"Will the gallant champions of the cross," she said, "think of leaving their native land, while the wail of women and of orphans is in their ears?--it were to convert their pious purpose into mortal sin, and to derogate from the high fame they have so well won. Yes--fight but valiantly, and perhaps, before the very sun that is now slowly rising shall sink in the sea, you will see it shining on the ranks of Shrewsbury and Chester. When did the Welshmen wait to hear the clangour of their trumpets, or the rustling of their silken banners? Fight bravely--fight freely but awhile!--our castle is strong--our munition ample--your hearts are good--your arms are powerful--God is nigh to us, and our friends are not far distant. Fight, then, in the name of all that is good and holy--fight for yourselves, for your wives, for your children, and for your property--and oh! fight for an orphan maiden, who hath no other defenders but what a sense of her sorrows, and the remembrance of her father, may raise up among you." Such speeches as these made a powerful impression on the men to whom they were addressed, already hardened, by habits and sentiments, against a sense of danger. The chivalrous Normans swore, on the cross of their swords, they would die to a man ere they would surrender their posts--the blunter Anglo-Saxons cried, "Shame on him who would render up such a lamb as Eveline to a Welsh wolf, while he could make her a bulwark with his body!"-- Even the cold Flemings caught a spark of the enthusiasm with which the others were animated, and muttered to each other praises of the young lady's beauty, and short but honest resolves to do the best they might in her defence.