  alone  were  able  to 
make  their  way  through. 

Amid  the  wild  confusion  that  raged,  where  each  man 
was  fighting  for  his  own  life,  and  but  little  view  of  what 
was  passing  could  be  obtained  through  the  barred  visor, 
the  fact  that  the  king  was  separated  from  them  was 
known  to  but  few.  Sir  Walter  himself  was  engaged 
fiercely  in  a  hand-to-hand  fight  with  four  Bedouins  who 
surrounded  him,  when  Cuthbert  shouted: 

"The  king,  Sir  Walter!  the  king!  He  is  cut  off  and 
surrounded!  For  heaven's  sake  ride  to  him.  See!  the 
royal  standard  is  down." 

With  a  shout  the  earl  turned,  brained  one  of  his  foes 
with  a  sweep  of  his  heavy  ax,  and,  followed  by  Cuth- 
bert, dashed  to  the  assistance  of  the  king.  The  weight 
of  his  horse  and  armor  cleft  through  the  crowd,  and  in  a 
brief  space  he  penetrated  to  the  side  of  King  Richard, 
who  was  borne  upon  by  a  host  of  foes.  Just  as  they 
reached  them  a  Bedouin  who  had  been  struck  from  his 
horse  crawled  beneath  the  noble  charger  of  King 
Richard,  and  drove  his  scimifcer  deep  into  its  bowels. 
The  animal  reared  high  in  its  sudden  pain,  and  then  fell 
on  the  ground,  carrying  the  king,  who  was  unable  to 
disengage  himself  quickly  enough. 

In  an  instant  the  Earl  of  Evesham  had  leaped  from  his 
horse  and  with  his  broad  triangular  shield  extended 
sought  to  cover  him  from  the  press  of  enemies.  Cuth- 
bert imitated  his  lord,  and  strove  to  defend  the  latter 
from  attacks  from  the  rear.  For  a  moment  or  two  the 
sweep  of  the  earPs  heavy  ax  and  Cuthbert's  circling 
sword  kept  back  the  foe,  but  this  could  not  last.  King 
Richard  in  vain  strove  to  extricate  his  leg  from  beneath 


130  THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 

his  fallen  steed.  Outhbert  saw  at  a  glance  that  the  horse 
still  lived,  and  with  a  sudden  slash  of  his  sword  he  struck 
it  on  the  hind  quarter.  Goaded  by  the  pain  the  noble 
animal  made  a  last  effort  to  rise,  but  only  to  fall  back 
dead.  The  momentary  action  was,  however,  sufficient 
for  King  Richard,  who  drew  his  leg  from  under  it,  and 
with  his  heavy  battle-ax  in  hand,  rose  with  a  shout,  and 
gtood  by  the  side  of  the  earl. 

In  vain  did  the  Bedouins  strive  to  cut  down  and  over- 
power the  two  champions;  in  vain  did  they  urge  their 
horses  to  ride  over  them.  With  each  sweep  of  his  ax 
the  king  either  dismounted  a  foe  or  clove  in  the  head  of 
his  steed,  and  a  wall  of  slain  around  them  testified  to 
the  tremendous  power  of  their  arms.  Still,  even  such 
warriors  as  these  could  not  long  sustain  the  conflict. 
The  earl  had  already  received  several  desperate  wounds, 
and  the  king  himself  was  bleeding  from  some  severe 
gashes  with  the  keen-edged  scimiters.  Cuthbert  was 
already  down,  when  a  shout  of  "St.  George!"  was 
heard,  and  a  body  of  English  knights  clove  through  the 
throng  of  Saracens  and  reached  the  side  of  King  Rich- 
ard. Close  behind  these  in  a  mass  pressed  the  British 
footmen  with  bill  and  pike,  the  enemy  giving  way  foot 
by  foot  before  their  steady  discipline. 

The  king  was  soon  on  horseback  again,  and  rallying 
his  troops  on,  led  them  for  one  more  great  and  final 
charge  upon  the  enemy. 

The  effect  was  irresistible.  Appalled  by  the  slaughter 
which  they  had  suffered,  and  by  the  tremendous  strength 
and  energy  of  the  Christian  knights,  the  Saracens  broke 
and  fled;  and  the  last  reserves  of  Salad  in  gave  way  as  the 
king,  shouting  his  war-cry  of  "God  help  the  holy  sep- 
uleher!"  fell  upon  them.  Once,  indeed,  the  battle  still 
seemed  doubtful,  for  a  fresh  band  of  the  enemy  at  that 
moment  arrived  and  joined  in  the  fray.  The  Crusaders 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  131 

were  now,  however,  inspired  with  such  courage  and  con- 
fidence that  they  readily  obeyed  the  king's  war-cry, 
gathered  in  a  firm  body,  and  hurled  themselves  upon  this 
new  foe.  Then  the  Saracens  finally  turned  and  fled,  and 
the  Christian  victory  was  complete. 

It  was  one  of  the  features  of  this  war,  that  however 
thorough  the  victories  of  the  Christians,  the  Saracens 
very  speedily  recovered  from  their  effects.  A  Christian 
defeat  was  crushing  and  entire;  the  knights  died  as  they 
stood,  and  defeat  meant  annihilation.  Upon  the  other 
hand,  the  Saracens  and  Bedouins,  when  they  felt  that 
their  efforts  to  win  the  battle  were  unsuccessful,  felt  no 
shame  or  humiliation  in  scattering  like  sheep.  On  their 
fleet  horses  and  in  their  light  attire  they  could  easily 
distance  the  Christians,  who  never,  indeed,  dreamed  of 
pursuing  them.  The  day  after  the  fight  the  enemy 
would  collect  again  under  their  chiefs,  and  be  as  ready 
as  before  to  renew  their  harassing  warfare. 

On  his  return  from  the  field  the  king  assembled  many 
of  his  principal  knights  and  leaders,  and  summoned  the 
Earl  of  Evesham,  with  the  message  that  he  was  to  bring 
his  esquire  with  him.  When  they  reached  the  tent  the 
king  said : 

"My  lords,  as  some  of  you  may  be  aware,  I  have  this 
day  had  a  narrow  escape  from  death.  Separated  from 
you  in  the  battle,  and  attended  only  by  my  standard- 
bearer,  I  was  surrounded  by  the  Saracens.  I  should 
doubtless  have  cleft  my  way  through  the  infidei  dogs, 
but  a  foul  peasant  stabbed  my  charger  from  below,  and 
the  poor  brute  fell  with  me.  My  standard-bearer  was 
killed,  and  in  another  moment  my  nephew  Arthur  would 
have  been  your  king,  had  it  not  been  that  my  good  lord 
here,  attended  by  this  brave  lad,  appeared.  I  have  seen 
a  good  deal  of  fighting,  but  never  did  I  see  a  braver 
stand  than  they  made  above  my  body.  The  Earl  of 


132  TEE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

Evesham,  as  you  all  know,  is  one  of  my  bravest  knights, 
and  to  him  I  can  simply  say,  thanks;  King  Richard 
does  not  forget  a  benefit  like  this.'  But  such  aid  as  I 
might  well  look  for  from  so  stout  a  knight  as  the  Earl  of 
Evesham  I  could  hardly  have  expected  on  the  part  of  a 
mere  boy  like  this.  It  is  not  the  first  time  that  I  have 
been  under  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  him;  for  it  was  his 
rratchfulness  and  bravery  which  saved  Queen  Berengaria 
from  being  carried  off  by  the  French  in  Sicily.  I 
deemed  him  too  young  then  for  the  order  of  knighthood 
— although  indeed  bravery  has  no  age;  still  for  a  private 
benefit,  and  that  performed  against  allies,  in  name  at 
least,  I  did  not  wish  so  far  to  fly  in  the  face  of  usage  as 
to  make  him  a  knight.  I  promised  him  then,  however, 
that  the  first  time  he  distinguished  himself  against  the 
infidel  he  should  win  his  spurs.  I  think  that  you  will 
wgree  with  me,  my  lords,  that  he  has  done  so.  Not  only 
did  he  stand  over  me,  and  with  great  bravery  defend  Sir 
Walter  from  attacks  from  behind,  but  his  ready  wit 
saved  me,  when  even  his  sword  and  that  of  Sir  Walter 
would  have  failed  to  do  so.  Penned  down  under  poor 
Robin,  I  was  powerless  to  move  until  our  young  esquire, 
in  an  interval  of  slashing  at  his  assailants,  found  time  to 
give  a  sharp  blow  together  with  a  shout  to  Robin.  The 
poor  beast  tried  to  rise,  and  the  movement,  short  as  it 
was,  enabled  me  to  draw  my  leg  from  under  him,  and 
then  with  my  mace  I  was  enabled  to  make  a  stand  until 
you  arrived  at  my  side.  I  think,  my  lords,  that  you  will 
agree  with  me  that  Cuthbert,  the  son  of  Sir  William  de 
Lance,  is  fit  for  the  honor  of  knighthood." 

A  general  chorus  of  approval  arose  from  the  assembly, 
and  the  king,  bidding  Cuthbert  kneel  before  him,  drew 
his  sword  and  laid  it  across  his  shoulders,  dubbing  him 
Sir  Cuthbert  de  Lance.  When  he  had  risen  the  great 
barons  of  England  pressed  round  to  shake  his  hand,  and 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


133 


Cuthbert,  who  was  a  modest  young  fellow,  felt  almost 
ashamed  at  the  honors  which  were  bestowed  upon  him. 
The  usual  ceremonies  and  penances  which  young 
knights  had  to  undergo  before  admission  into  the  body 
—and  which  in  those  days  were  extremely  punctilious, 
and  indeed  severe,  consisting,  among  other  things,  in 
fasting,  in  watching  the  armor  at  night,  in  seclusion  and 
religious  services — were  omitted  when  the  accolade  was 
bestowed  for  bravery  in  the  field. 

The  king  ordered  his  armorer  at  once  to  make  for  Cuth- 
bert a  suit  of  the  finest  armor,  and  authorized  him  to 
carry  on  his  shield  a  sword  raising  a  royal  crown  from 
the  ground,  in  token  of  the  deed  for  which  the  honor  of 
knighthood  had  been  bestowed  upon  him. 

Upon  his  return  to  the  earl's  camp  the  news  of  his  new 
dignity  spread  at  once  among  the  followers  of  Sir  Walter, 
and  many  and  hearty  were  the  cheers  that  went  up  from 
the  throats  of  the  Saxon  foresters,  led  by  Cnut.  These 
humble  friends  were  indeed  delighted  at  his  success,  for 
they  felt  that  to  him  they  owed  very  much;  and  his  kind- 
ness of  manner  and  the  gayety  of  heart  which  he  had 
shown  during  the  hardships  they  had  undergone  since 
their  start  had  greatly  endeared  him  to  them. 

Cuthbert  was  now  to  take  rank  among  the  knights  who 
followed  the  banner  of  the  earl.  A  tent  was  erected  for 
him,  an  esquire  assigned  to  him,  and  the  lad  as  he 
entered  his.  new  abode  felt  almost  bewildered  at  the 
change  which  had  taken  place  in  one  short  day — that  he, 
at  the  age  of  sixteen,  should  have  earned  the  honor  of 
knighthood,  and  the  approval  of  the  King  of  England, 
expressed  before  all  the  great  barons  of  the  realm,  was 
indeed  an  honor  such  as  he  could  never  have  hoped  for; 
and  the  thought  of  what  his  mother  would  say  should 
the  news  reach  her  in  her  quiet  Saxon  home,  brought 
the  tears  into  his  eyes.  He  had  not  gone  through  the 


"84  *3®  3C  r  KNIGHT 

asual  religious  ceremonies,  K.C  he  knelt  in  his  tent  aloe e, 
and  prayed  that  he  might  be  made  worthy  of  the  honors 
bestowed  upon  him;  that  he  might  fulfill  the  duties  of  a 
Ohristian  knight  fearlessly  and  honorably;  that  his 
sword  might  never  be  raised  but  for  the  right;  that  he 
might  devote  himself  to  the  protection  of  the  oppressed, 
and  the  honor  of  God;  that  his  heart  might  be  kept  from 
evil;  and  that  he  might  carry  through  life,  unstained, 
his  new  escutcheon. 

If  the  English  had  thought  that  their  victory  would 
have  gained  them  immunity  from  the  Saracen  attacks, 
they  were  speedily  undeceived.  The  host,  indeed,  which 
had  barred  their  way  had  broken  up;  but  its  fragments 
were  around  them,  and  the  harassing  attacks  began 
again  with  a  violence  and  persistency  even  greater  than 
before.  The  Crusaders,  indeed,  occupied  only  the 
ground  upon  which  they  stood.  It  was  death  to  venture 
one  hundred  yards  from  the  camp,  unless  in  a  strong 
body;  and  the  smallest  efforts  to  bring  in  food  from  the 
country  round  were  instantly  met  and  repelled.  Only  in 
very  strong  bodies  could  the  knights  venture  from  camp 
even  to  forage  for  their  horses,  and  the  fatigues  and 
sufferings  of  all  were  in  no  way  relieved  by  the  great 
victory  of  Azotus. 


THE  £OY  KNIQHT.  135 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

IN  THE  HANDS  OF  THE  SARACENS. 

THE  English  had  hoped  that  after  one  pitched  battle 
they  should  be  able  to  advance  upon  Jerusalem,  but  they 
had  reckoned  without  the  climate  and  illness. 

Although  unconquered  in  the  fray,  the  Christian  army 
was  weakened  by  its  sufferings  to  such  an  extent  that  it 
was  virtually  brought  to  a  standstill.  Even  King  Rich- 
ard, with  all  his  impetuosity,  dared  not  venture  to  cut 
adrift  from  the  seashore,  and  to  march  direct  upon  Jeru- 
salem; that  city  was  certainly  not  to  be  taken  without  a 
long  siege,  and  this  could  only  be  undertaken  by  an  army 
strong  enough,  not  only  to  carry  out  so  great  a  task,  but 
to  meet  and  defeat  the  armies  which  Saladin  would 
bring  up  to  the  rescue,  and  to  keep  open  the  line  down 
to  Joppa,  by  which  alone  provisions,  and  the  engines 
necessary  for  the  siege,  could  be  brought  up.  Hence 
the  war  resolved  itself  into  a  series  of  expeditions  and 
detached  fights. 

The  British  camp  was  thoroughly  fortified,  and  thence 
parties  of  the  knights  sallied  out  and  engaged  in  con- 
flicts with  the  Saracens,  with  varying  success.  On  sev- 
eral of  these  expeditions  Cuthbert  attended  the  earl,  and 
behaved  with  a  bravery  which  showed  him  well  worthy  of 
the  honors  which  he  had  recceived. 

Upon  one  occasion  the  news  reached  camp  that  a 
party  of  ^knights,  who  had  gone  out  to  guard  a  number 
of  footmen  cutting  forage  and  bringing  it  into  camp,  had 


136  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

been  surrounded  and  had  taken  refuge  in  a  small  town, 
whose  gates  they  had  battered  in  when  they  saw  the  ap- 
proach of  an  overwhelming  host  of  the  enemy.  King 
Richard  himself  headed  a  strong  force  and  advanced  to 
their  assistance.  Their  approach  was  not  seen  until 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  enemy,  upon  whom  the 
Crusaders  fell  with  the  force  of  a  thunderbolt,  and  cleft 
their  way  through  their  lines.  After  a  short  pause  in 
the  little  town  they  prepared  to  again  cut  their. way 
through,  joined  by  the  party  who  had  there  been  be- 
sieged. The  task  was  now,  however,  far  more  difficult; 
for  the  footmen  would  be  unable  to  keep  up  with  the 
rapid  charge  of  the  knights,  and  it  was  necessary  not 
only  to  clear  the  way,  but  to  keep  it  open  for  their  exit. 
King  Richard  himself  and  the  greater  portion  of  his 
knights  were  to  lead  the  charge;  another  party  were  to 
follow  behind  the  footmen,  who  were  ordered  to  advance 
at  the  greatest  speed  of  which  they  were  capable,  while 
their  rearguard  by  charges  upon  the  enemy  kept  them 
at  bay.  To  this  latter  party  Outhbert  was  attached. 

The  Saracens  followed  their  usual  tactics,  and  this  time 
with  great  success.  Dividing  as  the  king  with  his 
knights  charged  them,  they  suffered  these  to  pass 
through  with  but  slight  resistance,  and  then  closed  in 
upon  their  track,  while  another  and  still  more  numerous 
body  fell  upon  the  footmen  and  their  guard.  Again  and 
again  did  the  knights  charge  through  the  ranks  of  the 
Moslems,  while  the  billmen  stoutly  kept  together  and 
resisted  the  onslaughts  of  the  enemy's  cavalry.  In  spite 
of  their  bravery,  however,  the  storm  of  arrows  shot  by 
the  desert  horsemen  thinned  their  ranks  with  terrible 
rapidity.  Charging  up  to  the  very  point  of  the  spears, 
these  wild  horsemen  fired  their  arrows  into  the  faces  of 
their  foe,  and  although  numbers  of  them  fell  beneath 
the  more  formidable  missiles  sent  by  the  English  archers, 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  13T 

their  numbers  were  so  overwhelming  that  the  little  band 
melted  away.  The  small  party  of  knights,  too,  were 
rapidly  thinned,  although  performing  prodigious  deeds 
of  valor.  The  Saracens  when  dismounted  or  wounded 
still  fought  on  foot,  their  object  being  always  to  stab  or 
hough  the  horses,  and  so  dismount  the  riders.  King 
Richard  and  his  force,  though  making  the  most  desperate 
efforts  to  return  to  the  assistance  of  the  rearguard,  were 
baffled  by  the  sturdy  resistance  of  the  Saracens,  and  the 
position  of  those  in  the  rear  was  fast  becoming  hopeless. 

One  by  one  the  gallant  little  band  of  knights  fell,  and 
a  sea  of  turbans  closed  over  the  fluttering  plumes. 
Cuthbert,  after  defending  himself  with  extreme  bravery 
for  a  long  time,  was  at  last  separated  from  the  small 
remainder  of  his  comrades  by  a  rush  of  the  enemy's 
horse,  and  when  fighting  desperately  he  received  a 
heavy  blow  at  the  back  of  the  head  from  the  mace  of  a 
huge  Nubian  soldier,  and  fell  senseless  to  the  ground. 

When  he  recovered  his  consciousness,  the  first  impres- 
sion upon  his  mind  was  the  stillness  which  had  suc- 
ceeded to  the  din  of  battle;  the  shouts  and  war-cries  of 
the  Crusaders,  the  wild  yells  of  the  Moslems,  were 
hushed,  and  in  their  place  was  a  quiet  chatter  in  many 
unknown  tongues,  and  the  sound  of  laughter  and  feast- 
ing. Raising  his  head  and  looking  round,  Cuthbert  saw 
that  he  and  some  ten  of  his  comrades  were  lying  together 
in  the  midst  of  a  Saracen  camp,  and  that  he  was  a  pris- 
oner to  the  infidels.  The  sun  streamed  down  with 
tremendous  force  upon  them;  there  was  no  shelter;  and 
though  all  were  wounded  and  parched  with  thirst,  the 
Saracens,  of  whom  they  besought  water,  pointing  to  their 
mouths  and  making  signs  of  their  extreme  thirst,  laughed 
in  their  faces,  and  signified  by  a  gesture  that  it  was 
"scarcely  worth  the  trouble  to  drink  when  they  were 
•  ikely  so  soon  to  be  put  to  death. 


138 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  before  any  change  was 
manifest.  Then  Cuthbert  observed  a  stir  in  the  camp; 
the  men  ran  to  their  horses,  leaped  on  their  backs,  and 
with  wild  cries  of  "Welcome!"  started  off  at  full  speed. 
Evidently  some  personage  was  about  to  arrive,  and  the 
fate  of  the  prisoners  would  be  solved.  A  few  words 
were  from  time  to  time  exchanged  between  these,  each 
urging  the  other  to  keep  up  his  heart  and  defy  the  infi- 
del. One  or  two  had  succumbed  to  their  wounds  during 
the  afternoon,  and  only  six  were  able  to  stand  erect 
when  summoned  to  do  so  by  some  of  their  guard,  who 
made  signs  to  them  that  a  great  personage  was  coming. 
Soon  the  shouts  of  the  horsemen  and  other  sounds  an- 
nounced that  the  great  chief  was  near  at  hand,  and  the 
captives  gathered  from  the  swelling  shouts  of  the  Arabs 
that  the  new  arrival  was  Sultan  Suleiman — or  Saladin, 
for  he  was  called  by  both  names — surrounded  by  a  body- 
guard of  sp^ndidly-dressed  attendants.  The  emir,  who 
was  himself  plainly  attired,  reined  up  his  horse  in  front 
of  the  captives. 

"You  are  English,"  he  said,  in  the  lingua  franca 
which  was  the  medium  of  communication  between  the 
Eastern  and  Western  peoples  in  those  days.  "You  are 
brave  warriors,  and  I  hear  that  before  you  were  taken 
you  slaughtered  numbers  of  my  people.  They  did  wrong 
to  capture  you  and  bring  you  here  to  be  killed.  Your 
cruel  king  gives  no  mercy  to  those  who  fall  into  his 
hands.  You  must  not  expect  it  here,  you  who  without  a 
pretense  of  right  invade  my  country,  slaughter  my  peo- 
ple, and  defeat  my  armies.  The  murder  of  the  prisoners 
of  Acre  has  closed  my  heart  to  all  mercy.  There,  your 
king  put  ten  thousand  prisoners  to  death  in  cold  blood 
a  month  after  the  capture  of  the  place,  because  the 
money  at  which  lie  had  placed  their  ransom  had  not 
arrived*  We  Arabs  do  not  carry  huge  masses  of  gold 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  139 

abonc  with  us;  and  although  I  could  have  had  it  brought 
from  Egypt,  I  did  not  think  that  so  brave  a  monarch  as 
Kichard  of  England  could  have  committed  so  cruel  an 
action  in  cold  blood.  When  we  are  fresh  from  battle, 
and  our  wounds  are  warm,  and  our  hearts  are  full  of 
rage  and  fury,  we  kill  our  prisoners;  but  to  do  so  weeks 
after  a  battle  is  contrary  to  the  laws  alike  of  your  reli- 
gion and  of  ours.  However,  it  is  King  Eichard  who  has 
sealed  your  doom,  not  I.  You  are  knights,  and  I  do  not 
insult  you  with  the  offer  of  turning  from  your  religion 
and  joining  me.  Should  one  of  you  wish  to  save  his  life 
on  these  conditions,  I  will,  however,  promise  him  a  place 
of  position  and  authority  among  us." 

None  of  the  knights  moved  to  accept  the  offer,  but 
each,  as  the  eye  of  the  emir  ran  along  the  line,  answered 
with  an  imprecation  of  contempt  and  hatred.  Saladin 
waved  his  hand,  and  one  by  one  the  captives  were  led 
aside,  walking  as  proudly  to  their  doom  as  if  they  had 
been  going  to  a  feast.  Each  wrung  the  hand  of  the  one 
next  to  him  as  he  turned,  and  then  without  a  word  fol- 
lowed his  captors.  There  was  a  dull  sound  heard,  and 
one  by  one  the  heads  of  the  knights  rolled  in  the  sand. 

Outhbert  happened  to  be  last  in  the  line,  and  as  the 
executioners  laid  hands  upon  him  and  removed  his 
helmet,  the  eye  of  the  sultan  fell  upon  him,  and  he 
almost  started  at  perceiving  the  extreme  youth  of  his 
captive.  He  held  his  hand  aloft  to  arrest  the  movements 
of  the  executioners,  and  signalled  for  Cuthbert  to  be 
brought  before  him  again. 

"You  are  but  a  boy,"  he  said.  "All  the  knights  who 
have  hitherto  fallen  into  my  hands  have  been  men  of 
strength  and  power;  how  is  it  that  I  see  a  mere  youth 
among  their  ranks,  and  wearing  the  golden  spurs  of 
knighthood?" 

"King  Richard  himself  made  me  a  knight,"  Cuthbert 


140  THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 

said  proudly,  "after  having  stood  across  him  when  his 
steed  had  been  foully  stabbed  at  the  battle  of  Azotus, 
and  the  whole  Moslem  host  were  around  him." 

"Ah!"  said  the  emir,  "were  you  one  of  the  two  who, 
as  I  have  heard,  defended  the  king  for  some  time  against 
all  assaults?  It  were  hard  indeed  to  kill  so  brave  a 
youth.  I  doubt  me  not  that  at  present  you  are  as  firmly 
determined  to  die  a  Christian  knight  as  those  who  have 
gone  before  you?  But  time  may  change  you.  At  any 
rate  for  the  present  your  doom  is  postponed." 

He  turned  to  a  gorgeously-dressed  noble  next  to  him, 
and  said: 

"Your  brother,  Ben  Abin,  is  Governor  of  Jerusalem, 
and  the  gardens  of  the  palace  are  fair.  Take  this  youth 
to  him  as  a  present,  and  set  him  to  work  in  his  gardens. 
His  life  I  have  spared,  in  all  else  Ben  Abin  will  be  his 
master." 

Cufchbert  heard  without  emotion  the  words  which 
changed  his  fate  from  death  to  slavery.  Many,  he 
knew,  who  were  captured  in  these  wars  were  carried  away 
as  slaves  to  different  parts  of  Asia,  and  it  did  not  seem  to 
him  that  the  change  was  in  any  way  a  boon.  However, 
life  is  dear,  and  it  was  but  natural  that  a  thought  should 
leap  into  his  heart  that  soon  either  the  Crusaders  might 
force  a  way  into  Jerusalem  and  there  rescue  him,  or  that 
he  himself  might  in  some  way  escape. 

The  sultan,  having  thus  concluded  the  subject,  turned 
away,  and  galloped  off  surrounded  by  his  bodyguard. 

Those  who  had  captured  the  Christians  now  stripped  off 
the  armor  of  Cuthbert;  then  he  was  mounted  on  a  bare- 
backed steed,  and  with  four  Bedouins,  with  their  long 
lances,  riding  beside  him,  started  for  Jersaulem.  After 
a  day  of  long  and  rapid  riding  the  Arabs  stopped  sud- 
denly, on  the  crest  of  a  hill,  with  a  shout  of  joy,  aui 
throwing  themselves  from  their  horses,  bent  with  their 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  .          141 

foreheads  to  the  earth  at  the  sight  of  their  holy  city. 
Cuthbert,  as  he  gazed  at  the  stately  walls  of  Jerusalem, 
and  the  noble  buildings  within,  felt  bitterly  that  it  was 
not  thus  that  he  had  hoped  to  see  the  holy  city.  He 
had  dreamed  of  arriving  before  it  with  his  comrades, 
proud  and  delighted  at  their  success  so  far,  and  confi- 
dant m  their  power  soon  to  wrest  the  town  before  them 
from  the  hands  of  the  Moslems.  Instead  of  this  he  was 
a  slave — a  slave  to  the  infidel,  perhaps  never  more  to  see 
a  white  face,  save  that  of  some  other  unfortunate  like 
himself. 

Even  now  in  its  fallen  state  no  city  is  so  impressive  at 
first  sight  as  Jerusalem;  the  walls,  magnificent  in  height 
and  strength,  and  picturesque  in  their  deep  embattle- 
ments,  rising  on  the  edge  of  a  deep  valley.  Every  build- 
ing has  its  name  and  history.  Here  is  the  church  built 
by  the  first  Crusaders;  there  the  mighty  mosque  of  Sulei- 
man on  the  site  of  the  Temple;  far  away  on  a  projecting 
ridge  the  great  building  known  as  the  Tomb  of  Moses; 
on  the  right  beyond  the  houses  rise  the  towers  on  the 
Roman  walls;  the  Pool  of  Bethsaida  lies  in  the  hollow; 
in  the  center  are  the  cupolas  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulcher.  Among  all  the  fairest  cities  of  the  world, 
there  are  none  which  can  compare  in  stately  beauty 
with  Jerusalem.  Doubtless  it  was  a  fairer  city  in  those 
days,  for  long  centuries  of  Turkish  possession  have  re- 
duced many  of  the  former  stately  palaces  to  ruins. 
Then,  as  now,  the  banner  of  the  Prophet  floated  over 
the  high  places;  but  whereas  at  present  the  population 
is  poor  and  squalid,  the  city  in  those  days  contained  a 
far  larger  number  of  inhabitants,  irrespective  of  the 
great  garrison  collected  for  its  defense. 

The  place  from  which  Cuthbert  had  his  first  sight  of 
Jerusalem  is  that  from  which  the  best  view  is  to  be  ob- 
tained— the  crest  of  the  Mount  of  Olives.  After  a 


142  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

minute  or  two  spent  in  looking  at  the  city,  the  Arabs 
with  a  shout  continued  their  way  down  into  the  valley. 
Crossing  this  they  ascended  the  steep  road  to  the  walls, 
brandishing  their  lances  and  giving  yells  of  triumph; 
then  riding  two  upon  each  side  of  their  prisoner,  to  pro- 
tect him  from  any  fanatic  who  might  lay  a  hand  upon 
him,  they  passed  under  the  gate  known  as  the  Gate  of 
Suleiman  into  the  city. 

The  populace  thronged  the  streets;  and  the  news 
brought  by  the  horsemen  that  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  Christian  host  }iad  been  defeated  and  slain  passed 
from  mouth  to  mouth,  and  was  received  with  yells  of 
exultation.  Execrations  were  heaped  upon  Cuthbert,  who 
rode  along  with  an  air  as  quiet  and  composed  as  if  he 
were  the  center  of  an  ovation  instead  of  that  of  an  out- 
burst of  hatred. 

He  would,  indeed,  speedily  have  been  torn  from  his 
guards,  had  not  these  shouted  that  he  was  placed  in  their 
hands  by  Saladin  himself  for  conduct  to  the  governor. 
As  the  emir  was  as  sharp  and  as  ruthless  with  his  own 
people  as  with  the  prisoners  who  fell  into  his  hands,  the 
name  acted  as  a  talisman,  and  Cuthbert  and  his  escort 
rode  forward  without  molestation  until  they  reached  the 
entrance  to  the  palace. 

Dismounting,  Cuthbert  was  now  led  before  the  gov- 
ernor himself,  a  stern  and  grave-looking  man,  sitting 
cross-legged  on  a  divan  surrounded  by  officers  and  at- 
tendants. He  heard  in  silence  the  account  given  him  by 
the  escort,  bowed  his  head  at  the  commands  Oi  Sulei- 
man, and,  without  addressing  a  word  to  Cuthbert,  indi- 
cated to  two  attendants  that  he  was  to  be  removed  into 
the  interior  of  the  house.  Here  the  young  knight  was 
led  to  a  small  dungeon-like  room;  bread  and  dates  with 
a  cruse  of  water  were  placed  before  him;  the  door  was 
then  closed  and  locked  without,  and  he  found 
alone  with  his  thoughts. 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  143 

iNo  one  came  near  him  that  night,  and  he  slept  as 
soundly  as  he  would  have  done  in  his  tent  in  the  midst 
of  the  Christian  host.  He  was  resolved  to  give  no  cause 
for  ill-treatment  or  complaint  to  his  captors,  to  work  as 
willingly,  as  cheerfully,  as  was  in  his  power,  and  to  seize 
the  first  opportunity  to  make  his  escape,  regardless  of 
any  riok  of  his  life  which  he  might  incur  in  doing  so. 

In  the  morning  the  door  opened,  and  a  black  slave  led 
him  into  the  garden,  which  was  surrounded  by  a  very 
nigh  and  lofty  wall.  It  was  large,  and  full  of  trees  and 
flowers,  and  far  more  beautiful  than  any  garden  that 
Cuthbert  had  seen  in  his  native  land.  There  were  vari- 
ous other  slaves  at  work;  and  an  Arab,  who  appeared  to 
be  the  head  of  the  gardeners,  at  once  appointed  to  Cuth- 
bert the  work  assigned  to  him.  A  guard  of  Arabs  with 
bow  and  spear  watched  the  doings  of  the  slaves. 

With  one  glance  round,  Cuthbert  was  assured  that 
escape  from  this  garden,  at  least,  was  not  to  be  thought 
of,  and  that  for  the  present  patience  alone  was  possible. 
Dismissing  all  ideas  of  that  kind  from  his  mind,  he  set  to 
work  with  a  steady  attention  to  his  task.  He  was  very 
fond  of  flowers,  and  soon  he  became  so  absorbed  in  his 
work  as  almost  to  forget  that  he  was  a  slave.  It  was  not 
laborious — digging,  planting,  pruning  and  training  the 
flowers,  and  giving  them  copious  draughts  of  water  from 
a  large  fountain  in  the  center  of  the  garden. 

The  slaves  were  not  permitted  to  exchange  a  word 
with  each  other.  At  the  end  of  the  day's  worl:  they 
were  marched  off  to  separate  chambers,  or,  as  they  might 
be  called,  dungeons.  Their  food  consisted  of  water, 
dried  dates,  and  bread,  and  they  had  little  to  com*  Jain 
of  in  this  respect;  indeed,  the  slaves  in  the  gardens  of 
the  governor's  house  at  Jerusalem  enjoyed  an  excep- 
tionally favored  existence.  The  governor  himself  was 
absorbed  in  the  cares  of  the  city.  The  head  gardener 


144  ?HE  B0  Y 

happened  to  be  a  man  of  unusual  humanity,  and  it  was 
really  in  his  hands  that  the  comfort  of  the  prisoners  was 
placed. 

Sometimes  in  the  course  of  the  day  veiled  ladies 
would  issue  in  groups  from  the  palace,  attended  by  black 
slaves  with  drawn  scimiters.  They  passed  without  un« 
veiling  across  the  point  where  the  slaves  were  at  work^ 
and  all  were  forbidden  on  pain  of  death  to  look  up,  or 
even  to  approach  the  konak  or  pavilion,  where  the  ladies 
threw  aside  their  veils,  and  enjoyed  the  scent  and  sight 
of  the  flowers,  the  splash  of  murmuring  waters,  and  the 
strains  of  music  touched  by  skillful  hands. 

Although  Cuthbert  wondered  in  bis  heart  what  these 
strange  wrapped-up  figures  might  look  like  when  the 
veils  were  thrown  back,  he  certainly  did  not  care  enough 
about  the  matter  to  run  any  risk  of  drawing  the  anger  of 
his  guards  upon  himself  by  raising  his  eyes  toward  them; 
nor  did  he  ever  glance  up  at  the  palace,  which  was  also 
interdicted  to  the  slaves.  From  the  lattice  casements 
during  the  day  the  strains  of  music  and  merry  laughter 
often  came  down  to  the  captives;  but  this,  if  anything, 
only  added  to  the  bitterness  of  their  position,  by  remind- 
ing them  that  they  were  shut  off  for  life  from  ever  hear- 
ing the  laughter  of  the  loved  ones  they  had  left  behind. 

For  upward  of  a  month  Cuthbert  remained  steadily  at 
work,  and  during  that  time  no  possible  plan  of  escape 
had  occurred  to  him,  and  he  had  indeed  resigned  himself 
to  wait,  either  until,  as  he  hoped,  the  city  would  be 
taken  by  the  Christians,  or  until  he  himself  might  be 
removed  from  his  present  post  and  sent  into  the  country, 
where,  although  his  lot  would  doubtless  be  far  harder, 
some  chance  of  escape  might  open  before  him. 

One  night,  long  after  slumber  had  fallen  upon  ths 
city,  Cuthbert  was  startled  by  hearing  his  door  open. 
Rising  to  his  feet,  he  saw  a  black  slave  and  an  old 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  145 

woman  Deside  him.  The  latter  spoke  first  in  th«  lingua 
franca : 

"My  mistress,  the  wife  of  the  governor,  has  sent  me 
to  ask  your  story.  How  is  it  that,  although  but  a  youth, 
you  are  already  a  knight?  How  is  it  that  you  come  to 
be  a  slavo  to  our  people?  The  sultan  himself  sent  you  to 
her  lord.  She  would  fain  hear  through  me  how  it  has 
happened.  She  is  the  kindest  of  ladies,  and  the  sight  of 
your  youth  has  touched  her  heart." 

With  thanks  to  the  unknown  lady  who  had  felt  an  in- 
terest in  him,  Cuthbert  briefly  related  the  events  which 
had  led  to  his  captivity.  The  old  woman  placed  on  the 
ground  a  basket  containing  some  choice  fruit  and  white 
bread,  and  then  departed  with  the  negro  as  quietly  as 
she  had  come,  leaving  Cuthbert  greatly  pleased  at  what 
had  taken  place. 

"Doubtless,"  he  said  to  himself,  "I  shall  hear  again; 
and  it  may  be  that  through  the  pity  of  this  lady  some 
means  of  escape  may  open  to  me/' 

Although  for  some  little  time  no  such  prospect  ap- 
peared, yet  the  visits  of  the  old  woman,  which  were 
frequently  repeated,  were  of  interest  to  him,  and  seemed 
to  form  a  link  between  him  and  the  world. 

After  coming  regularly  every  night  for  a  week,  she  bade 
the  young  knight  follow  her,  holding  her  finger  to  her  lips 
in  sign  that  caution  must  be  observed.  Passing  through 
several  passages,  he  was  at  length  led  into  a  room  where 
a  lady  of  some  forty  years  of  age,  surrounded  by  several 
slaves  and  younger  women,  was  sitting.  Cuthbert  felt 
no  scruple  in  making  a  deep  obeisance  to  her;  the  re- 
spect shown  to  women  in  the  days  of  chivalry  was  very 
great,  and  Cuthbert,  in  bowing  almost  to  the  ground 
before  the  lady  who  was  really  his  mistress,  did  not  feel 
that  he  was  humiliating  himself. 

"Young  slave*"  she  said,  "your  story  has  interested 


146  SHE  BO  Y  KHIUUT. 

us.  We  have  frequently  watched  from  the  windows,  and 
have  seen  how  willingly  and  patiently  you  have  worked; 
and  it  seems  strange  indeed  that  one  so  young  should 
have  performed  such  feats  of  bravery  as  to  win  the  honor 
of  knighthood  from  the  hand  of  that  greatest  of  war- 
riors., Richard  of  England.  What  is  it,  we  would  fain 
learn  from  your  lips,  that  stirs  up  the  heart  of  the  Chris- 
tian world  that  they  should  launch  their  armies  against 
us,  who  wish  but  to  be  left  alone,  and  who  have  no 
grudge  against  them?  This  city  is  as  holy  to  us  as  it  is 
to  you;  and  as  we  live  around  it,  and  all  the  country  for 
thousands  of  miles  is  ours,  is  it  likely  that  we  should 
allow  it  to  be  wrested  from  us  by  strangers  from  a 
distance?" 

This  was  spoken  in  some  Eastern  language  of  which 
Cuthbert  understood  no  word,  but  its  purport  was  trans- 
lated to  him  by  the  old  woman  who  had  hitherto  acted  as 
his  mistress'  messenger. 

Cuthbert  reported  the  circumstances  of  the  fight  at 
Azotus,  and  endeavored  to  explain  the  feelings  which 
had  given  rise  to  the  Crusade.  He  then,  at  the  orders 
of  the  lady,  related  the  incidents  of  his  voyage  out,  and 
something  of  his  life  at  home,  which  was  more  interest- 
ing even  than  the  tale  of  his  adventures  to  his  hearers, 
as  to  them  the  home-life  of  these  fierce  Christian  war- 
riors was  entirely  unknown. 

After  an  audience  of  two  hours  Cuthbert  was  con- 
ducted back  to  his  cell,  his  mistress  assuring  him  of  her 
good-will,  and  promising  to  do  all  in  her  power  to  make 
his  captivity  as  light  as  possible. 


TBE  BOY  KNIGHT.  U7 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

AN  EFFORT  FOB  FREEDOM. 

Two  or  three  nights  afterward  the  old  woman  again 
came  to  Cuthbert,  and  asked  him,  in  her  mistress'  name, 
if  in  any  way  he  could  suggest  a  method  of  lightening 
his  captivity,  as  his  extreme  youth  and  bravery  of 
demeanor  had  greatly  pleased  her. 

Cuthbert  replied  that  nothing  but  freedom  could  sat- 
isfy his  longings;  that  he  was  comfortable  and  not  over- 
worked, but  that  he  pined  to  be  back  again  with  his 
friends. 

The  old  woman  brought  him  on  the  following  night  a 
message  to  the  effect  that  his  mistress  would  willingly 
grant  him  his  liberty,  but  as  he  was  sent  to  her  husband 
by  the  sultan,  it  would  be  impossible  to  free  him  openly. 

"From  what  she  said,"  the  old  woman  continued,  "if 
you  could  see  some  plan  of  making  your  escape,  she 
would  in  no  way  throw  difficulties  in  your  path;  but  it 
must  not  be  known  that  the  harem  in  any  way  connived 
at  your  escape,  for  my  lord's  wrath  would  be  terrible,  and 
he  is  not  a  man  to  be  trifled  with." 

Looking  round  at  the  high  walls  that  surrounded  tht 
garden,  Cuthbert  said  that  he  could  think  of  no  plan 
whatever  for  escaping  from  such  a  place;  that  he  had 
often  thought  it  over,  but  that  it  appeared  to  him  to  be 
hopeless.  Even  should  he  manage  to  scale  these  walls, 
he  would  only  find  himself  in  the  town  beyond,  and  his 
escape  from  that  would  bo  altogether  hopeless.  "Only," 


148  fSE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

he  said,  "if  I  were  transported  to  some  country  palace  of 
the  governor  could  I  ever  hope  to  make  my  escape." 
The  next  night  the  messenger  brought  him  the  news 
that  his  mistress  was  disposed  to  favor  his  escape  in  the 
way  he  had  pointed  out,  and  that  she  would  in  two  or 
three  days  asfe  the  governor  for  permission  to  pay  a  visit 
to  their  palace  beyond  the  walls,  and  that  with  her  she 
would  take  a  number  of  gardeners — among  them  Cuth- 
bert— to  beautify  the  place.  Cuthbert  returned  the 
most  lively  and  hearty  thanks  to  his  patroness  for  her 
kind  intentions,  and  hope  began  to  rise  rapidly  in  his 
heart. 

It  is  probable,  however,  that  the  black  guards  of  the 
harem  heard  something  of  the  intentions  of  their  mis- 
tress, and  that  they  feared  the  anger  of  the  governor 
should  Cuthbert  make  his  escape,  and  should  it  be  dis- 
covered that  this  was  the  result  of  her  connivance. 
Either  through  this  or  through  some  other  source  the 
governor  obtained  an  inkling  that  the  white  slave  sent  by 
the  sultan  was  receiving  unusual  kindness  from  the 
ladies  of  the  harem. 

Two  nights  after  Cuthbert  had  begun  to  entertain 
bright  hopes  of  his  liberty,  the  door  of  the  cell  was  softly 
opened.  He  was  seized  by  four  slaves,  gagged,  tied  hand 
and  foot,  covered  with  a  thick  burnous,  and  carried  out 
from  his  cell.  By  the  sound  of  their  feet  he  heard  that 
they  were  passing  into  the  open  air,  and  guessed  that  he 
was  being  carried  through  the  garden;  then  a  door 
opened  and  was  closed  after  them;  he  was  flung  across  a 
horse  like  a  bale  of  goods,  a  rope  or  two  were  placed. 
around  him  to  keep  him  in  that  position,  and  then  he 
felt  the  animal  put  in  motion,  and  heard  by  the  tram- 
pling of  feet  that  a  considerable  number  of  horsemen 
were  around  him.  For  some  time  they  passed  over  the 
rough,  uneven  streets  of  the  city;  then  there  was  a 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  149 

pause  and  exchange  of  watchword  and  countersign,  a 
creaking  of  doors,  and  a  lowering  of  a  drawbridge,  and 
the  party  issued  out  into  the  open  country.  Not  for 
very  long  did  they  continue  their  way;  a  halt  was  called, 
and  Cuthbert  was  taken  off  his  horse. 

On  looking  round,  he  found  that  he  was  in  the  middle 
of  a  considerable  group  of  men.  Those  who  had  brought 
him  were  a  party  of  the  governor's  guards;  but  he  was 
now  delivered  over  to  a  large  band  of  Arabs,  all  of  whom 
were  mounted  on  camels.  One  of  these  creatures  he  was 
ordered  to  mount,  the  bonds  being  loosed  from  his  arms 
and  feet.  An  Arab  driver,  with  lance,  bows,  and  arrows, 
and  other  weapons,  took  his  seat  on  the  neck  of  the 
animal,  and  then  with  scarcely  a  word  the  caravan 
marched  off  with  noiseless  step,  and  with  their  faces 
turned  southward. 

It  seemed  to  Cuthbert  almost  as  a  dream.  A  few 
hours  before  he  had  been  exalted  with  the  hope  of  free- 
dom; now  he  was  being  taken  away  to  a  slavery  which 
would  probably  end  but  with  his  life.  Although  he 
could  not  understand  any  of  his  captors,  the  repetition 
of  a  name  led  him  to  believe  that  he  was  being  sent  to 
Egypt  as  a  present  to  some  man  in  high  authority  there; 
and  he  doubted  not  that  the  Governor  of  Jerusalem, 
fearing  that  he  might  escape,  and  dreading  the  wrath  of 
the  sultan  should  he  do  so,  had  determined  to  transfer 
the  troublesome  captive  to  a  more  secure  position  and  to 
safer  hands. 

For  three  days  the  journey  continued;  they  had  now 
left  the  fertile  lowlands  of  Palestine,  and  their  faces 
were  turned  west.  They  were  entering  upon  that  sandy 
waste  which  stretches  between  the  southern  corner  of 
Palestine  and  the  land  of  Egypt,  a  distance  which  can  be 
traveled  by  camels  in  three  days,  but  which  occupied  the 
children  of  Israel  forty  years, 


150  THE  EOT  KNIGHT. 

At  first  the  watch  had  been  very  sharply  kept  over  the 
captive;  btit  now  that  they  had  entered  the  desert  the 
Arabs  appeared  to  consider  that  there  was  no  chance  of 
an  attempt  to  escape.  Cuthbert  had  in  every  way  en- 
deavored to  ingratiate  himself  with  his  guard.  He  had 
most  willingly  obeyed  their  smallest  orders,  had  shown 
himself  pleased  and  grateful  for  the  dates  which  formed 
the  staple  of  their  repasts.  He  had  assumed  so  innocent 
and  quiet  an  appearance  that  the  Arabs  had  marveled 
much  among  themselves,  and  had  concluded  that  there 
must  have  been  some  mistake  in  the  assertion  of  the 
governor's  guard  who  had  handed  the  prisoner  over  to 
them,  that  he  was  one  of  the  terrible  knights  of  King 
Richard's  army. 

Cuthbert's  heart  had  not  fallen  for  a  moment.  He 
knew  well  that  if  he  once  reached  Cairo  all  hope  of 
escape  was  at  an  end;  and  it  was  before  reaching  that 
point  that  he  determined  if  possible  to  make  an  effort 
for  freedom.  He  had  noticed  particularly  the  camel 
which  appeared  to  be  the  fleetest  of  the  band;  it  was  of 
lighter  build  than  the  rest,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that 
its  rider  had  compelled  it  to  accommodate  itself  to  the 
pace  of  the  others.  It  was  clear  from  the  pains  he  took 
with  it,  by  the  constant  patting  and  the  care  bestowed 
upon  its  watering  and  feeding,  that  its  rider  was  ex- 
tremely proud  of  it;  and  Cuthbert  concluded  that  if  an 
escape  was  to  be  made,  this  was  the  animal  on  which  he 
must  accomplish  it. 

Upon  arriving  at  the  end  of  each  day's  journey  the 
camels  were  allowed  to  browse  at  will,  a  short  cord  being 
tied'between  one  of  their  hind  and  one  of  their  fore-feet. 
The  Arabs  then  set  to  work  to  collect  sticks  and  to  make 
a  fire — not  for  cooking,  for  their  only  food  was  dried 
dates  and  some  black  bread,  which  they  brought  with 
them — but  for  warmth,  as  the  nights  were  damp  and 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  151 

somewhat  chilly,  as  they  sat  round  the  fire,  talked,  and 
told  stories.  Before  finally  going  off  to  rest  each  went 
out  into  the  bushes  and  brought  in  his  camel;  these  were 
then  arranged  in  a  circle  around  the  Arabs,  one  of  the 
latter  being  mounted  as  sentry  to  prevent  any  sudden 
surprise — not  indeed  that  they  had  the  smallest  fear  of 
the  Christians,  who  were  far  distant;  but  then,  as  now, 
the  Arabs  of  the  desert  were  a  plundering  race,  and  were 
ever  ready  to  drive  off  each  other's  camels  or  horses. 
Cuthbert  determined  that  if  flight  was  possible,  it  must 
be  undertaken  during  the  interval  after  the  arrival  at  the 
halting-place  and  before  the  bringing  in  of  the  camels. 
Therefore,  each  day  upon  the  halt  he  had  pretended 
great  fatigue  from  the  rough  motion  of  the  camel,  and 
had,  after  hastily  eating  the  dates  handed  to  him,  thrown 
himself  down,  covered  himself  with  his  Arab  robe,  and 
feigned  instant  sleep.  Thus  they  had  in  the  three  days 
from  starting  come  to  look  upon  his  presence  sleeping 
close  to  them  as  a  matter  of  course. 

The  second  day  after  entering  the  desert,  however, 
Cuthbert  threw  himself  down  by  the  side  of  an  uprooted 
shrub  of  small  size  and  about  his  own  length.  He  cov- 
ered himself  as  usual  with  his  long,  dark-blue  robe,  and 
pretended  to  go  to  sleep.  He  kept  his  eyes,  however,  on 
the  alert  through  an  aperture  beneath  his  cloth,  and  ob- 
served particularly  the  direction  in  which  the  camel 
upon  which  he  had  set  his  mind  wandered  into  the 
bushes.  The  darkness  came  on  a  very  few  minutes  after 
they  had  halted,  and  when  the  Arabs  had  once  settled 
round  their  fire  Cuthbert  very  quietly  shifted  the  robe 
from  himself  to  the  long  low  bush  near  him,  and  then 
crawled  steathily  off  into  the  darkness. 

