At Agincourt

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"If he sees a force advancing he must gallop back at full speed to his
comrade, and light the fire. Have a gun always loaded on the keep, and
have a brazier burning hard by, with an iron in it, so that the piece may
be fired the instant smoke is seen. It might be two or three minutes
before the beacon would give out smoke enough to be noticed, and every
minute may be of the greatest importance to the vassals. As soon as you
return from setting the posts see that everything is in readiness here. I
myself will make sure that the drawbridge works easily and the portcullis
runs freely in its groove. I have already sent off John Harpen to warn the
tenants, and doubtless many of them will be in this afternoon. Send Pierre
with four men, and tell them to drive up a number of the cattle from the
marshes. They need not trouble to hunt them all up today. Let them bring
the principal herd, the others we will fetch in to-morrow, or let them
range where they are until we have further news."

In a few minutes the castle resounded with the din of preparations under
the superintendence of Sir Eustace. The men-at-arms and archers carried up
stones from the great pile that had been collected in the court-yard in
readiness, to the various points on the walls that would be most exposed
to assault. Others were employed in fixing barricades in the court-yard at
the rear for the reception of the herd of half-wild cattle. The water was
turned from the little rivulet running down to the Somme into the moat.
Two or three bullocks were killed to furnish food for the fugitives who
might come in, and straw was laid down thickly in the sheds that would be
occupied by them. Machines for casting heavy stones were taken from the
storehouse and carried up to the walls, and set up there. Large stone
troughs placed in the court-yard were filled with water, and before
nightfall everything was in readiness.

As Sir Eustace had anticipated, most of the vassals whose farms lay at a
distance from the castle came in with their wives and families in the
course of the afternoon, bringing carts laden with their household goods,
and a considerable number of horses and cattle. Lady Margaret herself saw
that they were established as comfortably as possible in the sheds, which
were large enough to contain all the women and children on the estate. As
for the men, no such provision was necessary, as at this time of the year
they could sleep in the open air. Guy was busy all day seeing that the
orders of his lord were carried out, and especially watching the
operations of putting the ballistas and catapults together on the walls.
Cannon, though now in use, had by no means superseded these machines, for
they were cumbrous and clumsy, and could only be fired at considerable
intervals, and their aim was by no means accurate or their range
extensive, as the charge of powder that could be used in them was
comparatively small, and the powder itself ill-made and defective in
strength.

Guy was struck with the difference of demeanour between the men-at-arms
and archers, especially among the English contingent, and that of the
fugitives who poured in. What was a terrible blow to the latter was the
cause of a scarce concealed gratification among the former. The two months
that had been spent at the castle had, to the English, been a somewhat
monotonous time, and the prospect of active service and of the giving and
taking of blows made their blood course more rapidly through their veins.
It was the prospect of fighting rather than of pay that had attracted them
to the service of Sir Eustace. Then, as for a century previous and until
quite modern days, Frenchmen were regarded as the natural foes of England,
and however large a force an English king wished to collect for service in
France, he had never any difficulty whatever in obtaining the number he
asked for, and they were ready cheerfully to give battle whatever the odds
against them. The English archer's confidence in himself and his skill was
indeed supreme. Before the shafts of his forefathers the flower of the
French chivalry had gone down like rushes before a scythe, and from being
a mere accessory to a battle the English archers had become the backbone
of the force. Their skill, in fact, had revolutionized warfare, had broken
the power of cavalry, and had added to the dignity and value of infantry,
who had become, as they have ever since continued to be, the prime factor
in warfare. Consequently the English archers and men-at-arms went about
their work of preparation with a zest and cheerfulness that showed their
satisfaction in it.

"Why, Tom," Guy said to the tall leader of the archers, "you look as
pleased as if it were a feast rather than a fray for which you were
preparing."

