92 TRKVALLYAX. 



by the arm, crying " Eail, thou art my prisoner : yield thee, in the 

 king's name — rescue or no rescue !" 



Had the whole castle fallen in one mass of crumbling ruins, it 

 could not have created a more entire change in the earl. An attendant 

 received his wife as she fell from his embrace. He instantly grappled 

 with the duke, and being a stronger man than he, fairly lifted him 

 from the ground, and hurled him into the midst of his own troops ; 

 and well was it for him that his fall was broken ere he reached the 

 ground, or he had never returned from the ruin and devastation he 

 had caused. As it was, he crashed upon the stone pavement with 

 such violence as to break his arm, and mutilate it by the indentation 

 of his annour. His men closed round him ; and the earl again 

 seizing his battle-axe, renewed the conflict. A gigantic man-at-anns 

 now singled out Trevallyan, hoping to secure the reward promised 

 for his head by Norfolk. The soldiers on each side ceased from 

 fighting, as if by common consent, to view the struggle between the 

 earl and the huge trooper. Both being armed with similar weapons, 

 the combat became a spectacle of the deepest interest. At one time 

 the earl seemed to have the advantage, having more agility than his 

 opponent ; but this was counterbalanced by the coolness of the man- 

 at-arms, who appeared to wish to tire out his more active adversary. 

 At length the earl, making a feint to strike his enemy on the left side 

 of the helmet, suddenly recovering his blow, struck him on the light, 

 and shivered it into atoms. He struck again at the trooper's head, 

 and though the blow was parried, it caused him to reel with dizziness; 

 stepping back a few paces, the next blow of the earl, which otherwise 

 would have finished the encounter, was met by no resistance, and 

 before he could strike again, the trooper had closed with him. 



The floor being slippery with blood, the steel-clad foot of the 

 knight slipped, and both fell to the gi'ound, the clash of their armour 

 resounding through the castle. Here the two rolled. The earl's 

 weapon being out of his hand, his antagonist had a great advantage 

 over him, being armed with a misericorde, or dagger of mercy, with 

 which he struck several times at his foe, wherever an interstice in his 

 armour permitted. Trevallyan, feeling his death-pang upon him, 

 with his left hand seized his adversary's throat, which the blow of his 

 battle-axe which had shivered the helmet, had left exposed. Here he 

 clutched with the ferocity of a tiger; while with his remaining 