He  had  no  fear  of  his  footfall  being  heard  upon  the 
soft  sand,  and  was  soon  on  his  feet,  looking  for  the 
camels.  He  was  not  long  in  finding  them,  or  in  picking 


152  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

out  the  one  which  he  had  selected.  The  bushes  were 
succulent,  and  close  to  the  camping-ground;  indeed,  it 
was  for  this  that  the  halting-places  were  always  chosen. 
It  was  not  so  easy,  however,  to  climb  into  the  high 
wooden  saddle,  and  Cuthbert  tried  several  times  in  vain. 
Then  he  repeated  in  a  sharp  tone  the  words  which  he  had 
heard  the  Arabs  use  to  order  their  camels  to  kneel,  strik- 
ing the  animal  at  the  same  moment  behind  the  fore-legs 
with  a  small  switch.  The  camel  immediately  obeyed  the 
order  to  which  he  was  accustomed,  and  knelt  down, 
making,  however,  as  he  did  so,  the  angry  grumble  which 
those  creatures  appear  to  consider  it  indispensable  to 
raise  when  ordered  to  do  anything.  Fortunately  this 
noise  is  so  frequently  made,  and  the  camels  are  so  given 
to  quarrel  among  themselves  that  although  in  the  still 
air  it  might  have  been  heard  by  the  Arabs  sitting  a  short 
hundred  yards  away,  it  attracted  no  notice,  and  Cuth- 
bert, climbing  into  the  seat,  shook  the  cord  that  served 
as  a  rein,  and  the  animal,  rising,  set  off  at  a  smooth, 
steady  swing  in  the  direction  in  which  his  head  was 
turned — that  from  which  they  had  that  day  arrived. 

Once  fairly  away  from  the  camping-ground,  Cuthbert, 
with  blows  of  his  stick,  increased  the  speed  of  the  camel 
to  a  long  shuffling  trot,  and  the  fire  in  the  distance  soon 
faded  out  into  the  darkness. 

Cuthbert  trusted  to  the  stars  as  guides.  He  was  not 
unarmed,  for  as  he  crawled  away  from  his  resting-place 
he  had  picked  up  one  of  the  Arabs'  spears  and  bow  and 
arrows,  and  a  large  bag  of  dates  from  the  spot  where 
they  had  been  placed  when  their  owner  dismounted.  He 
was  already  clad  in  Eastern  garb,  and  was  so  sunburnt 
and  tanned  that  he  had  no  fear  whatever  of  any  one  at  a 
distance  detecting  that  he  was  a  white  man. 

Steering  his  course  by  the  stars,  he  rode  all  night  with 
out  stopping.     He  doubted  not  that  he  would  have  at 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT.  153 

least  three  hours'  start,  for  the  Arabs  were  sure  to  have 
sat  that  time  round  the  fires  before  going  out  to  bring  in 
their  camels.  Even  then  they  would  suppose  for  some 
time  that  the  animal  upon  which  he  was  seated  had 
strayed,  and  no  pursuit  would  be  attempted  until  it  was 
discovered  that  he  himself  had  made  his  escape,  which 
might  not  be  for  a  long  time,  as  the  Arabs  would  not 
think  of  looking  under  the  cloth  to  see  if  he  were  there. 
He  hoped,  therefore,  that  he  would  reach  the  cultivated 
land  long  before  he  was  overtaken.  He  had  little  fear 
but  that  he  should  then  be  able  to  journey  onward  with- 
out attracting  attention. 

A  solitary  Arab  when  traveling  rides  straight,  and  his 
communications  to  those  whom  he  meets  are  confined  to 
the  set  form  of  two  or  three  words,  "May  Allah  protect 
you!"  the  regular  greeting  of  Moslems  when  they  meet. 

When  morning  broke  Cuthbert,  even  when  ascending 
to  the  top  of  a  somewhat  lofty  mound,  could  see  no  signs 
of  pursuers  in  the  vast  stretch  of  desert  behind  him.  In 
front  the  ground  was  already  becoming  dotted  here  and 
there  with  vegetation,  and  he  doubted  not  that  after  a 
few  hours'  ride  he  should  be  fairly  in  the  confines  of 
cultivated  country.  He  gave  his  camel  a  meal  of  dates, 
and  having  eaten  some  himself,  again  set  the  creature  in 
motion.  These  camels,  especially  those  of  good  breed, 
will  gc  on  for  three  or  four  days  with  scarcely  a  halt; 
and  there  was  no  fear  of  that  on  which  he  rode  breaking 
down  from  fatigue,  for  the  journeys  hitherto  hau  been 
comparatively  short. 

By  midday  Cuthbert  had  reached  the  cultivated  lands 
of  Palestine.  Here  and  there  over  the  plain  villages 
were  dotted,  and  parties  of  men  and  camels  were  to  be 
seen.  Cuthbert  now  arranged  his  robes  carefully  in  Arab 
fashion,  slung  the  long  spear  across  his  shoulders,  and 
went  boldly  forward  at  a  slinging  trot,  having  little  fear 


154  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

that  a  passer-by  would  have  any  suspicion  whatever  as  to 
his  being  other  than  an  Arab  bent  upon  some  rapid  jour- 
ney. He  soon  found  that  his  hopes  were  justified.  Sev- 
eral times  he  name  upon  parties  of  men  whom  he  passed 
with  the  salute,  and  who  scarcely  raised  their  eyes  as  he 
trotted  by  them.  The  plain  was  an  open  one,  and 
though  cultivated  here  and  there,  there  were  large  tracts 
lying  unworked.  There  was  no  occasion  therefore  to 
keep  to  the  road;  so  riding  across  country,  and  avoiding 
the  villages  as  far  as  possible,  stopping  only  at  a  stream 
to  give  his  camel  water,  Cuthbert  rode  without  ceasing 
until  nightfall.  Then  he  halted  his  camel  near  a  wood, 
turned  it  in  to  feed  on  the  young  foliage,  and  wrapping 
himself  in  his  burnous  was  soon  asleep,  for  ho  ached 
from  head  to  foot  with  the  jolting  motion  which  had  now 
been  continued  for  so  many  hours  without  an  interval. 
He  had  little  fear  of  being  overtaken  by  the  party  he  had 
left  behind;  they  would,  he  was  convinced,  be  many 
hours  behind,  and  it  was  extremely  improbable  that  they 
would  hit  upon  the  exact  line  which  he  had  followed,  so 
that  even  if  they  succeeded  in  coming  up  to  him,  they 
would  probably  pass  him  a  few  miles  either  to  the  right 
or  left. 

So  fatigued  was  he  with  his  long  journey  that  the 
next  day  he  slept  until  after  the  sun  had  risen.  He  was 
awakened  suddenly  by  being  seized  by  a  party  of  Arabs, 
who,  roughly  shaking  him,  questioned  him  as  to  where 
he  came  from,  and  what  he  was  doing  there.  He  saw  at 
a  glance  that  they  were  not  with  the  party  from  which 
he  had  escaped,  and  he  pointed  to  his  lips  to  make  signs 
that  he  was  dumb.  The  Arabs  evidently  suspected  that 
something  was  wrong.  They  examined  the  camel,  and 
then  the  person  of  their  captive.  The  whiteness  of  his 
skin  at  once  showed  them  that  he  was  a  Frank  in  dis- 
guise, and  without  more  ado  or  questioning,  they  tied 


THE  SOT  KNIGHT.  155 

him  hand  and  foot,  flung  him  across  the  camel,  and, 
mounting  their  own  animals,  rode  rapidly  away. 

From  the  position  of  the  sun  Cuthbert  saw  that  they 
were  making  their  course  nearly  due  east,  and  therefore 
that  it  could  not  be  their  intention  to  take  him  to  Jeru- 
salem, which  was  to  the  north  of  the  line  they  were  fol- 
lowing. A  long  day's  journey,  which  to  Cuthbert 
seemed  interminable,  found  them  on  the  low  spit  of  sand 
which  runs  along  by  the  side  of  the  Dead  Sea.  Behind, 
lofty  rocks  rose  almost  precipitously,  but  through  a  cleft 
in  these  the  Arabs  had  made  their  way.  Cuthbert  saw  at 
once  that  they  belonged  to  some  desert  tribe  over  whom 
the  authority  of  Suleiman  was  but  nominal.  When 
summoned  for  any  great  effort,  these  children  of  the 
desert  would  rally  to  his  armies  and  fight  for  a  short 
time;  but  at  the  first  disaster,  or  whenever  they  became 
tired  of  the  discipline  and  regularity  of  the  army,  they 
would  mount  their  camels  and  return  to  the  desert,  gen- 
erally managing  on  the  way  to  abstract  from  the  farms 
of  those  on  their  route  either  a  horse,  cattle,  or  some 
other  objects  which  would  pay  them  for  the  labors  they 
had  undergone. 

They  were  now  near  the  confines  of  their  own  country, 
and  apparently  had  no  fear  whatever  of  pursuit.  They 
soon  gathered  some  of  the  dead  wood  cast  on  the  shores 
of  the  sea,  and  with  these  a  fire  was  speedily  lighted,  and 
an  earthenware  pot  was  taken  down  from  among  their 
baggage:  it  was  filled  with  water  from  a  skin,  and  then 
grain  having  been  placed  in  it,  it  was  put  among  the 
wood  ashes.  Cuthbert,  who  was  weary  and  aching  in 
every  limb  from  the  position  in  which  he  had  been 
placed  on  the  camel,  asked  them  by  signs  for  permission 
to  bathe  in  the  lake.  This  was  given  principally  appar- 
ently from  curiosity,  for  but  very  few  Arabs  were  able  to 
swim;  indeed,  as  a  people  they  object  so  utterly  to 


KNIGHT. 

tfater  that  tne  idea  of  any  one  bathing  for  his  amuse- 
taent  was  to  them  a  matter  of  ridicule, 

Cuthbert,  who  had  never  heard  of  the  properties  of 
the  Dead  Sea,  was  perfectly  astonished  upon  entering  the 
water  to  find  that  instead  of  wading  in  it  up  to  the  neck 
before  starting  to  swim,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  do  at 
home,  the  water  soon  after  he  got  waist-deep  took  him 
off  his  feet,  and  a  cry  of  astonishment  burst  from  him  as 
he  found  himself  on  rather  than  in  the  fluid.  The  posi- 
tion was  so  strange  and  unnatural  that  with  a  cry  of 
alarm  he  scrambled  over  on  to  his  feet,  and  made  the 
best  of  his  way  to  shore,  the  Arabs  indulging  in  shouts 
of  laughter  at  his  astonishment  and  alarm.  Cuthbert 
was  utterly  unable  to  account  for  the  strange  sensations 
he  had  experienced;  he  perceived  that  the  water  was 
horribly  salt,  and  that  which  had  got  into  his  mouth 
almost  choked  him.  He  was,  however,  unaware  that 
saltness  adds  to  the  weight  of  water,  and  so  to  the  buoy- 
ancy of  objects  cast  into  it.  The  saltness  of  the  fluid  he 
was  moreover  painfully  conscious  of  by  the  smarting  of 
the  places  on  his  wrists  and  ankles  where  the  cords  had 
been  bound  that  fastened  him  to  the  camel.  Goaded, 
however,  by  the  laughter  of  the  Arabs,  he  determined 
once  more  to  try  the  experiment  of  entering  this  strange 
sheet  of  water,  which  from  some  unaccountable  cause 
appeared  to  him  to  refuse  to  allow  anybody  to  sink  in  it. 
This  time  he  swam  about  for  some  time,  and  felt  a  little 
refreshed.  When  he  returned  to  the  shore  he  soon  re- 
attired  himself  in  his  Bedouin  dress,  and  seated  himself 
a  little  distance  from  his  captors,  who  were  now  engaged 
in  discussing  the  materials  prepared  by  themselves. 
They  made  signs  to  Cuthbert  that  he  might  partake  of 
their  leavings,  for  which  he  was  not  a  little  grateful,  for 
he  felt  utterly  exhausted  and  worn  out  with  his  erne? 
ride  and  prolonged  fasting. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  157 

The  Arabs  soon  wrapped  themselves  in  their  bur- 
nouses, and  feeling  confident  that  their  captive  would  not 
attempt  to  escape  from  them  in  a  place  where  subsist- 
ence would  be  impossible,  paid  no  further  attention  to 
him  beyond  motioning  to  him  to  lie  down  at  their  side. 

Cuthbert,  however,  determined  to  make  another  effort 
to  escape;  for  although  he  was  utterly  ignorant  of  the 
place  in  which  he  found  himself,  or  of  the  way  back,  he 
thought  that  anything  would  be  better  than  to  be  car- 
ried into  helpless  slavery  into  the  savage  country  beyond 
the  Jordan.  An  hour,  therefore,  after  his  captors  were 
asleep  he  stole  to  his  feet,  and  fearing  to  arouse  them  by 
exciting  the  wrath  of  one  of  the  camels  by  attempting  to 
mount  him,  he  struck  up  into  the  hills  on  foot.  All 
night  he  wandered,  and  in  the  morning  found  himself  at 
the  edge  of  a  strange  precipice  falling  abruptly  down  to 
a  river,  which,  some  fifty  feet  wide,  ran  at  its  foot.  Upon 
the  opposite  side  the  bank  rose  with  equal  rapidity,  and 
to  Cuthbert's  astonishment  he  saw  that  the  cliffs  were 
honeycombed  by  caves. 

Keeping  along  the  edge  for  a  considerable  distance,  he 
came  to  a  spot  where  it  was  passable,  and  made  his  way 
down  to  the  river  bank.  Here  he  indulged  in  along 
drink  of  fresh  water,  and  then  began  to  examine  the 
caves  which  perforated  the  rocks.  These  caves  Cuthbert 
knew  had  formerly  been  the  abode  of  hermits.  It  was 
supposed  to  be  an  essentially  sacred  locality,  and  between 
the  third  and  fourth  centuries  of  Christianity  some 
twenty  thousand  monks  had  lived  solitary  lives  on  the 
banks  of  that  river.  Far  away  he  saw  the  rains  of  a 
great  monastery,  called  Mar  Saba,  which  had  for  a  long 
time  been  the  abode  of  a  religious  community,  and  which 
at  the  present  day  is  still  tenanted  by  a  body  of  monks. 
Cuthbert  made  up  his  mind  at  once  to  take  refuge  in 
these  caves.  He  speedily  picked  out  one  some  fifty  feet 


158  THE  BO  T  KNIQHT. 

up  the  face  of  the  rock,  and  approachable  only  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  and  by  a  sure  foot.  First  he  made  the 
ascent  to  discover  the  size  of  the  grotto,  and  found  that 
although  the  entrance  was  but  four  feet  high  and  two 
feet  wide,  it  opened  into  an  area  of  considerable  dimen- 
sions. Far  in  the  corner,  when  his  eyes  became  accus- 
tomed to  the  light,  he  discovered  a  circle  of  ashes,  and 
his  conjectures  that  these  caves  had  been  the  abode  of 
men  were  therefore  verified.  He  again  descended,  and 
collected  a  large  bundle  of  grass  and  rushes  for  his  bed. 
He  discovered  growing  among  the  rocks  many  edible 
plants,  whose  seeds  were  probably  sown  there  centuries 
before,  and  gathering  some  of  these  he  made  his  way 
back  to  the  cavern.  The  grass  furnished  him  with  an 
excellent  bed,  and  he  was  soon  asleep. 


TEE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  159 


CHAPTEE  XV. 
A  HERMIT'S  TALE. 

THE  next  day  he  discovered  on  his  excursions  plenty 
of  eatable  berries  on  the  bushes;  and  now  that  he  had  no 
longer  fear  of  hunger  he  resolved  to  stay  for  some  little 
time,  until  his  wounds,  which  had  festered  badly,  had 
recovered,  before  making  an  attempt  to  rejoin  the 
Christian  army. 

One  day  when  employed  in  gatheringr  berries  he  was 
surprised  by  meeting  a  wild-looking  figure,  who  appeared 
suddenly  from  one  of  the  caves.  It  was  that  of  a  very 
old  man,  with  an  extremely  long  white  beard  flowing  to 
his  waist;  his  hair,  which  was  utterly  unkempt,  fell  to 
the  same  point.  He  was  thin  to  an  extraordinary  extent, 
and  Cuthbert  wondered  how  a  man  could  have  been  re- 
duced to  such  a  state  of  starvation,  with  so  plentiful  a 
supply  of  fruit  and  berries  at  hand. 

The  old  man  looked  at  Cuthbert  attentively,  and  then 
made  the  sign  of  the  cross.  Cuthbert  gave  a  cry  of  joy, 
and  repeated  the  sign.  The  old  man  at  once  came  down 
from  his  cavern,  and  looked  at  him  with  surprise  and 
astonishment,  and  then  addressed  him  in  the  French 
language. 

"Are  you  a  Christian  truly;  and  if  so,  whence  do  you 
come?" 

Cuthbert  at  once  explained  that  he  had  been  taken 
prisoner  when  with  King  Richard's  army,  and  had 
effected  his  escape.  He  also  told  the  old  man  that  he 


160  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

had  been  remaining  for  the  last  four  days  in  a  cava 
higher  up  the  stream.  The  hermit — for  he  was  one — 
beckoned  him  to  follow  him,  and  Cuthbert  found  him. 
self  in  a  cave  precisely  similar  to  that  which  he  himself 
inhabited.  There  were  no  signs  of  comfort  of  any  kind; 
a  bed-place  made  of  great  stones  stood  in  one  corner,  and 
Cuthbert,  remembering  the  comforts  of  his  own  grassy 
couch,  shuddered  at  the  thought  of  the  intense  discom- 
fort of  such  a  sleeping-place.  In  another  corner  was  an 
altar,  upon  which  stood  a  rough  crucifix,  before  which 
the  hermit  knelt  at  once  in  prayer,  Cuthbert  following  his 
example.  Rising  again,  the  hermit  motioned  to  him  to 
sit  down,  and  then  began  a  conversation  with  him. 

It  was  so  long  since  the  hermit  had  spoken  to  any  liv- 
ing being  that  he  had  almost  lost  the  use  of  his  tongue, 
and  his  sentences  were  slow  and  ill-formed.  However, 
Cuthbert  was  able  to  understand  him,  and  he  to  gather 
the  drift  of  what  Cuthbert  told  him.  The  old  man  then 
showed  him  that  by  touching  a  stone  in  the  corner  of  his 
cave  the  apparently  solid  rock  opened,  and  revealed  an 
entrance  into  an  inner  cave,  which  was  lit  by  a  ray  of 
light  which  penetrated  from  above. 

"This,"  he  said,  "was  made  centuries  ago,  and  was 
intended  as  a  refuge  from  the  persecutors  of  that  day. 
The  caves  were  then  almost  all  inhabited  by  hermits, 
and  although  many  recked  not  of  their  lives,  and  were 
quite  ready  to  meet  death  through  the  knife  of  the 
infidel,  others  clung  to  existence,  and  preferred  to  pass 
many  years  of  penance  on  earth  for  the  sake  of  atoning 
for  their  sins  before  called  upon  to  appear  before  their 
Maker.  If  you  are  pursued  it  will  be  safer  for  you  to  take 
up  your  abode  here.  I  am  known  to  allthe  inhabitants  of 
this  country,  who  look  upon  me  as  mad,  and  respect  me 
accordingly.  None  ever  interfere  with  me,  or  with  the 
two  or  three  other  hermits,  the  remains  of  what  was  once 


THE  EOT  KNIGHT  161 

almost  an  army,  who  DOW  alone  survive.  I  can  offer  you 
no  hospitality  beyond  that  of  a  refuge;  but  there  is  water 
in  the  river  below,  fruits  and  berries  in  abundance  on  the 
shrubs.  What  would  you  have  more?" 

Outhbert  accepted  the  invitation  with  thanks;  for  he 
thought  that  even  at  the  worst  the  presence  of  this  holy 
man  would  be  a  protection  to  him  from  any  Arabs  who 
might  discover  him. 

For  three  or  four  days  he  resided  with  the  hermit, 
who,  although  he  stretched  his  long  lean  body  upon  the 
hard  stones  of  his  bed,  and  passed  many  hours  of  the 
night  kneeling  on  the  stone  floor  in  front  of  his  altar, 
yet  had  no  objection  to  Cuthbert  making  himself  as 
comfortable  as  he  could  under  the  circumstances. 

At  the  end  of  the  fourth  day  Cuthbert  asked  him  how 
long  he  had  been  there,  and  how  he  came  to  take  up  his 
abode  in  so  desolate  and  fearsome  a  place.  The  hermit; 
was  silent  for  a  time,  and  then  said: 

"It  is  long  indeed  since  my  thoughts  have  gone  back 
to  the  day  when  I  was  of  the  world.  I  know  not  whether 
it  would  not  be  a  sin  to  recall  them;  but  I  will  think  the 
matter  over  to-night,  and  if  it  appears  to  me  that  you 
may  derive  good  from  my  narrative,  I  will  relate  it  to  you 
to-morrow. " 

The  next  day  Cuthbert  did  not  renew  the  request, 
leaving  it  to  the  hermit  to  speak  should  he  think  fit.  It 
was  not  until  the  evening  that  he  alluded  to  the  subject; 
and  then  taking  his  seat  on  a  bank  near  the  edge  of  the 
river,  he  motioned  to  Cuthbert  to  sit  beside  him,  and 
began: 

"My  father  was  a  peer  of  France,  and  I  was  brought 
up  at  the  court.  Although  it  may  seem  strange  to  you, 
looking  upon  this  withered  frame,  sixty-five  years  back  I 
was  as  bold  and  comely  a  knight  as  rode  in  the  train  of 
the  king,  for  I  am  now  past  ninety,  and  for  sixty  years  I 


162  THE  BO  T  KNIGH2. 

have  resided  here.  I  was  a  favorite  of  the  king's,  and 
he  loaded  me  with  wealth  and  honor.  He,  too,  was 
young,  and  I  joined  with  him  in  the  mad  carousals  and 
feastings  of  the  court.  My  father  resided  for  the  most 
part  at  one  of  his  castles  in  the  country,  and  I,  an  only 
son,  was  left  much  to  myself.  I  need  not  tell  you  that 
-!  was  as  wild  and  as  wicked  as  all  ifhose  around  me;  that 
I  thought  little  of  God,  and  feared  neither  Him  nor 
man. 

"It  chanced  that  one  of  the  nobles — I  need  not  men- 
tion his  name — whose  castle  lay  in  the  same  province  as 
that  of  my  father,  had  a  lovely  daughter,  who,  being  an 
only  child,  would  be  his  heiress.  She  was  considered 
one  of  the  best  matches  in  France,  and  reports  of  her  ex- 
ceeding beauty  had  reached  the  court.  Although  my 
allowance  from  my  father,  and  from  the  estates  which 
the  king  had  given  me  personally,  should  have  been 
more  than  enough  for  my  utmost  wants,  gambling  and 
riotous  living  swallowed  up  my  revenue  faster  than  it 
came  in,  and  I  was  constantly  harassed  by  debt. 

"Talking  one  night  at  supper  with  a  number  of  bold 
companions  as  to  the  means  we  should  take  for  restor- 
ing our  wasted  fortunes,  some  said  in  jest  that  the  best 
plan  would  be  for  one  of  us  to  marry  the  beauty  of 
Dauphiny.  I  at  once  said  that  I  would  be  the  man  to  do 
it;  the  idea  was  a  wild  one,  and  a  roar  of  laughter 
greeted  my  words.  Her  father  was  known  to  be  a  stern 
and  rigid  man,  and  it  was  certain  that  he  would  not  con- 
sent to  give  his  daughter  to  a  spendthrift  young  noble 
like  myself.  When  the  laughter  had  subsided  I  repeated 
my  intention  gravely,  and  offered  to  wager  large  sums 
with  all  around  the  table  that  I  would  succeed. 

"On  the  morrow  I  packed  up  a  few  of  my  belongings, 
put  in  my  valise  the  dress  of  a  wandering  troubadour, 
and  taMng  with  me  only  a  trusty  servant,  started  foi 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  16S 

Dauphiny.  It  would  be  tedious  to  tell  you  the  means  I 
resorted  to  to  obtain  the  affections  of  the  heiress.  I  had 
been  well  instructed  in  music  and  could  play  on  the  lute, 
and  knew  by  heart  large  numbers  of  ballads,  and  could 
myself,  in  case  of  necessity,  string  verses  together  with 
tolerable  ease.  As  a  troubadour  I  arrived  at  the  castle 
gate,  and  craved  permission  to  enter  to  amuse  its  occu- 
pants. Troubadours  then,  as  now,  were  in  high  esteem 
in  the  south,  and  I  was  at  once  made  a  welcome  guest. 

"Days  passed,  and  weeks;  still  I  lingered  at  the  castle, 
my  heart  being  now  as  much  interested  as  my  pride  in 
the  wager  which  I  had  undertaken.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  my  songs,  and  perhaps  my  appearance — for  I  can- 
not be  accused  of  vanity  now  in  saying  nature  had  been 
bountiful  to  me — won  my  way  to  her  heart.  Trouba- 
dours were  licensed  folk,  and  even  in  her  father's  pres- 
ence there  was  naught  unseemly  in  my  singing  songs  of 
love.  While  he  took  them  as  the  mere  compliments  of 
a  troubadour,  the  lady,  1  saw,  read  them  as  serious 
effusions  of  my  heart. 

"It  was  only  occasionally  that  we  met  alone;  but  ere 
long  she  confessed  that  she  loved  me.  Without  telling 
her  my  real  name,  I  disclosed  to  her  that  I  was  of  her 
own  rank  and  that  I  had  entered  upon  the  disguise  I 
wore  in  order  to  win  her  love.  She  was  romantic,  and 
was  flattered  by  my  devotion.  I  owned  to  her  that 
hitherto  I  had  been  wild  and  reckless;  and  she  told  me 
at  once  that  her  father  destined  her  for  the  son  of  an  old 
friend  of  his,  to  whom  it  appeared  she  had  been  affianced 
while  still  a  baby.  She  was  positive  that  nothing  would 
move  her  father.  For  the  man  she  was  to  marry  she  en- 
tertained no  kind  of  affection,  and  indeed  had  never  seen 
him,  as  she  had  been  brought  up  in  a  convent  to  the  age 
of  fifteen;  and  just  before  she  had  returned  thence  he 
had  gone  to  finish  his  education  at  Padua. 


164  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

"She  trembled  when  I  proposed  flight;  but  I  assured 
her  that  I  was  certain  of  the  protection  of  the  king,  and 
that  he  would,  I  was  sure,  when  the  marriage  was  once 
celebrated,  use  his  influence  with  her  father  to  obtain  his 
forgiveness. 

"The  preparations  for  her  flight  were  not  long  in  mak- 
ing. I  purchased  a  fleet  horse  in  addition  to  my  own, 
and  ordered  my  servant  to  bring  it  to  a  point  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  castle  gate.  I  had  procured  a  long  rope 
with  which  to  lower  her  down  from  her  lattice  to  the 
moat  below,  which  was  at  present  dry,  intending  myself 
to  slide  after  her.  The  night  chosen  was  one  when  I 
knew  that  the  count  was  to  have  guests,  and  I  thought 
that  they  would  probably,  as  is  the  custom,  drink 
heavily,  and  that  there  would  be  less  fear  of  any  watch 
being  kept. 

"The  guests  arrived  just  at  nightfall.  I  had  feigned 
illness,  and  kept  my  room.  From  time  to  time  I  heard 
through  the  windows  of  the  banqueting  hall  bursts  of 
laughter.  These  gradually  ceased;  and  at  last  when  all 
was  still  I,  after  waiting  some  time,  stole  from  my  room 
with  a  rope  in  my  hand  to  the  apartment  occupied  by 
her.  A  slight  tap  at  the  door,  as  arranged,  was  at  once 
answered,  and  I  found  her  ready  cloaked  and  prepared 
for  the  enterprise.  She  trembled  from  head  to  foot,  but 
I.  cheered  her  to  the  best  of  my  power,  and  at  last  she 
was  in  readiness  to  be  lowered.  The  window  was  at  a 
considerable  height  from  the  ground;  but  the  rope  \?as  a 
long  one,  and  I  had  no  fear  of  its  reaching  the  bottom. 
Fastening  it  round  her  waist,  I  began  to  lower  her  from 
the  window. 

"The  night  was  a  windy  one,  and  she  swung  backward 
and  forward  as  she  went  down.  By  what  chance  it  was 
I  know  not — for  I  had  examined  the  rope  and  found  it 
secure — but  methinks  in  swaying  backward  and  forward 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  165 

it  may  have  caught  a  sharp  stone,  maybe  it  was  a  pun- 
ishment from  Heaven  upon  me  for  robbing  a  father  of 
his  child — but  suddenly  I  felt  there  was  no  longer  a 
weight  on  my  arras.  A  fearful  shriek  rang  through  the 
air,  and,  looking  out,  I  saw  far  below  a  white  figure 
stretched  senseless  in  the  mud! 

"For  a  minute  I  stood  paralyzed.  But  the  cry  had 
aroused  others,  and,  turning  round,  I  saw  a  man  at  the 
door  with  a  drawn  sword.  Wild  with  grief  and  despair, 
and  thinking,  not  of  making  my  escape,  or  of  concealing 
my  part  in  what  had  happened,  but  rushing  without  an 
instant's  delay  to  the  body  of  her  I  loved  so  well,  I  drew 
my  sword,  and  like  a  madman  rushed  upon  him  who 
barred  the  door.  The  combat  was  brief  but  furious,  and 
nerved  by  the  madness  of  despair  I  broke  down  his  guard 
and  ran  him  through  the  body.  As  he  fell  back,  his 
face  came  in  the  full  light  of  the  moon,  which  streamed 
through  the  open  door  of  the  passage,  and  to  my  utter 
horror  and  bewilderment  I  saw  that  I  had  slain  my 
father. 

"What  happened  after  that  night  I  know  not.  I  be- 
lieve that  I  made  my  escape  from  the  castle  and  rushed 
round  to  the  body  of  her  whose  life  I  had  destroyed,  and 
that  there  finding  her  dead,  I  ran  wildly  across  the  coun- 
try. When  I  canie  to  my  senses  months  had  passed,  and 
I  was  the  inmate  of  an  asylum  for  men  bereaved  of  their 
senses,  kept  by  noble  monks.  Here  for  two  years  I  re- 
mained, the  world  believing  that  I  was  dead.  None 
knew  that  the  troubadour  whose  love  had  cost  the  lady 
her  life,  who  had  slain  the  guest  of  her  father,  and  had 
then  disappeared,  was  the  unhappy  son  of  that  guest.  My 
friends  in  Paris  when  they  heard  of  the  tragedy  of  course 
associated  it  with  me,  but  they  all  kept  silent.  The 
monks,  to  whom  I  confessed  the  whole  story,  were 
shocked  indeed,  but  consoled  me  in  my  grief  and  despair 


166  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

by  the  assurance  that  however  greatly  I  had  sinned,  the 
death  of  the  lady  had  been  accidental,  and  that  if  I  were 
a  parricide  it  was  at  least  unintentionally. 

"My  repentance  was  deep  and  sincere;  and  after 
awhile,  under  another  name,  I  joined  the  army  of  the 
Crusaders,  to  expiate  my  sin  by  warring  for  the  holy 
sepulcher.  I  fought  as  men  fight  who  have  no  wish  to 
live;  but  while  all  around  me  fell  by  sword  and  disease, 
death  kept  aloof  from  me.  When  the  Crusade  had  failed 
I  determined  to  turn  forever  from  the  world,  and  to 
devote  my  life  to  prayer  and  penance;  and  so  casting 
aside  my  armor  I  made  my  way  here,  and  took  up  my 
abode  in  a  cave  in  this  valley,  where  at  that  time  wen* 
many  thousands  of  other  hermits — for  the  Saracens, 
while  they  gained  much  money  from  fines  and  exactions 
from  pilgrims  who  came  to  Jerusalem,  and  fought  stoutly 
against  those  who  sought  to  capture  that  city,  were  in 
the  main  tolerant,  and  offered  no  hindrance  to  the  com- 
munity of  men  whom  they  looked  upon  as  mad. 

"Here,  my  son,  for  more  than  sixty  years  have  I 
prayed,  with  much  fasting  and  penance.  I  trust  now 
that  the  end  is  nearly  at  hand,  and  that  jny  long  life  of 
mortification  may  be  deemed  to  have  obliterated  the  evil 
deeds  which  I  did  in  my  youth.  Let  my  fate  be  a  warn- 
ing to  you.  Walk  steadily  in  the  right  way;  indulge  not 
in  feasting  and  evil  companionship;  and  above  all,  do 
not  enter  upon  evil  deeds,  the  end  of  which  no  man  can 
see." 

The  hermit  was  silent,  and  Cuthbert,  seeing  thav,  Ms 
thoughts  had  again  referred  to  the  past,  wandered  away, 
and  left  him  sitting  by  the  river  side.  Some  hours  later 
he  returned  and  found  the  hermit  kneeling  before  the 
altar;  and  the  next  morning  the  latter  said: 

"I  presume,  my  son,  you  do  not  wish  to  remain  here 
as  a  hermit,  as  I  have  done?  Methinks  it  were  well  that 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  167 

we  made  our  arrangements  for  your  return  to  the  Chris- 
tian host,  who  will,  I  hope,  ere  long  be  at  the  gates  of 
Jerusalem." 

"I  should  like  nothing  better,"  Cuthbert  said.  "But 
ignorant  as  I  am  of  the  nature  of  the  country,  it  seems  to 
be  nigh  impossible  to  penetrate  through  the  hosts  of  the 
Saracens  to  reach  the  camp  of  King  Richard." 

"The  matter  is  difficult  and  not  without  danger,"  the 
hermit  said.  "As  to  the  nature  of  the  country,  I  myself 
know  but  little,  for  my  dealings  with  the  natives  have 
been  few  and  simple.  There  are,  however,  several 
Christian  communities  dwelling  among  the  heathen. 
They  are  poor,  and  are  forced  to  live  in  little-frequented 
localities.  Their  Christianity  may  be  suspected  by  their 
neighbors,  but  as  they  do  no  man  harm,  and  carry  on 
their  worship  in  secret,  they  are  little  interfered  with. 
There  is  one  community  among  the  hills  between  this 
and  Jerusalem,  and  I  can  give  you  instructions  for 
reaching  this,  together  with  a  token  which  will  secure 
you  hospitality  there,  and  they  will  no  doubt  do  their 
best  to  forward  you  to  another  station.  When  you  ap- 
proach the  flat  country  where  the  armies  are  maneuver- 
ing you  must  doubtless  trust  to  yourself;  but  as  far  as 
the  slopes  extend,  methinks  that  our  friends  will  be  able 
to  pass  you  without  great  difficulty." 

Cuthbert's  heart  rose  greatly  at  the  prospect  of  once 
again  entering  upon  an  active  life,  and  the  next  even- 
ing, with  many  thanks  for  his  kindness,  he  knelt  before 
the  aged  hermit  to  receive  his  blessing. 

With  the  instructions  given  him  he  had  no  difficulty 
in  making  his  way  through  the  mountains,  until  after 
some  five  hours'  walk  he  found  himself  at  a  little  village 
situated  in  a  narrow  valley. 

Going  to  the  door  of  the  principal  hut  he  knocked, 
and  upon  entering  showed  the  owner — who  opened  the 


168  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

door— a  rosette  of  peculiar  beads  and  repeated  the  name 
of  Father  Anselm.  The  peasant  at  once  recognized  it 
and  bade  Cuthbert  welcome.  He  knew  but  a  few  words 
of  French,  although  doubtless  his  ancestors  had  been  of 
European  extraction.  In  the  morning  he  furnished 
Cuthbert  with  the  sheepskin  and  short  tunic  which 
formed  the  dress  of  a  shepherd,  and  dyeing  his  limbs  and 
face  a  deep  brown  he  himself  started  with  Cuthbert  on 
his  journey  to  the  next  Christian  community. 

This  was  a  small  one  consisting  of  two  huts  only,  built 
almost  on  the  summit  of  a  mountain,  the  inhabitants  liv- 
ing partly  on  the  milk  and  cheese  of  their  goats  and 
partly  upon  the  scanty  vegetables  which  grew  around  the 
huts. 

His  welcome  was  as  cordial  as  that  of  the  night  before; 
and  the  next  morning,  his  former  guide  taking  leave  of 
him,  the  peasant  in  whose  house  he  had  slept  again  con- 
ducted him  forward  to  another  community.  This  was 
the  last  station  and  stood  in  a  narrow  gorge  on  the  face 
of  the  hills  looking  down  over  the  plain,  beyond  which  in 
the  far  distance  a  faint  line  of  blue  sea  was  visible. 

This  community  was  far  more  prosperous  and  well-to- 
do  than  those  at  which  the  previous  nights  had  been 
passed.  The  head  of  the  village  appeared  to  be  a  per- 
sonage of  some  importance;  and  although  clinging  in 
secret  to  his  Christian  faith,  he  and  his  belongings  had  so 
far  adopted  the  usages  of  the  Mussulmen  that  apparently 
no  thought  of  their  Christianity  entered  into  the  minds 
of  the  authorities.  He  was  the  owner  of  two  or  three 
horses  and  of  some  extensive  vineyards  and  olive 
grounds.  He  was  also  able  to  speak  French  with  some 
degree  of  fluency. 

At  considerable  length  he  explained  to  Cuthbert  the 
exact  position  of  the  Christian  army,  which  had  moved 
some  distance  along  the  coast  since  Cuthbert  had  left  it. 


THE  BO  7  KNIGHT.  169 

It  was,  he  said,  exposed  to  constant  attacks  by  the  Sar- 
acens, who  harassed  it  in  every  way,  and  permitted  it  no 
repose.  He  said  that  the  high  hopes  which  had  been 
raised  by  the  defeat  of  the  Saracens  at  Azotus  had  now 
fallen,  and  that  it  was  feared  the  Christians  would  not 
be  able  to  force  their  way  forward  to  Jerusalem.  The 
great  portion  of  their  animals  had  died,  and  the  country 
was  so  eaten  up  by  the  Saracen  hosts  that  an  advance 
upon  Jerusalem  without  a  large  baggage  train  was  next 
to  impossible;  and  indeed  if  the  Christians  were  to 
arrive  before  that  city,  they  could  effect  nothing  without 
the  aid  of  the  heavy  machines  necessary  for  battering 
the  walls  or  effecting  an  escalade. 

Cuthbert  was  vastly  grieved  when  he  heard  of  the 
probable  failure  of  the  expedition,  and  he  burned  with 
eagerness  to  take  his  part  again  in  the  dangers  and  diffi- 
culties which  beset  the  Christian  army.  His  host 
pointed  out  to  him  the  extreme  difficulty  and  danger  of 
his  crossing  the  enemy's  lines,  but  at  the  same  time 
offered  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  assist  him.  After  two 
days'  stay  at  the  village,  and  discussing  the  pros  and 
cons  of  all  possible  plans,  it  was  decided  that  the  best 
chance  lay  in  a  bold  effort.  The  host  placed  at  his  dis- 
posal one  of  his  horses,  together  with  such  clothes  as 
would  enable  him  to  ride  as  an  Arab  chief  of  rank  and 
station;  a  long  lance  was  furnished  -him,  a  short  and 
heavy  mace,  and  scimiter;  a  bag  of  dates  was  hung  at  the 
saddlebow;  and  with  the  sincerest  thanks  to  his  protec- 
tor, and  with  a  promise  that  should  the  Christian  host 
win  their  way  to  Jerusalem  the  steed  should  be  returned 
with  ample  payment,  Cuthbert  started  on  his  journey. 


170  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A   FIGHT  OF  HEROES. 

THE  horse  was  a  good  and  spirited  one,  and  when  he 
had  once  descended  to  the  plains,  Cuthbert  rode  gayly 
along,  exulting  in  his  freedom,  and  in  once  again  pos- 
sessing arms  to  defend  himself  should  it  be  needed.  His 
appearance  was  so  exactly  that  of  the  horsemen  who  were 
continually  passing  and  repassing  that  no  observation 
whatever  was  attracted  by  it.  Through  villages,  and 
even  'through  camps,  Cuthbert  rode  fearlessly,  and  ar- 
rived, without  having  once  been  accosted,  near  the  main 
camp  of  the  Saracens,  which  extended  for  miles  parallel 
to  the  sea.  But  at  a  distance  of  some  three  leages 
beyond  could  be  seen  the  white  tents  of  the  Christian 
host,  and  Cuthbert  felt  that  the  time  of  trial  was  now  at 
hand. 

He  dismounted  for  an  hour  to  allow  his  steed  to  rest 
itself,  fed  it  with  dates  from  his  wallet,  and  gave  it  a 
drink  of  water  at  the  stream.  Then,  when  he  felt  that  it 
had  thoroughly  recovered  its  strength  and  freshness,  he 
remounted,  and  rode  briskly  on  as  before.  He  passed  un- 
challenged, attracting  no  more  notice  than  a  person  nowa- 
days would  do  in  walking  along  a  crowded  street.  Without 
hesitation  he  passed  through  the  tents  and  started  across 
the  open  country.  Bands  of  horsemen  were  seen  here 
and  there,  some  going,  and  some  coming  from  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Christian  camp.  As  it  was  doubtless  supposed 
that  he  was  on  his  way  to  join  some  band  that  had  gone 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  171 

on  in  advance,  the  passage  of  the  solitary  horseman  ex- 
cited no  comment  until  he  approached  within  about  two 
miles  of  the  Christian  camp.  There  were  now,  so  far  as 
he  could  see,  no  enemies  between  him  and  the  point  he 
so  longed  to  gain.  But  at  this  minute  a  group  of  Arab 
horsemen,  gathered,  apparently  on  the  lookout  against 
any  movement  of  the  Christians,  shouted  to  him  "Halt!" 
demanding  whither  he  was  going. 

Up  to  this  point  Cuthbert  had  ridden  at  a  gentle 
canter;  but  at  the  challenge  he  put  spurs  into  his  steed 
and  made  across  the  plain  at  full  speed.  With  a  wild 
yell  the  Arabs  started  in  pursuit.  They  lay  at  first  some 
two  hundred  yards  on  his  right,  and  he  had  therefore  a 
considerable  start  of  them.  His  horse  was  fairly  fresh, 
for  the  journey  that  he  had  made  had  only  been  about 
fifteen  miles— an  inconsiderable  distance  to  an  Arab 
steed.  For  half  a  mile  he  did  not  think  that  his  pur- 
suers gained  much  upon  him,  riding  as  they  had  done 
sideways.  They  had  now  gathered  in  his  rear,  and  the 
nearest  was  some  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  behind 
him.  A  quarter  of  a  mile  further  he  again  looked 
around,  and  found  that  two  of  the  Arabs,  far  better 
mounted  than  the  others,  had  come  within  half  the  dis- 
tance which  separated  them  from  him  when  he  last 
glanced  back.  His  horse  was  straining  to  the  utmost, 
and  he  felt  that  it  could  do  no  more;  he  therefore  pre- 
pared himself  for  a  desperate  fight  should  his  pursuers 
•vertake  him.  In  another  quarter  of  a  mile  they  were 
but  a  short  distance  behind,  and  an  arrow  whizzing  by 
Cuthbert's  ear  told  him  they  had  betaken  themselves  to 
their  bows. 

Half  a  mile  ahead  he  saw  riding  toward  him  a  group  of 
Christian  knights;  but  he  felt  that  it  was  too  late  for 
him  to  hope  to  reach  them,  and  that  his  only  chance  notf 
was  to  boldly  encounter  his  pursuers.  The  main  body  01 


172  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

the  Arabs  was  fully  two  hundred  yards  behind — a  short 
distance  when  going  at  a  gallop — which  left  him  but 
little  time  to  shake  off  the  pursuit  of  the  two  immedi- 
ately behind  him. 

A  sharp  stinging  pain  in  his  leg  told  him  that  it  was 
time  to  make  his  effort;  and  checking  his  horse,  he  wheeled 
suddenly  round.  The  two  Arabs  with  a  yell  rode  at  him 
with  pointed  lance.  With  his  right  hand  Cuthbert 
grasped  the  short  heavy  mace  which  hung  at  his  saddle- 
bow, and  being  well  practiced  in  the  hurling  of  this 
weapon — which  formed  part  of  the  education  of  a  good 
knight — he  cast  it  with  all  his  force  at  the  chest  of  the 
Arab  approaching  on  that  side.  The  point  of  the  spear 
was  within  a  few  yards  of  his  breast  as  he  flung  the 
mace;  but  his  aim  was  true,  for  it  smote  the  Saracen  full 
on  the  chest,  and  hurled  him  from  his  horse  as  if 
struck  with  a  thunderbolt.  At  the  same  instant  Cuth- 
bert threw  himself  flat  on  the  neck  of  his  steed  and  the 
lance  of  the  Arab  who  came  up  on  the  other  side  passed 
harmlessly  between  his  shoulders,  tearing  his  clothes  as  it 
went.  In  an  instant  Cuthbert  had  wheeled  .his  horse, 
and  before  the  Arab  could  turn  his  steed  Cuthbert, 
coming  up  from  behind,  had  run  him  through  the  body. 

Short  as  the  delay  had  been,  the  main  body  of  the  pur- 
suers were  scarcely  fifty  yards  away;  but  Cuthbert  now 
continued  his  flight  toward  the  knights,  who  were  gal- 
loping forward  at  full  speed;  and  a  moment  afterward 
glancing  back,  he  saw  that  his  pursuers  had  turned  arid 
were  in  full  flight. 

With  a  shout  of  joy  he  rode  forward  to  the  party  who 
had  viewed  with  astonishment  this  conflict  between  what 
appeared  to  be  three  of  the  infidels.  Even  louder  than 
his  first  shout  of  exultation  was  the  cry  of  joy  which  he 
raised  at  seeing  among  the  party  to  whom  he  rode  up 
the  Earl  of  Evesham,  who  reined  in  his  horse  in  aston- 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  173 

ishnaent,  and  drew  his  sword  as  the  supposed  enemy 
galloped  toward  him. 

"My  lord,  my  lord!"  Cuthbert  said.  "Thank  Heaven 
I  am  safe  with  you  agr.in." 

The  earl  lowered  his  sword  in  astonishment. 

"Am  I  mad/'  he  said,  "or  dreaming,  or  is  this  really 
Sir  Cuthbert?" 

"It  is  I,  sure  enough,"  Cuthbert  exclaimed, "although 
truly  I  look  more  like  a  Bedouin  soldier  than  a  Christian 
knight." 

"My  dear  boy!"  exclaimed  the  earl,  galloping  forward 
and  throwing  his  arms  around  Cuthbert's  neck,  "we 
thought  you  were  dead.  But  by  what  wonderful  fortune 
have  you  succeeded  in  escaping?" 

In  a  few  words  Cuthbert  related  the  principal  inci- 
dents of  his  adventures,  and  he  was  heartily  congratu- 
lated by  the  assembled  knights. 

There  was,  however,  no  time  for  long  explanations. 
Large  bodies  of  the  Saracen  horse  were  already  sweeping 
down  to  capture,  if  possible,  this  small  band  of  knights 
who  had  ventured  so  far  from  the  camp;  and  as  King 
Kichard's  orders  were  that  none  should  venture  upon 
conflicts  except  by  his  orders,  the  party  reluctantly 
turned  their  horses  and  galloped  back  to  the  camp. 

Great  as  had  been  the  earl's  joy,  it  was,  if  possible, 
exceeded  by  that  of  Cnut  on  discovering  in  the  Arab  chief 
who  rode  up  alongside  the  earl  the  lad  he  loved  so  well. 
Loud  and  hearty  were  the  cheers  which  rang  out  from 
the  earl's  camp  as  the  news  spread,  and  Outhbert  was 
compelled  to  shake  hands  with  the  whole  party  before 
entering  the  earl's  tent,  to  refresh  himself  and  give  the 
narrative  of  what  had  happened. 

Cuthbert,  retiring  to  his  tent  with  the  Earl  of  Eves- 
ham,  inquired  of  him  what  had  taken  place  during  hig 
absence. 


174  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

"For/'  he  said,  "although  but  a  short  three  days' 
march  from  here,  I  have  been  as  one  of  the  dead,  and 
have  heard  nothing  whatever  of  what  has  taken  place." 

"Nothing  could  have  gone  worse/'  the  earl  said.  "We 
have  had  nothing  but  dissensions  and  quarrels.  First, 
the  king  fell  out  with  the  Archduke  of  Austria." 

"On  what  ground  did  this  happen?"  Cuthbert  asked. 

"For  once,"  the  earl  said,  "the  king  our  master  was 
wholly  in  the  wrong,  which  is  not  generally  the  case. 
We  had  just  taken  Ascalon,  and  were  hard  at  work  forti- 
fying the  place.  King  Kichard  with  his  usual  zeal,  in 
order  to  encourage  the  army,  seized  heavy  stones  and 
himself  bore  them  into  their  place.  The  archduke  stood 
near  with  some  of  his  knights:  and  it  may  be  that  the 
haughty  Austrian  looked  somewhat  superciliously  at  our 
king  thus  laboring. 

"  'Why  do  you  not  make  a  show  of  helping?'  King 
Kichard  said,  going  up  to  him.  'It  would  encourage  the 
men,  and  show  that  the  labor  upon  which  we  are  engaged 
can  be  undertaken  by  all  without  derogation.' 

"To  this  the  archduke  replied: 

"  'I  am  not  the  son  of  a  mason!' 

