your betters, who are shivering in the cold, without so much
as a bone to pick, or a wisp of straw to their tails! Well, well, 'tis
soon said; every dog, you know,--and 'twill be my turn soon. I come
hither from the castle at Halton, where my Lady Fitz-Eustace would lay
your curs' noses to the grinding-stone; but, rest her soul, she will not
long be above ground, I trow. Know then, masters, I am her seneschal,
whom she sends with a goodly train to the burying. Quick, old goat-face,
or we will singe thy beard to light thee to our discovery."

The gates were immediately unbolted at this command, opening wide before
so dignified a personage, who, as the representative of the
Fitz-Eustace, was evidently impressed with a sufficient sense of his own
importance, while he and his attendants rode through the grim Norman
arch into the courtyard. The uppermost extreme of this illustrious
functionary was surmounted with a sort of Phrygian-shaped bonnet or cap,
made of deerskin, suitably ornamented. A mantle or cloak of a dark
mulberry colour, fancifully embroidered on the hem, was clasped upon one
shoulder by a silver buckle. Underneath was a short upper riding-tunic
made of coarse woollen, partly covering an under-vest made of finer
materials. A leathern girdle was buckled round his loins, having sundry
implements attached thereto, requisite during the performance of so long
a journey through a thinly-inhabited region. The upper garment scarcely
covered the knee, over which stockings of red cloth were seen, reaching
half-way up the thigh; round the leg were bandages or cross-garterings
well bespattered with mud; low boots or buskins protected the feet and
ankles; to these spurs were fastened, the head being spear-shaped and
something crooked in the shank. His beard was forked, and this
appendage, apparently the result of a careful and anxious cultivation,
he occasionally twisted with one hand whilst speaking. He carried a
lance, or rather hunting-spear, which he wielded with an air of great
formality and display; his followers were likewise furnished each of
them with a cloak and tunic, and a conical cap of coarse felt tied under
the chin with a leathern band: a girdle of the same material was buckled
round the waist, with a scrip and other necessaries for the journey.
They rode horses of the Welsh breed, small and stout-built; spoil
captured, in all probability, from that rebellious and unruly nation.

The entry of this armed tr