Page:Tudor Jenks--The defense of the castle.djvu/308

280 "You are scornful of me, my lord Count; and yet I will say nothing of my work in your behalf. I will, however, defend myself from the charge of cowardice. Was I not always at your back in every charge?"

"Yes," the Count admitted, with a roar of laughter, "that is where you ever will be found, Luke the Lurdane,—at my back! While I wield the sword that clears the path, you ever come after, poking at my fleeing enemies with a long pole! Enough, Luke. I will make the attack at once. And you, if you like, shall follow at my heel, shielded by my armor and your own!" And he laughed uproariously.

Luke at this lost his temper, and rose, confronting the Count, as he said in a voice thick with rage:

"Try it, Count, try it! And I will fight either at your side or in your van, as you choose! I have warned you you will be defeated, and if you hope to take the keep, you will do well to hope for the strength of the steel headpiece that protects the brain of Luke the Lurdane! For I tell you plainly that without that brain, the sword of Count Guy de Ferrers would be of no more use against these walls than would a broomstick or a mop-handle!"

Before he was done, the Count with an oath