"Whereupon  Richard,  whose  blood  no  doubt  had  been 
excited  by  the  air  of  the  Austrian,  struck  him  with  his 
hand  a  fierce  blow  across  the  face.  We  nearly  betook 
ourselves  to  our  swords  on  both  sides;  but  King  Richard 
himself  could  have  scattered  half  the  Austrians,  and 
these,  knowing  that  against  his  impetuous  valor  they 
could  do  nothing,  simply  withdrew  from  our  camp,  and 
sailed  the  next  day  for  home.  Then  the  king,  in  order 
to  conciliate  some  at  least  of  his  allies,  conferred  the 
crown  of  Jerusalem  upon  Conrad  of  Montferrat.  No 
sooner  had  he  done  this  than  Conrad  was  mysteriously 
wounded.  By  whom  it  was  done  none  knew.  Some  say 
that  it  was  by  emissaries  of  the  Old  Man  of  the  Moun- 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  175 

tain.  Others  affirm  that  it  was  the  jealousy  of  some  of  the 
knights  of  the  holy  orders.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  he 
died.  Some  of  the  French,  ever  jealous  of  the  valor  of 
our  king,  ascribed  it  to  his  orders.  This  monstrous 
accusation  coming  to  the  ears  of  King  Eichard,  he  had 
hot  words  with  the  Duke  of  Burgundy.  In  this  I  blame 
him  not,  for  it  is  beyond  all  reason  that  a  man  like  the 
king,  whose  faults,  such  as  they  are,  arise  from  too  much 
openness,  and  from  the  want  of  concealment  of  such 
dislikes  as  he  may  have,  should  resort  to  poison  to  free 
himself  of  a  man  whom  he  himself  had  but  a  day  or  two 
before  appointed  King  of  Jerusalem.  However  it  be, 
the  consequences  were  most  unfortunate,  for  the  result 
of  the  quarrel  was  that  the  Duke  of  Burgundy  and  his 
Frenchmen  followed  the  example  of  the  Austrians,  and 
we  were  left  alone.  Before  this  we  had  marched  upon 
Jerusalem.  But  the  weather  had  been  so  bad,  and  our 
train  was  so  insufficient  to  carry  the  engines  of  war,  that 
we  had  been  forced  to  fall  back  again.  King  Richard 
again  advanced,  and  with  much  toil  we  went  as  far  as  the 
village  of  Bethany." 

"Why,"  Outhbert  exclaimed,  "I  passed  through  that 
village,  and  it  is  but  three  miles  from  the  holy  city." 

"That  is  so,"  the  earl  said;  "and  many  of  us,  ascend- 
ing the  hill  in  front,  saw  Jerusalem.  But  even  then  it 
was  certain  that  we  must  again  retrace  our  steps;  and 
when  we  asked  King  Richard  to  come  to  the  crest  of  the 
hill  to  see  the  holy  city,  he  refused  to  do  so,  saying, 
'No;  those  who  are  not  worthy  of  conquering  Jerusalem 
should  not  look  at  it!'  This  was  but  a  short  time  since, 
and  we  are  now  retracing  our  steps  to  Acre,  and  are 
treating  with  Saladin  for  a  peace." 

"Then,"  Cuthbert  said  sadly,  "all  our  hopes  and 
efforts  are  thrown  away;  all  this  blood  has  been  shed 
for  nothing;  and  after  the  three  great  powers  of  Europe 


176  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

have  engaged  themselves  solemnly  in  the  war,  we  are 
baffled,  and  have  to  fall  back  before  the  hordes  of  the 
infidels." 

"Partly  before  them,"  the  earl  said,  "partly  as  the 
result  of  our  own  jealousies  and  passions.  Had  King 
Eichard  been  a  lesser  man  than  he  is,  we  might  have 
conquered  Jerusalem.  But  he  is  so  extraordinary  a  war- 
rior that  his  glory  throws  all  others  into  the  shade.  He 
is  a  good  general,  perhaps  the  best  in  Europe;  and  had 
he  done  nothing  but  lead,  assuredly  we  should  have  car- 
ried out  our  purpose.  See  how  ably  he  maneuvered  the 
army  at  the  fight  of  Azotus.  Never  was  a  more  com- 
plete defeat  than  that  which  he  inflicted  there  upon  the 
Saracens;  and  although  the  fact  that  his  generalship 
achieved  this,  might  have  caused  some  jealousy  to  the 
other  commanders,  this  might  have  died  away  could  he 
between  the  battles  have  been  a  general,  and  nothing 
more.  But,  alas!  he  is  in  addition  a  knight-errant — and 
such  a  knight-errant  as  Europe  has  never  seen  before. 
Wherever  there  is  danger,  Kichard  will  plunge  into  the 
midst.  There  are  brave  men  in  all  the  three  armies;  but 
the  strongest  and  bravest  are  as  children  to  King  Kich- 
ard. Alone  he  can  dart  into  ranks  of  the  infidels,  and 
cut  a  lane  for  himself  by  the  strength  of  his  right  arm. 
More  than  this,  when  danger  has  threatened  he  has 
snatched  up  his  battle-ax  and  dashed  into  the  fray  with- 
out helm  or  cuirass,  performing  such  prodigies  of  valor 
and  strength  that  it  has  been  to  his  prowess  alone  that 
victory  was  to  be  ascribed.  Hence  he  is  the  idol  of  all 
the  soldiers,  whatever  their  nationality;  for  he  is  as 
ready  to  rush  to  the  rescue  of  a  French  or  Austrian 
knight  when  pressed  as  to  that  of  his  own  men.  But 
the  devotion  which  the  whole  army  felt  for  him  was  as 
gall  and  wormwood  to  the  haughty  Austrian  and  the 
indolent  Frenchman;  and  the  retirement  of  the  King  of 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  177 

France,  which  left  Kichard  in  supreme  command,  was  in 
every  way  unfortunate." 

Upon  the  following  day  the  army  again  marched,  and 
Cuthbert  could  not  but  notice  the  difference,  not  only  in 
number  but  in  demeanor,  from  the  splendid  array  which 
had  left  Acre  a  few  months  before.  There  was  little 
now  of  the  glory  of  pennon  and  banner;  the  bright  helms 
and  cuirasses  were  rusted  and  dinted,  and  none  seemed 
to  care  aught  for  bravery  of  show.  The  knights  and 
men-at-arms  were  sunburnt  and  thin,  and  seemed  but 
half  the  weight  that  they  had  been  when  they  landed. 
Fatigue,  hardship,  and  the  heat  had  done  their  work; 
disease  had  swept  off  vast  numbers.  But  the  remains  of 
the  army  were  so  formidable  in  their  fighting  powers 
that  the  Saracens,  although  following  them  at  a  distance 
in  vast  numbers,  did  not  venture  an  attack  upon  them. 

A  few  days  after  their  arrival  at  Acre,  the  king  gave 
orders  for  the  embarkation  of  the  troops.  Just  as  they 
were  preparing  to  enter  the  ships  a  small  vessel  was  seen 
entering  the  harbor.  It  drew  up  to  the  shore,  and  a 
knight  leaped  from  it,  and,  inquiring  where  King  Rich- 
ard was  to  be  found,  made  his  way  to  the  king,  who  was 
standing  superintending  the  embarkation  of  some  of  the 
horses. 

"The  Saracens,  sire!"  he  exclaimed.  "The  Saracens 
are  besieging  Jaffa,  and  the  place  must  bo  lost  unless 
assistance  arrives  in  a  day  or  two." 

The  king  leaped  on  board  the  nearest  ship,  shouted  to 
his  leading  officers  to  follow  him,  and  gave  orders  to 
others  to  bring  down  the  troops  with  all  possible  speed,  to 
waste  not  a  moment,  and  to  see  that  all  was  done,  and 
then,  in  five  minutes  after  the  receipt  of  the  news  he 
started  for  Jaffa.  The  Earl  of  Evesham  and  Cuthbert 
had  been  standing  near  the  king  when  the  order  was 
given,  and  followed  him  at  once  on  board  the  bark  which 
he  had  chosen. 


178  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

"Ah,  my  gallant  young  knight,"  the  king  exclaimed, 
"I  am  right  glad  to  see  you  with  me.  We  shall  have 
more  fighting  hefore  we  have  done,  and  I  know  that  that 
suits  your  mood  as  well  as  my  own." 

The  king's  vessel  was  far  in  advance  of  any  of  the 
others,  when  early  the  following  morning  it  arrived  at 
Jaffa. 

"Your  eyes  are  better  than  mine,"  the  king  said  to 
Cuthbert.  "Tell  me  what  is  that  flag  flying  on  the  top 
of  the  town." 

Cuthbert  looked  at  it  earnestly. 

"I  fear,  sire,  that  it  is  the  crescent.  We  have  arrived 
too  late." 

"By  the  holy  cross,"  said  King  Richard,  "that  shall 
not  be  so;  for  if  the  place  be  taken,  we  will  retake  it." 

As  the  vessel  neared  the  shore  a  monk  ran  out  into 
the  water  up  to  his  shoulders,  and  said  to  the  king  that 
the  citadel  still  held  out,  and  that  even  now  the  Sara- 
cens might  be  driven  back.  Without  delay  the  king 
leaped  into  the  water,  followed  by  the  knights  and  men- 
at-arms,  and  entering  the  gate,  threw  himself  upon  the 
infidels  within,  who,  busy  plundering,  had  not  noticed 
the  arrival  of  the  ship. 

The  war  cry  of  "St.  George!  St.  George!"  which  the 
king  always  shouted  in  battle,  struck  panic  among  the 
infidels;  and  although  the  king  was  followed  but  by  five 
knights  and  a  few  men-at-arms,  the  Saracens,  to  the 
number  of  three  thousand,  fled  before  him,  and  all  who 
tarried  were  smitten  down.  The  king  followed  them  out 
upon  the  plain,  driving  them  before  him  as  a  lion  would 
drive  a  flock  of  sheep,  and  then  returned  triumphant 
into  the  city, 

The  next  day,  some  more  ships  having  arrived,  King 
Richard  found  that  in  all,  including  the  garrison,  he 
could  muster  two  thousand  combatants.  The  enemy 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  179 

renewed  the  attack  in  great  numbers,  and  the  assaults 
upon  the  walls  were  continuous  and  desperate.  King 
Richard,  who  loved  fighting  in  the  plain  rather  than 
behind  walls,  was  impatient  at  this,  and  at  one  time  so 
fierce  was  the  attack  that  he  resolved  to  sally  out.  Only 
ten  horses  remained  in  the  town,  and  King  Richard, 
mounting  one,  called  upon  nine  of  the  knights  to  mount 
and  sally  out  with  him.  The  little  band  of  ten  warriors 
charged  down  upon  the  host  of  the  Saracens  and  swept 
them  before  them.  It  was  a  marvelous  sight  indeed  to 
see  so  small  a  group  of  horsemen  dashing  through  a 
crowd  of  Saracen  warriors.  These,  although  at  first 
beaten  back,  yet  rallied,  and  the  ten  knights  had  great 
difficulty  in  fighting  their  way  back  to  the  town.  When 
near  the  walls  the  Christians  again  made  a  gtand,  and  a 
few  knights  sallied  out  from  the  town  on  foot  and  joined 
them.  Among  these  was  Cuthbert,  the  Earl  of  Evesham 
having  accompanied  King  Richard  in  his  charge.  In  all, 
seventeen  knights  were  now  rallied  round  the  king.  So 
fierce  was  the  charge  of  the  Saracens  that  the  king 
ordered  those  on  horseback  to  dismount,  and  with  their 
horses  in  the  center,  the  little  body  knelt  with  their 
lances  opposed  to  the  Saracens.  Again  and  again  the 
wild  cavalry  swept  down  upon  this  little  force,  but  in 
vain  did  they  attempt  to  break  their  ranks.  The  scene 
was  indeed  an  extraordinary  one.  At  last  the  king,  see- 
ing that  the  enemy  were  losing  heart,  again  ordered  the 
knights  to  mount,  and  these  dashing  among  the  enemy, 
completed  their  defeat. 

While  this  had  been  going  on  news  came  to  the  king 
that  the  Saracens  from  another  side  had  made  their  way 
into  Jaffa,  and  were  massacring  the  Christians.  Without 
an  instant's  delay  he  flew  to  their  succor,  followed  only 
by  two  knights  and  a  few  archers,  the  rest  being  so  worn 
by  their  exertions  as  to  be  unable  to  move.  The  Mam- 


180  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

elukes,  the  chosen  guard  of  Saladin,  had  headed  the 
attack;  but  even  these  were  driven  out  from  the  town. 
and  Richard  dashed  out  from  the  city  in  their  pursuit. 
One  Saracen  emir,  distinguished  for  his  stature  and 
strength,  ventured  to  match  himself  against  the  king, 
and  rode  holdly  at  him.  But  with  one  blow  Bichard 
severed  his  head,  and  his  right  shoulder  and  arm,  from 
his  body.  Then  having,  by  his  single  arm,  put  to  rout 
the  Saracens  at  this  point,  he  dashed  through  them  to 
the  aid  of  the  little  band  of  knights  who  had  remained 
on  the  defensive  when  he  left  them  at  the  alarm  of  the 
city  being  entered.  These  were  almost  sinking  with 
fatigue  and  wounds;  but  King  Richard  opened  a  way 
around  them  by  slaying  numbers  of  the  enemy,  and  then 
charged  again  alone  into  the  midst  of  the  Mussulman 
host,  and  was  lost  to  the  sight  of  his  companions.  All 
thought  that  they  would  never  see  him  again.  But 
he  soon  reappeared,  his  horse  covered  with  blood,  but 
himself  unwounded;  and  the  attack  of  the  enemy 
ceased. 

From  the  hour  of  daybreak,  it  is  said,  Richard  had  not 
ceased  for  a  moment  to  deal  out  his  blows,  and  the  skin 
of  his  hand  adhered  to  the  handle  of  his  battle-ax. 
This  narration  would  appear  almost  fabulous,  were  it 
not  that  it  is  attested  in  the  chronicles  of  several  eye- 
witnesses, and  for  centuries  afterward  the  Saracen 
women  hushed  their  babes  when  fractious  by  threatening 
them  with  Malek-Rik,  the  name  which  they  gave  to  King 
Richard. 

Glorious  as  was  the  success,  it  was  a  sad  one,  for  sev- 
eral of  the  most  devoted  of  the  followers  of  King  Richard 
were  wounded  badly,  some  few  to  death.  Among  these 
last,  to  the  terrible  grief  of  Cuthbert,  was  his  friend  and 
patron,  the  Earl  of  Evesham.  The  king,  on  taking  off 
his  armor,  hurried  to  his  tent. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  181 

"The  glory  of  this  day  is  marred  indeed/'  he  said  to 
the  wounded  knight,  "if  I  am  to  lose  you,  Sir  Walter/' 

"I  fear  that  it  must  even  be  so,  my  lord/'  the  dying 
earl  said.  "I  am  glad  that  I  have  seen  this  day,  for 
never  did  I  think  to  witness  such  feats  as  those  which 
your  majesty  has  performed;  and  though  the  Crusade 
has  iailed,  and  the  holy  city  remains  in  the  hands  of  the 
infidel,  yet  assuredly  no  shadow  of  disgrace  has  fallen 
upon  the  English  arms,  and,  indeed,  great  glory  has 
accrued  to  us.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  Great 
Crusade,  it  will  at  least  be  allowed  by  all  men,  and  for 
all  time,  that  had  ihe  princes  and  soldiers  of  other 
nations  done  as  your  majesty  and  your  followers  have 
done,  the  holy  city  would  have  fallen  into  our  hands 
within  a  month  of  our  putting  foot  upon  the  soil.  Your 
majesty,  I  have  a  boon  to  ask." 

"You  have  but  to  name  it,  Sir  Walter,  and  it  is  yours. " 

"Sir  Cuthbert,  here,"  he  said,  pointing  to  the  young 
knight,  who  was  sorrowfully  kneeling  by  his  bedside,  "is 
as  a  son  to  me.  The  relationship  by  blood  is  but  slight, 
but  by  affection  it  is  as  close  as  though  he  were  mine 
own.  I  have,  as  your  majesty  knows,  no  male  heirs,  and 
my  daughter  is  but  young,  and  will  now  be  a  royal  ward. 
I  beseech  your  majesty  to  bestow  her  in  marriage,  when 
the  time  comes,  upon  Sir  Cuthbert.  They  have  known 
each  other  as  children,  and  the  union  will  bring  happi- 
ness, methinks,  to  both,  as  well  as  strength  and  protec- 
tion to  her;  and  further,  if  it  might  be,  I  would  fain  that 
you  should  bestow  upon  him  my  title  and  dignity." 

"It  shall  be  so,"  the  king  said.  "When  your  eyes  are 
closed,  Sir  Walter,  Sir  Cuthbert  shall  be  Earl  of  Eves- 
ham,  and,  when  the  time  comes,  the  husband  of  your 
daughter." 

Cuthbert  was  too  overwhelmed  with  grief  to  feel  a 
shadow  of  exaltation  at  the  gracious  intimation  of  the 


182 


THE  BO  7  KNIGHT. 


king;  although,  even  then,  a  thought  of  future  happi- 
ness  in  the  care  of  the  fair  young  lady  Marguerite  passed 
before  his  mind.  For  the  last  time  the  king  gave  his 
hand  to  his  faithful  servant,  who  pressed  it  to  his  lips, 
and  a  few  minutes  afterward  breathed  his  last. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  183 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

AN  ALPINE  STORM. 

THE  tremendous  exertions  which  King  Richard  had 
made  told  upon  him,  and  attacks  of  fever  succeeded  each 
other  at  short  intervals.  This,  however,  mattered  the 
less,  since  negotiations  were  now  proceeding  between 
him  and  Saladin.  It  was  impossible,  with  the  slight 
means  at  his  disposal,  for  Richard  further  to  carry  on 
the  Crusade  alone.  Moreover,  pressing  news  had  arrived 
from  his  mother  in  England,  urging  him  to  return,  as 
his  brother  John  was  intriguing  against  him,  and  had 
already  assumed  all  but  the  kingly  title.  Saladin  was 
equally  desirous  of  peace.  His  wild  troops  were,  for  the 
most  part,  eager  to  return  to  their  homes,  and  the 
defeats  which  they  had  suffered,  and  the,  to  them,  miracu- 
lous power  of  King  Richard's  arm,  had  lowered  their 
spirit  and  made  them  eager  to  be  away.  Therefore  he 
consented  without  difficulty  to  the  terms  proposed.  By 
these,  the  Christians  were  to  surrender  Ascalon,  but 
were  to  keep  Jaffa,  Tyre,  and  the  fortresses  along  the 
coast.  All  hostilities  were  to  be  suspended  on  both  sides 
for  the  space  of  three  years,  three  months,  three  weeks, 
three  days,  and  three  hours,  when  Richard  hoped  to 
return  again  and  to  recommence  the  struggle. 

Between  the  sultan  and  King  Richard  a  feeling  ap- 
proaching that  of  friendship  had  sprung  up  during  the 
campaign.  Saladin  was  himself  brave  in  the  extreme, 
and  exposed  his  life  as  fearlessly  as  did  his  Christian 


184  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

rival,  and  the  two  valiant  leaders  recognized  the  great 
qualities  of  each  other.  Several  times  during  the  cam- 
paign when  Richard  had  been  ill,  the  emir  had  sent  him 
presents  of  fruit  and  other  matters,  to  which  Richard 
had  responded  in  the  same  spirit.  An  interview  had 
taken  place  between  them  which  further  cemented  their 
friendship;  and  when  Richard  promised  to  return  again 
at  the  end  of  the  truce  with  a  far  larger  army,  and  to 
accomplish  the  rescue  of  the  holy  city,  the  sultan  smiled, 
and  said  that  it  appeared  that  valor  alone- was  not  suffi- 
cient to  conquer  in  the  Holy  Land,  but  that  if  Jerusalem 
were  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Christians,  it  could  fall 
into  no  worthier  hands  than  those  of  Malek-Rik. 

So,  with  many  mutual  courtesies,  the  great  rivals 
separated,  and  soon  after  King  Richard  and  the  little 
remnant  of  his  army  embarked  on  board  ship,  and  set 
sail  for  England. 

It  was  on  October  11, 1192,  that  Richard  Coeur  deLion 
left  Palestine.  Soon  after  they  started  a  storm  sud- 
denly burst  upon  them,  and  dispersed  them  in  various 
directions.  The  ship  in  which  Queen  Berengaria  was 
carried  arrived  safely  in  Sicily;  but  that  in  which  King 
Richard  was  borne  was  missing,  and  none  of  his  fellow- 
voyagers  knew  what  had  become  of  him.  Sir  Cuthbert 
was  in  the  same  vessel  as  the  king,  and  the  bark  was 
driven  upon  the  Island  of  Corfu.  All  reached  shore  in 
safety,  and  King  Richard  then  hired  three  small  vessels, 
in  which  he  sailed  to  the  port  of  Zara,  whence  he  hoped  to 
reach  the  domains  of  his  nephew,  Otho  of  Saxony,  the 
son  of  his  sister  Matilda.  The  king  had  with  him  now 
but  two  of  his  knights,  Baldwin  of  Bethune,  and  Cuth- 
oert  of  Evesham.  Cnut  was  with  his  feudal  chief— for 
such  Cuthbert  had  now,  by  his  accession  to  the  rank  of 
Earl  of  Evesham,  become — and  three  or  four  English 
archers. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  185 

"I  fear,  my  lords,"  the  king  said  to  his  knights  as  he 
sat  in  a  little  room  in  an  inn  at  Zara,  "that  my  plight  is 
a  bad  one.  I  am  surrounded  by  enemies,  and,  alas!  I 
can  no  longer  mount  my  steed  and  ride  out  as  at  Jaffa  to 
do  battle  with  them.  My  brother,  John  Lackland,  is 
scheming  to  take  my  place  upon  the  throne  of  England. 
Philip  of  France,  whose  mind  is  far  better  at  such  mat- 
ters than  at  setting  armies  in  the  field,  is  in  league  with 
him.  The  Emperor  Henry  has  laid  claim  to  the  throne 
of  Sicily.  Leopold  of  Austria  has  not  forgiven  me  the 
blow  I  struck  him  in  the  face  at  Ascalon,  and  the  friends 
of  Conrad  of  Montferat  are  spreading  far  and  wide  the 
lie  that  I  was  the  instigator  of  his  murder.  Sure  never 
had  a  poor  king  so  many  enemies,  and  few  have  ever  had 
so  small  a  following  as  I  have  now.  What  think  you,  my 
lords?  What  course  would  you  advise  that  I  should 
adopt?  If  I  can  reach  Saxony  doubtless  Otho  will  aid 
me.  But  hence  to  Dresden  is  a  long  journey  indeed.  I 
have  neither  credit  nor  funds  to  hire  a  ship  to  take  us  by 
sea.  Nor  would  such  a  voyage  be  a  safe  one,  when  so 
many  of  my  enemies'  ships  are  on  the  main.  I  must 
needs,  I  think,  go  in  disguise,  for  my  way  lies  wholly 
through  the  country  of  my  enemies." 

"Surely,"  Cuthbert  said,  "no  potentate  could  for  very 
shame  venture  to  detain  your  majesty  on  your  way  from 
the  Holy  Land,  where  you  have  wrought  such  great 
deeds.  Were  I  in  your  place,  I  would  at  once  proclaim 
myself,  mount  my  horse,  have  my  banner  carried  before 
me,  and  ride  openly  on.  You  have,  too,  another  claim, 
namely,  that  of  being  shipwrecked,  and  even  in  war-time 
nations  respect  those  whom  the  force  of  God  has  thrown 
upon  their  shores." 

"I  fear  me,  Sir  Cuthbert,"  Sir  Baldwin  said,  "that 
you  overrate  the  chivalry  of  our  master's  enemies.  Had 
we  been  thrown  on  the  shores  of  France,  Philip  perhaps 


186  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

would  hesitate  to  lay  hands  upon  the  king;  but  these 
petty  German  princelings  have  no  idea  of  the  observ- 
ances of  true  chivalry.  They  are  coarse  aod  brutal  in 
their  ways;  and  though  in  outward  form  following  the 
usage  of  knighthood,  they  have  never  been  penetrated 
with  its  spirit.  If  the  friends  of  Conrad  of  Montferat 
lay  hands  upon  King  Richard  I  fear  that  no  scruples 
will  prevent  them  from  using  their  advantage  to  the 
utmost.  Even  their  emperor  I  would  not  trust.  The 
course  which  you  advise  would  no  doubt  be  in  accordance 
with  the  spirit  of  King  Richard;  but  it  would  be  mad- 
ness for  him  to  judge  other  people's  spirit  by  his  own, 
and  it  would  be  rushing  into  the  lion's  den  to  proclaim 
himself  here.  I  should  recommend,  if  I  might  venture 
to  do  so,  that  his  majesty  should  assume  a  false  name, 
and  that  we  should  travel  in  small  parties  so  as  to  attract 
no  attention,  each  making  his  way  to  Saxony  as  best  he 
may." 

There  was  silence  for  a  minute  or  two,  and  then  the 
king  with  a  sigh  said: 

"I  fear  that  you  are  right,  Sir  Baldwin,  and  that  there 
is  no  chivalry  among  these  swinish  German  lords.  You 
shall  accompany  me.  Not,  Sir  Cuthbert,"  he  observed 
kindly,  noticing  a  look  of  disappointment  upon  the  face  of 
the  young  knight,  "that  I  estimate  your  fidelity  one 
whit  lower  than  that  of  my  brave  friend;  but  he  is  the 
elder  and  the  more  versed  in  European  travel,  and  may 
manage  to  bring  matters  through  better  than  you  would 
do.  You  will  have  dangers  enough  to  encounter  your- 
self, more  even  than  I  shall,  for  your  brave  follower, 
Cnut,  can  speak  no  language  but  his  own,  and  your 
archers  will  be  hard  to  pass  as  any  other  than  what  they 
are.  You  must  be  my  mesenger  to  England,  should  you 
arrive  there  without  me.  Tell  my  mother  and  wife 
where  you  left  me,  and  that,  if  I  do  not  come  home  I 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  187 

have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  one  or  other  of  my  bitter 
foes.  Bid  them  bestir  themselves  to  hold  England  for 
me  against  my  brother  John,  and,  if  needs  be,  to  move 
the  sovereigns  of  Europe  to  free  me  from  the  hands  of 
my  enemies.  Should  a  ransom  be  needed,  I  think  that 
my  people  of  England  will  not  grudge  their  goods  for 
their  king.*' 

The  following  day  the  king  bade  farewell  to  his  faith- 
ful followers,  giving  his  hand  to  kiss,  not  only  to  Sir 
Cuthbert,  but  to  Gnut  and  his  archers. 

"You  have  done  me  brave  service,"  he  said,  "and  I 
trust  may  yet  have  occasion  to  do  it  again.  These  are 
bad  times  when  Richard  of  England  has  naught  where- 
with to  reward  his  friends.  But,"  he  said,  taking  a  gold 
chain  from  his  neck  and  breaking  it  with  his  strong 
fingers  into  five  fragments,  "that  is  for  you,  Cnut,  and 
for  your  four  archers,  in  remembrance  of  King  Richard." 

The  men,  albeit  hardened  by  many  scenes  of  warfare, 
yet  shed  tears  plenteously  at  parting  with  the  king. 

"We  had  better,"  Cuthbert  said  to  them  when  they 
were  alone,  "delay  here  for  a  few  days.  If  we  are  taken, 
the  news  that  some  Englishmen  have  been  captured  mak- 
ing their  way  north  from  Zara  will  spread  rapidly,  and 
may  cause  the  enemies  of  Richard  to  be  on  the  lookout  for 
him,  suspecting  that  the  ship  which  bore  us  may  also 
have  carried  him;  for  the  news  that  he  is  missing  will 
spread  rapidly  through  Europe,  and  will  set  all  his 
enemies  on  the  alert." 

In  accordance  with  this  plan  they  delayed  for  another 
ten  days  at  Zara,  and  then,  hiring  a  small  boat,  were 
landed  some  thirty  miles  further  along  the  coast.  Cuth- 
bert had  obtained  for  Cnut  the  dress  of  a  palmer,  as  in 
this  he  would  pass  almost  unquestioned,  and  his  silence 
might  be  accounted  for  on  the  ground  that  he  had  taken 
a  vow  of  silence.  He  himself  had  placed  on  his  coat  and 


188  THE  BO  r  KNIGHT. 

armor  a  tea  cross,  instead  of  the  white  cross  borne  by 
the  English  knights,  and  would  now  pass  as  a  French 
knight.  Similar  changes  were  made  in  the  dress  of  his 
followers,  and  he  determined  to  pass  as  a  French  noble 
who  had  been  wrecked  on  his  way  home,  and  who  was 
returning  through  Germany  to  France.  The  difficulties 
in  his  own  case  would  not  be  serious,  as  his  French  would 
pass  muster  anywhere  in  Germany.  The  greatest  diffi- 
culty would  be  with  his  attendants;  but  he  saw  no  way 
of  avoiding  this. 

Cuthbert's  object,  when  with  his  little  party  he  sepa- 
rated from  King  Richard,  was  to  make  his  way  to  Verona, 
thence  cross  by  Trent  into  Bavaria,  and  so  to  journey  to 
Saxony.  Fortunately  he  had  at  the  storming  of  Acre 
become  possessed  of  a  valuable  jewel,  and  this  he  now 
sold,  and  purchased  a  charger  for  himself.  He  had  little 
fear  of  any  trouble  in  passing  through  the  north  of  Italy, 
for  this  was  neutral  ground,  where  knights  of  all  nations 
met,  and  where,  neither  as  an  English  nor  a  French 
Crusader,  would  he  attract  either  comment  or  attention. 

It  was  a  slow  journey  across  the  northern  plains,  as  ol 
course  he  had  to  accommodate  his  pace  to  that  of  his 
men.  Cnut  and  the  archers  had  grumbled  much  at  the 
change  of  the  color  of  the  cross  upon  their  jerkins;  and, 
as  Cnut  said,  would  have  been  willing  to  run  greater 
perils  under  their  true  colors  than  to  affect  to  belong  to 
any  other  nationality.  On  their  way  they  passed  through 
Padua,  and  there  stopped  a  few  days.  Cuthbert  uould 
but  feel,  in  looking  at  the  splendor  of  this  Italian  city,  the 
courteous  manner  of  its  people,  and  the  university,  which 
was  even  then  famous,  how  far  in  advance  were  those 
stately  cities  of  Italy  to  Western  Europe.  His  followers 
were  as  much  surprised  as  himself  at  the  splendors  of 
the  city.  Here  they  experienced  no  trouble  or  annoy- 
ance whatever,  for  to  the  cities  of  Italy  knights  of  all 


THE  BO  P  KNIGHT.  189 

nations  resorted,  learned  men  came  to  study,  philoso- 
phers to  dispute,  and  as  these  brought  their  attendants 
with  them,  you  might  in  the  streets  of  Padua  and  its 
sister  cities  hear  every  language  in  Europe  spoken. 

From  Padua  they  journeyed  to  Verona,  marveling 
greatly  at  the  richness  of  the  country.  The  footmen, 
however,  grumbled  at  the  flatness  of  the  plain,  and  said 
that  it  was  as  bad  as  marching  in  the  Holy  Land.  On  their 
right,  however,  the  slopes  of  the  Alps,  thickly  clad  with 
forests,  reached  down  nearly  to  the  road,  and  Cuthbert 
assured  them  that  they  would  have  plenty  of  climbing 
before  they  had  done.  At  Verona  they  tarried  again, 
and  wondered  much  at  the  great  amphitheater,  then 
almost  perfect.  Cuthbert  related  to  Cnut  and  the 
archers  how  men  had  there  been  set  to  fight  while  the 
great  stone  benches  round  were  thronged  with  men  and 
women  looking  on  at  their  death  struggles,  and  said  that 
not  unfrequently  British  captives  were  brought  hither 
and  made  to  contend  in  the  arena.  The  honest  fellows 
were  full  of  indignation  and  horror  at  the  thought  of 
men  killing  themselves  to  give  sport  to  others.  They 
were  used  to  hard  knocks,  and  thought  but  little  of  their 
life,  and  would  have  betaken  themselves  to  their  bows 
and  bills  without  hesitation  in  case  of  a  quarrel.  But  to 
fight  in  cold  blood  for  amusement  seemed  to  them  very 
terrible. 

Cuthbert  would  then  have  traveled  on  to  Milan,  at 
that  time  next  to  Rome  the  richest  city  in  Europe,  but 
he  longed  to  be  back  in  England,  and  was  the  more 
anxious  as  he  knew  that  King  Eichard  would  be  passing 
through  great  dangers,  and  he  hoped  to  meet  him  at  the 
court  of  Saxony.  His  money,  too,  was  fast  running  out, 
and  he  found  that  it  would  be  beyond  his  slender  means 
to  extend  his  journey  so  far.  At  Verona,  then,  they 
turned  their  back  on  the  broad  plains  of  Loinbardy,  and 
entered  the  valley  of  the  Trent. 


190  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

So  far  no  observation  whatever  had  been  excited  by 
the  passage  of  the  English  knight.  So  many  Crusaders 
were  upon  their  way  home,  many  in  grievous  plight, 
that  the  somewhat  shabby  retinue  passed  unnoticed.  But 
they  were  now  leaving  Italy,  and  entering  a  country 
•where  German  was  spoken.  Trent,  in  those  days  an 
important  city,  was  then,  and  is  still,  the  meeting  place 
of  Italy  and  Germany.  Both  tongues  are  here  spoken; 
but  while  the  Italian  perhaps  preponderates,  the  customs, 
manners,  and  mode  of  thought  of  the  people  belong  to 
those  of  the  mountaineers  of  the  Tyrol  rather  than  of 
the  dwellers  on  the  plains. 

"You  are  choosing  a  stormy  time,"  the  landlord  of  the 
hostelry  where  they  put  up  said  to  Cuthbert.  "The 
winter  is  now  at  hand,  and  storms  sweep  across  the 
passes  with  terrible  violence.  You  had  better,  at  the 
last  village  you  come  to  in  the  valley,  obtain  the  services 
of  a  guide,  for  should  a  snowstorm  come  on  when  you 
are  crossing,  the  path  will  be  lost,  and  nothing  will 
remain  but  a  miserable  death.  By  daylight  the  road  is 
good.  It  has  been  cut  with  much  trouble,  and  loaded 
mules  can  pass  over  without  difficulty.  Poles  have  been 
erected  at  short  distances  to  mark  the  way  when  the 
snow  covers  it.  But  when  the  snowstorms  sweep  across 
the  mountains  it  is  impossible  to  see  ten  paces  before 
you,  and  if  the  traveler  leaves  the  path  he  is  lost." 

"But  I  suppose,"  Cuthbert  said,  "that  even  in  winter 
travelers  pass  over?" 

"They  do,"  the  host  said.  "The  road  is  as  open  in 
winter  as  in  summer,  although,  of  course,  the  dangers 
are  greater.  Still,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  vigorous 
men  from  crossing  over  when  the  storms  come  on.  Now, 
too,  with  the  snow  already  lying  in  the  upper  forests, 
the  wolves  are  abroad,  and  should  you  be  attacked  by 
one  of  those  herds,  you  will  find  it  hard  work  to  defend 


TEE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  191 

your  lives.  Much  has  been  done  to  render  the  road  safe. 
At  the  distance  of  every  league  stone  houses  have  been 
erected,  where  travelers  can  find  shelter  either  from  the 
storm  or  from  the  attacks  of  wolves  or  bears,  for  these, 
too,  abound  in  the  forests,  and  in  summer  there  is  fine 
hunting  among  them.  You  are,  as  I  see,  returning  from 
the  Holy  Land,  and  are  therefore  used  to  heat  rather 
than  cold,  so  I  should  advise  you  before  you  leave  this 
city  to  buy  some  rough  cloaks  to  shield  you  from  the 
cold.  You  can  obtain  them  for  your  followers  very 
cheaply,  made  of  the  mountain  goat  or  of  sheepskins, 
and  even  those  of  bearskin  well  dressed  are  by  no  means 
dear." 

Obtaining  the  address  of  a  merchant  who  kept  these 
things,  Cuthbert  proceeded  thither;  and  purchased  five 
cloaks  of  goatskin  with  hoods  to  pull  over  their  heads 
for  his  followers  while  for  himself  he  obtained  one  of 
rather  finer  material. 

Another  two  days'  journey  brought  them  to  the  foot 
of  the  steep  ascent,  and  here  they  hired  the  services  of  a 
guide.  The  ascent  was  long  and  difficult,  and  in  spite 
of  the  praises  which  the  host  had  bestowed  upon  the 
road,  it  was  so  steep  that  Cuthbert  was,  for  the  most 
part,  obliged  to  walk,  leading  his  steed,  whose  feet 
slipped  on  the  smooth  rock,  and  as  in  many  places  a 
false  step  would  have  thrown  them  down  many  hundreds 
of  feet  into  the  valley  below,  Cuthbert  judged  it  safer  to 
trust  himself  to  his  own  feet.  He  disincumbercd  him- 
self of  his  helmet  and  gorget,  and  placed  these  upon  the 
horse's  back.  At  nightfall  they  had  attained  a  very 
considerable  height,  and  stopped  at  one  of  the  small 
refuges  of  which  the  landlord  had  spoken. 

"1  like  not  the  look  of  the  weather,"  the  guide  said  in 
the  morning — at  least  that  was  what  Cuthbert  judged 
him  to  say,  for  he  could  speak  no  word  of  the  man's  Ian- 


192  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

guage.     His  actions,  however,  as  he  looked  toward  th 
sky,   and  shook  his  head,   spoke   for  themselves,  and 
Cuthbert,  feeling  his  own  powerlessness  in  a  situation  so 
novel  to  him,  felt  serious  misgivings  at  the  prospect. 

The  scenery  was  now  very  wild.  On  all  sides  crags 
and  mountain  tops  covered  with  snow  glistened  in  the 
sun.  The  woods  near  the  path  were  free  of  snow;  but 
higher  up  they  rose  black  above  the  white  ground.  The 
wind  blew  keenly,  and  all  rejoiced  in  the  warm  cloaks 
which  they  had  obtained;  for  even  with  the  protection 
of  these  they  had  found  the  cold  bitter  during  the  night. 

"I  like  not  this  country/'  Cnut  said.  "We  grumbled 
at  the  heat  of  Palestine,  but  I  had  rather  march  across 
the  sand  there  than  in  this  inhospitable  frozen  region. 
The  woods  look  as  if  they  might  contain  specters. 
There  is  a  silence  which  seems  to  be  unnatural,  and  my 
courage,  like  the  warmth  of  my  body,  is  methinks  oozing 
out  from  my  fingers/' 

Cuthbert  laughed. 

"I  have  no  doubt  that  your  courage  would  come  again 
much  quicker  than  the  warmth,  Cnut,  if  there  were  any 
occasion  for  it.  A  brisk  walk  will  set  you  all  right 
again,  and  banish  these  uneasy  fancies.  To-night  we 
shall  be  at  the  highest  point,  and  to-morrow  begin  to 
descend  toward  Germany." 

All  day  the  men  kept  steadily  on.  The  guide  from 
time  to  time  looked  apprehensively  at  the  sky;  and  al- 
though in  the  earlier  part  of  the  day  Cuthbert's  inexpe- 
rienced eye  saw  nothing  to  cause  the  slightest  uneasiness, 
toward  the  afternoon  the  scene  changed.  Light  clouds 
began  to  gather  on  the  top  of  all  the  hills  and  to  shut  the 
mountain  peaks  entirely  from  view.  The  wind  moaned 
between  the  gorges  and  occasionally  swept  along  in  such 
sudden  gusts  that  they  could  with  difficulty  retain  their 
feet  The  sky  became  gradually  overcast,  and  frequently 


THE  BOY  KNI&HT.  193 

light  specks  of  snow,  so  small  as  to  be  scarcely  percepti- 
ble, were  driven  along  on  tlje  blast,  making  their  faces 
smart  by  the  force  with  which  they  struck  them. 

"It  scarcely  needs  our  guide's  face,"  Cuthbert  said, 
"to  tell  us  that  a  storm  is  at  hand,  and  that  our  position 
is  a  dangerous  one.  As  for  me,  I  own  that  I  feel  better 
pleased  now  that  the  wind  is  blowing,  and  the  silence  is 
broken,  than  at  the  dead  stillness  which  prevailed  this 
morning.  After  all,  methinks  that  a  snowstorm  cannot 
be  more  dreaded  than  a  sandstorm,  and  we  have  faced 
those  before  now." 

Faster  and  faster  the  snow  came  down,  until  at  last  the 
whole  air  seemed  full  of  it,  and  it  was  with  difficulty 
that  they  could  stagger  forward.  Where  the  path  led 
across  open  places  the  wind  swept  away  the  snow  as  fast 
as  it  fell,  but  in  the  hollows  the  track  was  already  cov- 
ered; and  feeling  the  difficulty  of  facing  the  blinding 
gale,  Cuthbert  now  understood  the  urgency  with  which 
his  host  had  insisted  upon  the  danger  of  losing  the  track. 
Not  a  word  was  spoken  among  the  party  as  they  plodded 
along.  The  guide  kept  ahead,  using  the  greatest  cau- 
tion wherever  the  path  was  obliterated  by  the  snow, 
sometimes  even  sounding  with  his  iron-shod  staff  to  be 
sure  that  they  were  upon  the  level  rock.  In  spite  of  his 
warm  cloak  Cuthbert  felt  that  he  was  becoming  chilled 
to  the  bone.  His  horse  could  with  difficulty  keep  his 
feet;  and  Cnut  and  the  archers  lagged  behind. 

"You  must  keep  together,  lads,"  he  shouted,  "I 
have  heard  that  in  these  mountains  when  sleepiness  over- 
powers the  traveler,  death  is  at  hand.  Therefore,  come 
what  may,  we  must  struggle  on." 

Many  times  the  gale  was  so  violent  that  they  were 
obliged  to  pause  and  take  shelter  under  the  side  of  a 
rock  or  precipice  until  the  fury  of  the  blast  had  passed ; 
and  Cuthber^  ^agerly  looked  out  for  the  next  refuge. 


194  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

At  last  they  reached  it,  and  the  guide  at  once  entered. 
It  was  not  that  in  which  he  had  intended  to  pass  the 
night,  for  this  lay  still  higher;  but  it  would  have  been 
madness  to  attempt  to  go  further  in  the  face  of  such  a 
gale.  He  signed  to  Outhbert  that  it  was  necessary  at 
once  to  collect  firewood,  and  he  himself  proceeded  to 
light  some  brands  which  had  been  left  by  previous  trav- 
elers. Cuthbert  gave  directions  to  Cnut  and  the  archers; 
and  these,  feeling  that  life  depended  upon  a  good  fire 
being  kept  up,  set  to  with  a  will,  cutting  down  shrubs 
and  branches  growing  in  the  vicinity  of  the  hut.  In  half 
an  hour  a  huge  fire  blazed  in  the  refuge;  and  as  the 
warmth  thawed  their  limbs,  their  tongues  were  unloos- 
ened, and  a  feeling  of  comfort  again  prevailed. 

"If  this  be  mountaineering,  my  lord,"  Cnut  said,  "I 
trust  that  never  again  may  it  be  my  fortune  to  venture 
among  the  hills.  How  long,  I  wonder,  do  the  storms 
last  here?  I  was  grumbling  all  the  way  up  the  hill  at  the 
load  of  provisions  which  the  guide  insisted  that  each  of 
us  should  bring  with  him.  As  it  was  to  be  but  a  three 
days'  journey  before  we  reached  a  village  on  the  other 
side,  I  wondered  why  he  insisted  upon  our  taking  food 
enough  to  last  us  at  least  for  a  week.  But  I  understand 
now,  and  thank  him  for  his  foresight;  for  if  this  storm 
goes  on  we  are  assuredly  prisoners  here  for  so  long  as  it 
may  continue." 

The  horse  had  to  be  brought  into  the  hut,  for  it  would 
have  been  death  for  it  to  have  remained  outside. 

"What  is  that?"  Cnut  said  presently,  as  a  distant 
howl  was  heard  between  the  lulls  of  the  storm.  The 
guide  muttered  some  word  which  Cuthbert  did  not  un- 
derstand. But  he  gaid  to  Cnut,  "I  doubt  not  that  it  is 
wolves.  Thank  God  that  we  are  safe  within  this  refuge, 
for  here  not  even  the  most  ravenous  beasts  could  make 
their  way.'" 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  195 

"Pooh!"  Cnut  said  contemptuously.  "Wolves  are  no 
bigger  than  dogs.  I  have  heard  my  grandfather  say  that 
he  shot  one  in  the  forest,  and  that  it  was  no  bigger  than 
a  hound.  We  should  make  short  work  of  them.'*' 

"I  know  not,"  Cuthbert  said.  "I  have  heard  tales  of 
these  animals  which  show  that  they  must  be  formidable 
opponents.  They  hunt  in  great  packs,  and  are  so  furious 
that  they  will  attack  parties  of  travelers;  many  of  these 
have  perished  miserably,  horses  and  men,  and  nothing 
but  their  swords  and  portions  of  their  saddles  have 
remained  to  tell  where  the  battle  was  fought." 


196  THS  BOY  ENIQRT. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SENTENCED  TO  DEATH. 

JUST  before  arriving  at  the  refuge  they  had  passed 
along  a  very  steep  and  dangerous  path.  On  one  side  the 
rock  rose  precipitously,  ten  feet  above  their  heads.  On 
the  other  was  a  fall  into  the  valley  below.  The  road  at 
this  point  was  far  wider  than  usual. 

Presently  the  howl  of  a  wolf  was  heard  near,  and  soon 
the  solitary  call  was  succeeded  by  the  howling  of  great 
numbers  of  animals.  These  speedily  surrounded  the  hut, 
and  so  fierce  were  their  cries  that  Cnut  changed  his 
opinion  as  to  the  ease  with  which  they  could  be  defeated, 
and  allowed  that  he  would  rather  face  an  army  of  Sara- 
cens than  a  troop  of  these  ill-conditioned  animals.  The 
horse  trembled  in  every  limb  at  the  sound  of  the  howling 
of  the  wolves;  and  cold  as  was  the  night,  in  spite  of  the 
great  fire  that  blazed  on  the  hearth,  his  coat  became  cov- 
ered with  the  lather  of  fear.  Even  upon  the  roof  above 
the  trampling  of  the  animals  could  be  heard;  and  through 
the  open  slits  of  the  windows  which  some  travelers  before 
them  had  stuffed  with  straw,  they  could  hear  the  fierce 
breathing  and  snorting  of  the  savage  beasts,  who 
scratched  and  tore  to  make  an  entrance. 

"Methinks,"  Cuthbert  said,  "that  we  might  launch  a 
few  arrows  through  these  loopholes.  The  roof  appears 
not  to  be  over  strong;  and  should  some  of  them  force  an 
entrance,  the  whole  pack  might  follow." 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT.  197 

Dark  as  was  the  night,  the  black  bodies  were  visible 
against  the  white  snow,  and  the  archers  shot  several 
arrows  forth,  each  stretching  a  wolf  dead  on  the  ground. 
Those  killed  were  at  once  pounced  upon  by  their  com- 
rades and  torn  to  pieces;  and  this  mark  of  savageness 
added  to  the  horror  which  those  within  felt  of  the  fero- 
cious animals.  Suddenly  there  was  a  pause  in  the 
howling  around  the  hut,  and  then  Cnut,  looking  forth 
from  the  loophole,  declared  that  the  whole  body  had 
gone  off  at  full  speed  along  the  path  by  which  they  had 
reached  the  refuge.  Almost  immediately  afterward  a 
loud  shout  for  help  was  heard,  followed  by  the  renewed 
howling  and  yelping  of  the  wolves. 

"Good  heavens!"  Cuthbert  exclaimed.  "Some  trav- 
eler coming  after  us  is  attacked  by  these  horrible  beasts. 
Let  us  sally  out,  Cnut.  We  cannot  hear  a  Christian  torn 
to  pieces  by  these  beasts,  without  lending  him  a  hand." 

In  spite  of  the  angry  shouts  and  entreaties  of  the 
guide,  the  door  was  thrust  open,  and  the  party,  armed 
with  their  axes  and  bows,  at  once  rushed  out  into  the 
night.  The  storm  had  for  the  moment  abated  and  they 
had  no  difficulty  in  making  their  way  along  the  track. 
In  fifty  yards  they  came  to  a  bend  of  the  path,  and  saw, 
a  little  distance  before  them,  a  black  mass  of  animals 
covering  the  road,  and  congregated  round  a  figure  who 
stood  with  his  back  to  the  rock.  With  a  shout  of  en- 
couragement they  sprang  forward,  and  in  a  few  moments 
were  in  the  midst  of  the  savage  animals,  who  turned  their 
rage  against  them  at  once.  They  had  fired  two  or  three 
arrows  apiece,  as  they  approached,  into  them;  and  now 
throwing  down  their  bows,  the  archers  betook  themselves 
to  their  swords,  while  Cuthbert  with  his  heavy  battle- 
axe  hewed  and  cut  at  the  wolves  as  they  sprang  toward 
him.  In  a  minute  they  had  cleared  their  way  to  the 
figure,  which  was  that  of  a  knight  in  complete  armor. 


198  TEE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

He  leaned  against  the  rock  completely  exhausted,  and 
could  only  mutter  a  word  of  thanks  through  his  closed 
visor.  At  a  short  distance  off  a  number  of  the  wolves 
were  gathered,  rending  and  tearing  the  horse  of  the 
knight;  but  the  rest,  soon  recovering  from  their  surprise, 
attacked  with  fury  the  little  party.  The  thick  cloaks  of 
the  archers  stood  them  in  good  stead  against  the  animal's 
teeth,  and  standing  in  a  group  with  t-beir  backs  to  the 
rock,  they  hewed  and  cut  vigorously  at  their  assailants. 
The  numbers  of  these,  however,  appeared  almost  innu- 
merable, and  fresh  stragglers  continued  to  come  along  the 
road,  and  swell  their  body.  As  fast  as  those  in  front 
fell,  their  heads  cleft  with  the  axes  of  the  party,  fresh 
ones  sprang  forward;  and  Cuthbert  saw  that  in  spite  of 
the  valor  and  strength  of  his  men,  the  situation  was  well- 
nigh  desperate.  He  himself  had  been  saved  from  injury 
by  his  harness,  for  he  still  had  on  his  greaves  and  leg 
pieces. 

"Keep  together,"  he  shouted  to  his  men,  "and  each 
lend  aid  to  the  other  if  he  sees  him  pulled  down.  Strike 
lustily  for  life,  and  hurry  not  your  blows,  but  let  each 
tell."  This  latter  order  he  gave  perceiving  that  some  of 
the  archers,  terrified  by  this  furious  army  of  assailants 
with  gaping  mouths  and  glistening  teeth,  were  striking 
wildly,  and  losing  their  presence  of  mind. 

The  combat,  although  it  might  have  been  prolonged, 
could  yet  have  had  but  one  termination,  and  the  whole 
party  would  have  fallen.  At  this  moment,  however,  a 
gust  of  wind,  more  furious  than  any  which  they  had 
before  experienced,  swept  along  the  gorge,  and  the  very 
wolves  had  to  crouch  on  their  stomachs  to  prevent 
themselves  being  hurled  by  its  fury  into  the  ravine 
below.  Then  even  above  the  storm  a  deep  roar  was 
heard.  It  grew  louder  and  louder.  The  wolves,  as  if 
struck  with  terror,  leaped  to  their  feet,  and  scattered  on 
either  way  along  the  path  at  full  speed. 


