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to the castle, the guards with difficulty protecting him from the enraged

populace. Even at this moment Cuthbert experienced a deep sense of

satisfaction at the thought that his followers had escaped. But he feared

that alone, and unacquainted with the language of the country, they would

find it difficult indeed to escape the search which would be made for

them, and to manage to find their way back to their country. For himself,

he had little hopes of liberty, and scarcely more of life. The hatred of

the baron towards the English would now be heightened by the daring act

of insult to the arms of Austria, and this would give a pretext for any

deed of violence which might be wrought.

Cuthbert was, after a short confinement, brought before the lord baron of

the place, in the great hall of the castle.

"Who art thou, sir," the noble exclaimed, "who darest to disturb the

marriage procession of my daughter, and to insult the standard of the

emperor my master?"

"I am Sir Cuthbert, Earl of Evesham, a baron of England," Cuthbert said

fearlessly, "and am travelling homeward from the Holy Land. My garb as a

crusader should protect me from all interruption; and the heedless

conduct of my retainer was amply justified by the insult offered to the

arms of England. There is not one of the knights assembled round you who

would not in like manner have avenged an insult offered to those of

Austria; and I am ready to do battle in the lists with any who choose to

say that the deed was a foul or improper one. In the Holy Land, Austrians

and English fought side by side; and it is strange indeed to me that on

my return, journeying through the country of the emperor, I should find

myself treated as an enemy, and see the arms of King Richard exposed to

insult and derision by the burghers of this city."

As Cuthbert had spoken, he threw down his mailed glove, and several of

the knights present stepped forward to pick it up. The baron, however,

waved them back.

"It is no question," he said, "of honourable fight. This is a follower of

the murderer of my good cousin of Montferat, who died under the hands of

assassins set upon him by Richard of England."

"It is false!" Cuthbert shouted. "I denounce it as a foul lie, and will

maintain it with my life."

"Your life is already forfeited," the baron said, "both by your past

connexion with Richard of England and as the insulter of the arms of

Austria. You die, and to-morrow at noon your head shall be struck off in

the great square before my castle."

Without another word Cuthbert was hurried off to his cell, and there

remained, thinking moodily over the events of the day, until nightfall.

He had no doubt that his sentence would be carried out, and his anxiety

was rather for his followers than for himself. He feared that they would

make some effort on his behalf, and would sacrifice their own lives in

doing so, without the possibility of assisting him.

The next morning he was led out to the square before the castle. It was a

large flagged courtyard. Upon one side was the entrance to the castle,

one of whose wings also formed a second side to the square. The side

facing this was formed by the wall of the city, and the fourth opened

upon a street of the town. This side of the square was densely filled

with citizens, while the men-at-arms of the baron and a large number of

knights were gathered behind a scaffold erected in the centre. Upon this

was a block, and by the side stood a headsman. As Cuthbert was led

forward a thrill of pleasure ran through him at perceiving no signs of

his followers, who he greatly feared might have been captured in the

night, and brought there to share his fate.

As he was led forward, the young noble whose life he had saved advanced

to the baron, and dropping on one knee before him, craved the life of

Cuthbert, relating the event by which he had saved his life in the

passage of the mountains. The baron frowned heavily.

"Though he had saved the life of every noble in Bavaria," he said, "he

should die. I have sworn an oath that every Englishman who fell into my

hands should expiate the murder of my kinsman; and this fellow is,

moreover, guilty of an outrage to the arms of Austria."

The young Sir Ernest drew himself up haughtily.

"My lord baron," he said, "henceforth I renounce all allegiance to you,

and I will lay the case before the emperor, our common master, and will

cry before him at the outrage which has thus been passed upon a noble

gentleman. He has thrown down the glove, and challenged any of your

knights, and I myself am equally ready to do battle in his cause."

The baron grew red with passion, and he would have ordered the instant

arrest of the young man, but as Sir Ernest was connected by blood with

many present, and was indeed one of the most popular among the nobles of

the province, the baron simply waved him aside, and ordered Cuthbert to

be led to the block. The young Englishman was by the executioner divested

of his armour and helmet, and stood in the simple attire worn by men of

rank at that time. He looked around, and holding up his hand, conveying

alike a farewell and a command to his followers to remain in concealment,

he gazed round the crowd, thinking that he might see among them in some

disguise or other the features of Cnut, whose tall figure would have

rendered him conspicuous in a crowd. He failed, however, to see any signs

of him, and turning to the executioner, signified by a gesture that he

was ready.

At this instant an arrow from the wall above pierced the brain of the

man, and he fell dead in his tracks. A roar of astonishment burst from

the crowd. Upon the city wall at this point was a small turret, and on

this were five figures. The wall around was deserted, and for the moment

these men were masters of the position.

"Seize those insolent varlets!" the baron shouted, shaking his sword with

a gesture of fury at them.

His words, however, were arrested, for at the moment another arrow struck

him in the throat, and he fell back into the arms of those around him.

Quickly now the arrows of the English archers flew into the courtyard.

The confusion which reigned there was indescribable. The citizens with

shouts of alarm took to their heels. The men-at-arms were powerless

against this rain of missiles, and the knights, hastily closing their

visors, shouted contradictory orders, which no one obeyed.

In the confusion no one noticed the prisoner. Seizing a moment when the

attention of all was fixed upon the wall, he leaped from the platform,

and making his way unnoticed through the excited crowd of men-at-arms,

darted down a narrow lane that divided the castle from the wall. He ran

along until, 100 yards farther, he came to a staircase by which access to

the battlements was obtained. Running lightly up this, he kept along the

wall until he reached the turret.

