Saint George for England

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After riding for some hours the troop halted their weary horses in a wood,
and lighting fires, cooked their food, and then lay down until morning. Sir
Phillip exchanged but few words with his captive; as, having removed his
helm, he sat by the fire, Walter had an opportunity of seeing his
countenance. It did not belie his reputation. His face had a heavy and
brutal expression which was not decreased by the fashion of his hair, which
was cut quite short, and stood up without parting all over his
bullet-shaped head; he had a heavy and bristling moustache which was cut
short in a line with his lips.

"It is well," Walter thought to himself, "that it is my ransom rather than
my life which is dear to that evil-looking knight; for, assuredly, he is
not one to hesitate did fortune throw a foe into his hands."

At daybreak the march was resumed, and was continued until they reached the
castle of Sir Phillip Holbeaut, which stood on a narrow tongue of land
formed by a sharp bend of the Somme.

On entering the castle the knight gave an order to his followers, and the
prisoners were at once led to a narrow cell beneath one of the towers.
Walter looked round indignantly when he arrived there.

"This is a dungeon for a felon," he exclaimed, "not the apartment for a
knight who has been taken captive in fair fight. Tell your master that he
is bound to award me honourable treatment, and that unless he removes me
instantly from this dungeon to a proper apartment, and treats me with all
due respect and courtesy, I will, when I regain liberty, proclaim him a
dishonoured knight."

The men-at-arms made no reply; but, locking the door behind them, left the
prisoners alone.

"What can this mean, Ralph?" Walter exclaimed. "We are in the lowest
dungeon, and below the level of the river. See how damp are the walls, and
the floor is thick with slimy mud. The river must run but just below that
loophole, and in times of flood probably enters here."

Phillip of Holbeaut, on dismounting, ascended to an upper chamber, where a
man in the dress of a well-to-do citizen was sitting.

"Well, Sir Phillip," he exclaimed, rising to his feet as the other entered,
"what news?"

"The news is bad," the knight growled. "This famous scheme of yours has
cost me fifty of my best men. I would I had had nothing to do with it."

"But this Walter Somers," the other exclaimed, "what of him? He has not
escaped surely! The force which marched from Amiens was large enough to
have eaten him and his garrison.

"He has not escaped," the knight replied.

"Then he is killed!" the other said eagerly.

"No; nor is he killed. He is at present a prisoner in a dungeon below,
together with a stout knave whom he begged might accompany him until
ransomed."

"All is well then," the other exclaimed. "Never mind the loss of your men.
The money which I have promised you for this business will hire you two
hundred such knaves; but why didst not knock him on head at once?"

"It was not so easy to knock him on the head," Sir Phillip growled. "It
cost us five hundred men to capture the outer walls, and to have fought our
way into the keep, held, as it was, by men who would have contested every
foot of the ground, was not a job for which any of us had much stomach,
seeing what the first assaults had cost us; so the count took them all to
quarter. The rest he carried with him to Amiens; but their leader,
according to the promise which he made me, he handed over to me as my share
of the day's booty, giving me every charge that he should receive good and
knightly treatment.

"Which, no doubt, you will observe," the other said, with an ugly laugh.

"It is a bad business," the knight exclaimed angrily, "and were it not for
our friendship, in Spain, and the memory of sundry deeds which we did
together, not without profit to our purses, I would rather that you were
thrown over the battlements into the river than I had taken a step in this
business. However, none can say that Phillip of Holbeaut ever deserted a
friend who had proved true to him, not to mention that the sum which you
promised me for my aid in this matter will, at present time, prove
wondrously convenient. Yet I foresee that it will bring me into trouble
with the Count of Evreux. Ere many days a demand will come for the fellow
to be delivered on ransom."

"And what will you say?" the other asked.

"I shall say what is the truth," the knight replied, "though I may add
something that is not wholly so. I shall say that he was drowned in the
Somme. I shall add that it happened as he was trying to make his escape,
contrary to the parole he had given; but in truth he will be drowned in the
dungeon in which I have placed him, which has rid me of many a troublesome
prisoner before now. The river is at ordinary times but two feet below the
loophole; and when its tide is swelled by rain it often rises above the
sill, and then there is an end of any one within. They can doubt my word;
but there are not many who would care to do so openly; none who would do so
for the sake of an unknown English knight. And as for any complaints on the
part of the Black Prince, King Phillip has shown over and over again how
little the complaints of Edward himself move him."