THE  BOY  ElftGHT.  199 

"What  sound  can  this  be?"  Cnut  exclaimed  in  an 
awe-strnck  voice.  "It  sounds  like  thunder;  but  it  is 
regular  and  unbroken;  and,  my  lord,  surely  the  earth 
quakes  under  our  feet!" 

Louder  and  louder  grew  the  roar. 

"Throw  yourselves  down  against  the  wall  of  rock,'* 
Cuthbert  shouted,  himself  setting  the  example. 

A  moment  afterward,  from  above  a  mighty  mass  of 
rock  and  snow  poured  over  like  a  cascade,  with  a  roar 
and  sound  which  nigh  stunned  them.  For  minutes — it 
seemed  for  hours  to  them — the  deluge  of  snow  and  rock 
continued.  Then,  as  suddenly  as  it  had  begun,  it  ceased, 
and  a  silence  as  of  death  reigned  over  the  place. 

"Arise,"  Cuthbert  said;  "the  danger,  methinks,  is 
past.  It  was  what  men  call  an  avalanche — a  torrent  of 
snow  slipping  down  from  the  higher  peaks.  We  have 
had  a  narrow  escape  indeed." 

By  this  time  the  knight  whom  they  had  rescued  was 
able  to  speak,  and  raising  his  visor,  he  returned  his  deep- 
est thanks  to  those  who  had  come  so  opportunely  to  his 
aid. 

"I  was  well-nigh  exhausted,"  he  said,  "and  it  was  only 
rny  armor  which  saved  me  from  being  torn  to  pieces.  A 
score  of  them  had  hold  of  me;  but  fortunately  my  mail 
was  of  Milan  proof,  and  even  the  jaws  and  teeth  of  these 
enormous  beasts  were  unable  to  pierce  it." 

"The  refuge  is  near  at  hand,"  Cuthbert  said.  "It  is 
but  a  few  yards  round  yonder  point.  It  is  well  that  we 
heard  your  voice.  I  fear  that  your  horse  has  fallen  a 
victim." 

Assisting  the  knight,  who  in  spite  of  his  armor  was 
sorely  bruised  and  exhausted,  they  made  their  way  back 
to  the  refuge.  Cnut  and  the  archers  were  all  bleeding 
freely  from  various  wounds  inflicted  upon  them  in  the 
struggle,  breathless  and  exhausted  from  their  exertions, 


200  BBS  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

and  thoroughly  awe-struck  by  the  tremendous  phenom. 
enon  of  which  they  had  been  witnesses,  and  which  they 
had  only  escaped  from  their  good  fortune  in  happening 
to  be  in  a  place  so  formed  that  the  force  of  the  avalanche 
had  swept  over  their  heads.  The  whole  of  the  road, 
with  the  exception  of  a  narrow  piece  four  feet  in  width, 
had  been  carried  away.  Looking  upward,  they  saw  that 
the  forest  had  been  swept  clear,  not  a  tree  remaining  in 
a  wide  track  as  far  as  they  could  see  up  the  hill.  The 
great  bowlders  which  had  strewn  the  hillside,  and  many 
of  which  were  as  large  as  houses,  had  been  swept  away 
like  straws  before  the  rush  of  snow,  and  for  a  moment 
they  feared  that  the  refuge  had  also  been  carried  away. 
Turning  the  corner,  however,  they  saw  to  their  delight 
that  the  limits  of  the  avalanche  had  not  extended  so  far, 
the  refuges,  as  they  afterward  learned,  being  so  placed  as 
to  be  sheltered  by  overhanging  cliffs  from  any  catastrophe 
of  this  kind. 

They  found  the  guide  upon  his  knees,  muttering  his 
prayers  before  a  cross,  which  he  had  formed  of  two 
sticks  laid  crosswise  on  the  ground  before  him;  and  he 
could  scarce  believe  his  eyes  when  they  entered,  so  cer- 
tain had  he  considered  it  that  they  were  lost.  There 
were  no  longer  any  signs  of  the  wolves.  The  greater 
portion,  indeed,  of  the  pack  had  been  overwhelmed  by 
the  avalanche,  and  the  rest,  frightened  and  scared,  had 
fled  to  their  fastnesses  in  the  woods. 

The  knight  now  removed  his  helmet,  and  discovered  a 
handsome  young  man  of  some  twenty-four  or  twenty-five 
years  old. 

"I  am,"  he  said,  "Baron  Ernest  of  Kornstein.  To 
whom  do  I  owe  my  life?" 

"In  spite  of  my  red  cross,"  Cuthbert  said,  "I  am 
English.  My  name  is  Sir  Outhbert,  and  I  am  Earl  of 
Evesham.  I  am  on  my  return  from  the  Holy  Land  with 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT.  201 

my  followers;  and  as  we  are  passing  through  countries 
where  many  of  the  people  are  hostile  to  England,  we 
have  thought  it  as  well  for  a  time  to  drop  our  nationality. 
But  to  you  I  do  not  hesitate  to  tell  the  truth." 

"You  do  well,"  the  young  knight  said,  "for,  truth  to 
say,  the  people  of  these  parts  bear  but  little  love  to  your 
countrymen.  You  have  saved  my  life  when  I  was  in  the 
sorest  danger.  I  had  given  myself  up  for  lost,  for  even 
my  armor  could  not  have  saved  me  long  from  these 
wretches;  and  my  sword  and  life  are  at  your  disposal. 
You  are  young  indeed,"  he  said,  looking  with  surprise 
at  Cuthbert,  who  had  now  thrown  back  the  hood  of  his 
cloak,  "to  have  gained  the  honor  of  knighthood.  You 
scarce  look  eighteen  years  of  age,  although,  doubtless, 
you  are  older." 

"I  am  scarce  seventeen,"  Cuthbert  said;  "but  I  have 
had  the  good  fortune  to  attract  the  notice  of  King  Rich- 
ard, and  to  have  received  the  knighthood  from  his 
sword." 

"None  more  worthy,"  said  the  young  knight,  "for  al- 
though King  Richard  may  be  fierce  and  proud,  he  is  the 
worthiest  knight  in  Christendom,  and  resembles  the 
heroes  of  romance  rather  than  a  Christian  king." 

"He  is  my  lord  and  master,"  Cuthbert  said,  "and  I 
love  him  beyond  all  men,  and  would  give  my  life  for  his. 
He  is  the  kindest  and  best  of  masters;  and  although  it 
be  true  that  he  brooks  no  opposition,  yet  is  it  only  be- 
cause his  own  bravery  and  eagerness  render  hateful  to 
him  the  indolence  and  cowardice  of  others." 

They  now  took  their  seats  round  the  fire.  The  archers, 
by  the  advice  of  the  guide,  rubbed  their  wounds  with 
snow,  and  then  applied  bandages  to  them.  The  wallets 
were  opened,  and  a  hearty  supper  eaten;  and  all,  wrap- 
ping themselves  in  their  fur  cloaks,  were  soon  asleep. 

For  four  days  the  gale  continued,  keeping  the  party 


202  THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 

prisoners  in  the  hut..  On  the  fifth  the  force  of  the  wind 
abated,  and  the  snow  ceased  to  fall.  They  were  forced 
to  take  the  door  off  its  hinges  to  open  it,  for  the  snow 
had  piled  up  so  high  that  the  chimney  alone  of  the  hut 
remained  above  its  surface.  With  great  difficulty  and 
labor  they  cleared  a  way  out,  and  then  the  guide  again 
placing  himself  at  their  head,  they  proceeded  on  their 
way.  The  air  was  still  and  cold,  and  the  sky  of  a  deep, 
dark  blue,  which  seemed  even  darker  in  contrast  with 
the  whiteness  of  the  snow.  At  times  they  had  great 
difficulty  in  struggling  through  the  deep  drifts;  but  for 
the  most  part  the  wind  had  swept  the  path  clear.  Where 
it  was  deepest,  the  tops  of  the  posts  still  showed  above 
the  snow,  and  enabled  the  guide  to  direct  their  footsteps. 
They  were,  however,  obliged  to  travel  slowly,  and  it  was 
three  days  before  they  gained  the  village  on  the  north- 
ern slope  of  the  mountains,  having  slept  at  refuges  by 
the  road. 

"What  are  your  plans?"  the  knight  asked  Sir  Cuth- 
bert  that  night,  as  they  sat  by  the  fire  of  the  hostelry. 
"I  would  warn  you  that  the  town  which  you  will  first 
arrive  at  is  specially  hostile  to  your  people,  for  the 
baron,  its  master,  is  a  relation  of  Conrad  of  Montferat, 
who  is  said  to  have  been  killed  by  order  of  your  king." 

"It  is  false,"  Cuthbert  said.  "King  Eichard  had  ap- 
pointed him  King  of  Jerusalem;  and,  though  he  liked 
him  not,  thought  him  the  fittest  of  those  there  to  exer- 
cise sovereignty.  He  was  the  last  man  who  would  have 
had  an  enemy  assassinated;  for  so  open  is  he  of  disposi- 
tion that  he  would  have  fought  hand  to  hand  with  the 
meanest  soldier  of  his  army  had  he  desired  to  kill  him." 

"I  doubt  not  that  it  is  so,  since  you  tell  me,"  the 
knight  said  courteously.  "But  the  people  here  have 
taken  that  idea  into  their  minds,  and  it  will  be  hard  to 
disabuse  them.  You  must  therefore  keep  up  your  dis- 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 

guise  as  a  French  knight  while  passing  through  this 
neighborhood.  Another  week's  journeying,  and  you  will 
reach  the  confines  of  Saxony,  and  there  you  will,  as  you 
anticipate,  be  safe.  But  I  would  not  answer  for  your 
life  were  you  discovered  here  to  be  of  English  birth. 
And  now  tell  me  if  there  is  aught  that  I  can  do  for  yout 
I  will  myself  accompany  you  into  the  town,  and  will  in- 
Hroduce  you  as  a  French  knight,  so  that  no  suspicion  is 
likely  to  lie  upon  you,  and  will,  further,  ride  with  you  to 
the  borders  of  Saxony.  I  am  well  known,  and  trust  that 
my  company  will  avert  all  suspicion  from  you.  You  have 
told  me  that  your  purse  is  ill-supplied;  you  must  suffer 
me  to  replenish  it.  One  knight  need  not  fear  to  borrow 
of  another;  and  I  know  that  when  you  have  returned  to 
your  home  you  will  bestow  the  sum  which  I  now  give 
you  upon  some  holy  shrine  in  my  name,  and  thus  settle 
matters  between  us." 

Cuthbert  without  hesitation  accepted  the  offer,  and 
was  well  pleased  at  finding  his  purse  replenished,  for  its 
emptiness  had  caused  him  serious  trouble.  Cuthbert's 
steed  was  led  by  one  of  the  archers,  and  he  himself 
walked  gayly  alongside  of  Sir  Ernest,  followed  by  his 
retainers.  Another  long  day's  march  brought  them 
down  to  Innsbruck,  where  they  remained  quietly  for  a 
week.  Then  they  journeyed  on  until  they  emerged  from 
the  mountains,  crossed  the  Bavarian  frontier,  and  ar- 
rived at  Fussen,  a  strong  city,  with  well-built  walls  and 
defenses. 

They  at  once  proceeded  to  the  principal  hostelry, 
where  the  young  baron  was  well  known,  and  where  great 
interest  was  excited  by  the  news  of  the  narrow  escape 
which  he  had  had  from  the  attack  of  the  wolves.  A 
journey  across  the  Alps  was  in  those  days  regarded  as  a 
very  perilous  enterprise  in  the  winter  season,  and  the 
fact  that  he  should  have  been  rescued  from  such  a  strait 


204  THE  EOT  KNIGHT. 

appeared  almost  miraculous.  They  stayed  for  two  days 
quietly  in  the  city,  Cuthbert  declining  the  invitation  of 
the  young  noble  to  accompany  him  to  the  houses  of  his 
friends,  as  he  did  not  wish  that  any  suspicion  should  be 
excited  as  to  his  nationality,  and  preferred  remaining 
quiet  to  having  forced  upon  him  the  necessity  of  making 
false  statements.  As  to  his  followers,  there  was  no  fear 
of  the  people  among  whom  they  mixed  detecting  that 
they  were  English.  To  the  Bavarian  inhabitants,  all 
languages,  save  their  native  German,  were  alike  unintel- 
ligible; and  even  had  French  been  commonly  spoken, 
the  dialects  of  that  tongue,  such  as  would  naturally  be 
spoken  by  archers  and  men-at-arms,  would  have  been  as 
Greek  to  those  accustomed  only  to  Norman  French. 

Upon  the  third  day,  however,  an  incident  occurred 
•which  upset  Cuthbert's  calculations,  and  nearly  involved 
the  whole  party  in  ruin.  The  town  was,  as  the  young 
baron  had  said,  governed  by  a  noble  who  was  a  near 
relation  of  Conrad  of  Montferat,  and  who  was  the  bitter 
enemy  of  the  English.  A  great  fete  had  been  given  in 
honor  of  the  marriage  of  his  daughter,  and  upon  this  day 
the  young  pair  were  to  ride  in  triumph  through  the  city. 
Great  preparations  had  been  made;  masks  and  pageants 
of  various  kinds  manufactured;  and  the  whole  towns- 
people, dressed  in  their  holiday  attire,  were  gathered  in 
the  streets.  Cuthbert  had  gone  out,  followed  by  his 
little  band  of  retainers,  and  taken  their  station  to  see 
the  passing  show.  First  came  a  large  body  of  knights 
and  men-at-arms,  with  gay  banners  and  trappings.  Then 
rode  the  bridegroom,  with  the  bride  carried  in  a  litter 
by  his  side.  After  this  came  several  allegorical  represen- 
tations. Among  these  was  the  figure  of  a  knight  bearing 
the  arms  of  Austria.  Underneath  his  feet,  on  the  car. 
lay  a  figure  clad  in  a  royal  robe,  across  whom  was 
thrown  a  banner  with  the  leopards  of  England.  The 
knight  stood  with  his  foot  on  this  figure. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  205 

This  representation  of  the  dishonor  of  England  at  the 
hands  of  Austria  elicited  great  acclamations  from  the 
crowd.  Cuthbert  clinched  his  teeth  and  grasped  his 
sword  angrily,  but  had  the  sense  to  see  the  folly  of  tak- 
ing any  notice  of  the  insult.  Not  so  with  Cnut.  Furious 
at  the  insult  offered  to  the  standard  of  his  royal  master, 
Cnut,  with  a  bound,  burst  through  the  ranks  of  the 
crowd,  leaped  on  to  the  car,  and  with  a  buffet  smote  the 
figure  representing  Austria  into  the  road,  and  lifted  the 
flag  of  England  from  the  ground.  A  yell  of  indignation 
and  rage  was  heard.  The  infuriated  crowd  rushed  for- 
ward. Cnut,  with  a  bound,  sprang  from  the  car,  and, 
joining  his  comrades,  burst  through  those  who  attempted 
to  impede  them,  and  darted  down  a  by-street. 

Cuthbert,  for  the  moment  amazed  at  the  action  of  his 
follower,  had  on  the  instant  drawn  his  sword  and  joined 
the  archers.  In  the  crowd,  however,  he  was  for  a  second 
separated  from  them;  and  before  he  could  tear  himself 
from  the  hands  of  the  citizens  who  had  seized  him,  the 
men-at-arms  accompanying  the  procession  surrounded 
him,  and  he  was  led  away  by  them  to  the  castle,  the 
guards  with  difficulty  protecting  him  from  the  enraged 
populace.  Even  at  this  moment  Cuthbert  experienced  a 
deep  sense  of  satisfaction  at  the  thought  that  his  fol- 
lowers had  escaped.  But  he  feared  that  alone,  and 
unacquainted  with  the  language  of  the  country,  they 
would  find  it  difficult  indeed  to  escape  the  search  which 
would  be  made  for  them,  and  to  manage  to  find  their 
way  back  to  their  country.  For  himself,  he  had  little 
hopes  of  liberty,  and  scarcely  more  of  life.  The  hatred 
of  the  baron  toward  the  English  would  now  be  height- 
ened by  the  daring  act  of  insult  to  the  arms  of  Austria, 
and  this  would  give  a  pretext  for  any  deed  of  violence 
which  might  be  wrought. 

Cuthbert  was,  after  a  short  confinement,  brought  he- 


206  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

fore  the  lord  baron  of  the  place,  in  the  great  hall  of  the 
castle. 

"Who art  thou,  sir,"  the  noble  exclaimed,  "who  darest 
to  disturb  the  marriage  procession  of  my  daughter,  and 
to  insult  the  standard  of  the  emperor  my  master?" 

"I  am  Sir  Cuthbert,  Earl  of  Evesham,  a  baron  of  Eng- 
land," Cuthbert  said  fearlessly,  "and  am  traveling 
homeward  from  the  Holy  Land.  My  garb  as  a  Crusader 
should  protect  me  from  all  interruption;  and  the  heed- 
less conduct  of  my  retainer  was  amply  justified  by  the 
insult  offered  to  the  arms  of  England.  There  is  not  one 
of  the  knights  assembled  round  you  who  would  not  in 
like  manner  have  avenged  an  insult  offered  to  those  of 
Austria;  and  I  am  ready  to  do  battle  in  the  lists  with  any 
who  choose  to  say  that  the  deed  was  a  foul  or  improper 
one.  In  the  Holy  Land  Austrians  and  English  fought 
side  by  side;  and  it  is  strange  indeed  to  me  that  on  my 
return,  journeying  through  the  country  of  the  emperor, 
I  should  find  myself  treated  as  an  enemy,  aad  see  the 
arms  of  King  Eichard  exposed  to  insult  and  derision  by 
the  burghers  of  this  city." 

As  Cuthbert  had  spoken  he  threw  down  his  mailed 
glove,  and  several  of  the  knights  present  stepped  forward 
to  pick  it  up.  The  baron,  however,  waved  them  back. 

"It  is  no  question,"  he  said,  "of  honorable  fight. 
This  is  a  follower  of  the  murderer  of  my  good  cousin  of 
Montferat,  who  died  under  the  hands  of  assassins  set  upon 
him  by  Eichard  of  England." 

"It  is  false!"  Cuthbert  shouted.  "I  denounce  it  as  a 
foul  lie,  and  will  maintain  it  with  my  life." 

"Your  life  is  already  forfeited,"  the  baron  said,  "both 
by  your  past  connection  with  Eichard  of  England  and  as 
the  insulter  of  the  arms  of  Austria.  You  die,  and  to- 
morrow at  noon  your  head  shall  be  struck  off  in  the  great 
square  before  my  castle." 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  207 

\Vithout  another  word  Cuthbert  was  hurried  off  to  his 
cell,  and  there  remained,  thinking  moodily  over  the 
events  of  the  day,  until  nightfall.  He  had  no  doubt  that 
his  sentence  would  be  carried  out,  and  his  anxiety  was 
rather  for  his  followers  than  for  himself.  He  feared  that 
they  would  make  some  effort  on  his  behalf,  and  would 
sacritice  their  own  lives  in  doing  so,  without. the  possi- 
bility of  assisting  him. 

The  next  morning  he  was  led  out  to  the  square  before 
the  castle.  It  was  a  large  flagged  courtyard.  Upon  one 
side  was  the  entrance  to  the  castle,  one  of  whose  wings 
also  formed  a  second  side  to  the  square.  The  side  facing 
this  was  formed  by  the  wall  of  the  city,  and  the  fourth 
opened  upon  a  street  of  the  town.  This  side  of  the 
square  was  densely  filled  with  citizens,  while  the  men-at- 
arms  of  the  baron  and  a  large  number  of  knights  were 
gathered  behind  a  scaffold  erected  in  the  center.  Upon 
this  was  a  block,  and  by  the  side  stood  a  headsman.  As 
Cuthbert  was  led  forward  a  thrill  of  pleasure  ran  through 
him  at  perceiving  no  signs  of  his  followers,  who  he 
greatly  feared  might  have  been  captured  in  the  night, 
and  brought  there  to  share  his  fate. 

As  he  was  led  forward  the  young  noble  whose  life  he 
had  saved  advanced  to  the  baron,  and  dropping  on  one 
knee  before  him,  craved  the  life  of  Cuthbert,  relating  the 
event  by  which  he  had  saved  his  life  in  the  passage  of 
the  mountains.  The  baron  frowned  heavily. 

"Though  he  had  saved  the  life  of  every  noble  in 
Bavaria,"  he  said,  "he  should  die.  I  have  sworn  an  oath 
that  every  Englishman  who  fell  into  my  hands  should 
expiate  the  murder  of  my  kinsman;  and  this  felloe  is, 
moreover,  guilty  of  an  outrage  to  the  arms  of  Austria." 

The  young  Sir  Ernest  drew  himself  up  haughtily. 

"My  lord  baron,"  he  said,  "henceforth  I  renounce  all 
allegiance  to  you,  and  I  will  lay  the  case  before  the 


208  THE  BO  T  ENIQHT. 

emperor,  our  common  master,  and  will  cry  before  him  at 
the  outrage  which  has  thus  been  passed  upon  a  noble 
gentleman.  He  has  thrown  down  the  glove,  and  chal- 
lenged any  of  your  knights,  and  I  myself  am  equally 
ready  to  do  battle  in  his  cause." 

The  baron  grew  red  with  passion,  and  he  would  have 
ordered  the  instant  arrest  of  the  young  man,  but  as  Sir 
Ernest  was  connected  by  blood  with  many  present,  and 
was  indeed  one  of  the  most  popular  among  the  cobles  of 
the  province,  the  baron  simply  waved  him  aside,  and 
ordered  Cuthbert  to  be  led  to  the  block.  The  young 
Englishman  was  by  the  executioner  divested  of  his  armor 
and  helmet,  and 'stood  in  the  simple  attire  worn  by  men 
of  rank  at  that  time.  He  looked  around,  and  holding  up 
his  hand,  conveying  alike  a  farewell  and  a  command  to 
his  followers  to  remain  in  concealment,  he  gazed  round 
the  crowd,  thinking  that  he  might  see  among  them  in 
some  disguise  or  other  the  features  of  Cnut,  whose  tall 
figure  would  have  rendered  him  conspicuous  in  a  crowd. 
He  failed,  however,  to  see  any  signs  of  him,  and  turning 
to  the  executioner,  signified  by  a  gesture  that  he  was 
ready. 

At  this  instant  an  arrow  from  the  wall  above  pierced 
the  brain  of  the  man,  and  he  fell  dead  in  his  tracks.  A 
roar  of  astonishment  burst  from  the  crowd.  Upon  the 
city  wall  at  this  point  was  a  small  turret,  and  on  this 
were  five  figures.  The  wall  around  was  deserted,  and 
for  the  moment  these  men  were  masters  of  the  position. 

"Seize  those  insolent  varlets!"  the  baron  shonted^ 
shaking  his  sword  with  a  gesture  of  fury  at  them. 

His  words,  however,  were  arrested,  for  at  the  moment 
another  arrow  struck  him  in  the  throat,  and  he  fell  back 
into  the  arms  of  those  around  him. 

Quickly  now  the  arrows  of  the  English  archers  flew 
into  the  courtyard.  The  confusion  w&ich  reigned  there 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  209 

indescribable.  The  citizens  with  shouts  of  alarm 
took  to  their  heels.  The  men-at-arms  were  powerless 
against  this  rain  of  missiles,  and  the  knights,  hastily  clos- 
ing their  visors,  shouted  contradictory  orders,  which  no 
one  obeyed. 

In  the  confusion  no  one  noticed  the  prisoner.  Seizing 
a  moment  when  the  attention  of  all  was  fixed  upon  the 
wall,  he  leaped  from  the  platform,  and  making  his  way 
unnoticed  through  the  excited  crowd  of  men-at-arms, 
darted  down  a  narrow  lane  that  divided  the  castle  from 
the  wall.  He  ran  along  until,  one  hundred  yards  fur- 
ther, he  came  to  a  staircase  by  which  access  to  the  bat- 
tlements was  obtained.  Kunning  lightly  up  this,  he 
kept  along  the  wall  until  he  reached  the  turret. 

"Thanks,  my  noble  Cnut!"  he  exclaimed,  "and  you, 
my  brave  fellows.  But  I  fear  you  have  forfeited  your 
lives.  There  is  no  escape.  In  a  minute  the  whole  force 
of  the  place  will  recover  from  their  confusion,  and  be 
down  upon  us  from  both  sides." 

"We  have  prepared  for  that,"  Onut  said.  "Here  is  a 
rope  hanging  down  into  the  moat." 

Glancing  over,  Cuthbert  saw  that  the  moat  was  dry; 
and  after  a  final  discharge  of  arrows  into  the  crowd,  tha 
six  men  slid  one  after  another  down  the  rope  and  made 
their  way  at  full  speed  across  the  country. 


210  TEE  BO  T  ENIQHT. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

DRESDEN. 

IT  was  some  ten  minutes  before  the  men-at-arms  rallied 
sufficiently  from  their  surprise  to  obey  orders.  Two 
bodies  were  then  drawn  up,  and  proceeded  at  a  rapid 
pace  toward  the  staircases  leading  to  the  wall,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  turret  in  which  they  believed  that  the  little 
body  of  audacious  assailants  were  still  lying.  Having 
reached  the  wall,  the  soldiers  advanced,  covering  them- 
selves with  their  shields,  for  they  had  learned  the  force 
with  which  an  English  clothyard  shaft  drawn  by  a  strong 
hand  flies.  Many  had  been  killed  by  these  missiles  pass- 
ing through  and  through  the  cuirass  and  backpiece.  No 
reply  being  obtained  to  the  summons  to  surrender,  they 
proceeded  to  break  in  with  their  battle-axes  the  door  of 
the  little  turret.  Rushing  in  with  ax  and  pike,  they 
were  astonished  to  find  the  place  empty.  A  glance  over 
the  wall  showed  the  rope  still  hanging,  and  the  manner 
of  the  escape  became  manifest.  The  fugitives  were 
already  out  of  sight,  and  the  knights,  furious  ao  the 
escape  of  the  men  who  had  bearded  them  in  the  heart  of 
the  city  with  such  audacity,  and  had  slain  the  lord  baron 
and  several  of  his  knights,  gave  orders  that  an  instant 
pursuit  should  be  organized.  It  was,  however,  a  full 
half  hour  before  the  city  gates  were  thrown  open,  and  a 
strong  troop  of  knights  and  mounted  men  issued  out. 

Cuthbert   had   been    certain  that  an  instant  pursuit 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

would  be  set  on  foot,  and  the  moment  that  he  was  out 
of  sight  of  the  battlements  he  changed  the  direction  in 
which  he  had  started,  and  turning  at  fight  angles,  swept 
round  the  city,  still  keeping  at  a  distance,  until  he 
reached  the  side  next  the  mountains,  and  then  plunged 
into  the  woods  on  the  lower  slopes  of  the  hills. 

"They  will,"  he  said,  as  they  halted  breathless  from 
their  run,  "follow  the  road  toward  the  south,  and  scour 
the  country  for  awhile  before  it  occurs  to  their  thick 
German  skulls  that  we  have  doubled  back  on  our  tracks. 
Why,  what  is  it,  Cnut?" 

This  exclamation  was  provoked  by  the  forester  throw- 
ing himself  on  his  knees  before  Sir  Cuthbert,  and  im- 
ploring his  pardon  for  the  dire  strait  into  which  his 
imprudence  had  drawn  him. 

"It  was  a  dire  strait,  certainly,  Cnut.  But  if  you  got 
me  into  it,  at  least  you  have  extricated  me;  and  never 
say  more  about  it,  for  I  myself  was  near  committing  the 
imprudence  to  which  you  gave  way,  and  I  can  well  un- 
derstand that  your  English  blood  boiled  at  the  sight  of 
the  outrage  to  the  flag  of  England.  Now,  let  us  waste 
no  time  in  talk,  but,  keeping  to  the  foot  of  this  moun- 
tain, make  along  as  far  as  we  can  to  the  west.  We  must 
cling  to  the  hills  for  many  days'  march  before  we  venture 
again  to  try  to  cross  the  plains.  If  possible,  we  will  keep 
on  this  way  until  we  reach  the  confines  of  the  country  of 
the  Swiss,  who  will  assuredly  give  us  hospitality,  and 
who  will  care  little  for  any  threats  of  these  German 
barons,  should  they  hear  that  we  have  reached  their 
asylum." 

By  nightfall  they  had  already  traveled  many  leagues, 
and  making  a  fire  in  the  wood,  Cuthbert  asked  Cnut  for 
an  account  of  what  had  taken  place  on  the  previous  day. 

"We  ran  for  life,  Sir  Cuthbert,  and  had  not  noticed 
that  you  had  been  drawn  into  the  fray.  Had  we  done 


212  THE  BO  Y  KNIQHT. 

so,  we  wouid  have  remained,  and  sold  our  lives  with 
yours;  but  hoping  that  you  had  passed  unnoticed  in  the 
crowd,  and  that  you  would  find  some  means  to  rejoin  us, 
we  kept  upon  our  way.  After  running  down  three 
streets  we  passed  a  place  where  a  courtyard  with  stables 
ranged  round  it  was  open.  There  were  none  about,  .and 
we  entered,  and  taking  refuge  in  a  loft  hid  ourselves 
beneath  some  provender.  There  we  remained  all  night, 
and  then  borrowing  some  apparel  which  some  of  the 
stablemen  had  hung  upon  the  walls,  we  issued  into  the 
town.  As  we  neared  the  great  square  we  saw  some  men 
employed  in  erecting  a  platform  in  the  midst,  and  a  sus- 
picion that  all  might  not  be  right,  and  that  you  might 
have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  these  German  dogs,  beset 
our  minds.  After  much  consultation  we  determined  to 
see  what  the  affair  meant,  and  making  our  way  on  to  the 
walls,  which,  indeed,  were  entirely  deserted,  we  took 
refuge  in  that  turret  where  you  saw  us.  Seeing  the 
crowd  gather,  and  being  still  more  convinced  that  some 
misfortune  was  about  to  occur,  I  again  went  back  to  the 
stables,  where  I  had  noticed  a  long  rope  used  by  the  cart- 
ers for  fastening  their  loads  to  the  wagons.  "With  this 
I  returned,  for  it  was  clear  that  if  we  had  to  mingle  in 
this  business  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  a  mode  of 
escape.  Of  the  rest  you  are  aware.  We  saw  the  knights 
coming  out  of  the  castle,  with  that  portfly  baron,  their 
lord,  at  their  head.  We  saw  the  block  and  the  heads- 
man upon  the  platform,  and  were  scarcely  surprised 
when  you  were  led  out,  a  prisoner,  from  the  gates.  We 
judged  that  what  did  happen  would  ensue.  Seeing  that 
the  confusion  wrought  by  a  sudden  attack  from  men 
perched  up  aloft  as  we  were,  commanding  the  courtyard, 
and  being  each  of  us  able  to  hit  a  silver  mark  at  the  dis- 
tance of  one  hundred  yards,  would  be  great  indeed,  we 
iudged  that  you  might  be  able  to  slip  away  unobserved, 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  %\ il 

and  were  sure  that  your  quick  wit  would  seize  any  oppor- 
tunity which  might  offer.  Had  you  not  been  able  to 
join  us,  we  should  have  remained  in  the  turret  and  sold 
our  lives  to  the  last,  as,  putting  aside  the  question  that 
we  could  never  return  to  our  homes,  having  let  our  dear 
lord  die  here,  we  should  not,  in  our  ignorance  of  the 
language  and  customs  of  the  country,  have  ever  been 
able  to  make  our  way  across  it.  We  knew,  however,  that 
before  this  turret  was  carried  we  could  show  these  Ger- 
mans how  five  Englishmen,  when  brought  to  bay,  can  sell 
their  lives." 

They  had  not  much  difficulty  in  obtaining  food  in  the 
forest,  for  game  abounded,  and  they  could  kill  as  many 
deer  as  seemed  fit  to  them.  As  Cnut  said,  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  believe  that  they  were  not  back  again  in  the  forest 
near  Evesharn,  so  similar  was  their  life  to  that  which 
they  had  led  three  years  before.  To  Cnut  and  the 
archers,  indeed,  it  was  a  pleasanter  time  than  any  which 
they  had  passed  since  they  had  left  the  shores  of  Eng- 
land, and  they  blithely  marched  along,  fearing  little  any 
pursuit  which  might  be  set  on  foot,  and,  indeed,  hearing 
nothing  of  their  enemies.  After  six  days'  travel  they 
came  upon  a  rude  village,  and  here  Cuthbert  learned 
from  the  people — with  much  difficulty,  however,  and 
pantomime,  for  neither  could  understand  a  word  spoken 
by  the  other — that  they  were  now  in  one  of  the  Swiss 
cantons,  and  therefore  secure  from  all  pursuit  by  the 
Germans.  Without  much  difficulty  Cuthbert  engaged 
one  of  the  young  men  of  the  village  to  act  as  their  guide 
to  Basle,  and  here,  after  four  days'  traveling,  they 
arrived  safely.  Asking  for  the  residence  of  the  burgo- 
master, Cuthbert  at  once  proceeded  thither,  and  stated 
that  he  was  an  English  knight  on  the  return  from  the 
Crusades;  that  he  had  been  foully  entreated  by  the  Lord 
of  Fussen,  who  had  been  killed  in  a  fray  by  his  followers; 


214  THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 

and  that  he  besought  hospitality  and  refuge  from  the 
authorities  of  Basle. 

.  "We  care  little,"  the  burgomaster  said,  "what  quarrel 
you  may  have  had  with  your  neighbors.  All  who  come 
hither  are  free  to  come  and  go  as  they  list,  and  you,  as  a 
knight  on  the  return  from  the  Holy  Land,  have  a  claim 
beyond  that  of  an  ordinary  traveler." 

The  burgomaster  was  himself  able  to  speak  French, 
and  summoning  several  of  the  councilors  of  the  town, 
he  requested  Cuthbert  to  give  a  narrative  of  his  adven- 
tures; which  he  did.  The  councilors  agreed  with  the 
burgomaster  that  Cuthbert  must  be  received  hospitably; 
but  the  latter  saw  that  there  was  among  many  of  them 
considerable  doubt  as  to  the  expediency  of  quarreling 
with  a  powerful  neighbor.  He  therefore  said  to  the 
burgomaster: 

"I  have  no  intention,  honorable  sir,  of  taking  up  any 
prolonged  residence  here.  I  only  ask  to  be  furnished 
with  a  charger  and  arms,  and  in  payment  of  these  I  will 
leave  this  gold  chain,  the  gift  of  King  Richard  himself, 
as  a  gage,  and  will  on  my  return  to  my  country  forward 
to  you  the  value  of  the  arms  and  horse,  trusting  that  you 
will  return  the  chain  to  me." 

The  burgomaster,  however,  said  that  the  city  of  Basle 
was  not  so  poor  that  it  need  take  the  gage  of  an  honorable 
knight,  but  that  the  arms  and  charger  he  required 
should  be  given  him  in  a  few  hours,  and  that  he  might 
pay  the  value  in  London  to  a  Jew  merchant  there  who 
had  relations  with  one  at  Basle.  Full  instructions  were 
given  to  him,  and  he  resolved  to  travel  down  upon  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  until  he  reached  Lorraine,  and 
thence  to  cross  into  Saxony.  The  same  afternoon  the 
promised  horse  and  arms  were  provided,  and  Cuthbert, 
delighted  again  to  be  in  harness,  and  thanking  courte- 
ously the  burgomaster  and  council  for  their  kindness, 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  215 

started  with  his  followers  on  his  journey  north.  These 
latter  had  been  provided  with  doublets  and  other  gar- 
ments suitable  to  the  retinue  of  a  knight,  and  made  a 
better  show  than  they  had  done  since  they  first  left 
England. 

Leaving  Basle,  they  traveled  along  the  left  side  of  the 
Rhine  by  easy  stages.  The  country  was  much  disturbed, 
owing  to  the  return  and  disbandment  of  so  many  of  the 
troops  employed  in  the  Crusades.  These,  their  occupa- 
tion being  gone,  scattered  over  the  country,  and  France 
and  Germany  alike  were  harassed  by  bands  of  military 
robbers.  The  wild  country  between  the  borders  of 
Switzerland  and  Lorraine  was  specially  vexed,  as  the 
mountains  of  the  Vosges  afforded  shelter,  into  which  the 
freebooters  could  not  be  followed  by  the  troops  of  the 
duke. 

Upon  the  evening  of  the  third  day  they  reached  a 
small  inn  standing  in  a  lonely  position  near  the  foot  of 
the  mountains. 

"I  like  not  the  look  of  this  place,"  Cuthbcrt  said;  "but 
as  we  hear  that  there  is  no  other  within  a  distance  of 
another  ten  miles,  we  must  e'en  make  the  best  of  it." 

The  host  received  them-  with  extreme  and  even  fawn- 
ing civility,  which  by  no  means  raised  him  in  the  estima- 
tion of  Cuthbert  or  Cnut.  A  rough  meal  was  taken,  and 
they  then  ascended  to  the  rude  accommodation  which  had 
been  provided.  It  was  one  large  room  barely  furnished. 
Upon  one  side  straw  was  thickly  littered  down — for  in 
those  days  beds  among  the  common  people  were  unknown. 
In  a  sort  of  alcove  at  the  end  was  a  couch  with  a  rough 
mattress  and  coverlet.  This  Cuthbert  took  possession  of, 
while  his  followers  stretched  themselves  upon  the  straw. 

"Methin-ks,"  Cnut  said,  "that  it  were  well  that  one 
should  keep  watch  at  the  door.  I  like  not  the  look  of 
our  host,  and  we  are  near  the  spot  where  the  bands  of  the 
robbers  are  said  to  be  busy." 


516  TEE  EOT  KNIGHT. 

Toward  morning  the  archer  on  guard  reported  that  «i« 
could  hear  the  sound  of  many  approaching  footsteps. 
All  at  once  sprang  to  their  feet,  and  betook  themselves 
to  their  arms.  Looking  from  the  window  they  saw  a 
large  party  of  rough  men,  whose  appearance  at  once  be- 
tokened that  they  were  disbanded  soldiers — a  title  almost 
synonymous  in  those  days  with  that  of  robber.  With  the 
united  strength  of  the  party  the  truckle  bed  was  carried 
from  the  alcove  and  placed  against  the  door.  Cuthbert 
then  threw  open  the  window,  and  asked  in  French  what 
they  wanted.  One  of  the  party,  who  appeared  to  be  the 
leader,  said  that  the  party  had  better  surrender  immedi- 
ately. He  promised  them  good  treatment,  and  said  that 
the  knight  would  be  put  to  ransom,  should  it  be  found 
that  the  valuables  upon  his  person  were  not  sufficient  to 
pay  the  worshipful  company  present  for  the  trouble 
which  they  had  taken  in  waiting  upon  him.  This  sally 
was  received  with  shouts  of  laughter.  Cuthbert  replied 
quietly  that  he  had  no  valuables  upon  his  person;  that  if 
they  took  him  there  were  none  would  pay  as  much  as  a 
silver  mark  for  the  ransom  of  them  all;  and  that  the  only 
things  that  they  had  to  give  were  sharp  arrows  and  heavy 
blows. 

"You  talk  bravely,  young  sir/'  the  man  said.  "But 
you  have  to  do  with  men  versed  in  fight,  and  caring  but 
little  either  for  knocks  or  for  arrows.  We  have  gone 
through  the  Crusades,  and  are  therefore  held  to  be 
absolved  from  all  sin,  even  that  so  great  as  would  be 
incurred  in  the  cutting  of  your  knightly  throat." 

"But  we  have  gone  through  the  Crusades  also," 
Cuthbert  said,  "and  our  persons  are  sacred.  The  sin  of 
slitting  our  weazands,  which  you  speak  of,  would  there- 
fore be  so  great  that  even  the  absolution  on  which  you 
rely  would  barely  extend  to  it." 

"We  know  most  of  those  who  have  served  in  the  Holy 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  217 

Land/'  the  man  said  more  respectfully  than  he  had  yet 
spoken,  "and  would  fain  know  with  whom  we  speak." 

"I  am  an  Englishman,  and  a  follower  of  King  Rich- 
ard," Guthbert  said,  "and  am  known  as  Sir  Cuthbert  of 
Evesham.  As  I  was  the  youngest  among  the  knights 
who  fought  for  the  holy  sepulcher,  it  may  be  that  my 
appearance  is  known  to  you?" 

"Ah,"  the  other  said,  "you  are  he  whom  they  called 
the  Boy  Knight,  and  who  was  often  in  the  thick  of  the 
fray,  near  to  Richard  himself.  How  comes  it,  Sir  Cuth- 
bert, that  you  are  here?" 

"The  fleet  was  scattered  on  its  return,"  Cuthbert  re- 
plied, "and  I  landed  with  my  followers,  well-nigh  penni- 
less, at  Zara,  and  have  since  made  my  way  across  the 
Tyrol.  I  have,  then,  as  you  may  well  suppose,  neither 
silver  nor  gold  about  my  person;  and  assuredly  neither 
Philip  of  France  nor  John  of  Austria  would  give  a  noble 
for  my  ransom;  and  it  would  be  long,  methinks,  to  wait 
ere  John  of  England  would  care  to  ransom  one  of  King 
Richard's  followers." 

The  brigands  spoke  for  awhile  among  themselves,  and 
then  the  leader  said: 

"You  speak  frankly  and  fairly,  Sir  Knight,  and  as  you 
have  proved  yourself  indeed  a  doughty  giver  of  hard 
blows,  and  as  I  doubt  not  that  the  archers  with  you  can 
shoot  as  straight  and  as  fast  as  the  rest  of  the  Saxon 
breed,  we  will  e'en  let  you  go  on  your  way,  for  your 
position  is  but  little  better  than  ours,  and  dog  should  not 
rob  dog." 

"Thanks,  good  fellow,"  Cuthbert  said.  "We  trust 
that  in  any  case  we  might  have  made  a  strong  defense 
against  yon;  but  it  would  be  hard  if  those  who  have 
fought  together  in  the  Holy  Land  should  slay  each 
other  in  this  lonely  corner  of  Lorraine." 

"Are   you    seeking  adventures  or  employment,    Sir 


218  TEE  BO  T  KNIGKT. 

Knight?  For  if  so,  myself  and  comrades  here  would 
gladly  take  service  with  you;  and  it  may  be  that  with  a 
clump  of  spears  you  might  obtain  engagement,  either 
under  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  or  he  of  Cleves." 

"Thanks  for  your  offer,"  Cuthbert  replied;  "but  at 
present  my  face  is  turned  toward  England.  King  Rich- 
ard nee"ds  all  his  friends;  and  there  is  so  little  chanoe  of 
sack  or  spoil,  even  should  we  have — which  God  forfend 
—civil  war,  that  I  fear  I  could  ill  reward  the  services 
which  you  offer  me." 

The  leader  ard  his  men  shouted  an  adieu  to  Cuthbert, 
and  departed  for  the  mountains,  leaving  the  latter  well 
pleased  with  his  escape  from  a  fight  of  which  the  result 
was  doubtful. 

Journeying  on  without  further  adventure,  they  came 
to  Nancy,  and  were  there  kindly  received  by  the  duke, 
who  was  not  at  that  time  upon  good  terms  with  Philip  of 
France,  and  was  therefore  well  disposed  toward  the  Eng- 
lish. Cuthbert  inquired  from  him  whether  any  news 
had  been  heard  of  King  Richard?  but  received  as  a  reply 
that  the  duke  had  heard  nothing  of  him  since  he  sailed 
from  Palestine. 

"This  is  strange,"  Cuthbert  said,  "for  I  myself  have 
journeyed  but  slowly,  and  have  met  with  many  delays. 
King  Richard  should  long  ere  this  have  reached  Saxony; 
and  I  fear  much  that  some  foul  treatment  has  befallen 
him.  On  our  way  we  found  how  bitter  was  the  feeling 
among  those  related  to  Conrad  of  Montferat  against 
him;  and  the  Archduke  John  is  still  smarting  from  the 
blow  which  King  Richard  struck  him  at  Ascalon.  But 
surely  they  would  not  be  so  unknightly  as  to  hinder  so 
great  a  champion  of  Christendom  as  King  Richard  on  his 
homeward  way?" 

"The  Archduke  John  is  crafty  and  treacherous,"  the 
duke  said;  "and  the  emperor  himself  would,  I  think,  be 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  219 

not  sorry  to  lay  hand  upon  the  King  of  England,  were  it 
only  to  do  pleasure  to  Philip  of  France.  Assuredly, 
however,  the  anger  and  indignation  of  all  Christendom 
will  be  aroused  should  the  king's  passage  be  inter- 
rupted, for  it  were  indeed  a  gross  breach  of  hospitality 
k>  seize  upon  a  man  who  has  the  double  claim  of  being  a 
champion  of  Christendom  and  a  shipwrecked  man. 
However,  it  is  early  yet  to  be  uneasy,  and  it  may  be  that 
in  a  fe .?  days  we  may  have  news  of  the  arrival  of  the 
king  in  Saxony.  He  may  have  encountered  difficulties 
similar  to  those  which  you  yourself  have  met  with.  The 
country  is  everywhere  disturbed,  and  it  is  not  only  in 
my  forests  that  bands  of  outlawed  men  are  to  be  met 
with.  At  present  there  is  peace  in  Europe.  It  may  last 
indeed  but  a  short  time.  But  so  long  as  it  continues,  so 
long  must  the  mountains  and  woods  be  full  of  desperate 
men.  Were  war  declared  between  any  two  princes  these 
would  flock  to  the  banners  of  him  who  would  pay  them 
highest,  and  a  war  which  could  end  in  the  entire  de- 
struction of  the  armies  of  both  combatants  would  be  a 
blessing  to  Europe." 

After  entertaining  Cuthbert  courteously  for  three 
days,  the  Duke  of  Lorraine  bade  him  adieu,  and  gave 
him  an  escort  of  men-at-arms  to  the  borders  of  the 
Ehine,  where  he  would  find  the  way  open  to  the  domains 
tf  the  Duke  of  Saxony.  Without  adventure  Cuthbert 
and  his  followers  arrived  at  Dresden,  and  he  immediately 
presented  himself  at  the  castle  of  the  duke.  The  instant 
that  he  sent  in  his  name  as  Sir  Cuthbert  of  Evesham,  a 
knight  of  King  Richard,  he  was  conducted  to  the  pres- 
ence of  the  duke  and  of  his  wife,  the  sister  of  King 
Kichard. 

"Are  you  bearer  of  news  of  my  brother  Richard?"  the 
duke  said,  advancing  a  step  to  meet  the  young  knight  as 
he  entered  the  hall. 


220  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

"Alas!  my  lord  duke,  I  am  not,"  Cuthbert  said;  "but 
had  hoped  to  gain  tidings  from  you." 

"From  me?"  the  duke  said  in  surprise.  "What 
should  lead  you  to  believe  that  I  have  any  news  of  King 
Richard  later  than  that  which  others  have  received? 
The  last  I  heard  of  him  was  upon  the  day  of  his  depar- 
ture from  the  Holy  Land,  before  the  storm  arose  which 
scattered  his  fleet,  and  I  am  ignorant  whether  he  has 
foundered  at  sea,  or  whether,  as  some  suppose,  his  vessel 
may  have  been  taken  captive  by  the  Moors." 

"I  bear  you  later  tidings,"  Cuthbert  said,  "than  those 
you  have  received.  I  was  on  board  the  ship  with  King 
Eichard.  We  were  wrecked  upon  the  Island  of  Corfu, 
and  there  hiring  a  small  ship,  we  proceeded  to  Zara. 
King  Richard  determined  to  make  his  way  across  the 
Tyrol  to  this  place;  but  he  thought  that  it  would  attract 
attention  to  him  were  he  accompanied  by  so  large  a 
party.  Therefore  he,  with  Sir  Baldwin  of  Bethune,  and 
a  few  followers,  started  north,  while  I  with  my  men  kept 
west  through  the  north  of  Italy,  and  then  crossed  by  the 
pass  over  Trent." 

"How  long  is  it  since  you  left  my  brother?"  the 
duchess  asked  anxiously. 

"It  is  now  over  a  month  since  I  bade  him  adieu," 
Cuthbert  answered. 

"Then  he  should  have  been  heard  of  long  since,"  the 
duchess  said.  "What  fate  can  have  befallen  him?" 

"Judging  from  my  own  experience/"  Cuthbert  said, 
"I  fear  that  he  may  have  come  to  harm  at  the  hands  of 
the  friends  of  Conrad  of  Montferat,  who  falsely  allege 
that  the  death  of  their  kinsman  was  caused  by  King  Rich- 
ard. The  Archduke  John,  too,  owes  him  no  good-wilf 
and  even  the  emperor  is  evilly  disposed  toward  him. 
The  king  traveled  under  an  assumed  name;  but  it  might 
well  be  that  he  would  be  recognized  upon  the  way.  His 


2KS  BOY  KNIQHT. 

face  was  known  to  all  who  fought  in  the  East;  and  his 
lordly  manner  and  majestic  stature  could  ill  be  con- 
cealed beneath  a  merchant's  garb.  Still,  lady,  as  I  have 
been  so  long  in  making  my  way  across,  it  may  be  that 
King  Richard  has  been  similarly  delayed  without  danger 
befalling  him,  and  it  could  hardly  be  that  so  important 
a  man  as  the  King  of  England  would  be  detained,  or 
come  to  any  misfortune,  without  the  news  being  bruited 
abroad." 

In  spite  of  Cuthbert's  reassuring  words,  'che  duke  and 
duchess  were  greatly  alarmed  at  the  news  of  King  Rich- 
ard's disappearance,  although  indeed  consoled  to  find 
that  their  previous  fears,  that  he  had  been  drowned  in 
the  storm  or  captured  by  the  Moorish  corsairs,  were 
unfounded. 

They  now  requested  from  Outhbert  the  story  of  what 
had  befallen  him  siace  he  left  the  king;  and  this  he 
related  at  some  length.  The  duke  was  greatly  inter- 
ested, and  begged  Cuthbert  at  least  to  remain  at  his 
court  until  some  news  might  arrive  of  King  Richard. 

