"You must don your best costume tomorrow, Oswald," his uncle said, when
he returned from the banquet. "Sir Henry Percy's first question, after
asking as to the health of the garrison, was:
"'Has this nephew of yours, of whom you were speaking to me, come yet?'
"I told him that you had been here well-nigh four months, that you had
been practising in arms with my best swordsmen, who spoke highly of
you, and that the whole of your spare time had been spent at the
monastery, where you had been studying to acquire the art of reading
and writing, thinking that such knowledge must be useful to you in his
service. I told him that brother Roger had reported that you had shown
marvellous sharpness there, and could already read from a missal,
barring only some of the long words.
"'Oh, he had the fighting monk for his master!' Sir Henry said,
laughing. 'Truly he must have been a good pupil, if he has come out of
it without having his head broken, a dozen times. The friar is a thorn
in the abbot's flesh, and more than once I have had to beg him off, or
he would have been sent to the monastery of Saint John, which is a
place of punishment for refractory monks. But in truth he is an honest
fellow, though he has mistaken his vocation. He is a valiant
man-at-arms, and the abbot's contingent would be of small value,
without him.
"'Well, I will see your nephew in the morning. His perseverance in
learning, and his quickness in acquiring it, show him to be a youth of
good parts, and intelligent; but until I see him, I cannot say what I
will make of him.'"
Accordingly, the next morning the lad accompanied his uncle to Sir
Henry's private apartment, and found the knight alone. Sir Henry, Lord
Percy, was now about forty years old. He had received the order of
knighthood at the coronation of Richard the Second, when his father was
created earl; and, nine years later, he was made governor of Berwick
and Warden of the Marches; in which office he displayed such activity
in following up and punishing raiders, that the Scots gave him the name
of Hotspur. He was then sent to Calais, where he showed great valour.
Two years later he was made Knight of the Garter, and was then
appointed to command a fleet, sent out to repel a threatened invasion
by the French. Here he gained so great a success that he came to be
regarded as one of the first captains of the age.
At Otterburn, his impetuosity cost him his freedom; for, pressing
forward into the midst of the Scotch army, he and his brother Ralph
were taken prisoners, and carried into Scotland. He had just been
appointed, by King Henry, sheriff of Northumberland, and governor of
Berwick and Roxburgh, and received other marks of royal favour.
Although of no remarkable height, his broad shoulders and long, sinewy
arms testified to his remarkable personal strength. His face was
pleasant and open, and showed but small sign of his impetuous and fiery
disposition.
"So this is the young springal," he said, with a smile; as, with a
quick glance, he took in every detail of Oswald's figure and
appearance. "By my troth, you have not overpraised him. He bears
himself well, and is like to be a stout fighter, when he comes to his
full strength. Indeed, as the son of John Forster of Yardhope, and as
your nephew, good Alwyn, he could scarce be otherwise; although I have
not heard that either his father, or you, ever showed any disposition
for letters."
"No indeed, Sir Henry; nor have we, as far as I have ever seen, been
any the worse for our lack of knowledge on that head. But with the lad
here, it is different. Under your good patronage he may well hope to
attain, by good conduct and valour, a promotion where book learning may
be of use to him; and therefore, when he expressed a desire to learn, I
did my best to favour his design."
"And you did well, Alwyn. And since he has gained so much, in so short
a time, it were a pity he should not follow it up; and he shall, if it
likes him, so long as he is in this castle, have two hours every
morning in which he can visit the fighting monk, until he can read and
write freely.
"Now, young sir, the question is, how can we best employ you? You are
too old for a lady's bower, but not old enough, yet, for an esquire."
"Nor could I aspire to such a position, my lord, until I have proved
myself worthy of it. My uncle told me that he had suggested that I
might be useful as a bearer of messages, and orders; and as I know
every foot of the border, from near Berwick to Cumberland, methinks
that I might serve you in that way. I ride lightly, know every morass
and swamp, and every road through the fells; and have at times, when
there was peace, crossed the Cheviots by several of the passes, to pay
visits to my mother's sister, who is married to one of the Armstrongs,
near Jedburgh. If your lordship will deign to employ me in such
service, I can promise to do so safely, and to justify my uncle's
recommendation; and shall be ready, at all times, to risk my life in
carrying out your orders."
"Well spoken, lad. I like the tone of your voice, and your manner of
speech. They are such as will do no discredit to my household, and I
hereby appoint you to it; further matters I will discuss with your
uncle."
