Schreckenwald
(the steward and confident of Anne's father,) led the van, and kept
Arthur Philipson close beside him. Anne and her attendant were in the
centre of the little body, followed by the unwarlike train of
servants, while two or three experienced cavaliers brought up the
rear, with strict orders to guard against surprise.
On their being put into motion, the first thing which surprised Arthur
was, that the horses' hoofs no longer sent forth the sharp and ringing
sound arising from the collision of iron and flint, and as the morning
light increased, he could perceive, that the fetlock and hoof of every
steed, his own included, had been carefully wrapped around with a
sufficient quantity of wool, to prevent the usual noise which
accompanied their motions. It was a singular thing to behold the
passage of the little body of cavalry down the rocky road which led
from the castle, unattended with the noise which we are disposed to
consider as inseparable from the motions of horse, the absence of
which seemed to give a peculiar and almost an unearthly appearance to
the cavalcade.
They passed in this manner the winding path which led from the castle
of Arnheim to the adjacent village, which, as was the ancient feudal
custom, lay so near the fortress, that its inhabitants, when summoned
by their lord, could instantly repair for its defence.
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