In the Days of Chivalry: A Tale of the Times of the Black Prince, Page 3

  CHAPTER III. THE UNKNOWN WORLD.

  So that was the story of their past. That was why they two, with theblood of the De Brocas running in their veins, had lived all their pastlives in the seclusion of a humble mill; why they had known nothing oftheir kinsfolk, albeit they had always known that they must have kindredof their own name and race; and why their mother upon her deathbed hadspoken to them not of any inheritance that they might look to claim fromdescent through their father, but of Basildene, which was theirs in veryright, as it had been hers before, till her ambitious and unscrupulouskinsman had driven her forth.

  And now what should they do? Whither should they go; and what should bethe object of the lives -- the new lives of purpose and resolve whichhad awakened within them?

  Gaston had given voice to this feeling in vowing them to the attempt torecover their lost heritage of Basildene, and Father Anselm did notoppose either that desire or the ardent wish of the youths to fare forthinto the great world alone.

  "My sons," he said a few days later, when he had come to see if thetwins held yet to their first resolve. "You are something young as yetto sally forth into the unknown world and carve for yourselves yourfortunes there; but nevertheless I trow the day has come, for this placeis no longer a safe shelter for you. The Sieur de Navailles, as it istold me, is already searching for you. It cannot be long before he findsyour hiding place, and then no man may call your lives safe by night orday. And not only would ye yourselves be in peril, but peril wouldthreaten good Jean and Margot; and methinks you would be sorely loaththat harm should come to them through the faithful kindness they haveever shown to you and yours."

  "Sooner would we die than that one hair of their head should betouched!" cried both the boys impetuously; "and Margot lives in fear andtrembling ever since we told her of the words we spoke to yon tyrant andusurper of Saut. We told her for her comfort that he would think us toopoor and humble and feeble to vent his rage on us; but she shook herhead at that, and feared no creature hearing the name of De Brocas wouldbe too humble to be a mark for his spite. And then we told her that wewould sally forth to see the world, as we had ever longed to do andthough she wept to think that we must go, she did not bid us stay. Shesaid, as thou hast done, good Father, that she had known that such daywould surely come; and though it has come something early and somethingsuddenly, she holds that we shall be safer facing the perils of theunknown world, than living here a mark for the spite and malice of thefoe of our house. If no man holds us back, why go we not forth tomorrow?"

  The priest's face was grave and even sorrowful, but he made no objectioneven to so rapid a move.

  "My sons, if this thing is to be, it is small use to tarry and linger. Iwould not that the Sieur de Navailles should know that you have hiddenyour heads here so long; and a secret, however faithfully kept, thatbelongs to many, may not be a secret always. It is right that you shouldgo, and with the inclement winter season hard upon us, with its dangersfrom heavy snows, tempests at sea, and those raids from wolves that makethe peril of travellers when the cold once sets in, it behoves you, ifgo ye must, to go right speedily. And in the belief that I should findyour minds made up and your preparations well-nigh complete, I havebrought to you the casket given into my charge by your mother on herdying bed. Methinks that you will find therein gold enough to carry yousafe to England, and such papers as shall suffice to prove to your proudkinsmen at the King's Court that ye are in very truth the sons of theirbrother, and that it is of just and lawful right that you make yourclaim to Basildene."

  The brothers looked eagerly at the handsome case, wrought and inlaidwith gold, in which certain precious parchments had lain ever since theyhad been carried in haste from England. The boys looked at these with aspecies of awe, for they had but very scant knowledge of letters, andsuch as they had acquired from the good Father was not enough to enablethem to master the contents of the papers. Learning was almost entirelyconfined to the ecclesiastics in those days, and many were the men ofbirth and rank who could scarce read or write their own name.

  But the devices upon the parchments told a tale more easily understood.There was the golden lion rampant upon the black ground -- the arms ofthe De Brocas family, as the Father told them; whilst the papers thatreferred to Basildene were adorned with a shield bearing a silver stagupon an azure ground. They would have no difficulty in knowing the deedsapart; and good Margot sewed them first into a bag of untanned leather,and then stitched them safely within the breast of Gaston's leathernjerkin. The golden pieces, and a few rings and trinkets that were allthat remained to the boys of their lost inheritance, were sewn in likemanner into Raymond's clothing, and there was little more to be done erethe brothers went forth into the unknown world.

