Bu SivA.Conan CHAPTER XV. heir grevhounds behind them, in quest ; of qua r leveret. The Prince with his Fnglish and Gas. °F AUREL OT FVEFCe. oo ost the box- con army moved swiftly uthward in ’ ih hme $4 battle array and Si fic ha ing re- | Wood, and took together as to Ld a) Dr Avia what they should do; while from be- cruited his ranks wi low the up tlie buzz of voic dred members € the neighing of horses, Company, Contpany woo and r of a great Sanh. ezard, jc arm “ "sald ¥ the honor mission ride down Prince, to 1 discover the the Sp: 1 King tle band Navarre Spal Sir Nigel had with him Sir Wi Felton, 8ir Oliver Buttesthorn, old Sir Bimon Burley, the Scotch knight errant, the Earl of Angus, and Sir Rich- ard Causton, all accounted among the bravest knights in the army, together with sixty veteran men-at-arms and three hundred and twenty archers. Bpies had been sent out in the morning, and returned after night-fall to say that the King of Spain was encamped some ’ 3 3 3 : hath sai fourteen miles off in the direction of | 7 to 0 -y Burgos, having with him twenty thou then Sir Nigel?” asked sev- ad into Sp anc they discover the Scottish know that there yin thirty long wound ti and t1 1 into the rugged Sir Simon Bur- 14 i s madness, for to rout this great ar- vou to g0 and what, stout el, “I have a plan nay attompt some 2.Ad yet, by the able to draw off Simon Burley arce possible in help of G again; w sand horse and forty thousand foot. ray L A dry-wood fire ha lit, and round Ra Ses. : this the leaders crouched, the glare “We shall lie here all day; for amid beating upon thei ugged faces, while | this brushwood it is ill for them to. see Then v the hardy arche ng comes we shall n eve d chatted 1 us. amid the tethered ile they! sally out upon them and see if we may munched their sc ions, not gain some honorable advancement “For my part,’ ir Sigmon Bur-| from them. We shall have nightfall ley; I am of ti already done t t ih we have come for. or dé we not now know where |the m the king is, and #ow great a rollow he hath, whigx was the end of our j ney.” “Trye,’ “buy T } cause it fis broken a spe: shall not go bs course with some cs “I will not leave returned Sir Simon Br Y; an old soldier and one who , much of wre I cannot but t ve | to cover us when we draw off so that wé tay make our way back through I I would station a here in the pas8s, with jutting forth from the vy nakirs an >» have with us, so that ow us in the fading k that the whole army upon them, and fear think you of my chat we answered ave Sir Will Be- I think very well of udent old commander. men must needs run y thousand, I cannot v: “an Js an 11 1g f four hur ! > re ; ar | i = ; ni Hg it side and |. “A so say 1,” cried Felton, hearti- a broad river on the ot! ” 7. “But I wish thé day were over, for “Yet,” said Sir Richar i1 th ng for us if they eahnot for tt honor upon us. ‘ with a blow str re scarce out of his came a clatter of 4 or. arp clink of trotting sit eT = dark-faced cavalier, white horse, burst hes and rodé swittly from the end which from the Spanish camp. AO: i armed, with his vizor open and ps perched upon his léft wrist tell | he looked about him with the careless us as much of the enemy and of his | 2ir OF 2 man who s dent whol? upon forces as the prince would wish to |Pleasure, and unconscious of the pos- hear ”» sibility of danger. Suddenly, nowever, All Bight thes led thei horses his eyes lit upon the fierce faces which gh ey 2( eir Ses, 1 . i ; + . stumbling and groping through wiid | Slated Ou: 36 him fom the Yr defiles and rugged alleys, following the | ae ged is h : ska Gnd das ruldance of a frightened peasant Who | Spurs into his horses SIC es, anc ash- guidance 9 : Se pease 19 | ed for the narrow opening of the gorge. was strapped by the wrist to Black Si a moment it seemed as though he mon's st ather. With the early ih dawn they found themselves in a dark| trampled ravine, with others sloping away from 4% it on either side, and the bare brown| _, very well,” pen 2 always h worthy g& and fine sk valley { was farthest Lightly 1 1 among rmishing to be their border. Bethink you, Sir that we have this news from the of common spies, who can scarce up-1 reached 1t, for he had over or dashed aside the ar- ers who threw themselves in his era rising iin long ble: 8 des all | ay; but Hordle John seized him by ags rising in long bleak terraces a the foot in his grasp of iron and round them. : : : > ad dragged him from the saddle, while Bik 5a Jou. Jar Ord tw others caught the frightened horse. “Ho, ho!” roared the great archer. “How many cows wilt buy my mother, if I set thee free?” { 1 sh that bull's bellowing!” cried | sir Nigel impatiently. “Bring the®man [ he re. By St. Paul! it is not the first and since snot we may hang him, it mig to hurl him over yonder cli The reading the meaning in y and } % accents dropped his knees, scream- for mer upon which ht be well] ey time that we have met; for, if I mis- take not, it is Don Diego Alvarez, who ( » prince's court.” 