armour,
when, just as the fated hour was approaching, the shrill voice of a
female was heard screaming for passage through the crowd. The multitude
gave place to her importunity, and she advanced, breathless with haste
under the burden of a mail hauberk and a large two handed sword. The
widow of Oliver Proudfute was soon recognised, and the arms which she
bore were those of the smith himself, which, occupied by her husband on
the fatal evening when he was murdered, had been naturally conveyed
to his house with the dead body, and were now, by the exertions of
his grateful widow, brought to the lists at a moment when such proved
weapons were of the last consequence to their owner. Henry joyfully
received the well known arms, and the widow with trembling haste
assisted in putting them on, and then took leave of him, saying: "God
for the champion of the widow and orphan, and ill luck to all who come
before him!"

Confident at feeling himself in his well proved armour, Henry shook
himself as if to settle the steel shirt around him, and, unsheathing
the two handed sword, made it flourish over his head, cutting the air
through which it whistled in the form of the figure eight with an ease
and sleight of hand that proved how powerfully and skilfully he could
wield the ponderous weapon. The champions were now ordered to march
in their turns around the lists, crossing so as to avoid meeting each
other, and making obeisance as they passed the Golden Arbour where the
King was seated.

While this course was performing, most of the spectators were again
curiously comparing the stature, limbs, and sinews of the two parties,
and endeavouring to form a conjecture an to the probable issue of the
combat. The feud of a hundred years, with all its acts of aggression
and retaliation, was concentrated in the bosom of each combatant. Their
countenances seemed fiercely writhen into the wildest expression of
pride, hate, and a desperate purpose of fighting to the very last.

The spectators murmured a joyful applause, in high wrought expectation
of the bloody game. Wagers were offered and accepted both on the general
issue of the conflict and on the feats of particular champions. The
clear, frank, and elated look of Henry Smith rendered him a general
favourite among the spectators, and odds, to use the modern expression,
were taken that he would kill three of his opponents before he himself
fell.

Scarcely was the smith equipped for the comb