Oswald expressed his thanks in suitable terms, and then, bowing deeply,
retired.
"A very proper lad, Alwyn. I would have done much for you, old friend,
and would have taken him in some capacity, whatever he might have
turned out; but, frankly, I doubted whether John Forster, valiant moss
trooper as he is, would have been like to have had a son whom I could
enroll in my household, where the pages and esquires are all sons of
knights and men of quality. It is true that his father might have been
a knight, had he chosen, since the earl offered him that honour after
Otterburn; for three times he charged, at the head of a handful of his
own men, right into the heart of the Scottish army, to try and rescue
me; but he has always kept aloof in his own hold, going his own way and
fighting for his own hand; and never once, that I can recall, has he
paid a visit to us here, or at our other seats. I feared that under
such a training as he would be likely to have, the lad would have been
but a rough diamond. However, from his appearance and bearing, he might
well have come of a noble family."
"'Tis his mother's doing, methinks, Sir Henry. She is of gentle birth.
Her father was Sir Walter Gillespie. He was killed by the Scots, when
she was but a girl, or methinks he would scarcely have given her in
marriage to my brother John. She went with a sister to live with an old
aunt, who let the girls have their way, without murmur; and seeing that
they had no dowry, for their father was but a poor knight, there were
not many claimants for their hands; and when she chose John Forster,
and her sister Adam Armstrong, she did not say them nay. She has made a
good wife to him, though she must have had many an anxious hour, and
doubtless it is her influence that has made the lad what he is."
"How think you I had best bestow him, among the pages or the esquires?"
"I should say, Sir Henry, as you are good enough to ask my opinion,
that it were best among the esquires. It would be like putting a
hunting dog among a lady's pets, to put him with the pages. Moreover,
boys think more of birth than men do. The latter judge by merit, and
when they see that the lad has something in him, would take to him;
whereas were he with the pages there might be quarrels, and he might
fall into disgrace."
"I think that you are right, Alwyn. He might get a buffet or two, from
the esquires, but he will be none the worse for that; while with the
pages it might be bickering, and ill will. He shall take his chance
with the squires. Bring him to me at twelve o'clock, and I will myself
present him to them, with such words as may gain their goodwill, and
make the way as easy as may be for him."
Accordingly, at twelve o'clock, Oswald went to Hotspur's room, and was
taken by him to the hall where the esquires, six in number, had just
finished a meal. They varied in age from eighteen to forty. They all
rose, as their lord entered.
"I wish to present to you this young gentleman, my friends. He is the
son of John Forster of Yardhope, whose name is familiar to you all, as
one of the most valiant of the defenders of the border against the
Scottish incursions. None distinguished themselves more at the battle
of Otterburn, where he performed feats of prodigious valour, in his
endeavours to rescue me and my brother from the hands of the Scots. The
earl my father offered him knighthood, but he said bluntly that he
preferred remaining, like his father, plain John Forster of Yardhope.
The lad's mother is a daughter of Sir Walter Gillespie, and he is
nephew of Alwyn, captain of the men-at-arms here.
"He knows every foot of the border, its morasses, fells, and passes;
and will prove a valuable messenger, when I have occasion to send
orders to the border knights and yeomen. I have attached him to my
household. You will find him intelligent, and active. He comes of a
fighting stock; and will, I foresee, do no discredit to them in the
future. I hesitated whether I should place him with the pages or with
you, and have decided that, with your goodwill, he will be far more
comfortable in your society, if you consent to receive him."
"We will do so willingly, on such recommendation," the senior of the
esquires said; "as well as for the sake of his brave uncle, whom we all
respect and like, and of his valiant father. The addition of young
blood to our party will, indeed, not be unwelcome; and while,
perchance, he may learn something from us, he will assuredly be able to
tell us much that is new of the doings on the border, of which nothing
but vague reports have reached our ears."
"Thanks, Allonby," Hotspur said. "I expected nothing less from you. He
will, of course, practise at arms regularly, when not occupied in
carrying messages; and you will be surprised to hear that he will go
for two hours daily to the monastery, where he has, for the last three
months, been learning reading and writing at the hands of Brother
Roger, the fighting monk. It is his own desire, and a laudable one; and
when I say that he has succeeded in giving Brother Roger satisfaction,
you may well imagine that he must have made great progress."
