"Indeed I would that it had been at a nobler mark," said he. "He
might have gone free for me, but I could not keep my fingers from
the string when he turned to jeer at us."
"I see well that you are indeed a master-bowman," said old Wat,
"and it is comfort to my soul to think that if I fall I leave such
a man behind me to hold high the credit of our craft. Now gather
your shafts and on, for Sir Robert awaits us on the brow of the
hill."
All day Knolles and his men marched through the same wild and
deserted country, inhabited only by these furtive creatures, hares
to the strong and wolves to the weak, who hovered in the shadows
of the wood. Ever and anon upon the tops of the hills they caught
a glimpse of horsemen who watched them from a distance and
vanished when approached. Sometimes bells rang an alarm from
villages amongst the hills, and twice they passed castles which
drew up their drawbridges at their approach and lined their walls
with hooting soldiers as they passed. The Englishmen gathered a
few oxen and sheep from the pastures of each, but Knolles had no
mind to break his strength upon stone walls, and so he went upon
his way.
Once at St. Meen they passed a great nunnery, girt with a high
gray lichened wall, an oasis of peace in this desert of war, the
black-robed nuns basking in the sun or working in the gardens,
with the strong gentle hand of Holy Church shielding them ever
from evil.
Pages:
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356