For  a  month  Cuthbert  tarried  at  the  castle  of  the  Duke 
of  Saxony,  where  he  was  nobly  entertained,  and  treated 
as  a  guest  of  much  honor.  Cnut  and  the  archers  were 
delighted  at  the  treatment  they  received,  for  never  in 
their  lives  had  they  been  so  royally  entertained.  Their 
Saxon  tongue  was  nigh  enough  akin  to  the  language 
spoken  here  to  be  understood;  and  their  tales  of  adven- 
ture in  the  Holy  Land  rendered  them  as  popular  among 
the  retainers  of  the  duke  as  their  master  became  with 
the  duke  and  duchess. 


22%  THE  EOT  KNIGHT. 


CHAPTEK  XX. 

UNDER  THE  GREENWOOD. 

AT  the  end  of  a  month,  news  came  from  England  that 
Sir  Baldwin  of  Bethune  had  returned  there,  bearing  the 
news  that  the  king  had  been  arrested  at  Gortz,  only  two 
days'  journey  north  of  the  Adriatic — that  he  had  been 
recognized,  and  at  once  captured.  He  had  offered  no 
resistance,  finding  indeed  that  it  would  be  hopeless  so  to 
do.  Sir  Baldwin  had  been  permitted  to  depart  without 
molestation.  He  believed  that  the  folk  into  whose 
hands  he  had  fallen  were  retainers  of  the  Archduke 
John.  This  news,  although  sad  in  itself,  was  yet  in 
eome  degree  reassuring  to  the  duke  and  his  wife;  for 
they  felt  that  while  the  followers  of  Conrad  of  Montferat 
would  not  hesitate  to  put  King  Eichard  to  death  should 
he  fall  into  their  hands,  the  Archduke  John  would  not 
dare  to  bring  upon  himself  the  indignation  of  Europe  by 
•uch  treatment  of  his  royal  captive.  Cuthbert  at  once 
determined  to  return  to  England  to  see  Sir  Baldwin,  and 
to  ascertain  what  steps  were  being  taken  for  the  discovery 
of  the  prison  in  which  King  Richard  was  confined,  and 
for  his  release  therefrom;  and  also  to  establish  himself  in 
his  new  dignity  as  Earl  of  Evesham.  Therefore; bidding 
adieu  to  the  duke  and  duchess,  he  started  north.  The 
duke  furnished  him  with  letters  of  introduction  to  the 
princes  through  whose  countries  he  would  travel;  and 
again  crossing  the  Rhine,  he  journeyed  through  the  ter- 
ritories of  the  Dukes  of  Cleves  and  Brabant,  and  reached 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  223 

the  mouth  of  Scheldt  without  interruption.     There  tak- 
ing ship,  he  sailed  for  London. 

It  was  a  long  and  stormy  passage  between  the  mouth 
of  the  Scheldt  and  London.  The  vessel  in  which  Cuth- 
bert  had  shipped  was  old  and  somewhat  unseaworthy, 
and  several  times  in  the  force  of  the  gale  all  on  board 
gave  up  hope  for  their  lives.  At  last,  however,  they 
reached  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  and  dropping  up  with 
the  tide,  reached  London  eight  days  after  their  embarka- 
tion. The  noble  charger  which  the  King  of  Saxony  had 
presented  to  Cuthbert  had  suffered  greatly,  and  he 
feared  at  one  time  that  the  poor  animal  would  succumb 
to  the  effects  of  the  tempest.  However,  after  entering 
into  smooth  water  it  recovered  itself,  and  on  landing 
near  the  Tower  he  found  that  it  was  able  to  support  his 
weight.  Cnut  and  the  archers  were,  like  Cuthbert,  de- 
lighted to  have  their  feet  again  upon  English  soil;  and 
although  London  did  not  now  strike  them  with  the  same 
wonder  which  it  would  have  done  had  they  first  visited 
it  before  starting  on  their  journey — for  in  many  respects 
it  was  greatly  behind  some  of  the  continental  cities — yet 
the  feeling  of  home,  and  the  pleasure  of  being  able  to 
understand  the  conversation  of  those  around  them,  made 
the  poor  fellows  almost  beside  themselves  with  joy. 
Beyond  the  main  political  incidents  Guthbert  had  heard 
little  of  what  had  passed  in  England  since  his  departure; 
and  putting  up  at  a  hostelry,  he  inquired  of  the  host 
whether  Sir  Baldwin  of  Bethune  was  in  London,  or 
whether  he  was  away  on  his  estates.  The  landlord  did 
not  know.  There  were,  he  said,  but  few  nobles  at  court, 
and  London  was  never  so  dull  as  at  present.  As  Cuth- 
bert did  not  wish  his  coming  home  to  be  known  to  John 
until  he  had  learned  something  of  the  position  of  affairs, 
he  dispatched  Cnut  to  the  Tower  to  inquire  privately  of 
eome  of  the  officials  about  the  place  whether  Sir  Baldwin 


224  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

was  there.  Cnut  soon  returned  with  the  news  that  he 
had  not  been  at  the  court  since  his  return  from  the  Holy 
Land,  and  that  he  was  living  at  his  castle  down  in 
Dorsetshire.  After  some  hesitation  Cuthbert  resolved 
to  set  out  to  see  his  friend,  and  after  six  days'  travel  he 
arrived  at  the  castle  of  the  knight. 

Sir  Baldwin  received  him  with  immense  joy.     Me  had 
not  heard  of  him  since  they  parted  at  Zara,  and  he  feared 
that  a  fate  similar  to  that  which  had  befallen  KingBic!* 
ard  had  overtaken  Cuthbert,  even  if  he  were  still  alive. 

'  'Have  you  seen  aught  of  the  king,  our  master?"  the 
good  knight  inquired. 

"Nothing,"  Cuthbert  said.  "I  know  no  more  than 
yourself.  Indeed,  I  hoped  to  have  learned  something 
from  you  as  to  the  king." 

"I  was  separated  from  him  at  Gortz,  and  while  he  was 
taken  a  prisoner  to  the  archduke,  I  was  allowed  to  pur- 
sue my  way.  I  had  many  difficulties  and  dangers,  and 
was  some  weeks  in  finding  my  way  back.  Nothing  was 
known  of  the  king  when  I  returned.  Indeed,  I  was  the 
first  bearer  of  any  definite  news  concerning  him  since  the 
day  when  he  sailed  from  Acre.  Three  weeks  ago,  as  you 
may  have  learned,  the  news  came  that  he  is  now  detained 
in  captivity  by  the  emperor,  who  demanded  his  delivery 
by  the  Archduke  John,  into  whose  hands  he  first  fell. 
But  where  he  is  no  one  exactly  knows.  The  news  has 
created  an  immense  excitement  in  the  kingdom,  and  all 
are  resolved  to  sacrifice  any  of  their  treasures  which  may 
be  demanded  in  order  to  satisfy  the  ransom  which  the 
recreant  emperor  has  placed  upon  the  king.  Shame  is  it 
indeed  that  a  Christian  sovereign  should  hold  another 
in  captivity.  Still  more,  when  that  other  was  returning 
through  his  dominions  as  a  Crusader  coming  from  the 
Holy  Land,  when  his  person  should  be  safe,  even  to  his 
deadliest  enemy.  It  has  long  been  suspected  that  he  was 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  225 

in  the  hands  either  of  the  emperor  or  of  the  archduke, 
and  throughout  Europe  the  feeling  of  indignation  has 
been  strong;  and  I  doubt  not,  now  that  the  truth  is 
known,  this  feeling  will  be  stronger  than  ever." 

"But  now  that  it  is  known,"  Cuthbert  said,  "I  sup 
pose  there  will  be  no  delay  in  ransoming  the  king." 

"There  will  be  no  delay  in  raising  the  ransom,"  Sir 
Baldwin  said.  "But  the  kingdom  is  very  impoverished 
by  war,  by  the  exactions  of  Prince  John,  and  by  those  of 
Langley,  who  heid  it  for  King  Richard.  He  was  a  loyal 
servant  of  the  king,  but  an  exacting  and  rapacious  prel- 
ate. However,  I  doubt  "not  that  the  rents  of  the  English 
nobles  will  soon  be  charged  with  sums  sufficient  for  the 
ransom;  and  if  this  avail  not,  not  one  of  them  will  grudge 
their  silver  flagons  and  vessels  to  melt  down  to  make  the 
total  required.  But  we  must  not  flatter  ourselves  that 
he  will  obtain  his  liberty  so  soon  as  the  money  is  raised. 
Prince  John  has  long  been  yearning  for  sovereignty. 
He  has  long  exercised  the  real,  if  not  the  nominal, 
power,  and  he  has  been  intriguing  with  the  pope  and 
Philip  of  France  for  their  support  for  his  seizing  the 
crown.  He  will  throw  every  obstacle  in  the  way,  as,  we 
may  be  sure,  will  Philip  of  France,  Richard's  deadly 
enemy.  And  now  about  yourself,  Sir  Cuthbert;  tell  me 
what  has  befallen  you  since  we  last  met." 

Cuthbert  related  the  adventures  which  had  befallen 
him,  and  heard  those  of  Sir  Baldwin. 

"You  have  not,  I  suppose,"  the  latter  remarked,  "as 
yet  seen  Prince  John?" 

"No,"  Cuthbert  replied,  "I  thought  it  better  to  come 
down  to  ask  you  to  advise  me  on  the  position  of  affairs 
before  I  attempted  to  see  him." 

"You  did  well,"  Sir  Baldwin  said.     "When  I  arrived, 

'I  found  that  the  proper  officials  had,  according  to  King 

Richard's  instructions,  draw  up  the  patent  conferring 


226  THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 

upon  you  the  lands  and  title  of  Earl  of  Evesham,  before 
leaving  Acre,  and  had  received  the  king's  signature  to  it. 
This  was  attested  by  several  of  the  nobles  who  were  with 
us  and  who  returned  safely  to  England.  Prince  John, 
however,  declared  that  he  should  not  give  any  heed  to 
the  document;  that  King  Richard's  power  over  this 
realm  had  ceased  before  he  made  it;  and  that  he  should 
bestow  the  earldom  upon  whomsoever  he  chose.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  it  has  been  given  to  Sir  Rudolph  Flem- 
ing, a  Norman  knight  and  a  creature  of  the  prince.  The 
king  has  also,  I  hear,  promised  to  him  the  hand  of  the 
young  Lady  Margaret,  when  she  shall  become  of  mar- 
riageable age.  At  present  she  is  placed  in  a  convent  in 
Worcester.  The  abbess  is,  I  believe,  a  friend  of  the  late 
earl,  and  the  girl  had  been  with  her  for  some  time  pre- 
viously. Indeed  she  went  there,  I  think,  when  her  father 
left  England.  This  lady  was  ordered  to  give  up  her 
charge  to  the  guardianship  of  Sir  Rudolph;  but  she  re- 
fused to  do  so,  saying  that  it  would  not  be  convenable 
for  a  young  lady  to  be  under  the  guardianship  of  a 
bachelor  knight  having  no  lady  at  the  head  of  his  estab- 
lishment, and  that  therefore  she  should  retain  her,  in 
spite  of  the  orders  of  the  prince.  Prince  John,  I  hear, 
flew  into  a  fury  at  this;  but  he  did  not  dare  to  provoke 
the  anger  of  the  whole  of  the  clergy  by  ordering  the  con- 
vent to  be  violated.  And  indeed,  not  only  would  the 
clergy  have  been  indignant,  but  many  of  the  great  nobles 
would  also  have  taken  their  part,  for  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  contention  of  the  abbess  was  reasonable; 
and  there  is  among  all  the  friends  of  King  Richard  a 
very  strong  feeling  of  anger  at  your  having  been  deprived 
of  the  earldom.  This,  however,  has  so  far  not  found 
much  vent  in  words,  for  as  it  was  uncertain  whether  you 
would  ever  return  to  claim  your  rights,  it  was  worth  no 
one's  while  to  embroil  himself  unnecessarily  with  the 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  227 

prince  upon  such  a  subject.  God  knows  that  there  are 
subjects  enough  of  dispute  between  John  Lackland  and 
the  English  barons  without  any  fresh  ones  arising.  The 
whole  kingdom  is  in  a  state  of  disturbance.  There  have 
been  several  risings  against  Prince  John's  authority;  but 
these  have  been,  so  far,  suppressed.  Now  that  we  know 
where  King  Richard  is,  and  hope  for  his  return  ere  very 
long,  it  is  probable  that  peace  will  be  maintained;  but 
should  treachery  prevail,  and  King  Richard's  return  be 
prevented,  you  may  be  sure  that  John  will  not  be  per- 
mitted to  mount  the  throne  without  the  determined 
resistance  of  a  large  number  of  the  nobles." 

"But,"  Cuthbert  said,  "John  is  not  the  successor  to 
the  throne.  Prince  Arthur  of  Brittany  was  named  by 
King  Richard  from  the  first  as  his  successor.  He  is  so  by 
blood  and  by  right,  and  John  can  have  no  pretense  to 
the  throne  so  long  as  he  lives." 

"That  is  so,"  Sir  Baldwin  said.  "But  unhappily  in 
England  at  present  might  makes  right,  and  you  may  be 
sure  that  at  King  Richard's  death,  be  it  when  it  may, 
Prince  John  will  make  a  bold  throw  for  the  throne,  and, 
aided  as  he  will  be  by  the  pope  and  by  Philip  of  France, 
methinks  that  his  chances  are  better  than  those  of  the 
young  prince.  A  man's  power,  in  warlike  times,  is  more 
than  a  boy's.  He  can  intrigue  and  promise  and 
threaten,  while  a  boy  must  be  in  the  hands  of  partisans. 
I  fear  that  Prince  Arthur  will  have  troubled  times 
indeed  before  he  mounts  the  throne  of  England. 
Should  Richard  survive  until  he  becomes  of  age  to  take 
the  field  himself  and  head  armies,  he  may  succeed,  for 
all  speak  well  of  him  as  a  boy  of  singular  sweetness  of 
disposition,  while  Prince  John  is  detested  by  all  save 
those  who  flatter  and  live  by  him.  But  enough  for  tb.3 
present  of  politics,  Cuthbert;  let  us  now  to  table.  Iu 
is  long  since  we  two  feasted  together;  and,  indeed,  such 


£28  TEE  BOY  KNIGHT. 

meals  as  we  took  in  the  Holy  Land  could  scarcely  have 
been  called  feasts.  A  boar's  head  and  a  good  roasted 
capon  are  worthy  all  the  strange  dishes  that  we  had 
there.  I  always  misdoubted  the  meat,  which  seemed  to 
me  to  smack  in  flavor  of  the  Saracens,  and  I  never 
could  bring  myself  to  inquire  whence  that  strange  food 
was  obtained.  A  stoup  of  English  ale,  too,  is  worth  all 
the  Cyprus  wines,  especially  when  the  Cyprus  wines  are 
half-full  of  the  sand  of  the  desert.  Pah!  \i  makes  my 
throat  dry  to  think  of  those  horrible  meals.  So  you  have 
brought  Cnut  and  your  four  archers  safely  back  with 
you?" 

"Yes,"  Cuthbert  said,  smiling.  "But  they  were,  I 
can  assure  you,  a  heavy  weight  on  me,  in  spite  of  their 
faithfulness  and  fidelity.  Their  ignorance  of  the  lan- 
guage brought  most  of  my  troubles  upon  me,  and  Cnut 
had  something  of  the  nature  of  a  bull  in  him.  There 
are  certain  things  which  he  cannot  stomach,  and  when 
he  seeth  them  he  rageth  like  a  wild  beast,  regardless 
altogether  of  safety  or  convenience." 

In  the  evening  the  two  knights  again  talked  over  the 
course  which  Cuthbert  should  adopt.  The  elder 
knight's  opinion  was  that  his  young  friend  had  best 
formally  claim  the  title  by  writing  to  the  kiug-at-arms, 
and  should  also  announce  his  return  to  Prince  John, 
signing  himself  "Sir  Cuthbert,  Earl  of  Evesham;"  but 
that,  in  the  present  state  of  things,  it  would  be  unwise 
for  him  to  attempt  to  regain  his  position,  should,  as  was 
certain  to  be  the  case,  Prince  John  refuse  to  recognize 
him. 

"You  are  very  young  yet,"  Sir  Baldwin  said,  "not 
eighteen,  I  think,  and  can  afford  to  wait,  at  any  rate,  to 
see  whether  King  Richard  returns.  Should  he  come 
back,  he  will  see  all  these  wrongs  are  righted;  and  one  of 
his  first  cares  would  assuredly  be  to  cast  this  usurper  out 
of  his  stolen  dignities.  How  old  is  the  Lady  Margaret?" 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT.  229 

"She  is  fifteen,"  Cuthbert  said.  "She  was  three  years 
younger  than  I." 

"I  wish  she  had  been  younger,"  Sir  Baldwin  said. 
"At  fifteen  she  is  not  by  custom  fairly  marriageable;  but 
men  can  strain  these  points  when  they  choose;  and  I  fear 
that  the  news  of  your  coming  will  hasten  both  the  prince 
and  Sir  Rudolph  in  their  determination  to  strengthen  the 
claim  of  this  usurper  by  marriage  with  the  heiress  of 
Evesham.  The  Lady  Margaret  and  her  friends  can  of 
course  claim  that  she  is  a  royal  ward,  and  that  as  such 
the  king  alone  can  dispose  of  her  person  and  estates. 
But  unfortunately  force  overrides  argument." 

"But  surely,"  Cuthbert  said,  "they  will  never  venture 
to  take  her  by  force  from  the  convent?" 

"They  venture  a  great  many  strange  things  in  Eng- 
land now,"  Sir  Baldwin  said;  "and  Worcester  is  peril- 
ously near  to  Evesham.  With  a  clump  of  twenty  spears, 
Sir  Rudolph  might  break  into  the  convent  and  carry  off 
the  young  lady,  and  marry  her  by  force;  and  although 
the  Church  might  cry  out,  crying  would  be  of  little  avail 
when  the  deed  was  done;  and  a  handsome  present  on  the 
part  of  Sir  Rudolph  might  go  far  to  shut  the  mouths  of 
many  of  the  complainants,  especially  as  he  will  be  able  to 
say  that  he  has  the  king's  sanction  for  what  he  did." 

"Methinks,"  Cuthbert  said,  "that  if  such  be  the  case 
it  would  be  perilous  indeed  to  wait  for  King  Richard's 
return.  Assuredly  Sir  Rudolph  would  not  tarry  until 
she  attained  the  age  of  seventeen,  and  it  may  well  be 
that  two  years  may  yet  pass  before  King  Richard  comes 
back.  It  seems  to  me  the  wiser  part  will  be  that  I 
should  give  Prince  John  no  notice  that  I  am  in  England. 
As  you  say,  such  notice  would  be  of  no  avail  in  recover- 
ing my  lands  and  title,  but  it  would  put  the  prince  upon 
his  guard;  and  assuredly  he  and  his  minions  would  press 
forward  their  measures  to  obtain  possession  of  the  person 


230  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

of  the  Lady  Margaret;  while,  on  the  other  hand>  no 
harm  can  come  of  my  maintaining  silence." 

"I  think  that  you  are  right,  Sir  Cuthbert.  It  were 
indeed  best  that  your  enemies  should  suppose  you  either 
dead  or  in  some  dungeon  in  the  Tyrol.  What  would  you 
then  do?" 

"I  would  return  to  my  old  home,"  Cuthbert  said. 
"My  lady  mother  is,  I  trust,  still  alive.  But  I  will  not 
appear  at  her  house,  but  will  take  refuge  in  the  forest 
there.  Cnut,  and  the  archers  v.ith  him,  were  all  at  one 
time  outlaws  living  there,  and  I  doubt  not  that  there  are 
many  good  men  and  true  still  to  be  found  in  the  woods. 
Others  will  assuredly  join  when  they  learn  that  Cnut  is 
there,  and  that  they  are  wanted  to  strike  a  blow  for  my 
rights.  I  shall  then  bide  my  time.  I  will  keep  a  strict 
watch  over  the  castle  and  over  the  convent.  As  the 
abbess  is  a  friend  and  relative  of  Lady  Margaret's,  I  may 
obtain  an  interview  with  her,  and  warn  her  of  the  dan- 
gers that  await  her,  and  ask  if  she  be  willing  to  fulfill  the 
promise  of  her  father  and  King  Richard's  will,  in  accept- 
ing me  as  her  husband  when  due  time  shall  arrive,  and 
whether  she  will  be  willing  that  I  should  take  such  steps 
as  I  may  to  deliver  her  from  the  persecution  of  Sir 
Rudolph.  If,  as  I  trust,  she  assents  to  this,  I  will  keep 
a  watch  over  the  convent  as  well  as  the  castle,  and  can 
then  either  attack  the  latter  or  carry  her  off  from  the 
.former,  as  the  occasion  may  appear  to  warrant.  There 
are  plenty  of  snug  cottages  round  the  forest,  where  she 
can  remain  in  concealment  in  the  care  of  some  good 
farmer's  wife  for  months,  and  we  shall  be  close  at  hand  to 
watch  over  her.  With  the  aid  of  the  forest  men,  Sir 
Walter  took  the  castle  of  Sir  John  of  Wortham;  and 
although  Evesham  is  a  far  grander  pile  than  that,  yet 
methinks  it  could  be  carried  by  a  sudden  assault;  and  we 
know  more  of  ,war  now  than  we  did  then.  Prince  John 


THE  BO T  KNIGHZ:  231 

may  deny  me  the  right  of  being  the  Earl  of  Evesham; 
but  methinks  before  many  months  I  can,  if  I  choose, 
Become  its  master." 

"Be  not  too  hasty  in  that  matter,"  Sir  Baldwin  said. 
"You  might  capture  the  castle  with  the  aid  of  your  out- 
laws; but  you  could  scarcely  hold  it.  The  prince  has, 
ere  now,  with  the  aid  of  those  faithful  to  him  and  his 
foreign  mercenaries,  captured  stronger  holds  than  that 
of  Evesham;  and  if  you  turn  his  favorite  out,  you  would 
have  a  swarm  of  hornets  around  you  such  as  the  walls  of 
Evesham  could  not  keep  out.  It  would  therefore  be 
worse  than  useless  for  you  to  attempt  what  would  be 
something  like  an  act  of  rebellion  against  Prince  John's 
authority,  and  would  give  him  what  now  he  has  no 
excuse  for,  a  ground  for  putting  a  price  upon  your  head 
— and  cutting  it  off  if  he  got  the  opportunity.  You 
might  now  present  yourself  boldly  at  court,  and  although 
he  might  refuse  to  recognize  your  title  of  earl,  yet,  as  a 
knight  and  a  Crusader  who  has  distinguished  himself 
greatly  in  the  Holy  Land,  he  dare  not  interfere  with 
your  person,  for  this  would  be  resented  by  the  whole  of 
the  chivalry  of  England.  Still,  I  agree  with  you  that 
your  best  course  is  to  keep  your  return  a  secr«t.  You 
will  then  be  unwatched  and  unnoticed,  and  your  enemies 
will  take  their  time  in  carrying  their  designs  into  effect." 

Two  days  later  Outhbert,  attended  by  his-  faithful 
retainers,  left  Sir  Baldwin's  castle,  and  traveled  by  easy 
stages  through  "Wiltshire  and  the  confines  of  Gloucester- 
shire up  to  Worcester.  He  had  been  supplied  by  Sir 
Baldwin  with  suitable  attire  for  himself  and  his  follow- 
ers, and  now  rode  as  a  simple  knight,  without  arms  or 
cognizance,  journeying  from  one  part  to  another.  All 
the  crosses  and  other  crusading  signs  were  laid  aside,  and 
there  was  nothing  to  attrach  any  attention  to  him  upon 
his  passage.  Cuthbert  had  at  first  thought  of  going 


232  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

direct  to  the  convent  of  Worcester,  and  asking  for  an 
interview  with  Lady  Margaret;  but  he  reflected  that  it 
might  be  possible  that  some  of  the  myrmidons  of  Sir 
Rudolph  might  be  keeping  a  watch  over  that  building  to 
see  that  Lady  Margaret  was  not  secretly  removed  to 
some  other  place  of  refuge,  and  that  the  appearance  of  a 
knight  before  its  doors  would  excite  comment  and  sus- 
picion. He  therefore  avoided  the  town,  and  journeyed 
straight  to  the  forest,  where  he  had  so  often  roamed  with 
Cnut  and  the  outlaws. 

Here  he  found  that  matters  had  but  little  changed 
since  he  was  last  there.  Many  of  those  who  had  fought 
with  him  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  who  had  returned  by 
sea,  had  again  taken  to  the  forest,  joined  by  many  new 
men  whom  the  exactions  of  Sir  Rudolph  had  already 
goaded  into  revolt.  Cnut  was  received  with  enthusiasm, 
and  when  he  presented  Cuthbert  to  them  as  the  rightful 
heir  of  Evesham  and  the  well-known  friend  of  the  for- 
esters, their  enthusiasm  knew  no  bounds.  They  at  once 
accepted  him  as  their  lord  and  master,  and  promised  to 
obey  his  orders,  and  to  lay  down  their  lives,  if  necessary, 
in  his  cause,  as  they  knew  that  it  was  he  who  had 
formerly  obtained  the  pardon  of  the  forest  band,  and  who 
had  fought  with  them  in  their  attack  on  Wortham  Castle. 

To  Cuthbert's  great  delight  he  heard  that  his  mother 
was  in  good  health,  although  she  had  for  some  months 
been  grievously  fretting  over  his  disappearance  and  sup- 
posed death.  Cuthbert  hesitated  whether  he  should 
proceed  at  once  to  see  her;  but  he  feared  that  the  shock 
of  his  appearance  might  be  too  much  for  her,  and  that 
her  expressions  of  joy  might  make  the  retainers  and 
others  aware  of  his  arrival,  and  the  news  might  in  some 
way  reach  the  ears  of  those  at  the  castle.  He  therefore 
dispatched  Cnut  to  see  her,  and  breal$  the  news  to  her 
cautiously,  and  to  request  her  to  arrange  for  a  time  when 


THE  BO  T  ENIQHT.  233 

she  would  either  see  Cuthbert  at  some  place  at  a  dis- 
tance from  the  house,  or  would  so  arrange  that  the  domes- 
tics should  be  absent  and  that  he  would  have  an  inter- 
view with  her  there  unobserved. 

Cnut  was  absent  some  hours,  and  on  his  return  told 
Cuthbert  that  he  had  seen  Dame  Editha,  and  that  her 
joy  on  hearing  of  her  son's  safe  arrival  had  caused  her  no 
harm,  but  rather  the  reverse.  The  news  that  King 
Richard  had  bestowed  upon  him  the  title  and  lands  of 
Evesham  was  new  to  her,  and  she  was  astonished  indeed 
to  hear  of  his  elevation.  Having  heard  much  of  the 
character  of  the  pretending  earl,  she  had  great  fears  for 
the  safety  of  Cuthbert,  should  his  residence  in  the 
neighborhood  get  to  his  ears;  and  although  sure  of  the 
fidelity  of  all  her  retainers,  she  feared  that  in  their  joy  at 
their  young  master's  return  they  might  let  slip  some  in- 
cautious word  which  would  come  to  the  ears  of  some  of 
those  at  the  castle.  She  therefore  determined  to  meet 
him  at  a  distance.  She  had  arranged  that  upon  the  fol- 
lowing day  she  would  give  out  that  she  intended  to  make 
a  pilgrimage  to  the  shrine  of  St.  Dunstan,  which  lay  at 
the  edge  of  the  forest,  to  thank  him  for  her  recovery 
from  illness,  and  to  pray  for  the  safety  of  her  son.  She 
would  be  carried  thither  in  a  litter,  and  her  journey 
would  excite  no  comment  whatever.  She  would  take 
with  her  four  of  her  most  trusted  retainers,  and  would 
on  her  arrival  at  the  shrine  send  them  to  a  distance,  in 
order  to  pay  her  devotions  undisturbed.  Cuthbert  Was 
to  be  near,  and  the  moment  he  saw  them  depart,  to 
enter. 

This  arrangement  was  carried  out,  and  the  joy  of 
Dame  Editha  at  again  meeting  her  son  was  deep  indeed. 
He  had  left  her  a  lad  of  fifteen.  He  now  returned  a 
youth  of  nearly  eighteen,  stout  and  strong  beyond  his 
age,  and  looking  far  older  than  he  was,  from  the  effect 


234  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

of  the  hot  sun  of  Syria  and  of  the  hardships  through 
which  he  had  gone.  That  he  should  win  his  spurs  upon 
the  first  opportunity  the  earl  had  promised  her,  and  she 
doubted  not  that  he  would  soon  attain  the  rank  which 
his  father  had  held.  But  that  he  should  return  to  her  a 
belted  earl  was  beyond  her  wildest  thoughts.  This, 
however,  was  but  little  in  her  mind  then.  It  was  her 
son,  and  not  the  Earl  of  Evesham,  whom  sh»  clasped  in 
her  arms. 

As  the  interview  must  necessarily  be  a  short  one,  Cuth- 
bert  gave  her  but  a  slight  outline  of  what  had  happened 
since  they  parted,  and  the  conversation  then  turned 
upon  the  present  position,  and  upon  the  steps  which  had 
best  be  taken. 

"Your  peril  is,  I  fear,  as  great  here  as  when  you  were 
fighting  the  infidels  in  the  Holy  Land,"  she  said.  "Sir 
Rudolph  has  not  been  here  long;  but  he  has  proved  him- 
self a  cruel  and  ruthless  master.  He  has  driven  forth 
many  of  the  old  tenants  and  bestowed  their  lands  upon 
his  own  servants  and  retainers.  The  forest  laws  he 
carries  out  to  the  fullest  severity,  and  has  hung  several 
men  who  were  caught  infringing  them.  He  has  laid  such 
heavy  burdens  on  all  the  tenants  that  remain  that  they 
are  fairly  ruined,  and  if  he  stay  here  long  he  will  rule 
over  a  desert.  Did  he  dream  of  your  presence  here,  he 
would  carry  fire  and  sword  through  the  forest.  It  is  sad 
indeed  to  think  that  so  worthless  a  knave  as  this  should 
be  a  favorite  of  the  ruler  of  England.  But  all  men  say 
that  he  is  so.  Thus  were  you  to  attack  him,  even  did 
you  conquer  and  kill  him,  you  would  have  the  enmity  of 
Prince  John  to  contend  with;  and  he  spareth  none,  man 
or  woman,  who  stand  in  his  way.  It  will  be  a  bad  day 
indeed  for  England  should  our  good  King  Richard  not 
return.  I  will,  as  you  wish  me,  write  to  my  good  cousin, 
the  Lady  Abbess  of  St.  Anne's,  and  will  ask  that  you 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT.  235 

may  have  an  interview  with  the  Lady  Margaret,  to  hear 
her  wishes  and  opinions  concerning  the  future,  and  will 
pray  her  to  do  all  that  she  can  to  aid  your  suit  with  the 
fair  young  lady,  and  to  keep  her  at  all  events  safe  from 
the  clutches  of  the  tyrant  of  Evesham." 

Three  days  later  a  boy  employed  as  a  messenger  by 
Dame  Editha  brought  a  note  to  Cuthbert,  saying  that 
she  had  heard  from  the  Abbess  of  St.  Anne's,  who 
would  be  glad  to  receive  a  visit  from  Cuthbert.  The 
abbess  had  asked  his  mother  to  accompany  him;  but  this 
she  left  for  him  to  decide.  Cuthbert  sent  back  a  mes- 
sage in  reply  that  he  thought  it  would  be  dangerous  for 
her  to  accompany  him,  as  any  spy  watching  would  report 
her  appearance,  and  inquiries  were  sure  to  be  set  on  foot 
as  to  her  companion.  He  said  that  he  himself  would  call 
at  the  convent  on  the  following  evening  after  nightfall, 
and  begged  her  to  send  word  to  the  abbess  to  that  effect, 
in  order  that  he  might,  when  he  presented  himself,  be 
admitted  at  once. 


TSX  BOY  ENIQHT. 


CHAPTER  XXL 

THE  ATTEMPT  ON  THE  CONVENT. 

UPON  the  following  evening  Cuthbert  proceeded  to 
Worcester.  He  left  bis  horse  some  little  distance  out- 
side the  town,  and  entered  on  foot.  Having  no  appre- 
hension of  an  attack,  he  had  left  all  his  pieces  of  armor 
behind,  and  was  in  the  quiet  garb  of  a  citizen.  Cnut  at- 
tended him — for  that  worthy  follower  considered  himself 
as  responsible  that  no  harm  of  any  sort  should  befall  his 
young  master.  The  consequences  of  his  own  imprudence 
in  the  Tyrol  were  ever  before  his  mind,  and  he  deter- 
mined that  from  henceforth  there  should  be  no  want  of 
care  on  his  part.  He  accompanied  Cuthbert  to  within  a 
short  distance  of  the  convent,  and  took  up  his  position 
in  the  shade  of  a  house,  whence  he  could  watch  should 
any  one  appear  to  be  observing  Cuthbert's  entrance. 

Upon  ringing  the  bell  Cuthbert  told  the  porteress,  as 
had  been  arranged,  that  he  had  called  on  a  message  from 
Dame  Editha,  and  he  was  immediately  ushered  into  the 
parlor  of  the  convent,  where,  a  minute  or  two  later,  he 
was  joined  by  the  lady  abbess.  He  had  when  young  been 
frequently  to  the  convent,  and  had  always  been  kindly 
received. 

"I  am  indeed  glad  to  see  you,  Sir  Cuthbert,"  she  said, 
"though  I  certainly  should  not  have  recognized  the  lad 
who  used  to  come  here  with  my  cousin  in  the  stalwart 
young  knight  I  see  before  me.  You  are  indeed  changed 
and  improved.  Who  would  think  that  my  gossip 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  237 

Editha's  son  would  come  to  be  the  Earl  of  Evesham! 
The  Lady  Margaret  is  eager  to  see  you;  but  I  think  that 
you  exaggerate  the  dangers  of  her  residence  here.  I  can- 
not think  that  even  a  minion  of  Prince  John  would  dare 
to  violate  the  sanctity  of  a  convent." 

"I  fear,  good  mother,"  Cuthbert  said,  "that  when 
ambition  and.  greed  are  in  one  scale,  reverence  for  the 
holy  church  will  not  weigh  much  in  the  other.  Had 
King  Richard  been  killed  upon  his  way  home,  or  so  long 
as  nothing  was  heard  of  him,  Sir  Eudolph  might  havo 
been  content  to  allow  matters  to  remain  as  they  were, 
until  at  least  Lady  Margaret  attained  an  age  which  would 
justify  him  in  demanding  that  the  espousal  should  be 
carried  out.  But  the  news  which  has  now  positively 
been  ascertained,  that  the  king  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
emperor,  and  the  knowledge  that  sooner  or  later  his  free- 
dom will  be  obtained,  will  hasten  the  friends  of  the 
usurper  to  make  the  most  of  their  advantage.  He  knows 
that  the  king  would  at  once  upon  his  return  annul  the 
nomination  of  Sir  Eudolph  to  the  earldom  which  had 
previously  been  bestowed  upon  me.  But  he  may  well 
think  that  if  before  that  time  he  can  secure  in  marriage 
the  person  of  the  late  earl's  daughter,  no  small  share  of 
the  domains  may  be  allotted  to  him  as  her  dowry,  even  if 
he  be  obliged  to  lay  by  his  borrowed  honors.  You  will, 
unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  hear  from  him  before 
long." 

The  abbess  looked  grave. 

"There  is  much  in  what  you  say,  Sir  Cuthbert;  and 
indeed  a  certain  confirmation  is  given  to  it  by  the  fact 
that  only  yesterday  I  received  a  letter  from  Sir  Eudolph, 
urging  that  now  the  Lady  Margaret  is  past  the  age  of 
fifteen,  and  may  therefore  be  considered  marriageable, 
the  will  of  the  prince  should  be  carried  into  effect,  and 
that  she  should  for  the  present  be  committed  to  the 


338  EH»  BOY  KNIGHT. 

charge  of  the  Lady  Clara  Boulger,  who  is  the  wife  of  a 
friend  and  associate  of  Sir  Rudolph.  He  says  that  he 
should  not  wish  to  press  the  marriage  until  she  attains 
the  age  of  sixteen,  but  that  it  were  well  that  his  future 
wife  should  become  accustomed  to  the  outbide  world,  so 
as  to  take  her  place  as  Castellan  of  Evesham  with  a 
dignity  befitting  the  position.  I  wrote  at  once  to  him 
saying  that  in  another  year  it  would,  in  my  poor  judg- 
ment, be  quite  time  to  think  about  such  worldly  mat- 
ters; that  at  the  present  the  Lady  Margaret  was  receiv- 
ing an  education  suitable  to  her  rank;  that  she  was 
happy  here;  and  that  unless  constrained  by  force — of 
which,  I  said,  I  could  not  suppose  that  any  possibility 
existed — I  should  not  surrender  the  Lady  Margaret  into 
any  hands  whatsoever,  unless,  indeed,  I  received  the 
commands  of  her  lawful  guardian,  King  Richard." 

"You  said  well,  holy  mother,"  Sir  Cuthbert  said. 
"But  you  see  the  hawks  scent  the  danger  from  afar,  and 
are  moving  uneasily  already.  Whether  they  consider  it 
so  pressing  that  they  will  dare  to  profane  the  convent,  I 
know  not.  But  I  am  sure  that  should  they  do  so,  they 
will  not  hesitate  a  moment  at  the  thought  of  the  anger 
of  the  church.  Prince  John  has  already  shown  that  he 
is  ready,  if  need  be,  to  oppose  the  authority  of  the  holy 
father,  and  he  may  well,  therefore,  despise  any  local 
wrath  that  might  be  excited  by  an  action  which  he  can 
himself  disavow,  and  for  which,  even  at  the  worst,  he 
need  only  inflict  some  nominal  punishment  upon  his 
vassal.  Bethink  thee,  lady,  whether  it  would  not  be  safer 
to  send  the  Lady  Margaret  to  the  care  of  some  person, 
where  she  may  be  concealed  from  the  search  of  Sir 
Rudolph." 

"I  would  gladly  do  so,"  the  abbess  said,  "did  I  know 
of  such  a  person  or  such  a  place.  But  it  is  difficult  in- 
deed for  a  young  lady  of  rank  to  be  concealed  from  such 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  239 

sharp  searchers  as  Sir  Rudolph  would  be  certain  to  place 
upon  her  track.  Your  proposal  that  she  should  take  ref- 
uge in  the  house  of  some  small  franklin  near  the  forest,  I 
cannot  agree  to.  In  the  first  place,  it  would  demean  her 
to  be  so  placed;  and  in  the  second,  w^  could  never  be 
sure  that  the  report  of  her  residence  there  might  not 
reach  the  ears  of  Sir  Rudolph.  As  a  last  resource,  of 
course,  such  a  step  would  be  justifiable,  but  not  until  at 
least  overt  outrages  have  been  attempted.  Now  I  will 
call  Lady  Margaret  in." 

The  young  girl  entered  with  an  air  of  frank  gladness, 
but  was  startled  at  the  alteration  which  had  taken  place 
in  her  former  playfellow,  and  paused  and  looked  at  the 
abbess,  as  if  inquiring  whether  this  could  be  really  the 
Cuthbert  she  had  known.  Lady  Margaret  was  fifteen  in 
years;  but  she  looked  much  younger.  The  quiet  seclu- 
sion in  which  she  had  lived  in  the  convent  had  kept  her 
from  approaching  that  maturity  which  as  an  earl's 
daughter,  brought  up  in  the  stir  and  bustle  of  a  castle, 
she  would  doubtless  have  attained. 

"This  is  indeed  Sir  Cuthbert/'  the  abbess  said,  "your 
old  playfellow,  and  the  husband  destined  for  you  by  your 
father  and  by  the  will  of  the  king." 

Struck  with  a  new  timidity,  the  girl  advanced,  and, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  held  up  her  cheek 
to  be  kissed.  Cuthbert  was  almost  as  timid  as  herself. 

"I  feel,  Lady  Margaret,"  he  said,  "a  deep  sense  of  my 
own  unworthiness  of  the  kindness  and  honor  which  the 
dear  lord  your  father  bestowed  upon  me;  and  were  it  not 
that  many  dangers  threaten,  and  that  it  were  difficult 
under  the  circumstances  to  find  one  more  worthy  of  you, 
I  would  gladly  resign  you  into  the  hands  of  such  a  one 
were  it  for  'your  happiness.  But  believe  me  that  the 
recollection  of  your  face  has  animated  me  in  many  of  the 
scenes  of  danger  in  which  I  have  been  placed;  and  al- 


340  THE  B0  7 

though  even  in  fancy  my  thoughts  scarcely  ventured  to 
rise  so  high,  yet  I  felt  as  a  true  knight  might  feel  for  the 
lady  of  his  love." 

"I  always  liked  you,  Sir  Cuthbert,"  the  girl  said 
frankly,  "better  than  any  one  else  next  to  my  father, 
and  gladly  submit  myself  to  his  will.  My  own  inclina- 
tions indeed,  so  far  as  is  maidenly,  go  with  his.  These 
are  troubled  times,"  she  said  anxiously,  "and  our  holy 
mother  tells  me  that  you  fear  some  danger  is  overhang- 
ing me." 

"I  trust  that  the  danger  may  not  be  imminent," 
Cuthbert  answered.  "But  knowing  the  unscrupulous 
nature  of  the  false  Earl  of  Evesham,  I  fear  that  the  news 
that  King  Richard  is  found  will  bestir  him  to  early 
action.  But  you  can  rely,  dear  lady,  on  a  careful  watch 
being  kept  over  you  night  and  day;  and  should  any  at- 
tempt be  made  to  carry  you  away,  or  to  put  force  upon 
you,  be  assured  that  assistance  will  be  at  hand.  Even 
should  any  attempt  succeed,  do  not  lose  heart,  for  rescue 
will  certainly  be  attempted;  and  I  must  be  dead,  and  my 
faithful  followers  crushed,  before  you  can  become  the 
bride  of  Sir  Rudolph." 

Then  turning  to  other  subjects,  he  talked  to  her  of  the 
life  he  had  led  since  he  last  saw  her.  He  told  her  of  the 
last  moments  of  her  father,  and  of  the  gallant  deeds  he 
had  done  in  the  Holy  Land. 

After  waiting  for  two  hours,  the  abbess  judged  that 
the  time  for  separation  had  arrived;  and  Cuthbert,  tak- 
ing a  respectful  adieu  of  his  young  mistress,  and  receiv- 
ing the  benediction  of  the  abbess,  departed. 

He  found  Cnut  on  guard  at  the  point  where  he  had 
left  him. 

"Have  you  seen  aught  to  give  rise  to  suspicion?'* 
Cuthbert  asked. 

"Yes,"  Cnut  said,  "the  place  is  undoubtedly  watched, 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  241 

Just  after  you  had  entered  a  man  came  from  that  house 
yonder  and  went  up  to  the  gate,  as  if  he  would  fain  learn 
by  staring  at  its  iron  adornments  the  nature  of  him  who 
had  passed  in.  Then  he  re-entered  his  house,  and  if  I 
mistake  not  is  still  on  the  watch  at  that  casement.  If 
we  stand  here  for  a  minute  or  two,  perchance  he  may 
come  out  to  see  what  delays  you  in  this  dark  corner,  in 
which  case  I  may  well  give  him  a  clout  with  my  ax 
which  will  settle  his  prying." 

"Better  not/'  Cuthbert  said.  "We  can  retire  round 
this  corner  and  so  avoid  his  observation;  and  were  his 
body  found  slain  here,  suspicion  would  be  at  one  excited 
in  the  mind  of  his  employer.  At  present  he  can  have  no 
ground  for  any  report  which  may  make  the  knight  un- 
easy, for  he  can  but  know  that  a  gentleman  has  entered, 
and  remained  for  two  hours  at  the  convent,  and  he  will 
in  no  way  connect  my  visit  with  the  Lady  Margaret." 

They  had  just  turned  the  corner  which  Cuthbert  indi- 
cated, when  a  man  came  up  rapily  behind  them  and 
almost  brushed  them  as  he  passed,  half-turning  round 
and  trying  to  gaze  into  their  faces.  Cnut  at  once 
assumed  the  aspect  of  an  intoxicated  person,  and  stretch- 
ing forth  his  foot,  with  a  dexterous  shove  pushed  the 
stranger  into  the  gutter.  The  latter  rose  with  a  fierce 
cry  of  anger;  but  Cnut  with  a  blow  of  his  heavy  fist 
again  stretched  him  on  the  ground,  this  time  to  remain 
quiet  until  they  had  walked  on  and  passed  out  of  sight. 

"A  meddling  fool,"  Cnut  grumbled.  "He  will  not, 
methinks,  have  much  to  report  to  Sir  Rudolph  this  time. 
Had  I  thought  that  he  had  seen  your  face,  I  would  have 
cleft  his  skull  with  no  more  hesitation  than  I  send  an 
arrow  into  the  brain  of  a  stag  in  the  forest." 

As  they  journeyed  along  Cuthbert  informed  Cnut  of 
what  the  abbess  had  told  him;  and  the  latter  agreed  that 
a  watch  must  be  placed  on  the  convent,  and  that  a  force 


242  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

must  be  kept  as  near  as  possible  at  hand  so  as  to  defeat 
any  attempt  which  might  be  made. 

The  next  day  one  of  the  forest  men  who  had  been  a 
peaceable  citizen,  but  who  had  been  charged  with  using 
false  weights  and  had  been  condemned  to  lose  his  ears, 
repaired  to  Worcester.  His  person  was  unknown  there, 
as  he  had  before  lived  at  Gloucester.  He  hired  a  house 
in  the  square  in  which  the  convent  was  situated,  giving 
out  that  he  desired  to  open  a  house  of  business  for  the 
sale  of  silks,  and  for  articles  from  the  Low  Countries. 
As  he  paid  down  earnest-money  for  the  rent  no  suspicion 
whatever  was  excited.  He  at  once  took  up  his  abode 
there,  having  with  him  two  stout  serving-men,  and  a 
'prentice  boy;  and  from  that  time  two  sets  of  watchers 
observed  without  ceasing  what  passed  at  the  Convent  of 
St.  Anne. 

At  a  distance  of  half  a  mile  from  the  road  leading  be- 
tween Worcester  and  Evesham  stood  a  grange,  which  had 
for  some  time  been  disused,  the  ground  belonging  to  it 
having  been  sequestrated  and  given  to  the  lord  of  an 
adjoining  estate,  who  did  not  care  to  have  the  grange 
occupied.  In  this  ten  men,  headed  by  Cnnt,  took  up 
their  residence,  blocking  up  the  window  of  the  hall  with 
hangings,  so  that  the  light  of  the  fire  kindled  within 
would  not  be  observed. 

Two  months  passed  on  without  any  incident  of  impor- 
tance. The  feeling  between  the  outlaws  in  the  forest  and 
the  retainers  of  the  false  Earl  of  Evesham  was  becoming 
much  imbittered.  Several  times  the  foresters  of  the 
latter,  attempting  pursuit  of  men  charged  with  breaking 
the  game  laws,  were  roughly  handled.  These  on  making 
their  report  were  sent  back  again,  supported  by  a  force 
of  footmen;  but  these,  too,  were  driven  back,  and  the 
authority  of  Sir  Eudolph  was  openly  defied. 

Gradually  it  came  to  his  ears  that  the  outlaws  were 


THE  BO  T  KNIQHT. 

commanded  by  a  man  who  bad  been  their  leader  in  times 
gone  by,  but  who  had  been  pardoned,  and  had,  with  a 
large  number  of  his  band,  taken  service  in  the  army  of 
the  Crusaders;  also,  that  there  was  present  a  stranger, 
whose  manner  and  the  deference  paid  to  him  by  Cnut 
proclaimed  him  to  be  of  gentle  blood.  This  news  awak- 
ened grave  uneasiness  on  the  part  of  Sir  Eudolph.  The 
knight  caused  inquiries  to  be  made,  and  ascertained  that 
Cnut  had  been  especially  attached  to  the  young  Cuth- 
bert,  and  that  he  had  fought  under  the  Earl  of  Eves- 
ham's  banner.  It  seemed  possible  then  that  with  him 
had  returned  the  claimant  for  the  earldom;  and  in  that 
case  Sir  Rudolph  felt  that  danger  menaced  him,  for  the 
bravery  of  the  Earl  of  Evesham's  adopted  son  had  been 
widely  spoken  of  by  those  who  had  returned  from  the 
Holy  Land. 

Sir  Rudolph  was  a  man  of  forty,  tall  and  dark,  with 
Norman  features.  He  held  the  Saxons  in  utter  con- 
tempt, and  treated  them  as  beings  solely  created  to  till 
the  land  for  the  benefit  of  their  Norman  lords.  He  was 
brave  and  fearless,  and  altogether  free  from  the  supersti- 
tion of  the  times.  Even  the  threats  of  the  pope,  which 
although  Prince  John  defied  them  yet  terrified  him  at 
heart,  were  derided  by  his  follower,  who  feared  no  one 
thing  in  the  world,  save,  perhaps,  the  return  of  King 
Richard  from  captivity. 

No  sooner  had  the  suspicion  that  his  rival  was  in  the 
neighborhood  possessed  him  than  he  determined  that 
one  of  two  things  must  be  carried  out:  either  Sir  Cuth- 
bert  must  be  killed,  or  the  Lady  Margaret  must  be  car- 
ried off  and  forced  to  accept  him  as  her  husband.  First 
he  endeavored  to  force  Sir  Cuthbert  to  declare  himself, 
and  to  trust  to  his  own  arm  to  put  an  end  to  his  rival. 
To  that  end  he  caused  a  proclamation  to  be  written,  and 
to  be  affixed  to  the  door  of  the  village  church  at  the  fair 
of  Eves  ham. 


244  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

Cnut  and  several  of  his  followers  were  there,  all  quietly 
dressed  as  yeomen.  Seeing  a  crowd  round  the  door  of 
the  church,  he  pressed  forward.  Being  himself  unable 
to  read  writing,  he  asked  one  of  the  burgesses  what  was 
written  upon  the  paper  which  caused  such  excitement. 

