This time he was not long kept waiting. In a moment the open space
about the cross was filled with horse and foot. Richard of
Gloucester took his place upon the steps, and despatched messenger
after messenger to hasten the concentration of the seven hundred
men that lay hidden in the immediate neighbourhood among the woods;
and before a quarter of an hour had passed, all his dispositions
being taken, he put himself at their head, and began to move down
the hill towards Shoreby.
His plan was simple. He was to seize a quarter of the town of
Shoreby lying on the right hand of the high road, and make his
position good there in the narrow lanes until his reinforcements
followed.
If Lord Risingham chose to retreat, Richard would follow upon his
rear, and take him between two fires; or, if he preferred to hold
the town, he would be shut in a trap, there to be gradually
overwhelmed by force of numbers.
There was but one danger, but that was imminent and great--
Gloucester's seven hundred might be rolled up and cut to pieces in
the first encounter, and, to avoid this, it was needful to make the
surprise of their arrival as complete as possible.
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