It was now near upon
noon; the day exceeding bright, the snow dazzling. And as Dick
looked around him, he could measure the consequences of the battle.
A confused, growling uproar reached him from the streets, and now
and then, but very rarely, the clash of steel. Not a ship, not so
much as a skiff remained in harbour; but the sea was dotted with
sails and row-boats laden with fugitives. On shore, too, the
surface of the snowy meadows was broken up with bands of horsemen,
some cutting their way towards the borders of the forest, others,
who were doubtless of the Yorkist side, stoutly interposing and
beating them back upon the town. Over all the open ground there
lay a prodigious quantity of fallen men and horses, clearly defined
upon the snow.
To complete the picture, those of the foot soldiers as had not
found place upon a ship still kept up an archery combat on the
borders of the port, and from the cover of the shoreside taverns.
In that quarter, also, one or two houses had been fired, and the
smoke towered high in the frosty sunlight, and blew off to sea in
voluminous folds.
Pages:
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373