arms and dropping on
their knees cried for mercy, but all were ruthlessly slaughtered.

Keeping close together Walter and Ralph fought their way to the foot
of the stairs, and closely pursued by a band of the skinners headed by
Gerard Denis, ran up. Upon the first landing stood a man paralysed with
terror. On seeing him a cry of ferocious triumph rose from the mob.
As nothing could be done to aid him Walter and his follower rushed by
without stopping. There was a pause in the pursuit, and glancing down
from the upper gallery Walter saw Van Artevelde in the hands of the mob,
each struggling to take possession of him; then a man armed with a great
axe pushed his way among them, and swinging it over his head struck Van
Artevelde dead to the floor. His slayer was Gerard Denis himself.

Followed by Ralph, Walter sprang through the open door into the chamber
they had marked, and closed the door behind them. Then Walter, saying,
"I will go first, Ralph, I can help you in should you miss your spring,"
mounted on the sill of the casement. Short as was the distance the leap
was extremely difficult, for neither casement was more than three feet
high. Walter was therefore obliged to stoop low and to hurl himself head
forwards across the gulf. He succeeded in the attempt, shooting clear
through the casement on to the floor beyond. Instantly he picked himself
up and went to Ralph's assistance. The latter, taller and more bulky,
had greater difficulty in the task, and only his shoulder arrived
through the window. Walter seized him, and aided him at once to scramble
in, and they closed the casement behind them.

"It was well we took off our armour, Ralph; its pattern would have been
recognized in an instant."

Walter had thrown off his helmet as he bounded up the stairs, and both
he and his companion had rid themselves of their heavy armour.

"I would give a good deal," he said, "for two bourgeois jerkins,
even were they as foul as those of the skinners. This is a woman's
apartment," he added, looking round, "and nothing here will cover my six
feet of height, to say nothing of your four inches extra. Let us peep
into some of the other rooms. This is, doubtless, the house of some
person of importance, and in the upper floor we may find some clothes of
servants or retainers."

They were not long in their search. The next room was a large one, and
contained a number of pallet beds, and hanging from pegs on walls
were jerkins, mantl