第101章 HOW NORMAN LESLIE TOOK SERVICE WITH THE ENGLISH(3)

"I would well that I had to carry all the sort of you,"said the boat-master,for I had offered him my horse,and a great reward in money,part down,and the other part to be paid when I set foot in England.Nor did he make any tarrying,but,taking his nets on board,as if he would be about his lawful business,set sail,with his two sons for a crew.The east wind served us to a miracle,and,after as fair a passage as might be,they landed me under cloud of night not far from the great port of Winchelsea.

That night I slept none,but walking fast and warily,under cover of a fog,I fetched a compass about,and ended by walking into the town of Rye by the road from the north.Here I went straight to the best inn of the place,and calling aloud for breakfast,I bade the drawer bring mine host to me instantly.For,at Louviers,we were so well served by spies,the country siding with us rather than with the English,that I knew how a company of the Earl of Warwick's men was looked for in Winchelsea to sail when they had a fair wind for Rouen.

Mine host came to me in a servile English fashion,and asked me what I would?

"First,a horse,"said I,"for mine dropped dead last night,ten miles hence on the north road,in your marshes,God damn them,and you may see by my rusty spur and miry boot that I have walked far.

Here,"I cried,pulling off my boots,and flinging them down on the rushes of the floor,"bid one of your varlets clean them!Next,breakfast,and a pot of your ale;and then I shall see what manner of horses you keep,for I must needs ride to Winchelsea.""You would join the men under the banner of Sir Thomas Grey of Falloden,I make no doubt?"he answered."Your speech smacks of the Northern parts,and the good knight comes from no long way south of the border.His men rode through our town but few days agone.""And me they left behind on the way,"I answered,"so evil is my luck in horse-flesh.But for this blessed wind out of the east that hinders them,my honour were undone."My tale was not too hard of belief,and before noon I was on my way to Winchelsea,a stout nag enough between my legs.

The first man-at-arms whom I met I hailed,bidding him lead me straight to Sir Thomas Grey of Falloden."What,you would take service?"he asked,in a Cumberland burr that I knew well,for indeed it came ready enough on my own tongue.

"Yea,by St.Cuthbert,"I answered,"for on the Marches nothing stirs;moreover,I have slain a man,and fled my own country."With that he bade God damn his soul if I were not a good fellow,and so led me straight to the lodgings of the knight under whose colours he served.To him I told the same tale,adding that I had heard late of his levying of his men,otherwise I had ridden to join him at his setting forth.

"You have seen war?"he asked.

"Only a Warden's raid or twain,on the moss-trooping Scots of Liddesdale.Branxholme I have seen in a blaze,and have faced fire at the Castle of the Hermitage.""You speak the tongue of the Northern parts,"he said;"are you noble?""A poor cousin of the Storeys of Netherby,"I answered,which was true enough;and when he questioned me about my kin,I showed him that I knew every name and scutcheon of the line,my mother having instructed me in all such lore of her family.{38}

"And wherefore come you here alone,and in such plight?""By reason of a sword-stroke at Stainishawbank Fair,"I answered boldly.

"Faith,then,I see no cause why,as your will is so good,you should not soon have your bellyful of sword-strokes.For,when once we have burned that limb of the devil,the Puzel"(for so the English call the Maid),"we shall shortly drive these forsworn dogs,the French,back beyond the Loire."I felt my face reddening at these ill words,so I stooped,as if to clear my spur of mire.

"Shortly shall she taste the tar-barrel,"I answered,whereat he swore and laughed;then,calling a clerk,bade him write my indenture,as is the English manner.Thus,thanks to my northern English tongue,for which I was sore beaten by the other boys when Iwas a boy myself,behold me a man-at-arms of King Henry,and so much of my enterprise was achieved.

I make no boast of valour,and indeed I greatly feared for my neck,both now and later.For my risk was that some one of the men-at-arms in Rouen,whither we were bound,should have seen my face either at Orleans,at Paris (where I was unhelmeted),or in the taking of the Bastille at Compiegne.Yet my visor was down,both at Orleans and Compiegne,and of those few who marked me in girl's gear in Paris none might chance to meet me at Rouen,or to remember me in changed garments.So I put a bold brow on it,for better might not be.None cursed the Puzel more loudly than I,and,without feigning,none longed so sorely as I for a fair wind to France,wherefore I was ever going about Winchelsea with my head in the air,gazing at the weather-cocks.And,as fortune would have it,the wind went about,and we on board,and with no long delay were at Rouen town.