strong enough to bear arms, but he will learn to brace his nerves and show
a bold front in danger; that is a lesson that cannot be learned too young.
Yes, Henry, you shall be my messenger. If they try an assault to-night,
you shall put on for the first time the steel cap and breastpiece I had
made for you in England; there will be no danger of your being hit by
crossbow bolt or arrow, but there may be splinters of stone flying when a
missile hits the battlement. Take no arms with you, only your dagger; they
would be useless to you, and would hamper your movements in getting past
the men on the wall, or in running up and down the steps leading to it.
Now you had better lie down; both Guy and myself are going to do so. At
sunset, if no alarm comes before, you will be called."

"We must not coddle the boy, Margaret," he said as Guy and Henry went off.
"I know that he is not physically strong as yet, and sorry I am that it
should be so, but he might exert himself more than he does, and he is apt
to think too much of his ailments. I was glad when he volunteered to do
something, for it is at least as well that he should be able to stand fire
even if he cannot learn the use of arms; moreover, it may be that after
once bearing a part in a fray he may incline more warmly to warlike
exercises than he has hitherto done; it may rouse in him a spirit which
has so far been wanting. I have often thought that it would have been
better if Agnes had been the boy and he the girl; she has far more courage
and fire than he has. You remember when that savage bull chased them, how
she saw him first over the stile and got tossed over after him for her
pains?"

Dame Margaret nodded. "I am not likely to forget it, Eustace, seeing that
her arm was broken and I had to nurse her for six weeks. Do you know that
she was up on the top of the keep while the fighting was going on? Of
course I was there myself, and she begged so hard to be allowed to remain