  As for their worldly possessions, they were soon numbered, and comprisedlittle more than their clothing, their bows and arrows, and the poniardswhich hung at their girdles. As they were to proceed on foot toBordeaux, and would probably journey in the same simple fashion whenthey reached the shores of England, they had no wish to hamperthemselves with any needless encumbrances, and all that they took withthem was a single change of under vest and hose, which they were easilyable to carry in a wallet at their back. They sallied forth in the dressthey commonly wore all through the inclement winter season -- anunder-dress of warm blue homespun, with a strong jerkin of leather, softand well-dressed, which was as long as a short tunic, and was secured bythe girdle below the waist which was worn by almost all ranks of thepeople in that age. The long hose were likewise guarded by a species ofgaiter of the same strong stuff. And a peasant clad in his own leathergarments was often a match for a mailed warrior, the tough substanceturning aside sword point or arrow almost as effectually as a coat ofsteel, whilst the freedom and quickness of motion allowed by the simplerdress was an immense advantage to the wearer in attack or defence.

  The good Father looked with tender glances at the brave bright boys asthey stood forth on the morning of their departure, ready to sally outinto the wide world with the first glimpse of dawn. He had spent theprevious night at the mill, and many words of fatherly counsel and goodadvice had he bestowed upon the lads, now about to be subjected totemptations and perils far different from any they had known in theirpast life. And his words had been listened to with reverent heed, forthe boys loved him dearly, and had been trained by him in habits ofreligious exercise, more common in those days than they became, alas inlater times. They had with them an English breviary which had been oneof their mother's most valued possessions, and they promised the Fatherto study it with reverent heed; for they were very familiar with thepetitions, and could follow them without difficulty despite theirrudimentary education. So that when they knelt before him for his lastblessing, he was able to give it with a heart full of hope and tenderconfidence; and he felt sure that whether the lads went forth for wealor woe, he should (if they and he both lived through the followingyears) see their faces again in this selfsame spot. They would notforget old friends -- they would seek them out in years to come; and iffate smiled upon their path, others would share in the sunshine of theirgood fortune.

  And so the boys rose to their feet again to meet a proud, glad smilefrom the eyes of the kind old man; and though Margot's face was buriedin her apron, and honest Jean was not ashamed to let the tears run downhis weatherbeaten face, there was no attempt made to hinder or to saddenthe eager lads. They kissed their good nurse with many protestations oflove and gratitude, telling her of the days to come when they wouldreturn as belted knights, riding on fine horses, and with their esquiresby their side, and how they would tell the story of how they had beenborn and bred in this very mill, and of all they owed to those who hadsheltered them in their helpless infancy.

  The farewells once over, with the inevitable sadness that such scenesmust entail, the boys' spirits rose with wonderful celerity. True, theylooked back with fond glances at the peaceful homestead where theirchildhood had been passed, as they reached the ridge of the undulatingplain from w
hich the last glimpse of the red roofs and tumbling waterwas to be had. Raymond even felt a mist rise before his eyes as he stoodand gazed, and Gaston dashed his hand impatiently across his eyes asthough something hindered his vision; but his voice was steady and fullof courage as he waved his right arm and cried aloud:

  "We will come back! we will see this place again! Ah, Raymond, methinksI shall love it better then than I do today; for though it has been atimely place of shelter, it has not been -- it never could be -- ourtrue home. Our home is Basildene, in the fair realm of England's King. Iwill rest neither day nor night until I have looked upon the home ourmother dwelt in, and have won the right to call that home our own."

  Then the brothers strode with light springy steps along the road whichwould in time lead them to the great seaport city of Bordeaux, towardswhich all the largest roads of the whole province converged.

