"I will keep you company, my lord," said Richard of Woodville; "and if we dismount, we shall be better able to shelter the horses." Such was the plan followed; and all the troop, men and horses, were under shelter before the storm became violent. Nor, indeed, did the thunder ever reach that grand and terrible height which it frequently does attain in wood-covered mountains: the rain seemed to drown it; but the deluge which soon fell from the sky was tremendous. In long lines of black and grey it poured straight down, mingled with hail and every now and then crossed by the faint glare of the lightning. The distant country was hidden by the misty veil, and even the nearer scene of the bridge and the mill, the only dwelling in the neighbourhood, grew indistinct. The Lord of St. Paul and Richard of Woodville endeavoured in vain to descry the plain on the opposite side of the river, in expectation of seeing the train of the Count of Charolois coming from the side of Avesnes. Nothing could they distinguish beyond a hundred yards from the opposite bank; and they mutually expressed a hope that the prince might have been delayed in the more cultivated country to the west, where he would find shelter from the storm. "He cannot surely be already in the mill?" said the Count: "there seem a great many people at that casement looking up the stream. How many men did he say he would bring, Sir Richard?" "Two hundred horse," replied Richard of Woodville; "he cannot be there, my good lord; yet there seems a number of heads too. Good heaven! how the stream is rising! 'Tis nearly up to the road-way of the bridge." "It will be higher than that before it is done, sir knight," observed one of the men-at-arms. "I have seen the bridge carried away twice since I was a boy." "Here comes a boat down the stream," said Richard of Woodville. "Ay, we passed one a little way further up," replied the same man who had spoken before; "it has broken away, I dare say." "That is not a boat," exclaimed the Lord of St. Paul, after gazing for a moment; "it is the thatch of a cottage. Heaven have mercy upon the poor people!" and lifting the cross of his sword to his lips, he kissed it, and muttered a prayer. At the same moment a number of men, some evidently of inferior rank, and some in garbs which betokened higher station, ran out of the mill; and Woodville could then perceive that, almost close to the door, between the building and the bridge, the water had risen over the low shore of the islet, so as to be up to the knees of those who came forth. He fancied at first that they were about to make their escape over the bridge; but he saw that several of them were armed with long poles; and turning to the man-at arms, who seemed well acquainted with the country, he inquired what they were about to do. "To draw the broken cottage-roof to the shore, sir knight, I suppose," replied the other, "lest it should damage the bridge."