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B R E T H R EN:' T H E BRETHREN:…

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 B R E T H R EN:' T H E BRETHREN: A ROMANCE OF THE CRUSADES. ¡[BY RIDER HAGftASD.] CHAPTER XIV.-Continued. i The Combat on g:,¡:i,gem I 'What!" he shouted, glowering at them, j Am I to fight, one against two? Is this your chivalry" I "Nay, nay, Sir Traitor." answered Wuli. Nay, nay, betrayer of Christian maids to the power of the heathen dog; you have fought Godwin, now it is the turn of Wuli. Xill Wulf and Godwin remains. Kill Godwin and god remains. Knave, you look your last upon the moon." Lozelle heard and seemed to go marl with rage, or fear, or both. "Lord Sinan," he shouted in Arabic, "this is murder. Am I, who have done you so much Lozelle went down bene ath that mighty blow. I service, to be murdered for your pleasure by the lovers of that woman, whom you would r honour with the name of wife?" Sinan heard, and stared at him with dull, t angry eyes. "Ay, you may stare," went on the mad- q t on the mad- dened Lozelle, but it is true— tli-sy are her lovers, not her brother?. Would men take 80 much pains for a sake, think you? Would they swim into this net of yours for a sister's sake?" Sinan held up his hand for silence. "Let the i(i 's be cast," he said, for what- ever these men are, this fight must go on, and it shall be fair." So a dai, standing by himself, cast lots upon the ground, and having read them, announced tiia t Lozelle must run the first course from the farther side of the bridge. Then one took his bridle to lead him across. As Jte passed the brethren he grinned in their faces and said: "At least this is sure, yon a !o look your last upon the moon. I am avenged already. The bait that hooked me is a me{l for yonder pike. and he will kill you both before her eyes to sharp his appetite." But the brethren answered nothing. 'Phe black horse o? LoseUe grc?- dim in the distance of the moonlit bridge, and vanished Treneath the farther archway that led to the outer city. Then a herald cried, Ma.souda translating his words, which another herald echoed from beyond the gulf. "Thrice will the trumpets blo-w. At the tIdTd blast of the trumpets the knights shall charge and meet in the centre of the bridge, i Thenceforward they may fight as it pleases them, akorsa or n.foot. with lance, with .sword, or dagger, but to the vanquished no mercy will be shown. If he be brought i living from the bridge, living he shall be.! cast into the grilx. Hear the docree of AVj-e-bal!" Then Wulf's horse was led forward to the entrance of the bridge, and from the further side was led forward the horse of Lozelle. "Good luck, brother," said Godwin as he passed him. "Would that I rode t'his course instead of you." "Your turn may come, brother," answered: the grim Wulf, as lie- Slat his lance in rest. Now from some neighbouring tower pealed put the first long- blast of trvnrpete, and dead silence fell on all the multitude. Grooms came forward to look to girth and bridle a.nd stirrup strap, but \VuE waved them back. "I mind my own harness," he said. The second blast blew, and he looeencd the great sword in its scabbard, the sword that had flamed in hid forbear's hand upon the turrets of Jerusalem. "Your gift," he cried to Rosamund, and her answer came clear and sweet: "Beacr it like your fathers, Wulf. Bear it as it was last borne in the hall at Steeple." Then there was another sience-. silence long and deep. Wulf looked at the white and narrow Tibbon of the bridge, lociked at the black gulf on either side, looked at t,he sky above, in which floated the great globe of the golden moon. Then he leanb forward and patted Smoke upon the neck. For the third time the trumpets blew, and ,from either end of that bridge, two hundred [All Rights Reserved.] paces long, the knights flashed towards each other like living bolts of steel. The multitude rose to watch; even Sinan rose. Only Rosa- mund sat still, gripping the cushions with her hands. Hollow rang the hoofs of the horses upon the stonework, swifter and swifter they flew, lower and lower bent the knights upon their saddles. Now they were near and now they met. The spears seemed to shiver, the horses to hustle together on the narrow way and overhang its edge; then on came the black horse towards the inner city, and en sped Smoke towards the further gulf. "They have passed! They have passed!" roared the multitude. Lozelle approached, reeling in his saddle, as well he might, for the helm was torn from his head and blood poured from his skull where the lance had grazed it. "Too high, Wulf; too high," said Godwin sadly. "But, oh! if those laces had but held! Soldiers caught the horse and turned it. "Another liclm cried Lozelle. Nay," answered Sinan; "yonder knight has lost his shield. New lances--that is all." So they yave him a fresh lance, and, pre- sently, at the blast of the trumpets, again the horses were seen speeding together over the narrow way. They met, and-lo! Lozelle torn from his saddle, but still clinging to the reins, was flung backwards, far backwards, to fail on the stonework of the bridge. Down, too, beneath the mighty shock, went his black horse, a huddled heap, and lay there struggling. Wulf will fall over him!" cried Rosamund. But Smoke did not fall; the stallion gathered itself together—the moonlight shone so clear that every watcher siw it-and since stop it could not, leapt straight over the fallen black horse-ay, and over the rider beyond—and sped on in its stride. Then the black found its feet again and galloped forward to the further gate, and Lozelle also found his feet and tnrned to run. Stand, coward!" yelled ten thou- sand voices, and, hearing them, he drew his sword and stood. Within three great strides ^ulf dragged his charger to its haunches, then wheeled it round. "Charge him!" shouted the multitude; but he remained seated, as though unwilling to I attack a horseless man. Next he sprang from his saddle, and, accompanied by the horse Smoke, which followed him as a dog 'follows it? master, walked slowly toward* Lozelle, as he walked casting away his lance -tsting aivay his 1, and drawing the great, cross hilted sword. Again the silence fell, and through it rang the cry of Godwin: "A D'Arcy! A D'AI"C'Y!" I' A D' ArcY! A D'Arcy!" came back Wulf's answer from the bridge, and his Yoi echoed thin and hollow in the spaces of the gulf. Yet they rejoicsd to hear it, for it told them that he was sound and strong. Waif had no shield and Lozelle had no helm—the fight was even. They crouched, opposite each other, the swords flashed aloft in the moonlight: from far away came the distant clank of steel, a soft, continual clamour of iron on iron. A blow fell Oil Wulf's mail, who had nought wherewith to guard himself, and he staggered back. Another blow, another, and another, and baeQC still back, he reeled—back to the edge of the bridge, back till he struck against the horse that etood behind him, and resting there a moment, as it seemed, regained his balance. Then there was a change. Look! he rushed forward, wielding the great blade in both hands. The stroke lit upon Lozelle's shield and seemed to shear it in two, for in that stillness all could hear the clang of its upper half as it fell upon the stones. Beneath the weight of it he staggered, sank to his knee, gained his feet again, and in his turn gave back. Yes, now it was Lozelle who rocked and reeled, Ay, by St. Chad! Lozelle, who went down beneath that mig'hty blow which missed the head but fell upon the lik, t log, till pre- .shoulder, and lay there like a log, till pre- sently the moonlight shone upon his .mailed hand stretched upward in a prayer for mercy. (To be continued.)

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