  The royal city of the Garonne was full forty leagues away -- over ahundred British miles -- and the boys had never visited it yet, albeittheir dream had long been to travel thither on their feet, and see thewonders of which travellers spoke. A day's march of ten leagues or morewas as nothing to them. Had the days been longer they would have donemore, but travelling in the dark through these forest-clad countries wasby no means safe, and the Father had bid them promise that they wouldalways strive to seek shelter ere the shades of night fell; for greatpicks of wolves ravaged the forests of Gascony until a much later date,and though the season of their greatest boldness and fierceness had notyet come, they were customers not to be trifled with at any time, and ahunting knife and a crossbow would go but a small way in defence if aresolute attack were to be made by even half-a-dozen of the fierce beasts.

  But the brothers thought not of peril as they strode through the clearcrisp air, directing their course more by the sun than by any otherguide, as they pursued their way engrossed in eager talk. They werepassing through the great grazing pastures, the Landes of Gascony, whichsupplied England with so many of her best horses, and walking was easyand they covered the ground fast. Later on would come dark stretches oflonely forest, but here were smiling pasture and bright sunshine and thebrothers talked together of the golden future before them, of theirproud kinsmen at the King's Court, of the Roy Outremer himself, and ofBasildene and that other treacherous kinsman there. As they travelledthey debated within themselves whether it were better to seek first thecountenance of their uncles on their father's side, or whether to maketheir way first to Basildene and see what manner of place it was, andwhat likelihood there seemed of ousting the intruder.

  How to decide this point themselves the brothers did not know; but as itchanced, fortune was to decide it for them in her own fashion, and thatbefore many suns had set.

  Two days of travel had passed. The brothers had long left behind themevery trace of what had been familiar to them in the old life. Theevening of the third day was stealing fast upon them, and they were yet,as it seemed, in the heart of the vast forest which they had enteredsoon after noon, and which they had hoped to pass completely throughbefore the daylight waned. They had been told that they might look, ifthey pushed on fast, to reach the town of Castres by nightfall; but thepaths through the forest were intricate: they had several times feltuncertain as to whether they were going right. Now that the darkness wascoming on so fast they were still more uncertain, and more than oncethey had heard behind and before them the unmistakable howl of the wolf.

  The hardy twins would have thought nothing of sleeping in the open aireven at this somewhat inclement season; but the proximity of the wolveswas unpleasant. For two days the cold had been sharp, and though it wasnot probable that it had yet seriously interfered with the supplies ofthe wild beasts, yet it was plain that they had emerged from theirsummer retreats in the more remote parts of the forest, and weredisposed to venture nearer to the habitable world on the outskirts. Ifthe brothers slept out of doors at all, it would have to be in the forkof some tree, and in that elevated position they would be likely to feelthe cold rather keenly, though down below in some hollow trunk theycould make themselves a warm nest enough. Mindful of their promise tothe priest, they resolved to try yet to reach some hut or place ofshelter, however rude, before the night absolutely closed in, andmarched quickly forward with the practised tread of those born to forestlife.

  Suddenly Gaston, who was a couple of paces in the front, paused and laida hand upon his brother's arm.

  "Hist!" he said below his breath. "Methought I heard a cry."

  Raymond stopped short and listened, too. Yes; there was certainly sometumult going on a little distance ahead of them. The brothersdistinguished the sound of human voices raised in shrill piercing cries,and with that sound was mingled the fierce baying note that they hadheard too often in their lives to mistake at any time.

  "It is some traveller attacked by wolves!" cried the brothers in abreath, and without a single thought of their own peril the gallant boystore headlong through the dark wood to the spot whence the tumult proceeded.

  Guided by the sound of shouts, cries, and the howling of the beasts, thebrothers were not long in nearing the scene of the strife.

  "Shout aloud!" cried Gaston to his brother as they ran. "Make thecowardly brutes believe that a company is advancing against them. It isthe best, the only chance. They will turn and fly if they think there bemany against them."

  Raymond was not slow to act upon this hint. The next moment the woodrang again to the shouts and calls of the brothers, voice answering tovoice till it seemed as though a score of men were approaching. Thebrothers, moreover, knew and used the sharp fierce call employed by thehunters of the wolves in summoning their dogs to their aid -- a callthat they knew would be heard and heeded by the savage brutes, who wouldwell know what it meant. And in effect the artifice was perfectlysuccessful; for ere they had gained the spot upon which the struggle hadtaken place, they heard the breaking up of the wolf party, as thefrightened beasts dashed headlong through the coverts, whilst theirhowling and barking died away in the distance, and a great silencesucceeded.

