"Nay, thou and thy kerns are garrison of the keep," said Sir Thomas.
So the hot-headed Irish chieftain had to bide behind stone walls to his great chagrin, while Richard went out gladly, with but a small party, to hunt for the prince through the shadowy, tumultuous streets of the half-mad town of Bruyerre.
There were faces at window crevices, and there were men and women in half-opened doorways. Richard continually announced to them, as had been the general order of the prince:
"In! In! Quarter to all who keep their houses, and death to all who come out!"
Brave as might be the burghers of Bruyerre, not many of those who heard cared to rush out alone, to be speared or cut down.
Before this, nevertheless, enough had gathered at one point to feel some courage; and into this band Richard was compelled to charge.
With him were barely a dozen axemen and bowmen, yet he shouted in Norman French, as if to some larger force behind:
"Onward, men of Kent! forward quickly! Bid the Irish hasten! St. George for England! For the king!"
The burghers had no captain, and they hardly knew their own number in the gloom. 'Twas a hot rush of desperate men against those who were irresolute. The burghers broke and fled to their houses, and on went Richard, having lost only a few of his small force.
The garrison had rallied faster and faster, and now almost surrounded in the square were the prince and his knights. Little they cared. Indeed, Sir Henry of Wakeham had said: