d in bewilderment at those who were
standing round him, Hotspur said good temperedly:

"Well, Master Sinclair, the lad has given us all a lesson that may be
useful to us. I would scarce have believed it, if I had not seen it;
that a stout soldier, in full armour, should have been worsted by a lad
on a rough pony; but I see now that the advantage is all on the
latter's side, in a combat like this, with plenty of room to wheel his
horse.

"Why, he would have slain you a dozen times, Sinclair. Look at your
vizor. That white mark is equal on both sides of the slit, and had
there been a spear head on the shaft, it would have pierced you to the
brain. Every joint of your armour, behind, is whitened; and that
thrust, that brought you from your horse, would have spitted you
through and through.

"Now, let there be no ill feeling over this. It is an experiment, and a
useful one; and had I, myself, been in your place, I do not know that I
could have done aught more than you did."

Sinclair was hot tempered, but of a generous disposition, and he held
out his hand to Oswald, frankly.

"It was a fair fight," he said, "and you worsted me, altogether. No one
bears malice for a fair fall, in a joust."

"The conditions were not at all even," Oswald said. "On a pony like
mine, unless you had caught me in full career, it was impossible that
the matter could have turned out otherwise."

"I often wondered," Hotspur said, as they walked towards the gate,
"that our chivalry should have been so often worsted by the rough
Scottish troopers; but now I understand it. The Scotch always choose
broken ground, and always scatter before we get near them; and,
circling round, fall upon our chivalry when their weight and array are
of no use to them. Happily, such a misadventure has never happened to
myself; but it might well do so. The Scotch, too, have no regard for
the laws of chivalry; and once behind will spear the horse, as indeed
happened to me, at Otterburn. 'Tis a lesson in war one may well take to
heart; and when I next fight the Scots, I will order that on no
account, whatever, are the mounted men to break their ranks; but,
whatever happens, are to move in a solid body, in which case they could
defy any attacks upon them by light-armed horse, however numerous."

At the gate of the castle, Alwyn Forster met them.

"You have given me a more useful addition to my following than I dreamt
of, Alwyn," Hotspur said. "Did you see the confli