1,” said the Spanish ust that I am now the prisoner of some honorable knight or gentleman.” ‘You are the prisoner of the man who took you, Sir Diego,” answered Sir Ni- sker Sir Will- “Where is this | yore you would | rgin! By the blessed | x 1 ied the trembling | € i you that in t darkness I have myself lost the path, | 3 1- "At the instant, there the | 8¢l “And I may tell you that better scream of a hundred bugles, with the | men than either you or I have found deep rolling of drums and the clashing | themselves before now prisoners In of cymbals, all sounding together in one | the hands of the archers of England. deafening uproar. Knights and “What ransom; then, does he de- ers sprahg to arms, convinced mand?” asked the Spaniard. some gréat host was upon them; but Big John scratched his red head and the guide dropped upon his knees and grinned in high delight when thé ques- thanked Heaven for its mercies. tion was propounded to him. “Tell “We have found them ecabaliergs!”|him,” said he, “that I shail have ten he cried. This is their morning eall,” | COWS and a bull too, if it be but a lit- As he spoke he scrambled down one | tle one. Also a dress of blue sendall of the narrow ravines, and, climbing | for mother and a red one for Joan; with over a low ridge at the further end, he | five acres of pasture-land, two Scythes, led then into 4 Shot valley with a and 2 fine new _Erindstone. Likewise stream purling down the centre of it, a Small house, Wits stalls for the cows and 'a very thick gfowth of elder and |2nS thirty-six gallons of beer for the box upon either side, Pushing their | thirsty w eather, way through the dense brushwood, they | “Tut, tut,” said Sir Nigel, laughing. looked upon which made their | "All these things may be had for mon- hearts beat harder and their breath |e€y: and I think, Don Diego, that five come fa thousand crowns is not too much for | so renowned a knight.” “It shall be duly paid him.” “For yme days we must keep you asant 1 swear rose arch- In front of them watered by two covered with gre lay a broad plain, winding streams and stretching away to whete, In the f est distance, the | With us; and I must crave leave also towers of Burgos bristled up against | to use your shield, your, ermor and the light blue morning sky. Over ail | vour horse. 1 have need of it this day, this vast meadow there lay & great eity but it shall be duly returned to you. of iénts thousands upon thousands of | Set guards, Aylward, with arrow on them, laid out in Streets and Squares | [ITIDE. at Either end of the pass; for like a well-ordered town. High silken | Hoth L sinppen that Some Suef Saas pavilions or coloréd marquees, Shoot- | BT > ing up from among thé crowd of niean. | COME er dwellings, marked where the great| All day the little band of Engligh- lords and barons of Leon and Castile | men lay in thé sheltered gorge, look- displayed their standards, while over | ing down upon the vast host of their thé white roofs, as a8 eye could | unconscious enemies, The sun had reach, the waving of anelents, pavons, | sunk behind a ecloud-bank in the west pengils, and banderol with f of | before Sir Nigel at last gave word that gold and glow of colors, proclaimed | the men should resume their arms and that all the chivalry of Iberia were ve their horses ready. He had him- mustered in the plain beneath them. thrown off his armor, and had Far off, in the centre of the camp, a | dressed himself from head to foot in huge palace of red and white silk, the with the royal arms of Castile waving from thé summit, announced that the! ion to attempt a small ceed, and I ask gallant Henry lay there in the midst | you therefore that you will lead this of his warriors. | outfall upon the eamn For me, IT will As the English adventurers, peeping ride into their camp with my squire and out from 1 hind their brushwood to AFohefd, T pray ¥ou to watch me, screen, looke down upon this wondrous | 4. to ride forth when 1 am come sight, they could see that the vast army { among the tants. You will leave, twen-= in front of them was already afoot. The | "yop heahind here, and as we plannéd first pink light of the rising sun glit- this morning. apd you Will ride back tered upon the steel cape ! breast- | yore after vai have ventured as far plates of Getnse Juaates of a nEers Aud as =eeme gnnd $6 van” crosshowmen, ‘no ar ed anc marched | “w 9 in the spaces which had beeh left for | 1 will do ns you thelr exercise. A thousand columns | of smoke reeked up into the harnéss of thé captured Spaniard. “Sir William,” sald he, “it is my opin- and order, Nigel: but what ie that vou nropnse to dn?” “You will sea ahon, and indeed it is r PUTe | hit a trifling matter. Alleyne, You {wp at him ¢ . “Phe w morning. IF Shere ane Jaggots were | will come with me, and lead a spire Tan with the aay Moo yo! ¥en piled and the camp-kettles dlready | bv the weldla T will have the | Lady Maude?’ . simmering. In the open plain, ¢16uds | two archers wha reda with us through | “It fs Wy brother—my poor wnhappy of light hotse galloped and swooped | France, for they are trusty thén and hrother!’ éried Alleyne, with Bis hand with swaying bodies and waving fave- b of stout heart. T.et them ridé behind ne, and let them leave their hows here among the bushes for it is not my ling, after the faghion which the Span- ish had adopted from their Moorish en- emies All along hv the sedey banks | wish that they should know that we of the rivers lonw lines of pages led | are Englishmen. Say nn word to any their masters’ chargers down to water, | whom we may meet, and, if hy Speak while the knights themselves Jouneed {tn vou, pass on as though you Heard in gayly-dresged grouns about the doors! them not. of theif pavilions, or rode out, with | 80 saving, Sir Nigél mounted the te falcons upon theif wrists and! white hofge of the Spanish cavalier. “CA 00)* Copyrighted 1894. By Harper © Brot 75. and rode quietly forth cealment with his three companions behind him, Alleyne leading his mas- ter’'s own steed by thé bridle. So mény small parties of French and Spanish horse were sweeping hither and thither that the small band attracted littl, notice, and making its way at a gejjtle trot across the plain, they came ag far as the camp without challgpnoe or hindrance. On and on (hey pushed past the endless lines Af tents, amid the dénsé swarms C7 horsemen and of footmen, until tha Luge roval pavilion stretehed in fieht of them. They were closé upon, 1t when of a sudden there broke Oat a wild huhknbh f-~m a dis- tant ‘aortion of the camm, with screams ald war-cries and all the wild tumult of battle. At the sound soldie=~ ~ame rushing from their tents, knights shouted loudly for their squires, and there was mad turmoil on every hand of bewildered men and plunging horses. At the royal tent a crowd of gorgeous- ly dressed servants ran hither and thither in helpless panic for the guard of soldiers who were stationed there had already ridden off in the diree- tion of the alarm. A man-at-arms on either side of the doorway were the sole protectors of the roval dwelling. “I have come for the king,” whisper- ed Sir Nigel; “and, by Saint Paul! must back with us or I must bid here.” Alleyne and Aylward sprang from their horses, and flew at the two Sentries; who were disarmed and beaten down in an in- stant by so furious and nnexpected an at- tack. Sir Nigel dashed into thé royal tent, and was followed by Hordi® John as soon as the horses had been sécuréd. From within came wild sereamings and the clash of steel, and then the two emerged once more, thejr swords and forearms$ red- dened with blood, while John bore over his shoulder the senseless body of a man whose gray snrcoat, adorned with the lions and towers of Castile, proclaimed him to belong to the royal house. A crowd of white-faced sewers and page$ swarmed at their heels; those behind pushing forwards; while the foremost shrank buck from thé flerce faces and reeking weapons of the adventurers. The senseless body was thrown across, thé spare horse, the four sprang to their saddles, and away they thundered with loose réins and busy spurs through the swarming eamp. But confusion and disorder stil reigned among the Spaniards, for Sir William | Felton and his men had swept through half their camp, leaving a long litter of the dead and dying to mark their course. Uh- certain who were. their attackers, and un- his eon- from able to tell their English enemies from their newly-arrived Breton allies, the Spanish knights rode wildly hither and thither in aimless fury. The mad tur- moil, the mixture of races, and the fading light, were all in favor of the four who alone knew their own purpose among the vast uncertain multitude. Another five minutes of wild galloping over the plain, and they were ali back in their gorge, while their pursuers fell back before the rolling of the English drums and blare of trumpets, which seemed to proclaim that the whdle army of the princé was about to emerge from the mountain passes. “By my soul! Nigel,’’ cried Sir Oliver, ‘‘what have we here?’ ‘“It is a prisoner whom I have taken and in sooth, as hé came from the royal tent and wears the royal arms upon his jupon, I trust that he is the King of Spain:.’’ “The King of Spain!’ erfed thé com- panions; crowding, round in amazement. ‘“Nay, Sir Nigel,’”’ said Felton, peering at the prisener through the _ uncertain light. “I have twice seen Henry of Transtamare, and certes thi® man in no way resembles him. “Who are you, fellow?’ he added in Spanish, ‘‘and how {s_it that you dare to wear the arms of Castile?’ The prisoner was but recovering the consciousness which had , been squeezed from him by the grip of Hordle John. “If it please you,’’ he answered, ‘‘I and nine others are the body-squires of the king, and must ever wear his arms; so as to shield him from even such perils as have threatened him this night. . The king is at the tent of the brave Du Guesge- lin, where he will sup to night. But I am a caballero of Aragon, Don Sancho Pene- losa, and, though I bé no king, I am yet ready to pay au fitting price for my ran- som:’” “By Saint Paul! 1 will not téuch your gold,’’ cried Sir Nigel. ‘‘Go back to your master and give him greeting from Sir Nigel Loring of Twynham Castle, telling him that I had hoped té make his better acquaintance this night, and that, if have disordered his tént; it was but in my eagerness to know %o famed and eour- teous a knight. Spur on, comrades! for we must cqyer many a league ere we can venture to light firé or to loosen girth. CHAPTER XVI It was a cold, bleak morning in the hé- ginning of March, and thé mist was drift: ing in densé rolling ‘clouds through the passes of the Cantabrian monntains. The Company had passed the night in a shel- tered gully. Here and there, through the dense haze which surrounded thém, there loomed out huge pinnacles and jutting boulders of rock: while high abbve the sea of vapor there towered up one gigantic peak, with the pink glow of thé early sun- shite wpon its snow-capped, head. ie The camp, was loud with laughter and merriment, for a messénger had. riddén in from the prince with Words of heéart-stir- ring praige for what they had done, and with orders that they should still abide in the forefront of the army: “The Lord Loring craves your attend- ance in his tent,’ said a young archer to Alleyne. The squire found the knight seated npon a cushion, with his legs crossed in front of him and _a broad ribbon of parchment Inid across his knees, over which he wag poring with frowning brows and pursed lips. ‘““It eame this morning by the prince's messenger,”’ sald he, ‘‘and was brought from England by Sir John, Fallislee, who is new come from Sussex,’’ Alleyne turned to the letter, and, as his éyes rested upon it, his face turned pale dnd a cry of surprise and grief burst from his lips. “What then?’ asked the knight, peering to his brow. ‘‘He is dead.” { “By Saint Paul! T have never heard that he had shown so much love for you that yon should mourn him so.’ “Yet he was my brother—the only kith or kin that T had upon darth. Alag! alas! He has been slain—and #ain, I Pedr, amidst ekime And violehck,' “God be with thee, my honored lord, and have thee in his hoy keeping. The Lady Loring hath asked me, tue priest, s¢ set down in writing what pan belalieu at Twynbam, aud aud thal coucerus tue death of thy ill neighbor the Socman ol Minstead. For when ye had left us, this evil man gathered around him all outlaws, villeins, and wmasteriess men. until they were come to such a force that they slew nd scittered the king's men Who weut (gainst them. Thef, coming forth fFow ue woods, they laid siege to thy eastle, ud for two days they girt us in and shot udrd agéinst #5, With such numbers as wefe a marvel to See. Yet the Lady Lor- ng held the place stoutly, and on the econd day the Socman was slain—by ais own men, as some think—so that we were delivered frum their handy yor which praise be to all the gnints, and nore especiallf t6 thé holt Aiselm; upon whose feast it eame to. pass. The Eady Loring and the Maude, thy fair daughter, are in gobd hedlith. May all thé saints pregrve thes!” “My fair 1ord,”’ said Alleyne, with a flush on pis weather love ¥anr davighter, un°yorthy as 1 deart’s blood to serve Her.” “By St. Piul! Edricson,’”” said the knight coldly, arching his eyebrows, ‘‘you aim high in this matter. Our blood is very old.” ‘‘And. mine also is very old,’ answered the squire. ‘‘And the Lady Mande is our single child. All our name and lands center upon her.”’ ‘*Alas! that 1 should say it, but I also am now the only Edricson.” “And why havé TI hot heard this from you before, Alleyne? In sooth, I think you have used me ill.”’ ‘“Nay, my fair lord, say not so; for I know not whether your daughter loves me, and there is no pledge between us.’’ Sir Nigel pondered for a few moments, and then burst out a-laughing. ‘By St. Paul!”’ said he, “‘I know not why I should mix in the matter; for I have ever, found that thé Lady Maudé vas very well able to look to her own affairs. Sinee first she could stamp her little foot, she hath ever been able to get that for which she craved; and if she set her heart on thee, Alleyne, and thou o=~ - =, I do not think that this Spanish king, with his three- score thousand men, cond Hold you apart. Yet this I will say, that I Would §8e you a full knight ere you gd to My dadghter with words of Jove. I have ever said that a brave lance #honid wed her; ahd, By my soul! Edricsch, if ‘God Spare yon, I think that you will acquit Fénrself well. But enough of such triffes, for Wwe have our work before us; and it will Be time to speak of this matter When We Tee the white cliffs of England once hore. Go to Sir William Felton, I pray ton, and ask him to comé hither; for it is timé that we were marching. There i§ no