A PRINCESS IN PERIL
My excitement, which for many hours before I reached the homestead,
where I came just in time to hear that I was too late, had been
intense, gradually subsided; and such was the reaction which took place
that, for days and weeks, my depression was well-nigh intolerable.
I had no heart to return to Westminster; and having, on the plea of
recruiting my health and spirits in the air I had breathed during
childhood, obtained from Sir Thomas Norwich leave to absent myself
from my duties as page, I walked and rode about the forest of Windsor,
indulging in melancholy musing over the past, and as indifferent to the
future as I had previously been enthusiastic and sanguine. In vain I
essayed to rouse myself from lethargy. I felt as if nothing could ever
again revive my hope, and restore me to that energy which is hope in
action. I had already passed weeks in this frame of mind, when fortune
threw me in the way of a terrible adventure, in which I won some
honour, and nearly lost my life.
It was autumn; and albeit the harvest was gathered in, and the leaves
were falling from the trees, the sun shone with sufficient brightness
to gladden the heart of man, and to impart to the landscape a cheerful
aspect; when, having occasion one day to visit the little town of
Windsor, I mounted my black steed and rode through the forest. When,
absorbed in reflection, I was wending my way up one of the glades, my
horse, while pacing proudly along the grassy path, suddenly shied; and,
looking round, I perceived that he had been startled by the green dress
and white bow of an archer, who emerged from the wood, closely attended
by a black mastiff of prodigious strength, and capable of being a
powerful friend or a terrible foe.
I observed that the archer eyed me with a glance of recognition; and,
drawing up, I, with a consciousness of having seen him before, gave him
"Good day," and, with a slight effort of memory, I called to mind that
he was one of the Englishmen who, stationed in the prince's division,
had drawn their bows at Cressy; that I had often observed and praised
his dexterity during the expedition into France; and, moreover, that
he was one of those who had been since taken into the king's service,
by way of rewarding them for their marvellous achievements during the
war with Philip of Valois. Remembering such to have been the case,
I entered into conversation with him, and while I rode slowly, and
he walked at my stirrup, with his mastiff at his heels, through the
forest, in the direction of Windsor, he talked of the battles and
sieges in which he had taken part.
Now this archer, whose name was Liulph, was of yeoman extraction and
Saxon descent; and I have no doubt that, if he had lived in earlier
centuries, when a bitter sense of the distinction between the victor
and vanquished races kept the kingdom in hot water, he would have
figured as an outlaw of Sherwood, and possibly rivalled the exploits
which have made the names of Robin Hood and his merry men so famous.
But England was no longer what it had been in the days of Robin Hood
and his merry men; for the first Edward had succeeded in teaching
English archers to draw their bows only against the enemies of their
country, and they had not forgotten the lessons of that great king.
It happened, however, that Liulph was not only a stout and handsome
young man, but intelligent for a person of his rank, and of an
inquiring turn of mind; and being on this occasion anxious to
learn something of St. George, under whose patronage he had fought
the French, he put several questions, which, I fear, would sadly
have perplexed many who shouted the name most loudly in the hour
of conflict. Fortunately, however, I was in a position to return
satisfactory answers, and related that St. George was a Christian and
a native of Cappadocia; that, making an expedition into Libya in quest
of adventure, he arrived just in time to save the king's daughter from
a terrible dragon which had devoured many of the inhabitants; and that,
becoming famous throughout Christendom as a warrior-saint, he was, as
time rolled on, acknowledged as patron of the old Dukes of Guienne,
from whom, in the female line, the Plantagenets derive their descent;
and that, therefore, King Edward, when instituting the Order of the
Garter, and placing it under the protection of the Trinity and certain
saints, recognised St. George as the chief, and in his honour founded,
at Windsor, the chapel that bears his name.
As I brought my narrative to a termination, we were approaching the
castle of Windsor, and were, indeed, so close that I could see the
stronghold through the trees. At the same time I descried, at no great
distance from the place we had reached, a party of ladies; and, aware
that Queen Philippa and her daughters were residing at the castle, I
had no difficulty in recognising the Lady Isabel, who in the previous
year had been betrothed to, and then deserted by, the young Count of
Flanders. On seeing the princess and her ladies I reined back my steed,
and, not wishing to intrude on their privacy, was turning to make for
the town by another direction, when an exclamation, expressive of
alarm, which broke from Liulph, directed my attention to a circumstance
which made my blood run cold, and all but froze every vein in my heart.
I have already alluded to the wild cattle which, jointly with the
deer, tenanted the forest, and I may say that, so familiarised were
people with their presence, they caused no fear. Generally, indeed,
when not wantonly disturbed, they grazed quietly without showing the
least inclination to mischief, and so seldom did they exhibit anything
resembling mortal antipathy to human beings, that even the weak and
timid felt no apprehension from being in their neighbourhood.
