6 MASTER SKYLARK

“Then ride along, ride along,
Stout and strong!
Farewell to grief and care;
With a rollicking cheer
For the high dun deer
And a life in the open air!
Tantara, the hunt is up, lads;
Tantara, the bugles bray !
Tantara, tantara, tantara,
Hio, hark away!”

The first of the riders had reached old Clopton bridge,
and the banners strained upon their staves in the freshen-
ing river-wind. The trumpeters and the drummers led,
their horses prancing, white plumes waving in the breeze,
and the April sunlight dancing on the brazen horns and
the silver bellies of the kettledrums.

Then came the banners of the company, curling down
with a silky swish, and unfurling again with a snap, like
a broad-lashed whip. The greatest one was rosy red, and
on it was a gallant ship upon a flowing sea, bearing upon
its mainsail the arms of my Lord Charles Howard, High
Admiral of England. Upon its mate was a giant-bearded
man with a fish’s tail, holding a trident in his hand and
blowing upon a shell, the Triton of the seas which Eng-
land ruled; this flag was bright sea-blue. The third was
white, and on it was a red wild rose with a golden heart,
the common standard of the company.

After the flags came twoscore men, the players of the
Admiral, the tiring-men, grooms, horse-boys, and serving-
knaves, well mounted on good horses, and all of them clad