Horns were
blown in all directions, the sound growing fainter and fainter, in the
hills.
"We shall not get through undisturbed," one of the knights said to
Oswald, who was riding next to him.
"No, I think we shall have fighting. It would have been better had we
and the men-at-arms been told to leave our horses behind. In this deep
soil they will be of little use in a fight, and we should do better on
foot."
"It would be terrible, marching in our heavy armour."
"Doubtless it would have been so, but I should not have minded that.
The distance is but six miles; and although, in this slippery plain,
the toil would have been great, methinks that we could have made a
better fight than on horseback; and as these waggons travel but slowly,
we could have kept up with them."
"We can dismount, if necessary," the knight said; "but, for my part, I
would rather ride than tramp through this deep mud."
Their progress was indeed slow, the waggons frequently sank almost up
to their axles in the mud, and it needed all the efforts of the
dismounted men to get them out. A deep silence had succeeded the outcry
in the woods.
"I like not this silence, Sir Oswald," the knight said; when, after an
hour's hard work, they were still but two miles from the camp.
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