"It were almost better to knock him on head at once," the other said
thoughtfully; "the fellow has as many lives as a cat.

"If he had as many as nine cats," the knight replied, "it would not avail
him. But I will have no violence. The water will do your work as well as a
poinard, and I will not have it said, even among such ruffians as mine,
that I slew a captured knight. The other will pass as an accident, and I
care not what my men may think as long as they can say nothing for a
surety. The count may storm as much as he will, and may even lay a
complaint against me before the king; but in times like the present, even a
simple knight who can lead two hundred good fighting men into the field is
not to be despised, and the king is likely to be easily satisfied with my
replies to any question that may be raised. Indeed, it would seem contrary
to reason that I should slay a captive against whom I have no cause of
quarrel, and so forfeit the ransom which I should get for him."

"But suppose that a messenger should come offering ransom before the river
happens to rise?"

"Then I shall anticipate matters, and shall say that what I know will
happen has already taken place. Do not be uneasy, Sir James. You have my
word in the matter, and now I have gone so far I shall carry it through.
From the moment when I ordered him into that dungeon his fate was sealed,
and in truth, when I gave the order I did so to put an end to the
indecision in which my mind had been all night. Once in there he could not
be allowed to come out alive, for his report of such treatment would do me
more harm among those of my own station in France than any rumours touching
his end could do. It is no uncommon affair for one to remove an enemy from
one's path; but cruelty to a knightly prisoner would be regarded with
horror. Would you like to have a look at him?"

The other hesitated. "No," he replied. "Against him personally I have no
great grudge. He has thwarted my plans, and stands now grievously in the
way of my making fresh ones; but as he did so from no ill-will towards
myself, but as it were by hazard, I have no personal hatred towards him,
though I would fain remove him from my path. Besides, I tell you fairly,
that even in that dungeon where you have thrown him I shall not feel that
he is safe until you send me word that he is dead. He has twice already got
out of scrapes when other men would have been killed. Both at Vannes and at
Ghent he escaped in a marvellous way; and but a few weeks since, by the
accident of his having a coat of mail under his doublet he saved his life
from as fair a blow as ever was struck. Therefore I would not that he knew
aught of my having a hand in this matter, for if after having seen me he
made his escape I could never show my face in England again. I should
advise you to bid three or four men always enter his cell together, for he
and that man-of-arms who follows him like a shadow are capable of playing
any desperate trick to escape.

"That matter is easily enough managed," Sir Phillip said grimly, "by no one
entering the dungeon at all. The river may be slow of rising, though in
sooth the sky looks overcast now, and it is already at its usual winter
level; and whether he dies from lack of water or from a too abundant supply
matters but little to me; only, as I told you I will give no orders for him
to be killed. Dost remember that Jew we carried off from Seville and kept
without water until he agreed to pay us a ransom which made us both rich
for six months? That was a rare haul, and I would that rich Jews were
plentiful in this country.

"Yes, those were good times," the other said, "although I own that I have
not done badly since the war began, having taken a count and three knights
prisoners, and put them to ransom, and having reaped a goodly share of
plunder from your French burghers, else indeed I could not have offered you
so round a sum to settle this little matter for me. There are not many
French knights who have earned a count's ransom in the present war. And now
I will take horse; here is one-half of the sum I promised you, in gold
nobles. I will send you the remainder on the day when I get news from you
that the matter is finished."

"Have your money ready in a week's time," the knight replied, taking the
bag of gold which the other placed on the table, "for by that time you will
hear from me. I hope this will not be the last business which we may do
together; there ought to be plenty of good chances in a war like this. Any
time that you can send me word of an intended foray by a small party under
a commander whose ransom would be a high one I will share what I get with
you; and similarly I will let you know of any rich prize who may be pounced
upon on the same terms.

"Agreed!" the other said. "We may do a good business together in that way.
But you lie too far away. If you move up as near as you can to Calais and
let me know your whereabouts, so that I could send or ride to you in a few
hours, we might work together with no small profit."

"I will take the field as soon as this affair of yours is settled," the
knight replied; "and the messenger who brings you the news shall tell you
where I may be found. And now, while your horse is being got ready, let us
drink a stoup of wine together in memory of old times, though, for myself,
these wines of ours are poor and insipid beside the fiery juice of
Spain."

While this conversation, upon which their fate so much depended, had been
going on, Walter and Ralph had been discussing the situation, and had
arrived at a tolerably correct conclusion.

