CHAPTER II: THE HUT IN THE MARSHES


A week later a party of knights and court gallants, riding across the
fields without the walls, checked their horses to look at a struggle which
was going on between two parties of boys. One, which was apparently the
most powerful, had driven the other off from a heap of rubbish which had
been carried without the walls. Each party had a flag attached to a stick,
and the boys were armed with clubs such as those carried by the apprentice
boys. Many of them carried mimic shields made of wood, and had stuffed
their flat caps with wool or shavings, the better to protect their heads
from blows. The smaller party had just been driven from the heap, and their
leader was urging them to make another effort to regain it.

"That is a gallant-looking lad, and a sturdy, my Lord de Vaux," a boy of
about ten years of age said. "He bears himself like a young knight, and he
has had some hard knocks, for, see, the blood is streaming down his face.
One would scarcely expect to see these varlets of the city playing so
roughly."

"The citizens have proved themselves sturdy fighters before now, my
prince," the other said; "they are ever independent, and hold to their
rights even against the king. The contingent which the city sends to the
wars bears itself as well as those of any of the barons."

"See!" the boy interrupted, "they are going to charge again. Their leader
has himself seized the flag and has swung his shield behind him, just as a
knight might do if leading the stormers against a place of strength. Let us