The Captain of the Wight

e precise array. It behoved the Captain of the Wight to e

e day, the bailiffs and burgesses of Newport had therefore received

em to have been put on a sound footing, and the military tenures of the landlords who held their lands of the "honour of Carisbrooke Castle" were carefully inquired into, and their services duly enforced. The large powers possessed by the Warden of the Island, in the reign of Edward III., as evidenced in the commission granted to John de Gattesdon, show that a vigorous Captain had ample means at his disposal for mustering a formidable force, and that

ains that all under his command should be well-appointed and well-disciplined, and as his appointment vested in his person the su

wn, and attended by Tom o' Kingston and the body of archers and men-at-arms he commanded. The populace, naturally eager to see all pageants, crowded out of their houses, and by the time the procession, issuing from the town over the bridge to the north, had reached the Priory of St Cross, it had attained to very considerable proportions. Several of the neighbouring gentry had ridden in and joi

er the brow of the steep hill that descended abruptly to the little town. Soon afterwards the Lord Woodville himself

scornful look, added a quaint variety to the scene. The banner of Newport flaunted its blazon in the breeze, side by side with the arms of Woodville and the royal arms. Beyond were the red tiles of the old houses, the streets, neat and orderly, the tower of the Church of St Thomas, rising above the houses, and, behind all, the steep down of St George's to the left, and the range of downs stretching away to the right, with the vale of the Medina between, from which the mist of approaching evening was already beginning to rise, while from out the v

them, and once more he felt a sense of shyness come over him. He was not yet used to being looked at. His fellow-pages, however, w

his nose is! Why didn't he get some of t

t Anthony! but he's got a worse squi

ee thee, that I wouldn't. She told Tom o' Kingston she meant to m

greater importance than before, while even Richard Cheke and Maurice Woodville looked conscious, and glanced at their dress, squared

urned to the island home of his ancestors in King Harry the Fourth's reign, but he had forgotten all about it, and had never given such remote genealogical questions a

the young lady who created so

er brilliant complexion, lovely features, and sparkling blue eyes. Fun and health glowed in every line of her face, in her masses of wavy fair hair, which refused to be confined under the prim cap and horned head-dress in which the fashion of the time struggl

alph bumped with a sudden jerk, as the troop stopped for Lord Woodville to receive the homage of his subjects.

to ear at his luckless mistake; but what made him more uncomfortable still, was that he saw the fair object of his admiration had witne

t expressively to the lady on horseback. But she, after the first glance of recognition and amusement, looked no

rtification, tried to keep his eyes away from

ly very popular. Ralph noticed that the old knight who sat his horse so firmly, and held up his head so proudly, was greeted with especial respect by Lord Woodville, who also exchanged very courteous salutations with the lov

iffs and the burgesses heading the procession, they t

who that old knight was who looked so striking, an

s, or ought to be, a kinsman of thine own, seeing he beareth the

h a chief gules charged with three lions rampant of the field,

lled Sir William de Lisle of the Wood, or, as our chaplain would have it, 'Dominus

Ralph shyly, thinking of his fat

elle in all the Wight, and the world to boo

High Street, and so to his monastery. Sir William Lisle and his daughter, much to her regret, also took leave; but Lord Woodville, before parting with the Abbot and

ted with. This fair youth hath already begun right manfully, and I da

Ralph, as he thought somewhat s

ddlesford, whenever thy noble Captain can spare thee. Thou wilt find good sport for thy hawk in the woods and creek of Wodyton, and along the

he rights of the respective demesnes, for the lands of the Lisles bordered on those of Quarr Abbey, and hot had been the complaints

ithout them thou wilt be parlous dull, seeing there is naught at home to amuse thee saving my poor self; and one poor girl

concourse of people, with his comrades watching, and the French knights and Lord Woodvil

reverence those in authority over thee, and attend carefully to the ministrations of wor

d Ralph, who, now that the bright eyes of his fair kinswoman were not gazing at him with the amused look which

l glance of Parthian destructiveness at the French knights, but

to the best bit of good fortune he's likely to have for some time; and now he's called up before all of us to be

ering tongue, I'll flay you when we get

tue is its own reward. Be happy! sweet damoiseau, and rejoice in thy good nature

but the nonce. My time will come an

s of the little court at the castle were intimately discussed. The characters of each of the principal me

E WIGHT ENTERING

E WIGHT ENTERING

kind and sweet lady. The reasons for Lord Woodville being still a bachelor were variously stated, and all hotly asserted by their different supporters, who one and all had their information on undoubted private authority, which they were not at liberty to divulge. The only fact that really was known, however, was the simple one that there was no Lady Woodville. The head of the column was now mounting the steep ascent to the castle, and Ralph noticed the splendid position of this noble fortress. The sun was getting low on the western

the sunlight under the heavy portcullis, and between the massive iron-studded oak doors, which were swung back to allow the Captain of the Wight and his "me

out into the sunlight, whose rays just passed between the towers, and touched his