ROGER DUTTON; THE TRUE


PROPH ECY. sbAD3

CONCLUDED.
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coDDler; There goes my apron upon Tim.


mothy's pike The cobblers forever we,l


be first in the fray!n seaa. II 0f. s


"Not before the tumblers -, answered


another. Martin lend me your spear-mv
cloak shall serve our turn, and our banner
shall De up first |! " and running the sharp
part of the spear through the cloak, he
raised it high in the air.


Up went the cobbIer's the moment after.
and number of similar ensigns were dis
played in various parts Of the ground The
drums beat, the fdders sounded; Allan the
harper, took up his song; and once more
the wild and ludicrous procession. headed
by Roger Dutton, with his ten men at arms.
reganed the high road, and marched into
| the woods. 4


About mile, or mile and half, re-
NAMED to be traversed; and this, to say the
truth, was the most dangerous part Of the
whole affair. The Welsh, as brave as lions,
when not taken by surprise, were famous
for fighting in their woods and laying in
ambush for their enemies; and many a gall
liant army of Englishmen had thus been
cut to pieces by the daring and skill of the
native Britons. Such, however, was not
destined to be the fate Of Roger Dutton and
his motley crew. The Welsh had not at
tackled Rothelan without being well aware
that there were no troops to spare in Ches-
ter castle, but, with the usual improvidence
OF barbarous armies, they had taken no pre-
caution Of any kind against surprise. They
were all busy in various occupations, pre-
pairing for their own assault upon the walls,
when suddenly a wild flourish Of drums
and all manner of instruments, burst upon
their ears from the neighboring wood, and
then for the first time apprehension seized
upon them. Hurry and confusion on the
part of those who first heard the sound,
produced doubt and dsmay in the rest; and
though eleven horsemen were all that ap-
Peared first, yet panic began to manifest
WIffa4h y hhiGGhfttads hhiGGhft 81 h6h, wfoSe 'ar anu
equipments they could not at all distinguish,
was vomited forth from the wood on the
hill side, with almost as many banners and
ensigns as if it had been royal army.


Roger Dutton's practiced eye instantly
discovered the effect Of the panic, even in
the irregular troops of the Welsh, and
shouting to his followers to run as fast as
they could, in order to make the attack be-
fore the real character of his force could be
discovered, he put his horse into quick
pace, and charged the enemy, followed by
his ten men at arms, with their levelled
lances. "3


With wild shouts and yells Of every kind,
with every sort of arms under the sun, but
all rushing forward with the fury of demo-
MACS, the wild multitude behind him spread
out over the hillside and swept on in
long irregular line. Such scene was ne
yer, perhaps, beheld by the eye of mortal
man; and the Welsh, taken by surprise,
thundershuck, not knowing what to think,
began to fly in every direction, in spite of
the cries and remonstrances of their chiefs.


About two thousand men, indeed, kept
together, and received Roger Dutton with
flight of short arrows, one of which
wounded him in the arm, another drove his
horse almost mad with pain. Plunging in
to the midst of them, however, he smote
down one or two with his lance, and then
betaking himself 10 his long heavy sword,
struck here and there around him, as his
charger reared and plunged among the enc
my. He and his little group of companions
were soon surrounded on all sides, but at
that moment, one of the fiddlers saw his
perilous situation, and shouting aloud "look
to Roger Dutton-look to gay Roger Dut-
ton and down with the Welshmen a
large body of the rabble poured on to his
assistance, hewing their way with bills and
hooks and guisarmes and swords, scattering
the enemy to the right and left.


Though broken and dispirited, the Welsh
might still have continued to fight against
body even more irregular than themselves,
but at that instant the gates of Rothelan


were thrown open; and laundering over


the draw bridge came the old Earl of Ches-


ter, at the head of fifty men-at-arms. An


imated by the sight, hddlers, tumblers,


cobblers, mountebanks, seemed inspired


with almost superhuman courage; tre-


mendous effort was made upon the only


body Of enemies that still held firm, and
after scarcely minutes resistance, they
were routed and flying from the field.
In about half an hour after, Mary de La
cy and her cousin Edith, standing under


the arch of the barbican, saw the, wild pro-
cession Of Roger Dutton's strange army
: winding down from the pursuit. AT its
/. head, or rather nearly at its head, came
= the vouno gentleman himself, on the right