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satisfaction by the matter."

The earl admitted the justice of Cuthbert's reasoning, but reserved to

himself the task of punishing the author of the outrage upon the first

fitting opportunity.

There was a weary delay at Marseilles before the expedition set sail.

This was caused by the fact of the English fleet, which had been ordered

to be there upon their arrival, failing to keep the agreement.

The words English fleet badly describe the vessels which were to carry

the English contingent to their destination. They were ships belonging to

the maritime nations of Italy--the Venetians, Genoese, Pisans, etc.; for

England at that time had but few of her own, and these scarcely fitted

for the stormy navigation of the Bay of Biscay.

King Richard, impatient as ever of delay, at last lost his temper, and

embarked on board a ship with a few of his chosen knights, and set sail

by himself for Sicily, the point at which the two armies of the

expedition were to re-unite. A few days after his departure, the

long-looked-for fleet arrived, and a portion of the English host embarked

at once, and set sail for Sicily, where they were to be landed, and the

ships were to return to fetch the remaining contingent.

A sea voyage of this kind in those days was a serious matter. Long

voyages were rare, and troops were carried very much upon the principle

of herrings; that is, were packed as close as they could be, without any

reference to their comfort. As the voyages seldom lasted more than

twenty-four hours, this did not much matter, but during long voyages the

discomforts, or as may be said sufferings, of the troops were

considerable. So tightly packed were the galleys in which the English set

sail from Marseilles, that there was no walking about. Every man slept

where he sat, and considered himself lucky indeed if he could obtain room

sufficient to stretch himself at full length. Most slept sitting against

bulwarks or other supports. In the cabins, where the knights, their pages

and squires, were placed, the crowding was of course less excessive, but

even here the amount of space, which a subaltern travelling to India for

the first time now-a-days would grumble at, was considered amply

sufficient for half-a-dozen knights of distinction. It was a week after

sailing, when Cnut touched Cuthbert's arm as he came on deck one morning,

and said,--

"Look, look, Cuthbert! that mountain standing up in the water has caught

fire on the top. Did you ever see such a thing?"

The soldiers crowded to the side of the vessel, in intense astonishment

and no little awe. From the top of a lofty and rugged hill, rising almost

straight from the sea, flames were roaring up, smoke hung over the

island, and stones were thrown into the air and rattled down the side of

the hill, or fell into the sea with a splash.

"That is a fearsome sight," Cnut said, crossing himself.

"It looks as if it was the mouth of purgatory," exclaimed another,

standing by.

Cuthbert himself was amazed, for the instruction he had received from

Father Francis was of too slight a nature to include the story of

volcanoes. A priest, however, who accompanied the ship in the character

of leech and confessor, explained the nature of the phenomenon to his

astonished listeners, and told them that over on the mainland was a

mountain which at times vomited forth such masses of stones and of

liquid rock that it had swallowed up and covered many great cities. There

was also, he told them, another mountain of the same sort, even more

vast, on the island of Sicily itself; but that this had seldom, as far

back as man could remember, done any great harm.

Sailing on, in another day they arrived off the coast of Sicily itself,

and sailing up the straits between it and the mainland, they landed at

Messina. Here a considerable portion of the French army had already

arrived, having been brought down from Genoa.

There was no news of the King of England; and, as often happens, the

saying "the more haste the less speed," had been verified here.

It was some days later before King Richard arrived, having been driven

from his course by tempests, well-nigh cast ashore, and having besides

gone through many adventures. Three weeks later, the whole of the army of

the Crusaders were gathered around Messina, where it was intended to

remain some little time before starting. It was a gay time; and the

kings vied with each other in entertainments, joustings, and tournaments.

The Italian knights also made a brave show, and it might have been

thought that this huge army of men were gathered there simply for

amusement and feasting. In the tournaments every effort was made to

prevent any feeling of national rivalry, and although parties of knights

held their own against all comers, these were most carefully selected to

represent several nationalities, and therefore victory, on whichsoever

side it fell, excited no feelings of bitterness.

Alone, King Richard was undoubtedly the strongest cavalier of the two

armies. Against his ponderous strength no knight could keep his seat; and

this was so palpable, that after many victories, King Richard was forced

to retire from the lists from want of competitors, and to take his place

on the dais with the more peace-loving King of France.

The gaiety of the camp was heightened by the arrival of many nobles and

dames from Italy. Here, too, came the Queen of Navarre, bringing with her

the beautiful Princess Berengaria.

"Methinks," the Earl of Evesham said to Cuthbert, a fortnight after the

arrival of the queen, "that unless my eyes deceive me, the princess is

likely to be a cause of trouble."

"In what way?" asked Cuthbert with surprise, for he had been struck with

her marvellous beauty, and wondered greatly what mischief so fair a

being could do.

"By the way in which our good lord, the king, gazes upon her, methinks

that it were like enough that he broke off his engagement with the

Princess of France, for the sake of the fair eyes of this damsel."

"That were indeed a misfortune," Cuthbert said gravely, for he saw at

once the anger which such a course would excite in the minds of the

French king and his knights, who would naturally be indignant in the

extreme at the slight put upon their princess. As day after day passed,

it became evident to all that the King of England was infatuated by the

princess. Again he entered the lists himself, and as some fresh Italian

knights and others had arrived, he found fresh opponents, and

conspicuously laid the spoils of victory at the feet of the princess,

whom he selected as the Queen of Beauty.

All sorts of rumours now became current in camp; violent quarrels between

the kings, and bad feeling between the French and English knights, broke

out again in consequence, and this more violently than before.

CHAPTER IX.

THE PRINCESS BERENGARIA.

