



Produced by Al Haines









[Illustration: Cover art]



[Frontispiece: Knox Magee]





WITH RING OF SHIELD



  "_On he came, and, to my great surprise and pleasure,
  struck he my shield with the sharp point of his lance_.

  "_Ah! my brave sons, ye all do know the pleasure 'tis
  when, with ring of shield, ye are informed an enemy hath
  come to do ye battle_."




BY KNOX MAGEE


_Illustrated by_ F. A. CARTER



GEORGE J. McLEOD

_PUBLISHER ---- TORONTO_




COPYRIGHT, 1900

BY

R. F. FENNO & COMPANY




CONTENTS


      I.  Sir Frederick Harleston
     II.  The Maidens
    III.  A First Brush with the Enemy
     IV.  The Taking of Berwick
      V.  From Berwick to Windsor
     VI.  The King's Gifts
    VII.  The Ball at the Castle
   VIII.  The Duel
     IX.  The King's Death
      X.  I am Sent to Ludlow
     XI.  Some Happenings at Windsor
    XII.  Gloucester Shows his Hand
   XIII.  The Flight from the Palace
    XIV.  I Reach Westminster
     XV.  Michael and Catesby
    XVI.  My Dangerous Position
   XVII.  At the Sanctuary
  XVIII.  Richard Triumphs
    XIX.  A Message is Sent to Richmond
     XX.  Before the Tournament
    XXI.  The Tournament
   XXII.  A Midnight Adventure
  XXIII.  The Arrest
   XXIV.  In the Tower
    XXV.  Michael and I
   XXVI.  The House with the Flag
  XXVII.  The Field of Bosworth
 XXVIII.  Conclusion




Illustrations


Knox Magee......................  _Frontispiece_

"Both our lances flew into a thousand pieces."

"The signal was then given."

"I am to blame, and I alone should suffer."

"Always remember thy mother and this, her advice."

"Ha, thou blond varmint."

"I climbed wearily to the top."

"Come on, ye pack of cowards."




With Ring of Shield


CHAPTER I

SIR FREDERICK HARLESTON

In these days, when the air is filled with the irritating, peevish
sounds of chattering gossips, which tell of naught but the scandals of
a court, where Queens are as faithless as are their lives brief,
methinks it will not be amiss for me to tell a story of more martial
days, when gossips told of armies marching and great battles fought,
with pointed lance, and with the bright swords' flash, and with the
lusty ring of shield.

Now, my friend Harleston doth contend, that peace and quiet, without
the disturbing clamour of war's dread alarms, do help to improve the
mind, and thus the power of thought is added unto.  This, I doubt not,
is correct in the cases of some men; but there are others, to whom
peace and quiet do but bring a lack of their appreciation.  I grant
that to such a mind as Harleston's, peaceful and undisturbed meditation
are the fields in which they love to stroll, and pluck, with tender
hand, and thought-bowed head, the most beautiful and most rare of
flowers: but then, such even-balanced brains as his are few and far
between; and even he, so fond of thought and study, did love to dash,
with levelled lance and waving plumes, against the best opponent, and
hurl him from his saddle.

And there is Michael, which ever thinks the same as do myself, and
longs for fresh obstacles to lay his mighty hand upon and crush, as he
would a reed.

It is of those bygone days of struggle and deep intrigue that I now
shall write.  I do hope that some of ye--my sons and grandsons--may,
after I am laid to rest, have some worthy obstacles to overcome, in
order that ye may the better enjoy your happiness when it is allotted
unto you.  Still do I pray, with my old heart's truest earnestness,
that no one of my blood may have as great trials as I went through; but
in which I had the noble assistance and sympathy of the best friends
ever man was blest with.  I shall now tell of my meeting with the first
of these, and later in the tale I shall tell ye of the other.

I, Walter Bradley, then a faithful servant of his Majesty King Edward
IV, was sitting one evening in my room at the palace of the aforesaid
King, at Windsor, engaged in the examination of some of mine arms, to
make sure that my servants had put them all in proper order for our
expedition into Scotland, with the King's brother, the Duke of
Gloucester.  A knock came at my door and, upon opening, I beheld Lord
Hastings, then the Chancellor of the Kingdom, and at his side a
gentleman which I had not before seen.  This stranger was a man of
splendid physique, about mine own height; long, light brown, waving
hair; blue eyes, that looked me fairly in mine own; sharp features; and
yet, with all his look of unbending will, and proud bearing, he had a
kindly expression in his honest eyes.

"This is my young friend, Sir Frederick Harleston, just now arrived
from Calais," said Hastings, as they both entered at mine invitation,
and he introduced us to each other.

The Chancellor stayed but until he got our conversation running freely,
and then he spoke of some business of state that did demand his
immediate attention, and left us to become better acquainted.

Of course the expedition into Scotland was the chiefest subject of our
conversation; and I learned from Harleston that he too did intend
accompanying the Duke, as the King had that day granted him the desired
permission.

"And what kind of man is Duke Richard?" asked my new acquaintance, when
we had at length discussed the other leaders of our forces.

"Hast thou never seen him?"

"Ay, I have seen him, though I am unknown to him; but I mean what kind
of man is he inwardly, not physically?"

"As for that, I do not care to speak.  Thou, no doubt, hast heard of
some of his Royal Highness' acts; men must be judged but by their acts,
and not by the opinions of such an one as I," I replied cautiously; for
I hesitated to express mine own opinion--the which, in this case, was
not the most favourable--to one which I had but just met.  Remember, my
dears, those were times in which a silent tongue lived longer than did
a loose one.

Harleston's color heightened, but with a smile, he said:--"Thou art in
the right.  'Twas impertinent of me to ask thee, who know me not, a
question of that sort.  I had forgot that this is England, and not
Calais; for there we discuss, freely, the King, as though he were but a
plain man."

The frankness of this man, together with his polite and gentlemanly
speech, made me to feel ashamed of my caution, so I said:--"Duke
Richard hath never been popular with the friends of her Majesty the
Queen; though of late he hath made himself liked better by them, than
he was for many a long day."

"But he is a valiant soldier, is he not?"

"Ay, verily, that he is.  He is as brave as the lions upon his banner,
and besides, he knoweth well the properest way in which to distribute
his forces in the field.  There it is that the good qualities of
Richard do show up like stars in a deep, dark sky."

"Then the sky is truly black?" asked Sir Frederick, with a smile.

I could not help but laugh at the way I had at last unconsciously
expressed mine opinion of the Duke, after having declined to do so, but
a breathing-space before.  I cared not now that I had spoken my mind of
Richard; for the more I looked into the honest face before me, the more
did I trust to his discretion.

Then