14

CHAPTER [.
THE BROTHERS-IN-ARMS.

N the last Wednesday of the month of July, in
the year 1248, the castle of Wark reposed in
the sunshine and warmth of a bright merry
summer’s day; and, the exercises in the tiltyard
being over for the morning, two of the apprentices
to chivalry, whose dress indicated that they had
attained the rank of squires, strolled slowly along
the green border of the Tweed. Neither of them
had passed the age of seventeen, but both were tall
and strong and handsome for their years; and both
had the fair hair, blue eyes, aquiline features, and
air of authority which distinguished the descendants
of the valiant Northmen who accompanied Rollo
when he left Norway, sailed up the Seine, and
seized on Neustria. But in one rather important
respect there was a remarkable difference. One had
a countenance which expressed gaiety of heart; the
other had a countenance which expressed sadness of
spirit. One bore the name of Guy Muschamp; the ©
other the still greater name of Walter Espec.
‘And so, good Walter, we are actually soldiers of
the Cross, and vowed to combat the Saracens,’ said