made upon that subject which interests all Englishmen so deeply
even now--the weather.

"Hast travelled far?" asked the chieftain.

"Only from Pevensey; we sought Michelham, but in the storm we must
have wandered miles from it."

"Many miles," said a low, sweet voice.

The knight then noticed the woman for the first time--he might have
said lady--who sat on the right of this grim king. Her features and
bearing were so superior to her surroundings that he started, as
men do when they spy a rich flower in a garden of herbs. By her
side was a boy, evidently her son, for he had her dark features, so
unlike the general type around.

"How came such folk here?" thought De Montfort.

The meal was at length served, the stew poured into wooden bowls;
no spoons or forks were provided. The fingers and the lips had to
do their work unaided, in that day, at least in the huts of the
peasantry. Bread, or rather baked corn cakes, were produced; herbs
floated in the soup for flavouring; vegetables, properly so called,
were there none.

Many a time had our travellers partaken of rougher fare in their
campaigns, and they were well content with their food; so they ate
contentedly with good appetite. The wind howled without, the snow
found its way in through divers apertures, but the warmth of the