A smile ran round the faces of the esquires, for Brother Roger's
pugnacious instincts were widely known.
"Truly, Sir Henry, if brother Roger did not lose patience with him, it
would be hard, indeed, if we could not get on with him; and in truth,
this desire to improve himself speaks well for the lad's disposition."
When Hotspur left, Allonby said, "Take a seat, Master Oswald. But
first, have you dined?"
"I took my meal an hour since, with my uncle," Oswald replied.
"Ay, I remember that your uncle sticks to the old hours. Tell us, were
you with your father in that foray he headed, to carry off some cattle
that had been lifted by the Bairds? We heard a report of it, last
night."
"I was not with him, to my great disappointment; for he said that
another year must pass, before I should be fit to hold my own in a
fray. The affair was a somewhat hot one. Three of my father's men were
killed, and some ten or twelve of those under other leaders; and my
father and several of the band were wounded, some very sorely. It
happened thus."
And he then told the details of the affair.
"It might well have been worse," Allonby said, "for, had the Bairds had
time to assemble, it would have gone hardly with your father's party;
especially as there is, as I have heard, a blood feud between him and
them."
"They have scored the last success," Oswald said, "seeing that they
accompanied Sir Richard Rutherford in his raid, nigh two months ago;
and, as I hear, while the rest came on harrying and plundering
Croquetdale, the Bairds and their gathering remained at our hold, which
they found deserted, for indeed my father could not hope to defend it
successfully, against so large a force; and there they employed
themselves in demolishing the outer wall, and much of the hold itself;
and would have completed their task, had it not been for the defeat
inflicted upon the rest of the Scots by Sir Robert Umfraville, when
they were forced to hasten back across the border. My father sent me a
message afterwards, saying that he and my mother, with their followers,
had been forced to take to the fells; and that, on their return, they
found the place well-nigh destroyed; but that he was going to set to
work to rebuild it as before, and that he hoped, some time, to demolish
the Bairds' hold in like fashion. It will be some time before the place
is restored; for, my father's means being limited, he and his retainers
would have to turn masons; but as the materials were there, he doubted
not that, in time, they would make a good job of it."
"Truly, it is a hard life on the border," the squire said, "and it is
wonderful that any can be found willing to live within reach of the
Scotch raiders. I myself have done a fair share of fighting, under our
lord's banner; but to pass my life, never knowing whether I may not
awake to find the house assailed, would be worse than the hardest
service against an open foe.
"Now, Master Oswald, we will go down to the courtyard, and see what
your instructors have done for you, in the matter of arms. With whom
have you been practising, since you came here?"
"Principally with Godfrey Harpent, Dick Bamborough, and William Anell;
but I have had a turn with a great many of the other men-at-arms."
"The three men you name are all stout fellows, and good swordsmen. As a
borderer, I suppose that you have practised with the lance?"
"We call it by no such knightly term. With us it is a spear, and nought
else; but all borderers carry it, both for fighting and for pricking up
cattle; and from the time that I could sit a horse I have always
practised for a while, every day, with some of my father's troopers, or
with himself, using blunt weapons whitened with chalk, so as to show
where the hits fell. Although in a charge upon footmen, our border
spearmen would couch their weapons and ride straight at their foe; in
skirmishes, where each can single out an enemy, and there is a series
of single combats, they do not so fight, but circle round each other,
trusting to the agility of their horses to avoid a thrust, and to
deliver one when there is an opening. Our spears are nothing like so
heavy as the knightly lances, and we thrust with them as with the point
of a sword."
"But in that way you can hardly penetrate armour," one of the other
esquires said.
"No, it is only in a downright charge that we try to do so. When we are
fighting as I speak of, we thrust at the face, at the armpit, the
joints of the armour, which in truth seldom fits closely, or below the
breastplate. The Scotch use even less armour than do our borderers,
their breast pieces being smaller, and they seldom wear back pieces. It
is a question chiefly of the activity of the horses, as of the skill of
their riders, and our little moor horses are as active as young goats;
and although neither horse nor rider can stand a charge of a
heavily-armed knight or squire, methinks that if one of our troopers
brought him to a stand, he would get the better of him, save if the
knight took to mace or battle-axe."
"Have you your horse with you, Oswald?"
"Yes, it is in the stable. I have gone out with it, every morning, as
soon as the castle gates were opened, and have ridden for a couple of
hours before I began my exercises."
