Bow-may's string twanged at once, and a yell came from the foemen:
but Wood-wise loosed not, but set his hand to his mouth and gave a
loud wild cry--Ha! ha! ha! ha! How-ow-ow!--ending in a long and
exceeding great whoop like nought but the wolf's howl. Now Gold-mane
thinking swiftly, in a moment of time, as war-meet men do, judged
that if the Sun-beam were hurt (and she had made no cry), it were yet
wiser to fall on the foe before turning to tend her, or else all
might be lost; so he rushed forward spear in hand and target on arm,
and saw, as he opened up the flank of the Elders' Rocks, six men,
whereof one leaned aback on the rock with Bow-may's shaft in his
shoulder, and two others were just in act of loosing at him. In a
moment, as he rushed at them, one shaft went whistling by him, and
the other glanced from off his target; he cast a spear as he bounded
on, and saw it smite one of the shooters full in the naked face, and
saw the blood spout out and change his face and the man roll over,
and then in another moment four men were hewing at him with their
short steel axes. He thrust out his target against them, and then
let the weight of his body come on his other spear, and drave it
through the second shooter's throat, and even therewith was smitten
on the helm so hard that, though the Alderman's work held out, he
fell to his knees, holding his target over his head and striving to
draw forth Dale-warden; in that nick of time a shaft whistled close
by his ear, and as he rose to his feet again he saw his foeman
rolling over and over, clutching at the ling with both hands.
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