"
"Art thou he, then, whose fame has filled our ears, of whom
minstrels sing, who with a band of stout followers defied the
Moslem's rage in these forest fastnesses, before even Peter
preached the word of God?"
"Thou hast exaggerated my merits, but be they many, or as I would
say few, I am he of whom they speak."
"We are indeed honoured, thrice honoured, to be saved by thee; and
these thy followers--of what nation are they?"
"Of all countries which rejoice in the light of the True Faith, but
they were Varangians {xxvii}, of the household guard of the
Emperor of the East, whose service I left, to avenge the injuries
of the pilgrim, and to clear him a path through these robber-infested
wastes."
"And may I ask the country which is honoured by thy birth, the
nation which claims thee as her worthiest son?"
"I have no nation," said the knight; sadly; "for these thirty years
I have been an exile from home."
The young knight asked no further questions, fearing to probe some
secret wound. He gave the toast, and all drank it with cheers,
which made the solitude ring.
An indefinable interest centred in this knight: rumour made him a
noble of the later empire, the "Acolyth" or commander of that
famous band of guards, whom the policy of the Caesar gathered
around the tottering throne of Constantinople--exiles from all
nations, but especially from England--driven by various fortunes
from home.
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