But it is always the easier to destroy ; and when a single note upon the tucket recalled the attacking party from this desperate service , much of the barricade had been removed piecemeal , and the whole fabric had sunk to half its height , and tottered to a general fall . And now the footmen in the market-place fell back , at a run , on every side . The horsemen , who had been standing in a line two deep , wheeled suddenly , and made their flank into their front ; and as swift as a striking adder , the long , steel-clad column was launched upon the ruinous barricade . Of the first two horsemen , one fell , rider and steed , and was ridden down by his companions . The second leaped clean upon the summit of the rampart , transpiercing an archer with his lance . Almost in the same instant he was dragged from the saddle and his horse despatched . And then the full weight and impetus of the charge burst upon and scattered the defenders . The men-at-arms , surmounting their fallen comrades , and carried onward by the fury of their onslaught , dashed through Dick 's broken line and poured thundering up the lane beyond , as a stream bestrides and pours across a broken dam . Yet was the fight not over . Still , in the narrow jaws of the entrance , Dick and a few survivors plied their bills like woodmen ; and already , across the width of the passage , there had been formed a second , a higher , and a more effectual rampart of fallen men and disembowelled horses , lashing in the agonies of death . Baffled by this fresh obstacle , the remainder of the cavalry fell back ; and as , at the sight of this movement , the flight of arrows redoubled from the casements of the houses , their retreat had , for a moment , almost degenerated into flight . Almost at the same time , those who had crossed the barricade and charged farther up the street , being met before the door of the Chequers by the formidable hunchback and the whole reserve of the Yorkists , began to come scattering backward , in the excess of disarray and terror . Dick and his fellows faced about , fresh men poured out of the houses ; a cruel blast of arrows met the fugitives full in the face , while Gloucester was already riding down their rear ; in the inside of a minute and a half there was no living Lancastrian in the street . Then , and not till then , did Dick hold up his reeking blade and give the word to cheer . Meanwhile Gloucester dismounted from his horse and came forward to inspect the post . His face was as pale as linen ; but his eyes shone in his head like some strange jewel , and his voice , when he spoke , was hoarse and broken with the exultation of battle and success . He looked at the rampart , which neither friend nor foe could now approach without precaution , so fiercely did the horses struggle in the throes of death , and at the sight of that great carnage he smiled upon one side . `` Despatch these horses , '' he said ; `` they keep you from your vantage . Richard Shelton , '' he added , `` ye have pleased me . Kneel . ''
The Lancastrians had already resumed their archery , and the shafts XXXXX thick in the mouth of the street ; but the duke , minding them not at all , deliberately drew his sword and dubbed Richard a knight upon the spot .
approach carried dashed faced fell lashing plied redoubled scattered smiled