Even as he did so , two arrows rattled harmlessly upon the plates , and a third struck down the page , mortally wounded , at his feet . Meantime the whole body of the enemy had been steadily drawing nearer across the market-place ; and by this time were so close at hand that Dick gave the order to return their shot . Immediately , from behind the barrier and from the windows of the houses , a counterblast of arrows sped , carrying death . But the Lancastrians , as if they had but waited for a signal , shouted loudly in answer ; and began to close at a run upon the barrier , the horsemen still hanging back , with visors lowered . Then followed an obstinate and deadly struggle , hand to hand . The assailants , wielding their falchions with one hand , strove with the other to drag down the structure of the barricade . On the other side , the parts were reversed ; and the defenders exposed themselves like madmen to protect their rampart . So for some minutes the contest raged almost in silence , friend and foe falling one upon another . But it is always the easier to destroy ; and when a single note upon the tucket recalled the attacking party from this desperate service , much of the barricade had been removed piecemeal , and the whole fabric had sunk to half its height , and tottered to a general fall . And now the footmen in the market-place fell back , at a run , on every side . The horsemen , who had been standing in a line two deep , wheeled suddenly , and made their flank into their front ; and as swift as a striking adder , the long , steel-clad column was launched upon the ruinous barricade . Of the first two horsemen , one fell , rider and steed , and was ridden down by his companions . The second leaped clean upon the summit of the rampart , transpiercing an archer with his lance . Almost in the same instant he was dragged from the saddle and his horse despatched . And then the full weight and impetus of the charge burst upon and scattered the defenders . The men-at-arms , surmounting their fallen comrades , and carried onward by the fury of their onslaught , dashed through Dick 's broken line and poured thundering up the lane beyond , as a stream bestrides and pours across a broken dam . Yet was the fight not over . Still , in the narrow jaws of the entrance , Dick and a few survivors plied their bills like woodmen ; and already , across the width of the passage , there had been formed a second , a higher , and a more effectual rampart of fallen men and disembowelled horses , lashing in the agonies of death . Baffled by this fresh obstacle , the remainder of the cavalry fell back ; and as , at the sight of this movement , the flight of arrows redoubled from the casements of the houses , their retreat had , for a moment , almost degenerated into flight . Almost at the same time , those who had crossed the barricade and charged farther up the street , being met before the door of the Chequers by the formidable hunchback and the whole reserve of the Yorkists , began to come scattering backward , in the excess of disarray and terror .
XXXXX and his fellows faced about , fresh men poured out of the houses ; a cruel blast of arrows met the fugitives full in the face , while Gloucester was already riding down their rear ; in the inside of a minute and a half there was no living Lancastrian in the street .
Chequers Dick Yorkists archer counterblast men-at-arms minutes third tucket visors