"Not if THOU canst scathe him," replied the Captain.---"Here,
fellow," continued he, addressing Gurth, "canst thou use the
staff, that thou starts to it so readily?"

"I think," said Gurth, "thou shouldst be best able to reply to
that question."

"Nay, by my troth, thou gavest me a round knock," replied the
Captain; "do as much for this fellow, and thou shalt pass
scot-free; and if thou dost not---why, by my faith, as thou art
such a sturdy knave, I think I must pay thy ransom myself.---Take
thy staff, Miller," he added, "and keep thy head; and do you
others let the fellow go, and give him a staff---there is light
enough to lay on load by."

The two champions being alike armed with quarter-staves, stepped
forward into the centre of the open space, in order to have the
full benefit of the moonlight; the thieves in the meantime
laughing, and crying to their comrade, "Miller! beware thy
toll-dish." The Miller, on the other hand, holding his
quarter-staff by the middle, and making it flourish round his
head after the fashion which the French call "faire le moulinet",
exclaimed boastfully, "Come on, churl, an thou darest: thou shalt
feel the strength of a miller's thumb!"

"If thou be'st a miller," answered Gurth, undauntedly, making his
weapon play around his head with equal dexterity, "thou art
doubly a thief, and I, as a true man, bid thee defiance."