"
Sure enough as I slipped down by the hedge close to which I had been
standing, I heard the harsh twang of the bow-strings, one, two, three,
almost together, from the road, and even the whew of the shafts,
though that was drowned in a moment by a confused but loud and
threatening shout from the other side, and again the bowstrings
clanged, and this time a far-off clash of arms followed, and
therewithal that cry of a strong man that comes without his will, and
is so different from his wonted voice that one has a guess thereby of
the change that death is. Then for a while was almost silence; nor
did our horns blow up, though some half-dozen of the billmen had leapt
into the road when the bows first shot. But presently came a great
blare of trumpets and horns from the other side, and therewith as it
were a river of steel and bright coats poured into the field before
us, and still their horns blew as they spread out toward the left of
our line; the cattle in the pasture-field, heretofore feeding quietly,
seemed frightened silly by the sudden noise, and ran about tail in air
and lowing loudly; the old bull with his head a little lowered, and
his stubborn legs planted firmly, growling threateningly; while the
geese about the brook waddled away gobbling and squeaking; all which
seemed so strange to us along with the threat of sudden death that
rang out from the bright array over against us, that we laughed
outright, the most of us, and Will Green put down his head in mockery
of the bull and grunted like him, whereat we laughed yet more.
Pages:
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71