But to every rule there are exceptions, and, at times when there was
the least likelihood, the ferocious nature of the wild cattle showed
itself--and this was especially the case with such of them as were
known to, and somewhat dreaded by, the foresters as "banished bulls."
In fact, these animals having, as they advanced in years, rendered
themselves odious to their comrades by their bad temper, and been in
consequence expelled from the herd, became savage while grazing in
solitude, and easily excited to sudden frenzy.
Now it happened, on the autumn day of which I write, that when the
king's daughter and her ladies were walking in the forest, and so near
the castle that they deemed themselves as safe as if they had been on
the ramparts, a "banished bull," having ventured closer to the town
than was the wont of his kind, was grazing all alone among the trees.
White as a swan was this bull, with short legs and thick hams, and a
shaggy mane that curled like the sea billows, and a massy neck like the
trunk of some old knotted tree; but his hoofs were black, and jet black
were the horns that, like two daggers, stood out from his broad and
wrinkled front.
And suddenly this bull, disturbed by the sound of voices, raised
his head; and, as he caught sight of the scarlet cloak worn by the
princess, he gave signs, not to be misunderstood, of being bent on
mischief.
Rearing his head, while his eye, a moment earlier dark, glared red
as the mantle which arrested his attention and excited his ire, he
stretched out his neck, and with a loud bellow moved slowly forward,
pawing the sod with his hoof and gradually quickening his pace,
till, having lashed himself into a fury, his movement became a
violent rush, and, like sheep at the approach of a wolf, the ladies
dispersed, screaming with terror and affright. But the princess did
not move. Facing the ferocious brute, she folded her arms, and with
her eyes raised to Heaven, as if uttering a last prayer, she stood in
expectation of immediate destruction. It seemed, indeed, that there was
no chance of any obstacle intervening between her and death.
But, meanwhile, neither the archer nor I was an idle spectator of her
peril. Quick as thought Liulph's bow was strung, and an arrow in his
hand; not less quickly my sword left its sheath and the spur pressed
my horse's flank. Almost as I dashed to the rescue, an arrow, aimed
at the bull's vital part, just at the junction of the skull and the
spine, whistled through the air. But, dexterous as the archer was, his
shaft failed to hit his mark, struck the bull within an inch of the
eye without inflicting a wound; and while I threw myself in his way,
resolute at least to die in staying the rush, the animal, more furious
than ever, came roaring on, with eyes of fire and tail erect.
I was not, however, daunted. Rising in my stirrups as the bull
approached, and feeling as if there was but one blow between me and
death, I aimed with all my might at the part which the archer had
missed. But I was not more fortunate than he had been; and as my sword,
having lighted on bone hard as rock, flew to pieces, my antagonist,
stunned but unhurt, drew back to prepare for a more furious rush.
Drawing my reins tight, I exerted all my horsemanship to avoid the full
shock. But this time he was not to be resisted. Frantic with rage and
foaming at the mouth, he charged upon me with terrific violence; and,
transfixed with both horns, my horse rolled backward, bearing me to the
ground.
My fate now appeared to be sealed; and as the bull, with his horns
in the bowels of my fallen steed, stood over me bellowing furiously,
I gave myself up for lost. But I had an ally, on whose aid I could
not, in my excitement, reckon. With a fierce growl, a loud bark, and
a rapid bound, the mastiff came to the rescue, seized the bull's lip,
and, the teeth tenaciously retaining their grasp, in spite of desperate
struggles, prevented the animal from raising his head to pursue his
success.
By this time I breathed anew; and, freeing my limbs from my bleeding
horse, I rose on my knee and grasped my dagger to bring the conflict
to a close. Nor was there, this time, any mistake. One flash, and my
steel, cold and keen, had penetrated my terrible antagonist's neck; one
plunge, and, bellowing with pain, my terrible antagonist rolled heavily
on the ground. As, covered with blood, I gained my feet, trembling with
excitement, side by side lay the black steed and the white bull, their
hides smeared with their own and each other's gore, their limbs wet
with the death sweat, and quivering convulsively; and beside them, at
his master's foot, stood the mastiff, with panting frame and protruding
tongue, silently watching their expiring struggles.
Meanwhile, though unwounded, I grew faint with the bruises I had
received and the exertion I had undergone; and hardly had the princess,
taking courage to approach the spot, opened her lips to acknowledge
the service I had rendered her in the moment of peril, than I became
dizzy, lost all consciousness of what was passing, and sank senseless
on the ground.