s
and men-at-arms, would have been a Greek to those accustomed only to
Norman French.

Upon the third day, however, an incident occurred which upset Cuthbert's
calculations, and nearly involved the whole party in ruin. The town was,
as the young baron had said, governed by a noble who was a near relation
of Conrad of Montferat, and who was the bitter enemy of the English. A
great _fete_ had been given in honor of the marriage of his daughter,
and upon this day the young pair were to ride in triumph through the
city. Great preparations had been made; masks and pageants of various
kinds manufactured; and the whole townspeople, dressed in their holiday
attire, were gathered in the streets. Cuthbert had gone out, followed by
his little band of retainers, and taken their station to see the passing
show. First came a large body of knights and men-at-arms, with gay
banners and trappings. Then rode the bridegroom, with the bride carried
in a litter by his side. After this came several allegorical
representations. Among these was the figure of a knight bearing the arms
of Austria. Underneath his feet, on the car, lay a figure clad in a
royal robe, across whom was thrown a banner with the leopards of
England. The knight stood with his foot on this figure.

This representation of the dishonor of England at the hands of Austria
elicited great acclamations from the crowd. Cuthbert clinched his teeth
and grasped his sword angrily, but had the sense to see the folly of
taking any notice of the insult. Not so with Cnut. Furious it the insult
offered to the standard of his royal master, Cnut, with a bound, burst
through the ranks of the crowd, leaped on to the car, and with a buffet
smote the figure representing Austria into the road, and lifted the flag
of England from the ground. A yell of indignation and rage was heard.
The infuriated crowd rushed forward. Cnut, with a bound, sprang from the
car, and, joining his comrades, burst through those who attempted to
impede them, and darted down a by-street.

Cuthbert, for the moment amazed at the action of his follower, had on
the instant drawn his sword and joined the archers. In the crowd,
however, he was for a second separated from them; and before he could
tear himself from the hands of the citizens who had seized him, the
men-at-arms accompanying the procession surrounded him, and he was led
away by them to the castle, the guards with difficulty protecting him
from the enraged popul