"This conduct on the part of this brutal French knight, Ralph, is so
strange that methinks it cannot be the mere outcome of his passions or of
hate against me as an Englishman, but of some deeper motive; and we were
right in thinking that in bargaining for my person with the Count of Evreux
it was more than my ransom which he sought. Had that been his only object
he would never have thrown us into this noisome dungeon, for my report of
such treatment would bring dishonour upon him in the eyes of every knight
and noble in France as well as in England. It must be my life he aims at,
although what grudge he can have against me it passes me to imagine. It may
be that at Cressy or elsewhere some dear relative of his may have fallen by
my sword; and yet were it so, men nourish no grudge for the death of those
killed in fair fight. But this boots not at present. It is enough for us
that it is my life which he aims at, and I fear, Ralph, that yours must be
included with mine, since he would never let a witness escape to carry the
foul tale against him. This being so, the agreement on which I surrendered
is broken, and I am free to make my escape if I can, and methinks the
sooner that be attempted the better.

So let us work to plan how we may best get out of this place. After our
escape from that well at Vannes we need not despair about breaking out from
this dungeon of Holbeaut."

"We might overpower the guard who brings our food," Ralph said.

"There is that chance," Walter rejoined, "but I think it is a poor one.
They may be sure that this dishonourable treatment will have rendered us
desperate, and they will take every precaution and come well armed. It may
be, too, that they will not come at all, but that they intend us to die of
starvation, or perchance to be drowned by the floods, which it is easy to
see often make their way in here. No, our escape, if escape there be, must
be made through that loophole above. Were that bar removed, methinks it is
wide enough for us to squeeze through. Doubtless such a hazard has not
occurred to them, seeing that it is nigh twelve feet above the floor, and
that a single man could by no possibility reach it, but with two of us
there is no difficulty. Now, Ralph, do you stand against the wall. I will
climb upon your shoulders, and standing there can reach the bar, and so
haul myself up and look out."

This was soon done, and Walter seizing the bar, hauled himself up so that
he could see through the loophole.

"It is as I thought," he said. "The waters of the Somme are but a foot
below the level of this window; the river is yellow and swollen, and a few
hours' heavy rain would bring it above the level of this sill. Stand
steady, Ralph, I am coming down again."

When he reached the ground, he said:

"Take off your belt, Ralph; if we buckle that and mine together, passing it
round the bar, it will make a loop upon which we can stand at the window
and see how best we can loosen the bar. Constantly wet as it is, it is
likely that the mortar will have softened, in which case we shall have
little difficulty in working it out."

The plan was at once put into execution; the belts were fastened together
and Walter standing on Ralph's shoulders passed one end around the bar and
buckled it to the other, thus making a loop some three feet in length;
putting a foot in this he was able to stand easily at the loophole.

"It is put in with mortar at the top, Ralph, and the mortar has rotted with
the wet, but at the bottom lead was poured in when the bar was set and this
must be scooped out before it can be moved. Fortunately the knight gave no
orders to his men to remove our daggers when we were thrust in here, and
these will speedily dig out the lead; but I must come down first, for the
strap prevents my working at the foot of the bar. We must tear off a strip
of our clothing and make a shift to fasten the strap half-way up the bar so
as not to slip down with our weight."

In order to accomplish this Walter had to stand upon Ralph's head to gain
additional height. He presently, after several attempts, succeeded in
fixing the strap firmly against the bar half-way up, and then placing one
knee in the loop and putting an arm through the bar to steady himself, he
set to work at the lead. The sharp point of the dagger quickly cut out that
near the surface, but farther down the hole narrowed and the task was much
more difficult. Several times Ralph relieved him at the work, but at last
it was accomplished, and the bar was found to move slightly when they shook
it. There now remained only to loosen the cement above, and this was a
comparatively easy task; it crumbled quickly before the points of their
daggers, and the bar was soon free to move.

"Now," Walter said, "we have to find out whether the bar was first put in
from below or from above; one hole or the other must be a good deal deeper
than the iron, so that it was either shoved up or pushed down until the
other end could get under or over the other hole. I should think most
likely the hole is below, as if they held up the bar against the top, when
the lead was poured in it would fill up the space; so we will first of all
try to lift it. I must stand on your head again to enable me to be high
enough to try this."

"My head is strong enough, I warrant," Ralph replied, "but I will fold up
my jerkin, and put on it, for in truth you hurt me somewhat when you were
tying the strap to the bar."