"And so I feel, Master Guy. For what have I been practising with the bow
since I was eight years old but that I might, when the time came, send an
arrow straight through the bars of a French vizor? In faith, I began to
think that I should never have an opportunity of exercising my skill on
anything more worthy than a target or peeled wand. Since our kings have
given up leading armies across the sea, there was no way but to take
service with our lord when I heard that he wanted a small company of
archers for the defence of his castle over here, and since we have come it
has seemed to us all that we were taking pay and food under false
pretences, and that we might as well have stopped at home where, at least,
we can compete in all honour and good temper against men as good as
ourselves, and with the certainty of winning a few silver pennies, to say
nothing of plaudits from the onlookers. 'Tis with our people as with the
knights of old; if they win in a tournament they take the armour of the
vanquished, the prize from the Queen of Beauty, and many a glance of
admiration from bright eyes. It is the same with us; for there is not an
English maid but would choose an archer who stands straight and firm, and
can carry off a prize when in good company, to a hind who thinks of naught
but delving the soil and tending the herd."

Guy laughed. "I suppose it is the same, when you put it so, Long Tom; but
there will be none of your English maids to watch your prowess here."

"No, Master Guy; but here we shall fight for our own satisfaction, and
prove to ourselves that we are as good men as our fathers were. I know
naught of this quarrel. Had Sir Eustace taken us into the field to fight
for one or other of these factions concerning which we know nothing, we
should doubtless have done our duty and fought manfully. But we are all
glad that here we are doing what we came for; we are going to defend the
castle against Frenchmen of some sort or other who would do ill to our
lord and lady, and we shall fight right heartily and joyfully, and should
still do so were it the mad king of France himself who marched against us.
Besides, master, we should be less than men if we did not feel for the
frightened women and children who, having done no wrong, and caring naught
for these factions, are forced to flee from their homes for their lives;
so we shall strike in just as we should strike in were we to come upon a
band of robbers ill-treating a woman at home.... Think you that they will
come, master?" he added eagerly.

"That I cannot say surely, Tom; but Sir Eustace has news that the
Burgundians have already seized several towns and placed garrisons there,
and that armed bands are traversing the country, burning and pillaging.
Whether they will feel strong enough to make an attack on this castle I
know not, but belike they will do so, for Sir Eustace, belonging as he
does, and as his fathers have done before him, to the English party,
neither of the others will feel any good-will towards him, and some of his
neighbours may well be glad to take advantage of this troubled time to
endeavour to despoil him of his castle and possessions."

"They will want to have good teeth to crack this nut, Master Guy--good
teeth and strong; and methinks that those who come to pluck the feathers
may well go back without their own. We have a rare store of shafts ready,
and they will find that their cross-bowmen are of little use against
picked English archers, even though there be but twenty-five of us in
all."

"You know very well, Long Tom, that you would have come over here whether
there was any chance of your drawing your bow on a Frenchman or not."

"That is true enough, Master Guy. Our lady wanted some bowmen, and I, who
have been born and bred on the estate, was of course bound to go with her.
Then you see, Master Guy, haven't I taught you to use the bow and the
quarter-staff, and carried you on my shoulder many a score of times when
you were a little lad and I was a big boy? It would not have been natural
for you to have gone out with a chance of getting into a fight without my
being there to draw a shaft when you needed it. Why, Ruth Gregory, whose
sworn bachelor you know I am, would have cried shame on me if I had
lingered behind. I told her that if I stayed it would be for her sake, and
you should have seen how she flouted me, saying that she would have no
tall lout hiding behind her petticoats, and that if I stayed, it should
not be as her man. And now I must be off to my supper, or I shall find
that there is not a morsel left for me."

The gates of the castle were closed that night, but it was not considered
necessary to lower the drawbridge. Two sentries were posted at the work
beyond the moat, and one above the gate, besides the watcher at the top of
the keep. The next day things were got into better order. More barricades
were erected for the separation of the cattle; a portion was set aside for
horses. The provisions brought in from the farms were stored away in the
magazines. The women and children began to settle down more comfortably in
their sheds. The best of the horses and cattle were removed into the inner
court-yard. The boys were set drawing water and filling the troughs, while
some of the farm men were told off to carry the fodder to the animals,
most of which, however, were for the time turned out to graze near the
castle. Many of the men who had come in had returned to their work on the
farms. During the day waggons continued to arrive with stores of grain and
forage; boys and girls drove in flocks of geese and turkeys and large
numbers of ducks and hens, until the yard in which the sheds were was
crowded with them. By nightfall every preparation was complete, and even
Jean Bouvard himself could find nothing further to suggest.

