"MON Dieu! Alleyne, saw you ever so lovely a face?" cried Fordas they hurried along together. "So pure, so peaceful, and sobeautiful!"

"In sooth, yes. And the hue of the skin the most perfect thatever I saw. Marked you also how the hair curled round the brow?It was wonder fine."

"Those eyes, too!" cried Ford. "How clear and how tender --simple. and yet so full of thought!"

"If there was a weakness it was in the chin," said Alleyne.

"Nay. I saw none."

"It was well curved, it is true."

"Most daintily so."

"And yet----"

"What then, Alleyne? Wouldst find flaw in the sun?"

"Well, bethink you, Ford, would not more power and expressionhave been put into the face by a long and noble beard?"

"Holy Virgin!" cried Ford, "the man is mad. A beard on the faceof little Tita!"

"Tita! Who spoke of Tita?"

"Who spoke of aught else?"

"It was the picture of St. Remy, man, of which I have beendiscoursing."

"You are indeed," cried Ford, laughing, "a Goth, Hun, and Vandal,with all the other hard names which the old man called us. Howcould you think so much of a smear of pigments, when there wassuch a picture painted by the good God himself in the very roomwith you? But who is this?"

"If it please you, sirs," said an archer, running across to them,"Aylward and others would be right glad to see you. They arewithin here. He bade me say to you that the Lord Loring will notneed your service to-night, as he sleeps with the Lord Chandos."

"By my faith!" said Ford, "we do not need a guide to lead us totheir presence." As he spoke there came a roar of singing fromthe tavern upon the right, with shouts of laughter and stampingof feet. Passing under a low door, and down a stone-flaggedpassage, they found themselves in a long narrow hall lit up by apair of blazing torches, one at either end. Trusses of straw hadbeen thrown down along the walls, and reclining on them were sometwenty or thirty archers, all of the Company, their steel capsand jacks thrown off, their tunics open and their great limbssprawling upon the clay floor. At every man's elbow stood hisleathern blackjack of beer, while at the further end a hogsheadwith its end knocked in promised an abundant supply for thefuture. Behind the hogshead, on a half circle of kegs, boxes,and rude settles, sat Aylward, John, Black Simon and three orfour other leading men of the archers, together with GoodwinHawtayne, the master-shipman, who had left his yellow cog in theriver to have a last rouse with his friends of the Company. Fordand Alleyne took their seats between Aylward and Black Simon,without their entrance checking in any degree the hubbub whichwas going on.

"Ale, mes camarades?" cried the bowman, "or shall it be wine?Nay, but ye must have the one or the other. Here, Jacques, thoulimb of the devil, bring a bottrine of the oldest vernage, andsee that you do not shake it. Hast heard the news?"

"Nay," cried both the squires.

"That we are to have a brave tourney."

"A tourney?"

"Aye, lads. For the Captal du Buch hath sworn that he will findfive knights from this side of the water who will ride over anyfive Englishmen who ever threw leg over saddle; and Chandos hathtaken up the challenge, and the prince hath promised a goldenvase for the man who carries himself best, and all the court isin a buzz over it."

"Why should the knights have all the sport?" growled Hordle John."Could they not set up five archers for the honor of Aquitaineand of Gascony?"

"Or five men-at-arms," said Black Simon.

"But who are the English knights?" asked Hawtayne.

"There are three hundred and forty-one in the town," saidAylward, "and I hear that three hundred and forty cartels anddefiances have already been sent in, the only one missing beingSir John Ravensholme, who is in his bed with the sweatingsickness, and cannot set foot to ground."

"I have heard of it from one of the archers of the guard," crieda bowman from among the straw; "I hear that the prince wished tobreak a lance, but that Chandos would not hear of it, for thegame is likely to be a rough one."

"Then there is Chandos."

"Nay, the prince would not permit it. He is to be marshal of thelists, with Sir William Felton and the Duc d'Armagnac. TheEnglish will be the Lord Audley, Sir Thomas Percy, Sir ThomasWake, Sir William Beauchamp, and our own very good lord andleader."

