The brothers looked eagerly at the handsome case, wrought and inlaid
with gold, in which certain precious parchments had lain ever since they
had been carried in haste from England. The boys looked at these with a
species of awe, for they had but very scant knowledge of letters, and
such as they had acquired from the good Father was not enough to enable
them to master the contents of the papers. Learning was almost entirely
confined to the ecclesiastics in those days, and many were the men of
birth and rank who could scarce read or write their own name.

But the devices upon the parchments told a tale more easily understood.
There was the golden lion rampant upon the black ground -- the arms of
the De Brocas family, as the Father told them; whilst the papers that
referred to Basildene were adorned with a shield bearing a silver stag
upon an azure ground. They would have no difficulty in knowing the deeds
apart; and good Margot sewed them first into a bag of untanned leather,
and then stitched them safely within the breast of Gaston's leathern
jerkin. The golden pieces, and a few rings and trinkets that were all
that remained to the boys of their lost inheritance, were sewn in like
manner into Raymond's clothing, and there was little more to be done ere
the brothers went forth into the unknown world.

As for their worldly possessions, they were soon numbered, and comprised
little more than their clothing, their bows and arrows, and the poniards
which hung at their girdles. As they were to proceed on foot to
Bordeaux, and would probably journey in the same simple fashion when
they reached the shores of England, they had no wish to hamper
themselves with any needless encumbrances, and all that they took with
them was a single change of under vest and hose, which they were easily
able to carry in a wallet at their back. They sallied forth in the dress