chyard gate there was not a man of them but had a cut or
a bruise upon him. Then, when they turned the corner, black with wrath,
there were the lads gathered about the church-porch each with his weapon,
and each white and silent, waiting for what should fall.

"Now you wonder where we were. We were in the church, my brother and I;
for our people had put us there against our will, to keep us safe, they
said. Eh! but I was wroth when Olroyd and the rest pushed me through the
door. However, there we were, locked in; I was up in one window, and my
brother was in the belfry as I thought, each trying to see what was
forward. I saw the two crowds of them, silent and wrathful, with not
twenty yards between them, and a few stones still sailing among the
soldiers now and again; the pikes were being set in array, and our lads
were opening out to let the scythes have free play, when on a sudden I
heard the tinkle of a bell round the outside of the tower, and I climbed
down from my place, and up again to one of the west windows; there was a
fearsome hush outside now, and I could see some of the soldiers in front
were uneasy; they had their eyes off the lads and round the side of the
tower. And then I saw little Dickie Olroyd in his surplice ringing a bell
and bearing a candle, and behind him came my brother, in a purple cope I
had never set eyes on before, with his square cap and a great book, and
his eyes shining out of his head, and his lips opening and mouthing out
Latin; and then he stopped, laid the book reverently on a tombstone,
lifted both hands, and brought them down with the fingers out, and his
eyes larger than ever. I could see the soldiers were ready to break and
scatter, for some were Catholics no doubt, and many more feared the
priest; and then on a sudden my brother caught the candle out of Dickie's
hand, blew it out with a great puff, while Dickie rattled upon the bell,
and then he dashed the smoking candle among the soldiers. The soldiers
broke and fled like hares, out of the churchyard, down the street and
down the path to Cockermouth; the officer tried to stay them, but 'twas
no use; the fear of the Church was upon them, and her Grace herself could
not have prevailed with them. Well, when they let us out, the lads were
all a-trembling too; for my brother's face, they said, was like the
destroying angel; and I was somewhat queer myself, and I was astonished
too; for he was kind-hearted, was my brother, and would not