His men rallied, beat off the Welsh, and brought his
body in; and methinks his armour will fit you, though he was shorter,
by two or three inches, than yourself."
He accompanied Oswald to one of a small group of tents, standing a
quarter of a mile farther down the road.
"Is Sir William Baxter's squire here?"
A young man at once came up.
"I was his esquire, my lord."
"I have the king's orders," the earl said, "that his arms, armour, and
horses are to be handed over, forthwith, to Sir Oswald Forster here,
who will take command of his troop. He will take over all the other
belongings of the knight."
The young squire bowed.
"I will hand them over to you, sir."
"You will, of course, take possession of the tent also, Sir Oswald. Sir
William was one of my knights. He was unwedded, and has no male kin;
therefore, you need have no hesitation in taking his belongings; which
indeed we should, in any case, have little chance of taking back with
us, for our waggons are but few, and will daily become fewer: for on
such roads as these, both waggons and horses break down, and it will be
as much as we can do to carry even necessities with us.
"Come to my tent at noon, it lacks but an hour of it, and I will
present you at dinner to some of my knights; among whom, for the
present, I shall rank you.
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