Men of Iron | Page 8

outer wall. It was surrounded on three sides by a
loop-like bend of the river, and on the fourth was protected by a deep,
broad, artificial moat, almost as wide as the stream from which it was
fed. The road from the town wound for a little distance along by the
edge of this moat. As Myles and the old bowman galloped by, with the
answering echo of their horses' hoof-beats rattling back from the
smooth stone face of the walls, the lad looked up, wondering at the
height and strength of the great ancient fortress. In his air-castle
building Myles had pictured the Earl receiving him as the son of his
one-time comrade in arms--receiving him, perhaps, with somewhat of
the rustic warmth that he knew at Crosbey-Dale; but now, as he stared
at those massive walls from below, and realized his own insignificance
and the greatness of this great Earl, he felt the first keen, helpless ache
of homesickness shoot through his breast, and his heart yearned for
Crosbey-Holt again.
Then they thundered across the bridge that spanned the moat, and
through the dark shadows of the great gaping gate-way, and Diccon,
bidding him stay for a moment, rode forward to bespeak the
gate-keeper.
The gate-keeper gave the two in charge of one of the men-at-arms who
were lounging upon a bench in the archway, who in turn gave them into
the care of one of the house-servants in the outer court-yard. So, having
been passed from one to another, and having answered many questions,
Myles in due time found himself in the outer waiting-room sitting
beside Diccon Bowman upon a wooden bench that stood along the wall
under the great arch of a glazed window.
For a while the poor country lad sat stupidly bewildered. He was aware
of people coming and going; he was aware of talk and laughter
sounding around him; but he thought of nothing but his aching

homesickness and the oppression of his utter littleness in the busy life
of this great castle.
Meantime old Diccon Bowman was staring about him with huge
interest, every now and then nudging his young master, calling his
attention now to this and now to that, until at last the lad began to
awaken somewhat from his despondency to the things around. Besides
those servants and others who came and went, and a knot of six or eight
men-at-arms with bills and pole-axes, who stood at the farther
door-way talking together in low tones, now and then broken by a
stifled laugh, was a group of four young squires, who lounged upon a
bench beside a door-way hidden by an arras, and upon them Myles's
eyes lit with a sudden interest. Three of the four were about his own
age, one was a year or two older, and all four were dressed in the
black-and-yellow uniform of the house of Beaumont.
Myles plucked the bowman by the sleeve. "Be they squires, Diccon?"
said he, nodding towards the door.
"Eh?" said Diccon. "Aye; they be squires."
"And will my station be with them?" asked the boy.
"Aye; an the Earl take thee to service, thou'lt haply be taken as squire."
Myles stared at them, and then of a sudden was aware that the young
men were talking of him. He knew it by the way they eyed him askance,
and spoke now and then in one another's ears. One of the four, a gay
young fellow, with long riding- boots laced with green laces, said a few
words, the others gave a laugh, and poor Myles, knowing how ungainly
he must seem to them, felt the blood rush to his cheeks, and shyly
turned his head.
Suddenly, as though stirred by an impulse, the same lad who had just
created the laugh arose from the bench, and came directly across the
room to where Myles and the bowman sat.
"Give thee good-den," said he. "What be'st thy name and whence

comest thou, an I may make bold so to ask?"
"My name is Myles Falworth," said Myles; "and I come from
Crosbey-Dale bearing a letter to my Lord."
"Never did I hear of Crosbey-Dale," said the squire. "But what seekest
here, if so be I may ask that much?"
"I come seeking service," said Myles, "and would enter as an esquire
such as ye be in my Lord's household."
Myles's new acquaintance grinned. "Thou'lt make a droll squire to wait
in a Lord's household," said he. "Hast ever been in such service?"
"Nay," said Myles, "I have only been at school, and learned Latin and
French and what not. But Diccon Bowman here hath taught me use of
arms.
The young squire laughed outright. "By'r Lady, thy talk doth tickle me,
friend Myles," said he. "Think'st thou such matters will