Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1906-08-17

I "Nigel?' cried Sir Simon Burley, hurry
ing up with CONSERVATION upon his face.
'Aylward tells me that there are not
| ten score arrows left in all their sheaYes.
See! they are springing from their horses,
ana cutting their sollerets that they may
rush upon US. Might we not even now
make q retreat?''
My soul will retreat from my body
hfst! cried the little knight. Here i
am and here l bide, while God gives me
strength 10 lit a sword
And SO say IT, shouted Sir Oliver.
throwing his mace high into the air and
calcnlhS IL again by the handle.
10 your arms, men!'' cried Sir Nigel
onoot Whlle you may and then out sword.
and let US live or ule togetherI'
1hen uprose from The hill in the rugged
Caiaprlan valley a sound such as had not
oeen heard in those parts before. nor yvos
again, until the streams which rinn,o's
amid the rocks had been frozen nv 80
TOUR hundred winters and thaWed by sc
many returning springs. Deep and fuu
ana strong 1t Numbered down the raviI
the nerce battle-call of a warrior race II
last stern welcome to who SO sbouId it,
with them in that world-old game where
lne stake Is death. Thrice it swelled forth
and thrice 1t sank away, echoing and re-
verberating amidst the crags Then. with
set races, the Company rose up among the
storm or stones, and looked down upon tba
thousands who sped swiftly nm the s,one
against them. Horse and spear had heen
set aside, but on foot, with sword and hat
tle-axe, their broad shields slung in from
OF them, the chiyalry Of Spain rushed to
the attack
ana now arose struggle so fell, so long.
SO evenly sustained, that even now the
memory of 1T is handed down amongst the
CalaDr1an mountaineers and the ill-omen-
ed Knoll is still pointed out by fathers to
tnelr children as the ''Altura de los Inele-
sos, where the men from across the seas
1ought the great fight with the knights
OF the south. The last arrow was Quickly
shot, nor could the singers hurl their
stones, so close were friend and foe. From
slde to side stretched the thin line of the
English, lightly armed and uuick-footed-
Wnlie against 1t stormed and ragged the
pressing throng Of fiery Spaniards and of
galiant Bretons. The clink of crossing
sWord-olades, the dull thudding of heavy
blows, the painting and gasping of weary
ana wounded men, all rose together in
wild, long-drawn note, which swelIed
upwards to the ears of the wondering
peasants who looked down from the edges
OF the cliffs upon the swaying turmoil of
the battle beneath them. Back and for
ward reeled the leopard banner. now
borne up the slope by the rush and
downwards again as Sir Nigel, BurIey.
and Black Simon, with their veteran mem
alarms, flung themselves madly into the
ray. Alleyne, at his lords right hand.
found himself swept hither and thither in
the desperate struggle, exchanging savage
thrusts one instant with Spanish caya-
lier, and the next torn away by the wbirI
OF men and dashed up against some new
antagonist. To the right Sir Oliver, AyI-
ward, Horde John, and the bowmen of
the Company fought furiously against the
monkish Knights of Santiago, who were
led up the hill by their prior-a great-deep-
chested nan, who wore a brown monastic
habit over his suit Of mail. Three archers
ne slew in three giant strokes, but Sir
Oliver flung his arms round him. and the
Two, staggering and straining, reeled back
wards and fell locked in each others
grasp, over the edge of the steep cliff
which fanked the hill. In vain his knights
stormed and raved against the thin line
which marred their path; the sword of
Aylward and the great axe of John gleam
ed In the forefront of the battle and huge
Jagged pieces of rock, hurled by the
strong arms OF the bowmen, crashed and
hurtled amid their ranks. Slowly they
gave back down the hill, the archers still
hanging upon their skirts, with a long
litter OF writing and twisted figures to
mark the course which they had taken.
AT the same instant the Welshmen upon
the left, led on by the Scotch earl. had
charged out from among the rocks which
sheltered them, and by the fury of their
outfall had driven the Spaniards In front
Of them in headlong fight down the hill.
In the centre only things seemed to he
going i'll with the defenders. Black Simon
was down-dying, as he would wish to have
died, like grim old wolf In its lair with
a ring of his slain around him. Twice Sir
Nigel had been overborne, and twice AL
leyne had fought over him until he had
staggered to his feet once more. BurIey
lay senseless, stunned by a blow from a
mace, and half of the men-at-arms Law
Uttered upon the ground around him. Sir
Nigel's shield was broken, his crest shorn,
his armor cut and smashed, and the yizor
torn from his helmet; yet he sprang hither
and thither with light foot and ready
hand, engaging two Bretons and a Span
lard at the same instant thrusting, stoop-
ing, dashing in, springing out-while Al
leyne still fought by his side, stemming
with handful of men the fierce tide
which surged up against them. Yet it
would have Jared i'll with them had not
the archers from either side closed in upon
the tanks Of the attackers, and pressed
them very slowly and foot by foot down
the long slope, until they were on the
plain once more, where their fellows were
already rallying for a fresh assault.
But terrible indeed was the cost at
which the last had been repealed. 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 Buttesthorn, Sir
Richard Causton, Sir Simon Burley, Black
Simon, Johnston, a hundred and fifty
archers, and forty-seven men-at-arms had
fallen, while the pitiless hail of stones
was already whizzing and piping once more
about their ears, threatening every in
slant to further reduce their numbers
Sir Nigel looked about him at his shat
tered ranks, and his face flushed with 4
soldiers pride.
by ST. Paul!' he cried, 'I have fought
in many a little pickering, but never one
that 1 would be more 10th to have missed +
than this. But you are wounded, Alleyne?"