'Shall we drown her, Sir Claudius? Shall we drown her, too?' demanded many voices.
'Help! Help for a lady! Help for Mistress Brown!' shouted the lacquey Joseph with his loud, stentorian voice. The honest fellow had been bound hand and foot; he had nothing left but his voice with which to serve me, and the next moment it was silenced with a blow and a gag; but it had done good work.
Noiselessly over a soft fallow field a little group of horsemen had approached, and at the sound of that loud, manly cry of my poor Joseph's they charged into the mob, calling out lustily:—
'Disperse, in the King's name! In the King's name I say disperse!'
Bullies are cowards all the world over. The men who had drowned old women and were threatening a defenceless girl with a like fate, took to their heels with one accord, knocking down each other and falling over each other in their flight, whilst, alarmed and struck, first on this side and then on that, my horses set off galloping, and dashed, with the litter, amongst the crowd, treading down some and crushing others. The damage they did was appalling. Curses, shouts, groans and screams filled the air on every side.
In a few moments none of the roughs remained near me, and I was enabled to look up at my deliverer.
He was a handsome knight of medium size and frank, soldier-like deportment and bearing; as I found afterwards, he was scarcely twenty-six, yet he looked much older, having seen service in the profession of arms from his boyhood. He was dressed in crimson velvet, very worn and travel-stained. Indeed, both he and his horse bore traces of a rapid journey across country, as did also his followers and their horses.
'How shall I thank you?' I said gratefully. 'Sir, you have saved my life.'
'I thank God that I came in time,' he said. 'I fear those rascals have terrified you much.'
'I fear they have hurt my good serving-men,' I said, looking round for them.