"Do not fear to speak, Tom," Dame Margaret said, after they had left the
castle behind them; "the journey is a long one, and it will go all the
quicker for honest talk. What think you of this expedition to Paris?"
"I would as lief go there as anywhere else, my lady. Indeed, men say that
it is a fine city, and as I have never seen a bigger town than
Southampton, I doubt not that I shall find plenty to interest me at times
when you may not require our services."
"I see that you have brought your bow with you."
"Ay, my lady, I could not bring myself to part with it. Sir Eustace told
me that I could not carry it, as its length would be a matter of remark,
and point me out at once as being an Englishman, seeing that the French
archers carry no bows of such length; so I have, even as you see, wrapped
it round with straw, and fastened it to the saddle beneath my leg. I have
also put fourscore arrows among the valises on the pack-horses."
"There is no chance of your needing them, Tom."
"I trust that it is so," the archer replied; "but, indeed, there is never
any saying, and an archer without his bow is but a poor creature,--though,
indeed, I trust that I can swing an axe as well as another."
"And much better than most, Tom; still, I hope that neither axe nor bow
will be required."
"To that I say amen also; for, although a fray may sometimes be to my
taste, I have no desire to be mixed up in a melee without some of my own
stout comrades with me.
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