"Hurrah for him, and God be with him!" cried several. "It ishonor to draw string in his service,"

"So you may well say," said Aylward. "By my ten finger-bones! ifyou march behind the pennon of the five roses you are like to seeall that a good bowman would wish to see. Ha! yes, mes garcons,you laugh, but, by my hilt! you may not laugh when you findyourselves where he will take you, for you can never tell whatstrange vow he may not have sworn to. I see that he has a patchover his eye, even as he had at Poictiers. There will comebloodshed of that patch, or I am the more mistaken."

"How chanced it at Poictiers, good Master Aylward?" asked one ofthe young archers, leaning upon his elbows, with his eyes fixedrespectfully upon the old bowman's rugged face.

"Aye, Aylward, tell us of it," cried Hordle John,

"Here is to old Samkin Aylward!" shouted several at the furtherend of the room, waving their blackjacks in the air.

"Ask him!" said Aylward modestly, nodding towards Black Simon."He saw more than I did. And yet, by the holy nails! there wasnot very much that I did not see either."

"Ah, yes," said Simon, shaking his head, "it was a great day. Inever hope to see such another. There were some fine archers whodrew their last shaft that day. We shall never see better men,Aylward."

"By my hilt! no. There was little Robby Withstaff, and AndrewSalblaster, and Wat Alspaye, who broke the neck of the German.Mon Dieu! what men they were! Take them how you would, at longbutts or short, hoyles, rounds, or rovers, better bowmen nevertwirled a shaft over their thumb-nails."

"But the fight, Aylward, the fight!" cried several impatiently.

"Let me fill my jack first, boys, for it is a thirsty tale. Itwas at the first fall of the leaf that the prince set forth, andhe passed through Auvergne, and Berry, and Anjou, and Touraine.In Auvergne the maids are kind, but the wines are sour. In Berryit is the women that are sour, but the wines are rich. Anjou,however, is a very good land for bowmen, for wine and women areall that heart could wish. In Touraine I got nothing save abroken pate, but at Vierzon I had a great good fortune, for I hada golden pyx from the minster, for which I afterwards got nineGenoan janes from the goldsmith in the Rue Mont Olive. Fromthence we went to Bourges, were I had a tunic of flame-coloredsilk and a very fine pair of shoes with tassels of silk and dropsof silver."

"From a stall, Aylward?" asked one of the young archers.

"Nay, from a man's feet, lad. I had reason to think that hemight not need them again, seeing that a thirty-inch shaft hadfeathered in his back."

"And what then, Aylward?"

"On we went, coz, some six thousand of us, until we came toIssodun, and there again a very great thing befell."

"A battle, Aylward?"

"Nay, nay; a greater thing than that. There is little to begained out of a battle, unless one have the fortune to win aransom. At Issodun I and three Welshmen came upon a house whichall others had passed, and we had the profit of it to ourselves.For myself, I had a fine feather-bed--a thing which you will notsee in a long day's journey in England. You have seen it,Alleyne, and you, John. You will bear me out that it is a noblebed. We put it on a sutler's mule, and bore it after the army.It was on my mind that I would lay it by until I came to starthouse of mine own, and I have it now in a very safe place nearLyndhurst."

"And what then, master-bowman?" asked Hawtayne. "By St.Christopher! it is indeed a fair and goodly life which you havechosen, for you gather up the spoil as a Warsash man gatherslobsters, without grace or favor from any man."

"You are right, master-shipman," said another of the olderarchers. "It is an old bowyer's rede that the second feather ofa fenny goose is better than the pinion of a tame one. Draw onold lad, for I have come between you and the clout."

"On we went then," said Aylward, after a long pull at hisblackjack. "There were some six thousand of us, with the princeand his knights, and the feather-bed upon a sutler's mule in thecentre. We made great havoc in Touraine, until we came intoRomorantin, where I chanced upon a gold chain and two braceletsof jasper, which were stolen from me the same day by a black-eyedwench from the Ardennes. Mon Dieu! there are some folk who haveno fear of Domesday in them, and no sign of grace in their souls,for ever clutching and clawing at another's chattels."

"But the battle, Aylward, the battle!" cried several, amid aburst of laughter.