"It  is,"  the  burgess  said,  "in  the  nature  of  a  cartel  or 
challenge  from  our  present  lord,  Sir  Rudolph.  He  says 
chat  it  having  come  to  his  ears  that  a  Saxon  serf,  calling 
himself  Sir  Cuthbert,  Earl  of  Evesham,  is  lurking  in  the 
woods  and  consorting  with  outlaws  and  robbers,  he  chal- 
lenges him  to  appear,  saying  that  he  will  himself,  griev- 
ously although  he  would  demean  himself  by  so  doing, 
yet  condescend  to  meet  him  in  the  lists  with  sword  and 
battle-ax,  and  to  prove  upon  his  body  the  falseness  of 
his  averments.  Men  marvel  much,"  the  burgess  con- 
tinued, "at  this  condescension  on  the  earl's  part.  We 
have  heard  indeed  that  King  Richard,  before  he  sailed 
for  England,  did,  at  the  death  of  the  late  good  earl, 
bestow  his  rank  and  the  domains  of  Evesham  upon  Sir 
Cuthbert,  the  son  of  the  Dame  Editha.  Whether  it  be 
true  or  not,  we  cannot  say;  but  it  seems  strange  that 
such  honor  should  have  been  bestowed  upon  one  so 
young.  In  birth  indeed  he  might  aspire  to  the  rank, 
since  his  father,  Sir  Walter,  was  a  brave  knight,  and  the 
mother,  Dame  Editha,  was  of  good  Saxon  blood,  and  de- 
scended from  those  who  held  Evesham  before  the  arrival 
of  the  Normans." 

Cnut's  first  impulse  was  to  stride  forward  and  to  tear 
down  the  proclamation.  But  the  remembrance  of  his 
solemn  determination  not  in  future  to  act  rashly  carre 
across  him,  and  he  decided  to  take  no  steps  until  he  had 
reported  the  facts  to  his  master,  and  taken  his  counsel 
thereon. 

Cuthbert  received  the  news  with  much  indignation. 

"There  is  naught  that  I  should  like  better,"  he  said, 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  345 

"than  to  try  my  strength  against  that  of  this  false 
traitor.  But  although  I  have  proved  my  arm  against 
the  Saracens,  I  think  not  that  it  is  yet  strong  enough  to 
cope  against  a  man  who,  whatsoever  be  his  faults,  is  said 
to  be  a  valiant  knight.  But  that  would  not  deter  me 
from  attempting  the  task.  It  is  craftily  done  on  the  part 
01  Sir  .Rudolph.  He  reckons  that  if  I  appear  he  will  kill 
me;  that  if  I  do  not  appear,  I  shall  be  branded  as  a 
coward,  and  my  claims  brought  into  disrepute.  It  may 
be,  too,  that  it  is  a  mere  ruse  to  discover  if  I  be  in  the 
neighborhood.  Some  rumors  thereof  may  have  reached 
him,  and  he  has  taken  this  course  to  determine  upon 
their  truth.  He  has  gone  too  far,  and  honest  men  will 
see  in  the  cartel  itself  a  sign  that  he  misdoubts  him  that 
my  claims  are  just;  for  were  I,  as  he  says,  a  Saxon  serf, 
be  sure  that  he  would  not  condescend  to  meet  me  in  the 
lists  as  he  proposes.  I  trust  that  the  time  will  come 
when  I  may  do  so.  But  at  present  I  will  submit  to  his 
insult  rather  than  imperil  the  success  of  our  plans,  and, 
what  is  of  far  greater  importance,  the  safety  and  happi- 
ness of  the  Lady  Margaret,  who,  did  aught  befall  me, 
would  assuredly  fall  into  his  hands." 

After  some  thought,  however,  Cuthbert  drew  up  an 
answer  to  the  knight's  proclamation.  He  did  not  in  this 
speak  in  his  own  name,  but  wrote  as  if  the  document 
were  the  work  of  Cnut.  It  was  worded  as  follows:  "I, 
Cnut,  a  free  Saxon  and  a  leader  of  bowmen  under  King 
Richard  in  the  Holy  Land,  do  hereby  pronounce  and 
declare  the  statements  of  Sir  Rudolph,  miscalled  the 
Earl  of  Evesham,  to  be  false  and  calumnious.  The 
earldom  was,  as  Rudolph  well  knows,  and  as  can  be 
proved  by  many  nobles  and  gentlemen  of  repute  who 
were  present  with  King  Richard,  granted  to  Sir  Cuth- 
bert, King  Richard's  true  and  faithful  follower.  When 
the  time  shall  come  Sir  Cuthbert  will  doubtless  be  ready 


246  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

to  prove  his  rights.  But  at  present  right  has  no  force  in 
England,  and  until  the  coming  of  our  good  King  Rich- 
ard must  remain  in  abeyance.  Until  then,  I  support  the 
title  of  Sir  Cuthbert,  and  do  hereby  declare  Sir  Rudolph 
a  false  and  perjured  knight;  and  warn  him  that  if  he  falls 
into  my  hands  it  will  fare  but  badly  with  him,  as  I  know 
it  will  fare  but  badly  with  me  should  I  come  into  his." 

At  nightfall  the  cartel  of  Sir  Rudolph  was  torn  down 
from  the  church  and  that  of  Cnut  affixed  in  its  place. 
The  reading  thereof  caused  great  astonishment  in  Eves- 
ham,  and  the  rage  of  Sir  Rudolph,  when  the  news  came 
to  his  ears,  was  very  great.  Cuthbert  was  sure  that  this 
affair  would  quicken  the  intentions  of  Sir  Rudolph  with 
regard  to  the  Lady  Margaret,  and  he  received  confirma- 
tion of  this  in  a  letter  which  the  abbess  sent  him,  saying 
that  she  had  received  another  missive  from  Sir  Rudolph, 
authoritatively  demanding  in  the  king's  name  the  instant 
surrender  of  Lady  Margaret  to  him.  That  night  forty 
archers  stole,  one  by  one,  quietly  into  Worcester,  enter- 
ing the  town  before  the  gates  were  shut,  and  so  mingling 
with  the  citizens  that  they  were  unobserved.  When  it 
was  quite  dark  they  quietly  took  their  way,  one  by  one, 
to  the  square  in  which  stood  the  convent,  and  were 
admitted  into  the  shop  of  Master  Nicholas,  the  silk 
mercer. 

The  house  was  a  large  one,  with  its  floors  overhanging 
each  t?he  one  beneath  it,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  time, 
and  with  large  casements  running  the  whole  width  of  the 
house. 

The  mercer  had  laid  by  a  goodly  store  of  provisions, 
and  for  three  days  the  troop,  large  as  it  was,  was  accom- 
modated there.  Cuthbert  himself  was  with  them,  Cnut 
remaining  at  the  grange  with  the  ten  men  originally  sent 
there. 

On  the   third  day   Sir  Rudolph,   with  a  number  of 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

Knights  and  men-at-arms,  arrived  in  the  town,  giving  out 
that  he  was  passing  northward,  but  he  would  abide  that 
night  at  the  hostelry.  A  great  many  of  his  men-at-arms 
did,  as  those  on  the  watch  observed,  enter  one  by  one  into 
the  town.  The  people  of  Worcester  were  somewhat  sur- 
prised at  this  large  accompaniment  of  the  earl,  but 
thought  no  harm.  The  Abbess  of  St.  Anne's,  however, 
was  greatly  terrified,  as  she  feared  that  some  evil  design 
might  be  intended  against  her.  She  was,  however,  reas- 
sured in  the  evening  by  a  message  brought  by  a  boy,  to 
the  effect  that  succor  would  be  near,  whatsoever  hap- 
pened. 

At  midnight  a  sudden  uproar  was  heard  in  the  streets 
of  Worcester. 

A  party  of  men  fell  upon  the  burgesses  guarding  the 
gate  of  the  town,  disarmed  them,  and  took  possession  of 
it.  At  the  same  time  those  who  had  put  up  at  the 
hostelry  with  Sir  Eudolph  suddenly  mounted  their 
horses,  and  with  a  great  clatter  rode  down  the  streets  to 
the  convent  of  St.  Anne.  Numbers  of  men  on  foot  also 
joined,  and  some  sixty  in  all  suddenly  appeared  before 
the  great  gate  of  the  convent.  With  a  thundering  noise 
they  knocked  at  the  door,  and  upon  the  grating  being 
opened  Sir  Eudolph  himself  told  the  porteress  who 
looked  through  it  that  she  was  to  go  at  once  to  the 
abbess  and  order  her  to  surrender  the  body  of  the  Lady 
Margaret  to  him,  in  accordance  with  the  order  of  Prince 
John;  adding,  that  if  within  the  space  of  five  minutes 
the  order  was  not  complied  with,  he  would  burst  in  the 
gates  of  the  convent  and  take  her  for  himself.  In 
another  minute  a  casement  opened  above,  and  the  abbess 
herself  appeared. 

"Rash  man,"  she  said  to  Sir  Rudolph,  "I  warn  you 
against  committing  the  sin  of  sacrilege.  Neither  the 
orders  of  Prince  John  nor  of  any  other  potentate  can 


248  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

override  the  rights  of  the  holy  church;  and  should  you 
venture  to  lay  the  hand  of  force  upon  this  convent  you 
will  be  placed  under  the  anathema  of  the  church,  and  its 
spiritual  terrors  will  be  directed  against  you." 

"I  am  prepared  to  risk  that,  holy  mother,"  Sir  Kudolph 
said,  with  a  laugh.  "So  long  as  I  am  obeying  the  orders 
df  my  prince,  I  care  naught  for  those  of  any  foreign 
potentate,  be  he  pope  or  be  he  emperor.  Three  minutes 
of  the  time  I  gave  you  have  elapsed,  and  unless  within 
two  more  the  Lady  Margaret  appears  at  the  gate  I  will 
batter  it  down;  and  you  may  think  yourself  lucky  if  I  do 
not  order  my  men  to  set  light  to  it  and  to  smoke  you  out 
of  your  hole." 

The  abbess  closed  the  window,  and  as  she  did  so  the 
long  row  of  casements  in  the  house  of  Master  Nicholas 
were  opened  from  top  to  bottom,  and  a  volley  of  sixty 
clothyard  arrows  was  poured  into  the  group  closely 
standing  round  the  gate.  Many  fell,  killed  outright, 
and  shouts  of  rage  and  pain  were  heard  arising. 

Furious  at  this  unexpected  attack,  Sir  Rudolph  turned 
and  commanded  those  with  him  to  attack  the  house 
whence  this  volley  of  missiles  had  come.  But  even  while 
he  spoke  another  flight  of  arrows,  even  more  deadly 
than  the  last,  was  poured  forth.  One  of  the  knights 
standing  by  the  side  of  Sir  Rudolph  fell,  shot  through 
the  brain.  Very  many  of  the  common  men,  undefended 
by  harness,  fell  shot  through  and  through;  and  an  arrow 
piercing  the  joint  of  the  armor  of  Sir  Rudolph  wounded 
him  in  the  shoulder.  In  vain  the  knight  stormed  and 
raged  and  ordered  his  men  to  advance.  The  suddenness 
of  the  attack  seemed  to  his  superstitious  followers  a 
direct  answer  from  heaven  to  the  words  of  the  abbess. 
Their  nnmbei  was  already  seriously  lessened,  and  those 
who  were  in  case  to  do  so  at  once  took  flight  and  scat- 
tered through  the  city,  making  for  the  gate,  which  had 
already  been  seized  by  Sir  Rudolph's  men. 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT.  240 

Finding  himself  alone  with  only  a  few  of  his  knights 
and  principal  men-at-arms  remaining,  while  the  storm  of 
arrows  continued  unabated,  Sir  Rudolph  was  forced  to 
order  his  men  to  retreat  with  many  fierce  threats  of  the 
vengeance  which  he  would  hereafter  take. 


250  Zffltf  BOY  KNIGHV. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

A  DASTARDLY  STRATAGEM. 

THE  return  of  Sir  Rudolph's  party  to  Evesham  was 
not  unmarked  by  incident,  for  as  they  passed  along  the 
road,  from  an  ambush  in  a  wood  other  archers,  whoso 
numbers  they  could  not  discover,  shot  hard  upon  them, 
and  many  fell  there  who  had  escaped  from  the  square  at 
Worcester.  When  the  list  was  called  upon  the  arrival  at 
the  castle,  it  was  found  that  no  less  than  thirty  of  those 
who  had  set  out  were  missing,  while  many  others  were 
grievously  wounded. 

The  noise  of  the  tumult  in  the  square  of  the  convent 
aroused  the  whole  town  of  Worcester.  Alarm  bells  were 
rung;  and  the  burgesses,  hastily  arming  themselves, 
poured  into  the  streets.  Directed  by  the  sound,  they 
made  their  way  to  the  square,  and  were  astonished  at 
finding  it  entirely  deserted,  save  for  some  twenty  men, 
lying  dead  or  dying  in  front  of  the  gate  of  the  convent, 
pierced  with  long  arrows.  They  speedily  found  that  Sir 
Rudolph  and  his  troop  had  departed;  and  further 
inquiry  revealed  the  fact  that  the  burgher  guard  at  one 
of  the  gates  had  been  overpowered  and  were  prisoners  in 
the  watchroom.  These  could  only  say  that  they  were 
suddenly  seized,  all  being  asleep  save  the  one  absolutely 
on  guard.  They  knew  nothing  more  than  that  a  few 
minutes  later  there  was  a  great  clatter  of  horsemen  and 
men  on  foot  leaving  the.  city.  Unable  to  find  any  solu- 
tion to  this  singular  circumstance,  but  satisfied  that  Sir 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  251 

Rudolph  had  departed,  and  that  no  more  disturbance 
was  likely  to  arise  that  night,  the  burgesses  again  betook 
themselves  to  their  beds,  having  closed  the  gates  and 
placed  a  strong  guard  over  them,  determining  next 
morning  to  sift  the  affair  to  the  bottom. 

In  the  morning  the  leading  burgesses  met  in  council, 
and  finding  none  who  could  give  them  any  information, 
the  mayor  and  two  of  the  councilors  repaired  to  the 
convent,  where  they  asked  for  an  interview  with  the  lady 
abbess.  Mightily  indignant  were  they  at  hearing  that 
Sir  Rudolph  had  attempted  to  break  into  the  convent, 
and  to  carry  off  a  boarder  residing  there.  But  the  abbess 
herself  could  give  them  no  further  news.  She  said  that 
after  she  retired  from  the  window  she  heard  great 
shouts  and  cries,  and  that  almost  immediately  afterward 
the  whole  of  the  party  in  front  hastily  retired. 

That  Sir  Eudolph  had  been  attacked  by  a  party  of 
archers  was  evident;  but  whence  they  had  shot,  or  how 
they  had  come  upon  the  spot  at  the  time,  or  whither  they 
had  gone,  were  mysteries  that  could  not  be  solved.  In 
the  search  which  the  authorities  made,  however,  it  was 
discovered  that  the  house  of  the  draper,  Master  Nicholas, 
was  closed.  Finding  that  summonses  to  open  were  un- 
answered, the  door  was  broken  in,  and  the  premises  were 
found  in  confusion.  No  goods  of  any  kind  were  discov- 
ered there,  but  many  bales  filled  with  dried  leaves,  bark 
of  trees,  and  other  worthless  matters.  Such  goods  as 
had  been  displayed  in  the  window  had  clearly  been  car- 
ried away.  Searching  the  house,  they  found  signs  that 
a  considerable  number  of  men  had  been  concealed  there, 
and  although  not  knowing  whence  the  body  of  archers 
could  have  come,  they  concluded  that  those  who  defeated 
the  attempt  of  Sir  Rudolph  must  have  been  hidden  in 
the  draper's  house.  The  singularity  of  this  incident  gave 
rise  to  great  excitement;  but  the  indignation  against 


252  THE  BO  7  KNIGHT. 

Sir  Kudolph  was  in  no  way  lessened  by  the  fact  that  hn 
attempt  had  been  defeated,  not  by  the  townsmen  them- 
selves, but  by  some  unknown  force. 

After  much  consultation  on  the  part  of  the  council,  it 
was  resolved  that  a  deputation,  consisting  of  the  mayor 
and  the  five  senior  councilors,  should  resort  to  London, 
and  there  demand  from  the  prince  redress  for  the  injury 
put  upon  their  town  by  Sir  Kudolph.  These  worthy 
merchants  betook  themselves  to  London  by  easy  stages, 
and  upon  their  arrival  there  were  kept  for  some  days 
before  they  could  obtain  an  interview  with  King  John. 
When  they  appeared  before  him  and  commenced  telling 
their  story  the  prince  fell  into  sudden  rage. 

"I  have  heard  of  this  matter  before,"  he  said,  "and 
am  mightily  angry  with  the  people  of  Worcester,  inas- 
much as  they  have  dared  to  interfere  to  prevent  the 
carrying  out  of  my  commands.  The  Earl  of  Evesham 
has  written  to  me,  that  thinking  to  scare  the  abbess  of 
St.  Anne's  into  a  compliance  with  the  commands  which 
I  had  laid  upon  her,  and  to  secure  the  delivery  of  a  con- 
tumacious ward  of  the  crown,  he  had  pretended  to  use 
force,  having,  however,  no  idea  of  carrying  his  threats 
into  effect.  When,  as  he  doubted  not,  the  abbess  was  on 
the  point  of  yielding  up  the  ward,  the  good  knight  was 
suddenly  set  upon  by  the  rascals  of  the  town,  who  slew 
some  of  his  companions  and  followers,  and  did  grievously 
ill-treat  the  remainder.  This,"  said  the  prince,  "you 
now  pretend  was  done  by  a  party  of  men  of  whose  pres- 
ence in  the  town  you  had  no  cognizance.  Your  good 
sense  must  be  small,  if  you  think  that  I  should  believe 
such  a  tale  as  this.  It  is  your  rascaldom  at  Worcester 
which  interfered  to  prevent  my  will  being  carried  out, 
and  I  have  a  goodly  mind  to  order  the  troop  of  Sir 
Charles  Everest,  which  is  now  marching  toward  Evesham, 
to  sack  the  town,  as  a  punishment  for  its  rebellion.  As, 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  253 

however,  I  am  willing  to  believe  that  you  and  the  better 
class  of  burgesses  were  in  ignorance  of  the  doings  of  the 
rougher  kind,  I  will  extend  mercy  toward  the  city,  and 
will  merely  inflict  a  fine  of  three  thousand  golden  marks 
upon  it." 

The  mayor  attempted  humbly  to  explain  and  to  en- 
treat; but  the  prince  was  seized  with  a  sudden  passion, 
and  threatened  if  he  said  more  he  would  at  once  cast  him 
and  his  fellows  into  durance.  Therefore,  sadly  crest- 
fallen at  the  result  of  their  mission,  the  mayor  and  coun- 
cilors returned  to  Worcester,  where  their  report  caused 
great  consternation.  This  was  heightened  by  the  fact 
that  upon  the  following  day  Sir  Charles  Everest,  with 
five  hundred  mercenaries  of  the  prince,  together  with  Sir 
Rudolph  and  his  following,  and  several  other  barons 
favorable  to  the  cause  of  the  prince,  were  heard  to  be 
approaching  the  town. 

Worcester  was  capable  of  making  a  stout  defense,  but 
seeing  that  no  help  was  likely  to  be  forthcoming,  and 
fearing  the  utter  ruin  of  the  town  should  it  be  taken  by 
storm,  the  council,  after  sitting  many  hours  in  delibera- 
tion, determined  to  raise  the  money  required  to  pay  the 
fine  inflicted  by  the  prince.  The  bolder  sort  were 
greatly  averse  to  this  decision,  especially  as  a  letter  had 
been  received,  signed  "Cuthbert,  Earl  of  Evesham," 
offering,  should  the  townspeople  decide  to  resist  the  un- 
just demands  of  Prince  John,  to  enter  the  town  with  one 
hundred  aud  fifty  archers  to  take  part  in  its  defense. 
With  this  force,  as  the  more  ardent  spirits  urged,  the 
defeat  of  any  attempt  to  carry  it  by  storm  would  be  as- 
sured. But  the  graver  men  argued  that  even  if  defeated 
for  the  first  time  further  attempts  would  be  made,  and 
as  it  was  likely  that  King  Richard  would  not  return  for 
a  long  time,  and  that  Prince  John  might  become  sover- 
eign of  England,  sooner  or  later  the  town  must  be  taken, 


254  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

and,  in  any  case,  its  trade  would  for  a  long  time  be  de- 
stroyed, and  great  suffering  inflicted  upon  all;  therefore, 
that  it  was  better  to  pay  the  fine  now  than  to  risk  all 
these  evils,  and  perhaps  the  infliction  of  a  heavier  impost 
upon  them. 

The  abbess  was  kept  informed  by  friends  in  the  coun- 
cil of  the  course  of  the  proceedings.  She  had  in  the 
meantime  had  another  interview  with  Sir  Cuthbert  and 
had  determined,  seeing  that  Prince  John  openly  sup- 
ported the  doings  of  his  minion,  it  would  be  better  to 
remove  the  Lady  Margaret  to  some  other  place,  as  no 
one  could  say  how  the  affair  might  terminate;  and  with 
five  hundred  mercenaries  at  his  back,  Sir  Kudolph  would 
be  so  completely  master  of  the  city  that  he  would  be  able 
in  broad  daylight,  did  he  choose,  to  force  the  gates  of 
the  convent  and  carry  off  the  king's  ward. 

Accordingly,  two  days  before  the  arrival  of  the  force 
before  the  walls  of  Worcester,  Lady  Margaret  left  the 
convent  by  a  postern  gate  in  the  rear,  late  in  the  even- 
ing. She  was  attended  by  two  of  the  sisters,  both  of 
whom,  as  well  as  herself,  were  dressed  as  country  women. 
Mules  were  in  readiness  outside  the  city  gates,  and  here 
Sir  Cuthbert,  with  ,an  escort  of  archers,  was  ready  to  at- 
tend them.  They  traveled  all  night,  and  arrived  in  the 
morning  at  a  small  convent  situated  five  miles  from  the 
city  of  Hereford.  The  abbess  here  was  a  cousin  of  the 
Superior  of  St.  Anne's,  and  had  already  consented  to 
receive  Lady  Margaret.  Leaving  her  at  the  door,  and 
promising  that,  as  far  as  possible,  he  would  keep  watch 
over  her,  and  that  even  in  the  worst  she  need  never 
despair,  Sir  Cuthbert  let  her  and  returned  to  the  forest. 

The  band  there  assembled  varied  considerably  in  num- 
bers, for  provisions  could  not  be  found  continually  for  a 
large  body  of  men.  The  forest  was  indeed  very  exten- 
sive, and  the  number  of  deer  therein  large.  Still,  for 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  255 

the  feeding  Df  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  many  animals 
are  required,  and  other  food.  The  franklins  in  the 
neighborhood  were  all  hostile  to  Sir  Eudolph,  whom 
they  regarded  as  a  cruel  tyrant,  and  did  their  utmost  in 
the  way  of  supplies  for  those  in  the  forest.  Their  re- 
sources, however,  were  limited,  and  it  was  found  necessary 
to  scatter  the  force,  and  for  a  number  of  them  to  take 
up  their  residence  in  places  a  short  distance  away,  forty 
only  remaining  permanently  on  guard. 

Sir  Rudolph  and  his  friends  entered  Worcester,  and 
there  received  with  great  hauteur  the  apologies  of  the 
mayor  and  council,  and  the  assurance  that  the  towns- 
people were  in  nowise  concerned  in  the  attack  made  upon 
him.  To  this  he  pretended  disbelief.  The  fine  de- 
manded was  paid,  the  principal  portion  in  gold,  the  rest 
in  bills  signed  by  the  leading  merchants  of  the  place;  for 
after  every  effort  it  had  been  found  impossible  to  collect 
such  a  sum  within  the  city. 

The  day  after  he  arrived  he  again  renewed  his  demand 
to  the  abbess  for  the  surrender  of  the  Lady  Margaret; 
this  time,  however,  coming  to  her  attended  only  by  two 
squires,  and  by  a  pursuivant  bearing  the  king's  order  for 
the  delivery  of  the  damsel.  The  abbess  met  him  at  the 
gate,  and  informed  him  that  the  Lady  Margaret  was  no 
longer  in  her  charge. 

"Finding,"  she  said  in  a  fearless  tone,  "that  the  holy 
walls  of  this  convent  were  insufficient  to  restrain  lawless 
men,  and  fearing  that  these  might  be  tempted  to  acts  of 
sacrilege,  which  might  bring  down  upon  them  the  wrath 
of  the  church  and  the  destruction  of  their  souls,  I  have 
sent  her  away." 

"Whither  has  she  gone?"  Sir  Eudolph  demanded, 
half-mad  with  passion. 

"That  I  decline  to  say,"  the  lady  abbess  replied.  "She 
is  in  good  hands;  and  when  King  Eichard  returns  his 
ward  shall  be  delivered  to  him  at  once." 


256  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

"Will  you  take  oath  upon  the  Bible  that  ahe  is  not 
within  these  walls?"  Sir  Eudolph  exclaimed. 

"My  word  is  sufficient,"  the  lady  abbess  replied 
calmly.  "But  should  it  be  necessary,  I  should  be  ready 
to  swear  upon  the  relics  that  she  is  not  here." 

A  few  hours  later  Sir  Kudolph,  attended  by  his  own 
party  and  by  one  hundred  of  Sir  Charles  Everest's  mer- 
cenaries, returned  to  his  castle. 

Three  days  afterward,  as  Cuthbert  was  sitting  at  a 
rude  but  hearty  meal  in  the  forest,  surrounded  by  Cnut 
and  his  followers,  a  hind  entered  breathless.  Cuthbert 
at  once  recognized  him  as  one  of  the  servitors  of  his 
mother. 

"What  is  it?"  he  exclaimed,  leaping  to  his  feet. 

"Terrible  news,  Master  Cuthbert,  terrible  news!"  ex- 
claimed the  man.  "The  wicked  earl  came  down  this 
morning,  with  fifty  of  his  men,  set  fire  to  the  house,  and 
all  its  buildings  and  stacks,  and  has  carried  off  the  lady, 
your  mother,  a  prisoner  to  the  castle,  on  a  charge,  as  he 
said,  of  harboring  traitors." 

A  cry  of  fury  broke  from  Cnut  and  his  men. 

"The  false  traitor  shall  bitterly  regret  this  outrage," 
Cuthbert  exclaimed. 

He  had  in  the  first  excitement  seized  his  arms,  and  his 
followers  snatched  up  their  bows,  as  if  for  instant  war- 
fare. A  few  moments'  reflection,  however,  showed  to 
Cuthbert  the  impossibility  of  his  attacking  a  fortress  like 
Evesham,  garrisoned  by  a  strong  body  of  well-armed 
men,  with  only  the  archers  of  the  forest,  without  imple- 
ments necessary  for  such  an  assault. 

"Send  at  once,  Cnut,"  he  said,  "and  call  in  all  the 
band.  We  cannot  take  the  castle;  but  we  will  carry  fire 
and  sword  round  its  walls.  We  will  cut  off  all  commu- 
nication from  within  or  from  without.  If  attacked  by 
large  forces,  we  will  retire  upon  the  wood,  returning  to 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  257 

our  posts  without  the  walls  as  soon  as  the  force  is  with- 
drawn. These  heavily  armed  men  can  move  but  slowly, 
while  we  can  run  at  full  speed.  There  cannot  be  more 
than  some  twenty  horsemen  in  the  castle;  and  methinks 
with  our  arrows  and  pikes  we  can  drive  these  back  if 
they  attempt  to  fall  upon  us." 

Cnut  at  once  sent  off  swift-footed  messengers  to  carry 
out  Cuthbert's  orders,  and  on  the  following  day  the 
whole  of  the  band  were  again  assembled  in  the  woods. 
Just  as  Cut-hbert  was  setting  them  in  motion  a  distant 
blast  of  a  horn  was  heard. 

"It  is,"  Cuthbert  exclaimed,  "the  note  calling  for  a 
parley.  Do  you,  Cnut,  go  forward,  and  see  what  is  de- 
manded. It  is  probably  a  messenger  from  Sir  Rudolph." 

After  half  an  hour's  absence  Cnut  returned,  bringing 
with  him  a  pursuivant  or  herald.  The  latter  advanced 
at  once  toward  Cuthbert,  who,  now  in  his  full  knightly 
armor,  was  evidently  the  leader  of  the  party. 

"I  bear  to  you,  Sir  Cuthbert,  falsely  calling  yourself 
Earl  of  Evesham,  a  message  from  Sir  Budolph.  He  bids 
me  tell  you  that  the  traitress,  Dame  Editha,  your 
mother,  is  in  his  hands,  and  that  she  has  been  found 
guilty  of  aiding  and  abetting  you  in  your  war  against 
Prince  John,  the  regent  of  this  kingdom.  For  that 
offense  she  has  been  condemned  to  die." 

Here  he  was  interrupted  by  a  cry  of  rage  which  broke 
from  the  assembled  foresters.  Continuing  unmoved,  he 
said: 

"Sir  Rudolph,  being  unwilling  to  take  the  life  of  a 
woman,  however  justly  forfeited  by  the  law,  commands 
me  to  say  that  if  you  will  deliver  yourself  up  to  him  by 
to-morrow  at  twelve  the  Dame  Editha  shall  be  allowed 
to  go  free.  But  that  if  by  the  time  the  dial  points  to 
noon  you  have  not  delivered  yourself  up,  he  will  hang 
her  over  the  battlements  of  the  castle." 


258  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

Cuthbert  was  very  pale,  and  he  waved  his  hand  fir- 
restrain  the  fury  which  animated  the  outlaws. 

"This  man,"  he  said  to  them,  "is  a  herald,  and,  as 
such,  is  protected  by  all  the  laws  of  chivalry.  Whatsoever 
his  message,  it  is  none  of  his.  He  is  merely  the  mouth- 
piece of  him  who  sent  him."  Then,  turning  to  the 
herald,  he  said,  "Tell  the  false  knight,  your  master,  on 
my  part,  that  he  is  a  foul  ruffian,  perjured  to  all  the 
vows  of  knighthood;  that  this  act  of  visiting  upon  a 
woman  the  enmity  he  bears  her  son  will  bring  upon  him 
the  execration  of  all  men;  and  that  the  offer  which  he 
makes  me  is  as  foul  and  villainous  as  himself.  Never- 
theless, knowing  his  character,  and  believing  that  he  is 
capable  of  keeping  his  word,  tell  him  that  by  to-morrow 
at  noon  I  will  be  there;  that  the  lady,  my  mother,  is  to 
leave  the  castle  gates  as  I  enter  them;  and  that  though 
by  his  foul  device  he  may  encompass  my  death,  yet  that 
the  curse  of  every  good  man  will  light  upon  him,  that  he 
will  be  shunned  as  the  dog  he  is,  and  that  assuredly 
Heaven  will  not  suffer  that  deeds  so  foul  should  bring 
with  them  the  prize  he  seeks  to  gain." 

The  herald  bowed,  and,  escorted  by  two  archers  to  the 
edge  of  the  forest,  returned  to  Evesham  Castle. 

After  his  departure  an  animated  council  took  place. 
Cnut  and  the  outlaws,  burning  with  indignation,  were 
ready  to  attempt  anything.  They  would,  had  Cuthbert 
given  the  word,  have  attacked  the  castle  that  very  night. 
But  Cuthbert  pointed  out  the  absolute  impossibility  of 
their  carrying  so  strong  a  place  by  such  an  assault,  un- 
provided with  engines  for  battering  down  the  gates.  He 
said  that  surprise  would  be  impossible,  as  the  knight 
would  be  sure  to  take  every  precaution  against  it;  and 
that  in  the  event  of  such  an  attack  being  attempted,  he 
would  possibly  carry  his  threat  into  execution,  and 
murder  Dame  Editha  before  their  eyes.  Cnut  was  like  a 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  259 

madman,  so  transported  with  fury  was  he;  and  the 
archers  were  also  beside  themselves.  Cuthbert  alone 
retained  his  calmness.  Retiring  apart  from  the  others, 
he  paced  slowly  backward  and  forward  among  the  trees, 
deliberating  upon  the  best  course  to  be  pursued.  The 
archers  gathered  round  the  fire  and  passed  the  night  in 
long  and  angry  talk,  each  man  agreeing  that  in  the  event 
of  their  beloved  leader  being  sacrificed  by  Sir  Rudolph, 
they  would  one  and  all  give  their  lives  to  avenge  him  by 
slaying  the  oppressor  whensoever  he  ventured  beyond  the 
castle  gates. 

After  a  time,  Cuthbert  called  Cnut  to  him,  and  the 
two  talked  long  and  earnestly.  Cnut  returned  to  his 
comrades  with  a  face  less  despairing  than  that  he  had 
before  worn,  and  sent  off  at  once  a  messenger  with  all 
speed  to  a  franklin  near  the  forest  to  borrow  a  stout  rope 
some  fifty  feet  in  length,  and  without  telling  his  com- 
rades what  the  plans  of  Sir  Cuthbert  were,  bade  them 
cheer  up,  for  that  desperate  as  the  position  was,  all  hope 
was  not  yet  lost. 

"Sir  Cufchbert,"  he  said,  "has  been  in  grievous  straits 
before  now,  and  has  gone  through  them.  Sir  Eudolph 
does  not  know  the  nature  of  the  man  with  whom  he  has 
to  deal,  and  we  may  trick  him  yet." 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  next  day  from  the  walls  of 
Evesham  Castle  a  body  of  archers  one  hundred  and  fifty 
strong  were  seen  advancing  in  solid  array. 

"Think  you,  Sir  Rudolph,"  one  of  his  friendb,  Sir 
Hubert  of  Gloucester,  said  to  him,  "that  these  varlets 
think  of  attacking  the  castle?" 

"They  might  as  well  think  of  scaling  heaven,"  Sir 
Rudolph  said.  "Evesham  could  resist  a  month's  siege 
by  a  force  well  equipped  for  the  purpose;  and  were  it  not 
that  good  men  are  wanted  for  the  king's  service,  and  that 
these  villains  shoot  straight  arid  hard,  I  would  open  the 


360  THE  BO  7  KNIGHT. 

gates  of  the  castle  and  launch  our  force  against  them. 
We  are  two  to  one  as  strong  as  they,  and  our  knights  and 
mounted  men-at-arms  could  alone  scatter  that  rabble." 

Conspicuous  upon  the  battlements  a  gallows  had  been 
erected. 

The  archers  stopped  at  a  distance  of  a  few  hundred 
yards  from  the  castle,  and  Sir  Cuthbert  advanced  alone 
to  the  edge  of  the  moat. 

"Sir  Rudolph  of  Eresby,  false  knight  and  perjured 
gentleman,"  he  shouted  in  a  loud  voice,  "I,  Sir  Cuth- 
bert of  Evesham,  do  denounce  you  as  foresworn  and  dis- 
honored, and  do  challenge  you  to  meet  me  here  before 
the  castle  in  sight  of  your  men  and  mine,  and  decide  our 
quarrel  as  Heaven  may  judge  with  sword  and  battle-ax." 

Sir  Rudolph  leaned  over  the  battlements,  and  said: 

"It  is  too  late,  varlet.  I  condescended  to  challenge 
you  before,  and  you  refused.  You  cannot  now  claim 
what  you  then  feared  to  accept.  The  sun  on  the  dial 
approaches  noon,  and  unless  you  surrender  yourself  bie- 
fore  it  reaches  the  mark,  I  will  keep  my  word,  and  the 
traitress,  your  mother,  shall  swing  from  that  beam." 

Making  a  sign  to  two  men-at-arms,  these  brought  for- 
ward Dame  Editha  and  so  placed  her  on  the  battlements 
that  she  could  be  seen  from  below.  Dame  Editha  was 
still  a  very  fair  woman,  although  nigh  forty  years  had 
rolled  over  her  head.  No  sign  of  fear  appeared  upon  her 
face,  and  in  a  firm  voice  she  cried  to  her  son: 

"Cuthbert,  I  beg — nay,  I  order  you  to  retire.  12  this 
unknightly  lord  venture  to  carry  out  his  foul  threats 
against  me,  let  him  do  so.  England  will  ring  with  the 
dastardly  deed,  and  he  will  never  dare  show  his  face  again 
where  Englishmen  congregate.  Let  him  do  his  worst. 
I  am  prepared  to  die." 

A  murmur  rose  from  the  knights  and  men-at-arms 
standing  round  Sir  Rudolph.  Several  of  his  companions 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  261 

had  from  the  first;,  wild  and  reckless  as  they  were,  pro- 
tested against  Sir  Rudolph's  course,  and  it  was  only  upon 
his  solemn  assurance  that  he  intended  but  to  frighten 
Sir  Cuthbert  into  surrender,  and  had  no  intention  of 
carrying  his  threats  against  the  lady  into  effect,  that  they 
had  consented  to  take  part  in  the  transaction.  Even 
now,  at  the  fearless  words  of  the  Saxon  lady  several  of 
them  hesitated,  and  Sir  Hubert  of  Gloucester  stepped 
forward  to  Sir  Rudolph. 

"Sir  knight,"  he  said,  "you  know  that  I  am  your  true 
comrade  and  the  faithful  servant  of  Prince  John.  Yet 
in  faith  would  I  not  that  my  name  should  be  mixed  up 
in  so  foul  a  deed.  I  repent  me  that  I  have  for  a  moment 
consented  to  it.  But  the  shame  shall  not  hang  upon  the 
escutcheon  of  Hubert  of  Gloucester  that  he  stood  still 
when  such  foul  means  were  tried.  I  pray  you,  by  our 
long  friendship,  and  for  the  sake  of  your  own  honor  as  a 
knight,  to  desist  from  this  endeavor.  If  this  lady  be 
guilty,  as  she  well  may  be  of  aiding  her  son  in  his  as- 
saults upon  the  soldiers  of  Prince  John,  then  let  her  be 
tried,  and  doubtless  the  court  will  confiscate  her  estates. 
But  let  her  son  be  told  that  her  life  is  in  no  danger,  and 
that  he  is  free  to  go,  being  assured  that  harm  will  not 
come  to  her." 

"And  if  I  refuse  to  consent  to  allow  my  enemy,  who  is 
now  almost  within  my  hand,  to  escape,"  Sir  Rudolph 
said,  "what  then?" 

"Then,"  said  the  knight,  "I  and  my  following  will  at 
once  leave  your  walls,  and  will  clear  ourselves  uo  the 
brave  young  knight  yonder  of  all  hand  in  this  foul  busi- 
ness." 

A  murmur  of  agreement  from  several  of  those  stand- 
ing round  showed  that  their  sentiments  were  in  accord- 
ance with  those  of  Sir  Hubert. 

"I  refuse."  said  Rudolph  passionately.  "Go,  if  you 
will.  I  am  master  01  my  actions,  and  of  this  castle." 


262  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

Without  a  word,  Sir  Hubert  and  two  others  of  the 
knights  present  turned,  and  briefly  ordering  their  men- 
at-arms  to  follow  them,  descended  the  staircase  to  the 
courtyard  below.  Their  horses  were  brought  out,  tho 
men  fell  into  rank,  and  the  gates  of  the  castle  were 
thrown  open. 

"Stand  to  arms!"  Sir  Cuthbert  shouted  to  the  archers, 
"They  are  going  to  attempt  a  sortie."'  And  hastily  he 
retired  to  the  main  body  of  his  men. 


THE  EOT  KNIQET.  263 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  FALSE   AND   PERJURED   KNIGHT. 

As  the  band  of  knights  and  their  retainers  issued  from 
the  gate  a  trumpeter  blew  a  parley,  and  the  three 
knights  advanced  alone  toward  the  group  of  archers. 

"Sir  Cuthbert  de  Lance/'  Sir  Hubert  said,  "in  the 
name  of  myself  and  my  two  friends  here  we  ask  your 
pardon  for  having  so  far  taken  part  in  this  foul  action. 
We  did  so  believing  only  that  Sir  Rudolph  intended  the 
capture  of  your  lady  mother  as  a  threat.  Now  that  we 
see  he  was  in  earnest,  we  wash  our  hands  of  the  busi- 
ness; and  could  we  in  any  way  atone  for  our  conduct  in 
having  joined  him,  we  would  gladly  do  so  consistently 
only  with  our  allegiance  to  the  prince  regent." 

Cuthbert  bowed  courteously. 

"Thanks  for  your  words,  Sir  Hubert.  I  had  always 
heard  yourself  and  the  knights  here  spoken  of.  as.brave 
and  gallant  gentlemen,  whose  sole  fault  was  that  they 
chose  to  take  part  with  a  rebel  prince  rather  than  with 
the  King  of  England.  I  rejoice  that  you  have  oieared 
your  name  of  so  foul  a  blot  as  this  would  have  placed  upon 
it,  and  I  acknowledge  that  your  conduct  now  is  knightly 
and  courteous.  But  I  can  no  more  parley.  The  sun  ia 
within  a  few  minutes  of  twelve,  and  I  must  surrender, 
to  meet  such  fate  as  may  befall  me." 

So  saying,  with  a  bow  he  left  them,  and  again  ad- 
vanced to  the  castle  gate. 


264  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

"Sir  Rudolph,"  he  shouted,  "the  hour  is  at  hand.  I 
call  upon  you  to  deliver,  outside  the  gate,  the  lady,  my 
mother.  Whether  she  wills  it  or  not,  I  call  upon  you  to 
place  her  beyond  the  gate,  and  I  give  you  my  knightly 
word  that  as  she  leaves  it  I  enUr  it." 

Dame  Editha  would  then  have  attempted  resistance; 
but  she  saw  that  it  would  be  useless.  With  a  pale  face 
she  descended  the  steps,  accompanied  by  the  men-at-arms. 
She  knew  that  any  entreaty  to  Sir  Rudolph  would  be 
vain,  and  with  the  courage  of  her  race  she  mentally 
vowed  to  devote  the  rest  of  her  life  to  vengeance  for  her 
son. 

As  the  gate  opened  and  she  was  thrust  forth,  for  a 
moment  she  found  herself  in  the  arms  of  her  son. 

"Courage,  mother !"  he  whispered;  "all  may  yet  be 
well/' 

Cnut  was  waiting  a  few  paces  behind,  and  offering  his 
hand  to  Dame  Editha,  he  led  her  to  the  group  of  arch- 
ers, while  Cuthbert,  alone,  crossed  the  drawbridge  and 
entered  the  portal,  the  heavy  portcullis  falling  after  him. 

Cnut,  immediately  ordering  four  of  his  men  to  escort 
Dame  Editha  to  the  wood  with  all  speed,  advanced  with 
his  men  toward  the  walls.  All  had  strung  their  bows 
and  placed  their  arrows  on  the  ground  in  front  of  them 
in  readiness  for  instant  use.  Cnut  himself,  with  two 
others  carrying  the  rope,  advanced  to  the  edge  of  the 
moat.  None  observed  their  doings,  for  all  within  the 
castle  were  intent  upon  the  proceedings  there. 

In  the  courtyard  Sir  Rudolph  had  taken  his  post,  with 
the  captain  of  the  mercenaries  beside  him,  and  the  men- 
at-arms  drawn  up  in  order.  He  smiled  sardonically  as 
Cuthbert  entered. 

"So,  at  last,"  he  said,  "this  farce  is  drawing  to  an 
end.  You  are  in  my  power,  and  for  the  means  which  I 
have  taken  to  capture  you,  I  will  account  to  the  prince. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  265 

You  are  a  traitor  to  him;  you  have  attacked  and  slaugh- 
tered many  of  my  friends;  you  are  an  outlaw  defying  the 
law;  and  for  each  of  these  offenses  your  head  is  forfeited." 

"I  deny,"  Cuthbert  said,  standing  before  him,  "your 
right  to  be  my  judge.  By  my  peers  only  can  I  be  tried. 
As  a  knight  of  England  and  as  rightful  lord  of  this 
castle,  I  demand  to  be  brought  before  a  jury  of  my 
equals." 

"I  care  nothing  for  rights  or  for  juries,"  said  Sir 
Eudolph.  "I  have  the  royal  order  for  your  execution, 
and  that  order  I  shall  put  into  effect,  although  all  the 
knights  and  barons  in  England  objected." 

Cuthbert  looked  round  to  observe  the  exact  position  in 
which  he  was  standing.  He  knew,  of  course,  every  foot 
of  the  castle,  and  saw  that  but  a  short  distance  behind  a 
single  row  of  armed  men  was  the  staircase  leading  to  the 
battlements. 

"False  and  perjured  knight,"  he  said,  taking  a  step 
forward,  "I  may  die;  but  I  would  rather  a  thousand 
deaths  than  such  a  life  as  yours  will  be  when  this  deed  is 
known  in  England.  But  I  am  not  yet  dead.  For  my- 
self, I  could  pardon  you;  but  for  the  outrage  to  my 
mother — "  and  with  a  sudden  movement  he  struck  Sir 
Rudolph  in  the  face  with  all  his  strength  with  his  mailed 
hand. 

With  the  blood  gushing  from  his  nostrils,  the  knight 
fell  backward,  and  Sir  Cuthbert,  with  a  bound,  before 
the  assembly  could  recover  from  their  astonishment  at 
the  deed,  burst  through  the  line  of  men-at-arms,  and 
sprang  up  the  narrow  staircase.  A  score  of  men-at-arms 
started  in  pursuit;  but  Sir  Cuthbert  gained  the  battle-' 
ments  first,  and  without  a  moment's  hesitation  sprang 
upon  them  and  plunged  forward,  falling  into  the  moat 
fifty  feet  below.  Here  he  would  have  perished  miser- 
ably, for  in  his  heavy  armor  he  was  of  course  unabie  xo 


266  1B.U  £0  Y  KNIGHT. 

swim  a  stroke,  and  his  weight  took  him  at  once  into  the 
mud  of  the  moat.  At  its  margin,  however,  Cnut  stood 
awaiting  him,  with  one  end  of  the  rope  in  his  hand.  In 
an  instant  he  plunged  in,  and  diving  to  the  bottom 
grasped  Cuthbert  by  the  body,  and  twisted  the  rope 
round  him.  The  two  archers  on  the  bank  at  once  hauled 
upon  it,  and  in  a  minute  Sir  Cuthbert  was  dragged  to 
the  bank. 

By  this  time  a  crowd  of  men-at-arms  appeared  upon 
the  battlements.  But  as  they  did  so  the  archers  opened 
a  storm  of  arrows  upon  them,  and  quickly  compelled 
them  to  find  shelter.  Carried  by  Cnut  and  the  men  with 
him — for  he  was  insensible — Sir  Cuthbert  was  quickly 
conveyed  to  the  center  of  the  outlaws,  and  these  at  once 
in  a  compact  body  began  their  retreat  to  the  wood. 
Cuthbert  quickly  recovered  consciousness,  and  was  soon 
able  to  walk.  As  he  did  so  the  gates  of  the  castle  were 
thrown  open,  and  a  crowd  of  men-at-arms,  consisting  of 
the  retainers  of  the  castle  and  the  mercenaries  of  Prince 
John,  sallied  forth.  So  soon  as  Cuthbert  was  able  to 
move  the  archers  started  at  a  brisk  run,  several  of  them 
carrying  Cuthbert's  casque  and  sword,  and  others  assist- 
ing him  to  hurry  along.  The  rear  ranks  turned  as  they 
ran  and  discharged  flights  of  arrows  at  the  enemy,  who, 
more  heavily  armed  and  weighted,  gained  but  slowly 
upon  them. 

Had  not  Sir  Rudolph  been  stunned  by  the  blow  dealt 
him  by  Cuthbert  he  would  himself  have  headed  the  pur- 
suit, and  in  that  case  the  foresters  would  have  had  to 
fight  hard  to  make  their  retreat  to  their  fastness.  The 
officer  in  command  of  the  mercenaries,  however,  had  no 
great  stomach  for  the  matter.  Men  were  hard  to  get, 
and  Prince  John  would  not  have  been  pleased  to  hear 
that  a  number  of  the  men  whom  he  had  brought  with 
such  expense  from  foreign  parts  had  been  killed  in  a 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  367 

petty  fray.  Therefore  after  following  for  a  short  time  he 
called  them  off,  and  the  archers  fell  back  into  the  forest. 

Here  they  found  Dame  Editha,  and  for  three  days  she 
abode  among  them,  living  in  a  small  hut  in  the  center  of 
the  forest.  Then  she  left,  to  take  up  her  abode  until 
the  troubles  were  past  with  some  kin  who  lived  in  the 
south  of  Gloucestershire. 

Although  the  lady  abbess  had  assured  Cuthbert  that 
the  retreat  of  Lady  Margaret  was  not  likely  to  be  found 
out,  he  himself,  knowing  how  great  a  stake  Sir  Eudolph 
had  in  the  matter,  was  still  far  from  being  easy.  It 
would  not  be  difficult  for  the  latter  to  learn  through  his 
agents  that  the  lady  superior  of  the  little  convent  near 
Hereford  was  of  kin  to  her  of  St.  Anne's,  and,  close  as  a 
convent  is,  yet  the  gossiping  of  the  servants  who  go  to 
market  was  certain  to  let  out  an  affair  so  important  as 
the  arrival  of  a  young  lady  to  reside  under  the  charge  of 
the  superior.  Cuthbert  was  not  mistaken  as  to  the 
acuteness  of  his  enemy.  The  relationship  between  the 
two  lady  superiors  was  no  secret,  and  after  having  searched 
all  the  farmhouses  and  granges  near  the  forest,  and  being 
convinced  that  the  lady  abbess  would  have  sent  her 
charge  rather  to  a  religious  house  than  to  that  of  a  frank- 
lin, Sir  Rudolph  sought  which  of  those  within  the  circuit 
of  a  few  miles  would  be  likely  to  be  the  one  selected.  It 
was  not  long  before  he  was  enabled  to  fix  upon  that  near 
Hereford,  and  spies  going  to  the  spot  soon  found  out 
from  the  country  people  that  it  was  a  matter  of  talk  that 
a  young  lady  of  rank  had  been  admitted  by  the  superior. 
Sir  Rudolph  hesitated  whether  to  go  himself  at  the  head 
of  a  strong  body  of  men  and  openly  to  take  her,  or  to 
employ  some  sort  of  device.  It  was  not  that  he  himself 
feared  the  anathema  of  the  church;  but  he  knew  Prince 
John  to  be  weak  and  vacillating,  at  one  time  ready  to 
defy  the  thunder  of  the  pope,  the  next  cringing  before 


268  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

.    - 

the  spiritual  authority.  He  therefore  determined  to 
employ  some  of  his  men  to  burst  into  the  convent  and 
carry  off  the  heiress,  arranging  that  he  himself,  with 
some  of  his  men-at-arms,  should  come  upon  them  in  the 
road,  and  make  a  feigned  rescue  of  her,  so  that,  if  the 
lady  superior  laid  her  complaint  before  the  pope's  legate, 
he  could  deny  that  he  had  any  hand  in  the  matter,  and 
could  even  take  credit  for  having  rescued  her  from  the 
men  who  had  profaned  the  convent.  That  his  story 
would  be  believed  mattered  but  little.  It  would  be  im- 
possible to  prove  its  falsity,  and  this  was  all  that  he- 
cared  for. 

