“Sit thee down, good fellow—thou art in no plight to stand,” said the prince, kindly, as he pointed to a rude wooden settle in a corner of his plainly furnished room; for, like a true soldier, he scorned to bring city luxuries into the camp. “Sit, and speak plainly all thou hast to tell.”
The great captain’s cool, firm tone seemed to steady the scared man’s shaken nerves, and he told his dismal tale more clearly than might have been expected.
In obedience to the prince’s orders, he and his comrades had gone forth to patrol the beach against a descent of the hovering rovers; but hardly had they left the town, when they were joined by Sir Simon Harcourt and a score of his men.
At Harcourt’s name the prince’s look waxed graver, and the close attention with which he was listening seemed redoubled.
Sir Simon, so the archer said, had ridden to the head of the party, and, greeting his young nephews, stated his intention to share their duty that day, saying it would ill befit him to cower behind walls when they were in the field, and that, in a service of such peril, his experience might be of use.
“Ha!” said the prince, with peculiar emphasis. “What said thy young lords to that?”
“Methought it liked them ill, for Sir Alured looked passing grim, and Sir Hugo muttered somewhat of his being now of age to go abroad without a nurse; but I heard nought more, my place being in the rear with them that guarded our prisoner, the Flanderkin.”
Then he went on to tell how, having broken up into many small parties in order to patrol as wide a space as possible, they had scouted along the shore till late in the afternoon, without seeing any sign of mischief. At last he and three or four of his comrades caught sight of a suspicious-looking craft hovering in the offing, as if watching their movements.
“And then, an’t please your highness, we took her for one of the sea-rovers for whom we were watching, and deemed it best to leave two of our band to mark what she would do, while I and other two made haste back to tell what we had seen. But when we neared the spot where we had left our young lords and the prisoner, on a sudden we heard voices raised as in anger, and lo! Sir Alured and Sir Hugo face to face on the sand-beach at hot words, each with hand on hilt as if in high wrath; and beyond them their Uncle Simon, riding fast away toward the town, having said (as we learned later) that he must go make his report to your highness, and crave your further orders.”
“A wise engineer!” said the prince, with a bitter smile. “Having lit the match, he drew back warily ere the mine should explode. Well?”