ince would not permit it. he is to be marshal of the

lists, with sir william felton and the duc d'armagnac. the

english will be the lord audley, sir thomas percy, sir thomas

wake, sir william beauchamp, and our own very good lord and

leader."

"hurrah for him, and god be with him!" cried several. "it is

honor to draw string in his service,"

"so you may well say," said aylward. "by my ten finger-bones! if

you march behind the pennon of the five roses you are like to see

all that a good bowman would wish to see. ha! yes, mes garcons,

you laugh, but, by my hilt! you may not laugh when you find

yourselves where he will take you, for you can never tell what

strange vow he may not have sworn to. i see that he has a patch

over his eye, even as he had at poictiers. there will come

bloodshed of that patch, or i am the more mistaken."

"how chanced it at poictiers, good master aylward?" asked one of

the young archers, leaning upon his elbows, with his eyes fixed

respectfully 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 further

end 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 was

not very much that i did not see either."

"ah, yes," said simon, shaking his head, "it was a great day. i

never hope to see such another. there were some fine archers who

drew their last shaft that day. we shall never see better men,

aylward."

"by my hilt! no. there was little robby withstaff, and andrew

salblaster, and wat alspaye, who broke the neck of the german.

mon dieu! what men they were! take them how you would, at long

butts or short, hoyles, rounds, or rovers, better bowmen never

twirled 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. it

was at the first fall of the leaf that the prince set forth, and

he passed through auvergne, and berry, and anjou, and touraine.

in auvergne the maids are kind, but the wines are sour. in berry

it is the women that are sour, but the wines are rich. anjou,

however, is a very good land for bowmen, for wine and women are

all that heart could wish. in touraine i got nothing save a

broken pate, but at vierzon i had a great good fortune, for i had

a golden pyx from the minster, for which i afterwards got nine

genoan janes from the goldsmith in the rue mont olive. from

thence we went to bourges, were i had a tunic of flame-colored

silk and a very fine pair of shoes with tassels of silk and drops

of silver."

"from a stall, aylward?" asked one of the young archers.

"nay, from a man's feet, lad. i had reason to think that he

might not need them again, seeing that a thirty-inch shaft had

feathered in his back."

"and what then, aylward?"

"on we went, coz, some six thousand of us, until we came to

issodun, and there again a very great thing befell."

"a battle, aylward?"

"nay, nay; a greater thing than that. there is little to be

gained out of a battle, unless one have the fortune to win a

ransom. at issodun i and three welshmen came upon a house which

all 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 not

see 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 noble

bed. 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 start

house of mine own, and i have it now in a very safe place near

lyndhurst."

"and what then, master-bowman?" asked hawtayne. "by st.

christopher! it is indeed a fair and goodly life which you have

chosen, for you gather up the spoil as a warsash man gathers

lobsters, without grace or favor from any man."

"you are right, master-shipman," said another of the older

archers. "it is an old bowyer's rede that the second feather of

a fenny goose is better than the pinion of a tame one. draw on

old lad, for i have come between you and the clout."

"on we went then," said aylward, after a long pull at his

blackjack. "there were some six thousand of us, with the prince

and his knights, and the feather-bed upon a sutler's mule in the

centre. we made great havoc in touraine, until we came into

romorantin, where i chanced upon a gold chain and two bracelets

of jasper, which were stolen from me the same day by a black-eyed

wench from the ardennes. mon dieu! there are some folk who have

no 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 bat