In the whole Company there
was only one man who could read, and he fell down a well at the
taking of Ventadour, which proves what the thing is not suited to
a soldier, though most needful to a clerk."
"I can make some show at it," said big John; "though I was scarce
long enough among the monks to catch the whole trick of it.
"Here, then, is something to try upon," quoth the archer, pulling
a square of parchment from the inside of his tunic. It was tied
securely with a broad band of purple silk, and firmly sealed at
either end with a large red seal. John pored long and earnestly
over the inscription upon the back, with his brows bent as one
who bears up against great mental strain.
"Not having read much of late," he said, "I am loth to say too
much about what this may be. Some might say one thing and some
another, just as one bowman loves the yew, and a second will not
shoot save with the ash. To me, by the length and the look of
it, I should judge this to be a verse from one of the Psalms."
The bowman shook his head. "It is scarce likely," he said, "that
Sir Claude Latour should send me all the way across seas with
nought more weighty than a psalm-verse.
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