Each lattice, each

"You must not; you shall not! aperture will be a mark for the archers. shaft-"

Some random

"It shall be welcome;" and with firm pace she ascended the steps which led to the windows.

Rebecca, dear Rebecca! this is no maiden's pastime. Do not expose thyself to wounds and death, and render me miserable for having given the occasion; at least cover yourself with yonder ancient buckler, and show as little of your person at the lattice as may be."

Following the directions of Ivanhoe with wonderful promptitude, Rebecca, with tolerable security to herself, was able to witness part of what was passing without the castle, and report to Ivanhoe the preparations which the assailants were making for the storm.

"The skirts of the wood," she said, "seem lined with archers, although only a few are advanced from its dark shadow."

"Under what banner?" said Ivanhoe.

"Under no ensign of war which I can observe," said Rebecca.

"A singular novelty," muttered the knight, "to advance to storm a castle without pennon or banner. Seest thou who they be who act as leaders?"

"A knight clad in sable armour is the most conspicuous; he alone is armed from head to heel, and seems to assume the direction of all around him."

"What device does he bear on his shield?" asked Ivanhoe.

"Something resembling a bar of iron, and a padlock painted blue on a black shield.”

"A fetterlock and a shacklebolt azure. I know not who may bear the device, but well I ween it might be my own. Canst not thou see the motto?" But they

us!

"Scarce the device itself bears at distance. appear now preparing to advance. God of Zion protect What a dreadful sight! Those who advance first bear huge shields and defences made of plank; the others follow, bending their bows as they come on. They raise

their bows.

God of Moses, forgive the creatures whom

thou hast made !"

Her description was interrupted by the signal for assault, given by the blast of a shrill bugle, and at once answered by a flourish of the Norman trumpets from the battlements, and the deep and hollow clang of the nakins (a species of kettle-drum). The shouts of both parties augmented the fearful din, the assailants crying, "Saint George for merry England!" and the Normans answering with cries of "En avant de Bracy," "Beau-seant," ""Frontde-Bœuf a la rescousse," according to the war-cries of their different commanders.

The archers, trained by their woodland practice to the most effective use of the long bow, shot so 66 wholly together" that no point at which a defender showed his person escaped their cloth-yard shafts. By this heavy discharge, which continued as thick and sharp as hail, while yet every arrow had its individual aim, and flew by scores together against each embrasure and opening in the parapets, as well as at every window where a defender had post or might be expected to be stationed;-by this sustained discharge two or three of the garrison were slain and several others wounded. But, confident in their armour of proof, the followers of Front-de-Boeuf and his allies showed an obstinacy in defence proportioned to the fury of the attack, and replied with the disharge of their large cross bows, as well as with long-bows, slings, and other weapons, and as the assailants were but indifferently protected, did more damage than they received.

"And I must lie here like a bed-ridden monk," exclaimed Ivanhoe, "while the game that gives me freedom or death is played out by the hand of others. Look from the window once again, kind maiden, but beware that you are not marked by the archers beneath, and tell me if they yet advance to the storm."

With patient courage, strengthened by the interval, which she had employed in mental devotion, Rebecca again took post at the lattice, sheltering herself, however, so as not to be visible from beneath,

"I see nothing," she said, "but the cloud of arrows flying so thick as to dazzle mine eyes, and to hide the bowmen who shoot them."

"That cannot endure. If they press not right on to carry the castle by force of arms, the archery may avail little against stone walls and bulwarks. Look for the knight of the fetterlock, and see how he bears himself. As the leader is, so will the followers be."

"I see him not," said Rebecca.

"Foul craven!" exclaimed Ivannoe; "does he blench from the helm when the wind blows highest."

