out

like the gnarled roots of an oak, towered high above the soldier.

the other, however, though near a foot shorter, was a man of

great strength; and there was a gloss upon his white skin which

was wanting in the heavier limbs of the renegade monk. he was

quick on his feet, too, and skilled at the game; so that it was

clear, from the poise of head and shine of eye, that he counted

the chances to be in his favor. it would have been hard that

night, through the whole length of england, to set up a finer

pair in face of each other.

big john stood waiting in the centre with a sullen, menacing eye,

and his red hair in a bristle, while the archer paced lightly and

swiftly to the right and the left with crooked knee and hands

advanced. then with a sudden dash, so swift and fierce that the

eye could scarce follow it, he flew in upon his man and locked

his leg round him. it was a grip that, between men of equal

strength, would mean a fall; but hordle john tore him off from

him as he might a rat, and hurled him across the room, so that

his head cracked up against the wooden wall.

"ma foi!" cried the bowman, passing his fingers through his

curls, "you were not far from the feather-bed then, mon gar. a

little more and this good hostel would have a new window."

nothing daunted, he approached his man once more, but this time

with more caution than before. with a quick feint he threw the

other off his guard, and then, bounding upon him, threw his legs

round his waist and his arms round his bull-neck, in the hope of

bearing him to the ground with the sudden shock. with a bellow

of rage, hordle john squeezed him limp in his huge arms; and

then, picking him up, cast him down upon the floor with a force

which might well have splintered a bone or two, had not the

archer with the most perfect coolness clung to the other's

forearms to break his fall. as it was, he dropped upon his feet

and kept his balance, though it sent a jar through his frame

which set every joint a-creaking. he bounded back from his

perilous foeman; but the other, heated by the bout, rushed madly

after him, and so gave the practised wrestler the very vantage

for which he had planned. as big john flung himself upon him,

the archer ducked under the great red hands that clutched for

him, and, catching his man round the thighs, hurled him over his

shoulder--helped as much by his own mad rush as by the trained

strength of the heave. to alleyne's eye, it was as if john had

taken unto himself wings and flown. as he hurtled through the

air, with giant limbs revolving, the lad's heart was in his

mouth; for surely no man ever yet had such a fall and came

scathless out of it. in truth, hardy as the man was, his neck

had been assuredly broken had he not pitched head first on the

very midriff of the drunken artist, who was slumbering so

peacefully in the corner, all unaware of these stirring doings.

the luckless limner, thus suddenly brought out from his dreams,

sat up with a piercing yell, while hordle john bounded back into

the circle almost as rapidly as he had left it.

"one more fall, by all the saints!" he cried, throwing out his

arms.

"not i," quoth the archer, pulling on his clothes, "i have come

well out of the business. i would sooner wrestle with the great

bear of navarre."

"it was a trick," cried john.

"aye was it. by my ten finger-bones! it is a trick that will add

a proper man to the ranks of the company."

"oh, for that," said the other, "i count it not a fly; for i had

promised myself a good hour ago that i should go with thee, since

the life seems to be a goodly and proper one. yet i would fain

have had the feather-bed."

"i doubt it not, mon ami," quoth the archer, going back to his

tankard. "here is to thee, lad, and may we be good comrades to

each other! but, hola! what is it that ails our friend of the

wrathful face?"

the unfortunate limner had been sitting up rubbing himself

ruefully and staring about with a vacant gaze, which showed that

he knew neither where he was nor what had occurred to him.

suddenly, however, a flash of intelligence had come over his

sodden features, and he rose and staggered for the door. " 'ware

the ale!" he said in a hoarse whisper, shaking a warning finger

at the company. "oh, holy virgin, 'ware the ale!" and slapping

his hands to his injury, he flitted off into the darkness, amid a

shout of laughter, in which the vanquished joined as merrily as

the victor. the remaining forester and the two laborers were

also ready for the road, and the rest of the company turned to

the blankets which dame eliza and the maid had laid out for them

upon the floor. alleyne, weary with the unwonted excitements of

the day, was soon in a deep slumber broken only by fleeting

visions of twittering legs, cursing beggars, black robbers, an