How
they had overcome him could not be told, but how they had slain
him within his armor was horribly apparent, for they had carried
such a rock as eight men could lift, and had dropped it upon him
as he lay, so that he was spread out in his shattered case like a
crab beneath a stone. Many a fist was shaken at the distant woods
and many a curse hurled at those who haunted them, as the column
of scowling soldiers passed the murdered man, whose badge of the
Molene cross showed him to have been a follower of that House of
Bentley, whose head, Sir Walter, was at that time leader of the
British forces in the country.
Sir Robert Knolles had served in Brittany before, and he marshaled
his men on the march with the skill and caution of the veteran
soldier, the man who leaves as little as possible to chance,
having too steadfast a mind to heed the fool who may think him
overcautious. He had recruited a number of bowmen and men-at-arms
at Dinan; so that his following was now close upon five hundred
men. In front under his own leadership were fifty mounted
lancers, fully armed and ready for any sudden attack. Behind them
on foot came the archers, and a second body of mounted men closed
up the rear. Out upon either flank moved small bodies of cavalry,
and a dozen scouts, spread fanwise, probed every gorge and dingle
in front of the column. So for three days he moved slowly down
the Southern Road.
Pages:
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347