That Lord of lords save both thee and me;
For Herod hath sworn with words wild
That all young children slain they shall be.”
Now the soldiers come rushing forward with drawn swords, and though Colin assured her that it was only pretence, Margery could not look while they grasped the screaming women by the arms or by the hair and snatched their little baby-boys away from them.
In vain the poor mothers struggled and implored. Their children were all killed, and presently the soldiers went away to fetch “wains and wagons” on which to heap the little bodies.
“I suppose they are only dolls?” Margery asked anxiously; but though Master Gyseburn reassured her, she could not bear the sound of the screams and the shouting.
It was a relief when all the women went sobbing away, and the herald stood once more before King Herod, and addressed him:
“Herod, king! I shall thee tell,
All thy deeds is come to naught.
This Child is gone into Egypt to dwell,