ces in the country.

Sir Robert Knolles had served in Brittany before, and he marshaled his
men on the march with the skill and caution of the veteran soldier, the
man who leaves as little as possible to chance, having too steadfast a
mind to heed the fool who may think him overcautious. He had recruited a
number of bowmen and men-at-arms at Dinan; so that his following was
now close upon five hundred men. In front under his own leadership were
fifty mounted lancers, fully armed and ready for any sudden attack.
Behind them on foot came the archers, and a second body of mounted men
closed up the rear. Out upon either flank moved small bodies of cavalry,
and a dozen scouts, spread fanwise, probed every gorge and dingle in
front of the column. So for three days he moved slowly down the Southern
Road.

Sir Thomas Percy and Sir James Astley had ridden to the head of the
column, and Knolles conferred with them as they marched concerning the
plan of their campaign. Percy and Astley were young and hot-headed with
wild visions of dashing deeds and knight errantry, but Knolles with
cold, clear brain and purpose of iron held ever his object in view.

"By the holy Dunstan and all the saints of Lindisfarne!" cried the
fiery Borderer, "it goes to my heart to ride forward when there are such
honorable chances on either side of us. Have I not heard that the French
are at Evran beyond the river, and is it not sooth that yonder castle,
the towers of which I see above the woods, is in the hands of a traitor,
who is false to his liege lord of Montford? There is little profit to be
gained upon this road, for the folk seem to have no heart for war.
Had we ventured as far over the marches of Scotland as we now are in
Brittany, we should not have lacked some honorable venture or chance of
winning worship."

"You say truth, Thomas," cried Astley, a red-faced and choleric young
man. "It is well certain that the French will not come to us, and surely
it is the more needful that we go to them. In sooth, any soldier who
sees us would smile that we should creep for three days along this road
as though a thousand dangers lay before us, when we have but poor broken
peasants to deal with."

But Robert Knolles shook his head. "We know not what are in these woods,
or behind these hills," said he, "and when I know nothing it is my wont
to prepare for the worst which may befall. It is but prudence so to do."

"Your enemies might find some harsher nam