"Do you take him in hand first, Marsden," Allonby said to one of the
younger esquires, a young man of two or three and twenty.
Light steel caps with cheeks, gorgets, shoulder and arm pieces, and
padded leathern jerkins were put on; and then, with blunted swords,
they took their places facing each other. The squire took up a position
of easy confidence. He was a good swordsman, and good-naturedly
determined to treat the lad easily, and to play with him for a time
before scoring his first hit.
He soon, however, found that the game was not to be conducted on the
lines that he had laid down. Oswald, after waiting for a minute or two,
finding his opponent did not take the offensive, did so himself; and
for a time Marsden had all his work to do, to defend himself. Several
times, indeed, it was with the greatest difficulty that he guarded his
head. The activity of his assailant almost bewildered him, as he
continually shifted his position, and with cat-like springs leapt in
and dealt a blow, leaping back again before his opponent's arm had time
to fall.
Finding at last that, quick as he might be, Marsden's blade always met
his own, Oswald relaxed his efforts, as he was growing fatigued; and as
he did so Marsden took the offensive, pressing him backwards, foot by
foot. Every time, however, that he found himself approaching a barrier,
or other obstacle, that would prevent his further retreat, Oswald, with
a couple of springs, managed to shift his ground. When he saw that
Marsden was growing breathless from his exertions, he again took the
offensive, and at last landed a blow fairly on his opponent's helm.
"By my faith," the squire said, with a laugh that had nevertheless a
little mortification in it, "I would as soon fight with a wildcat; and
yet your breath scarce comes fast, while I have not as much left in me
as would fill an eggshell."
"It was an excellent display," Allonby said.
"Truly, lad, your activity is wonderful, and you might well puzzle the
oldest swordsman, by such tactics. Marsden did exceedingly well, too.
Many times I thought that your sword would have gone home, but up to
the last, his guard was always ready in time. As for yourself, we had
scarce the opportunity of seeing how your sword would guard your head,
for you trusted always to your legs, rather than your arms.
"Well, lad, you will do. Your arm is like iron, or it would have tired
long before, with that sword, which is a little over heavy for you. As
to your wind, you would tire out the stoutest swordsman in the Percys'
train. I do not say that, in the press of a battle, where your activity
would count for little, a good man-at-arms would not get the better of
you; but in a single combat, with plenty of room, it would be a good
man, indeed, who would tackle you; especially were he clad in armour,
and you fighting without it. His only chance would be to get in one
downright blow, that would break down your guard. As Marsden says, you
fight like a wildcat, rather than as a man-at-arms; but as the time may
come when you will ride in heavy armour, and so lose the advantage of
your agility, you had best continue to practise regularly with us, and
the men-at-arms, and learn to fight in the fashion that would be
needed, were you engaged in a pitched battle when on horseback, and in
armour."
"I shall be glad, indeed, to do so," Oswald said modestly. "I know that
I am very ignorant of real swordsmanship, and the men-at-arms have me
quite at their mercy, when they insist upon my not shifting my ground.
At home, I have only practised with my father's troopers, and we always
fight on foot, and with stout sticks instead of swords, and without
defences save our head pieces; but fighting in knightly fashion I knew
nothing of, until I came here."
"You will soon acquire that, lad. With your strength of arm, length of
wind, quickness of eye, and activity, you will make a famous swordsman,
in time.
"Ah! Here is Sir Henry."
"Have you been trying the lad's metal?" Hotspur asked, as he saw Oswald
in the act of taking off his steel cap. Marsden had already done so.
"That have we, Sir Henry, and find it as of proof. Marsden here, who is
no mean blade, has taken him in hand; and the lad has more than held
his own against him, not so much by swordsmanship as by activity, and
wind. It was a curious contest. Marsden compared Oswald to a wildcat,
and the comparison was not an ill one; for, indeed, his springs and
leaps were so rapid and sudden that it was difficult to follow him, and
the fight was like one between such an animal, and a hound. Marsden
defended himself well against all his attacks, until his breath failed
him, and he was dealt a downright blow on his helm, on which I see it
has made a shrewd dent. As for his blows, they fell upon air, for the
lad was ever out of reach before the ripostes came. In his own style of
fighting, I would wager on him against any man-at-arms in the castle."
