CHAPTER XLII

A PRINCESS IN PERIL

My excitement, which for many hours before I reached the homestead, where I came just in time to hear that I was too late, had been intense, gradually subsided; and such was the reaction which took place that, for days and weeks, my depression was well-nigh intolerable. I had no heart to return to Westminster; and having, on the plea of recruiting my health and spirits in the air I had breathed during childhood, obtained from Sir Thomas Norwich leave to absent myself from my duties as page, I walked and rode about the forest of Windsor, indulging in melancholy musing over the past, and as indifferent to the future as I had previously been enthusiastic and sanguine. In vain I essayed to rouse myself from lethargy. I felt as if nothing could ever again revive my hope, and restore me to that energy which is hope in action. I had already passed weeks in this frame of mind, when fortune threw me in the way of a terrible adventure, in which I won some honour, and nearly lost my life.

It was autumn; and albeit the harvest was gathered in, and the leaves were falling from the trees, the sun shone with sufficient brightness to gladden the heart of man, and to impart to the landscape a cheerful aspect; when, having occasion one day to visit the little town of Windsor, I mounted my black steed and rode through the forest. When, absorbed in reflection, I was wending my way up one of the glades, my horse, while pacing proudly along the grassy path, suddenly shied; and, looking round, I perceived that he had been startled by the green dress and white bow of an archer, who emerged from the wood, closely attended by a black mastiff of prodigious strength, and capable of being a powerful friend or a terrible foe.

I observed that the archer eyed me with a glance of recognition; and, drawing up, I, with a consciousness of having seen him before, gave him "Good day," and, with a slight effort of memory, I called to mind that he was one of the Englishmen who, stationed in the prince's division, had drawn their bows at Cressy; that I had often observed and praised his dexterity during the expedition into France; and, moreover, that he was one of those who had been since taken into the king's service, by way of rewarding them for their marvellous achievements during the war with Philip of Valois. Remembering such to have been the case, I entered into conversation with him, and while I rode slowly, and he walked at my stirrup, with his mastiff at his heels, through the forest, in the direction of Windsor, he talked of the battles and sieges in which he had taken part.

Now this archer, whose name was Liulph, was of yeoman extraction and Saxon descent; and I have no doubt that, if he had lived in earlier centuries, when a bitter sense of the distinction between the victor and vanquished races kept the kingdom in hot water, he would have figured as an outlaw of Sherwood, and possibly rivalled the exploits which have made the names of Robin Hood and his merry men so famous. But England was no longer what it had been in the days of Robin Hood and his merry men; for the first Edward had succeeded in teaching English archers to draw their bows only against the enemies of their country, and they had not forgotten the lessons of that great king.

It happened, however, that Liulph was not only a stout and handsome young man, but intelligent for a person of his rank, and of an inquiring turn of mind; and being on this occasion anxious to learn something of St. George, under whose patronage he had fought the French, he put several questions, which, I fear, would sadly have perplexed many who shouted the name most loudly in the hour of conflict. Fortunately, however, I was in a position to return satisfactory answers, and related that St. George was a Christian and a native of Cappadocia; that, making an expedition into Libya in quest of adventure, he arrived just in time to save the king's daughter from a terrible dragon which had devoured many of the inhabitants; and that, becoming famous throughout Christendom as a warrior-saint, he was, as time rolled on, acknowledged as patron of the old Dukes of Guienne, from whom, in the female line, the Plantagenets derive their descent; and that, therefore, King Edward, when instituting the Order of the Garter, and placing it under the protection of the Trinity and certain saints, recognised St. George as the chief, and in his honour founded, at Windsor, the chapel that bears his name.

As I brought my narrative to a termination, we were approaching the castle of Windsor, and were, indeed, so close that I could see the stronghold through the trees. At the same time I descried, at no great distance from the place we had reached, a party of ladies; and, aware that Queen Philippa and her daughters were residing at the castle, I had no difficulty in recognising the Lady Isabel, who in the previous year had been betrothed to, and then deserted by, the young Count of Flanders. On seeing the princess and her ladies I reined back my steed, and, not wishing to intrude on their privacy, was turning to make for the town by another direction, when an exclamation, expressive of alarm, which broke from Liulph, directed my attention to a circumstance which made my blood run cold, and all but froze every vein in my heart.

I have already alluded to the wild cattle which, jointly with the deer, tenanted the forest, and I may say that, so familiarised were people with their presence, they caused no fear. Generally, indeed, when not wantonly disturbed, they grazed quietly without showing the least inclination to mischief, and so seldom did they exhibit anything resembling mortal antipathy to human beings, that even the weak and timid felt no apprehension from being in their neighbourhood.

