Sir Nigel Read online

  IX. HOW NIGEL HELD THE BRIDGE AT TILFORD

  The King looked at the motionless figure, at the little crowd of hushedexpectant rustics beyond the bridge, and finally at the face of Chandos,which shone with amusement.

  "What is this, John?" he asked.

  "You remember Sir Eustace Loring, sire?"

  "Indeed I could never forget him nor the manner of his death."

  "He was a knight errant in his day."

  "That indeed he was--none better have I known."

  "So is his son Nigel, as fierce a young war-hawk as ever yearned to usebeak and claws; but held fast in the mews up to now. This is his trialfight. There he stands at the bridge-head, as was the wont in ourfathers' time, ready to measure himself against all comers."

  Of all Englishmen there was no greater knight errant than the Kinghimself, and none so steeped in every quaint usage of chivalry; so thatthe situation was after his own heart.

  "He is not yet a knight?"

  "No, sire, only a Squire."

  "Then he must bear himself bravely this day if he is to make good whathe has done. Is it fitting that a young untried Squire should venture tocouch his lance against the best in England?"

  "He hath given me his cartel and challenge," said Chandos, drawing apaper from his tunic. "Have I your permission, sire, to issue it?"

  "Surely, John, we have no cavalier more versed in the laws of chivalrythan yourself. You know this young man, and you are aware how far he isworthy of the high honor which he asks. Let us hear his defiance."

  The knights and squires of the escort, most of whom were veterans ofthe French war, had been gazing with interest and some surprise at thesteel-clad figure in front of them. Now at a call from Sir Walter Mannythey assembled round the spot where the King and Chandos had halted.Chandos cleared his throat and read from his paper--

  "'A tous seigneurs, chevaliers et escuyers,' so it is headed, gentlemen.It is a message from the good Squire Nigel Loring of Tilford, son of SirEustace Loring, of honorable memory. Squire Loring awaits you in arms,gentlemen, yonder upon the crown of the old bridge. Thus says he: 'Forthe great desire that I, a most humble and unworthy Squire, entertain,that I may come to the knowledge of the noble gentlemen who ride with myroyal master, I now wait on the Bridge of the Way in the hope that someof them may condescend to do some small deed of arms upon me, or that Imay deliver them from any vow which they may have taken. This I say outof no esteem for myself, but solely that I may witness the noble bearingof these famous cavaliers and admire their skill in the handling ofarms. Therefore, with the help of Saint George, I will hold the bridgewith sharpened lances against any or all who may deign to presentthemselves while daylight lasts."

  "What say you to this, gentlemen?" asked the King, looking round withlaughing eyes.

  "Truly it is issued in very good form," said the Prince. "NeitherClaricieux nor Red Dragon nor any herald that ever wore tabard couldbetter it. Did he draw it of his own hand?"

  "He hath a grim old grandmother who is one of the ancient breed," saidChandos. "I doubt not that the Dame Ermyntrude hath drawn a challenge ortwo before now. But hark ye, sire, I would have a word in your ear--andyours too, most noble Prince."

  Leading them aside, Chandos whispered some explanations, which ended bythem all three bursting into a shout of laughter.

  "By the rood! no honorable gentleman should be reduced to such straits,"said the King. "It behooves me to look to it. But how now, gentlemen?This worthy cavalier still waits his answer."

  The soldiers had all been buzzing together; but now Walter Manny turnedto the King with the result of their counsel.

  "If it please your majesty," said he, "we are of opinion that thisSquire hath exceeded all bounds in desiring to break a spear with abelted knight ere he has given his proofs. We do him sufficient honorif a Squire ride against him, and with your consent I have chosen myown body-squire, John Widdicombe, to clear the path for us across thebridge."

  "What you say, Walter, is right and fair," said the King. "MasterChandos, you will tell our champion yonder what hath been arranged. Youwill advise him also that it is our royal will that this contest be notfought upon the bridge, since it is very clear that it must end in oneor both going over into the river, but that he advance to the end of thebridge and fight upon the plain. You will tell him also that a bluntedlance is sufficient for such an encounter, but that a hand-stroke ortwo with sword or mace may well be exchanged, if both riders should keeptheir saddles. A blast upon Raoul's horn shall be the signal to close."

  Such ventures as these where an aspirant for fame would wait for days ata cross-road, a ford, or a bridge, until some worthy antagonist shouldride that way, were very common in the old days of adventurous knighterranty, and were still familiar to the minds of all men because thestories of the romancers and the songs of the trouveres were full ofsuch incidents. Their actual occurrence however had become rare. Therewas the more curiosity, not unmixed with amusement, in the thoughtsof the courtiers as they watched Chandos ride down to the bridge andcommented upon the somewhat singular figure of the challenger. His buildwas strange, and so also was his figure, for the limbs were short for sotall a man. His head also was sunk forward as if he were lost in thoughtor overcome with deep dejection.

  "This is surely the Cavalier of the Heavy Heart," said Manny. "Whattrouble has he, that he should hang his head?"

