Sir Nigel

Коллекция текстов · adventure

Introduction
Dame History is so austere a lady that if one, has been so ill-advised as to take a liberty with her, one should hasten to make amends by r…
I. The House of Loring
In the month of July of the year 1348, between the feasts of St. Benedict and of St. Swithin, a strange thing came upon England, for out of…
II. How the Devil Came to Waverley
The day was the first of May, which was the Festival of the Blessed Apostles Philip and James. The year was the 1,349th from man’s salvatio…
III. The Yellow Horse of Crooksbury (1)
In those simple times there was a great wonder and mystery in life. Man walked in fear and solemnity, with Heaven very close above his head…
III. The Yellow Horse of Crooksbury (2)
While he spoke the young Squire had climbed on to the top of the wall and stood there balanced, the very image of grace and spirit and gall…
IV. How the Summoner Came to the Manor House of Tilford (1)
By the date of this chronicle the ascetic sternness of the old Norman castles had been humanized and refined so that the new dwellings of t…
IV. How the Summoner Came to the Manor House of Tilford (2)
In an instant the band threw themselves upon him like the hounds on a stag. Desperately Nigel strove to gain his sword which lay upon the i…
V. How Nigel Was Tried by the Abbot of Waverley (1)
The law of the Middle Ages, shrouded as it was in old Norman-French dialect, and abounding in uncouth and incomprehensible terms, in deodan…
V. How Nigel Was Tried by the Abbot of Waverley (2)
A dangerous flame lit in the Abbot’s eyes. He came of a fighting Norman stock, like so many of those fierce prelates who, bearing a mace le…
VI. In Which Lady Ermyntrude Opens the Iron Coffer
AS in a dream Nigel heard these stupendous and incredible words. As in a dream also he had a vision of a smiling and conciliatory Abbot, of…
VII. How Nigel Went Marketing to Guildford (1)
It was on a bright June morning that young Nigel, with youth and springtime to make his heart light, rode upon his errand from Tilford to G…
VII. How Nigel Went Marketing to Guildford (2)
But Nigel’s frown relaxed into a smile. “At least we have gained back what we lost,” said he. “Here I place it on the pommel of my saddle,…
VIII. How the King Hawked on Crooksbury Heath
The King and his attendants had shaken off the crowd who had followed them from Guildford along the Pilgrims’ Way and now, the mounted arch…
IX. How Nigel Held the Bridge at Tilford
The King looked at the motionless figure, at the little crowd of hushed expectant rustics beyond the bridge, and finally at the face of Cha…
X. How the King Greeted His Seneschal of Calais
It would have fared ill with the good name of Tilford Manor house and with the housekeeping of the aged Dame Ermyntrude had the King’s whol…
XI. In the Hall of the Knight of Duplin (1)
The King had come and had gone. Tilford Manor house stood once more dark and silent, but joy and contentment reigned within its walls. In o…
XI. In the Hall of the Knight of Duplin (2)
“You know it, Nigel, but you do not know each separate name, else are you a wiser man than I had thought you. In truth—none can say that th…
XII. How Nigel Fought the Twisted Man of Shalford (1)
In the days of which you read all classes, save perhaps the very poor, fared better in meat and in drink than they have ever done since. Th…
XII. How Nigel Fought the Twisted Man of Shalford (2)
“Well spoken, on my faith, my golden bird!” said the little master of Shalford. “Let me add my own word to that which has been said. You wo…
XIII. How the Comrades Journeyed Down the Old, Old Road (1)
And now the season of the moonless nights was drawing nigh and the King’s design was ripe. Very secretly his preparations were made. Alread…
XIII. How the Comrades Journeyed Down the Old, Old Road (2)
He raised his bow as he spoke, and the string twanged with a rich deep musical note. Aylward leaned upon his bow-stave as he keenly watched…
XIII. How the Comrades Journeyed Down the Old, Old Road (3)
The knight errant, whose mind had been filled by the thought of the maiden whom he had left behind at St. Jean—the same whose glove dangled…
XIV. How Nigel Chased the Red Ferret (1)