pass at the further end of the valley, and it is a perilous place should an enemy come upon us.’’ ained cheeks, “‘I the Lady Maudé; and, am, I would give my Alleyne delivered his message, and then wandered forth from the camp; for his mind was all in a whirl with this un- expected news, and with his talk with Sir Nigel. Sitting upon a rock, with his burning brow, resting upon his hands, he thonght of his brother, of their Quarrel, of the Lady Maude in her bedraggled rid- ing-dress, of the gray old castle, of the proud pale face in the armory, and of the last fiery words with which she had sped him on his w Then, he was but a penniless, monk-bred lad, wnknown and upfriended. Now he was himself Socman of Minstead, the head of an old stock, and the Lord of an estate which, if reduced from its former size, was still ample to preserve the dignity of his family, Further, he had become a man of experience was counted brave among men, had won the esteem and confidence of her father, and above all, has been listened to by him when he told him the secret of his love. As to the gaining of knighthood, in such stirring times it was no great matter for a brave gquire of gentlé birth to aspire to that honor. He would leave his bones among thésé Spanish ravines, or he would do rome deed which would call the eyes of men upon him. % Alleyne was still seated on the rock, his griefs and his joys drifting swiftly over His mind like the shadow of clouds upon a sunlit meadow, when 9¢f a Sudden he becamé conscious of a low, deep sound which came booming. up to him through the fog. He shonted an alarm to the camp. “It is a great body of horse,’’ said Sir] William Felton, ‘‘and they are riding very swiftly hitherwards.” The €ompany Stood dense fog wreath, amidst a silence so profound that the dripping of the water from the rocks and the breathing of the horses grew loud upon the ear. Suddenly from out the sea of mist came the sound of a neigh, followed by a long blast of a bugle. ‘‘It is a Spanish eall, my fair lord,’ said Black Simon. “By my faith, said Sir Nigel, smiling, ‘“eve may promise them some sport ere they sound the mort over us. But there is a hill in the center of the gorge upon which Wwe might maké our stand.” “I marked it yeéster night,’’ said Felton, ‘and no better spot could be found for our purpose, for it is very steep at the back.’’ The whole. Company, leading . their hdrses, , passed acro to thé small hill which Téomed up from the mist. It was indeed admirably designed for defence, for | it sloped. down in front, ail jagged and boulder strewn, while it fell away behind n a sheer cliff of a hundred feet or more. On the summit was a small,, uneven plateau, with a Btréetch across of a hun- dréd paces, and a depth of half as much again. f‘Unloose the horses,’ ®afd Sir Nigel. “Now order the ranks, and fling wide the banners, for our, souls are God's and our bodies the king's, _and our swords for Saint George and for England!” Sir Nigel had Scarcely spoken when the mist séeméd to thin in the valley, and to sured away Intd long ragged clouds which trafléd from the edges of the ¢liffs, and the sun broke through. It gleamed and SHimmered with dazzling brightness upon the armor and headpieces of 4 vast body of horSemen who stretched across the barranta from oné iff to thé other, and extended backwards until their rear-guard were far out upon the plain beyond. Line after Jine, and rank after mnk, they chocked the neck of the valley with a jong vista of tossing pénnond, twinkiing lances, waving plumes and streaming banderoles, while the eurvets and gam- bades of the chargers lent a constant mo- tion and shimmer to the glittering, many- colored mass. A yell of exultatién, and a forest of waving steel through the léength and breadth of théir column, announced that théy conld at last see their entrapped enemies, while the swelling notes of a hundred bugles and drums, mixed with the clash of Moorish cymbals, broke forth into a proud peal of martial triumph, Strange it was to thesé gnllant and sparkilng eava- fiers of Spain to lodk upon this handruwl of men upon the Lill, +. ¢ thin lines of bow- mén, the knots of knights and men-at-arms with armor rasted and d&eblored from Yong servicé, And to leirn that these were in- deed the soldiers whose fame and prow- ess had Ween the eamn-fire talk of every army in Christendom. Very sti]l and silent they stood, legning uypon thelr hows, while thelr leaders, tdok counsel together in front of them. No ©lang of hugle rose from their stérn rank. Hat in the center waved the teopardgs of England, on the right the ensign of their Company with the roses of Lorine. and on the left over three score of Welsh howman, there float- ed, the red bhannér of Merlin with the red- hodr's heads of the Buttésthorns. Grave- jy nd Eedately they stead heéfore the moring sun, waiting for the onslaught of their foemen, ‘By Saint Paul,’’ sald Sir Nigel, gazing with puckered eye down the valley, ‘‘there peering into the ‘Ha!’ said Sir Nigel: “Read on; I Pray vou." ~ amoung thew. What is this golden ban- wer which waves over the left?’ “It is the eusign of the Knights of Calawava’ answered reltou. “*And the one upon the right?” ““1t marks the Kuights of Sautiags, ang I see by the bauuer that the grad mas- ter rides at heuu. **You are them. Taere is Spauwsh blazonry also ¥ 1 ewuld bul read im: Doft Diego, you khow tue ar 5 or your own countty, aud Who dre who have doné ud so mu¢h hono; The S@anish prisoner looked with exul- tafit ¢ye¢s upon the deep and Serried ralks % his countrymen, ther Tigut, Ior 1 can also see auch ( chiey of “Py Saint James’ he said, *‘if ye fail this day; ye fall by no niean Hands for the flower of the army of Castile ride under the banner of Don Tello, with the chivalry of Asturias, Toledo, Leon, Cor- dova, Galicia and Seville and the knights of France and Aragon, If you will take my rede, you will come to a composi- tion with them, for they will give you Hh terms as you have given me.” Nay; by Saint Paul; it were pity if so many and no little deed of arms come of it. Ha! William, they adyance upon us, and by my Soul it IS a sight worth coming over the seas to witness.’ ish host; consisting of the Knights of Calatrava on the one side and of Santiago on the other , came swooping swiftly down the valley, while the main body followed more slowly behihd. The vanguard halted a long bow-shot from the hill, and with waving spears and vaunting shouts chal- lenged their enemies to come forth, while two cavaliers, pricking forward from the glittering ranks, walked their horses slow- ly between the two arrays with targets braced and lances in rest like the chal- lengers in a tourney. ‘By Saint Paul!” eriéd Sir Nigel, with his eye glowing liké an ember, appear to be two. very worthy and debo- nair gentlemen. I do not call to mind when I have seen any people who seemed of so great a heart and so high of enter- prise. We have our horses, Sir William: shall be not relieve them of any vow which they may have upon their souls?’ Felton’s reply was to bound upon his charger, and to urge it down the slope, while Sir Nigel followed not three spear’s- lengths behind him. It was a rugged course, rocky and uneveh, yet the two knights, choosing their men, dashed on- wards at the top of théir speed, while the gallant Spaniards flew as swiftly to meet them. The one to whom Felton found himself opposed was a tall strig Z with a stag's head upon his shield, Sir Nigel’s man was broad and squat, force as to split it from side to side, but Sir William’s lance, crashed through the camail which shielded the §S ard’s throat, and he fell; sereaming hoarsely, to the ground. Carried away by the héat anc madness of fight, the English knight ne drew rein, but charged straight on into t array of the Knights of Calatrava. Long time the silent ranks upon the hill could see a swirleand, eddy deep down in the heart of the Spanish column, with a circle of rearing chargers and flashing blades. Here and there tosséd the white plume of the English helmet, rising and falling like the foam upon a wave, with the fierce gleam round it, until at la view, and another | war to peace, Sir Nigel, meanwhile, had fonnd a foe- man worthy ef his steel, for his opponent was none other than Sebagtian Gomez, the picked lance of the ménkish Knights of and sparkle ever circling it had sunk from ve man had turned Santiago, who had won, K fame in a hunh- dred bloody, combats with thé Méory of Andalusia. So fierce s their meeting that their spears shiveréd up to thé ver grasp, and the Horses reared until it seemed that they must crash down upon their riders. Yet With consummate horsemanship they hoth swung a long curvet, and thén plucking ont their swords they lashed at ‘each other like two lusty smiths hammering upon The chargers spun round ‘each ‘others, bit- ing and striking, whilé the two blades of dazzling light. Cut, parry, and thrast followed so swiftly upon each others that the eye could pot follow them, until at last coming thigh té thigh, they cast their arms around each other and rolled off their saddies to the ground. The heavier Spaniard threw himself upon his enemy, and pinning him down beneath him raised his sword td slay him, Whité a Shout of triumph Tosé from thé ranks of his count- rymen. But the Fatal blow never fel, for even a8 his arm quivered before descend- ing, the Spahigrd gave a shudder, and stiffening him$el®, rolled heavily over upon his side, with the blood gushing from his arm-pit and from thé §lit of his vizor. Sir Nigel sprang to his feet with his bloody dagger I Kis left hand amd gazed down upon his adverSary, but the fatal and sudden stab in the Vital spot, which the Spaniard hand exposed By raising his arm, had proved instantly mortal. The Eng- lishman leaped npon hi§ horse and made for the hill, at the very instant that a yell of ragé from a thousand voices and the clang of a score of