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The five streets being each secured by a good guard, the reserve would
thus occupy the centre, out of shot, and yet ready to carry aid wherever
it was needed.
Such was the poorness of the neighbourhood that none of the Lancastrian
lords, and but few of their retainers, had been lodged therein; and the
inhabitants, with one accord, deserted their houses and fled, squalling,
along the streets or over garden walls.
In the centre, where the five ways all met, a somewhat ill-favoured
alehouse displayed the sign of the Chequers; and here the Duke of
Gloucester chose his headquarters for the day.
To Dick he assigned the guard of one of the five streets.
"Go," he said, "win your spurs. Win glory for me: one Richard for
another. I tell you, if I rise, ye shall rise by the same ladder. Go,"
he added, shaking him by the hand.
But, as soon as Dick was gone, he turned to a little shabby archer at his
elbow.
"Go, Dutton, and that right speedily," he added. "Follow that lad. If
ye find him faithful, ye answer for his safety, a head for a head. Woe
unto you, if ye return without him! But if he be faithless--or, for one
instant, ye misdoubt him--stab him from behind."
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