"If they are coming," he said to Sir Eustace, "the sooner they come the
better, my lord; we have done all that we can do, and had best get it over
without more ado."

"I still hope that no one will come, Bouvard, but I agree with you, that
if it is to come the sooner the better. But there is no saying, it may be
to-morrow, it may be months before we are disturbed. Still, in a war like
this, it is likely that all will try and get as much as they can as
quickly as possible, for at any moment it may suit Burgundy and Orleans to
patch up their quarrel again. Burgundy is astute and cunning, and if he
sees that the Orleans princes with Armagnac and the Duke of Bourbon are
likely to get the best of it, he will use the king and queen to intervene
and stop the fighting. Seeing that this may be so, the rogues who have
their eye on their neighbours' goods and possessions will, you may be
sure, lose no time in stretching out their hands for them."

A week later came the news that Sir Clugnet de Brabant, who styled himself
Admiral of France, had gathered two thousand men from the Orleanist
garrisons and, with scaling-ladders and other warlike machines, had
attacked the town of Rethel. The inhabitants had, however, notice of their
coming, and resisted so stoutly that the Orleanists had been forced to
retreat, and had then divided into two parties, each of whom had scoured
the country, making prisoners all whom they met, firing the villages and
driving off the cattle, and then returned to the town of Ham and to the
various garrisons from which they had been drawn. Some of the tenants had
returned to their farms, but when the news spread they again took refuge
in the castle. It was probable that Artois, where almost all the towns
were held by the Burgundian party, would be the next object of attack. The
Orleanists remained quiet for eight days only, then the news came that
they had moved out again from Ham eight thousand strong, and were marching
west.

Two days later several fugitives from the country round arrived at the
castle with news that the Orleanists were advancing against Bapaume, and
the next morning they heard that they had, after a fierce fight, won their
way to the gate of the town. The Burgundian garrison had then sallied out
and at first met with success, but had been obliged to retreat within the
walls again. The Orleanists, however, considering the place too strong to
be captured without a long siege, which might be interrupted by a
Burgundian force from Flanders, had drawn off from the place, but were
still marching north burning and plundering.

"It is likely enough that they will come this way," Sir Eustace said as he
and Jean Bouvard talked the matter over. "Assuredly Arras will be too
strong for them to attempt. The straight line would take them to St. Pol,
but the castle there is a very strong one also. They may sack and burn
Avesne and Auvigni, and then, avoiding both St. Pol and Arras, march
between them to Pernes, which is large enough to give them much plunder,
but has no force that could resist them. As Pernes is but four miles away,
their next call may be here."

"But why should they attack us, Sir Eustace? for here, too, they might
reckon upon more hard blows than plunder."

"It will depend upon whom they have with them," Sir Eustace replied. "They
say that our neighbour Hugh de Fruges went south ten days ago to join the
Duke of Bourbon; his castle is but a small place, and as most of Artois is
Burgundian he might be afraid he might be captured. He has never borne me
good-will, and might well persuade the duke that were my castle and
estates in his possession he might do good service to the cause; and that,
moreover, standing as we do within twelve miles of the English frontier,
its possession might be very valuable to him should the Orleanists ever
have occasion to call in the aid of England, or to oppose their advance
should the Burgundians take that step."

"Surely neither of these factions will do that, Sir Eustace."

"Why not, Bouvard? Every time that English armies have passed into France
they have done it at the invitation of French nobles who have embroiled
themselves with their kings. Burgundy and Orleans, Bourbon and Brittany,
each fights for his own hand, and cares little for France as a whole. They
may be vassals of the Valois, but they regard themselves as being nearly,
if not altogether, their equals, and are always ready to league themselves
with each other, or if it needs be with the English, against the throne."

At nine o'clock on the following evening Sir Eustace and his family were
startled by the report of the gun on the keep, and, running out, saw the
signal-fire beginning to blaze up.

"Above there!" Sir Eustace shouted, "where is the alarm?"

"A fire has just blazed up on the road to St. Pol," the warder replied.

"Blow your horn, then, loudly and urgently."

