had now assembled a gallant army; so that from the adour to the
passes of navarre the barren valleys and wind-swept wastes were
populous with soldiers and loud with the shouting of orders and
the neighing of horses. for the banners of war had been flung to
the wind once more, and over those glistening peaks was the
highway along which honor pointed in an age when men had chosen
her as their guide.
and now all was ready for the enterprise. from dax to st. jean
pied-du-port the country was mottled with the white tents of
gascons, aquitanians and english, all eager for the advance. from
all sides the free companions had trooped in, until not less than
twelve thousand of these veteran troops were cantoned along the
frontiers of navarre. from england had arrived the prince's
brother, the duke of lancaster, with four hundred knights in his
train and a strong company of archers. above all, an heir to the
throne had been born in bordeaux, and the prince might leave his
spouse with an easy mind, for all was well with mother and with
child.
the keys of the mountain passes still lay in the hands of the
shifty and ignoble charles of navarre, who had chaffered and
bargained both with the english and with the spanish, taking
money from the one side to hold them open and from the other to
keep them sealed. the mallet hand of edward, however, had
shattered all the schemes and wiles of the plotter. neither
entreaty nor courtly remonstrance came from the english prince;
but sir hugh calverley passed silently over the border with his
company, and the blazing walls of the two cities of miranda and
puenta della reyna warned the unfaithful monarch that there were
other metals besides gold, and that he was dealing with a man to
whom it was unsafe to lie. his price was paid, his objections
silenced, and the mountain gorges lay open to the invaders. from
the feast of the epiphany there was mustering and massing, until,
in the first week of february--three days after the white company
joined the army--the word was given for a general advance through
the defile of roncesvalles. at five in the cold winter's morning
the bugles were blowing in the hamlet of st. jean pied-du-port,
and by six sir nigel's company, three hundred strong, were on
their way for the defile, pushing swiftly in the dim light up the
steep curving road; for it was the prince's order that they
should be the first to pass through, and that they should remain
on guard at the further end until the whole army had emerged from
the mountains. day was already breaking in the east, and the
summits of the great peaks had turned rosy red, while the valleys
still lay in the shadow, when they found themselves with the
cliffs on either hand and the long, rugged pass stretching away
before them.
sir nigel rode his great black war-horse at the head of his
archers, dressed in full armor, with black simon bearing his
banner behind him, while alleyne at his bridle-arm carried his
blazoned shield and his well-steeled ashen spear. a proud and
happy man was the knight, and many a time he turned in his saddle
to look at the long column of bowmen who swung swiftly along
behind him.
"by saint paul! alleyne," said he, "this pass is a very perilous
place, and i would that the king of navarre had held it against
us, for it would have been a very honorable venture had it fallen
to us to win a passage. i have heard the minstrels sing of one
sir rolane who was slain by the infidels in these very parts."
"if it please you, my fair lord," said black simon, "i know
something of these parts, for i have twice served a term with the
king of navarre. there is a hospice of monks yonder, where you
may see the roof among the trees, and there it was that sir
roland was slain. the village upon the left is orbaiceta, and i
know a house therein where the right wine of jurancon is to be
bought, if it would please you to quaff a morning cup,"
"there is smoke yonder upon the right."
"that is a village named les aldudes, and i know a hostel there
also where the wine is of the best. it is said that the inn-
keeper hath a buried treasure, and i doubt not, my fair lord,
that if you grant me leave i could prevail upon him to tell us
where he hath hid it."
"nay, nay, simon," said sir nigel curtly, "i pray you to forget
these free companion tricks. ha! edricson, i see that you stare
about you, and in good sooth these mountains must seem wondrous
indeed to one who hath but seen butser or the portsdown hill."
the broken and rugged road had wound along the crests of low
hills, with wooded ridges on either side of it over which peeped
the loftier mountains, the distant peak of the south and the vast
altabisca, which towered high above them and cast its black
shadow from left to right across the valley. from where they no
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