The disposition of the armed
men,--their warlike habiliments, and the various and uncouth weapons
which seemed to threaten terror and defiance, were all objects to them
of apprehension and distrust. The walls of this gloomy apartment were
lined with thin bricks, ornamentally disposed in herring-bone work,
after the fashion of the time. The windows, though narrow on the
outside, were broad and arched within, displaying a rude sort of taste
in their construction. Round the walls were groups of weapons,
ostentatiously displayed; two-edged broadswords; long spears, some
barbed and others flat and broad; shields, the oldest of which were
large, and had a sharp point projecting from the centre; others, of the
Norman and more recent fashion, were smaller, and of an oval shape.
Battle-axes, lances, and javelins, were strewn about in formidable
profusion. Hauberks, or chain-mail, hung at intervals from the walls,
looking grim and stalwart from their repose, like the headless trunks of
the warriors they had once encompassed.
A broad curtain, curiously embroidered, covered one end of the room,
from behind which crept a page or henchman, in gay attire, his tunic
glistening with his lord's device.
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