The news that the Orleanists were marching north from Bapaume had caused
the greater portion of the farmers to come in on the previous day, and in
a short time those who were nearest to the castle, and who had
consequently delayed as long as possible, began to arrive. The garrison
were already under arms, and had taken the places assigned to them on the
walls. All the tenants had brought their arms in with them, and were now
drawn up in the court-yard, where a large bonfire, that had been for some
days in readiness, was now blazing. The new-comers, after turning their
horses into the inclosure with those already there, joined them. All had
been acquainted with the share they were to bear should the place be
besieged. They were to be divided into two parties, one of which was to be
on duty on the walls with the garrison, the other to be held in reserve,
and was--every six hours when matters were quiet--to relieve the party on
the walls, or, when an attack took place, to be under arms and ready to
hasten to any spot where its aid was required. The men were now inspected
by Sir Eustace, additional arms were served out from the armoury to those
whose equipment was insufficient, and they were then dismissed to join
their wives and families until called to the walls.

[Illustration: "THE TWO MEN WHO LIT THE ALARM FIRES RODE INTO THE
CASTLE."]

CHAPTER III

A SIEGE

The two men who had lit the alarm fires had already ridden in. They
reported that they had, just as it became dark, seen flames rising from a
village three miles from them, and that the man in advance had ridden
forward until near enough to see that a great body of men were issuing
from the village in the direction of the castle.

Ten of the English men-at-arms, and as many French, were now posted in the
outwork at the head of the drawbridge under the command of Jean Bouvard.
Sir Eustace placed himself with his squire on the wall above the gate, and
four men were stationed at the chains of the drawbridge in readiness to
hoist it should the order be given. The English archers were on the wall
beside Sir Eustace, as their arrows commanded the ground beyond the
outwork. Half an hour after the first alarm was given the tale of the
tenants was found to be complete, and the guards on the other two roads
had also ridden in. Guy, to his great satisfaction, had been ordered by
Sir Eustace to don his armour and to take his place beside him.

It was upwards of an hour before a body of horsemen could be heard
approaching. They came at a leisurely pace, for the bonfire on the road
and that on the keep had apprised them that their hope of taking the
castle by surprise had been frustrated by the disobedience of some of
their men, who, in defiance of the strictest orders to the contrary, had
set fire to several houses in the village after having plundered them. Sir
Eustace, accompanied by his esquire and Guy, descended from the wall and
crossed the drawbridge to the outwork. As soon as the horsemen came within
bow-shot of the castle they lighted some torches, and three knights,
preceded by a trooper carrying a white flag, and two others with torches,
came towards the work. When within fifty yards of the postern they halted.

"Is Sieur Eustace de Villeroy present?"

"I am here," Sir Eustace replied, and at his order two men with torches
took their place one on each side of him. "Who are you that approach my
castle in armed force?"

"I am Sir Clugnet de Brabant, Admiral of France. These are Sir Manessier
Guieret and Sir Hugh de Fruges, and we come in the name of the Duke of
Orleans to summon you to admit a garrison of his highness's troops."

"I am neither for Orleans nor for Burgundy," Sir Eustace replied. "I am a
simple knight, holding my castle and estate as a vassal of the crown, and
am ready to obey the orders of the king,--and of him only when he is in a
condition of mind to give such orders. Until then I shall hold my castle,
and will admit no garrison whether of Orleans or of Burgundy."

"We hold you to be but a false vassal of the crown, and we are told that
at heart you are an enemy to France and devoted to England."

"I am a vassal of England for the estates of my wife in that country," Sir
Eustace said; "and as at present there is a truce between the two nations,
I can serve here the King of France as faithfully as if, in England, I
should serve the King of England."

"Nevertheless, Sir Eustace, you will have to receive a garrison of
Orleans. I have at my back eight thousand men, and if you compel me to
storm this hold of yours I warn you that all within its walls will be put
to the sword."

