"By what authority do you dare close
the gates and thus stand armed before them?"
"By the authority of the city of Paris," the leader of the party said
insolently.
"I recognize no such authority while the king and the Duke of Aquitaine,
who holds his full powers, are resident here. Clear the way, my man, and
open the gates, or I will ride over you."
The butcher answered him with a derisive laugh. "It will cost you your
lives if you attempt it," he said.
"Gentlemen, draw your swords and give these rough fellows the lesson they
need;" and, setting the example, he rode at the butcher and cut him down.
The idea that the Burgundian knights would venture to force a passage in
the teeth of the prohibition of the master of the butchers had apparently
not so much as entered the minds of the guard, and as soon as the knights
and their followers fell upon them, the greater portion of them flung down
their arms and fled, a few only fighting stoutly until overpowered. As
soon as the skirmish was over the keys were brought out from the guard-
room, and the gate unlocked and the massive bars taken down. In the
meantime some of the men-at-arms had run up on to the wall, hoisted the
portcullis, and lowered the drawbridge across the fosse. As soon as they
returned and mounted the party rode through. As they did so, four men ran
out from a lane near the wall and followed them; and Guy at once
recognized in them the archer and his three companions.
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