ord; "how dare ye thrust yourselves betwixt me and my lawful prisoner,
captive of my sword and power? what right have ye to dare detain him?
Let go your hold, none but the men whose prowess gained this gallant
prize shall guard him till my sovereign's will be known. Back, back, I
say!"

"Traitor!" retorted Berwick, "he is no longer your prisoner. An insult
offered to King Edward, in the loyal citadel of Berwick, in my very
presence, his representative as I stand, shall meet with fit
retribution. He hath insulted his sovereign by act and word, and I
attach him of high treason and will enforce my charge. Forward, I say!"

"And I say back!" shouted the Earl of Hereford; "I tell thee, proud
earl, he is my prisoner, and mine alone. Thou mayest vaunt thy loyalty,
thy representation of majesty, as thou listeth, mine hath been proved at
the good sword's point, and Edward will deem me no traitor because I
protect a captive, who hath surrendered himself a knight to a knight,
rescue or no rescue, from this unseemly violence. I bandy no more words
with such as thee; back! the first man that dares lay hold on him I
chastise with my sword."

"Thou shalt repent this!" muttered Berwick, with a suppressed yet
terrible oath, but he dared proceed no further.

A signal from their leader brought up all Hereford's men, who, in
compact order and perfect silence, surrounded their prisoner. Sternly
the earl called for a pair of handcuffs, and with his own hands fastened
them on his captive. "It grieves me," he said, "to see a brave man thus
manacled, but thine own mad act hath brought it on thyself. And now, my
Lord of Berwick, an it please thee to proceed, we demand admission to
thy citadel in King Edward's name. Bring up the other prisoners."

Concealing his wrath with difficulty, the Earl of Berwick and his
attendants dashed forward over the drawbridge into the castle at full
speed, closing the gates and lowering the portcullis after them. After a
brief space, the portcullis was again raised, the gates flung wide
apart, and the men-at-arms were discerned lining either side, in all due
form and homage to the officers of their sovereign. During the wrathful
words passing between the two earls, the attention of the crowd had been
given alternately to them and to the Countess of Buchan, who had utterly
forgotten her own precarious situation in anxiety for Nigel, and in pity
for the unfortunate child, who had been hurled by the soldiers close