From the time the family escaped from Falworth Castle thatmidwinter night to the time Myles was sixteen years old he knewnothing of the great world beyond Crosbey-Dale. A fair was heldtwice in a twelvemonth at the market-town of Wisebey, and threetimes in the seven years old Diccon Bowman took the lad to seethe sights at that place. Beyond these three glimpses of theouter world he lived almost as secluded a life as one of theneighboring monks of St. Mary's Priory.
Crosbey-Holt, their new home, was different enough from Falworthor Easterbridge Castle, the former baronial seats of LordFalworth. It was a long, low, straw-thatched farm-house, once,when the church lands were divided into two holdings, one of thebailiff's houses. All around were the fruitful farms of thepriory, tilled by well-to-do tenant holders, and rich with fieldsof waving grain, and meadow-lands where sheep and cattle grazedin flocks and herds; for in those days the church lands wereunder church rule, and were governed by church laws, and there,when war and famine and waste and sloth blighted the outsideworld, harvests flourished and were gathered, and sheep weresheared and cows were milked in peace and quietness.
The Prior of St. Mary's owed much if not all of the church'sprosperity to the blind Lord Falworth, and now he was paying itback with a haven of refuge from the ruin that his former patronhad brought upon himself by giving shelter to Sir John Dale.
I fancy that most boys do not love the grinding of schoollife--the lessons to be conned, the close application duringstudy hours. It is not often pleasant to brisk, lively lads to beso cooped up. I wonder what the boys of to-day would have thoughtof Myles's training. With him that training was not only of themind, but of the body as well, and for seven years it was almostunremitting. "Thou hast thine own way to make in the world,sirrah," his father said more than once when the boy complainedof the grinding hardness of his life, and to make one's way inthose days meant a thousand times more than it does now; it meantnot only a heart to feel and a brain to think, but a hand quickand strong to strike in battle, and a body tough to endure thewounds and blows in return. And so it was that Myles's body aswell as his mind had to be trained to meet the needs of the darkage in which he lived.
Every morning, winter or summer, rain or shine he tramped awaysix long miles to the priory school, and in the evenings hismother taught him French.
Myles, being prejudiced in the school of thought of his day,rebelled not a little at that last branch of his studies. "Whymust I learn that vile tongue?" said he.
"Call it not vile," said the blind old Lord, grimly; "belike,when thou art grown a man, thou'lt have to seek thy fortune inFrance land, for England is haply no place for such as be ofFalworth blood." And in after-years, true to his father'sprediction, the "vile tongue" served him well.
As for his physical training, that pretty well filled up thehours between his morning studies at the monastery and hisevening studies at home. Then it was that old Diccon Bowman tookhim in hand, than whom none could be better fitted to shape hisyoung body to strength and his hands to skill in arms. The oldbowman had served with Lord Falworth's father under the BlackPrince both in France and Spain, and in long years of war hadgained a practical knowledge of arms that few could surpass.
Besides the use of the broadsword, the short sword, thequarter-staff, and the cudgel, he taught Myles to shoot soskilfully with the long- bow and the cross-bow that not a lad inthe country-side was his match at the village butts. Attack anddefence with the lance, and throwing the knife and dagger werealso part of his training.
Then, in addition to this more regular part of his physicaltraining, Myles was taught in another branch not so oftenincluded in the military education of the day--the art ofwrestling. It happened that a fellow lived in Crosbey village, byname Ralph-the-Smith, who was the greatest wrestler in thecountry-side, and had worn the champion belt for three years.
Every Sunday afternoon, in fair weather, he came to teach Mylesthe art, and being wonderfully adept in bodily feats, he soongrew so quick and active and firm- footed that he could cast anylad under twenty years of age living within a range of fivemiles.
"It is main ungentle armscraft that he learneth," said LordFalworth one day to Prior Edward. "Saving only the broadsword,the dagger, and the lance, there is but little that a gentlemanof his strain may use. Neth'less, he gaineth quickness andsuppleness, and if he hath true blood in his veins he willacquire knightly arts shrewdly quick when the time cometh tolearn them."But hard and grinding as Myles's life was, it was not entirelywithout pleasures. There were many boys living in Crosbey-Daleand the village; yeomen's and farmers' sons, to be sure, but,nevertheless, lads of his own age, and that, after all, is themain requirement for friendship in boyhood's world. Then therewas the river to bathe in; there were the hills and valleys toroam over, and the wold and woodland, with their wealth of nutsand birds'-nests and what not of boyhood's treasures.