"I am glad to hear it," Hotspur said. "I shall feel the less scruple,
in sending him on missions which are not without danger. He will need
training, to fit him for combat in the ranks. No doubt he has had no
opportunity for such teaching, and would go down before a heavy-armed
man, with a lance, like a blade of grass before a millstone."
"He thinks not, Sir Henry, at least not in a single combat, for by his
accounts his horse is as nimble as himself; but of course, in charges
he and his horse would be rolled over, as you say."
"He thinks not? Oh, well, we will try him! I have an hour to spare.
"Do you put on a suit of full armour, Sinclair, and we will ride out to
the course beyond the castle.
"What will you put on, lad?"
"I will put on only breast piece and steel cap; but I only said I
should have a chance against a lance, Sir Henry. I do not pretend that
I could stand against any man-at-arms, armed with sword and mace; but
only that I thought that, with my horse, I could evade the shock of a
fully-accoutred man, and then harass and maybe wound him with my
spear."
"Well, we will try, lad. Put on what you will, and get your horse
saddled. It will be rare amusement to see so unequal a course. We shall
be ready in a quarter of an hour."
Oswald went up to his uncle, and told him what was proposed. Alwyn, who
had witnessed his exercises with the rough riders of his father, smiled
grimly.
"If you can evade his first charge, which I doubt not that you can, you
will have him at your mercy, with your light spear against his lance,
and your moor horse against his charger; but put on the heaviest of
your two steel caps, and strong shoulder pieces. 'Tis like enough that,
in his temper, he may throw away his lance and betake him to his sword.
I will demand that he carries neither mace nor battle-axe, and that you
should only carry sword and spear. Your horse's nimbleness may keep you
out of harm, which is as much as you can expect, or hope for. Put on a
light breast plate, too, for in spite of the wooden shield to his lance
head, he may hurt you sorely if he does chance to strike you."
Oswald saw that his horse was carefully saddled. He procured from his
uncle a piece of cloth; and, removing the spearhead, wrapped this round
the head of the shaft, until it formed a ball the size of his fist.
This he whitened thickly with chalk.
In a few minutes Sinclair, who was the heaviest and strongest of the
esquires, rode out into the courtyard in full armour. Sir Henry, with
his own esquires, and several of the gentlemen of the earl's household,
came down; and Hotspur laughed at the contrast presented by the two
combatants: the one a mass of steel, with shield and lance, on a
warhorse fully caparisoned; the other a slight, active-looking figure,
with but little defensive armour, on a rough pony which had scarce an
ounce of superfluous flesh.
"Now, gentlemen," he said, "we may be engaged in warfare with the
Scots, before long; and you will here have an opportunity of seeing the
nature of border fighting. The combat may seem to you ridiculously
unequal, but I know the moss trooper, and I can tell you that, in a
single combat like this, activity goes far to counterbalance weight and
armour. You remember how Robert Bruce, before Bannockburn, mounted on
but a pony, struck down Sir Robert Bohun, a good knight and a powerful
one."
As the party went out, through the gates, to the tilting ground outside
the walls, the men-at-arms, seeing that something unusual was going to
take place, crowded up to the battlements, looking down on the ground.
"Now, gentlemen," Percy said, "you will take your places at opposite
ends of the field; and when I drop my scarf, you will charge. It is
understood that you need not necessarily ride straight at each other;
but that it is free, to each of you, to do the best he can to overthrow
his opponent."
As he gave the signal, the two riders dashed at full speed at each
other; and, for a moment, the spectators thought that Oswald was going
to be mad enough to meet his opponent in full course. When, however,
the horses were within a length of each other, the rough pony swerved
aside with a spring like that of a deer; and, wheeling round instantly,
Oswald followed his opponent. The latter tried to wheel his charger,
but as he did so, Oswald's spear struck him in the vizor, leaving a
white mark on each side of the slit; and then he too wheeled his horse,
maintaining his position on the left hand, but somewhat in rear, of his
opponent; who was, thereby, wholly unable to use his lance, while
Oswald marked the junction of gorget and helmet with several white
circles. Furious at finding himself incapable of either defending
himself, or of striking a blow, the squire threw away his lance, and
drew his sword.
Hotspur shouted, at the top of his voice:
"A breach of the rules! A breach of the rules! The combat is at an
end."
But his words were unheard, in the helmet. Making his horse wheel round
on his hind legs, Sinclair rode at Oswald with uplifted sword. The
latter again couched his spear under his arm and, touching his horse
with his spur, the animal sprung forward; and before the sword could
fall, the point of the spear caught the squire under the armpit, and
hurled him sideways from his saddle.
