In the afternoon, Oswald and his cousins
had joined heartily in the dances, and enjoyed the day to the full as
much as their visitors.
Gatherings of this kind were not uncommon. Shooting, wrestling, and
sword-playing for the men, and dancing on the green for the young
people, took place at most of the village fairs; but the gathering at
Yardhope was long talked about, as a special occasion, from the
hospitality in which all were included, and the number of the heads of
the border families who were present, and took part in the proceedings.
Oswald's mother had been the prime mover in the matter. She was proud
of her son, and thought that it was a good occasion to present him to
the countryside, as one who was now arriving at manhood, and was
likely, in time, to make a figure on the border. John Forster had at
first declared that it was wholly unnecessary, and that such a thing
had never taken place in his time, or in his father's before him.
"That may be, husband," she said, "but Oswald has been away from us for
two years, and it may be as much more before he returns. He is like to
become a knight, before long--Alwyn said that the lad was sure to win
his spurs--and it would be well that he should not slip out of the
memory of folks here.
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