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
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