The honest fellows were full of indignation and horror at the
thought of men killing themselves to give sport to others. They were
used to hard knocks, and thought but little of their life, and would
have betaken themselves to their bows and bills without hesitation in
case of a quarrel. But to fight in cold blood for amusement seemed to
them very terrible.
Cuthbert would then have traveled on to Milan, at that time next to Rome
the richest city in Europe, but he longed to be back in England, and was
the more anxious as he knew that King Richard would be passing through
great dangers, and he hoped to meet him at the court of Saxony. His
money, too, was fast running out, and he found that it would be beyond
his slender means to extend his journey so far. At Verona, then, they
turned their back on the broad plains of Lombardy, and entered the
valley of the Trent.
So far no observation whatever had been excited by the passage of the
English knight. So many Crusaders were upon their way home, many in
grievous plight, that the somewhat shabby retinue passed unnoticed.
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