"There's for thee a good hearing and seeing stead, old lad. Thou art
tall across thy belly and not otherwise, and thy wind, belike, is none
of the best, and but for me thou wouldst have been amidst the thickest
of the throng, and have heard words muffled by Kentish bellies and
seen little but swinky woollen elbows and greasy plates and jacks.
Look no more on the ground, as though thou sawest a hare, but let
thine eyes and thine ears be busy to gather tidings to bear back to
Essex--or heaven!"

I grinned good-fellowship at him but said nothing, for in truth my
eyes and ears were as busy as he would have them to be. A buzz of
general talk went up from the throng amidst the regular cadence of the
bells, which now seemed far away and as it were that they were not
swayed by hands, but were living creatures making that noise of their
own wills.

I looked around and saw that the newcomers mingled with us must have
been a regular armed band; all had bucklers slung at their backs, few
lacked a sword at the side. Some had bows, some "staves"--that is,
bills, pole-axes, or pikes. Moreover, unlike our villagers, they had
defensive arms. Most had steel-caps on their heads, and some had body
armour, generally a "jack," or coat into which pieces of iron or horn
were quilted; some had also steel or steel-and-leather arm or thigh
pieces. There were a few mounted men among them, their horses being
big-boned hammer-headed beasts, that looked as if they had been taken
from plough or waggon, but their riders were well armed with steel
armour on their heads, legs, and arms. Amongst the horsemen I noted
the man that had ridden past me when I first awoke; but he seemed to
be a prisoner, as he had a woollen hood on his head instead of his