ooden joists and planks of the flooring were
already on fire. dry and worm-eaten, a spark upon them became a
smoulder, and a smoulder a blaze. a choking smoke filled the
air, and the five could scarce grope their way to the staircase
which led up to the very summit of the square tower.
strange was the scene which met their eyes from this eminence.
beneath them on every side stretched the long sweep of peaceful
country, rolling plain, and tangled wood, all softened and
mellowed in the silver moonshine. no light, nor movement, nor
any sign of human aid could be seen, but far away the hoarse
clangor of a heavy bell rose and fell upon the wintry air. be-
neath and around them blazed the huge fire, roaring find
crackling on every side of the bailey, and even as they looked
the two corner turrets fell in with a deafening crash, and the
whole castle was but a shapeless mass, spouting flames and smoke
from every window and embrasure. the great black tower upon
which they stood rose like a last island of refuge amid this sea
of fire but the ominous crackling and roaring below showed that
it would not be long ere it was engulfed also in the common ruin.
at their very feet was the square courtyard, crowded with the
howling and dancing peasants, their fierce faces upturned, their
clenched hands waving, all drunk with bloodshed and with
vengeance. a yell of execration and a scream of hideous laughter
burst from the vast throng, as they saw the faces of the last
survivors of their enemies peering down at them from the height
of the keep. they still piled the brushwood round the base of
the tower, and gambolled hand in hand around the blaze, screaming
out the doggerel lines which had long been the watchword of the
jacquerie:
cessez, cessez, gens d'armes et pletons, de piller et manger le
bonhomme qui de longtemps jacques bonhomme se homme.
their thin, shrill voices rose high above the roar of the flames
and the crash of the masonry, like the yelping of a pack of
wolves who see their quarry before them and know that they have
well-nigh run him down.
"by my hilt!" said aylward to john, "it is in my mind that we
shall not see spain this journey. it is a great joy to me that i
have placed my feather-bed and other things of price with that
worthy woman at lyndhurst, who will now have the use of them. i
have thirteen arrows yet, and if one of them fly unfleshed, then,
by the twang of string! i shall deserve my doom. first at him
who flaunts with my lady's silken frock. clap in the clout, by
god! though a hand's-breadth lower than i had meant. now for the
rogue with the head upon his pike. ha! to the inch, john. when
my eye is true, i am better at rovers than at long-butts or
hoyles. a good shoot for you also, john! the villain hath
fallen forward into the fire. but i pray you, john, to loose
gently, and not to pluck with the drawing-hand, for it is a trick
that hath marred many a fine bowman."
whilst the two archers were keeping up a brisk fire upon the mob
beneath them, du guesclin and his lady were consulting with sir
nigel upon their desperate situation.
" 'tis a strange end for one who has seen so many stricken
fields," said the french chieftain. "for me one death is as
another, but it is the thought of my sweet lady which goes to my
heart."
"nay, bertrand, i fear it as little as you," said she. "had i my
dearest wish, it would be that we should go together."
"well answered, fair lady!" cried sir nigel. "and very sure i am
that my own sweet wife would have said the same. if the end be
now come, i have had great good fortune in having lived in times
when so much glory was to be won, and in knowing so many valiant
gentlemen and knights. but why do you pluck my sleeve, alleyne?"
"if it please you, my fair lord, there are in this corner two
great tubes of iron, with many heavy balls, which may perchance
be those bombards and shot of which i have heard."
"by saint ives! it is true," cried sir bertrand, striding across
to the recess where the ungainly, funnel-shaped, thick-ribbed
engines were standing. "bombards they are, and of good size. we
may shoot down upon them."
"shoot with them, quotha?" cried aylward in high disdain, for
pressing danger is the great leveller of classes. "how is a man
to take aim with these fool's toys, and how can he hope to do
scath with them?"
"i will show you," answered sir nigel; "for here is the great box
of powder, and if you will raise it for me, john, i will show you
how it may be used. come hither, where the folk are thickest
round the fire. now, aylward, crane thy neck and see what would
have been deemed an old wife's tale when we first turned our
faces to the wars. throw back the lid, john, and drop the box
into the fire!"
a deafening roar, a fluff of bluish light, and t
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