stic chair under the elms,
forcing him to occupy the stone bench in the springhouse.

He made several efforts to start an argument on the labor question,
which I carefully avoided. After awhile a sonorous snore announced that
he had fallen victim to my plot.

His snoring was broken by a jumble of words in English and Italian,
though his English, being of a very old form, was harder than the
Italian to understand and transcribe. The first words I caught were;
"Very well, Sir John, avanti!"

I took down his statement and give to the reader a liberal transcription
of my notes.

* * * * *

"I was born in Essex, near Hedingham, on October 20, 1332. My father was
a younger brother of Sir John Hawkwood, who was knighted for bravery by
the Black Prince two days after the battle of Poitiers, where an English
army of eight thousand men defeated a French army of sixty thousand and
took King John prisoner.

"My uncle, commanding several companies and rendering most efficient
service, was rewarded by being knighted by the King. I was present at
the service and officiated as his squire.

"When the successful army returned to England, several hundred of us
from Essex and Suffolk remained in France and organized 'The White
Company,' which, with Sir John as commander, became famous as
condottieri, or soldiers of fortune, and from 1360 to 1390 sold our
services to various Italian powers.

"We served under the standard of Gregory XI, the Marquis of Montferrat,
certain legates, the republic of Pisa, and, finally, the signory and
council of Florence, from 1378 until the death of Sir John on March 17,
1394. At his death he was entombed with great ceremony in the Duomo. For
years prior he had held the office of Captain General with the
Florentines.

"From 1374 till 1378 I was captain of one of his companies. In 1378 I
was made his aid, in which capacity I served until 1389, when, having
been seriously wounded and the possessor of considerable wealth, I
retired from service.

"For more than a year Sir John had been in the service of the Marquis of
Montferrat at Casale, and as the season was dull and the pay light for
our business, it was with pleasure he received word from the Pope to
come to Avignon.

"Gregory occupied the papal chair from 1370 to 1378 and, like his
immediate predecessors, resided at Avignon until 1376, when he
terminated the Babylonian captivity by returning to Rome.

"During t