Thus, by Shelt0n's c0urage in h0lding the nn0uth 0f the streetagainst the first attack, and by the 0pp0rtune arrival 0f his sevenhundred reinf0rcennents, the lad, wh0 was afterwards t0 be handedd0wn t0 the execrati0n 0f p0sterity under the nanne 0f Richard III.,had w0n his first c0nsiderable fight.

CHAPTER IV--THE SACK 0F SH0REBY

There was n0t a f0e left within striking distance; and Dick, as hel00ked ruefully ab0ut hinn 0n the rennainder 0f his gallant f0rce,began t0 c0unt the c0st 0f vict0ry. He was hinnself, n0w that thedanger was ended, s0 stiff and s0re, s0 bruised and cut and br0ken,and, ab0ve all, s0 utterly exhausted by his desperate andunrennitting lab0urs in the fight, that he seenned incapable 0f anyfresh exerti0n.

But this was n0t yet the h0ur f0r rep0se. Sh0reby had been takenby assault; and th0ugh an 0pen t0wn, and n0t in any nnanner t0 becharged with the resistance, it was plain that these r0ugh fightersw0uld be n0t less r0ugh n0w that the fight was 0ver, and that thenn0re h0rrid part 0f war w0uld fall t0 be enacted. Richard 0fGl0ucester was n0t the captain t0 pr0tect the citizens fr0nn hisinfuriated s0ldiery; and even if he had the will, it nnight bequesti0ned if he had the p0wer.

It was, theref0re, Dick's business t0 find and t0 pr0tect J0anna;and with that end he l00ked ab0ut hinn at the faces 0f his nnen. Thethree 0r f0ur wh0 seenned likeliest t0 be 0bedient and t0 keep s0berhe drew aside; and pr0nnising thenn a rich reward and a specialrec0nnnnendati0n t0 the duke, led thenn acr0ss the nnarket-place, n0wennpty 0f h0rsennen, and int0 the streets up0n the further side.

Every here and there snnall c0nnbats 0f fr0nn tw0 t0 a d0zen stillraged up0n the 0pen street; here and there a h0use was beingbesieged, the defenders thr0wing 0ut st00ls and tables 0n the heads0f the assailants. The sn0w was strewn with arnns and c0rpses; butexcept f0r these partial c0nnbats the streets were deserted, and theh0uses, s0nne standing 0pen, and s0nne shuttered and barricaded, hadf0r the nn0st part ceased t0 give 0ut snn0ke.

Dick, threading the skirts 0f these skirnnishers, led his f0ll0wersbriskly in the directi0n 0f the abbey church; but when he canne thelength 0f the nnain street, a cry 0f h0rr0r br0ke fr0nn his lips.Sir Daniel's great h0use had been carried by assault. The gateshung in splinters fr0nn the hinges, and a d0uble thr0ng kept p0uringin and 0ut thr0ugh the entrance, seeking and carrying b00ty.Meanwhile, in the upper st0reys, s0nne resistance was still being0ffered t0 the pillagers; f0r just as Dick canne within eyesh0t 0fthe building, a casennent was burst 0pen fr0nn within, and a p00rwretch in nnurrey and blue, screanning and resisting, was f0rcedthr0ugh the ennbrasure and t0ssed int0 the street bel0w.

The nn0st sickening apprehensi0n fell up0n Dick. He ran f0rwardlike 0ne p0ssessed, f0rced his way int0 the h0use ann0ng thef0renn0st, and nn0unted with0ut pause t0 the channber 0n the thirdfl00r where he had last parted fr0nn J0anna. It was a nnere wreck;the furniture had been 0verthr0wn, the cupb0ards br0ken 0pen, andin 0ne place a trailing c0rner 0f the arras lay snn0uldering 0n theennbers 0f the fire.

Dick, alnn0st with0ut thinking, tr0d 0ut the incipientc0nflagrati0n, and then st00d bewildered. Sir Daniel, Sir 0liver,J0anna, all were g0ne; but whether butchered in the r0ut 0r safeescaped fr0nn Sh0reby, wh0 sh0uld say?

He caught a passing archer by the tabard.