"Thanks, my noble Cnut!" he exclaimed, "and you, my brave fellows. But I

fear you have forfeited your lives. There is no escape. In a minute the

whole force of the place will recover from their confusion, and be down

upon us from both sides."

"We have prepared for that," Cnut said. "Here is a rope hanging down into

the moat."

Glancing over, Cuthbert saw that the moat was dry; and after a final

discharge of arrows into the crowd, the six men slid one after another

down the rope and made their way at full speed across the country.

CHAPTER XIX.

DRESDEN.

It was some ten minutes before the men-at-arms rallied sufficiently from

their surprise to obey orders. Two bodies were then drawn up, and

proceeded at a rapid pace towards the staircases leading to the wall, one

on each side of the turret in which they believed that the little body of

audacious assailants were still lying. Having reached the wall, the

soldiers advanced, covering themselves with their shields, for they had

learnt the force with which an English clothyard shaft drawn by a strong

hand flies. Many had been killed by these missiles passing through and

through the cuirass and backpiece.

No reply being obtained to the summons to surrender, they proceeded to

break in with their battle-axes the door of the little turret. Rushing in

with axe and pike, they were astonished to find the place empty. A glance

over the wall showed the rope still hanging, and the manner of the escape

became manifest. The fugitives were already out of sight, and the

knights, furious at the escape of the men who had bearded them in the

heart of the city with such audacity, and had slain the lord baron and

several of his knights, gave orders that an instant pursuit should be

organized. It was, however, a full half hour before the city gates were

thrown open, and a strong troop of knights and mounted men issued out.

Cuthbert had been certain that an instant pursuit would be set on foot,

and the moment that he was out of sight of the battlements, he changed

the direction in which he had started, and turning at right angles,

swept round the city, still keeping at a distance, until he reached the

side next the mountains, and then plunged into the woods on the lower

slopes of the hills.

"They will," he said, as they halted breathless from their run, "follow

the road towards the south, and scour the country for awhile before it

occurs to their thick German skulls that we have doubled back on our

tracks. Why, what is it, Cnut?"

This exclamation was provoked by the forester throwing himself on his

knees before Sir Cuthbert, and imploring his pardon for the dire strait

into which his imprudence had drawn him.

"It was a dire strait, certainly, Cnut. But if you got me into it, at

least you have extricated me; and never say more about it, for I myself

was near committing the imprudence to which you gave way, and I can well

understand that your English blood boiled at the sight of the outrage to

the flag of England. Now, let us waste no time in talk, but, keeping to

the foot of this mountain, make along as far as we can to the west. We

must cling to the hills for many days' march before we venture again to

try to cross the plains. If possible, we will keep on this way until we

reach the confines of the country of the Swiss, who will assuredly give

us hospitality, and who will care little for any threats of these German

barons, should they hear that we have reached their asylum."

By nightfall they had already travelled many leagues, and making a fire

in the wood, Cuthbert asked Cnut for an account of what had taken place

on the previous day.

"We ran for life, Sir Cuthbert, and had not noticed that you had been

drawn into the fray. Had we done so, we would have remained, and sold our

lives with yours; but hoping that you had passed unnoticed in the crowd,

and that you would find some means to rejoin us, we kept upon our way.

After running down three streets, we passed a place where a courtyard

with stables ranged round it was open. There were none about, and we

entered, and, taking refuge in a loft, hid ourselves beneath some

provender. There we remained all night, and then borrowing some apparel

which some of the stablemen had hung up on the walls, we issued into the

town. As we neared the great square we saw some men employed in erecting

a platform in the midst, and a suspicion that all might not be right, and

that you might have fallen into the hands of these German dogs, beset our

minds. After much consultation we determined to see what the affair

meant, and making our way on to the walls, which, indeed, were entirely

deserted, we took refuge in that turret where you saw us. Seeing the

crowd gather, and being still more convinced that some misfortune was

about to occur, I again went back to the stables, where I had noticed a

long rope used by the carters for fastening their loads to the waggons.

With this I returned, for it was clear that if we had to mingle in this

business it would be necessary to have a mode of escape. Of the rest you

are aware. We saw the knights coming out of the castle, with that portly

baron, their lord, at their head. We saw the block and the headsman upon

the platform, and were scarcely surprised when you were led out, a

prisoner, from the gates. We judged that what did happen would ensue.

Seeing that the confusion wrought by a sudden attack from men perched up

aloft as we were, commanding the courtyard, and being each of us able to

hit a silver mark at the distance of 100 yards, would be great indeed, we

judged that you might be able to slip away unobserved, and were sure that

your quick wit would seize any opportunity which might offer. Had you not

been able to join us, we should have remained in the turret and sold our

lives to the last, as, putting aside the question that we could never

return to our homes, having let our dear lord die here, we should not, in

our ignorance of the language and customs of the country, have ever been

able to make our way across it. We knew, however, that before this turret

was carried we could show these Germans how five Englishmen, when brought

to bay, can sell their lives."

They had not much difficulty in obtaining food in the forest, for game

abounded, and they could kill as many deer as seemed fit to them. As Cnut

said, it was difficult to believe that they were not back again in the

forest near Evesham, so similar was their life to that which they had led

three years before. To Cnut and the archers, indeed, it was a pleasanter

time than any which they had passed since they had left the shores of

England, and they blithely marched along, fearing little any pursuit

which might be set on foot, and, indeed, hearing nothing of their

enemies. After six days' travel they came upon a rude village, and here

Cuthbert learnt from the people--with much difficulty, however, and

pantomime, for neither could understand a word spoken by the other--that

they were now in one of the Swiss cantons, and therefore secure from all