"
Now that the Bishop seemed to find pleasant, as though he knew something
of those lovers of war songs, and answered that he wot not if Tatwine
would let them go. But, in any case, he would choose men for me of the
best, and that we all thought well, knowing in what spirit he would put
those men whom he should choose.
So he bade us go, taking our arms with us, and we, thanking him, went
out. But I found my collier, and showed him the arms I had been wearing,
saying they should be his, and then took him, rejoicing, into the town.
There I bought him, after some search, a plain, good sword and target,
which he bore to his lodgings to scour and gaze at for the rest of the day.
CHAPTER XIII. A MESSAGE FROM THE DEAD.
How shall I tell what it was like when the bishop, standing aloft at the
head of the abbey steps with all the monks round him, gave into my
hands, as I knelt, his standard to bear at the head of his men?
Very early in the morning it was, and all the roofs were golden in
bright sunlight, and the men, drawn up in a hollow square fronting the
abbey, were silent and attentive as mass was sung in the great church,
so that the sound of the chanting came out to them through the open
doors. And when the sacring [xi] bell rang, as though a
wave went along the ranks, all knelt, and there was a clash and ring of
steel, and then silence for a space, very wonderful.
Pages:
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201