bugles anndéunced the Spanish onset. CHAPTER XVII But the islanders were ready and eager yellow bow-staves in their left hands, and their quivers Sinng to the front, they had which gave stréngth to their array, and yet permitted every man to draw his arrow freely without harm, to those in front. On swept the Spaniards, over the level and up to the slope, ere they met the blinding storm of the English arrows. Down went the whole ranks in a whirl of mad confusion, horses plunging and kicking, bewildered men falling, rising, staggering on or back, while ever new lines of horsemen came spurring through the gaps and urged their chargers up the fatal slope. All around him, Alleyne could hear the stern, short orders of the master- bowmen, while the air was filled with the keen twanging of the strings and the swish and patter of the shafts, across the foot of the hill there had sprung up a long wall of struggling horses and stricken men, Which ever héightened as fresh squadrons the attack. So for five long gallant horsemen of Spain and of strove ever and again to force a ps until the low wailing note of a bugle called them back, and they rode slowly out of bow-shot, leaving their best and their grew and poured on minutes the ge, behind them. But thére was 1itt1e rest for the vietars front, the slingers had crept round upon either flank and had gained a footing upon the cliffs and behind the outlying rocks A storm of stones broke snddenly the defenders, who, drawn up in upon the exposed summit, mark to their hidden foes, old archer, was struck and fell dead upon lines offered a fair Johnston, the upon the temple moment. The others lay on thelr faces to avoid the deadly hail, while at each side of the platean a fringe of howmen exchanged shots with the slihgers and erosshowmen among the rocks, aiming mainly at those who had swarmed np the cliffs ‘and burst- Ing inte Maughter and checrs When a well- nimed shaft bronght ons of thelr opponents toppling down from hik lofty perch. “By Baint Paul!” qneth Sir Nigel, plucking the patch from his eye, “I think that T am now clear of my vow, for this Spanish knight was a person from w much hohor might be Won. Indeed was a very worthy gentleman, of gobA courage, and great hardiness, and €it appear to he some very Worthy people grieves me that he should have come ¥ such 4 hurt* - brave men; were drawn together | As hé spoke the two wings of the Span-| ‘“these | plain steel harness, and a pink and white torse bound round his helmet. The first struck Felton on the target with such | backwards | round in| their anvil. } wheeled and whizzed and circled in gleams | for the encounter. With feet firmly planted, their sleeves rolled back to give | free play to their muscles, their long waited in the four-deep harrow formation | Right | mee | bravest in the ghastly, blood-mottled heap | Whilst the knights haa charged them in | . | this aa { ' without a groan, whilogaee | Also come here,’’ teen of his bowmen and six of the The two squires hurried across to him, at-arm§ were struck down nt the Nigel!” of Sunva Leaky, harry ing U%, with cpusternalioun Lpol WIS lace, ‘aylward tells me wat wuere are not teu score arrows left in all tueir sueaves, See! they are springing from: their uveses, dud cutting their soilerets that tue) may rush upon us. Might we Dol even uuw retreat?’ “My soul will retreat from my body arse. curred we ltue Emgut, “Here 1 aiff, #ud HERE 1 bide, whue God gives we stteugth to lift a sword.” "Aud 80 say 1!” suouted Sir Oliver, throwing his ace hign iuto we air aud catching it again by wwe handle, “Lo your arms, wen! cried Sir Nigel. ‘Suoot while you may and t > and let us live or aie ihen sprose from the nil ia the cddbrian valley wake a gged 4 Sound such as hau net veel heard in wae pares belore, nor was again, until thé Calis. Which rippled {alld the rocks had been frozen by over {tour humdrea widters ani thawed Ly us many returnip prings. Deep a full and strong it de down the ravine the fierce battle-&ll of a warrior r th e | ast stern welcome to who so join with them in that wotld-old A 1 where | the stake is death. Thrice it led TOLL {and thrice it ver | set sank away, ech rating amidst the ¢ 5, the Company rose storm of stones; and loc | thousands who sped swif against them. Horse 1s set aside, but on foot, with swoi tle-axe, their broad shields of them, the chivalry of Spain | the attack. And now arose a struggle so fell, so 16ng | 8¢ evenly sustained, that even now the { memory of it is handed dowr zst the | Calabrian mountaineers, and the omen- ed knoll is still pointed out by fathers to their children as thé “*Altura de los Ingle- | | 80s,”” where the men from aeross the seas | fought the great fight with the knights | of the south. The last arrow was p | quick i shot, nor could the 1 slingers hy their | stones, so close were friend s From { side to side stretched the thir of the | English, lightly armed and q footed, { while against it stormed