by David Ker
CHAPTER XIII
A Red Stain
The king's banquet was over, and night had fallen upon Calais; and theBlack Prince, having himself made the rounds to see that all was safein the fortress which had so narrowly escaped capture, was on the wayto his own quarters, when a sudden burst of clamorous cries from thegate he had just left (the one facing the sea) made him stop short tolisten, with a stern frown at such a breach of discipline.
"Go quickly, Simonson," said he to one of his attendants, "and see whatmeans this unseemly clamour at a post guarded by English soldiers."
The man was absent but a minute or two, and the report he brought backwas given in a few words; but as Prince Edward heard them, he changedcolour as he had never done amid the crashing spears of Crecy.
"It cannot be!" he cried, with an excitement very rare in him. "Thouart distraught, man, or the fellow hath lied. It cannot be!"
"Not so, an it like your highness," said the other firmly. "All theywho kept the gate are in one tale of what he had said; and, for the manhimself, he was in no case to lie, for he had fallen down in a swoon!"
"How, then, told he his tale so deftly?" asked the Prince of Wales,still doubting.
"He had but strength to gasp out those few words--being sore spent withthe haste he had made to come hither and the fright he had had--andthen down he fell as he lies now."
"Go see him cared for," said the prince, hastily; "and, hark ye! assoon as he is able to speak, bring him to me straightway, and let noman know it. I will look into this matter myself; and if it be as thousay'st, then must the Evil One himself be abroad upon the earth."
An hour later, back came Simonson with the man he was sent to bring--astout Hampshire archer of the Claremont train, whose bravery had beenconspicuous in the recent fight. But now the daring man seemed whollymastered by terror. Thick beads of moisture hung on his tanned brow,his bold brown face was pale as death, and his lips quivered as if in afit.
"Sit thee down, good fellow--thou art in no plight to stand," said theprince, kindly, as he pointed to a rude wooden settle in a corner ofhis plainly furnished room; for, like a true soldier, he scorned tobring city luxuries into the camp. "Sit, and speak plainly all thouhast to tell."
The great captain's cool, firm tone seemed to steady the scared man'sshaken nerves, and he told his dismal tale more clearly than might havebeen expected.
In obedience to the prince's orders, he and his comrades had gone forthto patrol the beach against a descent of the hovering rovers; buthardly had they left the town, when they were joined by Sir SimonHarcourt and a score of his men.
At Harcourt's name the prince's look waxed graver, and the closeattention with which he was listening seemed redoubled.
Sir Simon, so the archer said, had ridden to the head of the party,and, greeting his young nephews, stated his intention to share theirduty that day, saying it would ill befit him to cower behind walls whenthey were in the field, and that, in a service of such peril, hisexperience might be of use.
"Ha!" said the prince, with peculiar emphasis. "What said thy younglords to that?"
"Methought it liked them ill, for Sir Alured looked passing grim, andSir Hugo muttered somewhat of his being now of age to go abroad withouta nurse; but I heard nought more, my place being in the rear with themthat guarded our prisoner, the Flanderkin."
Then he went on to tell how, having broken up into many small partiesin order to patrol as wide a space as possible, they had scouted alongthe shore till late in the afternoon, without seeing any sign ofmischief. At last he and three or four of his comrades caught sight ofa suspicious-looking craft hovering in the offing, as if watching theirmovements.
"And then, an't please your highness, we took her for one of thesea-rovers for whom we were watching, and deemed it best to leave twoof our band to mark what she would do, while I and other two made hasteback to tell what we had seen. But when we neared the spot where we hadleft our young lords and the prisoner, on a sudden we heard voicesraised as in anger, and lo! Sir Alured and Sir Hugo face to face on thesand-beach at hot words, each with hand on hilt as if in high wrath;and beyond them their Uncle Simon, riding fast away toward the town,having said (as we learned later) that he must go make his report toyour highness, and crave your further orders."
"A wise engineer!" said the prince, with a bitter smile. "Having litthe match, he drew back warily ere the mine should explode. Well?"
"Then," faltered the stout bowman, "in a moment both swords were out,and the fray began. We all ran like madmen to part them; but----"
Here the brave man's overtasked firmness fairly gave way, and the fatalwords that he tried to utter were lost in a convulsive gasp.
"Enough, good friend. I understand thee," said Prince Edward, kindly."It was Sir Hugo, then, who fell. But what of the unhappy Sir Alured,whom God pity and forgive?"
"He dashed away as if pursued by the Evil One himself; and just thenback came Sir Simon, who had seen from afar, belike, what had befallen."
"Ha!" cried the prince again, in the same peculiar tone as before.
"Then shouted Sir Simon to us, 'What do ye, knaves, letting yon felonknight escape?' And he pointed after the traitor Flanderkin, who,seeing none left to guard him, was making his escape like a false rogueas he was, in spite of his plighted word. 'After him speedily, and seehe escape ye not. I will follow my nephew.'
"As he spake thus, he turned and rode off after Sir Alured, while wechased the Fleming and caught him; for we must needs obey Sir Simon'scommand, though certain of us had our own thoughts of the matter."
"And what were thy thoughts of it?" asked Prince Edward, turningsuddenly on him, and looking him full in the face.
The rough soldier replied only by shuffling uneasily with his feet, andtwisting his fingers nervously into each other, while his eyes shrankaway from the piercing glance fixed on him.
"I ask thee, friend," repeated the prince, in a tone which there was nogainsaying, "what were thy thoughts on this matter? And I charge thee,as thou art loyal subject and true Englishman, to answer me truly."
"Well, if your highness will have it," blurted out the yeoman, in sheerdesperation, "I thought, as did others beside me (may God forgive us ifwe were wrong!), that Sir Simon, being next heir to the broad lands ofClaremont, had bred a quarrel 'twixt his nephews, hoping that if theyslew each other, lands and goods should be his without more ado."
A gloomy silence followed the utterance of this ghastly suspicion,broken at last by the Black Prince himself.
"Be not troubled, good fellow," said he, laying his hand kindly on theother's shoulder. "Thou hast spoken what thou holdest to be the truth,as every man is bound to do; and if thou art mistaken, why, so mightany man be in like case. But what befell next?"
"We caught the rogue Flanderkin and brought him back with us, as wewere bidden; and then, knowing no better counsel, it seemed best to ouresquire that while he mustered the men as they came back from theirscouting, I should hie me to the town and tell what had chanced."
"Thou hast done well, and thy service shall not be forgotten. Go nowand rest thee, for thou must have need of it. Take this from me, andlet what thou hast said be a secret betwixt us."
The archer was hardly gone, when a messenger came to report the returnof the Claremont men-at-arms from their patrol under their oldestesquire, who had taken the command in default of his three superiorofficers.
Prince Edward at once summoned the esquire to his presence, but only tolearn fresh details that made the dark story gloomier than ever.
Sir Simon had never come back from seeking his lost nephew. Nothing hadsince been heard either of him or the wretched fratricide; and when themen returned to the spot where the slain Sir Hugo's corpse had beenleft, there was no sign of it but a red stain on the cold, grey sand,whence a trail of dark drops led down to the water's edge, showing buttoo plainly that the pirate crew in the offing must have landed onseeing the coast clear
, stripped the dead man of his rich armour, andthen flung him into the sea!
"An ill end for so young and brave a knight!" said the Black Prince,with a sigh. "May God rest his soul, and have mercy on him who slewhim!"