Bent is the bow on the lily lea
Betwixt the thorn and the oaken tree.
But here the song dropped suddenly, and one of the men held up his
hand as who would say, Hist! Then through the open window came the
sound of another song, gradually swelling as though sung by men on the
march. This time the melody was a piece of the plain-song of the
church, familiar enough to me to bring back to my mind the great
arches of some cathedral in France and the canons singing in the
choir.
All leapt up and hurried to take their bows from wall and corner; and
some had bucklers withal, circles of leather, boiled and then moulded
into shape and hardened: these were some two hand-breadths across,
with iron or brass bosses in the centre. Will Green went to the
corner where the bills leaned against the wall and handed them round
to the first-comers as far as they would go, and out we all went
gravely and quietly into the village street and the fair sunlight of
the calm afternoon, now beginning to turn towards evening. None had
said anything since we first heard the new-come singing, save that as
we went out of the door the ballad-singer clapped me on the shoulder
and said: "Was it not sooth that I said, brother, that Robin Hood
should bring us John Ball?"
CHAPTER III
THEY MEET AT THE CROSS
The street was pretty full of men by then we were out in it, and all
faces turned toward the cross.
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