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diff --git a/old/prppr10.txt b/old/prppr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6186244 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/prppr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8588 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext The Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain +#14 in our series by Mark Twain + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +This etext was prepared by Les Bowler, St. Ives, Dorset from +from the 1904 Chatto & Windus edition. + + + + + +The Prince and the Pauper + +by Mark Twain + + + + +Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, to Lord Cromwell, on the birth +of the Prince of Wales (afterward Edward VI.). + +From the National Manuscripts preserved by the British Government. + +Ryght honorable, Salutem in Christo Jesu, and Syr here ys no lesse +joynge and rejossynge in thes partees for the byrth of our prynce, +hoom we hungurde for so longe, then ther was (I trow), inter +vicinos att the byrth of S. J. Baptyste, as thys berer, Master +Erance, can telle you. Gode gyffe us alle grace, to yelde dew +thankes to our Lorde Gode, Gode of Inglonde, for verely He hathe +shoyd Hym selff Gode of Inglonde, or rather an Inglyssh Gode, yf +we consydyr and pondyr welle alle Hys procedynges with us from +tyme to tyme. He hath over cumme alle our yllnesse with Hys +excedynge goodnesse, so that we are now moor then compellyd to +serve Hym, seke Hys glory, promott Hys wurde, yf the Devylle of +alle Devylles be natt in us. We have now the stooppe of vayne +trustes ande the stey of vayne expectations; lett us alle pray for +hys preservatione. Ande I for my partt wylle wyssh that hys Grace +allways have, and evyn now from the begynynge, Governares, +Instructores and offyceres of ryght jugmente, ne optimum ingenium +non optima educatione deprevetur. + +Butt whatt a grett fowlle am I! So, whatt devotione shoyth many +tymys butt lytelle dyscretione! Ande thus the Gode of Inglonde be +ever with you in alle your procedynges. + +The 19 of October. + +Youres, H. L. B. of Wurcestere, now att Hartlebury. + +Yf you wolde excytt thys berere to be moore hartye ayen the abuse +of ymagry or mor forwarde to promotte the veryte, ytt myght doo +goode. Natt that ytt came of me, butt of your selffe, etc. + +(Addressed) +To the Ryght Honorable Loorde P. Sealle hys synguler gode Lorde. + + + +To those good-mannered and agreeable children +Susie and Clara Clemens +this book is affectionately inscribed by their father. + + + +I will set down a tale as it was told to me by one who had it of +his father, which latter had it of HIS father, this last having in +like manner had it of HIS father--and so on, back and still back, +three hundred years and more, the fathers transmitting it to the +sons and so preserving it. It may be history, it may be only a +legend, a tradition. It may have happened, it may not have +happened: but it COULD have happened. It may be that the wise +and the learned believed it in the old days; it may be that only +the unlearned and the simple loved it and credited it. + + +Contents. + +I. The birth of the Prince and the Pauper. +II. Tom's early life. +III. Tom's meeting with the Prince. +IV. The Prince's troubles begin. +V. Tom as a patrician. +VI. Tom receives instructions. +VII. Tom's first royal dinner. +VIII. The question of the Seal. +IX. The river pageant. +X. The Prince in the toils. +XI. At Guildhall. +XII. The Prince and his deliverer. +XIII. The disappearance of the Prince. +XIV. 'Le Roi est mort--vive le Roi.' +XV. Tom as King. +XVI. The state dinner. +XVII. Foo-foo the First. +XVIII. The Prince with the tramps. +XIX. The Prince with the peasants. +XX. The Prince and the hermit. +XXI. Hendon to the rescue. +XXII. A victim of treachery. +XXIII. The Prince a prisoner. +XXIV. The escape. +XXV. Hendon Hall. +XXVI. Disowned. +XXVII. In prison. +XXVIII. The sacrifice. +XXIX. To London. +XXX. Tom's progress. +XXXI. The Recognition procession. +XXXII. Coronation Day. +XXXIII. Edward as King. +Conclusion. Justice and Retribution. +Notes. + + + + 'The quality of mercy . . . is twice bless'd; + It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes; + 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes + The thron-ed monarch better than his crown'. + Merchant of Venice. + + + +Chapter I. The birth of the Prince and the Pauper. + +In the ancient city of London, on a certain autumn day in the +second quarter of the sixteenth century, a boy was born to a poor +family of the name of Canty, who did not want him. On the same +day another English child was born to a rich family of the name of +Tudor, who did want him. All England wanted him too. England had +so longed for him, and hoped for him, and prayed God for him, +that, now that he was really come, the people went nearly mad for +joy. Mere acquaintances hugged and kissed each other and cried. +Everybody took a holiday, and high and low, rich and poor, feasted +and danced and sang, and got very mellow; and they kept this up +for days and nights together. By day, London was a sight to see, +with gay banners waving from every balcony and housetop, and +splendid pageants marching along. By night, it was again a sight +to see, with its great bonfires at every corner, and its troops of +revellers making merry around them. There was no talk in all +England but of the new baby, Edward Tudor, Prince of Wales, who +lay lapped in silks and satins, unconscious of all this fuss, and +not knowing that great lords and ladies were tending him and +watching over him--and not caring, either. But there was no talk +about the other baby, Tom Canty, lapped in his poor rags, except +among the family of paupers whom he had just come to trouble with +his presence. + + + +Chapter II. Tom's early life. + +Let us skip a number of years. + +London was fifteen hundred years old, and was a great town--for +that day. It had a hundred thousand inhabitants--some think +double as many. The streets were very narrow, and crooked, and +dirty, especially in the part where Tom Canty lived, which was not +far from London Bridge. The houses were of wood, with the second +story projecting over the first, and the third sticking its elbows +out beyond the second. The higher the houses grew, the broader +they grew. They were skeletons of strong criss-cross beams, with +solid material between, coated with plaster. The beams were +painted red or blue or black, according to the owner's taste, and +this gave the houses a very picturesque look. The windows were +small, glazed with little