Finishing their luncheon, they looked about them. The scene was bewitching, and catching Rowena by the hand, they persuaded her to leave Cedric to his meal, the while they sauntered through the crowd, enjoying the various sights.
Rowena looked doubtful, but yielded. Evidently it was a new experience for her to venture away from the protection of a servant or a kinsman.
They wandered slowly about, stopping to watch a game between a group of shouting boys dressed in tights and brilliant jackets, evidently pages belonging to great houses, and then drawn on to see several stout country yokels pitching quoits or rolling a ball on the smooth grass. As they passed, curious glances were thrown at them, but no one bothered them.
Suddenly a sound of frightened weeping mixed with shouts of laughter broke on their ears. The crying was evidently from some little child or young girl. Ahead of them a circle of boys and youths jostled each other about something of interest which the girls could not see.
“Some one’s getting hurt inside that ring of boys,” Rose exclaimed. “A little girl, I’ll bet. Let’s see what we can do,” and with the words she began to push forward, closely followed by Ruth.
Rowena called to them, however. “Come back, it is none of our affair, and there is danger....” But they paid no attention, and not wanting to be left behind, she also crowded to the front. A sharp scream from the still unseen child gave Rose additional energy.
“Room, you varlets,” she cried boldly, adopting the language she had heard used by their escort. “Room for the Lady Rose and the Lady Rowena and the Lady Ruth. Room, I say.”
Somewhat astonished, the crowd gave way slightly, and peering through the break Rose saw a lovely girl a little younger than Ruth cowering to the ground, while a crowd of young bullies evoked shrieks of laughter from the onlookers by pelting her with crusts of bread, apple cores, clods of turf and anything else that came handy.
“Daughter of an unbelieving Jew,” they yelled. “Who are you, to wear all those fine garments when honest Christians starve....”
Rose didn’t wait one moment. With an actual roar of rage she burst through the circle and catching the nearest boy by the arm she hurled him to one side—luckily, as she explained to Ruth later, he wasn’t half her size.