d
this ship, master hawtayne?"
"no, my fair lord."
"well, well, it is no great matter for my company, for they were
all houseled and shriven ere we left twynham castle; and father
christopher of the priory gave me his word that they were as fit
to march to heaven as to gascony. but my mind misdoubts me as to
these winchester men who have come with sir oliver, for they
appear to be a very ungodly crew. pass the word that the men
kneel, and that the under-officers repeat to them the pater, the
ave, and the credo."
with a clank of arms, the rough archers and seamen took to their
knees, with bent heads and crossed hands, listening to the hoarse
mutter from the file-leaders. it was strange to mark the hush;
so that the lapping of the water, the straining of the sail, and
the creaking of the timbers grew louder of a sudden upon the ear.
many of the bowmen had drawn amulets and relics from their
bosoms, while he who possessed some more than usually sanctified
treasure passed it down the line of his comrades, that all might
kiss and reap the virtue.
the yellow cog had now shot out from the narrow waters of the
solent, and was plunging and rolling on the long heave of the
open channel. the wind blew freshly from the east, with a very
keen edge to it; and the great sail bellied roundly out, laying
the vessel over until the water hissed beneath her lee bulwarks.
broad and ungainly, she floundered from wave to wave, dipping her
round bows deeply into the blue rollers, and sending the white
flakes of foam in a spatter over her decks. on her larboard
quarter lay the two dark galleys, which had already hoisted sail,
and were shooting out from freshwater bay in swift pursuit, their
double line of oars giving them a vantage which could not fail to
bring them up with any vessel which trusted to sails alone. high
and bluff the english cog; long, black and swift the pirate
galleys, like two fierce lean wolves which have seen a lordly
and unsuspecting stag walk past their forest lair.
"shall we turn, my fair lord, or shall we carry on?" asked the
master-shipman, looking behind him with anxious eyes.
"nay, we must carry on and play the part of the helpless
merchant."
"but your pennons? they will see that we have two knights with
us."
"yet it would not be to a knight's honor or good name to lower
his pennon. let them be, and they will think that we are a wine-
ship for gascony, or that we bear the wool-bales of some mercer
of the staple. ma foi, but they are very swift! they swoop upon
us like two goshawks on a heron. is there not some symbol or
device upon their sails?"
"that on the right," said edricson, "appears to have the head of
an ethiop upon it."
" 'tis the badge of tete-noire, the norman," cried a seaman-
mariner. "i have seen it before, when he harried us at
winchelsea. he is a wondrous large and strong man, with no ruth
for man, woman, or beast. they say that he hath the strength of
six; and, certes, he hath the crimes of six upon his soul. see,
now, to the poor souls who swing at either end of his yard-arm!"
at each end of the yard there did indeed hang the dark figure of
a man, jolting and lurching with hideous jerkings of its limbs at
every plunge and swoop of the galley.
"by st. paul!" said sir nigel, "and by the help of st. george and
our lady, it will be a very strange thing if our black-headed
friend does not himself swing thence ere he be many hours older.
but what is that upon the other galley?"
"it is the red cross of genoa. this spade-beard is a very noted
captain, and it is his boast that there are no seamen and no
archers in the world who can compare with those who serve the
doge boccanegra."
"that we shall prove," said goodwin hawtayne; "but it would be
well, ere they close with us, to raise up the mantlets and
pavises as a screen against their bolts." he shouted a hoarse
order, and his seamen worked swiftly and silently, heightening
the bulwarks and strengthening them. the three ship's anchors
were at sir nigel's command carried into the waist, and tied to
the mast, with twenty feet of cable between, each under the care
of four seamen. eight others were stationed with leather water-
bags to quench any fire-arrows which might come aboard, while
others were sent up the mast, to lie along the yard and drop
stones or shoot arrows as the occasion served.
"let them be supplied with all that is heavy and weighty in the
ship," said sir nigel.
"then we must send them up sir oliver buttesthorn," quoth ford.
the knight looked at him with a face which struck the smile from
his lips. "no squire of mine," he said, "shall ever make jest of
a belted knight. and yet," he added, his eyes softening, "i know
that it is but a boy's mirth, with no sting in it. yet i should
ill do my part t
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