"He blenches not! he blenches not! I see him now; he leads a body of men close under the outer barrier of the barbican. They pull down the piles and palisades; they hew down the barriers with axes. His high black plume floats abroad over the throng like a raven over the field of the slain. They have made a breach in the barriers-they rush in. Now they are thrust back. Frontde-Boeuf heads the defenders; I see his gigantic form. above the press. They throng again to the breach, and the pass is disputed hand to hand. God of Jacob! it is the meeting of two tides-the conflict of two oceans moved by contrary winds." She turned her head from the lattice,

as if unable longer to endure the sight.

"The

"Look forth again, Rebecca," said Ivanhoe. archery must in some degree have ceased, since they are fighting hand to hand. Look again, there is now less danger."

Rebecca looked, and almost immediately exclaimed, "Holy prophets of the law! Front-de-Bœuf and the Black Knight fight hand to hand on the breach, amid the roar of their followers. Heaven strike with the cause of the oppressed and the captive." She then uttered a loud shriek. "He is down-he is down!"

"Who is down? For our lady's sake, tell me who has fallen."

"The Black Knight," answered Rebecca, faintly; then instantly shouted with joyful eagerness, "But no, no! the name of the Lord of Hosts be blessed! he is on foot

M

again, and fights as if there were twenty men's strength in his single arm. His sword is broken-he snatches an axe from a yeoman-he presses Front-de-Bœuf with blow on blow. The giant stoops and totters like an oak under the steel of the woodman. He falls-he falls!"

"Front-de-Boeuf ?" said Ivanhoe.

"Front-de-Bœuf," answered the Jewess; "his men rush to the rescue, headed by the haughty Templar. Their united exertion compels the champion to pause; they drag Front-de-Bœuf within the walls."

"The assailants have won the barriers, have they not?" "They have; they have! and they press the besieged hard upon the outer wall. Some plant ladders, some swarm like bees and ascend upon the shoulders of each other; down go stones, beams, and trunks of trees upon their heads, and as fast as they bear the wounded to the rear, fresh men supply their places in the van. Great God! hast thou given men thine image that it should be thus cruelly defaced by the hands of their brethren !”

"Think not of that; this is no time for such thoughts. Who yield? who push their way?"

"The ladders are thrown down; the soldiers lie grovelling under them like crushed reptiles. The besieged have the better."

"Saint George strikes for us! Do the false yeomen give way?"

"No; they bear themselves right yeomanly. The Black Knight approaches the postern gate with his huge axe; the thundering blows which he deals, you may hear them above all the din and shouts of the battle. Stones and beams are hailed down on the bold champion: he regards them no more than if they were thistle and down."

"By St. George of Acre ! methought there was but one man in England that might do such a deed.”

Oh,

"The postern gate shakes; it crashes; it is splintered by his blows. They rush on; the outwork is won. God! they hurl the defenders from the battlements; they throw them into the moat. Oh, men, if ye be indeed men, spare them that can resist no longer!"

"The bridge-the bridge which communicates with the castle-have they won that pass?" exclaimed Ivanhoe.

"No," replied Rebecca, "the Templar has destroyed the plank on which a few of the defenders have escaped with him into the castle. The shrieks and cries which you hear tell the fate of the others. Alas! I see it is still more difficult to look upon victory than upon battle." "What do they now, maiden? This is no time to faint at bloodshed."

"It is over for the time; our friends strengthen themselves within the outwork which they have mastered, and it affords them good shelter from the foemen's shot."

"Our friends," said Ivanhoe, "will surely not abandon an enterprise so gloriously begun and so happily attained. Oh, no! I will put my faith in the good knight whose axe hath rent heart of oak and bars of iron. Seest thou anything else by which the Black Knight may be distinguished?"

"Nothing. All about him is black as the wing of the night raven. Nothing can I spy that can mark him further; but having once seen him put forth his strength in battle, methinks I should know him again among a thousand warriors. He rushes to the fray as if he were summoned to a banquet. There is more than mere strength; there seems as if the whole soul and spirit of the champion were given to every blow which he deals on his enemies. God assoilze him of the sin of bloodshed! It is fearful, yet magnificent, to behold how the arm and heart of one man can triumph over hundreds."