He quickly rose to his feet, and, with the help of his friends, seemed determined to spread the gospel by tearing me to pieces.

My sword point kept the rabble at a respectful distance for a while, but they crowded closely upon me, and I should have been compelled to kill some of them had I not been reenforced by two men who came to my help and laid about them most joyfully with their quarterstaffs.

A few broken heads stemmed for a moment the torrent of religious enthusiasm, and during a pause in the hostilities I hurriedly retreated with Madge, ungratefully leaving my valiant allies to reap the full reward of victory should the fortunes of war favor them.
Madge was terribly frightened, and with her by my side I, of course, would not have remained to fight the redoubtable Bayard himself.
We hurried forward, but before we reached the inn we were overtaken by our allies whom we had abandoned.

Our friends were young men.

One wore a rich, half-rustic habit, and the other was dressed as a horse boy.