CHAPTER 6
A boy's life is of a very flexible sort. It takes but a little
while for it to shape itself to any new surroundings in which it
may be thrown, to make itself new friends, to settle itself to
new habits; and so it was that Myles fell directly into the ways
of the lads of Devlen. On his first morning, as he washed his
face and hands with the other squires and pages in a great tank
of water in the armory court-yard, he presently found himself
splashing and dashing with the others, laughing and shouting as
loud as any, and calling some by their Christian names as though
he had known them for years instead of overnight. During chapel
he watched with sympathetic delight the covert pranks of the
youngsters during the half-hour that Father Emmanuel droned his
Latin, and with his dagger point he carved his own name among the
many cut deep into the back of the bench before him. When, after
breakfast, the squires poured like school-boys into the great
armory to answer to the roll-call for daily exercise, he came
storming in with the rest, beating the lad in front of him with
his cap.
Boys are very keen to feel the influence of a forceful character.
A lad with a strong will is quick to reach his proper level as a
greater or lesser leader among the others, and Myles was of just
the masterful nature to make his individuality felt among the
Devlen squires. He was quick enough to yield obedience upon all
occasions to proper authority, but would never bend an inch to
the usurpation of tyranny. In the school at St. Mary's Priory at
Crosbey-Dale he would submit without a murmur or offer of
resistance to chastisement by old Father Ambrose, the regular
teacher; but once, when the fat old monk was sick, and a great
long-legged strapping young friar, who had temporarily taken his
place, undertook to administer punishment, Myles, with a
wrestling trip, flung him sprawling backward over a bench into
the midst of a shoal of small boys amid a hubbub of riotous
confusion. He had been flogged soundly for it under the
supervision of Prior Edward himself; but so soon as his
punishment was over, he assured the prior very seriously that
should like occasion again happen he would act in the same
manner, flogging or no flogging.
It was this bold, outspoken spirit that gained him at once
friends and enemies at Devlen, and though it first showed itself
in what was but a little matter, nevertheless it set a mark upon
him that singled him out from the rest, and, although he did not
suspect it at the time, called to him the attention of Sir James
Lee himself, who regarded him as a lad of free and frank spirit.
The first morning after the roll-call in the armory, as Walter
Blunt, the head bachelor, rolled up the slip of parchment, and
the temporary silence burst forth into redoubled noise and
confusion, each lad arming himself from a row of racks that stood
along the wall, he beckoned Myles to him.
"My Lord himself hath spoken to Sir James Lee concerning thee,"
said he. "Sir James maintaineth that he will not enter thee into
the body till thou hast first practised for a while at the pels,
and shown what thou canst do at broadsword. Hast ever fought at
the pel?"
"Aye," answered Myles, "and that every day of my life sin I
became esquire four years ago, saving only Sundays and holy
days."
"With shield and broadsword?"
"Sometimes," said Myles, "and sometimes with the short sword."
"Sir James would have thee come to the tilt- yard this morn; he
himself will take thee in hand to try what thou canst do. Thou
mayst take the arms upon yonder rack, and use them until
otherwise bidden. Thou seest that the number painted above it on
the wall is seventeen; that will be thy number for the nonce."
So Myles armed himself from his rack as the others were doing
from theirs. The armor was rude and heavy, used to accustom the
body to the weight of the iron plates rather than for any
defence. It consisted of a cuirass, or breastplate of iron,
opening at the side with hinges, and catching with hooks and
eyes; epauliers, or shoulder-plates; arm-plates and leg-pieces;
and a bascinet, or open- faced helmet. A great triangular shield
covered with leather and studded with bosses of iron, and a heavy
broadsword, pointed and dulled at the edges, completed the
equipment.
The practice at the pels which Myles was bidden to attend
comprised the chief exercise of the day with the esquires of
young cadet soldiers of that time, and in it they learned not
only all the strokes, cuts, and thrusts of sword-play then in
vogue, but also toughness, endurance, and elastic quickness. The
pels themselves consisted of upright posts of ash or oak, about
five feet six inches in height, and in girth somewhat thicker
than a man's thigh. They were firmly planted in the ground, and
upon them the strokes of the broadsword were directed.
At Devlen the pels stood just back of the open and covered
tilting courts and the archery ranges, and thither those lads not
upon household duty were marched every morning excepting Fridays
and Sundays, and were there exercised under the direction of Sir
James Lee and two assistants. The whole company was divided into
two, sometimes into three parties, each of which took its turn at
the exercise, delivering at the word of command the various
strokes, feints, attacks, and retreats as the instructors
ordered.
After five minutes of this mock battle the perspiration began to
pour down the faces, and the breath to come thick and short; but
it was not until the lads could absolutely endure no more that
the order was given to rest, and they were allowed to fling
themselves panting upon the ground, while another company took
its place at the triple row of posts.
As Myles struck and hacked at the pel assigned to him, Sir James
Lee stood beside him watching him in grim silence. The lad did
his best to show the knight all that he knew of upper cut, under
cut, thrust, and back-hand stroke, but it did not seem to him
that Sir James was very well satisfied with his skill.
"Thou fightest like a clodpole," said the old man. "Ha, that
stroke was but ill-recovered. Strike me it again, and get thou in
guard more quickly."
Myles repeated the stroke.
"Pest!" cried Sir James. "Thou art too slow by a week. Here,
strike thou the blow at me."
Myles hesitated. Sir James held a stout staff in his hand, but
otherwise he was unarmed.
"Strike, I say!" said Sir James. "What stayest thou for? Art
afeard?"
It was Myles's answer that set the seal of individuality upon
him. "Nay," said he, boldly, "I am not afeard. I fear not thee
nor any man!" So saying, he delivered the stroke at Sir James
with might and main. It was met with a jarring blow that made his
wrist and arm tingle, and the next instant he received a stroke
upon the bascinet that caused his ears to ring and the sparks to
dance. and fly before his eyes.
"Pardee!" said Sir James, grimly. "An I had had a mace in my
hand, I would have knocked thy cockerel brains out that time.
Thou mayst take that blow for answering me so pertly. And now we
are quits. Now strike me the stroke again an thou art not
afeard."
Myles's eyes watered in spite of himself, and he shut the lids
tight to wink the dimness away. Nevertheless he spoke up
undauntedly as before. "Aye, marry, will I strike it again," said
he; and this time he was able to recover guard quickly enough to
turn Sir James's blow with his shield, instead of receiving it
upon his head.
"So!" said Sir James. "Now mind thee of this, that when thou
strikest that lower cut at the legs, recover thyself more
quickly. Now, then, strike me it at the pel."
Gascoyne and other of the lads who were just then lying stretched
out upon the grass beneath, a tree at the edge of the open court
where stood the pels, were interested spectators of the whole
scene. Not one of them in their memory had heard Sir James so
answered face to face as Myles had answered him, and, after all,
perhaps the lad himself would not have done so had he been longer
a resident in the squires' quarters at Devlen.
"By 'r Lady! thou art a cool blade, Myles," said Gascoyne, as
they marched back to the armory again. "Never heard I one bespeak
Sir James as thou hast done this day."
"And, after all," said another of the young squires, "old Bruin
was not so ill-pleased, methinks. That was a shrewd blow he
fetched thee on the crown, Falworth. Marry, I would not have had
it on my own skull for a silver penny."