All Walter's efforts did not succeed in raising the bar in the slightest,
and he therefore concluded that it had been inserted here and lifted while
the space was filled with lead. "It is best so," he said; "we should have
to cut away the stone either above or below, and can work much better
below. Now I will put my knee in the strap again and set to work. The stone
seems greatly softened by the wet, and will yield to our daggers readily
enough. It is already getting dark, and as soon as we have finished we can
start.

As Walter had discovered, the stone was rotten with the action of the
weather, and although as they got deeper it became much harder, it yielded
to the constant chipping with their daggers, and in two hours Ralph, who at
the moment happened to be engaged, announced to Walter that his dagger had
found its way under the bottom of the bar. The groove was soon made deep
enough for the bar to be moved out; but another hour's work was necessary,
somewhat further to enlarge the upper hole, so as to allow the bar to have
sufficient play. Fortunately it was only inserted about an inch and a half
in the stone, and the amount to be cut away to give it sufficient play was
therefore not large. Then at last all was ready for their flight.

CHAPTER XVII: THE CAPTURE OF CALAIS

When the bar was once ready for removal the captives delayed not a minute,
for although it was now so late that there was little chance of a visit
being paid them, it was just possible that such might be the case, and that
it might occur to the knight that it would be safer to separate them.

"Now, Ralph, do you go first, since I am lighter and can climb up by means
of the strap, which you can hold from above; push the bar out and lay it
down quietly on the thickness of the wall. A splash might attract the
attention of the sentries, though I doubt whether it would, for the wind is
high and the rain falling fast. Unbuckle the strap before you move the bar,
as otherwise it might fall and I should have difficulty in handing it to
you again. Now, I am steady against the wall."

Ralph seized the bar and with a great effort pushed the bottom from him. It
moved through the groove without much difficulty, but it needed a great
wrench to free the upper end. However, it was done, and laying it quietly
down he pulled himself up and thrust himself through the loophole. It was
a desperate struggle to get through, for it was only just wide enough for
his head to pass, and he was so squarely built that his body with
difficulty followed. The wall was four feet wide, and as the loophole
widened considerably without, there was, when he had once passed through
from the inside, space enough for him to kneel down and lower one end of
the strap to Walter. The latter speedily climbed up, and getting through
the slit with much less trouble than Ralph had experienced - for although
in height and width of shoulder he was his equal, he was less in depth than
his follower - he joined him in the opening; Ralph sitting with his feet in
the water in order to make room for him.

The dungeon was upon the western side of the castle, and consequently the
stream would be with them in making for shore. It was pitch dark, but they
knew that the distance they would have to swim could not exceed forty or
fifty yards.

"Keep along close by the wall, Ralph, if we once get out in the stream we
might lose our way; we will skirt the wall until it ends, then there is a
cut, for as you saw when we entered, the moat runs right across this neck.
If we keep a bit farther down and then land, we shall be fairly beyond the
outworks."

Ralph slipped down into the water, and followed by Walter swam along at the
foot of the wall. They had already been deprived of their armour, but had
luckily contrived to retain their daggers in their belts, which they had
again girdled on before entering the water. The stream hurried them rapidly
along, and they had only to keep themselves afloat. They were soon at the
corner of the castle. A few strokes farther and they again felt the wall
which lined the moat. The stream still swept them along, they felt the
masonry come to an end, and bushes and shrubs lined the bank. They were
beyond the outer defences of the castle. Still a little farther they
proceeded down the stream in order to prevent the possibility of any noise
they might make in scrambling up being heard by the sentinels on the outer
postern. Then when they felt quite safe they grasped the bushes, and
speedily climbed the bank. Looking back at the castle they saw lights still
burning there. Short as was the time they had been in the water they were
both chilled to the bone, for it was the month of February, and the water
was bitterly cold.

"It cannot be more than nine o'clock now," Walter said, "for it is not more
than four hours since darkness fell. They are not likely to visit the
dungeon before eight or nine tomorrow, so we can rely upon twelve hours'
start, and if we make the best of our time we ought to be far on travelling
on a night like this through a strange country. I would that the stars were
shining. However, the direction of the wind and rain will be a guide to us,
and we shall soon strike the road we traveled yesterday, and can follow
that till morning."