and rad the { pressing throng of fiery Spaniards and of { gallant Bretons. The clink of crossing | sword-blades, the dull thudding of heavy blows, the panting and sping o weary | g and wounded rose tog a wild, men, all er in long-drawn note, which swelled upwards to the ears of th fering peasants who looked down fre s edges of the cliffs upon the swaying oil of | the battle beneath them. 1 for= ward reeled the leopard 2} now borne up the slope by h and weight of the onslaught, now pushing downwards again as Sir Nigel, Burle and Black Simon, with their vetérin men= at-arms, flung themselves madly fito the \ Alleyne, at his lord's rigt found himself swept hither a thé desperate struggle, exch thrnsts one instant with lier, and the next torn av hand, 1 thither in ge of men and dashed up ag antagonist. To the right ward, Hordle John, and the bowmen of the Company fought furiously aganst the monkish Knights of Santiago, wlo led up the hill by their prior chested man, who wore a bre abit over his suit of mail. he slew in three giant , but i Oliver flung his arms round him, and the two, staggering and straining, reelid back- wards and fell, locked in each grasp, over the edge of the | Which flanked thé hill. { stormed And raved against tiin line | Which marréd their path; the svord of | AViward and the great aXe of Joht gléam- ed in the forefront of the battle ad hr | Jagged pieces of rack, h 8 Hy “the ed and were grart-deep- nonastie »are strok other's cliff steep In vain his kni Strong arms of the Bowmen, eo | hurtled amid their rank$. Slowly they | gave Back ‘down thé hill, the archers still hanging upon their 3Kirts, With a long litter ‘of Writhing and tWwitted frures to mark the ‘course which they hae taken. At the same instant the Welshnen upon | the Yeft, led ‘on By the Bedteh erl, had charged out from among the Fels which { Sheltered them, and By the ALY of their 1 | ontfall had driven the Spaniards in front | of them in headlong flight down the hill. Tn thé céntre only things eemél to he going 11 With the defenders. Bk Simon | Was down—dying, a3 he wonld Wit: to have | died, Tike a grim old Wolf i 18 ‘air with 1a ring of His 81a around him. Twice § Nigel had Péen dverbome, and twice Al- Teyne had fought over him unt! he had Staggered té his fot once mioré Burley Tay senseless, Stunned by a BOW from a nace, ahd half of thé men-atirms lay | littered upon the ground arowmd im, 8 | Nigel's shield way broken, his ert shorn, { his armor cnt and smashéd, and thé vizor torn from his helmet; ¥ét he Spring hither {and ‘thither with light ¥éot aid ready hand, ‘engaging two Bieténs and a Span- | Tard at the same instant thry Zz, stoop- ling, dashing in, springing out le Al- | Yeyne still fought by his §ide, stemming | With a handful of Wen the ferce tide | Which surged wp against them Yet it | Would havé fared ill with them had not | the archers from ‘either side ‘closél in upon | the flanks of the attackers, aul pressed { them very slowly and foot By loot down | the Tong slope, until they wel on the | plain once more, wheré their fellows were {already rallying for a fresh assfult. But terrible indeed Was ‘thd cost at which the Yast had been repelled. Of the | three hundred and seventy men who had | held the crest, one hundred and seventy- two were left standing, many of Whom | were sorely wounded and weak from loss {of blood. Sir Oliver But thorn, Sir | Richard Causton, Sir Simén Builey, Black | Simon, Johnston, a hiundréd and fifty hers, and forty-seven meén-at-nrms had fallen, while thé pitiless hail of was already whizzing and piping onc | about their ears, thréatening stant to farther reduce their Sir Nigel fooked about him as tered iks, and his face flusied soldier's pride. “By St. Paul!’’ he cried, ‘‘I Bave fought in many a little bickering, but]never oue that I would be more loth to hive missed than this. But you are wounded Alleyne: { “It is nought,’”’ answered His Squire, stanching thé Bbldéd which dipped from a sword-cut across his forehead, “These gentlemen of Spain scem to be most courteons and worthy peaple. 1 sce | that they ®ve already forming io continue | this debate with us. Form up the bowmh two deep instead of fonr. By my faitn! | some ve brave men have gone from | among us. Aylward, you are a trusty scl- dier, for all that your shoulder has never | elt accolade, nor your heels worn the gold spurs, Do you take chafe of the | right; I will hold the céntér, ard you, my | | Ron's with a Lord of Angus, the left.” “Ho! for Sir Samkin Aylward!” ‘erfed a rough voice among the archers, and a roar ‘of laughter greeted their mew leader, “By my hilt!"’ said the old Bowman, *‘I never thought to lead a wing fn a strick- | én field, Stahd close, camara for, by bese fingér-bones! we must ply the man “Come hither, Alleyne,’’ saié walking back to the which formed the rear of their position. ‘And you, Norbury,’ he continnéd, Leck- oning to the squire of Sir Ollyer, ‘‘do yon Sir Nizel, edge