THE BOAR OF SABLE HUE.
"With laughter and song we go riding along,
Our chargers are galloping free;
In gleaming steel from head to heel,
And our plumes all afloat in their glee.
Our lances are long,
Our good blades strong.
Our keen shafts cleave the blue
In all the land
Who dares withstand
The Boar of Sable Hue?
"When our bugle blows each foeman knows
He must gird him well for the fight
Like the levin-stroke when it rends the oak
Is the shock of our squadron's might!
Close side by side,
Like the wind we ride.
Each soldier a comrade true
In all the land
Who dares withstand
The Boar of Sable Hue?"
The day was crisp, cold, and bright, and the gayety of the Earl's soldiers was contagious. On they rode as if to a junketing, rather than to a battlefield, and Edgar and young Henry of Huntingdon rode ahead full of the joy of youth, and with hearts beating high. They did not ride very rapidly, but at a steady pace that ate up the distance, and were approaching the bridge when they saw one of the scouts coming toward them. Riding up to the Earl, the scout saluted and reported