One night it chanced that Cuthbert was late in his return to camp, and

his road took him through a portion of the French encampment; the night

was dark, and Cuthbert presently completely lost all idea as to his

bearings. Presently he nearly ran against a tent; he made his way to the

entrance in order to crave directions as to his way--for it was a wet

night; the rain was pouring in torrents, and few were about of whom he

could demand the way--and, as he was about to draw aside the hangings, he

heard words said in a passionate voice which caused him to withdraw his

hand suddenly.

"I tell you," said a voice, "I would rather drive a dagger myself into

her heart, than allow our own princess to be insulted by this hot-headed

island dog."

"It is sad indeed," said another, but in a calmer and smoother tone,

"that the success of a great expedition like this, which has for its

object the recovery of the holy sepulchre from the infidels, should be

wrecked by the headstrong fancies of one man. It is even, as is told by

the old Grecian poet, as when Helen caused a great war between peoples of

that nation."

"I know nothing," another voice said, "either of Helen or the Greeks, or

of their poets. They are a shifty race, and I can believe aught that is

bad of them. But touching this princess of Navarre, I agree with our

friend, it would be a righteous deed to poniard her, and so to remove the

cause of dispute between the two kings, and, indeed, the two nations.

This insult laid upon our princess is more than we, as French knights and

gentlemen, can brook; and if the king says the word, there is not a

gentleman in the army but will be ready to turn his sword against the

islanders."

Then the smooth voice spoke again.

"It would, my brethren, be wrong and useless to shed blood; but methinks,

that if this apple of discord could be removed, a good work would be

done; not, as our friend the count has suggested, by a stab of the

dagger; that indeed would be worse than useless. But surely there are

scores of religious houses, where this bird might be placed in a cage

without a soul knowing where she was, and where she might pass her life

in prayer that she may be pardoned for having caused grave hazards of the

failure of an enterprise in which all the Christian world is concerned."

The voices of the speakers now fell, and Cuthbert was straining his ear

to listen, when he heard footsteps approaching the tent, and he glided

away into the darkness.

With great difficulty he recovered the road to the camp, and when he

reached his tent he confided to the Earl of Evesham what he had heard.

"This is serious indeed," the earl said, "and bodes no little trouble

and danger. It is true that the passion which King Richard has conceived

for Berengaria bids fair to wreck the Crusade, by the anger which it has

excited in the French king and his nobles; but the disappearance of the

princess would no less fatally interfere with it, for the king would be

like a raging lion deprived of his whelps, and would certainly move no

foot eastward until he had exhausted all the means in his power of

tracing his lost lady love. You could not, I suppose, Cuthbert, point out

the tent where this conversation took place?"

"I could not," Cuthbert answered; "in the darkness one tent is like

another. I think I should recognize the voices of the speakers did I hear

them again; indeed, one voice I did recognize, it was that of the Count

of Brabant, with whom we had trouble before."

"That is good," the earl said, "because we have at least an object to

watch. It would never do to tell the king what you have heard. In the

first place, his anger would be so great that it would burst all

bounds, and would cause, likely enough, a battle at once between the

two armies; nor would it have any good effect, for he of Brabant would

of course deny the truth of your assertions, and would declare it was

merely a got-up story to discredit him with the king, and so to wipe

out the old score now standing between us. No, if we are to succeed,

alike in preventing harm happening to the princess, and an open break

between the two monarchs, it must be done by keeping a guard over the

princess, unsuspected by all, and ourselves frustrating any attempt

which may be made."

Cuthbert expressed his willingness to carry out the instructions which

the earl might give him; and, much disturbed by the events of the day,

both earl and page retired to rest, to think over what plan had best

be adopted.

The princess was staying at the palace of the bishop of the town; this

he, having another residence a short distance outside the walls, had

placed at the disposal of the Queen of Navarre and her suite; and the

first step of Cuthbert in the morning was to go into the town, to

reconnoitre the position and appearance of the building. It was a large

and irregular pile, and communicated with the two monasteries lying

alongside of it. It would therefore clearly be a most difficult thing to

keep up a complete watch on the exterior of so large a building. There

were so many ways in which the princess might be captured and carried off

by unscrupulous men, that Cuthbert in vain thought over every plan by

which it could be possible to safeguard her. She might be seized upon

returning from a tournament or entertainment; but this was improbable, as

the queen would always have an escort of knights with her, and no attempt

could be successful except at the cost of a public fracas and much loss

of blood. Cuthbert regarded as out of the question that an outrage of

this kind would be attempted.

The fact that one of the speakers in the tent had used the words "my

sons," showed that one priest or monk, at least, was connected with the

plot. It was possible that this man might have power in one of the

monasteries, or he might be an agent of the bishop himself; and

Cuthbert saw that it would be easy enough in the night for a party from

one or other of the monasteries to enter by the door of communication

with the palace, and carry off the princess without the slightest alarm

being given. Once within the walls of the convent, she could be either

hidden in the dungeons or secret places, which buildings of that kind

were sure to possess, or could be at once carried out by some quiet

entrance, and taken into the country, or transferred to some other

building in the town.

When Cuthbert joined the earl he told him the observations that he had

made, and Sir Walter praised the judgment which he had shown in his

conclusions. The earl was of opinion that it would be absolutely

necessary to get some clue as to the course which the abductors purposed

to take; indeed it was possible that on after-consideration they might

drop their plan altogether, for the words which Cuthbert had overheard

scarcely betokened a plan completely formed and finally decided upon.

The great point he considered, therefore, was that the tent of his old

enemy should be carefully watched, and that an endeavour should be made

to hear something of what passed within, which might give a clue to the