of England and the other that of France, the title to
which country the English sovereigns still pretended to claim, in
virtue of their former extended possessions there, although pretty
much all except the town of Calais was now lost.

Perhaps the pursuers of the king's party were deceived by this royal
cap, and took the wearer of it for the king. At any rate, the officer
wearing the cap was taken, and the king escaped.

[Sidenote: The queen's danger.]

Immediately after the victory on the field at Hexham, a body of the
Yorkist troops broke into the camp where the queen was quartered, and
where, with the young prince, she was awaiting the result of the
battle. As soon as the queen found that the enemy were coming, she
seized the prince and ran off with him, in mortal terror, into a
neighboring wood. She knew well that, if the child was taken, he
would certainly be killed. Indeed, such bloody work had been made on
both sides, with assassinations and executions during the year prior
to this time, that men's minds were in the highest state of
exasperation; and it is probable that both Margaret herself and the
child would have been butchered on the spot if they had remained in
the camp until the victorious troops entered it.

[Sidenote: Narrow escape.]

[Sidenote: Her flight.]

[Sidenote: The robbers.]

As soon as Margaret gained the wood she turned off into the most
obscure and solitary paths that she could find, thinking of nothing
but to escape from her pursuers, who, she imagined in her fright, were
close behind. At length, after wandering about in this manner for some
time, she fell in with a company of men in the wood, who were either a
regular band of robbers, or were tempted to become robbers on that
occasion by the richness of the stranger's dress, and by the articles
of jewelry and other decorations which she wore; for, although
Margaret's means were extremely limited, she still maintained, in some
degree, the bearing and the appointments of a queen.

[Sidenote: An escape.]

The men at once stopped her, and began to plunder her and the prince
of every thing which they could take from them that appeared to be of
value. As soon as they had possessed themselves of this plunder they
began to quarrel about it among themselves. Margaret remained standing
near, in great anxiety and distress, until presently, watching her
opportunity, she caught up the prince in her arms and slipped away
into the adjoining th