sponded with his character.

When the combatants appeared in the lists, nothing could be more
striking than the contrast betwixt the manly, cheerful countenance of
the smith, whose sparkling bright eye seemed already beaming with the
victory he hoped for, and the sullen, downcast aspect of the brutal
Bonthron, who looked as if he were some obscene bird, driven into
sunshine out of the shelter of its darksome haunts. They made oath
severally, each to the truth of his quarrel--a ceremony which Henry
Gow performed with serene and manly confidence, Bonthron with a dogged
resolution, which induced the Duke of Rothsay to say to the High
Constable: "Didst thou ever, my dear Errol, behold such a mixture of
malignity, cruelty, and I think fear, as in that fellow's countenance?"

"He is not comely," said the Earl, "but a powerful knave as I have
seen."

"I'll gage a hogshead of wine with you, my good lord, that he loses the
day. Henry the armourer is as strong as he, and much more active; and
then look at his bold bearing! There is something in that other fellow
that is loathsome to look upon. Let them yoke presently, my dear
Constable, for I am sick of beholding him."

The High Constable then addressed the widow, who, in her deep weeds, and
having her children still beside her, occupied a chair within the lists:
"Woman, do you willingly accept of this man, Henry the Smith, to do
battle as your champion in this cause?"

"I do--I do, most willingly," answered Magdalen Proudfute; "and may the
blessing of God and St. John give him strength and fortune, since he
strikes for the orphan and fatherless!"

"Then I pronounce this a fenced field of battle," said the Constable
aloud. "Let no one dare, upon peril of his life, to interrupt this
combat by word, speech, or look. Sound trumpets, and fight, combatants!"

The trumpets flourished, and the combatants, advancing from the opposite
ends of the lists, with a steady and even pace, looked at each other
attentively, well skilled in judging from the motion of the eye the
direction in which a blow was meditated. They halted opposite to, and
within reach of, each other, and in turn made more than one feint
to strike, in order to ascertain the activity and vigilance of the
opponent. At length, whether weary of these manoeuvres, or fearing lest
in a contest so conducted his unwieldy strength would be foiled by the
activity of the smith, Bonthron heaved up his axe for a downright blow,
a