Then the royal standard was displayed on the watchtower, over the
banner of Walderne, and the common soldiers, in their thousands,
pitched their tents and kindled their fires on the open green
without, while those of gentler degree entered the castle, which
was not large enough to accommodate the rank and file.

The banquet that night was a goodly sight. The king sat at the head
of the board--his brother, King Richard, on his right hand (the
King of the Romans), Edward, afterwards "The Hammer of Scotland,"
on his father's left. Next to King Richard sat John Balliol, and
next to Prince Edward, Robert Bruce, father of the future king of
Scotland, and a great favourite both with prince and king.

Drogo did not sit down at his own board. He preferred, he said, to
play the page for the last time, and to wait upon his king, which
was honour enough for a young knight. On the morrow he would attend
the king to Lewes with fifty lances, where he trusted to justify
the favour and honour which he had received.

Shall we once more go over the old story, and tell of the songs of
the gleemen, the music of the harpers, of wine and wassail, of
healths and acclaims, which made the roof, the oaken roof, ring
again and again? Nay, we have tired the reader's patience with
scenes of that sort enough already.

But while the two kings, so like each other in features, were yet
feasting, Edward, with his chief captains, held a council of war in
another chamber, and Drogo stood before them. They questioned him
closely of the state of the inhabitants of the forest: their
political sympathies and the like. They inquired which barons and