This  course  was  followed  out.  Late  one  evening  the 
lady  superior  was  alarmed  by  a  violent  knocking  at  the 
door.  In  reply  to  questions  asked  through  the  grill,  the 
answer  was  given,  "We  are  men  of  the  forest,  and  we  are 
come  to  carry  the  Lady  Margaret  of  Evesham  off  to  a 
secure  hiding-place.  The  Lord  of  Evesham  has  discov- 
ered her  whereabouts,  and  will  be  here  shortly,  and  we 
would  fain  remove  her  before  he  arrives." 

"From  whom  have  you  warrant?"  the  lady  superior 
said.  "I  surrender  her  to  no  one,  save  to  the  lady  abbess 
of  St.  Anne's.  But  if  you  have  a  written  warrant  from 
Sir  Cuthbert,  the  rightful  Lord  of  Evesham,  I  will  lay  the 
matter  before  the  Lady  Margaret,  and  will  act  as  it  may 
seem  fit  to  her." 

"We  have  no  time  for  parleying,"  a  rough  voice  said. 
"Throw  open  the  gate  at  once,  or  we  will  break  it 
down." 

"Ye  be  no  outlaws,"  the  lady  superior  said,  "for  the 
outlaws  are  men  who  fear  God  and  respect  the  church. 
Were  ye  what  ye  say,  ye  would  be  provided  with  the 
warrants  that  I  mention.  I  warn  you,  therefore,  that 
if  you  use  force,  you  will  be  excommunicated,  and 
placed  under  the  ban  of  the  church." 


THE  EOT  KNIGHT. 

The  only  answer  was  a  thundering  assault  upon  the 
gate,  which  soon  yielded  to  the  blows.  The  sisters  and 
novices  ran  shrieking  through  the  corridors  at  this  rude 
uproar.  The  lady  superior,  however,  stood  calmly  await- 
ing the  giving  way  of  the  gate. 

"Where  is  the  Lady  Margaret?'1  the  leader  of  the 
party,  ™ho  were  dressed  in  rough  garb,  and  had  the 
seeming  of  a  band  of  outlaws,  demanded. 

"I  will  say  nothing,"  she  said,  "nor  do  I  own  that  she 
is  here.'5 

"We  will  soon  take  means  to  find  out,"  the  man  ex- 
claimed. "Unless  in  five  minutes  she  is  delivered  to  us, 
we  will  burn  your  place  to  the  ground." 

The  lady  abbess  was  insensible  to  the  threat;  but  the 
men  rushing  in,  seized  some  sisters,  who,  terrified  out  of 
their  wits  by  this  irruption,  at  once  gave  the  information 
demanded,  and  the  men  made  their  way  to  the  cell  where 
the  Lady  Margaret  slept. 

The  girl  had  at  once  risen  when  the  tumult  com- 
menced, doubting  not  in  her  mind  that  this  was  another 
attempt  upon  the  part  of  her  enemy  to  carry  her  off. 
When,  therefore,  she  heard  heavy  footsteps  approaching 
along  the  gallery — having  already  hastily  attired  herself 
— she  opened  the  door  and  presented  herself. 

"If  you  seek  the  Lady  Margaret  of  Evesham,"  she  said 
calmly,  "I  am  she.  Do  not  harm  any  of  the  sisters  here. 
I  am  in  your  power,  and  will  go  with  you  at  once.  But 
I  beseech  you  add  not  to  your  other  sins  that  of  violence 
against  holy  women." 

The  men,  abashed  by  the  calm  dignity  of  this  young 
girl,  abstained  from  laying  hands  upon  her,  but  merely 
motioned  to  her  to  accompany  them.  Upon  their  way 
they  met  the  man  who  appeared  to  be  their  leader,  and 
he,  well  pleased  that  the  affair  was  over,  led  the  way  to 
the  courtyard^ 


270  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

"Farewell,  my  child,"  the  abbess  exclaimed.  "God 
will  deliver  you  from  the  power  of  these  wicked  men. 
Trust  in  Him,  and  keep  up  your  courage.  Wickedness 
will  not  be  permitted  to  triumph  upon  the  earth;  and  be 
assured  that  the  matter  shall  be  brought  to  the  ears  of 
the  pope's  legate,  and  of  Prince  John  himself." 

She  could  say  no  more,  for  the  men,  closing  round  the 
weeping  girl,  hurried  her  out  from  the  convent.  A  lit- 
ter awaited  them  without,  and  in  this  the  young  lady  was 
placed,  and,  borne  upon  the  shoulders  of  four  stout  men, 
she  started  at  a  fast  pace,  surrounded  closely  by  the  rest 
of  the  band. 

It  was  a  dark  night,  and  the  girl  could  not  see  the 
direction  in  which  she  was  being  taken;  but  she  judged 
from  the  turn  taken  upon  leaving  the  convent  that  it 
was  toward  Evesham.  They  had  proceeded  some  miles, 
when  a  trampling  of  horses  was  heard,  and  a  body  of 
armed  men  rode  up.  For  a  moment  Lady  Margaret's 
heart  gave  a  leap,  for  she  thought  that  she  had  been 
rescued  by  her  friends.  There  was  a  loud  and  angry 
altercation,  a  clashing  of  swords,  and  a  sound  of  shout- 
ing and  cries  outside  the  litter.  Then  it  was  placed 
roughly  on  the  ground,  and  she  heard  the  sound  of  the 
footsteps  of  her  first  captors  hurrying  away.  Then  the 
horsemen  closed  round  the  litter,  and  the  leader  dis- 
mounted. 

"I  am  happy  indeed,  Lady  Margaret,"  he  said,  ap- 
proaching the  litter,  "to  have  been  able  to  save  you  from 
the  power  of  these  villains.  Fortunately,  word  came  to 
me  that  the  outlaws  in  the  forest  were  about  to  carry 
you  off,  and  that  they  would  not  hesitate  even  to  dese- 
crate the  walls  of  the  convent.  Assembling  my  men-at- 
arms,  I  at  once  rode  to  your  rescue,  and  am  doubly 
happy  to  haves  aved  you,  first,  as  a  gentleman,  secondly, 
as  being  the  man  to  whom  our  gracious  prince  has 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  271 

assigned  you  as  a  wife.  I  am  Sir  Rudolph,  Earl  of  Eves- 
ham." 

As  from  the  first  the  girl  had  been  convinced  that  she 
had  fallen  into  the  power  of  her  lawless  suitor,  this  came 
upon  her  as  no  surprise. 

"Whether  your  story  is  true,  Sir  Rudolph,"  she  said. 
4 'or  iiot,  God  knows,  and  I,  a  poor  weak  girl,  will  not 
pretend  to  venture  to  say.  It  is  between  you  and  your 
conscience.  If,  as  you  say,  you  have  saved  me  from  the 
power  of  the  outlaws,  I  demand  that,  as  a  knight  and  a 
gentleman,  you  return  with  me  at  once  to  the  convent 
from  which  I  was  taken  by  force." 

"I  cannot  do  that,"  Sir  Rudolph  said.  "Fortune-has 
placed  you  in  my  hands,  and  has  enabled  me  to  carry  out 
the  commands  of  the  prince.  Therefore,  though  I  would 
fain  yield  to  your  wishes  and  so  earn  your  good-will, 
which  above  all  things  I  wish  to  obtain,  yet  my  duty 
toward  the  prince  commands  me  to  utilize  the  advantage 
which  fate  has  thrown  in  my  hands." 

"You  must  do  as  you  will,  Sir  Rudolph,"  the  girl  said 
with  dignity.  "I  believe  not  your  tale.  You  sought  be- 
fore, in  person,  to  carry  me  off,  but  failed,  and  you  have 
now  employed  other  means  to  do  so.  The  tale  of  your 
conduct  to  Dame  Editha  has  reached  my  ears,  and  I  hold 
you  a  foresworn  knight  and  a  dishonored  man,  and  as 
such  I  would  rather  die  than  become  your  wife,  although 
as  yet  I  am  but  a  child,  and  have  no  need  to  talk  of 
weddings  for  years  to  come." 

"We  need  not  parley  here,"  the  knight  said  coldly. 
"We  shall  have  plenty  of  time  when  at  my  castle." 

The  litter  was  now  lifted,  placed  between  two  horses, 
and  proceeded  rapidly  on  its  journey.  Although  the 
hope  was  but  faint,  yet  until  the  gates  of  the  castle  closed 
upon  them  the  Lady  Margaret  still  hoped  that  rescue 
might  reach  her.  But  the  secret  had  been  too  well  kept, 


272  THE  BO  T  KNIQHT. 

and  it  was  not  until  the  following  day  that  the  man  who 
had  been  placed  in  a  cottage  near  the  convent  arrived  in 
all  haste  in  the  forest,  to  say  that  it  was  only  in  the 
morning  that  he  had  learned  that  the  convent  had  been 
broken  open  by  men  disguised  as  archers,  and  the  Lady 
Margaret  carried  off. 

Four  days  elapsed  before  Sir  Kudolph  presented  him- 
self before  the  girl  he  had  captured.  So  fearfully  was 
his  face  bruised  and  disfigured  by  the  blow  from  the 
mailed  hand  of  Cuthbert  three  weeks  before,  that  he  did 
not  wish  to  appear  before  her  under  such  unfavorable 
circumstances,  and  the  captive  passed  the  day  gazing 
from  her  casement  in  one  of  the  rooms  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  keep,  toward  the  forest  whence  she  hoped  rescue 
would  come. 

Within  the  forest  hot  discussions  were  going  on  as  to 
the  best  course  to  pursue.  An  open  attack  was  out  of 
the  question,  especially  as  upon  the  day  following  the 
arrival  there  of  Lady  Margaret  three  hundred  more 
mercenaries  had  marched  in  from  Worcester,  so  that  the 
garrison  was  now  raised  to  five  hundred  men. 

"Is  there  no  way,"  Cnut  exclaimed  furiously,  "by 
which  we  might  creep  into  this  den,  since  we  cannot 
burst  into  it  openly?" 

"There  is  a  way  from  the  castle,"  Cuthbert  said,  "for 
my  dear  lord  told  me  of  it  one  day  when  we  were  riding 
together  in  the  Holy  Land.  He  said  then  that  it  might 
be  that  he  should  never  return,  and  that  it  were  well 
that  I  should  know  of  the  existence  of  this  passage, 
which  few  besides  the  earl  himself  knew  of.  It  is  ap- 
proached by  a  very  heavy  slab  of  stone  in  the  great  hall. 
This  is  bolted  down,  and  as  it  stands  under  the  great 
table  passes  unnoticed,  and  appears  part  of  the  ordinary 
floor.  He  told  me  the  method  in  which,  by  touching  a 
spring,  the  bolts  were  withdrawn  and  the  stone  could  be 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  273 

raised.  Thence  a  passage  a  quarter  of  a  mile  long  leads 
to  the  little  chapel  standing  in  the  hollow,  and  which, 
being  hidden  among  the  trees,  would  be  unobserved  by 
any  party  besieging  the  castle.  This  of  course  was  con- 
trived in  order  that  the  garrison,  or  any  messenger 
thereof,  might  make  an  exit  in  case  of  siege." 

"But  if  we  could  escape,"  Cnut  asked,  "why  not  enter 
by  this  way?'3 

"The  stone  is  of  immense  weight  and  strength," 
Cuthbert  replied,  "and  could  not  be  loosed  from  below 
save  with  great  labor  and  noise.  There  are,  moreover, 
several  massive  doors  in  the  passage,  all  of  which  are 
secured  by  heavy  bolts  within.  It  is  therefore  out  of 
the  question  that  we  could  enter  the  castle  by  that  way. 
But  were  we  once  in,  We  could  easily  carry  off  the  lady 
through  this  passage." 

The  large  force  which  Sir  Eudolph  had  collected  was 
not  intended  merely  for  the  defense  of  the  castle,  for  the 
knight  considered  that  with  his  own  garrison  he  could 
hold  it  against  a  force  tenfold  that  which  his  rival  could 
collect.  But  he  was  determined  if  possible  to  crush  out 
the  outlaws  of  the  forest,  for  he  felt  that  so  long  as  this 
formidable  body  remained  under  an  enterprising  leader 
like  Sir  Cuthbert,  he  would  never  be  safe  for  a  moment, 
and  would  be  a  prisoner  in  his  own  castle. 

Cuthbert  had  foreseen  that  the  attack  was  likely  to  be 
made,  and  had  strengthened  his  band  to  the  utmost.  He 
felt,  however,  that  against  so  large  a  force  of  regularly 
armed  men,  although  he  might  oppose  a  stout  resistance 
and  kill  many,  yet  that  in  the  end  he  must  be  conquered. 
Cnut,  however,  suggested  to  him  a  happy  idea,  which  he 
eagerly  grasped. 

"It  would  be  rare  sport,"  Cnut  said,  "when  this 
armed  force  comes  out  to  attack  us,  if  we  could  turn  the 
tables  by  slipping  in,  and  taking  their  castle." 


274  THE  BO  Y  KNIOHT. 

"The  very  thing,"  Cuthbert  exclaimed.  "It  is  likely 
that  he  will  use  the  greater  portion  of  his  forces,  and 
that  he  will  not  keep  above  fifty  or  sixty  men, -at  the 
outside,  in  the  castle.  When  they  sally  out  we  will  at 
first  oppose  a  stout  resistance  to  them  in  the  wood,  grad- 
ually falling  back.  Then,  at  a  given  signal,  all  save 
twenty  men  shall  retire  hastily,  and  sweeping  round, 
make  for  the  castle.  Their  absence  will  not  be  noticed, 
for  in  this  thick  wood  it  is  difficult  to  tell  whether 
twenty  men  or  two  hundred  are  opposing  you  among  the 
bushes;  and  the  twenty  who  remain  must  shoot  thick 
and  fast  to  make  believe  that  their  numbers  are  great, 
retiring  sometimes,  and  leading  the  enemy  on  into  the 
heart  of  the  wood." 

"But  supposing,  Sir  Cuthbert,  that  they  should  have 
closed  the  gates  and  lifted  the  drawbridge?  We  could 
not  gain  entrance  by  storming,  even  if  only  twenty  men 
held  the  walls,  until  long  after  the  main  body  would 
have  returned." 

Cuthbert  thought  for  some  time,  and  then  said, 
"Cnut,  you  shall  undertake  this  enterprise.  You  shall 
fill  a  cart  high  with  faggots,  and  in  it  shall  conceal  a 
dozen  of  your  best  men.  Yon,  dressed  as  a  serf,  shall 
drive  the  oxen,  and  when  you  reach  the  castle  shall  say, 
in  answer  to  the  hail  of  the  sentry,  that  you  are  bringing 
in  the  tribute  of  wood  of  your  master  the  franklin  of 
Hopeburn.  They  will  then  lower  the  drawbridge  and 
open  the  gates;  and  when  you  have  crossed  the  uridge 
and  are  under  the  portcullis,  spring  out  suddenly,  cut 
loose  the  oxen  so  that  they  will  not  draw  the  cart  further 
in,  cut  the  chains  of  the  drawbridge  so  that  it  cannot  be 
drawn  off,  and  hold  the  gate  for  a  minute  or  two  until 
we  arrive." 

"The  plan  is  capital,"  Cnut  exclaimed.  "We  will  do 
the  proud  Norman  yet.  How  he  will  storm  when  he 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT.  .   27  p 

finds  us  masters  of  his  castle!    What  then  will  you  do, 
Sir  Cuthbert?" 

"We  can  hold  the  castle  for  weeks/'  Cuthbert  said^ 
"and  every  day  is  in  our  favor.  If  we  find  ourselves 
forced  to  yield  to  superior  numbers,  we  can  at  last  retire 
through  the  passage  I  have  spoken  of,  and  must  then 
scatter  and  each  shift  for  himself  until  these  bad  days  be 
past." 


276 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE  SIEGE  OF  EVESHAM  CASTLE. 

UPON  the  day  before  starting  out  to  head  the  expedi- 
tion against  the  outlaws,  Sir  Rudolph  sent  word  to  the 
Lady  Margaret  that  she  must  prepare  to  become  his  wife 
at  the  end  of  the  week.  He  had  provided  two  tiring 
maids  for  her  by  ordering  two  of  the  franklins  to  send  in 
their  daughters  for  that  purpose,  and  these  mingled  their 
tears  with  Margaret's  at  the  situation  in  which  they  were 
placed.  She  replied  firmly  to  the  messenger  of  the 
knight  that  no  power  on  earth  could  oblige  her  to  marry 
him.  He  might  drive  her  to  the  altar;  but  though  he 
killed  her  there,  her  lips  should  refuse  to  say  the  words 
which  would  unite  them. 

The  following  morning,  early,  the  castle  rang  with  the 
din  of  preparation.  The  great  portion  of  the  merce- 
naries were  encamped  in  tents  outside  the  walls,  for, 
spacious  as  it  was,  Evesham  could  hardly  contain  four 
hundred  men  in  addition  to  its  usual  garrison.  The 
men-at-arms  were  provided  with  heavy  axes  to  cut  their 
way  through  the  bushes.  Some  carried  bundles  of 
straw,  to  fire  the  wood  should  it  be  found  practicable  to 
do  so;  and  as  it  was  now  summer  and  the  wind  was  blow- 
ing high,  Sir  Rudolph  hoped  that  the  dry  grass  and 
bushes  would  catch,  and  would  do  more  even  than  his 
men-at-arms  in  clearing  the  forest  of  those  whom  he 
designated  the  villains  infesting  it.  They  had,  too,  with 
them  several  fierce  dogs  trained  to  hunting  the  deer,  and 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT.  277 

these,  the  knight  hoped,  would  do  good  service  in  track- 
ing the  outlaws.  He  and  the  knights  and  the  men-at- 
arms  with  liim  were  all  dismounted,  for  he  felt  that 
horses  would  in  the  forest  be  an  incumbrance,  and  he 
was  determined  himself  to  lead  the  way  to  the  men-at- 
arms. 

When  they  reached  the  forest  they  were  saluted  by  a 
shower  of  arrows;  but  as  all  were  clad  in  mail,  these  at  a 
distance  effected  but  little  harm.  As  they  came  closer, 
however,  the  clothyard  arrows  began  to  pierce  the  coarse 
and  ill-made  armor  of  the  foot  soldiers,  although  the 
finer  armor  of  the  knights  kept  out  the  shafts  which 
struck  against  it.  Sir  Eudolph  and  his  knights  leading 
the  way,  they  entered  the  forest  and  gradually  pressed 
their  invisible  foe  backward  through  the  trees.  The 
dogs  did  good  service,  going  on  ahead  and  attacking  the 
archers;  but,  one  by  one,  they  were  soon  shot,  and  the 
assailants  left  to  their  own  devices.  Several  attempts 
were  made  to  fire  the  wood.  But  these  failed,  the  fire 
burning  but  a  short  time  and  then  dying  out  of  itself. 
In  addition  to  the  fighting  men,  Sir  Eudolph  had  im- 
pressed into  the  service  all  the  serfs  of  his  domain,  and 
these,  armed  with  axes,  were  directed  to  cut  down  the 
trees  as  the  force  proceeded,  Sir  Rudolph  declaring  that 
he  would  not  cease  until  he  had  leveled  the  whole  forest, 
though  it  might  take  him  months  to  do  so. 

The  assailants  gained  ground  steadily,  the  resistance 
being  less  severe  than  Sir  Rudolph  had  anticipated. 
Several  small  huts  and  clearings  in  the  forest  which  had 
been  used  by  the  outlaws,  and  round  which  small  crops 
had  been  planted,  were  destroyed,  and  all  seemed  to 
promise  well  for  the  success  of  the  enterprise. 

It  was  about  two  hours  after  they  had  left  the  castle, 
when  a  heavy  cart  filled  with  fagots  was  seen  approach- 
ing its  gates.  The  garrison,  who  had  not  the  least  f«ar 


378  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

of  any  attack,  paid  no  attention  to  it  until  it  reached  the 
edge  of  the  moat.  Then  the  warder,  seeing  that  it  con- 
tained  fagots,  lowered  the  drawbridge  without  ques- 
tion, raised  the  portcullis,  and  opened  the  gates. 

"From  whom  do  you  bring  this  wood?"  he  asked,  as 
the  man  driving  the  oxen  began  to  cross  the  bridge. 

"From  the  franklin  of  Hopeburn." 

"It  is  well/'  said  the  warder,  "for  he  is  in  arrear  now, 
and  should  have  sent  in  the  firewood  two  months  since. 
Take  it  to  the  woodhouse  at  the  other  end  of  the 
court." 

The  heavy  wagon  crossed  the  drawbridge,  but  as  it  was 
entering  the  gate  it  came  suddenly  to  a  stop.  With  a 
blow  of  his  ox  goad  Cnut  leveled  the  warder  to  the 
ground,  and  cutting  the  cords  of  the  bullocks,  drove 
them  into  the  yard  ahead.  As  he  did  so  the  pile  of  fag- 
ots fell  asunder,  and  twelve  men  armed  with  bow  and 
pike  leaped  out.  The  men-at-arms  standing  near,  loung- 
ing in  the  courtyard,  gave  a  shout  of  alarm,  and  the  gar- 
rison, surprised  at  this  sudden  cry,  ran  to  their  arms. 
At  first  they  were  completely  panic-stricken.  But  seeing 
after  a  time  howjsmall  was  the  number  of  their  assailants, 
they  took  heart  and  advanced  against  them.  The  pas- 
sage was  narrow,  and  the  twelve  men  formed  a  wall  across 
it.  Six  of  them  with  their  pikes  advanced,  the  other  six 
with  bent  bows  standing  behind  them  and  delivering 
their  arrows  between  their  heads.  The  garrison  fought 
stoutly,  and  although  losing  many,  were  pressing  the 
little  band  backward.  In  vain  the  assistant-warder  tried 
to  lower  the  portcullis,  or  to  close  the  gates.  The  former 
fell  on  to  the  top  of  the  wagon,  and  was  there  retained. 
The  gates  also  were  barred  by  the  obstacle.  The  chains 
of  the  drawbridge  had  at  once  been  cut.  Cnut  encour- 
aged his  followers  by  his  shouts,  and  armed  with  a  heavy 
ax,  did  good  service  upon  the  assailants.  But  four  of 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  279 

his  party  had  fallen,  and  the  rest  were  giving  way,  when 
a  shout  was  heard,  and  over  the  drawbridge  poured  Cuth- 
bert  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  outlaws  of  the 
forest.  Struck  with  terror  at  this  attack,  the  garrison 
drew  back,  and  the  foresters  poured  into  the  yard.  For 
a  few  minutes  there  was  a  fierce  fight;  but  the  defenders 
of  the  castle,  disheartened  and  taken  by  surprise,  were 
either  cut  down  or,  throwing  down  their  arms,  cried  for 
quarter. 

Ten  minutes  after  the  wagon  had  crossed  the  draw- 
bridge the  castle  was  safely  in  possession  of  Sir  Cuth- 
bert.  The  bridge  was  raised,  the  wagon  removed,  the 
portcullis  lowered,  and  to  the  external  eye  all  remained 
as  before. 

Cuthbert  at  once  made  his  way  to  the  chamber  where 
the  Lady  Margaret  was  confined,  and  her  joy  at  her  de- 
liverance was  great  indeed.  So  unlimited  was  her  faith 
in  Sir  Cnthbert  that  she  had  never  lost  confidence;  and 
although  it  did  not  seem  possible  that  in  the  face  of  such 
disparity  of  numbers  he  could  rescue  her  from  the  power 
of  Sir  Rudolph,  yet  she  had  not  given  up  hope.  The  joy 
of  the  farmers'  daughters  who  had  been  carried  off  to 
act  as  her  attendants  was  little  inferior  to  her  own;  for 
once  in  the  power  of  this  reckless  baron,  the  girls  had 
small  hopes  of  ever  being  allowed  to  return  again  to  their 
parents. 

The  flag  of  Sir  Rudolph  was  thrown  down  from  the 
keep,  and  that  of  the  late  earl  hoisted  in  its  stead;  for 
Cuthbert  himself,  although  he  had  assumed  the  cogni- 
zance which  King  Richard  had  granted  him,  had  not  yet 
any  flag  or  pennon  emblazoned  with  it. 

No  words  can  portray  the  stupefaction  and  rage  of  Sir 
Rudolph  when  a  man  who  had  managed  to  slip  unob- 
served from  the  castle  at  the  time  of  its  capture  bore  the 
news  to  him  in  the  forest.  All  opposition  there  had 


280  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

ceased,  and  the  whole  of  the  troops  were  engaged  in  aid- 
ing the  peasants  in  cutting  wide  roads  through  the  trees 
across  the  forest,  so  as  to  make  it  penetrable  by  horse- 
men in  every  direction.  It  was  supposed  that  the  out- 
laws had  gradually  stolen  away  through  the  thickets  and 
taken  to  the  open  country,  intending  to  scatter  to  their 
homes,  or  other  distant  hiding-places;  and  the  news  that 
they  had  by  a  ruse  captured  the  castle  came  as  a  thunder- 
clap. 

Sir  Rudolph's  first  impulse  was  to  call  his  men  together 
and  to  march  toward  the  castle.  The  drawbridge  was  up, 
and  the  walls  bristled  with  armed  men.  It  was  useless 
to  attempt  a  parley;  still  more  useless  to  think  of  attack- 
ing the  stronghold  without  the  proper  machines  and 
appliances.  Foaming  with  rage,  Sir  Rudolph  took  pos- 
session of  a  cottage  near,  camped  his  men  around  and 
prepared  for  a  siego. 

There  were  among  the  mercenaries  many  men  accus- 
tomed to  the  use  of  engines  of  war.  Many,  too,  had 
aided  in  making  them;  and  these  were  at  once  set  to 
work  to  construct  the  various  machines  in  use  at  that 
time.  Before  the  invention  of  gunpowder,  castles  such  as 
those  of  the  English  barons  were  able  to  defy  any  attack 
by  an  armed  force  for  a  long  period.  Their  walls  were 
so  thick  that  even  the  balistas,  casting  huge  stones,  were 
unable  to  breach  them  except  after  a  very  long  time. 
The  moats  which  surrounded  them  were  wide  and  deep, 
and  any  attempt  at  storming  by  ladders  was  therefore 
extremely  difficult;  and  these  buildings  were  conse- 
quently more  often  captned  by  famine  than  by  other 
means.  Of  provisions,  as  Sir  Rudolph  knew,  there  was 
a  considerable  supply  at  present  in  the  castle,  for  he  had 
collected  a  large  number  of  bullocks  in  order  to  feed  the 
strong  body  who  had  been  added  to  the  garrison.  The 
granaries,  too,  were  well  stared;  and  with  a  groan  Sir 


THE  EOT  KNIGHT. 

ffcudolph  thought  of  the  rich  stores  of  French  winea 
which  he  had  collected  in  his  cellars. 

After  much  deliberation  with  the  knights  with  him 
and  the  captain  of  the  mercenaries,  it  was  agreed  in  the 
first  instance  to  attempt  to  attack  the  place  by  filling  up 
a  portion  of  the  moat  and  ascending  by  scaling  ladders. 
Huge  screens  of  wood  were  made,  and  these  were  placed 
on  wagons;  the  wagons  themselves  were  filled  with  bags 
of  earth,  and  a  large  number  of  men  getting  beneath 
them  shoved  the  ponderous  machines  forward  to  the 
edge  of  the  moat.  The  bags  of  stones  and  earth  were 
then  thrown  in,  and  the  wagons  pushed  backward  to 
obtain  a  fresh  supply.  This  operation  was  of  course  an 
exceedingly  slow  one,  a  whole  day  being  occupied  with 
each  trip  of  the  wagons.  They  were  not  unmolested  in 
their  advance,  for,  from  the  walls,  mangonels  and  other 
machines  hurled  great  stones  down  upon  the  wooden 
screens,  succeeding  sometimes,  in  spite  of  their  thick- 
ness, in  crashing  through  them,  killing  many  of  the  men 
beneath.  The  experiment  was  also  tried  of  throwing 
balls  of  Greek  fire  down  upon  the  wood;  but  as  this  was 
green  and  freshly  felled  it  would  not  take  fire,  but  the 
flames  dropping  through,  with  much  boiling  pitch  and 
other  materials,  did  grievously  burn  and  scald  the  sol- 
diers working  below  it.  Upon  both  sides  every  device 
was  tried.  The  crossbowmen  among  the  mercenaries 
kept  up  a  fire  upon  the  walls  to  hinder  the  defenders 
from  interfering  with  the  operations,  while  the  arohers 
above  shot  steadily,  and  killed  many  of  those  who 
ventured  within  range  of  their  bows. 

After  ten  da}7s'  labor  a  portion  of  the  moat  some 
twenty  yards  in  length  was  filled  with  bags  of  earth,  and 
all  was  ready  for  the  assault.  The  besiegers  had  pre- 
pared great  numbers  of  strong  ladders,  and  these  were 
brought  up  under  shelter  of  the  screens,  Then,  all  being 


282  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

ready,  the  trumpets  sounded  for  the  assault,  and  the 
troops  moved  forward  in  a  close  body,  covering  them- 
selves with  their  shields  so  that  no  man's  head  or  body 
was  visible,  each  protecting  the  one  before  him  with  his 
shield  held  over  him.  Thus  the  body  presented  the 
appearance  of  a  great  scale-covered  animal.  In  many 
respects,  indeed,  the  warfare  of  those  days  was  changed 
in  no  way  from  that  of  the  time  of  the  Romans.  In  the 
twelve  hundred  years  which  had  elapsed  between  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem  and  the  days  of  the  Crusades  there 
had  been  but  little  change  in  arms  or  armor,  and  the 
operations  which  Titus  undertook  for  the  reduction  of 
the  Jewish  stronghold  differed  but  little  from  those 
which  a  Norman  baron  employed  in  besieging  his  neigh- 
bor's castle. 

Within  Evesham  Castle  all  was  contentment  and  mer« 
riment  during  these  days.  The  garrison  had  no  fear 
whatever  of  being  unable  to  repel  the  assault  when  it 
should  be  delivered.  Huge  stones  had  been  collected  in 
numbers  on  the  walls,  caldrons  of  pitch,  beneath  which 
fires  kept  simmering,  stood  there  in  readiness.  Long 
poles  with  hooks  with  which  to  seize  the  ladders  and  cut 
them  down  were  laid  there;  and  all  that  precaution  and 
science  could  do  was  prepared. 

Cuthbert  passed  much  of  the  day,  when  not  required 
upon  the  walls,  chatting  with  the  Lady  Margaret,  who, 
attended  by  her  maidens,  sat  working  in  her  bower.  She 
had  learned  to  read  from  the  good  nuns  of  the  convent 
• — an  accomplishment  which  was  by  no  means  general, 
even  among  the  daughters  of  nobles;  but  books  were 
rare,  and  Evesham  boasted  but  few  manuscripts.  Here 
Margaret  learned  in  full  all  the  details  of  Cuthbert's  ad- 
ventures since  leaving  England,  and  the  fondness  with 
which  as  a  child  she  had  regarded  the  lad  grew  gradually 
into  the  affection  of  a  woman. 


THE  EOT  KNIGHT.  383 

The  courage  of  the  garrison  was  high,  for  although 
they  believed  that  sooner  or  later  the  castle  might  be  car- 
ried by  the  besiegers,  they  had  already  been  told  by  Cnut 
that  there  was  a  means  of  egress  unknown  to  the  be- 
siegers, and  that  when  the  time  came  they  would  be  able 
to  escape  unharmed.  This,  while  it  in  no  way  detracted 
from  their  determination  to  defend  the  castle  to  the  last, 
yet  rendered  their  task  a  far  lighter  and  more  agreeable 
one  than  it  would  have  been  had  they  seen  the  gallows 
standing  before  them  as  the  end  of  the  siege. 

As  the  testudo,  as  it  was  called  in  those  days,  advanced 
toward  the  castle,  the  machines  upon  the  walls — cata- 
pults, mangonels  and  arbalasts — poured  forth  showers  of 
stones  and  darts  upon  it,  breaking  up  the  array  of  shields 
and  killing  many;  and  as  these  openings  were  made,  the 
archers,  seizing  their  time,  poured  in  volleys  of  arrows. 
The  mercenaries,  however,  accustomed  to  war,  advanced 
steadily,  and  made  good  their  footing  beneath  the  castle 
wall,  and  proceeded  to  rear  their  ladders.  Here,  al- 
though free  from  the  action  of  the  machines,  they  were 
exposed  to  the  hand  missiles,  which  were  scarcely  less 
destructive.  In  good  order,  and  with  firmness,  however, 
they  reared  the  ladders,  and  mounted  to  the  assault,  cov- 
ering themselves  as  well  as  they  could  with  their  shields, 
In  vain,  however,  did  they  mount.  The  defenders 
poured  down  showers  of  boiling  pitch  and  oil,  which 
penetrated  the  crevices  of  their  armor  and  caused  intol- 
erable torment.  Great  stones  were  toppled  over  from 
the  battlements  upon  them;  and  sometimes  the  ladders, 
seized  by  the  poles  with  hooks,  were  cast  backward,  with 
all  upon  them,  on  the  throng  below.  For  half  an  hour, 
encouraged  by  the  shouts  of  Sir  Kudolph  and  their 
leaders,  the  soldiers  strove  gallantly;  but  were  at  last 
compelled  to  draw  off,  having  lost  nigh  one  hundred 
men,  without  one  gaining  a  footing  upon  the  walls. 


284  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

That  evening  another  council  of  war  was  held  without. 
Already  some  large  machines  for  which  Sir  Kudolph  had 
tent  had  arrived.  In  anticipation  of  the  possibility  of 
failure,  two  castles  upon  wheels  had  been  prepared,  and 
between  these  a  huge  beam  with  an  iron  head  was  hung. 
This  was  upon  the,  following  day  pushed  forward  on  the 
newly-formed  ground  across  the  moat.  Upon  the  upper 
part  of  each  tower  were  armed  men  who  worked  ma- 
chines casting  sheaves  of  arrows  and  other  missiles. 
Below  were  those  who  worked  the  ram.  To  each  side  of 
the  beam  were  attached  numerous  cords,  and  with  these 
it  was  swung  backward  and  forward,  giving  heavy  blows 
each  stroke  upon  the  wall.  The  machines  for  casting 
stones,  which  had  arrived,  were  also  brought  in  play, 
and  day  and  night  these  thundered  against  the  walls; 
while  the  ram  repeated  its  ceaseless  blows  upon  the  same 
spot,  until  the  stone  crumbled  before  it. 

Very  valiantly  did  the  garrison  oppose  themselves  to 
these  efforts.  But  each  day  showed  the  progress  made 
by  the  besiegers.  Their  forces  had  been  increased, 
Prince  John  having  ordered  his  captain  at  Gloucester  to 
send  another  one  hundred  men  to  the  assistance  of  Sir 
Rudolph.  Other  towers  had  now  been  prepared.  These 
were  larger  than  the  first,  and  overtopped  the  castle  walls. 
From  the  upper  story  were  drawbridges,  so  formed  as  to 
drop  from  the  structures  upon  the  walls,  and  thus  enable 
the  besiegers  to  rush  upon  them.  The  process  was  facil- 
itated fcy  the  fact  that  the  battlements  had  been  shot 
away  by  the  great  stones,  and  there  was  a  clear  space  on 
which  the  drawbridges  could  fall.  The  attack  was  made 
•with  great  vigor;  but  for  a  long  time  the  besieged  main- 
tained their  post,  and  drove  back  the  assailants  as  they 
poured  out  across  the  drawbridges  on  to  the  wall.  At 
last  Cnthbert  saw  that  the  forces  opposed  to  him  were 
too  numerous  to  be  resisted,  and  gave  orders  to  his  men 
to  fall  back  upon  the  inner  keep. 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  285 

Making  one  rush,  and  clearing  the  wall  of  those  who 
had  gained  a  footing,  the  garrison  fell  back  hastily,  and 
were  safely  within  the  massive  keep  before  the  enemy 
had  mustered  in  sufficient  numbers  upon  the  wall  to 
interfere  with  them.  The  drawbridge  was  now  lowered, 
and  the  whole  of  the  assailants  gained  footing  within  the 
castle.  They  were  still  far  from  having  achieved  a  vic- 
tory. The  walls  of  the  keep  were  massive  and  strong, 
and  its  top  far  higher  than  the  walls,  so  that  from  above 
a  storm  of  arrows  poured  down  upon  all  who  ventured  to 
show  themselves.  The  keep  had  no  windows  low  enough 
down  for  access  to  be  gained;  and  those  on  the  floors 
above  were  so  narrow,  and  protected  by  bars,  that  it 
seemed  by  scaling  the  walls  alone  could  an  entry  be 
effected.  This  was  far  too  desperate  an  enterprise  to  be 
attempted,  for  the  keep  rose  eighty  feet  above  the  court- 
yard. It  was  upon  the  door,  solid  and  studded  with 
iron,  that  the  attempt  had  to  be  made. 

Several  efforts  were  made  by  Sir  Kudolph,  who  fought 
with  a  bravery  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  to  assault  and 
batter  down  the  door.  Protected  by  wooden  shields  from 
the  rain  of  missiles  from  above,  he  and  his  knights  hacked 
at  the  door  with  their  battle-axes.  But  in  vain.  It  had 
been  strengthened  by  heams  behind,  and  by  stones  piled 
up  against  it.  Then  fire  was  tried.  Fagots  were  col- 
lected in  the  forest,  and  brought;  and  a  huge  pile  having 
been  heaped  against  the  door,  it  was  lighted.  "We 
could  doubtless  prolong:  the  siege  for  some  days,  Lady 
Margaret,"  said  Cuthbert,  "but  the  castle  is  ours;  and 
we  wish  not,  when  the  time  comes  that  we  shall  again  be 
masters  of  it,  that  ii  should  be  a  mere  heap  of  ruins. 
Methinks  we  have  done  enough.  With  but  small  losses 
on  our  side,  we  have  killed  great  numbers  of  the  enemy, 
and  have  hold  them  at  bay  for  a  month.  Therefore,  I 
think  that  to-night  it  will  be  well  for  us  to  leave  the 
place/' 


286  'f£E  BOY  KXIGHT. 

Lady  Margaret  was  rejoiced  at  the  news  that  the  time 
for  escape  had  come,  for  the  perpetual  clash  of  war,  the 
rattling  of  arrows,  the  ponderous  thudvof  heavy  stones, 
caused  a  din  very  alarming  to  a  young  girl;  and  although 
the  room  in  which  she  sat,  looking  into  the  inner  court 
of  the  castle,  was  not  exposed  to  missiles,  she  trembled 
at  the  thought  that  brave  men  were  being  killed,  and 
that  at  any  moment  a  shot  might  strike  Cuthbert,  and  so 
leave  her  without  a  friend  or  protector. 

Content  with  having  destroyed  the  door,  the  assailants 
made  no  further  effort  that  evening,  but  prepared  in  the 
morning  to  attack  it,  pull  down  the  stones  filled  behind 
it,  and  force  their  way  into  the  keep.  There  was,  \vi^h 
the  exception  of  the  main  entrance,  but  one  means  of 
exit,  a  small  postern  door  behind  the  castle,  and  through- 
out the  siege  a  strong  body  of  troops  had  been  posted 
here,  to  prevent  the  garrison  making  a  sortie.  Feeling 
secure  therefore  that  upon  the  following  day  his  enemies 
would  fall  into  his  power,  Sir  Rudolph  retired  to  rest. 

An  hour  before  midnight  the  garrison  assembled  in  the 
hall.  The  table  was  removed,  and  Cuthbert  having 
pressed  the  spring,  which  was  at  a  distance  from  the 
stone  and  could  not  be  discovered  without  a  knowledge 
of  its  existence,  the  stone  turned  aside  by  means  of  a 
counterpoise,  and  a  flight  of  steps  was  seen.  Torches 
had  been  prepared.  Cnut  and  a  chosen  band  went  first; 
Cuthbert  followed,  with  Lady  Margaret  and  her  attend- 
ants; and  the  rest  of  the  archers  brought  up  the  raar,  r 
trusty  man  being  left  in  charge  at  last  with  orders  t 
swing  back  the  stone  into  its  place,  having  first  hauled 
the  table  over  the  spot,  so  that  their  means  of  escape 
should  be  unknown. 

The  passage  was  long  and  dreary,  the  walls  were  damp 
with  wet,  and  the  massive  doors  so  swollen  by  moisture 
that  it  was  with  the  greyest  difficulty  they  could  b<? 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

opened.  At  last,  however,  they  emerged  into  the  little 
friary  in  the  wood.  It  was  deserted,  the  priest  who 
usually  dwelt  there  having  fled  when  the  siege  began. 
The  stone  which  there,  as  in  the  castle,  concealed  the 
exit,  was  carefully  closed,  and  the  party  then  emerged 
into  the  open  air.  Here  Cuthbert  bade  adieu  to  his  com- 
rades. Cnut  had  very  anxiously  begged  to  be  allowed  to 
accompany  him  and  share  his  fortunes,  and  Outhbert  had 
promised  him  that  if  at  any  time  he  should  again  take  up 
arms  in  England,  he  would  summon  him  to  his  side,  but 
that  at  present  as  he  knew  not  whither  his  steps  would  be 
turned,  it  would  be  better  that  he  should  be  unattended. 
The  archers  had  all  agreed  to  scatter  far  and  wide 
through  the  country,  many  of  them  proceeding  to  Not- 
tingham and  joining  the  bands  in  the  forest  of  Sherwood. 
Cuthbert  himself  had  determined  to  make  his  way  to 
the  castle  of  his  friend,  Sir  Baldwin,  and  to  leave  the 
Lady  Margaret  in  his  charge.  Cnut  hurried  on  at  full 
speed  to  the  house  of  a  franklin,  some  three  miles  dis- 
tant. Here  horses  were  obtained  and  saddled,  and 
dresses  prepared;  and  when  Cuthbert  with  Lady  Mar- 
garet arrived  there,  no  time  was  lost.  Dressed  as  a  yeo- 
man, with  the  Lady  Margaret  as  his  sister,  he  mounted  a 
horse,  with  her  behind  him  on  a  pillion.  The  other 
damsels  also  mounted,  as  it  would  not  have  been  safe  for 
them  to  remain  near  Evesham.  They  therefore  pur- 
posed taking  refuge  in  a  convent  near  Gloucester  for  the 
present.  Bidding  a  hearty  adieu  to  Cnut,  and  with 
thanks  to  the  franklin  who  had  aided  them,  they  sot  for- 
ward on  their  journey.  By  morning  they  had  reached 
the  convent,  and  here  the  two  girls  were  left,  and  Cuth- 
bert continued  his  journey.  He  left  his  charge  at  a  con- 
rent  a  day's  ride  distant  from  the  castle  of  Sir  Baldwin, 
as  he  wished  to  consult  the  knight  first  as  to  the  best 
way  of  her  entering  the  castle  without  exciting  talk  or 
suspicion. 


288  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

Sir  Baldwin  received  him  with  joy.  He  had  heard 
something  of  his  doings,  and  the  news  of  the  siege  of 
Evesham  had  been  noised  abroad.  He  told  him  that  he 
was  in  communication  with  many  other  barons,  and  that 
ere  long  they  hoped  to  rise  against  the  tyranny  of  Prince 
John,  but  that  at  present  they  were  powerless,  as  manys 
hoping  that  King  Richard  would  return  ere  long,  shrank 
from  involving  the  country  in  a  civil  war.  When  Cuth- 
bert  told  him  that  the  daughter  of  his  old  friend  was  at 
a  convent  but  a  day's  ride  distant,  and  that  he  sought 
protection  for  her,  Sir  Baldwin  instantly  offered  her 
hospitality. 

"I  will/'  he  said,  "send  my  good  wife  to  fetch  her. 
Some  here  know  your  presence,  and  it  would  be  better 
therefore  that  she  did  not  arrive  for  some  days,  as  her 
coming  will  then  seem  to  be  unconnected  with  yourself. 
My  wife  and  I  will,  a  week  hence,  give  out  that  we  are 
going  to  fetch  a  cousin  of  my  wife's  to  stay  here  with 
her;  and  when  we  return  no  suspicion  will  be  excited 
that  she  is  other  than  she  seems.  Should  it  be  other- 
wise, I  need  not  say  that  Sir  Baldwin  of  Be"thune  will 
defend  his  castle  against  any  of  the  minions  of  Prince 
John.  But  I  have  no  fear  that  her  presence  here  will  be 
discovered.  What  think  you  of  doing  in  the  mean- 
time?" 

"I  am  thinking,"  Cuthbert  said,  "of  going  east.  No 
news  has  been  obtained  of  our  lord  the  king  save  that  he 
is  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  emperor;  but  whero  con- 
fined, or  how,  we  know  not.  It  is  my  intent  to  travel  to 
the  Tyrol,  and  to  trace  his  steps  from  the  time  that  he 
was  captured.  Then,  when  I  obtain  knowledge  of  the 
place  where  he  is  kept,  I  will  return,  and  consult  upon 
the  best  steps  to  be  taken.  My  presence  in  England  is 
now  useless.  Did  the  barons  raise  the  standard  of  King 
Richard  against  the  prince,  I  should  at  once  return  and 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  289 

iora  them.  But  without  land  or  vassals,  I  can  do  noth- 
ing here,  and  shall  be  indeed  like  a  hunted  hare,  for  I 
know  that  the  false  earl  will  move  heaven  and  earth  to 
capture  me." 

Sir  Baldwin  approved  of  the  resolution;  but  recom- 
mended Cuthbert  to  take  every  precaution  not  to  fall 
himself  into  the  hands  of  the  emperor;  "for,"  he  said, 
"if  we  cannot  discover  the  prison  of  King  Richard,  I  fear 
that  it  would  be  hopeless  indeed  ever  to  attempt  to  fincl 
that  in  which  a  simple  knight  is  confined*" 


§90  WM  so* 


CHAifrER  XXV. 

IN  SEARCH  OF  THE  KINO. 

THE  following  day,  with  many  thanks,  Cuthbert  started 
from  the  castle,  and  in  the  first  place  visited  the  con- 
vent, and  told  Lady  Margaret  that  she  would  be  fetched 
in  a  few  days  by  Sir  Baldwin  and  his  wife.  He  took  a 
tender  adieu  of  her,  not  without  many  forebodings  and 
tears  upon  her  part;  but  promising  blithely  that  he 
would  return  and  lead  her  back  in  triumph  to  her  castle, 
he  bade  adieu  and  rode  for  London. 

He  had  attired  himself  as  a  merchant,  and  took  up  his 
abode  at  a  hostelry  near  Cheapside.  Here  he  remained 
quietly  for  some  days,  and,  mixing  among  the  people, 
learned  that  in  London  as  elsewhere  the  rapacity  of 
Prince  John  had  rendered  him  hateful  to  the  people, 
and  that  they  would  gladly  embrace  any  opportunity  of 
freeing  themselves  from  his  yoke.  He  was  preparing  to 
leave  for  France,  when  the  news  came  to  him  that  Prince 
John  had  summoned  all  the  barons  faithful  to  him  to 
meet  him  near  London,  and  had  recalled  all  his  merce- 
naries from  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  was  gath- 
ering a  large  army;  also,  that  the  barons  faithful  to  King 
Richard,  alarmed  by  the  prospect,  had  raised  the  royal 
standard,  and  that  true  men  were  hurrying  to  their  sup- 
port. This  entirely  destroyed  the  plans  that  he  had 
formed.  Taking  horse  again,  and  avoiding  the  main 
road,  by  which  he  might  meet  the  hostile  barons  on  their 
way  to  London,  he  journeyed  down  to  Nottingham. 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  291 

Thence  riding  boldly  into  the  forest,  he  sought  the  out- 
laws, and  was  not  long  ere  he  found  them.  At  his 
request  he  was  at  once  taken  before  their  leader,  a  man 
of  great  renown  both  for  courage  and  bowmanship,  one 
Kobin  Hood.  This  bold  outlaw  had  long  held  at  defiance 
the  sheriff  of  Nottingham,  and  had  routed  him  and  all 
"bodies  of  troops  who  had  been  sent  against  him.  With 
him  Cuthbert  found  many  of  his  own  men;  and  upon 
hearing  that  the  royal  standard  had  been  raised,  Kobin 
Hood  at  once  agreed  to  march  with  all  his  men  to  join 
the  royal  force.  Messengers  were  dispatched  to  summon 
the  rest  of  the  forest  band  from  their  hiding-places,  and 
a  week  later  Cuthbert,  accompanied  by  Kobin  Hood  and 
three  hundred  archers,  set  out  for  the  rendezvous. 
When  they  arrived  there  they  found  that  Sir  Baldwin 
had  already  joined  with  his  retainers,  and  was  by  him 
most  warmly  received,  and  introduced  to  the  other  barons 
in  the  camp,  by  whom  Cuthbert  was  welcomed  as  a 
brother.  The  news  that  Prince  John's  army  was  ap- 
proaching was  brought  in  a  fortnight  after  Cuthbert  had 
joined  the  camp,  and  the  army  in  good  order  moved  out 
to  meet  the  enemy. 