"I come to it, my young war-pups. Well, then, the King of Francehad followed us with fifty thousand men, and he made great hasteto catch us, but when he had us he scarce knew what to do withus, for we were so drawn up among hedges and vineyards that theycould not come nigh us, save by one lane. On both sides werearchers, men-at-arms and knights behind, and in the centre thebaggage, with my feather-bed upon a sutler's mule. Three hundredchosen knights came straight for it, and, indeed, they were verybrave men, but such a drift of arrows met them that few cameback. Then came the Germans, and they also fought very bravely,so that one or two broke through the archers and came as far asthe feather-bed, but all to no purpose. Then out rides our ownlittle hothead with the patch over his eye, and my Lord Audleywith his four Cheshire squires, and a few others of like kidney,and after them went the prince and Chandos, and then the wholethrong of us, with axe and sword, for we had shot away ourarrows. Ma foi! it was a foolish thing, for we came forth fromthe hedges, and there was naught to guard the baggage had theyridden round behind us. But all went well with us, and the kingwas taken, and little Robby Withstaff and I fell in with a wainwith twelve, firkins of wine for the king's own table, and, by myhilt! if you ask me what happened after that, I cannot answeryou, nor can little Robby Withstaff either."

"And next day?"

"By my faith! we did not tarry long, but we hied back toBordeaux, where we came in safety with the King of France andalso the feather-bed. I sold my spoil, mes garcons, for as manygold-pieces as I could hold in my hufken, and for seven days Ilit twelve wax candles upon the altar of St. Andrew; for if youforget the blessed when things are well with you, they are verylikely to forget you when you have need of them. I have a scoreof one hundred and nineteen pounds of wax against the holyAndrew, and, as he was a very just man, I doubt not that I shallhave full weigh and measure when I have most need of it."

"Tell me, master Aylward," cried a young fresh-faced archer atthe further end of the room, "what was this great battle about?"

"Why, you jack-fool, what would it be about save who should wearthe crown of France?"

"I thought that mayhap it might be as to who should have thisfeather-bed of thine."

"If I come down to you, Silas, I may lay my belt across yourshoulders," Aylward answered, amid a general shout of laughter."But it is time young chickens went to roost when they darecackle against their elders. It is late, Simon."

"Nay, let us have another song."

"Here is Arnold of Sowley will troll as good a stave as any manin the Company."

"Nay, we have one here who is second to none," said Hawtayne,laying his hand upon big John's shoulder. "I have heard him onthe cog with a voice like the wave upon the shore. I pray you,friend, to give us 'The Bells of Milton,' or, if you will, 'TheFranklin's Maid.' "

Hordle John drew the back of his hand across his mouth, fixed hiseyes upon the corner of the ceiling, and bellowed forth, in avoice which made the torches flicker, the southland ballad forwhich he had been asked:--

The franklin he hath gone to roam, The franklin's maid she bidesat home, But she is cold and coy and staid, And who may win thefranklin's maid?

There came a knight of high renown In bassinet and ciclatoun; Onbended knee full long he prayed, He might not win the franklin'smaid.

There came a squire so debonair His dress was rich, his wordswere fair, He sweetly sang, he deftly played: He could not winthe franklin's maid.

There came a mercer wonder-fine With velvet cap and gaberdine;For all his ships, for all his trade He could not buy thefranklin's maid.

There came an archer bold and true, With bracer guard and staveof yew; His purse was light, his jerkin frayed; Haro, alas! thefranklin's maid!

Oh, some have laughed and some have cried And some have scouredthe country-side! But off they ride through wood and glade, Thebowman and the franklin's maid.

A roar of delight from his audience, with stamping of feet andbeating of blackjacks against the ground, showed how thoroughlythe song was to their taste, while John modestly retired into aquart pot, which he drained in four giant gulps. "I sang thatditty in Hordle ale-house ere I ever thought to be an archermyself," quoth he.

"Fill up your stoups!" cried Black Simon, thrusting his owngoblet into the open hogshead in front of him. "Here is a lastcup to the White Company, and every brave boy who walks behindthe roses of Loring!"

"To the wood, the flax, and the gander's wing!" said an old gray-headed archer on the right,

"To a gentle loose, and the king of Spain for a mark at fourteenscore!" cried another.

"To a bloody war!" shouted a fourth. "Many to go and few tocome!"

"With the most gold to the best steel!" added a fifth.

And a last cup to the maids of our heart!" cried Aylward "Asteady hand and a true eye, boys; so let two quarts be a bowman'sportion." With shout and jest and snatch of song they streamedfrom the room, and all was peaceful once more in the "Rose deGuienne."