“That’s true enough,” said the captain of the soldiers, sighing heavily. “The sun was certainly red now you come to mention it. How sad it is that the King’s courtiers did not heed such an omen! The right virtuous Duke of Manares is a wise and venerable minister; he at least should have known what was toward. By my soul, we of Castile ought never to forgive him! But come, boobies.” The captain, who owing to the heat of his own imagination was now perspiring freely, turned to his men, the majority of whom were standing bareheaded. “All the talking in the world will not recover the corpse of our noble sovereign. Let us help them to drag the stream. But I for one do not think we shall find anything there, because any child will tell you that the Devil will have nothing to do with cold water if he can possibly avoid it.”
Without further parley the captain and his soldiers relieved us of their unwelcome presence. They went to join a company a short distance off, that was dragging large hooks along the bed of the stream.
Thereupon we turned the bag over and placed the royal occupant in as much ease of person as we could devise. We paid this true prince all the homage of which we were capable, for could anything have been more regal than his devotion to his simple word of honour? But his Majesty could only reply to our humble yet heartfelt flatteries with a shake of the head and a sombre smile.
“Oh, you fools, you fools, you fools!” the King exclaimed. “Did ever monarch have such a parcel of boobies to serve him since the beginning of the world?”
Indeed, the King seemed to be truly distressed. Less, however, for his own indignities, which he could have terminated so easily had he not so regarded his honour, but because his followers were so unskilful.
As we continued in our hiding-place we were constantly threatened with further visits from the numerous parties of soldiers that were prowling around. Happily they did not come up to us. As the day advanced the Count of Nullepart declared he was growing hungry, which was a feeling that I shared. I am afraid our captive must also have lain under this affliction, but there was no remedy for our strait. To obtain food was impossible without exposing ourselves to a danger we must not venture to incur.
In the course of the afternoon, the King, whose comfort had been consulted as far as ever the case would permit, and who had been plied freely with water, for which he seemed grateful, fell asleep and so forgot his pains. Thereupon the Count of Nullepart and myself were fain to ask one another what had befallen our leader. And further, what must be the ultimate issue of our extraordinary pass.
Certes, Sir Richard Pendragon’s entrance into the castle would be fraught with every difficulty and with the gravest peril. First, this broad and deep ditch beside which we lay would have to be crossed, and the only bridge that spanned it was held by the troops of Castile. Doubtless this bold man would take to the water rather than expose himself to his foes, who would be extremely unwilling to let anyone pass to the castle, no matter what the cunning of his pretexts.
Upon the assumption that Sir Richard Pendragon was able to swim the foss, his next course would be to climb the steep rocks until he came to the foot of these high and insurmountable walls that offered so stern a barrier to the forces of Castile. In what manner he would overcome these we could only conjecture. For the drawbridge to be lowered it would be necessary for him to recommend himself to the notice of those within the castle without attracting the attention of the besiegers. Verily, the problem was a sore one. Yet so bold, cunning, and ingenious was the English giant that no array of perils was likely to daunt him. However, as we awaited events which we hardly dared to believe could come to pass, we were heartened by the knowledge of a singular and masterful genius. Had it at last met its overthrow? To such a question we had not the courage to foretell the answer.