The  forces  were  about  equal.  The  battle  began  by  a 
discharge  of  arrows;  but  Kobin  Hood  and  his  men  shot 
so  true  and  fast  that  they  greatly  discomfited  the  enemy; 
and  King  John's  mercenaries  having  but  little  stomach 
for  the  fight,  and  knowing  how  unpopular  they  were  in 
England,  and  that  if  defeated  small  mercy  was  likely  to 
be  shown  to  them,  refused  to  advance  against  the  ranks 
of  the  loyal  barons,  and  falling  back  declined  to  join  in 
the  fray.  Seeing  their  numbers  so  weakened  by  this 
defection,  the  barons  on  the  prince's  side  hesitated,  and 
surrounding  the  prince  advised  him  to  make  terms  with 
the  barons  while  there  was  yet  time.  Prince  John  saw 
that  the  present  was  not  a  favorable  time  for  him,  and 


292 

concealing  his  fury  tinder  a  mask  of  courtesy,  he  at  once 
acceded  to  the  advice  of  his  followers,  and  dispatched  a 
messenger  to  the  barons  with  an  inquiry  as  to  what  they 
wanted  of  him.  A  council  was  held,  and  it  was  deter- 
mined to  demand  the  dismissal  of  the  mercenaries  and 
their  dispatch  back  to  their  own  country;  also  that  John 
wouta  govern  only  as  his  brother's  representative;  that 
the  laws  of  the  country  should  be  respected;  that  no 
taxes  should  be  raised  without  the  assent  of  the  barons; 
that  all  men  who  had  taken  up  arms  against  his  authority 
should  be  held  free;  and  that  the  barons  on  Prince 
John's  side  should  return  peaceably  home  and  disband 
their  forces.  Seeing,  under  the  circumstances,  that  there 
was  no  way  before  him  but  to  yield  to  these  demands, 
Prince  John  accepted  the  terms.  The  mercenaries  were 
ordered  to  march  direct  to  London,  and  orders  were 
given  that  ships  should  be  at  once  prepared  to  take  them 
across  to  Normandy,  and  the  barons  marched  for  their 
homes. 

Satisfied,  now  that  the  mercenaries  were  gone,  that 
they  could  henceforth  hold  their  ground  against  Prince 
John,  the  royal  barons  also  broke  up  their  forces.  Eobin 
Hood  with  his  foresters  returned  to  Sherwood;  and 
Cuthbert,  bidding  adieu  to  Sir  Baldwin,  rode  back  to 
London,  determined  to  carry  out  the  plan  which  he  had 
formed.  He  was  the  more  strengthened  in  this  resolu- 
tion, inasmuch  as  in  the  royal  camp  he  had  met  a  friend 
from  whom  he  parted  last  in  the  Holy  Land.  This  vras 
Blondel,  the  minstrel  of  King  Richard,  whose  songs  and 
joyous  music  had  often  lightened  the  evening  after  days 
of  fighting  and  toil  in  Palestine.  To  him  Cuthbert  con- 
fided his  intention,  and  the  minstrel  instantly  offered  to 
accompany  him. 

"I  shall,"  he  said,  "be  of  assistance  to  you.  Minstrels 
are  like  heralds.  They  are  of  no  nationality,  and  can 


THE  BO  7  KNIGHT.  293 

pass  free  where  a  man-at-arms  would  be  closely  watched 
and  hindered.  Moreover,  it  may  be  that  I  might  aid 
you  greatly  in  discovering  the  prison  of  the  king.  So 
great  is  the  secrecy  with  which  this  has  been  surrounded 
that  I  question  if  any  inquiries  you  could  make  would 
enable  you  to  trace  him.  My  voice,  however,  can  pene- 
trate into  places  where  we  cannot  enter.  I  will  take  with 
me  my  lute,  and  as  we  journey  I  will  sing  outside  the 
walls  of  each  prison  we  come  to  one  of  the  songs  which  I 
sang  in  Palestine.  King  Richard  is  himself  a  singer  and 
Knows  my  songs  as  well  as  myself.  If  I  sing  a  verse  of 
some  song  which  I  wrote  there  and  which,  therefore, 
would  be  known  only  to  him,  if  he  hears  it  he  may  follow 
with  the  next  verse,  and  so  enable  us  to  know  of  his 
hiding-place." 

Cuthbert  at  once  saw  the  advantages  which  such  com- 
panionship would  bring  him,  and  joyfully  accepted  the 
minstrel's  offer,  agreeing  himself  to  go  as  serving  man  to 
Blondel.  The  latter  accompanied  him  to  London. 
Here  their  preparations  were  soon  made,  and  taking  ship 
in  a  merchantman  bound  for  the  Netherlands,  they 
started  without  delay  upon  their  adventure. 

The  minstrels  and  troubadours  were  at  that  time  a 
privileged  race  in  Europe,  belonging  generally  to  the 
south  of  France,  although  produced  in  all  lands.  They 
traveled  over  Europe  singing  the  lays  which  they  them- 
selves had  composed,  and  were  treated  with  all  honor  at 
the  castles  where  they  chose  to  alight.  It  would  have 
been  considered  as  foul  a  deed  to  use  discourtesy  to  a 
minstrel  as  to  insult  a  herald.  Their  persons  were,  in- 
deed, regarded  as  sacred,  and  the  knights  and  barons 
strove  to  gain  their  good-will  by  hospitality  and  pres- 
ents, as  a  large  proportion  of  their  ballads  related  to 
deeds  of  war;  and  while  they  would  write  lays  in  honor 
of  those  who  courteously  entertained  them,  they  did  not 


294  THE  &3  Y  KNIGHT. 

hesitate  to  heap  obloquy  upon  those  who  receiver  rhem 
discourteously,  holding  them  up  to  the  gibes  and  scoffa 
of  their  fellows.  In  no  way,  therefore,  would  success 
be  so  likely  to  attend  the  mission  of  those  who  set  out  to 
discover  the  hiding-place  of  King  Richard  as  under  the 
guise  of  a  minstrel  and  his  attendant.  No  questions 
would  be  asked  them;  they  could  halt  where  they  would,, 
in  castle  or  town,  secure  of  hospitality  and  welcome. 
Blondel  was  himself  a  native  of  the  south  of  Francej 
singing  his  songs  in  the  soft  language  of  Languedoc. 
Cuthbert's  Norman  French  would  pass  muster  anywhere 
as  being  that  of  a  native  of  France;  and  although  when 
dressed  as  a  servitor  attention  might  be  attracted  by  his 
bearing,  his  youth  might  render  it  probable  that  he  was 
of  noble  family,  but  that  he  had  entered  the  service  of 
the  minstrel  in  order  to  qualify  himself  some  day  for 
following  that  career.  He  carried  a  long  staff,  a  short 
sword,  and  at  his  back  the  lute  or  small  harp  played  upon 
by  the  troubadour.  BlondePs  attire  was  rich,  and  suit- 
able to  a  person  of  high  rank. 

They  crossed  to  the  Scheldt,  and  thence  traveled  by 
the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine  as  far  as  Mannheim,  some- 
times journeying  by  boat,  sometimes  on  foot.  They 
were  also  hospitably  entertained,  and  were  considered  to 
more  than  repay  their  hosts  by  the  songs  which  Blondel 
sang. 

At  Mannheim  they  purchased  two  horses,  and  then 
struck  east  for  Vienna. 

The  journey  was  not  without  danger,  for  a  large  por- 
tion of  this  part  of  Europe  was  under  no  settled  govern- 
ment, each  petty  baron  living  in  his  own  castle,  and 
holding  but  slight  allegiance  to  any  feudal  lord,  making 
war  upon  his  neighbor  on  his  own  account,  levying 
blackmail  from  travelers,  and  perpetually  at  variance 
with  the  burghers  of  the  towns. 


SHE  SOY  RNIGST.  295 

The  hills  were  covered  with  immense  forests,  which 
stretched  for  many  leagues  in  all  directions,  and  these 
were  infested  by  wolves,  bears,  and  robbers. 

The  latter,  however,  although  men  without  pity  or 
religion,  yet  held  the  troubadours  in  high  esteem,  and 
the  travelers  without  fear  entered  the  gloomy  shades  of 
The  forest. 

They  had  not  gone  far  when  their  way  was  barred  by  a 
number  of  armed  men. 

"I  am  a  minstrel,"  Blondel  said;  "and  as  such  doubt 
aot  that  your  courtesy  will  be  extended  to  me." 

"Of  a  surety,"  the  leader  said;  "the  gay  science  is  as 
much  loved  and  respected  in  the  greenwood  as  in  the 
castle;  and  moreover,  the  purses  of  those  who  follow  it 
ure  too  light  to  offer  any  temptation  to  us.  We  would 
pray  you,  however,  to  accompany  us  to  our  leader,  who 
will  mightily  rejoice  to  see  you,  for  he  loves  music,  and 
will  gladly  be  your  host  so  long  as  you  will  stay  with  him." 

Blondel,  without  objection,  turned  his  horse's  head 
nnd  accompanied  the  men,  followed  by  Cuthbert.  After 
half  an  hour's  traveling  they  came  to  a  building  which 
had  formerly  been  a  shrine,  but  which  was  now  converted 
to  the  robbers'  headquarters.  The  robber  chief,  on  hear- 
ing from  his  followers  the  news  that  a  minstrel  had 
arrived,  came  forward  to  meet  him,  and  courteously  bade 
him  welcome. 

"I  am  Sir  Adelbert,  of  Rotherheim,"  he  said,  "al- 
though you  see  me  in  so  poor  a  plight.  My  castle  and 
lands  have  been  taken  by  my  neighbor,  with  whom  for 
generations  my  family  have  been  at  feud.  I  was  in  the 
Holy  Land  with  the  emperor,  and  on  my  return  found 
that  the  baron  had  taken  the  opportunity  of  my  absence, 
storming  my  castle  and  seizing  my  lands.  In  vain  I 
petitioned  the  emperor  to  dispossess  this  traitorous  baron 
of  my  lands,  which  by  all  the  laws  of  Christendom  should 


296  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

Lave  been  respected  during  my  absence.  The  emperor 
did  indeed  send  a  letter  to  the  baron  to  deliver  them  up 
to  me;  but  his  power  here  is  but  nominal,  and  the  baron 
contemptuously  threw  the  royal  proclamation  into  the  fire, 
and  told  the  messenger  that  what  he  had  taken  by  the 
sword  he  would  hold  by  the  sword;  and  the  emperor, 
laving  weightier  matters  on  hand  than  to  set  troops  in 
motion  to  redress  the  grievances  of  a  simple  knight,  gave 
the  matter  no  further  thought.  I  have  therefore  been 
driven  to  the  forest,  where  I  live  as  best  I  may  with  my 
followers,  most  of  whom  were  retainers  upon  my  estate, 
and  some  my  comrades  in  the  Holy  Land.  I  make  war 
upon  the  rich  and  powerful,  and  beyond  that  do  harm 
to  no  man.  But,  methinks,"  he  continued,  "I  know 
jour  face,  gentle  sir." 

"It  may  well  be  so,  Sir  Adelbert,"  the  minstrel  said, 
"for  I  too  was  in  the  Holy  Land.  I  followed  the  train 
of  King  Richard,  and  mayhap  at  some  of  the  entertain- 
ments given  by  him  you  have  seen  my  face.  My  name  is 
Blondel." 

"I  remember  now,"  the  knight  said.  "It  was  at  Acre 
that  I  first  saw  you,  and  if  I  remember  rightly  you  can 
•wield  the  sword  as  well  as  the  lute." 

"One  cannot  always  be  playing  and  singing,"  Blondel 
said,  "and  in  lack  of  amusement  I  was  forced  to  do  my 
best  against  the  infidel,  who  indeed  would  have  but  little 
respected  my  art  had  I  fallen  into  his  hands.  The  fol- 
lowers of  the  prophet  hold  minstrels  but  in  slight 
reverence." 

"What  is  the  news  of  King  Richard?"  the  knight 
said.  "I  have  heard  that  he  was  lost  on  the  voyage 
homeward." 

"It  is  not  so,"  Blondel  said.  "He  landed  safely  on 
the  coast,  and  was  journeying  north  with  a  view  of  join- 
ing his  sister  at  the  court  of  Saxony,  when  he  was  foully 
seized  and  imprisoned  by  the  Archduke  John." 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  297 

"That  were  gross  shame  indeed,"  the  knight  said, 
"and  black  treachery  on  the  part  of  Duke  John.  And 
where  is  the  noble  king  imprisoned?" 

"That,"  said  Blondel,  "no  man  knows.  On  my  jour- 
ney hither  I  have  gathered  that  the  emperor  claimed 
him  from  the  hand  of  the  archduke,  and  that  he  is  im- 
prisoned in  one  of  the  royal  fortresses,  but  which  I  know 
not.  And  indeed,  sir  knight,  since  you  are  well  disposed 
toward  him,  I  may  tell  you  that  the  purport  of  my  jour- 
Bey  is  to  discover  if  I  can  the  place  of  his  confinement. 
He  was  a  kind  and  noble  master,  and  however  long  my 
search  may  be,  I  will  yet  obtain  news  of  him." 

The  knight  warmly  applauded  the  troubadour's  resolu- 
tion, and  was  turning  to  lead  him  into  his  abode,  when 
his  eye  fell  upon  Cuthbert. 

"Methinks  I  know  the  face  of  your  attendant  as  well 
as  your  own;  though  where  I  can  have  seen  him  I  know 
not.  Was  he  with  you  in  the  Holy  Land?" 

"Yes,"  Blondel  said,  "the  youth  was  also  there;  and 
doubtless  you  may  have  noticed  him,  for  he  is  indeed  of 
distinguished  and  of  good  family." 

"Then  let  him  share  our  repast,"  the  knight  said,  "if 
it  seems  good  to  yon.  In  these  woods  there  is  no  rank, 
.'And  I  myself  have  long  dropped  my  knightly  title,  and 
shall  not  reassume  it  until  I  can  pay  off  my  score  to  the 
Baron  of  Rotherheim,  and  take  my  place  again  in  my 
castle." 

The  minstrel  and  Cuthbert  were  soon  seated  an  the 
table  with  the  knight  and  one  or  two  of  his  principal 
companions.  A  huge  venison  pasty  formed  the  staple  of 
the  repast,  but  hares  and  other  small  game  were  also 
upon  the  table.  Nor  was  the  generous  wine  of  the 
country  wanting. 

The  knight  had  several  times  glanced  at  Cuthbert,  and 
it  last  exclaimed,  "I  have  it  now.  This  is  no  attendant, 


398  2BW  B0  Y 

sir  minstrel,  bnt  that  valiant  young  knight  who  so  often 
rode  near  King  Richard  in  battle.  He  is,  as  I  guess, 
your  companion  in  this  quest;  is  it  not  so?" 

"It  is,"  Cuthbert  replied  frankly.  "I  am,  like  your- 
self, a  disinherited  knight,  and  my  history  resembles 
yours.  Upon  my  return  to  England  I  found  another  in 
possession  of  the  land  and  titles  that  belonged  to  the 
noble  I  followed,  and  which  King  Richard  bestowed  upon 
me.  The  Earl  of  Evesham  was  doubtless  known  to 
you,  and  before  his  death  King  Richard,  at  his  request, 
bestowed  upon  me  as  his  adopted  son — although  but  a 
distant  connection — his  title  and  lands  and  the  hand  of  his 
daughter.  Prince  John,  who  now  rules  in  England,  had 
however  granted  these  things  to  one  of  his  favorites,  and 
he  having  taken  possession  of  the  land  and  title,  though 
not,  happily,  of  the  lady,  closed  his  door  somewhat 
roughly  in  my  face.  I  found  means,  however,  to  make 
my  mark  upon  him;  but  as  our  quarrel  could  not  be 
fought  out  to  the  end,  and  as  the  false  knight  had  the 
aid  of  Prince  John,  I  am  forced  for  awhile  to  postpone 
our  settlement,  and  meeting  my  good  friend  the  min- 
strel, agreed  to  join  him  in  his  enterprise  to  discover  our 
lord  the  king." 

The  knight  warmly  grasped  Cuthbert's  hand. 

"I  am  glad,"  he  said,  "to  meet  so  true  and  valiant  a 
knight.  I  have  often  wondered  at  the  valor  with  which 
you,  although  so  young,  bore  yourself;  and  there  were 
tales  afloat  of  strange  adventures  which  you  had  under- 
gone in  captivity  for  a  time  among  the  infidels." 

At  Sir  Adelbert's  request  Cuthbert  related  the  story 
of  his  adventures  among  the  Saracens;  and  then  Blondel, 
tuning  his  lute,  sang  several  canzonets  which  he  had 
composed  in  the  Holy  Land,  of  feats  of  arms  and  adven- 
ture. 

"How  far  are  you,"  Cuthbert  asked  presently,  when 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  399 

Blondel  laid  his  lute  aside,  "from  the  estates  which  were 
wrongfully  wrested  from  you?" 

"But  twenty  leagues,"  the  knight  said.  "My  castle 
was  on  the  Ehine,  between  Coblentz  and  Mannheim." 

"Does  the  baron  know  that  you  are  so  near?"  Cuth- 
bert  asked. 

"Methinks  that  he  does  not,"  the  knight  replied, 
"but  that  he  deems  me  to  have  gone  to  the  court  of  the 
emperor  to  seek  for  redress — which,  he  guesses,  I  shall 
certainly  fail  to  obtain." 

"How  many  men  have  you  with  you?"  Cuthbert 
asked. 

"Fifty  men,  all  good  and  true,"  the  knight  said. 

"Has  it  never  entered  your  thoughts  to  attempt  a  sur- 
prise upon  his  castle?"  Cuthbert  said. 

The  knight  was  silent  for  a  minute. 

"At  times,"  he  said  at  length,  "thoughts  of  so  doing 
have  occurred  to  me;  but  the  castle  is  strong,  and  a  sur- 
prise would  be  difficult  indeed." 

"If  the  baron  is  lulled  in  security  at  present,"  Cuth- 
bert said,  "and  deems  you  afar  off,  the  watch  is  likely  to 
be  relaxed,  and  with  a  sudden  onslaught  you  might 
surely  obtain  possession.  Blondel  and  myself  are  not 
pressed  for  time,  and  the  delay  of  a  few  days  can  make 
but  little  difference.  If,  therefore,  you  think  we  could 
be  of  assistance  to  you  in  such  an  attempt,  my  sword, 
and  I  am  sure  that  of  my  friend,  would  be  at  your 
disposal." 

The  knight  sat  for  some  time  in  silence. 

"Thanks,  generous  knight,"  he  said  at  last,  "I.  am 
sorely  tempted  to  avail  myself  of  your  offer;  but  I  fear 
that  the  enterprise  is  hopeless.  The  aid,  however,  of 
your  arm  and  knowledge  of  war  would  greatly  add  to  my 
chances,  and  if  it  pleases  you  we  will  ride  to-morrow  to  a 
point  where  we  can  obtain  a  sight  of  the  baron's  castle. 


300  THE  BO  T  ENIQHT. 

When  you  see  it  you  shall  judge  yourself  how  far  such 
an  enterprise  as  you  propose  is  possible." 

"Is  your  own  castle  intact?"  Cuthbert  asked. 

"The  walls  are  standing,"  he  said;  "but  a  breach  has 
been  made  in  them,  and  at  present  it  is  wholly  deserted." 

"Do  you  think,"  Cuthbert  asked,  "that  if  you  suc- 
ceeded in  surprising  and  defeating  the  garrison  of  the 
castle  that  you  could  then  regain  your  own,  and  hold  it 
against  your  enemy?" 

"I  think  that  I  could,"  Sir  Adelbert  said.  "The 
baron's  domains  are  but  little  larger  than  my  own. 
Many  of  my  retainers  still  live  upon  the  estate,  and 
would,  I  am  sure,  gladly,  join  me,  if  I  were  to  raise  my 
flag.  The  baron,  too,  is  hated  by  his  neighbors,  and 
^uld  I  inflict  a  crushing  blow  upon  him,  methinks  it 
would  be  so  long  a  time  before  he  could  assemble  a  force, 
that  I  might  regain  my  castle  and  put  it  in  an  attitude 
of  defense  before  he  could  take  the  field  against  me." 

"If,"  Cuthbert  said,  "we  could  surprise  the  castle,  it 
might  well  be  that  the  baron  would  fall  into  your  hands, 
and  in  that  case  you  might  be  able  to  make  your  own 
terms  with  him.  How  strong  a  force  is  he  likely  to  have 
in  his  castle?" 

"Some  fifty  or  sixty  men,"  the  knight  replied;  "for 
with  such  a  force  he  could  hold  the  castle  against  an 
attack  of  ten  times  their  number,  and  he  could  in  twelve 
hours  call  in  his  retainers,  and  raise  the  garrison  to  three 
hundred  or  four  hundred  men." 

Blondel  warmly  assented  to  Cuthbert's  scheme,  and  it 
was  settled  that  at  daybreak  they  should  start  to  view 
the  Castle  of  Rotherheim.  At  early  dawn  they  were  in 
the  saddle,  and  the  three  rode  all  day,  until  toward  sun- 
set they  stood  on  the  crest  of  a  hill  looking  down  into 
the  valley  of  the  Rhine. 

The  present  aspect  of  that  valley  affords  but  a  slight 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  301 

Idea  of  its  beauty  in  those  days.  The  slopes  are  now 
clad  with  vineyards,  which,  although  picturesque  in  idea, 
are  really,  to  look  at  from  a  distance,  no  better  than  so 
many  turnip  fields.  The  vines  are  planted  in  rows  and 
trained  to  short  sticks,  and  as  these  rows  follow  the 
declivities  of  the  hillside,  they  are  run  in  all  directions, 
and  the  whole  mountain  side,  from  the  river  far  up,  is 
cut  up  into  little  patches  of  green  lines.  In  those  days 
the  mountains  were  clad  with  forests,  which  descended 
nearly  to  the  riverside.  Here  and  there,  upon  craggy 
points,  were  situate  the  fortalices  of  the  barons.  Little 
villages  nestled  in  the  woods,  or  stood  by  the  river  bank, 
and  a  fairer  scene  could  not  be  witnessed  in  Europe. 

"That  is  Botherheim,"  the  knight  said,  pointing  to  a 
fortress  standing  on  a  crag,  which  rose  high  above  the 
woods  around  it;  "and  that/'  he  said,  pointing  to 
another  some  four  miles  away,  similarly  placed,  "is  my 
own." 

Cuthbert  examined  closely  the  fortress  of  Rotherheim. 
It  was  a  large  building,  with  towers  at  the  angles,  and 
seemed  to  rise  almost  abruptly  from  the  edge  of  the 
rock.  Inside  rose  the  gables  and  round  turrets  of  the 
dwelling-place  of  the  baron,  and  the  only  access  was  by  a 
steep  winding  path  on  the  riverside. 

"It  is  indeed  a  strong  place,"  Cuthbert  said,  "and 
difficult  to  take  by  surprise.  A  watch  no  doubt  is  always 
kept  over  the  entrance,  and  there  we  can  hope  for  no 
success.  The  only  plan  will  be  to  scale  the  wall  by 
means  of  a  ladder;  but  how  the  ladder  is  to  be  got  to  so 
great  a  height,  I  own  at  present  passes  my  comprehen- 
sion." After  much  thought,  Cuthbert  went  on,  "It 
might,  methinks,  be  practicable  for  an  archer  to  ap- 
proach the  walls,  and  to  shoot  an  arrow  over  the  angle 
of  the  castle  so  that  it  would  pass  inside  the  turret  there, 
and  fall  in  the  forest  beyond.  If  to4his  arrow  were  at- 


303  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

tached  a  light  cord,  it  could  be  gained  by  one  on  the 
other  side,  and  a  stronger  cord  hauled  over.  To  this 
could  be  attached  a  rope  ladder,  and  so  this  could  be 
raised  to  the  top  of  the  wall.  If  a  sentinel  were  any- 
where near  he  might  hear  the  rope  pulled  across  the  bat- 
tlements; but  if,  as  we  may  hope,  a  watch  is  kept  only 
over  the  entrance,  the  operation  might  be  performed 
without  attracting  notice." 

The  knight  was  delighted  with  the  project,  which 
seemed  perfectly  feasible,  and  it  was  agreed  that  the 
attempt  should  be  made. 

"It  will  need,"  Sir  Adelbert  said,  "an  archer  with  a 
strong  arm  indeed  to  shoot  an  arrow  with  a  cord  attached 
to  it,  however  light,  over  the  corner  of  the  castle." 

"Methinks,"  Cuthbert  said,  "that  I  can  do  that,  for 
as  a  lad  I  was  used  to  the  strong  bows  of  my  country. 
The  first  thing,  however,  will  be  to  obtain  such  a  bow; 
but  doubtless  one  can  be  purchased  in  one  of  the  towns, 
which,  if  not  so  strong  as  those  to  which  I  was  accus- 
tomed, will  at  any  rate  suffice  for  us." 

The  party  bivouacked  in  the  woods  for  the  night,  for 
the  horses  had  already  done  a  very  long  journey,  and 
needed  rest  before  starting  back  for  the  Black  Forest. 
At  daybreak,  however,  they  started,  and  at  nightfall 
rejoined  their  band.  These  were  delighted  when  they 
heard  the  scheme  that  had  been  set  on  foot,  and  all 
avowed  their  eagerness  to  join  in  the  attempt  to  restore 
their  lord  to  his  rights. 

Two  days  later  they  set  out,  having  already  procured 
from  the  nearest  town  a  strong  bow,  some  arrows,  a  very 
light  rope,  and  a  stronger  one  from  a  portion  of  which 
they  manufactured  a  rope  ladder  capable  of  reaching 
from  the  top  of  the  wall  to  the  rock  below.  The  jour- 
ney this  time  occupied  two  days,  as  the  men  on  foot  were 
unable  to  march  at  the  pace  at  which  the  mounted  party 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  303 

had  traversed  the  ground.  The  evening  of  the  second 
day,  however,  saw  them  in  sight  of  the  castle.  By  Cuth- 
bert's  advice,  Sir  Adelbert  determined  to  give  them 
twenty-four  hours  of  rest,  in  order  that  they  might  have 
their  full  strength  for  undertaking  the  task  before  them. 
During  the  day  Cuthbert,  guided  by  the  knight,  made 
his  way  through  the  woods  to  the  foot  of  the  rocks  on 
which  the  castle  stood.  They  were  extremely  steep,  but 
could  be  mounted  by  active  men  if  unopposed  from 
above.  Cuthbert  measured  the  height  with  his  eye  from 
the  top  of  the  castle  wall  to  the  place  which  he  selected 
as  most  fitting  from  which  to  shoot  the  arrow,  and  an- 
nounced to  the  knight  that  he  thought  there -would  be 
no  difficulty  in  discharging  an  arrow  over  the  angle. 

At  nightfall  the  whole  party  made  their  way  silently 
through  the  woods.  Three  men  were  sent  round  to  the 
side  of  the  castle  opposite  that  from  which  Cuthbert  was 
to  shoot.  The  length  of  light  string  was  carefully  coiled 
on  the  ground,  so  as  to  unwind  with  the  greatest  facility, 
and  so  offer  as  little  resistance  to  the  flight  of  the  arrow 
as  might  be.  Then,  all  being  in  readiness,  Cuthbert  at- 
tached the  end  to  an  arrow,  and  drawing  the  bow  to  its 
full  compass,  let  fly  the  arrow.  All  held  their  breath; 
but  no  sound  followed  the  discharge.  They  were  sure, 
therefore,  that  the  arrow  had  not  struck  the  wall,  but 
that  it  must  have  passed  clear  over  it.  Half  an  hour 
elapsed  before  they  felt  that  the  cord  was  pulled,  and 
knew  that  the  men  upon  the  other  side  had  succeeded  in 
finding  the  arrow  and  string  attached.  The  stronger 
cord  was  now  fastened  to  that  which  the  arrow  had  car- 
ried, and  this  gradually  disappeared  in  the  darkness.  A 
party  now  stole  up  the  rock,  and  posted  themselves  at 
the  foot  of  the  castle  wall.  They  took  with  them  the 
coil  of  rope-ladder  and  the  end  of  the  rope.  At  length 
the  rope  tightened,  and  to  the  end  they  attached  the 


304  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

ladder.  This  again  ascended  until  the  end  only  re- 
mained upon  the  ground,  and  they  knew  that  it  must 
have  reached  the  top  of  the  wall.  They  now  held  fast, 
and  knew  that  those  on  the  other  side,  following  the 
instructions  given  them,  would  have  fastened  the  rope 
to  a  tree  upon  the  opposite  side.  They  were  now  joined 
by  the  rest  of  the  party,  and  Sir  Adelbert  leading  the 
way,  and  followed  by  Cuthbert  and  Blondel,  began  cau- 
tiously to  ascend  the  rope  ladder. 

All  this  time  no  sound  from  the  castle  proclaimed  that 
their  intention  was  suspected,  or  that  any  alarm  had 
been  given,  and  in  silence  they  gained  the  top  of  the 
wall.  Here  they  remained  quiet  until  the  whole  band 
were  gathered  there,  and  then  made  their  way  along 
until  they  reached  the  stairs  leading  to  the  courtyard. 
These  they  descended,  and  then,  raising  his  war-cry, 
Sir  Adelbert  sprang  upon  the  men  who,  round  a  fire, 
were  sitting  by  the  gate.  These  were  cut  down  before 
they  could,  leap  to  their  feet,  and  the  party  then  rushed 
at  the  entrance  to  the  dwelling-house.  The  retainers  of 
the  castle,  aroused  by  the  sudden  din,  rushed  from  their 
sleeping  places,  but  taken  completely  by  surprise,  were 
unable  to  offer  any  resistance  whatever  to  the  strong 
force  which  had,  as  if  by  magic,  taken  possession  of  the 
castle.  The  surprise  was  complete,  and  with  scarce  a 
blow  struck  they  found  themselves  in  possession.  The 
baron  himself  was  seized  as  he  rose  from  his  bed,  and 
his  rage  at  finding  himself  in  the  power  of  his  enemy 
was  so  great  as  for  some  time  to  render  him  speechless. 
Sir  Adelbert  briefly  dictated  to  him  the  conditions  upon 
which  only  he  should  desist  from  using  his  power  to 
hang  him  over  his  own  gate.  The  baron  was  instantly 
to  issue  orders  to  all  his  own  retainers  and  tenantry  to 
lend  their  aid  to  those  of  Sir  Adelbert  in  putting  the 
castle  of  the  latter  into  a  state  of  defense  and  mending 


THE  BOY  KNIGHT. 


305 


the  breach  which  existed.  A  sum  of  money,  equal  to 
the  revenues  of  which  he  had  possessed  himself,  was  to 
be  paid  at  once,  and  the  knight  was  to  retain  possession 
of  Rotherheim  and  of  the  baron's  person  until  these  con- 
ditions were  all  faithfully  carried  out.  The  baron  had 
no  resource  bat  to  assent  to  these  terms,  and  upon  the 
following  day  Cuthbert  and  Blondel  departed  upon  their 
way,  overwhelmed  with  thanks  by  Sir  Adelbert,  and 
confident  that  he  would  now  be  able  to  regain  and  hold 
the  possession  of  his  estate. 


306  THE  BOY 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
KING  RICHARD'S  RETURN  TO  ENGLAND. 

JOURNEYING  onward,  Blondel  and  his  companion 
stopped  at  many  castles,  and  were  everywhere  hospita- 
bly entertained.  Arriving  at  Vienna  they  lingered  for 
some  time,  hoping  there  to  be  able  to  obtain  some  infor- 
mation of  the  whereabouts  of  King  Richard.  Blondel 
in  his  songs  artfully  introduced  allusions  to  the  captive 
monarch  and  to  the  mourning  of  all  Christendom  at  the 
imprisonment  of  its  champion.  These  allusions  were 
always  well  received,  and  he  found  that  the  great  bulk 
of  the  nobles  of  the  empire  were  indignant  and  ashamed 
at  the  conduct  of  the  emperor  in  imprisoning  his  illus- 
trious rival.  The  secret  of  his  prison  place,  however, 
appeared  to  have  been  so  well  kept  that  no  information 
whatever  was  obtainable. 

"We  must  carry  out  our  original  plan,"  he  said  at 
length,  "and  journey  into  the  Tyrol.  In  one  of  the  for- 
tresses there  he  is  most  likely  to  be  confined." 

Leaving  the  capital  they  wandered  up  into  the  moun- 
tains for  weeks,  visiting  one  castle  after  another.  It 
was  no  easy  matter  in  all  cases  to  get  so  near  to  these 
prisons  as  to  give  a  hope  that  their  voice  might  be 
heard  within,  or  an  answer  received  without.  More 
than  once  crossbow  bolts  were  shot  at  them  from  the 
walls  when  they  did  not  obey  the  sentinel's  challenge 
and  move  further  away.  Generally,  however,  it  was  in 
the  daytime  that  they  sang.  Wandering  carelessly  up. 


THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT.  307 

they  would  sit  down  within  earshot  of  the  castle,  open 
their  wallets,  and  take  out  provisions  from  their  store, 
and  then,  having  eaten  and  drunk,  Blondel  would  pro- 
duce his  lute  and  sing,  as  if  for  his  own  pleasure.  It 
needed,  however,  four  visits  to  each  castle  before  they 
could  be  sure  that  the  captive  was  not  there;  for  the 
song  had  to  be  sung  on  each  side.  Sometimes  they 
would  cheat  themselves  with  the  thought  that  they  heard 
an  answering  voice;  but  it  was  not  until  the  end  of  the 
fourth  week,  when  singing  outside  the  castle  of  Diern- 
stein,  that  a  full  rich  voice,  when  Blondel  ceased,  sang 
out  the  second  stanza  of  the  poem.  With  difficulty 
Blondel  and  Cuthbert  restrained  themselves  from  an 
extravagant  exhibition  of  joy.  They  knew,  however, 
that  men  on  the  prison  wall  were  watching  them  as  they 
sat  singing,  and  Blondel,  with  a  final  strain  taken  from 
a  ballad  of  a  knight  who,  having  discovered  the  hiding- 
place  of  his  lady  love,  prepared  to  free  her  from  her 
oppressors,  shouldered  his  lute,  and  they  started  on 
their  homeward  journey. 

There  was  no  delay  now.  At  times  they  sang  indeed 
at  castles;  but  only  when  their  store  was  exhausted,  for 
upon  these  occasions  Blondel  would  be  presented  with  a 
handsome  goblet  or  other  solid  token  of  the  owner's 
approval,  and  the  sale  of  this  at  the  next  city  would  take 
them  far  on  their  way.  They  thought  it  better  not  to 
pass  through  France,  as  Philip,  they  knew,  was  on  the 
watch  to  prevent  any  news  of  King  Eichard  reaching 
England.  They  therefore  again  passed  through  Bra- 
bant, and  so  by  ship  to  England. 

Hearing  that  Longchamp,  Bishop  of  Ely,  one  of 
Eichard's  vicegerents,  was  over  in  Normandy,  and 
rightly  deeming  him  the  most  earnest  of  his  adherents, 
they  at  once  recrossed  the  sea,  and  found  the  warlike 
prelate  at  Eouen.  Greatly  delighted  was  he  at  hearing 


308  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

that  Richard's  hiding-place  had  been  discovered.  He  at 
once  sent  across  the  news  to  England,  and  ordered  it  to 
be  published  far  and  wide,  and  himself  announced  it  to 
the  barons  of  Normandy.  Then  with  a  gorgeous  ret- 
inue, including  Cuthbert  and  Blondel,  he  started  for 
Vienna,  and  arriving  there  demanded  an  interview  with 
the  ewperor. 

The  news  that  it  was  now  certain  that  Richard  was  im- 
prisoned in  a  castle  of  the  emperor  had  already  spread 
through  Europe,  and  the  bishop  had  been  received  every- 
where with  tokens  of  sympathy;  and  so  great  was  the 
feeling  shown  by  the  counts  and  barons  of  the  empire 
that  the  Emperor  Henry  felt  that  he  could  no  longer 
refuse  to  treat  for  the  surrender  of  his  captive.  There- 
fore he  granted  the  interview  which  Longchamp  de- 
manded. The  English  envoy  was  received  by  the 
emperor  surrounded  by  his  nobles.  The  prelate  ad- 
vanced with  great  dignity. 

"I  come,"  he  said,  "in  the  name  of  the  people  of  Eng- 
land to  demand  the  restoration  of  King  Richard,  most 
unjustly  and  unknightly  detained  a  prisoner  in  his  pas- 
sage through  your  dominions." 

"King  Richard  was  my  foe,"  the  emperor  said,  "open 
and  secret,  and  I  was  justified  in  detaining  one  who  is 
alike  my  enemy  and  a  scourge  to  Europe  as  a  prisoner, 
when  fortune  threw  him  in  my  hands.  I  am,  however, 
willing  to  put  him  to  a  ransom,  and  will  upon  the  pay- 
ment of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  marks  allow 
him  to  go  free." 

"I  deny  your  right  to  detain  him  or  to  put  him  to 
ransom, "the  bishop  said.  "But  as  you  have  the  power, 
so  my  denial  is  useless.  England  is  poor,  impoverished 
with  war  and  by  the  efforts  which  she  made  in  the  serv- 
ice of  our  holy  religion.  Nevertheless,  poor  as  she  is, 
she  will  raise  the  sum  you  demand.  There  is  not  an 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  309 

englishman  who  will  not  furnish  all  he  can  afford  for 
the  rescue  of  our  king.  But  once  again,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  your  nobles,  I  denounce  your  conduct  as  base 
and  unkingly." 

The  emperor  could  with  difficulty  restrain  his  passion: 
but  the  sight  of  the  somber  visages  of  his  nobles  showed 
that  they  shared  in  no  slight  degree  the  feelings  which 
the  English  envoy  had  so  boldly  announced. 

"Before,  however,"  the  emperor  said,  "I  surrender 
King  Eichard,  he  must  be  tried  by  my  peers  of  many 
and  various  crimes  of  which  he  is  accused.  Should  he 
be  found  guilty  of  these,  no  gold  can  purchase  his  release. 
Should  he,  however,  be  acquitted,  then  as  my  word  is 
given  so  shall  it  be." 

"Although,"  the  prelate  said,  "I  deny  your  right  to 
try  our  king,  and  believe  that  he  himself  will  refuse  to 
accept  your  jurisdiction,  yet  I  fear  not  the  result  if  our 
lord  be  left  in  the  hands  of  the  nobles  of  the  empire  and 
not  in  yours.  I  can  trust  their  honor  and  courtesy." 

And  turning  upon  his  heel,  without  another  word  he 
quitted  the  apartment. 

An  hour  later  the  bishop  and  his  following  took  horse 
and  rode  with  all  speed  to  the  north  coast,  and  thence 
sailed  for  England.  The  news  of  the  amount  of  ransom 
filled  the  people  with  consternation;  but  preparations 
were  at  once  made  for  collecting  the  sum  demanded. 
Queen  Eleanor  was  unceasing  in  her  efforts  to  raise  the 
money  for  the  release  of  her  favorite  son.  The  nobles 
contributed  their  jewels  and  silver;  the  people  gave  con- 
tributions of  goods,  for  money  was  so  scarce  in  England 
that  few  had  the  wherewithal  to  pay  in  coin.  Prince 
John  placed  every  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  collection; 
but  the  barons  had  since  their  successful  stand  obtained 
the  upper  hand,  and  it  was  by  intrigue  only  that  be 
could  hinder  the  collection. 


310  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

In  the  meantime,  popular  opinion  throughout  Europe 
was  strong  upon  the  side  of  King  Richard.  The  pope 
himself  wrote  to  the  emperor  on  his  behalf.  The  barons 
of  the  empire  were  indignant  at  the  shame  placed  upon 
their  country;  and  the  emperor,  although  he  would  fain 
have  thrown  further  delays  in  the  way,  was  obliged  at 
last  to  order  the  first  step  to  be  taken. 

A  solemn  diet  was  ordered  to  assemble  at  Worms. 
Here  were  collected  all  the  nobles  of  the  empire,  and  be- 
fore them  King  Richard  was  brought.  It  was  a  grand 
assembly.  Upon  a  raised  throne  on  the  dai's  sat  the 
emperor  himself,  and  beside  him  and  near  him  were  the 
great  feudatories  of  the  empire,  and  along  the  sides  of 
the  walls  were  ranged  in  long  rows  the  lesser  barons. 
When  the  doors  were  opened  and  King  Richard  entered, 
the  whole  assembly,  save  the  emperor,  rose  in  respect  to 
the  captive  monarch.  Although  pale  from  his  long  con- 
finement, the  proud  air  of  Richard  was  in  no  way  abated, 
and  the  eyes  that  had  flashed  so  fearlessly  upon  the 
Saracens  looked  as  sternly  down  the  long  lines  of  the 
barons  of  Germany.  Of  splendid  stature  and  physique, 
King  Richard  was  unquestionably  the  finest  man  of  his 
time.  He  was  handsome,  with  a  frank  face,  but  with  a 
fierce  and  passionate  eye.  He  wore  his  mustache  with 
a  short  beard  and  closely-cut  whisker.  His  short  curJy 
hair  was  cropped  closely  to  his  head,  upon  which  he  wore 
a  velvet  cap  with  gold  coronet,  while  a  scarlet  robe  lined 
with  fur  fell  over  his  coat  of  mail,  for  the  emperor  had 
deemed  it  imprudent  to  excite  the  feeling  of  the  assem- 
bly in  favor  of  the  prisoner  by  depriving  him  of  the  sym- 
bols of  his  rank. 

King  Richard  strode  to  the  place  prepared  for  him, 
and  then  turning  to  the  assembly  he  said,  in  a  voice 
which  rang  through  the  hall: 

"Counts  and    lords  of  the   Empire   of   Germany,  I, 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  311 

Richard,  King  of  England,  do  deny  your  right  to  try 
me.  I  am  a  king,  and  can  only  be  tried  by  my  peers 
and  by  the  pope,  who  is  the  head  of  Christendom.  I 
might  refuse  to  plead,  refuse  to  take  any  part  in  this 
assembly,  and  appeal  to  the  pope,  who  alone  has  power 
to  punish  kings.  But  I  will  waive  my  rights.  I  rely 
upon  the  honor  and  probity  of  the  barons  of  Germany. 
I  have  done  no  man  wrong,  and  would  appear  as  fear 
lessly  before  an  assembly  of  peasants  as  before  a  gathering 
of  barons.  Such  faults  as  I  may  have,  and  none  are 
without  them,  are  not  such  as  those  with  which  I  am 
charged.  I  have  slain  many  men  in  anger,  but  none  by 
treachery.  When  Richard  of  England  strikes  he  strikes 
in  the  light  of  day.  He  leaves  poison  and  treachery  to 
his  enemies,  and  I  hurl  back  with  indignation  and  scorn 
in  the  teeth  of  him  who  makes  them  the  charges  brought 
against  me." 

So  saying  King  Richard  took  his  seat  amid  a  mur- 
mur of  applause  from  the  crowded  hall. 

The  trial  then  commenced.  The  accusations  against 
Richard  were  of  many  kinds.  Chief  among  them  was 
the  murder  of  Conrad  of  Montferat;  but  there  were 
charges  of  having  brought  the  Crusade  to  naught  by 
thwarting  the  general  plans,  by  his  arrogance  in  refusing 
to  be  bound  by  the  decision  of  the  other  leaders,  and  by 
having  made  a  peace  contrary  to  the  interests  of  the 
Crusaders.  The  list  was  a  long  one;  but  the  evidence 
adduced  was  pitiably  weak.  Beyond  the  breath  of  sus- 
picion, no  word  of  real  evidence  connecting  him  with  the 
murder  of  Conrad  of  Montferat  was  adduced,  and  the 
other  charges  were  supported  by  no  better  evidence. 
Many  of  the  German  barons  who  had  been  at  the  Crusades 
themselves  came  forward  to  testify  to  the  falsity  of  these 
charges,  and  the  fact  that  Richard  had  himself  placed 
Conrad  of  Montferat  upon  the  throne,  and  had  no  possi- 


312  THE  BO  Y  KNIGHT. 

ble  interest  in  his  death,  was  alone  more  than  sufficient 
to  nullify  the  vague  rumors  brought  against  him. 
Kichard  himself  in  a  few  a  scornful  words  disposed  of 
this  accusation.  The  accusation  that  he,  Richard  of 
England,  would  stoop  to  poison  a  man  whom  he  could 
have  crushed  in  an  instant  was  too  absurd  to  be  seriously 
treated. 

"I  am  sure/'  the  king  said,  "that  not  one  person 
here  believes  this  idle  tale.  That  I  did  not  always  agree 
with  the  other  leaders  is  true;  but  I  call  upon  every  one 
here  to  say  whether,  had  they  listened  to  me  and  fol- 
lowed my  advice,  the  Crusade  would  not  have  had 
another  ending.  Even  after  Philip  of  France  had  with- 
drawn; even  after  I  had  been  deserted  by  John  of 
Austria,  I  led  the  troops  of  the  Crusaders  from  every 
danger  and  ev:ry  difficulty  to  within  sight  of  the  walls 
of  Jerusalem.  Had  I  been  supported  with  zeal,  the  holy 
city  would  have  been  ours;  but  the  apathy,  the  folly,  and 
the  weakness  of  the  leaders  brought  ruin  upon  the  army. 
They  thought  not  of  conquering  Jerusalem,  but  of 
thwarting  me;  and  I  retort  upon  them  the  charge  of 
having  sacrificed  the  success  of  the  Crusade.  As  to  the 
terms  of  peace,  how  were  they  made?  I,  with  some  fifty 
knights  and  one  thousand  followers,  alone  remained  in 
the  Holy  Land.  Who  else,  I  ask,  so  circumstanced, 
could  have  obtained  any  terms  whatever  from  Saladin? 
It  was  the  weight  of  my  arm  alone  which  saved  Jaffa  and 
Acre,  and  the  line  of  seacoast,  to  the  Cross.  And  had  I 
followed  the  example  set  me  by  him  of  Austria  and  the 
Frenchman,  not  one  foot  of  the  Holy  Land  would  now 
remain  in  Christian  hands." 

The  trial  was  soon  over,  and  without  a  single  dissen- 
tient the  King  of  England  was  acquitted  of  all  the 
charges  brought  against  him.  But  the  money  was  not 
yet  raised,  and  King  Richard  was  taken  back  into  the 


THE  BO  T  KNIGHT.  313 

heart  of  Germany.  At  length,  by  prodigious  exertions, 
half  the  amount  claimed  was  collected,  and  upon  the 
solicitations  of  the  pope  and  of  the  counts  of  his  own 
empire,  the  emperor  consented  to  release  Eichard  upon 
receipt  of  this  sum,  and  his  royal  promise  that  the  re- 
mainder should  be  made  up. 

Not  as  yet,  however,  were  the  intrigues  at  an  end. 
Prince  John  and  King  Philip  alike  implored  the  emperor 
to  retain  his  captive,  and  offered  to  him  a  larger  sum 
than  the  ransom  if  he  would  still  hold  him  in  his  hands. 
Popular  opinion,  was,  however,  too  strong.  When  the 
news  of  these  negotiations  became  bruited  abroad  the 
counts  of  the  empire,  filled  with  indignation,  protested 
against  this  shame  and  dishonor  being  brought  upon  the 
country.  The  pope  threatened  him  with  excommunica- 
tion; and  at  last  the  emperor,  feeling  that  he  would  risk 
his  throne  did  he  further  insist,  was  forced  to  open  the 
prison  gates  and  let  the  king  free.  Cuthbert,  Blondel, 
and  a  few  other  trusty  friends  were  at  hand,  and  their 
joy  at  receiving  their  long-lost  sovereign  was  indeed 
intense.  Horses  had  been  provided  in  readiness,  and 
without  a  moment's  delay  the  king  started,  for  even  at 
the  last  moment  it  was  feared  that  the  emperor  might 
change  his  mind.  This  indeed  was  the  case.  The  king 
had  not  started  many  hours,  when  the  arrival  of  fresh 
messengers  from  Philip  and  John  induced  the  emperor 
once  more  to  change  his  intentions,  and  a  body  of  men 
were  sent  in  pursuit  of  the  king.  The  latter  fortunately 
made  no  stay  on  the  way,  but  changing  horses  fre- 
quently— for  everywhere  he  was  received  with  honor  and 
attention — he  pushed  forward  for  the  coast  of  the  North 
Sea,  and  arrived  there  two  or  three  hours  only  before  his 
oppressors.  Fortunately  it  was  night,  and  taking  a  boat 
he  embarked  without  a  moment's  delay;  and  when  the 
emissaries  of  the  emperor  arrived  the  boat  was  already 
out  of  sight,  and  in  the  darkness  pursuit  was  hopeless- 


314  THE  BO  T  KNIGHT. 

On  landing  at  Dover,  the  first  to  present  himself  be* 
fore  him  was  Prince  John,  who,  in  the  most  abject  terms 
besought  pardon  for  the  injuries  he  had  inflicted.  King 
Richard  waved  him  contemptuously  aside. 

"Go,"  he  said,  "and  may  I  forget  your  injuries  as 
speedily  as  you  will  forget  my  pardon." 

Then  taking  horse,  he  rode  on  to  London,  where  he 
was  received  with  the  most  lively  acclamation  by  his 
subjects. 

The  first  step  of  King  Richard  was  to  dispossess  all 
the  minions  of  John  from  the  castles  and  lands  which 
had  been  taken  from  his  faithful  adherents.  Some  of 
these  resisted;  but  their  fortresses  were  speedily  stormed. 
Sir  Rudolph  was  not  one  of  these.  Immediately  the 
news  of  King  Richard's  arrival  in  England  reached  him, 
feeling  that  all  was  now  lost,  he  rode  to  the  seacoast, 
took  ship,  and  passed  into  France,  and  Cuthbert,  on  his 
arrival  at  Evesham,  found  himself  undisputed  lord  of 
the  place.  He  found  that  the  hiding-place  of  his  mother 
had  not  been  discovered,  and,  after  a  short  delay  to  put 
matters  in  train,  he,  attended  by  a  gallant  retinue,  rode 
into  Wiltshire  to  the  castle  of  Sir  Baldwin  of  Bethune. 
Here  he  found  the  Lady  Margaret  safe  and  sound,  and 
mightily  pleased  to  see  him.  She  was  now  seventeen, 
and  offered  no  objectipns  whatever  to  the  commands  of 
King  Richard  that  she  should  at  once  bestow  her  hand 
upon  the  Earl  of  Evesham.  By  the  king's  order,  the 
wedding  took  place  at  London,  the  king  himself  beofcow- 
ing  the  bride  upon  his  faithful  follower,  whom  we  may 
now  leave  to  the  enjoyment  of  the  fortune  and  wife  he 
had  so  valiantly  won. 


THE  END. 


Henty,  George  Alfred 
4^35      The  boy  knight 
H55365 


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