amongst the box-wood, and took counsel together as to what they should do; while from below there surged up the buzz of voices, the shouting, the neighing of horses, and all the uproar of a great camp.
'What boots it to wait?' said Sir William Felton. 'Let us ride down upon their camp ere they discover us.'
'And so say I,' cried the Scottish earl; 'for they do not know that there is any enemy within thirty long leagues of them.'
'For my part,' said Sir Simon Burley, 'I think that it is madness, for you cannot hope to rout this great army; and where are you to go and what are you to do when they have turned upon you? How say you, Sir Oliver Buttesthorn?'
'By the apple of Eve!' cried the fat knight, 'it appears to me that this wind brings a very savoury smell of garlic and of onions from their cooking-kettles. I am in favour of riding down upon them at once, if my old friend and comrade here is of the same mind.'
'Nay,' said Sir Nigel, 'I have a plan by which we may attempt some small deed upon them, and yet, by the help of God, may be able to draw off again; which, as Sir Simon Burley hath said, would be scarce possible in any other way.'
'How then, Sir Nigel?' asked several voices.
'We shall lie here all day; for amid this brushwood it is ill for them to see us. Then, when evening comes, we shall sally out upon them and see if we may not gain some honourable advancement from them.'
'But why then rather than now?'
'Because we shall have nightfall to cover us when we draw off, so that we may make our way back through the mountains. I would station a score of archers here in the pass, with all our pennons jutting forth from the rocks, and as many nakirs and drums and bugles as we have with us, so that those who follow us in the fading light may think that the whole army of the prince is upon them, and fear to go further. What think you of my plan, Sir Simon?'
