med quite
pleased with him.

"By my halidom," said one, "a brave varlet this!"

Robert felt pleased at being _called_ brave, and somehow it made him
_feel_ brave. He passed over the "varlet." It was the way people talked
in historical romances for the young, he knew, and it was evidently not
meant for rudeness. He only hoped he would be able to understand what
they said to him. He had not been always able quite to follow the
conversations in the historical romances for the young.

"His garb is strange," said the other. "Some outlandish treachery,
belike."

"Say, lad, what brings thee hither?"

Robert knew this meant, "Now then, youngster, what are you up to here,
eh?"--so he said--

"If you please, I want to go home."

"Go, then!" said the man in the longest boots; "none hindereth, and
nought lets us to follow. Zooks!" he added in a cautious undertone, "I
misdoubt me but he beareth tidings to the besieged."

"Where dwellest thou, young knave?" inquired the man with the largest
steel-cap.

"Over there," said Robert; and directly he had said it he knew he ought
to have said "Yonder!"

"Ha--sayest so?" rejoined the longest boots. "Come hither, boy. This is
matter for our leader."

And to the leader Robert was dragged forthwith--by the reluctant ear.

[Illustration: Robert was dragged forthwith--by the reluctant ear]

The leader was the most glorious creature Robert had ever seen. He was
exactly like the pictures Robert had so often admired in the historical
romances. He had armor, and a helmet, and a horse, and a crest, and
feathers, and a shield and a lance and a sword. His armor and his
weapons were all, I am almost sure, of quite different periods. The
shield was thirteenth century, while the sword was of the pattern
used in the Peninsular War. The cuirass was of the time of Charles I.,
and the helmet dated from the Second Crusade. The arms on the shield
were very grand--three red running lions on a blue ground. The tents
were of the latest brand approved of by our modern War Office, and the
whole appearance of camp, army, and leader might have been a shock to
some. But Robert was dumb with admiration, and it all seemed to him
perfectly correct, because he knew no more of heraldry or archaeology
than the gifted artists who usually drew the pictures for the historical
romances. The scene was indeed "exactly like a picture." He admired it
all so much that he felt braver than ever.

"Come hither, lad," s