Evening star., 1905-11-09

faul. II IT were not that these hills are
t9Ssersteep tS tor Pommers, 1 would ride to
tnese cavaliers Of Navarro and see If there
were not some among them who would
heip me to take this patch from mine eye.
II is sad sight to see this very fine pass,
Wh1ch my own company here could hold
against an army. and yet to ride through h
4 with as little profit as though it were
the lane from my kennels to the Avon
All morning Sir Nigel rode in very i'll
humor, with his company tramping behind
nim. III was toilsome march over
broken ground and through snow, which
came often as high as the knee. yet ere
the sun had begun to sink they had reached
the spot where the gorge opens out on to
the uplands of Navarro and could see the
towers of Pampeluna jutting up against the
southern skyline Here the company were
let. and Alleyne spent the day looking down
upon the swarming army which poured
with gleam OF spears and fiaunt of stand
ards through the narrow pass.
"Hola, mon gar." said Aylward seating
himself upon bowider by his side. This
Is indeed a fine sight upon which 1t is good
to look. and a man might go far ere he
would see many brave men and fine
horses. By my hilt!~our little lord is wroth
because we have come peacefully through
the passes, but l will warrant him that we
have fighting enow ere we turn our faces
northWard again. 1t Is said that there
are fourscore thousand men behind the
King of Spain, with Du Guesclin and all
the best lances of France, who have sworn
10 SHeQ tHelr neart 8 Dl0OQ ere tnlS PeQfO
come again to the throne"
Yet our own army is great one," said
Alleyne.
Nay, there are but seven-and-twenty
thousand men, Chandos hath persuaded
the prince to leave many behind. and in
deed l think that he Is right, for there is
little food and less water In these parts
for which we are bound. man without
his meat or horse without his fodder Is
like a wet bow-string, fit for little. But
VOLTA, mon petit, here comes Chandos and
his company, and there is many a pensil
and banderoIe among yonder squadrons
which show that the best blood of England
is riding under his banners.
While Aylward had been speaking. a
strong column of archers had defiled
through the pass beneath them They were
followed by a banner-bearer who held high
the scarlet wedge upon silver field which
proclaimed the presence of the famous
warrior He rode himself within spears
length of his standard clad from neck to
foot in STEEL but draped in the long linen
gown or parement which was destined to
be the cause of his death. His plumed
helmet was carried behind him by his body
squire, and his head was covered by
small purple cap, from under which his
snow-whlte hair curled downward to his
shoulders. With his long, beak-like nose
and his single cleaning eye, which shone
brightly from under thick tuft Of grizzled
brow, he seemed to Alleyne to have some
thing Of the look of some fierce old bird
Of prey. For a moment he smiled, as his
eye iSnleU upon the banner tne nVe
roses waving from the hamlet: but his
course lay for Pampeuna, and he rode on
after the archers.
Close at his heels came sixteen squres,
all chosen from the highest families, and
behind them rode twelve hundred English
knights, with CLEAN of steel and tossing of
plumes, their harness jingling, their long
straight swords clanking against their stir
rup-irons, and the beat Of their chargers
hoofs like the low, deep roar of the sea
upon the shore. Behind them marched six
hundred Cheshire and Lancashire archers,
bearing the badge of the Audleys, followed
by the famous Lord Audley himself with
the four valiant squires, Dutton of Dutton,
Delves of Doddington, Fowlehurst of Crewe
and Hawkstone Of Waineh1Il, who had all
won such glory at Poicters. Two hundred
heavily armed cavalry rode behind the
Audley standard while close at their heels
came the Duke of Lancaster with glitter
ing train. heralds tabarded with the royal
arms riding three deep upon cream-colored
chargers In front of him. On either side
of the young prince rode the two seneschals
of Aquitaine, Sir Guiscard d'Angle and
Sir Stephen Cossington. the one bearing
the banner Of the province and the other
that of st, George. Away behind him, as
far as eye could reach, rolled the far
stretching, unbroken river of steel-rank
with waving of plumes, glitter of arms,
tossing Of guidons. and flash and flut-
ter of countless armorial devices.
All day Alleyne looked down upon the
stood by his elbow, pointing out the crests
of famous warriors and the arms of noble
houses. Here were the gold mulletS of the
Pakingtons the sable and ermine of the
Ma ckworths, the scarlet bars of the
Wakes the gold and blue of the Grosv2-
nors, the cinque-foils of the Cliftons, the
annulets of the Musgraves, the silver PIN
ions of the Beauchamps, the crosses of the
Molineux, the bloody chevron Of the Wood
houses the red and silver of the Worsleys,
the swords of the Clarks, the bears heads
of the I-ucies, the crescents of the Boyn-
tons and the wolf and dagger of the Lips-
combs. So through the sunny winter day
the chivalry of England poured down
through the dark pass of Roncesvalles 10
the plains of-Spain.
1t was on a Monday that the Duke or
Lancaster's division passed safely through
the Pyrenees. On the Tuesday there was
a bitter frost. and the ground rang like
non beneath the feet of the horses; yet
ere even the prince himself with the main
part of his army, had passed the gorge ana
united with his vanguard at Pampeluna-
With him rode the King of Majorca. the
hostage King of Navarro and the fierce Don
Pedro of Spain whose pale-blue eyes
cleaned with a sinister light as they rest
ed once more upon the distant peaks of the
land which had disowned him. Under the
royal banners rode many a bold GaScon
baron and many a hot-blooded Islander
Here We're the high stewards of Aquitalne.
of Saintogne Of La Rochelle of Quercy. of
Limousn, of AgenOis, of Poitou and OF
Bigorre. with the banners and musters of
their provinces. Here also were the valiant
Earl of Angus Sir Thomas Banaster with
his garter over his grave. Sir Nele Loring,
second cousin to Sir Nigel, and long col
umn of Welsh footmen who marched under
the red banner of Merlin. From dawn to
sundown the long train wound through the
pass, their breath reeking up upon the
frosty air like the steam from a caldron.
The weather was less keen upon the
Wednesday, and the guard made good
their passage, with the bombards and the
wagon train. Free companions and Gas
cons made up this portion of the army TO
the number of ten thousand men. The
fierce Sir Hugh Calverly, with his yellow
name. and the rugged Sir Robert Knolles,
with their war-hardened and veteran COM
pancs of English bowmen. headed the long
column: while behind them came the tur-
bulent bands of the Bastard of Breteuil,
Nandon de Bagerant. one-eyed Camus,
Black Ortingo, La Mutt. and others whose
very names seem to smack of hard hands
and ruthless deeds. With them also We're
the pick of the Gascon chivalry-the Old
Due d Armagnac his nephew. Lord q Al
bret, brooding and scowling over his
wrongs, the giant Olivier de Clisson, the
CAPITAL de Buch. pink of knighthood, the
sprightly Sir Perducas- d Albert, the red
bearded Lord d Esparre, and long train
of needy and grasping border mobiles, with
long pedigrees and short purses, who had
come down from their hillside stronghoids,
all hungering for the spoils and the ran
SONS of Spain BY the Thursday morning
10 yxbola encanDe0 in the NaIe