Roger and the
squire did the same, and joined the ranks of the footmen.

"Keep together!" Oswald shouted, to those within hearing; "we can cut
ourselves a passage through, in that way, while separately we shall
perish."

Ten or twelve men followed his orders and, gathering in a ring, for a
time beat off every attack. Looking round, Oswald saw that scarce a man
remained mounted. The shouts of the English, and the wild war cries of
the Welsh, rang through the air. In a dozen places fierce contests were
raging--swords and axes rose and fell, on helmet and steel cap.

In obedience to the shouts of Sir Eustace, who, with three or four
men-at-arms around him, was still mounted, the English bands tried to
join each other, and in several cases succeeded. Oswald had been near
the rear of the convoy when the fight began, and the party with whom he
fought were separated by some distance from the others, and the
prospect became more and more hopeless. His squire had fallen, and
fully half the men who had joined him; and although the loss of the
Welsh had been many times as great, the number of their assailants had
in no way diminished.

He and Roger strove, in vain, to cut a way through; and their height
and strength enabled them to maintain a forward movement, their
opponents shrinking from the terrible blows of Roger's mace, and the no
less destructive fall of Oswald's sword; but the men-at-arms behind
them fared worse, having to retreat with their face to the foe; and
more than one, falling over the bodies of those slain by their leaders,
were stabbed before they could rise. Several times the two men turned
and covered the rear, but at last they stood alone.

"Now, make one effort to break through, Roger;" and they flung
themselves with such fury upon the Welsh that, for some twenty yards,
they cut their way through them.

Then Roger exclaimed, "I am done for, master," and fell.

Oswald stood over him and, for a time, kept a clear circle; then he
received a tremendous blow on the back of his helmet, with a heavy
club, and fell prostrate over Roger.

When he recovered his senses, the din of battle had moved far away. The
other groups had gathered together and, moving down, had joined those
who still resisted on the other side of the road; and, keeping in a
close body, were fighting their way steadily along.

A number of the Welsh were going over the battlefield, stabbing all
whom they found to be still living. The sic