At last the gates came ponderously open, and the first three men to
emerge were on horseback, one of them hastily getting into an outer
garment, but the well-trained horses, who knew their business quite as
thoroughly as their riders, for they were accustomed to plunge into the
river if any barge disobeyed the order commanding it to halt, turned
from the gate, and dashed down the steep road that descended through the
forest. The men-at-arms poured forth with sword or pike, and in turn
went out of sight. They appeared to be leaderless, dashing forward in no
particular formation, yet, like the horses, they knew their business.
All this turmoil was not without its effect on Roland's following, who
edged forward on hands and knees to discover what was going on, everyone
breathless with excitement; but they saw their leader cool and
motionless, counting on his fingers the number of men who passed out,
for he knew exactly how many fighters the Castle contained.
"Not yet, not yet!" he whispered.
Finally three lordly individuals strode out; officers their more
resplendent clothing indicated them to be, and the trio followed the
others.
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