The Captain of the Wight

ll, and had it not been for a piece of plaster which the infirmarer of Hide, who came to dress hi

t him a tabard of white taffeta, embroidered with the badge of the captain of the Island, in all respects like the other pages, with a supply of food from his

rd, stood in all the pride of conscious importance at the doorstep, the admired of all the little street-boys and burgesses who were up and about at that hour; while he was conscious of many a girlish face looking out fro

de and delicacy, that their scruples yielded, and they accepted it with evident reluctance, and only on condition that when he was a belted knight he would come back and

eet, Humphrey caught si

going home to-night, go up to Thruxton and say how you seen the young master all

ickon, stopping to gaze upon Ralph. "

here the cortège was in waiting for

-arms that blocked up the street, but he soon felt at ease as he was greeted

as for Eustace, he is putting the last touch of paint to his

and mounted archers drew their swords; the yeomen and billmen held their halberds and bills at att

roop. His keen eye took in everything, but with the dignity befitting his rank he never mentioned what he saw amiss at the time, making a note of it in

would be for the young boy to be called out before all that assembly,

am I to see him so blythe this morning. Sir John

rup being held for him by Willie Ne

rch, and the leading files turned down to the

ore, and old buildings had little charms for him, with the animation of life before him. Men,

exuberant youth, of giving himself airs, and thinking of his appearance. At first the sense of shyness had kept this feeling of self-admiration down, but as he rode along, and noticed the glance of the passers-by, how they sto

ter, he felt on perfectly easy terms with everyone, including Eustace Bowerman even, who, however, did not se

o hardily as he hath. He would have been sitting his nag like any stick, such as you and old Pudding Face, when t

his lip. It w

ok fright and bolted when the bull came blundering down that all

icky hotly; "you know right wel

y malapert, I kno

much, as I always s

wallop thee once more, I see

sneered Dicky; "I'd li

rd the barge then, and y

to feed again, or of the danger he was always in from the fair sex, by reason of his own good looks. The othe

ky, as Willie looked round nervously, to see the group his comrade was referring to, only to meet with a jeering remark from the apprentice who was standing by the girl, of "Hi, young round knave, pudding

tort, he only grunted angrily, and leered at

reality all true townsfolk believed in, and of whose doughty deeds with Guy of Warwick Ralph had often heard and longed to emula

st, with all its memories of ancient times. The splash of the little waves, rippling before the fresh north breeze, as they sparkled against the bluff bows of the unwieldy barges or straighter stems of the swifter galleys. How stately was the cu

ged to the mysterious sons of Stur long before the Norman Conquest, and passed by marriage to De Lisle, if indeed De Lisle was not simply the Norman form of expression for the original lord of the island, for who could more worthil

s rose in him, and Ralph Lisle gazed a

s parties each to its own barge, the excitement of pushing out into the stream, or warping the larger vessels off to their kedg

" as Ralph took his stand on a large coil of rope near the bows. "Such a gay bird as y

hauled out into the stream, t

here," calle

was run out, the anchor was up, and hanging at the b

e sail dropped down from the mainmast and longyard, where it had been brailed up, and swelled out in t

the grooms and men-at-arms were on a large barge that was running alongside of them. On their right, but a little astern,

ne on early in the morning, und

ed, like those remnants of the Middle Ages the Breton and Norman chasses marées of modern times, a

orned with the arms of the Lord Woodville, argent, a fess, and canton, gules, while the mainsail bore the arms of Newport, the capita

opes, the stout masts, and the swelling sails lazily falling in graceful folds as t

ils fell, how mellow and blue it sparkled on the side where the sunlight shone upon it. He looked at the other barges; they were rippling through the sea, a little foun

ll of its bell sounding over the water the hour of nones; gaily they flew past the mouth of the Hamble, and in a short t

ine, and deftly he performed his task, for he had been well taught at home. The motion of the vessel was scarcely perceptible, and his hand was very stea

d Dicky, "you'll have to look after yourse

answer, but glanced askance at Ra

aid; he'll leave you a bit, if you are a

he had found no opportunity to put his threat in execution. Howev

e said, "c

young gentleman. "You can

who was sitting on a settle on the deck not far of

er the Brambles, the steersman keeping the vessel's head well

d see far down the Solent, point after point standing up in ever-decreasing clearness, until the distant Node Hill, above Fres

and as they approached the land Ralph saw t

ip's pleasure? Shall we run in and anchor, and land your lordship, or will it please you that we try to stem the tide? Nathe

ooke. Our baggage can come up afterwards, in the evening,

ing of the castles by Henry VIII., sixty y

y, my

e mainsail, then as they ran up past the land, which was all covered with woods and bush, they took in the foresail, and gently, under

d, partly driven out on to the shingle. The grooms and men-at-arms got out, and led the horses up to form their ranks on the grass sward at the foot of the woods, wh

es, he mounted his horse on the green grass above, great state being observed, and great care

ing through the stems of the trees by the roadside. More than ever Ralph felt grateful to the Abbot of Quarr for having presented him to so puissant a chief, and o

h, looking back, saw that the beggar man an

rp after our pony, Master

r seen anything so pretty. Below, lay the Newport creek, clothed in thick woods on each side; beyond, stretched the blue Solent, the yellow line of the Hampshire coast and the grey distance blending with the mellow haze of the sky. The three barges, with their