ood in the simple attire worn by
men of rank at that time. He looked around, and holding up his hand,
conveying alike a farewell and a command to his followers to remain in
concealment, he gazed round the crowd, thinking that he might see among
them in some disguise or other the features of Cnut, whose tall figure
would have rendered him conspicuous in a crowd. He failed, however, to
see any signs of him, and turning to the executioner, signified by a
gesture that he was ready.

At this instant an arrow from the wall above pierced the brain of the
man, and he fell dead in his tracks. A roar of astonishment burst from
the crowd. Upon the city wall at this point was a small turret, and on
this were five figures. The wall around was deserted, and for the moment
these men were masters of the position.

"Seize those insolent varlets!" the baron shouted, shaking his sword
with a gesture of fury at them.

His words, however, were arrested, for at the moment another arrow
struck him in the throat, and he fell back into the arms of those around
him.

Quickly now the arrows of the English archers flew into the courtyard.
The confusion which reigned there was indescribable. The citizens with
shouts of alarm took to their heels. The men-at-arms were powerless
against this rain of missiles, and the knights, hastily closing their
visors, shouted contradictory orders, which no one obeyed.

In the confusion no one noticed the prisoner. Seizing a moment when the
attention of all was fixed upon the wall, he leaped from the platform,
and making his way unnoticed through the excited crowd of men-at-arms,
darted down a narrow lane that divided the castle from the wall. He ran
along until, one hundred yards further, he came to a staircase by which
access to the battlements was obtained. Running lightly up this, he kept
along the wall until he reached the turret.

"Thanks, my noble Cnut!" he exclaimed, "and you, my brave fellows. But I
fear you have forfeited your lives. There is no escape. In a minute the
whole force of the place will recover from their confusion, and be down
upon us from both sides."

"We have prepared for that," Cnut said. "Here is a rope hanging down
into the moat."

Glancing over, Cuthbert saw that the moat was dry; and after a final
discharge of arrows into the crowd, the six men slid one after another
down the rope and made their way at full speed across the country.

CHAPTER XIX.

DRESDEN.

It w