Men of Iron | Page 6

vile
tongue?" said he.

"Call it not vile," said the blind old Lord, grimly; "belike, when thou art
grown a man, thou'lt have to seek thy fortune in France land, for
England is haply no place for such as be of Falworth blood." And in
after-years, true to his father's prediction, the "vile tongue" served him
well.
As for his physical training, that pretty well filled up the hours between
his morning studies at the monastery and his evening studies at home.
Then it was that old Diccon Bowman took him in hand, than whom
none could be better fitted to shape his young body to strength and his
hands to skill in arms. The old bowman had served with Lord
Falworth's father under the Black Prince both in France and Spain, and
in long years of war had gained a practical knowledge of arms that few
could surpass. Besides the use of the broadsword, the short sword, the
quarter-staff, and the cudgel, he taught Myles to shoot so skilfully with
the long- bow and the cross-bow that not a lad in the country-side was
his match at the village butts. Attack and defence with the lance, and
throwing the knife and dagger were also part of his training.
Then, in addition to this more regular part of his physical training,
Myles was taught in another branch not so often included in the
military education of the day--the art of wrestling. It happened that a
fellow lived in Crosbey village, by name Ralph-the-Smith, who was the
greatest wrestler in the country-side, and had worn the champion belt
for three years. Every Sunday afternoon, in fair weather, he came to
teach Myles the art, and being wonderfully adept in bodily feats, he
soon grew so quick and active and firm- footed that he could cast any
lad under twenty years of age living within a range of five miles.
"It is main ungentle armscraft that he learneth," said Lord Falworth one
day to Prior Edward. "Saving only the broadsword, the dagger, and the
lance, there is but little that a gentleman of his strain may use. Neth'less,
he gaineth quickness and suppleness, and if he hath true blood in his
veins he will acquire knightly arts shrewdly quick when the time
cometh to learn them."
But hard and grinding as Myles's life was, it was not entirely without
pleasures. There were many boys living in Crosbey-Dale and the

village; yeomen's and farmers' sons, to be sure, but, nevertheless, lads
of his own age, and that, after all, is the main requirement for
friendship in boyhood's world. Then there was the river to bathe in;
there were the hills and valleys to roam over, and the wold and
woodland, with their wealth of nuts and birds'-nests and what not of
boyhood's treasures.
Once he gained a triumph that for many a day was very sweet under the
tongue of his memory. As was said before, he had been three times to
the market-town at fair-time, and upon the last of these occasions he
had fought a bout of quarterstaff with a young fellow of twenty, and
had been the conqueror. He was then only a little over fourteen years
old.
Old Diccon, who had gone with him to the fair, had met some cronies
of his own, with whom he had sat gossiping in the ale-booth, leaving
Myles for the nonce to shift for himself. By-and-by the old man had
noticed a crowd gathered at one part of the fair-ground, and, snuffing a
fight, had gone running, ale-pot in hand. Then, peering over the
shoulders of the crowd, he had seen his young master, stripped to the
waist, fighting like a gladiator with a fellow a head taller than himself.
Diccon was about to force his way through the crowd and drag them
asunder, but a second look had showed his practised eye that Myles
was not only holding his own, but was in the way of winning the
victory. So he had stood with the others looking on, withholding
himself from any interference and whatever upbraiding might be
necessary until the fight had been brought to a triumphant close. Lord
Falworth never heard directly of the redoubtable affair, but old Diccon
was not so silent with the common folk of Crosbey-Dale, and so no
doubt the father had some inkling of what had happened. It was shortly
after this notable event that Myles was formally initiated into
squirehood. His father and mother, as was the custom, stood sponsors
for him. By them, each bearing a lighted taper, he was escorted to the
altar. It was at St. Mary's Priory, and Prior Edward blessed the sword
and girded it to the lad's side. No one was present but the four, and
when the good