They were not long before they found the track, and then started at a brisk
pace along it. All night they struggled on through wind and rain until the
first dawn enabled them to see the objects in the surrounding country; and
making for the forest which extended to within a mile of the road, they
entered deep into its shelter, and there utterly exhausted, threw
themselves down on the wet ground. After a few hours of uneasy sleep they
woke, and taking their place near the edge of the forest watched for the
passage of any party which might be in pursuit, but until nightfall none
came along.

"They have not discovered our flight," Ralph said at last, "or they would
have passed long before this. Sir Phillip doubtless imagines that we are
drowned. The water was within a few inches of the sill when we started, and
must soon have flooded the dungeon; and did he trouble to look in the
morning, which is unlikely enough seeing that he would be sure of our fate,
he would be unable to descend the stairs, and could not reach to the door,
and so discover that the bar had been removed. No; whatever his motive may
have been in compassing my death, he is doubtless satisfied that he has
attained it, and we need have no further fear of pursuit from him. The rain
has ceased, and I think that it will be a fine night; we will walk on, and
if we come across a barn will make free to enter it, and stripping off our
clothing to dry, will sleep in the hay, and pursue our journey in the
morning. From our travel-stained appearance any who may meet us will take
us for two wayfarers going to take service in the army at Amiens."

It was not until nearly midnight that they came upon such a place as they
sought, then after passing a little village they found a shed standing
apart. Entering it they found that it was tenanted by two cows. Groping
about they presently came upon a heap of forage, and taking off their outer
garments lay down on this, covering themselves thickly with it. The shed
was warm and comfortable and they were soon asleep, and awaking at daybreak
they found that their clothes had dried somewhat. The sun was not yet up
when they started, but it soon rose, and ere noon their garments had dried,
and they felt for the first time comfortable. They met but few people on
the road, and these passed them with ordinary salutations.

They had by this time left Amiens on the right, and by nightfall were well
on their way towards Calais. Early in the morning they had purchased some
bread at a village through which they passed; Walter's Norman-French being
easily understood, and exciting no surprise or suspicion. At nightfall they
slept in a shed within a mile of the ruins of the castle of Pres, and late
next evening entered the English encampment at New Town. After going to his
tent, where he and Ralph changed their garments and partook of a hearty
meal, Walter proceeded to the pavilion of the prince, who hailed his
entrance with the greatest surprise.

"Why Sir Walter," he exclaimed, "what good saint has brought you here? I
have but an hour since received a message from the Count of Evreux to the
effect that you were a prisoner in the bands of Sir Phillip de Holbeaut,
with whom I must treat for your ransom. I was purporting to send off a
herald tomorrow to ask at what sum he held you; and now you appear in flesh
and blood before us! But first, before you tell us your story, I must
congratulate you on your gallant defence of the Castle of Pres, which is
accounted by all as one of the most valiant deeds of the war. When two days
passed without a messenger from you coming hither, I feared that you were
beleaguered, and started that evening with six hundred men-at-arms. We
arrived at daybreak to finding only a smoking ruin. Luckily among the
crowd of dead upon the breach we found one of your men-at-arms who still
breathed, and after some cordial had been given him, and his wounds
stanched, he was able to tell us the story of the siege. But it needed not
his tale to tell us how staunchly you had defended the castle, for the
hundreds of dead who lay outside of the walls, and still more the mass who
piled the breach, and the many who lay in the castle-yard spoke for
themselves of the valour with which the castle had been defended. As the
keep was gutted by fire, and the man could tell us nought of what had
happened after he bad been stricken down at the breach, we knew not whether
you and your brave garrison had perished in the flames. We saw the
penthouse beneath which they had laboured to cut through the wall, but the
work had ceased before the holes were large enough for entry, and we hoped
that you might have seen that further resistance was in vain, and have made
terms for your lives; indeed we heard from the country people that certain
prisoners had been taken to Amiens. I rested one day at Pres, and the next
rode back here, and forthwith despatched a herald to the Count of Evreux at
Amiens asking for news of the garrison; but now he has returned with word
that twenty- four men-at-arms and fifty-eight archers are prisoners in the
count's hands, and that he is ready to exchange them against an equal
number of French prisoners; but that you, with a man-at-arms, were in the
keeping of Sir Phillip of Holbeaut, with whom I must treat for your ransom.
And now tell me how it is that I see you here. Has your captor, confiding
in your knightly word to send him the sum agreed upon, allowed you to
return? Tell me the sum and my treasurer shall tomorrow pay it over to a
herald, who shall carry it to Holbeaut."

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