place twice over by now."

'"If any man had put _my_ neck in a rope," she said, "I would have seen
his house burned thrice over before _I_ would have made terms."

'"But it was a woman," I said; and I laughed and she wept and said that I
mocked her in her captivity.

'"Lady," said I, "there is no captive in this valley except one, and he is
not a Saxon."

'At this she cried that I was a Norman thief, who came with false, sweet
words, having intended from the first to turn her out in the fields to beg
her bread. Into the fields! She had never seen the face of war!

'I was angry, and answered, "This much at least I can disprove, for I
swear"--and on my sword-hilt I swore it in that place--"I swear I will never
set foot in the Great Hall till the Lady AElueva herself shall summon me
there."

'She went away, saying nothing, and I walked out, and Hugh limped after
me, whistling dolorously (that is a custom of the English), and we came
upon the three Saxons that had bound me. They were now bound by my
men-at-arms, and behind them stood some fifty stark and sullen churls of
the House and the Manor, waiting to see what should fall. We heard De
Aquila's trumpets blow thin through the woods Kentward.

'"Shall we hang these?" said my men.

'"Then my churls will fight," said Hugh, beneath his breath; but I bade
him ask the three what mercy they hoped for.

'"None," said they all. "She bade us hang thee if our master died. And we
would have hanged thee. There is no more to it."

'As I stood doubting a woman ran down from the oak wood above the King's
Hill yonder, and cried out that some Normans were driving off the swine
there.

'"Norman or Saxon," said I, "we must beat them back, or they will rob us
every day. Out at them with any arms ye have!" So I loosed those three
carles and we ran together, my men-at-arms and the Saxons with bills and
bows which they had hidden in the thatch of their huts, and Hugh led them.
Half-way up the King's Hill we found a false fellow from Picardy--a sutler
that sold wine in the Duke's camp--with a dead knight's shield on his arm,
a stolen horse under him, and some ten or twelve wastrels at his tail, all
cutting and slashing at the pigs. We beat them off, and saved our pork.
One hundred and seventy pigs we saved in that great battle.' Sir Richard
laughed.

'That, then, was our first work together, and I bade Hugh tell his folk
that so would I deal with any man, knight or churl, Norman