ng that of Paul, which he held in his own as he spoke.

"You are in the right, Paul, you are in the right. Perchance it
were a coward thought; for should not a prince be ready for any
blow of adverse fortune? But ride you into the battle beside me.
Let us fight side by side, even as we have always hoped to do. I
would that you were in very truth my brother, as in love you have
long been. And if I fall whilst you escape, be it your office to
break the tidings to my mother and my gentle Anne; for methinks,
were it told them suddenly or untenderly, their hearts would break
with the sorrow."

Paul gave this pledge willingly, though it scarce seemed possible
to him that he should live to carry such tidings, seeing he would
die a thousand deaths to save his prince from the foeman's steel.
And then, with grave faces but brave hearts and unclouded brows,
the comrades rode side by side into the town of Tewkesbury, whilst
the army intrenched itself on the summit of a small eminence called
the Home Ground, not half a mile away.

Already the rival army was mustering, and the Yorkist troops
occupied the sloping ground to the south, that went by the name of
the Red Piece. The Lancastrians had the best of the situation, as
they were established amongst trenches and ditches, partly real and
partly artificial; which would render any attack by the enemy
difficult and dangerous.

"I trow it would be hard to drive from this ground these brave men
thus posted," said Edward to Paul, as the two rode round the camp
at the close of the day. "They have only to stand firm and hold
their position, and all will be well. Oh that the night were past,
and that a new day had come! I would I could see the end of this
struggle. I would the veil of the future might be for one moment
lifted."

But the future keeps its secrets well--well for us it is so--and
the youthful and high-spirited young prince saw not the black cloud
hanging already upon him. The soldiers greeted him with cheers and
blessings; the generals bent the knee to him, and vowed to die to
win him back his crown. The light of the setting sun illumined the
field so soon to be red with human blood, and the vesper bell from
the church hard by rang out its peaceful summons.

Edward looked round him, and laid his hand affectionately on Paul's
shoulder.

"This is a fair earth," he said dreamily. "I wonder what the world
beyond will be like, for those who leave this behind, as so many
wi