But to every rule there are exceptions, and, at times when there was the least likelihood, the ferocious nature of the wild cattle showed itself--and this was especially the case with such of them as were known to, and somewhat dreaded by, the foresters as "banished bulls." In fact, these animals having, as they advanced in years, rendered themselves odious to their comrades by their bad temper, and been in consequence expelled from the herd, became savage while grazing in solitude, and easily excited to sudden frenzy.

Now it happened, on the autumn day of which I write, that when the king's daughter and her ladies were walking in the forest, and so near the castle that they deemed themselves as safe as if they had been on the ramparts, a "banished bull," having ventured closer to the town than was the wont of his kind, was grazing all alone among the trees. White as a swan was this bull, with short legs and thick hams, and a shaggy mane that curled like the sea billows, and a massy neck like the trunk of some old knotted tree; but his hoofs were black, and jet black were the horns that, like two daggers, stood out from his broad and wrinkled front.

And suddenly this bull, disturbed by the sound of voices, raised his head; and, as he caught sight of the scarlet cloak worn by the princess, he gave signs, not to be misunderstood, of being bent on mischief.

Rearing his head, while his eye, a moment earlier dark, glared red as the mantle which arrested his attention and excited his ire, he stretched out his neck, and with a loud bellow moved slowly forward, pawing the sod with his hoof and gradually quickening his pace, till, having lashed himself into a fury, his movement became a violent rush, and, like sheep at the approach of a wolf, the ladies dispersed, screaming with terror and affright. But the princess did not move. Facing the ferocious brute, she folded her arms, and with her eyes raised to Heaven, as if uttering a last prayer, she stood in expectation of immediate destruction. It seemed, indeed, that there was no chance of any obstacle intervening between her and death.

But, meanwhile, neither the archer nor I was an idle spectator of her peril. Quick as thought Liulph's bow was strung, and an arrow in his hand; not less quickly my sword left its sheath and the spur pressed my horse's flank. Almost as I dashed to the rescue, an arrow, aimed at the bull's vital part, just at the junction of the skull and the spine, whistled through the air. But, dexterous as the archer was, his shaft failed to hit his mark, struck the bull within an inch of the eye without inflicting a wound; and while I threw myself in his way, resolute at least to die in staying the rush, the animal, more furious than ever, came roaring on, with eyes of fire and tail erect.

I was not, however, daunted. Rising in my stirrups as the bull approached, and feeling as if there was but one blow between me and death, I aimed with all my might at the part which the archer had missed. But I was not more fortunate than he had been; and as my sword, having lighted on bone hard as rock, flew to pieces, my antagonist, stunned but unhurt, drew back to prepare for a more furious rush. Drawing my reins tight, I exerted all my horsemanship to avoid the full shock. But this time he was not to be resisted. Frantic with rage and foaming at the mouth, he charged upon me with terrific violence; and, transfixed with both horns, my horse rolled backward, bearing me to the ground.

My fate now appeared to be sealed; and as the bull, with his horns in the bowels of my fallen steed, stood over me bellowing furiously, I gave myself up for lost. But I had an ally, on whose aid I could not, in my excitement, reckon. With a fierce growl, a loud bark, and a rapid bound, the mastiff came to the rescue, seized the bull's lip, and, the teeth tenaciously retaining their grasp, in spite of desperate struggles, prevented the animal from raising his head to pursue his success.

By this time I breathed anew; and, freeing my limbs from my bleeding horse, I rose on my knee and grasped my dagger to bring the conflict to a close. Nor was there, this time, any mistake. One flash, and my steel, cold and keen, had penetrated my terrible antagonist's neck; one plunge, and, bellowing with pain, my terrible antagonist rolled heavily on the ground. As, covered with blood, I gained my feet, trembling with excitement, side by side lay the black steed and the white bull, their hides smeared with their own and each other's gore, their limbs wet with the death sweat, and quivering convulsively; and beside them, at his master's foot, stood the mastiff, with panting frame and protruding tongue, silently watching their expiring struggles.

Meanwhile, though unwounded, I grew faint with the bruises I had received and the exertion I had undergone; and hardly had the princess, taking courage to approach the spot, opened her lips to acknowledge the service I had rendered her in the moment of peril, than I became dizzy, lost all consciousness of what was passing, and sank senseless on the ground.