Part 13 (1/2)
And with that he set forth again into the woods; and presently after the bell began to sound, nu his steps, and the two lads sat by their untasted meal, and heard it die sloay up hill into the distance
”And so ye go to Tunstall?” dick inquired
”Yea, verily,” said Matcham, ”when needs must! I am braver behind Sir Daniel's back than to his face”
They ate hastily, and set forth along the path through the airy upper levels of the forest, where great beeches stood apart areen lawns, and the birds and squirrels an to descend upon the other side, and already, a the tree-tops, saw before them the red walls and roofs of Tunstall House
”Here,” said Matcha, ”ye shall take your leave of your friend Jack, whoive him what he did aiveth you”
”And wherefore so?” asked dick ”An we both go to Tunstall, I shall see you yet again, I trow, and that right often”
”Ye'll never again see poor Jack Matcham,” replied the other, ”that was so fearful and burthensome, and yet plucked you from the river; ye'll not see him more, dick, by mine honour!” He held his arms open, and the lads embraced and kissed ”And, dick,” continued Matcham, ”my spirit bodeth ill Y' are now to see a new Sir Daniel; for heretofore hath all prospered in his hands exceedingly, and fortune followed him; but now, methinks, when his fate hath come upon him, and he runs the adventure of his life, he will prove but a foul lord to both of us He may be brave in battle, but he hath the liar's eye; there is fear in his eye, dick, and fear is as cruel as the wolf! We go down into that house, Saint Mary guide us forth again!”
And so they continued their descent in silence, and cahold, where it stood, low and shady, flanked with round towers and stained with moss and lichen, in the lilied waters of the e lowered, and Sir Daniel himself, with Hatch and the parson at his side, stood ready to receive them
BOOK II--THE MOAT HOUSE
CHAPTER I--dick ASKS QUESTIONS
The Moat House stood not far frole of red stone, flanked at each corner by a round tower, pierced for archery and battlemented at the top Within, it enclosed a narrow court The le drawbridge It was supplied ater by a trench, leading to a forest pool and coth, from the battlements of the two southern towers Except that one or two tall and thick trees had been suffered to reood posture for defence
In the court, dick found a part of the garrison, busy with preparations for defence, and gloo arrows, so been disused; but even as they worked, they shook their heads
Twelve of Sir Daniel's party had escaped the battle, run the gauntlet through the wood, and come alive to the Moat House But out of this dozen, three had been gravely wounded: two at Risingham in the disorder of the rout, one by John Amend-All's marksmen as he crossed the forest
This raised the force of the garrison, counting Hatch, Sir Daniel, and young Shelton, to twenty-two effective ht be continually expected to arrive The danger lay not therefore in the lack of men
It was the terror of the Black Arrow that oppressed the spirits of the garrison For their open foes of the party of York, in thesetimes, they felt but a far-away concern ”The world,” as people said in those days, ”hbours in the wood, they trembled It was not Sir Daniel alone as a mark for hatred His men, conscious of ih all the country Harsh commands had been harshly executed; and of the little band that now sat talking in the court, there was not one but had been guilty of some act of oppression or barbarity And now, by the fortune of war, Sir Daniel had become powerless to protect his instruments; now, by the issue of some hours of battle, at which many of them had not been present, they had all become punishable traitors to the State, outside the buckler of the law, a shrunken company in a poor fortress that was hardly tenable, and exposed upon all sides to the just resentrisly advertiseht expect
At different periods of the evening and the night, no fewer than seven riderless horses had coate Tere froed to men who had ridden with Sir Daniel to the field Lastly, a little before dawn, a spear to the moat side, pierced by three arrows; even as they carried him in, his spirit had departed; but by the words that he uttered in his agony, he must have been the last survivor of a considerable company of men
Hatch himself showed, under his sun-brown, the pallour of anxiety; and when he had taken dick aside and learned the fate of Selden, he fell on a stone bench and fairly wept The others, frole of the court, looked at him onder and alarm, but none ventured to inquire the cause of his emotion
”Nay, Master Shelton,” said Hatch, at last--”nay, but what said I? We shall all go Selden was a one second; well, we shall all follow! For what said their knave rhyme?--'A black arrow in each black heart' Was it not so it went? Appleyard, Selden, Sone; and there lieth poor John Carter, crying, poor sinner, for the priest”
dick gave ear Out of a lo, hard by where they were talking, groans and murmurs came to his ear
”Lieth he there?” he asked
”Ay, in the second porter's chamber,” answered Hatch ”We could not bear him further, soul and body were so bitterly at odds At every step we lifted hiht to wend But now, methinks, it is the soul that suffereth Ever for the priest he crieth, and Sir Oliver, I wot not why, still co shrift; but poor Appleyard and poor Selden, they had none”