said to the
men. "The number of those who carry them is small, and it will be
enough to have steel caps and swords. We are going to walk fast and
far, and the less weight we carry, the better."

Chapter 10: The Queen Of Navarre.

The sun had just risen when Maitre Bertram, accompanied by four men
in the attire of peasants, went down to the port. Two of them wore
steel caps, and had the appearance of discharged soldiers. The
other two looked like fresh countrymen, and wore the low caps in
use by the peasantry on their heads, carrying steel caps slung by
cords from their shoulder. All four had swords stuck into their
leathern belts. Similar groups might have been seen in hundreds,
all over France, making their way to join the forces of the
contending parties.

[Illustration: Philip and his followers embarking.]

The craft upon which the trader led them was a small one, of four
or five tons burden, manned by three men and a boy.

"You understand, Johan, if you meet with no interruption, you will
land your passengers at the mouth of the Seudre; but if you should
come across any of the craft that have been hovering about the
coast, and find that they are too fast for you, put them ashore
wherever they may direct. If you are too hotly chased to escape,
after landing them, you had best also disembark; and make your way
back by land, as best you can, leaving them to do what they will
with the boat. As like as not they would cut your throats, did they
take you; and if not, would want to know whom you had landed, and
other matters.

"I do not want to lose the craft, which has done me good service in
her time, and is a handy little coaster; but I would rather lose
it, than that you should fall into the hands of the Bordeaux boats
and get into trouble. The fact that you made for shore, to land
passengers, would be sufficient to show that those passengers were
of some importance.

"Now, good luck to you, Master Philip. I trust to see you back here
again, before long."

They kept straight out from La Rochelle to the Isle of Oleron, and
held along close to its shore, lest boats coming out from the
Charente might overhaul them. From the southern end of the island,
it was only a run of some eight miles into the mouth of the Seudre.
A brisk wind had blown, and they made the forty miles' voyage in
seven hours. They could see several white sails far to the south,
as they ran in; but had met with nothing to disquiet them,