h all before him. Then perished by his
battle-axe Lord Cromwell and the redoubted Lord of Say; then, no longer
sparing even the old affection, Gloucester was hurled to the ground. The
last time he penetrated even to Edward himself, smiting down the king's
standard-bearer, unhorsing Hastings, who threw himself on his path;
and Edward, setting his teeth in stern joy as he saw him, rose in his
stirrups, and for a moment the mace of the king, the axe of the earl,
met as thunder encounters thunder; but then a hundred knights rushed
into the rescue, and robbed the baffled avenger of his prey. Thus
charging and retreating, driving back with each charge farther and
farther the mighty multitude hounding on to the lion's death, this
great chief and his devoted knights, though terribly reduced in number,
succeeded at last in covering Montagu's skilful retreat; and when they
gained the outskirts of the wood, and dashed through the narrow opening
between the barricades, the Yorkshire archers approved their lord's
trust, and, shouting, as to a marriage feast, hailed his coming.

But few, alas! of his fellow-horsemen had survived that marvellous
enterprise of valour and despair. Of the fifty knights who had shared
its perils, eleven only gained the wood; and, though in this number
the most eminent (save Sir John Coniers, either slain or fled) might
be found, their horses, more exposed than themselves, were for the most
part wounded and unfit for further service. At this time the sun again,
and suddenly as before, broke forth,--not now with a feeble glimmer, but
a broad and almost a cheerful beam, which sufficed to give a fuller view
than the day had yet afforded of the state and prospects of the field.

To the right and to the left, what remained of the cavalry of Warwick
were seen flying fast,--gone the lances of Oxford, the bills of
Somerset. Exeter, pierced by the shaft of Alwyn, was lying cold and
insensible, remote from the contest, and deserted even by his squires.

In front of the archers and such men as Montagu had saved from the
sword, halted the immense and murmuring multitude of Edward, their
thousand banners glittering in the sudden sun; for, as Edward beheld
the last wrecks of his foe, stationed near the covert, his desire of
consummating victory and revenge made him cautious, and, fearing an
ambush, he had abruptly halted.

When the scanty followers of the earl thus beheld the immense force
arrayed for their destructi