ar father, that the day may come when we shall lay our hands
on all three," said the Prince, looking with shining eyes upon the
King. "Is the Holy Land to lie forever in the grasp of these unbelieving
savages, or the Holy Temple to be defiled by their foul presence? Ah! my
dear and most sweet lord, give to me a thousand lances with ten thousand
bowmen like those I led at Crecy, and I swear to you by God's soul
that within a year I will have done homage to you for the Kingdom of
Jerusalem!"

The King laughed as he turned to Walter Manny. "Boys will still be
boys," said he.

"The French do not count me such!" cried the young Prince, flushing with
anger.

"Nay, fair son, there is no one sets you at a higher rate than your
father. But you have the nimble mind and quick fancy of youth, turning
over from the thing that is half done to a further task beyond. How
would we fare in Brittany and Normandy while my young paladin with his
lances and his bowmen was besieging Ascalon or battering at Jerusalem?"

"Heaven would help in Heaven's work."

"From what I have heard of the past," said the King dryly, "I cannot see
that Heaven has counted for much as an ally in these wars of the East. I
speak with reverence, and yet it is but sooth to say that Richard of
the Lion Heart or Louis of France might have found the smallest earthly
principality of greater service to him than all the celestial hosts. How
say you to that, my Lord Bishop?"

A stout churchman who had ridden behind the King on a solid bay cob,
well-suited to his weight and dignity, jogged up to the monarch's elbow.
"How say you, sire? I was watching the goshawk on the partridge and
heard you not."

"Had I said that I would add two manors to the See of Chichester, I
warrant that you would have heard me, my Lord Bishop."

"Nay, fair lord, test the matter by saying so," cried the jovial Bishop.

The King laughed aloud. "A fair counter, your reverence. By the rood!
you broke your lance that passage. But the question I debated was this:
How is it that since the Crusades have manifestly been fought in God's
quarrel, we Christians have had so little comfort or support in fighting
them. After all our efforts and the loss of more men than could be
counted, we are at last driven from the country, and even the military
orders which were formed only for that one purpose can scarce hold a
footing in the islands of the Greek sea. There is not one seaport nor
one fortress in Pa