Hotspur and those round him ran forward. Sinclair lay without moving,
stunned by the force with which he had fallen. Oswald had already leapt
from his horse, and raised Sinclair's head, and began to unlace the
fastenings of his helmet. Hotspur's face was flushed with anger.
"Do not upbraid him, my lord, I pray you," Oswald said. "He could
scarce have avoided breaking the conditions, helpless as he felt
himself; and he could not have heard your voice, which would be lost in
his helmet. I pray you, be not angered with him."
Hotspur's face cleared.
"At your request I will not, lad," he said; "and, indeed, he has been
punished sufficiently."
By the time that the helmet was removed, one of the soldiers from the
battlements ran out from the castle, with a ewer of water. This was
dashed into the squire's face. He presently opened his eyes. A heavy
fall was thought but little of in those days; and as Sinclair was
raised to his feet, and looked round in bewilderment at those who were
standing round him, Hotspur said good temperedly:
"Well, Master Sinclair, the lad has given us all a lesson that may be
useful to us. I would scarce have believed it, if I had not seen it;
that a stout soldier, in full armour, should have been worsted by a lad
on a rough pony; but I see now that the advantage is all on the
latter's side, in a combat like this, with plenty of room to wheel his
horse.
"Why, he would have slain you a dozen times, Sinclair. Look at your
vizor. That white mark is equal on both sides of the slit, and had
there been a spear head on the shaft, it would have pierced you to the
brain. Every joint of your armour, behind, is whitened; and that
thrust, that brought you from your horse, would have spitted you
through and through.
"Now, let there be no ill feeling over this. It is an experiment, and a
useful one; and had I, myself, been in your place, I do not know that I
could have done aught more than you did."
Sinclair was hot tempered, but of a generous disposition, and he held
out his hand to Oswald, frankly.
"It was a fair fight," he said, "and you worsted me, altogether. No one
bears malice for a fair fall, in a joust."
"The conditions were not at all even," Oswald said. "On a pony like
mine, unless you had caught me in full career, it was impossible that
the matter could have turned out otherwise."
"I often wondered," Hotspur said, as they walked towards the gate,
"that our chivalry should have been so often worsted by the rough
Scottish troopers; but now I understand it. The Scotch always choose
broken ground, and always scatter before we get near them; and,
circling round, fall upon our chivalry when their weight and array are
of no use to them. Happily, such a misadventure has never happened to
myself; but it might well do so. The Scotch, too, have no regard for
the laws of chivalry; and once behind will spear the horse, as indeed
happened to me, at Otterburn. 'Tis a lesson in war one may well take to
heart; and when I next fight the Scots, I will order that on no
account, whatever, are the mounted men to break their ranks; but,
whatever happens, are to move in a solid body, in which case they could
defy any attacks upon them by light-armed horse, however numerous."
At the gate of the castle, Alwyn Forster met them.
"You have given me a more useful addition to my following than I dreamt
of, Alwyn," Hotspur said. "Did you see the conflict?"
"I watched it from the wall, Sir Henry. I felt sure how the matter
would end. The lad is quick and sharp at border exercises. I have seen
him work with his father's troopers. There were not many of them who
could hold their own against him, and in fighting in their own way, I
would back the moss troopers against the best horsemen in Europe. They
are always accustomed to fight each man for himself, and though a score
of men-at-arms would ride through a hundred of them, if they met the
charge; in single combat their activity, and the nimbleness of their
horses, would render them more than a match for a fully-caparisoned
knight."
"So it seems," Hotspur said; "and yet, if Sinclair had but known that
the lad was about to swerve in his course, which indeed he ought to
have known--for it would have been madness to meet his charge--he too
should have changed his course to his left, when a couple of lengths
away; for he might be sure that the lad would turn that way, so as to
get on his left hand, and in that case he would have ridden over him
like a thunderbolt."
"Yes, Sir Henry, but Oswald would have had his eye on knee and bridle;
and the moment the horse changed his direction, he would have been
round the other way, like an arrow from a bow; and would have planted
himself, as he did, in the squire's rear."
"Perhaps so," Hotspur said thoughtfully. "At any rate, Alwyn, the boy
has given us all a lesson, and you have done me good service, by
presenting him to me."