The Hollow Land | Page 8

was flat; and through these hills was one pass,
guarded by our men, which pass led to the Hill castle of the Lilies.

It was not wonderful, that of this moor many wild stories were told,
being such a strange lonely place, some of them one knew, alas to be
over true. In the old time, before we went to the good town, this moor
had been the mustering place of our people, and our house had done
deeds enough of blood and horror to turn our white lilies red, and our
blue cross to a fiery one. But some of those wild tales I never believed;
they had to do mostly with men losing their way without any apparent
cause, (for there were plenty of landmarks,) finding some well-known
spot, and then, just beyond it, a place they had never even dreamed of.
"Florian! FIorian!" said Arnald, "for God's sake stop! as every one else
is stopping to look at the hills yonder; I always thought there was a
curse upon us. What does God mean by shutting us up here? Look at
the cattle; 0 Christ, they have found it out too! See, some of them are
turning to run back again towards Harald's land. Oh! unhappy, unhappy,
from that day forward!"
He leaned forward, rested his head on his horse's neck, and wept like a
child. I felt so irritated with him, that I could almost have slain him
then and there. Was he mad? had these wild doings of ours turned his
strong wise head?
"Are you my brother Arnald, that I used to think such a grand man
when I was a boy?" I said, "or are you changed too, like everybody, and
everything else? What do you mean?"
"Look! look!" he said, grinding his teeth in agony. I raised my eyes:
where was the one pass between the rim of stern rocks? Nothing: the
enemy behind us- that grim wall in front: what wonder that each man
looked in his fellow's face for help, and found it not. Yet I refused to
believe that there was any troth either in the wild stories that I had
heard when I was a boy, or in this story told me so clearly by my eyes
now.
I called out cheerily, "Hugh, come here!" He came. "What do you think
of this? Some mere dodge on Harald's part? Are we cut off?" "Think!
Sir Florian? God forgive me for ever thinking at all; I have given up
that long and long ago, because thirty years ago I thought this, that the
House of Lilies would deserve anything in the way of bad fortune that
God would send them: so I gave up thinking, and took to fighting. But
if you think that Harald had anything to do with this, why-why-in God's
name, I wish I could think so!"

I felt a dull weight on my heart. Had our house been the devil's servants
all along? I thought we were God's servants.
The day was very still, but what little wind there was, was at our backs.
I watched Hugh's face, not being able to answer him. He was the
cleverest man at war that I have known, either before or since that day;
sharper than any hound in ear and scent, clearer sighted than any eagle;
he was listening now intently. I saw a slight smile cross his face; heard
him mutter, "Yes! I think so: verily that is better, a great deal better."
Then he stood up in his stirrups, and shouted, "Hurrah for the Lilies!
Mary rings!" "Mary rings!" I shouted, though I did not know the reason
for his exultation: my brother lifted his head, and smiled too, grimly.
Then as I listened I heard clearly the sound of a trumpet, and enemy's
trumpet too.
"After all, it was only mist, or some such thing," I said, for the pass
between the hills was clear enough now.
"Hurrah! only mist," said Amald, quite elated; "Mary rings!" and we all
began to think of fighting: for after all what joy is equal to that?
There were five hundred of us; two hundred spears, the rest archers;
and both archers and men at arms were picked men.
"How many of them are we to expect?" said I. "Not under a thousand,
certainly, probably more, Sir Florian." (My brother Arnald, by the way,
had knighted me before we left the good town, and Hugh liked to give
me the handle to my name. How was it, by the way, that no one had
ever made him a knight?)
"Let every one look to his arms and horse, and come away from these
silly cows' sons!" shouted Arnald.
Hugh said, "They will be here in an hour, fair Sir."
So