"Thanks for your warning, Sir Knight; and I on my part warn you that,
eight thousand though you be, I shall resist you to the death, and that
you will not carry eight thousand away. As for Sir Hugh de Fruges, I give
him my open defiance. I know it is to him that I owe this raid; and if he
be man enough, I challenge him to meet me in the morning on fair ground
outside this postern, with lance and battle-axe, to fight to the death. If
he conquers, my castle shall be surrendered to him, upon promise of good
treatment and a safe-conduct to depart where they will for all within it;
but if I slay him, you must give me your knightly oath that you and your
following will depart forthwith."

"The conditions would be hardly fair, Sir Eustace," Sir Clugnet said; "and
though I doubt not that Sir Hugh would gladly accept them, I cannot permit
him to do so. I have brought some eight thousand men here to capture this
castle, and hold it for the Duke of Orleans, and I see not why I should
march away with them because you may perchance prove a better fighter than
Sir Hugh. I am ready, however, to give a safe-conduct to all within the
walls if you will surrender."

"That will I not do, Sir Clugnet. I hold this castle neither for Burgundy
nor Orleans, and am ready to give pledge that I will not draw sword for
either of these princes; but if that will not content you, you must even
take my castle if you can, and I give you fair warning that it will cost
you dear."

"Then adieu, Sir Knight, until to-morrow morning, when we will talk in
other fashion."

"So be it," Sir Eustace replied, "you will not find me backward in
returning any courtesies you may pay me."

The knights turned away with their torch-bearers.

"Keep a close watch to-night, Bouvard," Sir Eustace said. "Mark you what
the knight said,--adieu till the morning. Had I to deal with a loyal
gentleman I could have slept soundly, but with these adventurers it is
different. It may be that he truly does not intend to attack till morning,
but it is more likely that he used the words in order to throw us off our
guard."

"We will keep close ward, Sir Eustace. All the men-at-arms have their
cross-bows, and though I say not that they can shoot like these English
archers, they can shoot straight enough to do good work should those
fellows attempt in force to cross the small moat and attack the gate. But
if they come, methinks it will be but to try if we are wakeful; 'tis no
light thing to attack even an outwork like this, with this loop from the
moat surrounding it, without previous examination of the ground and
reconnoitring of the castle."

"They would not attempt to attack the fortress itself," Sir Eustace said;
"but if they could seize this outwork by surprise it would mightily aid
them in their attack on the fortress; at any rate I will send down five
archers, and if any of the enemy crawl up to see how wide the water is
here, and how the attempt had best be made, I warrant that they will not
return if the archers can but get a sight of them. Post half your men on
the wall, and let the others sleep; change them every two hours--we want
no sleepy heads in the morning."

By this time the confused sound of a large number of men marching could be
made out, and a quarter of an hour later three or four cottages, some five
hundred yards away, were fired, and an angry murmur broke from the men as
the flames shot up. After sending down the five archers, Sir Eustace
returned to his post over the main gate,

"Get cressets and torches in readiness to light if they attack the
postern," Sir Eustace said; "we must have light to see how things go, so
that we may hoist the drawbridge as soon as our men are upon it, should
the enemy get the better of them. Be sure that one is not left behind; it
were better that half a dozen of the enemy set foot on the drawbridge than
that one of our brave fellows should be sacrificed."

"I should think that there is no fear of their attacking until those
flames have burnt down; we should see them against the light," John Harpen
said.

"No, there is no fear of their attacking; but the fire would be of
advantage if any men were crawling up to spy. Of course they would not
cross the slope in a line with the fire, but would work along on either
side, reckoning, and with reason, that as our men would have the light in
their eyes they would be all the less likely to make out objects crawling
along in the shade by the side of the moat. Plant half a dozen bowmen at
intervals on the wall, Tom, and tell them to keep a shrewd eye on the
ground near the moat, and if they see aught moving there to try it with an
arrow."

There was shouting and noise up by the burning cottages, where the enemy
were feasting on the spoils they had taken, and drinking from the wine-
barrels that had been brought with them in carts from the last village
that they had plundered.

"I wish we were somewhat stronger, or they somewhat weaker," Sir Eustace
said; "were it so, we would make a sally, and give the knaves a sharp
lesson, but with only two hundred men against their eight thousand it
would be madness to try it; we might slay a good many, but might lose a
score before we were back in the castle, and it would be a heavy loss to
us."

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