st their arms

around each other and rolled off their saddles to the ground.

the heavier spaniard threw himself upon his enemy, and pinning

him down beneath him raised his sword to slay him, while a shout

of triumph rose from the ranks of his countrymen. but the fatal

blow never fell, for even as his arm quivered before descending,

the spaniard gave a shudder, and stiffening himself rolled

heavily over upon his side, with the blood gushing from his

armpit and from the slit of his vizor. sir nigel sprang to his

feet with his bloody dagger in his left hand and gazed down upon

his adversary, but that fatal and sudden stab in the vital spot,

which the spaniard had exposed by raising his arm, had proved

instantly mortal. the englishman leaped upon his horse and made

for the hill, at the very instant that a yell of rage from a

thousand voices and the clang of a score of bugles announced the

spanish onset.

but the islanders were ready and eager for the encounter. with

feet firmly planted, their sleeves rolled back to give free play

to their muscles, their long yellow bow-staves in their left

hands, and their quivers slung to the front, they had waited in

the four-deep harrow formation which gave strength to their

array, and yet permitted every man to draw his arrow freely

without harm to those in front. aylward and johnston had been

engaged in throwing light tufts of grass into the air to gauge

the wind force, and a hoarse whisper passed down the ranks from

the file-leaders to the men, with scraps of advice and

admonition.

"do not shoot outside the fifteen-score paces," cried johnston.

"we may need all our shafts ere we have done with them."

"better to overshoot than to undershoot," added aylward. "better

to strike the rear guard than to feather a shaft in the earth."

"loose quick and sharp when they come," added another. "let it be

the eye to the string, the string to the shaft, and the shaft to

the mark. by our lady! their banners advance, and we must hold

our ground now if ever we are to see southampton water again."

alleyne, standing with his sword drawn amidst the archers, saw a

long toss and heave of the glittering squadrons. then the front

ranks began to surge slowly forward, to trot, to canter, to

gallop, and in an instant the whole vast array was hurtling

onward, line after line, the air full of the thunder of their

cries, the ground shaking with the beat of their hoots, the

valley choked with the rushing torrent of steel, topped by the

waving plumes, the slanting spears and the fluttering banderoles.

on they swept over the level and up to the slope, ere they met

the blinding storm of the english arrows. down went the whole

ranks in a whirl of mad confusion, horses plunging and kicking,

bewildered men falling, rising, staggering on or back, while

ever new lines of horsemen came spurring through the gaps and

urged their chargers up the fatal slope. all around him alleyne

could hear the stern, short orders of the master-bowmen, while

the air was filled with the keen twanging of the strings and the

swish and patter of the shafts. right across the foot of the

hill there had sprung up a long wall of struggling horses and

stricken men, which ever grew and heightened as fresh squadrons

poured on the attack. one young knight on a gray jennet leaped

over his fallen comrades and galloped swiftly up the hill,

shrieking loudly upon saint james, ere he fell within a spear-

length of the english line, with the feathers of arrows thrusting

out from every crevice and joint of his armor. so for five long

minutes the gallant horsemen of spain and of france strove ever

and again to force a passage, until the wailing note of a bugle

called them back, and they rode slowly out of bow-shot, leaving

their best and their bravest in the ghastly, blood-mottled heap

behind them.

but there was little rest for the victors. whilst the knights

had charged them in front the slingers had crept round upon

either flank and had gained a footing upon the cliffs and behind

the outlying rocks. a storm of stones broke suddenly upon the

defenders, who, drawn up in lines upon the exposed summit,

offered a fair mark to their hidden foes. johnston, the old

archer, was struck upon the temple and fell dead without a groan,

while fifteen of his bowmen and six of the men-at-arms were

struck down at the same moment. the others lay on their faces to

avoid the deadly hail, while at each side of the plateau a fringe

of bowmen exchanged shots with the slingers and crossbowmen

among the rocks, aiming mainly at those who had swarmed up the

cliffs, and bursting into laughter and cheers when a well-aimed

shaft brought one of their opponents toppling down from his lofty

perch.

"i think, nigel," said sir oliver, striding across to the little

knight, "that we should all ac