Halbert, uncertain
what course he was next to pursue, rode through the plain to see if,
among the dead or wounded, he could discover any traces of his brother
Edward. He experienced no interruption from the English. A distant
cloud of dust announced that they were still pursuing the scattered
fugitives, and he guessed, that to approach them with his followers,
until they were again under some command, would be to throw away his
own life, and that of his men, whom the victors would instantly
confound with the Scots, against whom they had been successful. He
resolved, therefore, to pause until Murray came up with his forces, to
which he was the more readily moved, as he heard the trumpets of the
English Warden sounding the retreat, and recalling from the pursuit.
He drew his men together, and made a stand in an advantageous spot of
ground, which had been occupied by the Scots in the beginning of the
action, and most fiercely disputed while the skirmish lasted.
While he stood here, Halbert's ear was assailed by the feeble moan of
a woman, which he had not expected to hear amid that scene, until the
retreat of the foes had permitted the relations of the slain to
approach, for the purpose of paying them the last duties. He looked
with anxiety, and at length observed, that by the body of a knignt in
bright armour, whose crest, though soiled and broken, still showed the
marks of rank and birth, there sat a female wrapped in a horseman's
cloak, and holding something pressed against her bosom, which he soon
discovered to be a child.
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