men stand against twenty thousand; we were almost pushed back with their
spear-points, they were so close together:--slay six of them and the
spears were as thick as ever; but if two of our men fell there was
straightway a hole.

Yet just at the end of this we drove them back in one charge two yards
beyond the breach, and behold in the front rank, Sir Guy, utterly
fearless, cool, and collected; nevertheless, with one stroke I broke his
helm, and he fell to the ground before the two armies, even as I fell
that day in the lists; and we drove them twenty feet farther, yet they
saved Sir Guy.

Well, again,--what would you have? They drove us back again, and they
drove us into our inner castle walls. And I was the last to go in, and
just as I was entering, the boldest and nearest of the enemy clutched at
my love's hair in my helm, shouting out quite loud, 'Whore's hair for
John the goldsmith!'

At the hearing of which blasphemy the Lord gave me such strength, that I
turned and caught him by the ribs with my left hand, and with my right,
by sheer strength, I tore off his helm and part of his nose with it, and
then swinging him round about, dashed his brains out against the castle-
walls.

Yet thereby was I nearly slain, for they surrounded me, only Sir William
and the others charged out and rescued me, but hardly.

May the Lord help all true men! In an hour we were all fighting pell
mell on the walls of the castle itself, and some were slain outright, and
some were wounded, and some yielded themselves and received mercy; but I
had scarce the heart to fight any more, because I thought of Alys lying
with her face upon the floor and her agonised hands outspread, trying to
clutch something, trying to hold to the cracks of the boarding. So when
I had seen William de la Fosse slain by many men, I cast my shield and
helm over the battlements, and gazed about for a second, and lo! on one
of the flanking towers, my gold wings still floated by the side of
William's white lion, and in the other one I knew my poor Love, whom they
had left quite alone, was lying.

So then I turned into a dark passage and ran till I reached the tower
stairs, up that too I sprang as though a ghost were after me, I did so
long to kiss her again before I died, to soothe her too, so that she
should not feel this day, when in the aftertimes she thought of it, as
wholly miserable to her. For I knew they would neither slay her nor
treat her cruelly,