  "Thank Heaven for a timely rescue!" they heard a voice say in theEnglish tongue; "for by my troth, good Malcolm, I had thought that thouand I would not live to tell this tale to others. But where are our goodfriends and rescuers? Verily, I have seen nothing, yet there must havebeen a good dozen or more. Light thy lantern, an thou canst, and let uslook well round us, for by the mass I shall soon think we have beenhelped by the spirits of the forest."

  "Nay, fair sir, but only by two travellers," said Gaston, advancing fromthe shadow of the giant trees, his brother closely following him. "Weare ourselves benighted in this forest, having by some mischance lostour road to Castres, which we hoped to have sighted ere now. Hearing thestruggle, and the shouts with which you doubtless tried to scare off thebrutes, we came to see if we might not aid, and being well acquaintedwith the calls of the hunters of the wolves, succeeded beyond our hopes.I trust the cowardly and treacherous beasts have done you no injury?"

  "By my troth, it is strange to hear my native tongue in these parts, andso fairly spoken withal. I trust we are not bewitched, or the sport ofspirits. Who art thou, brave boy? and whence comest thou? How comes itthat thou, being, as it seems, a native of these parts, speakest so wella strange language?"

  "It was our mother's tongue," answered Gaston, speaking neverthelessguardedly, for he had been warned by the Father not to be too ready totell his name and parentage to all the world. "We are bound forBordeaux, and thence to England, to seek our mother's kindred, as shebid us ere she died."

  "If that be so, then let us join forces and travel on together," said hewhom they had thus succoured, a man well mounted on a fine horse, andwith a mounted servant beside him, so that the brothers took him for aperson of quality, which indeed he was, as they were soon to learn."There is safety in numbers, and especially so in these inhospitableforest tracks, where so many perils beset the traveller. I have lost myother stout fellows in the windings of the wood, and it were sa
fer totravel four than two. Riding is slow work in this gloom. I trow ye willhave no trouble in keeping pace with our good chargers."

  The hardy Gascon boys certainly found no difficulty about that. Gastonwalked beside the bridle rein of the master, whilst Raymond chattedamicably to the man, whose broad Scotch accent puzzled him a little, andled in time to stories of Border warfare, and to the tale ofBannockburn, told from a Scotchman's point of view; to all of which theboy listened with eager interest. As for Gaston, he was hearing of theKing's Court, the gay tourneys, the gallant feats of arms at home andabroad which characterized the reign of the Third Edward. The lad drankin every item of intelligence, asking such pertinent questions, andappearing so well informed upon many points, that his interlocutor wasincreasingly surprised, and at last asked him roundly of his name andkindred.

  Now the priest had warned the boys at starting not to speak with toomuch freedom to strangers of their private affairs, and had counselledthem very decidedly not to lay claim at starting to the name of DeBrocas, and thus draw attention to themselves at the outset. There wasgreat laxity in the matter of names in ages when penmanship was arecondite art, and even in the documents of the period a name so wellknown as that of De Brocas was written Broc and Brook, Brocaz andBrocazt, and half-a-dozen more ways as well. Wherefore it mattered theless what the lads called themselves, and they had agreed that Broc,without the De before it, would be the best and safest patronymic forthem in the present.

  "We are twin brothers, may it please you, fair sir; English on ourmother's side, though our father was a Gascon. Our father was much inEngland likewise, and, as we hear, held some office about the Court,though of its exact nature we know not. Both our parents died many longyears since; but we have never ceased to speak the tongue of England,and to dream of one day going thither. Our names are Gaston and RaymondBroc, and we are going forth at last in search of the adventures whichmen say in these warlike days may be found by young and old, by rich andpoor. Our faces are set towards England. What may befall us there kindFortune only knows."

