CHAPTER I. A Wayfarer 1 CHAPTER II. The Hut in the Marshes 18 CHAPTER III. A Thwarted Plot 36 CHAPTER IV. A Knight's Chain 54 CHAPTER V. The City Games 72 CHAPTER VI. The Mêlée 89 CHAPTER VII. The Young Esquire 107 CHAPTER VIII. Off to the Wars 126 CHAPTER IX. The Siege of Hennebon 145 CHAPTER X. A Place of Refuge 164 CHAPTER XI. A Stormy Interview 180 CHAPTER XII. Jacob van Artevelde 196 CHAPTER XIII. The White Ford 214 CHAPTER XIV. Cressy 232 CHAPTER XV. The Siege of a Fortalice 250 CHAPTER XVI. A Prisoner 267 CHAPTER XVII. The Capture of Calais 285 CHAPTER XVIII. The Black Death 303 CHAPTER XIX. By Land and Sea 319 CHAPTER XX. Poitiers 336 CHAPTER XXI. The Jacquerie 353 CHAPTER XXII. Victory and Death 372 ST. GEORGE FOR ENGLAND. CHAPTER I. A Wayfarer. It was a bitterly cold night in the month of November, 1330. The rain was pouring heavily, when a woman, with a child in her arms, entered the little village of Southwark. She had evidently come from a distance, for her dress was travel-stained and muddy. She tottered rather than walked, and when, upon her arrival at the gateway on the southern side of London Bridge, she found that the hour was past and the gates closed for the night, she leaned against the wall with a faint groan of exhaustion and disappointment. After remaining, as if in doubt, for some time, she feebly made her way into the village. Here were many houses of entertainment, for travelers like herself often arrived too late to enter the gates, and had to abide outside for the night. Moreover, house rent was dear within the walls of the crowded city, and many, whose business brought them to town, found it cheaper to take up their abode in the quiet hostels of Southwark rather than to stay in the more expensive inns within the walls. The lights came out brightly from many of the casements, with sounds of boisterous songs and laughter. The woman passed these without a pause. Presently she stopped before a cottage, from which a feeble light alone showed that it was tenanted.