  "Perchance he hath a weak neck," said the King.

  "At least he hath no weak voice," the Prince remarked, as Nigel's answerto Chandos came to their ears. "By our lady, he booms like a bittern."

  As Chandos rode back again to the King, Nigel exchanged the old ashspear which had been his father's for one of the blunted tournamentlances which he took from the hands of a stout archer in attendance. Hethen rode down to the end of the bridge where a hundred-yard stretchof greensward lay in front of him. At the same moment the Squire ofSir Walter Manny, who had been hastily armed by his comrades, spurredforward and took up his position.

  The King raised his hand; there was a clang from the falconer's horn,and the two riders, with a thrust of their heels and a shake of theirbridles, dashed furiously at each other. In the center the green stripof marshy meadowland, with the water squirting from the galloping hoofs,and the two crouching men, gleaming bright in the evening sun, on oneside the half circle of motionless horsemen, some in steel, some invelvet, silent and attentive, dogs, hawks, and horses all turned tostone; on the other the old peaked bridge, the blue lazy river, thegroup of openmouthed rustics, and the dark old manor-house with one grimface which peered from the upper window.

  A good man was John Widdicombe, but he had met a better that day. Beforethat yellow whirlwind of a horse and that rider who was welded andriveted to his saddle his knees could not hold their grip. Nigel andPommers were one flying missile, with all their weight and strengthand energy centered on the steady end of the lance. Had Widdicombe beenstruck by a thunderbolt he could not have flown faster or farther fromhis saddle. Two full somersaults did he make, his plates clanging likecymbals, ere he lay prone upon his back.

  For a moment the King looked grave at that prodigious fall. Then smilingonce more as Widdicombe staggered to his feet, he clapped his handsloudly in applause. "A fair course and fairly run!" he cried. "The fivescarlet roses bear themselves in peace even as I have seen them in war.How now, my good Walter? Have you another Squire or will you clear apath for us yourself?"

  Manny's choleric face had turned darker as he observed the mischance ofhis representative. He beckoned now to a tall knight, whose gaunt andsavage face looked out from his open bassinet as an eagle might from acage of steel.

  "Sir Hubert," said he, "I bear in mind the day when you overbore theFrenchman at Caen. Will you not be our champion now?"

  "When I fought the Frenchman, Walter, it was with naked weapons," saidthe knight sternly. "I am a soldier and I love a soldier's work, but Icare not for these tiltyard tricks which were invented for nothing butto tickle the fancies
of foolish women."

  "Oh, most ungallant speech!" cried the King. "Had my good-consort heardyou she would have arraigned you to appear at a Court of Love witha jury of virgins to answer for your sins. But I pray you to take atilting spear, good Sir Hubert!"

  "I had as soon take a peacock's feather, my fair lord; but I will do it,if you ask me. Here, page, hand me one of those sticks, and let me seewhat I can do."

  But Sir Hubert de Burgh was not destined to test either his skill or hisluck. The great bay horse which he rode was as unused to this warlikeplay as was its master, and had none of its master's stoutness of heart;so that when it saw the leveled lance, the gleaming figure and thefrenzied yellow horse rushing down upon it, it swerved, turned andgalloped furiously down the river-bank. Amid roars of laughter from therustics on the one side and from the courtiers on the other, Sir Hubertwas seen, tugging vainly at his bridle, and bounding onward, clearinggorse-bushes and heather-clumps, until he was but a shimmering,quivering gleam upon the dark hillside. Nigel, who had pulled Pommerson to his very haunches at the instant that his opponent turned, salutedwith his lance and trotted back to the bridge-head, where he awaited hisnext assailant.

  "The ladies would say that a judgment hath fallen upon our good SirHubert for his impious words," said the King.

  "Let us hope that his charger may be broken in ere they venture to rideout between two armies," remarked the Prince. "They might mistake thehardness of his horse's mouth for a softness of the rider's heart. Seewhere he rides, still clearing every bush upon his path."

  "By the rood!" said the King, "if the bold Hubert has not increased hisrepute as a jouster he has gained great honor as a horseman. But thebridge is still closed, Walter. How say you now? Is this young Squirenever to be unhorsed, or is your King himself to lay lance in rest erehis way can be cleared? By the head of Saint Thomas! I am in the verymood to run a course with this gentle youth."

  "Nay, nay, sire, too much honor hath already been done him!" said Manny,looking angrily at the motionless horseman. "That this untried boyshould be able to say that in one evening he has unhorsed my Squire, andseen the back of one of the bravest knights in England is surely enoughto turn his foolish head. Fetch me a spear, Robert! I will see what Ican make of him."

  The famous knight took the spear when it was brought to him as amaster-workman takes a tool. He balanced it, shook it once or twice inthe air, ran his eyes down it for a flaw in the wood, and then finallyhaving made sure of its poise and weight laid it carefully in rest underhis arm. Then gathering up his bridle so as to have his horse underperfect command, and covering himself with the shield, which was slunground his neck, he rode out to do battle.

  Now, Nigel, young and inexperienced, all Nature's aid will not help youagainst the mixed craft and strength of such a warrior. The day willcome when neither Manny nor even Chandos could sweep you from yoursaddle; but now, even had you some less cumbrous armor, your chance weresmall. Your downfall is near; but as you see the famous black chevronson a golden ground your gallant heart which never knew fear is onlyfilled with joy and amazement at the honor done you. Your downfall isnear, and yet in your wildest dreams you would never guess how strangeyour downfall is to be.

  Again with a dull thunder of hoofs the horses gallop over the softwater-meadow. Again with a clash of metal the two riders meet. It isNigel now, taken clean in the face of his helmet with the blunted spear,who flies backward off his horse and falls clanging on the grass.

  But good heavens! what is this? Manny has thrown up his hands in horrorand the lance has dropped from his nerveless fingers. From all sides,with cries of dismay, with oaths and shouts and ejaculations to thesaints, the horsemen ride wildly in. Was ever so dreadful, so sudden, socomplete, an end to a gentle passage at arms? Surely their eyes must beat fault? Some wizard's trick has been played upon them to deceive theirsenses. But no, it was only too clear. There on the greensward lay thetrunk of the stricken cavalier, and there, a good dozen yards beyond,lay his helmeted head.

  "By the Virgin!" cried Manny wildly, as he jumped from his horse, "Iwould give my last gold piece that the work of this evening should beundone! How came it? What does it mean? Hither, my Lord Bishop, forsurely it smacks of witchcraft and the Devil."

  With a white face the Bishop had sprung down beside the prostrate body,pushing through the knot of horrified knights and squires.

  "I fear that the last offices of the Holy Church come too late," said hein a quivering voice. "Most unfortunate young man! How sudden an end!In medio vitae, as the Holy Book has it--one moment in the pride of hisyouth, the next his head torn from his body. Now God and his saints havemercy upon me and guard me from evil!"

  The last prayer was shot out of the Bishop with an energy andearnestness unusual in his orisons. It was caused by the sudden outcryof one of the Squires who, having lifted the helmet from the ground,cast it down again with a scream of horror.

  "It is empty!" he cried. "It weighs as light as a feather."

  "'Fore God, it is true!" cried Manny, laying his hand on it. "Thereis no one in it. With what have I fought, father Bishop? Is it of thisworld or of the next?"

  The Bishop had clambered on his horse the better to consider the point."If the foul fiend is abroad," said he, "my place is over yonder bythe King's side. Certes that sulphur-colored horse hath a very devilishlook. I could have sworn that I saw both smoke and flame from itsnostrils. The beast is fit to bear a suit of armor which rides andfights and yet hath no man within it."

  "Nay, not too fast, father Bishop," said one of the knights. "It maybe all that you say and yet come from a human workshop. When I made acampaign in South Germany I have seen at Nuremberg a cunning figure,devised by an armorer, which could both ride and wield a sword. If thisbe such a one--"

  "I thank you all for your very gentle courtesy," said a booming voicefrom the figure upon the ground.

  At the words even the valiant Manny sprang into his saddle. Some rodemadly away from the horrid trunk. A few of the boldest lingered.

  "Most of all," said the voice, "would I thank the most noble knight,Sir Walter Manny, that he should deign to lay aside his greatness andcondescend to do a deed of arms upon so humble a Squire."

  "'Fore God!" said Manny, "if this be the Devil, then the Devil hath avery courtly tongue. I will have him out of his armor, if he blast me!"

  So saying he sprang once more from his horse and plunging his hand downthe slit in the collapsed gorget he closed it tightly upon a fistful ofNigel's yellow curls. The groan that came forth was enough to convincehim that it was indeed a man who lurked within. At the same time hiseyes fell upon the hole in the mail corselet which had served the Squireas a visor, and he burst into deep-chested mirth. The King, the Princeand Chandos, who had watched the scene from a distance, too much amusedby it to explain or interfere, rode up weary with laughter, now that allwas discovered.

  "Let him out!" said the King, with his hand to his side. "I pray you tounlace him and let him out! I have shared in many a spear-running, butnever have I been nearer falling from my horse than as I watched thisone. I feared the fall had struck him senseless, since he lay so still."

  Nigel had indeed lain with all the breath shaken from his body, andas he was unaware that his helmet had been carried off, he had notunderstood either the alarm or the amusement that he had caused. Nowfreed from the great hauberk in which he had been shut like a pea in apod, he stood blinking in the light, blushing deeply with shame thatthe shifts to which his poverty had reduced him should be exposed to allthese laughing courtiers. It was the King who brought him comfort.

  "You have shown that you can use your father's weapons," said he, "andyou have proved also that you are the worthy bearer of his name and hisarms, for you have within you that spirit for which he was famous. But Iwot that neither he nor you would suffer a train of hungry men to starvebefore your door; so lead on, I pray you, and if the meat be as good asthis grace before it, then it will be a feast indeed."