  Something in the frank and noble bearing of the lad seemed to please theknightly stranger. He laid a friendly hand on Gaston's shoulder as theyouth paced with springy strides beside him.

  "I trow thou art a mettlesome knave, and I owe thee and thy brothersomething more than fair words for the service ye have rendered me thisnight. I have lost three or four of my followers by disease and accidentsince I left the shores of England. Boy, what sayest thou to takingservice with me for a while -- thou and thy brother likewise -- andjourneying to fair England as two of my young esquires? I like you well,and in these days it is no small thing to rank in one's train those towhom the language of Gascony is familiar. I trow ye be able to speak theFrench tongue likewise, since ye be so ready with our foreign English?"

  "Ay, we can both speak and understand it," answered Gaston, whose cheekshad crimsoned with eager delight; "but we speak English better. GoodSir, we could desire nothing better than to follow you to the world'send; but we have not been trained to the use of arms, nor to knightlyexercises. I know not if we could make shift to please you, be ourservice never so faithful."

  "In such a case as that, sure I should be a hard master to please,"returned the other, and Gaston knew from his voice that he was smiling."But we need not settle it all out here in this dark wood. You must waitawhile to see what manner of man it is you speak of serving. And you mayat least be my companions of voyage across the sea, though once onEnglish shores you shall please yourselves whether or not you serve mefarther. As for my name, it is James Audley, and I am one of the King'sknights. I am now bound for Windsor -- thou hast doubtless heard ofWindsor, the mighty fortress where the King holds his Court many a timeand oft. Well, it hath pleased his Majesty of late to strive to bringback those days of chivalry of which our bards sing and of which we hearfrom ancient legend -- days that seem to be fast slipping away, andwhich it grieves our most excellent King to see die out in his time.Hast heard, boy, of the great King Arthur of whom men wrote and sung indays gone by? Has his fame reached as far as thy Gascon home?"

  "Yea, verily," answered Gaston eagerly. "Our mother in long-past dayswould speak to us of that great King, and of his knights, and of theRound Table at which they sat together, their King in their midst --"

  "Ay, truly thou knowest well the tale, and it is of this same RoundTable I would speak. The King has thought good to hold such a RoundTable himself, and has sent forth messages to numbers of his knights tohold themselves in readiness to attend it early in the year which willsoon be upon us. Men say that he is building a wondrous round tower athis fortress of Windsor, wherein his Round Table will be placed and thefeast celebrated. I know not with what truth they rumour this, but it islike enough, for his Majesty hath the love of his people and a kinglymind; and what he purposes he makes shift to carry out, and that rightspeedily. But be that as it may, there is no mistaking his royal summonsto his Round Table, and I am hastening back across the water to be atWindsor on the appointed day; and if it will pleasure you twain tojourney thither with me, I trow you will see things the like of whichyou have never dreamed before; and sure a better fashion of enteringlife could scarce be found than to follow one of the King's knights toone of the fairest assemblies of chivalry that the world has ever lockedupon."

  And indeed Gaston thought so too. His breath was taken away by theprospect. He was dazzled by the very thought of such a thing, and hiswords of eager thanks were spoken with the falterings of strong emotion.

  The road had widened out here, and the travellers had got free of theforest. Lights sparkled pleasantly in front of them, and Raymond hadcome up in time to hear the offer just made. The eager delight of thetwo lads seemed to please the brave Sir James, who was not much morethan a youth himself, as we should reckon things now, thoughfour-and-twenty appeared a more advanced age then.

  As the travellers at last found themselves within the precincts of afairly comfortable hostelry, and the horsemen dismounted at the door andentered the inn, Sir James pushed the two lads into the lighted roombefore him, and looked them well over with a pair of searching butkindly blue eyes. He was himself a fine man, of noble stature andprincely hearing. His face was pleasant, though it could be stern too onoccasion, and the features were regular and good. The boys had neverseen such a kingly-looking man, and their hearts went out to him atonce. As for him, he looked from one bright face to the other, andnodded his head with a smile.

  "Methinks you will make a pair of gallant squires," he said. "So long asit pleases you to remain in my service, you may call yourselves my men,and receive from my hands what my other servants do."