this very day!" shouted the Cardinal.
And unseemly though it may have looked to the people of England, were they able to watch, the bishops began to fight against the Cardinal, and the Cardinal against them, with more than just strong words. Blows were struck a-many, and kicking followed, with bishops falling upon their backs, or clutching noses red with blood. The Cardinal was large, and as strong as a Communion table, so it was no surprise that he felled many a bishop before he was jumped upon and brought to the floor by the king’s guards.
Meanwhile the king, who had longed for a fight for many years, dove into the fray and made much of his opportunity.
Duncan was pulled first this way, and then that, finding himself the cause but not the focus of the argument, whereupon he spied the parchment lying by itself on the table. He reached quickly for it and made for the door as fast as his ploughman's legs would carry him.
Lord Smythe made a hold on his shoulder with his tender hand, but Duncan was stronger by far. He pulled away and left some of his silk hanging from the lord's fingers. Several lords and ladies from about the rich room tried to bar Duncan's flight, but they were as flimsy as the ornaments they wore, and Duncan swept them aside like newly cut hay.
Outside, in the hall, the guards were made of sterner stuff. They pointed their spears at Duncan and made as if they would run him through, but he turned away and fled as fast as a hare across a garden, down to the furthermost part of the huge room. He ran hard, as if he was chasing his ox, and came upon a door, which he pushed open.
The room he now beheld was grand with finely made things, but empty of people. Only a small dog, which would not have made a meal if it were roasted, stood in Duncan's way. He ran past it, towards the fire-place, in which several logs burned cheerily.
Into the fire cast Duncan the parchment, and thereupon did the flames begin to lick it up hungrily.
NO NEWS
Duncan prodded his ox tiredly as he plodded home. His feet hurt, his back ached, and his arms were strained. Ten hours he had held the plough as it cut through the rough land near his house.
But Duncan was not one to complain. His crops were
