noon
The abbot , thus pressed from behind , and stumbling over his own drapery before , fell suddenly prostrate in the door-way that connected the chapel with the abbey , and was instantaneously buried under a pyramid of ghostly carcasses , that fell over him and each other , and lay a rolling chaos of animated rotundities , sprawling and bawling in unseemly disarray , and sending forth the names of all the saints in and out of heaven , amidst the clashing of swords , the ringing of bucklers , the clattering of helmets , the twanging of bow-strings , the whizzing of arrows , the screams of women , the shouts of the warriors , and the vociferations of the peasantry , who had been assembled to the intended nuptials , and who , seeing a fair set-to , contrived to pick a quarrel among themselves on the occasion , and proceeded , with staff and cudgel , to crack each other 's skulls for the good of the king and the earl . One tall friar alone was untouched by the panic of his brethren , and stood steadfastly watching the combat with his arms a-kembo , the colossal emblem of an unarmed neutrality . At length , through the midst of the internal confusion , the earl , by the help of his good sword , the staunch valour of his men , and the blessing of the Virgin , fought his way to the chapel-gate -- his bowmen closed him in -- he vaulted into his saddle , clapped spurs to his horse , rallied his men on the first eminence , and exchanged his sword for a bow and arrow , with which he did old execution among the pursuers , who at last thought it most expedient to desist from offensive warfare , and to retreat into the abbey , where , in the king 's name , they broached a pipe of the best wine , and attached all the venison in the larder , having first carefully unpacked the tuft of friars , and set the fallen abbot on his legs . The friars , it may be well supposed , and such of the king 's men as escaped unhurt from the affray , found their spirits a cup too low , and kept the flask moving from noon till night . The peaceful brethren , unused to the tumult of war , had undergone , from fear and discomposure , an exhaustion of animal spirits that required extraordinary refection . During the repast , they interrogated Sir Ralph Montfaucon , the leader of the soldiers , respecting the nature of the earl 's offence . `` A complication of offences , '' replied Sir Ralph , `` superinduced on the original basis of forest-treason .