They passed a ferry, wound upward by a curving path, and then, having satisfied a guard of men-at-arms, were admitted through the frowning…
XIV. How Nigel Chased the Red Ferret (2)
The master measured the distance with his keen steady gaze, and then looked up at the sinking sun. “We have still four hours of daylight,”…
XIV. How Nigel Chased the Red Ferret (3)
There was a scuttle at the base of the mast which led down into the body of the vessel, and the Englishmen were approaching this when a str…
XV. How the Red Ferret Came to Cosford
The old chronicler in his “Gestes du Sieur Nigel” has bewailed his broken narrative, which rose from the fact that out of thirty-one years…
XVI. How the King’s Court Feasted in Calais Castle
It was a bright sunshiny morning when Nigel found himself at last able to leave his turret chamber and to walk upon the rampart of the cast…
XVII. The Spaniards on the Sea (1)
Day had not yet dawned when Nigel was in the chamber of Chandos preparing him for his departure and listening to the last cheery words of a…
XVII. The Spaniards on the Sea (2)
For an hour with bated breath they stole through the fleet, still hearing the cymbals clashing all round them, for in this way the Spaniard…
XVIII. How Black Simon Claimed Forfeit from the King of Sark
For a day and a half the small fleet made good progress, but on the second morning, after sighting Cape de la Hague, there came a brisk lan…
XIX. How a Squire of England Met a Squire of France (1)
Sir Robert Knolles with his little fleet had sighted the Breton coast near Cancale; they had rounded the Point du Grouin, and finally had s…
XIX. How a Squire of England Met a Squire of France (2)
Once at St. Meen they passed a great nunnery, girt with a high gray lichened wall, an oasis of peace in this desert of war, the black-robed…
XX. How the English Attempted the Castle of La Brohinière (1)
For some minutes Nigel remained motionless upon the crest of the hill, his heart, like lead within him, and his eyes fixed upon the huge gr…
XX. How the English Attempted the Castle of La Brohinière (2)
Knolles clinched his hands as he looked back at the ruin that was wrought, and then surveyed the group of men who stood or lay around him n…
XXI. How the Second Messenger Went to Cosford (1)
Under cover of night the wounded men were lifted from the ditch and carried back, whilst pickets of archers were advanced to the very gate…
XXI. How the Second Messenger Went to Cosford (2)
Reluctantly the man-at-arms sped upon his errand. They could hear the racing of his feet and the low jingle of his harness until they died…
XXII. How Robert of Beaumanoir Came to Ploermel
Sir Robert Knolles and his men passed onward that day, looking back many a time to see the two dark columns of smoke, one thicker and one m…
XXIII. How Thirty of Josselin Encountered Thirty of Ploermel (1)
All night the Castle of Ploermel rang with warlike preparations, for the smiths were hammering and filing and riveting, preparing the armor…
XXIII. How Thirty of Josselin Encountered Thirty of Ploermel (2)
But the opening of this second phase of the combat brought one great misfortune and discouragement to the English. Bambro like the others,…
XXIV. How Nigel Was Called to His Master (1)
“My sweet ladye,” wrote Nigel in a script which it would take the eyes of love to read, “there hath been a most noble meeting in the fourth…
XXIV. How Nigel Was Called to His Master (2)
“Give my greetings to the King of France and tell him that England will never pay ransom for me. But it seems to me, my Lord Cardinal, that…
XXV. How the King of France Held Counsel at Maupertuis
The morning of Sunday, the nineteenth of September, in the year of our Lord 1356, was cold and fine. A haze which rose from the marshy vall…
XXVI. How Nigel Found His Third Deed (1)
Four archers lay behind a clump of bushes ten yards in front of the thick hedge which shielded their companions. Amid the long line of bowm…
XXVI. How Nigel Found His Third Deed (2)
But the Prince’s courage flamed the higher as the shadow fell, while his dark eyes gleamed with a soldier’s pride as he glanced round him a…
XXVII. How the Third Messenger Came to Cosford
Two months have passed, and the long slopes of Hindhead are russet with the faded ferns—the fuzzy brown pelt which wraps the chilling earth…