diamond-shaped panes, and they opened +outward, on hinges, like doors. + +The house which Tom's father lived in was up a foul little pocket +called Offal Court, out of Pudding Lane. It was small, decayed, +and rickety, but it was packed full of wretchedly poor families. +Canty's tribe occupied a room on the third floor. The mother and +father had a sort of bedstead in the corner; but Tom, his +grandmother, and his two sisters, Bet and Nan, were not +restricted--they had all the floor to themselves, and might sleep +where they chose. There were the remains of a blanket or two, and +some bundles of ancient and dirty straw, but these could not +rightly be called beds, for they were not organised; they were +kicked into a general pile, mornings, and selections made from the +mass at night, for service. + +Bet and Nan were fifteen years old--twins. They were good-hearted +girls, unclean, clothed in rags, and profoundly ignorant. Their +mother was like them. But the father and the grandmother were a +couple of fiends. They got drunk whenever they could; then they +fought each other or anybody else who came in the way; they cursed +and swore always, drunk or sober; John Canty was a thief, and his +mother a beggar. They made beggars of the children, but failed to +make thieves of them. Among, but not of, the dreadful rabble that +inhabited the house, was a good old priest whom the King had +turned out of house and home with a pension of a few farthings, +and he used to get the children aside and teach them right ways +secretly. Father Andrew also taught Tom a little Latin, and how +to read and write; and would have done the same with the girls, +but they were afraid of the jeers of their friends, who could not +have endured such a queer accomplishment in them. + +All Offal Court was just such another hive as Canty's house. +Drunkenness, riot and brawling were the order, there, every night +and nearly all night long. Broken heads were as common as hunger +in that place. Yet little Tom was not unhappy. He had a hard +time of it, but did not know it. It was the sort of time that all +the Offal Court boys had, therefore he supposed it was the correct +and comfortable thing. When he came home empty-handed at night, +he knew his father would curse him and thrash him first, and that +when he was done the awful grandmother would do it all over again +and improve on it; and that away in the night his starving mother +would slip to him stealthily with any miserable scrap or crust she +had been able to save for him by going hungry herself, +notwithstanding she was often caught in that sort of treason and +soundly beaten for it by her husband. + +No, Tom's life went along well enough, especially in summer. He +only begged just enough to save himself, for the laws against +mendicancy were stringent, and the penalties heavy; so he put in a +good deal of his time listening to good Father Andrew's charming +old tales and legends about giants and fairies, dwarfs and genii, +and enchanted castles, and gorgeous kings and princes. His head +grew to be full of these wonderful things, and many a night as he +lay in the dark on his scant and offensive straw, tired, hungry, +and smarting from a thrashing, he unleashed his imagination and +soon forgot his aches and pains in delicious picturings to himself +of the charmed life of a petted prince in a regal palace. One +desire came in time to haunt him day and night: it was to see a +real prince, with his own eyes. He spoke of it once to some of +his Offal Court comrades; but they jeered him and scoffed him so +unmercifully that he was glad to keep his dream to himself after +that. + +He often read the priest's old books and got him to explain and +enlarge upon them. His dreamings and readings worked certain +changes in him, by-and-by. His dream-people were so fine that he +grew to lament his shabby clothing and his dirt, and to wish to be +clean and better clad. He went on playing in the mud just the +same, and enjoying it, too; but, instead of splashing around in +the Thames solely for the fun of it, he began to find an added +value in it because of the washings and cleansings it afforded. + +Tom could always find something going on around the Maypole in +Cheapside, and at the fairs; and now and then he and the rest of +London had a chance to see a military parade when some famous +unfortunate was carried prisoner to the Tower, by land or boat. +One summer's day he saw poor Anne Askew and three men burned at +the stake in Smithfield, and heard an ex-Bishop preach a sermon to +them which did not interest him. Yes, Tom's life was varied and +pleasant enough, on the whole. + +By-and-by Tom's reading and dreaming about princely life wrought +such a strong effect upon him that he began to ACT the prince, +unconsciously. His speech and manners became curiously +ceremonious and courtly, to the vast admiration and amusement of +his intimates. But Tom's influence among these young people began +to grow now, day by day; and in time he came to be looked up to, +by them, with a sort of wondering awe, as a superior being. He +seemed to know so much! and he could do and say such marvellous +things! and withal, he was so deep and wise! Tom's remarks, and +Tom's performances, were reported by the boys to their elders; and +these, also, presently began to discuss Tom Canty, and to regard +him as a most gifted and extraordinary creature. Full-grown +people brought their perplexities to Tom for solution, and were +often astonished at the wit and wisdom of his decisions. In fact +he was become a hero to all who knew him except his own family-- +these, only, saw nothing in him. + +Privately, after a while, Tom organised a royal court! He was the +prince; his special comrades were guards, chamberlains, equerries, +lords and ladies in waiting, and the royal family. Daily the mock +prince was received with elaborate ceremonials borrowed by Tom +from his romantic readings; daily the great affairs of the mimic +kingdom were discussed in the royal council, and daily his mimic +highness issued decrees to his imaginary armies, navies, and +viceroyalties. + +After which, he would go forth in his rags and beg a few +farthings, eat his poor crust, take his customary cuffs and abuse, +and then stretch himself upon his handful of foul straw, and +resume his empty grandeurs in his dreams. + +And still his desire to look just once upon a real prince, in the +flesh, grew upon him, day by day, and week by week, until at last +it absorbed all other desires, and became the one passion of his +life. + +One January day, on his usual begging tour, he tramped +despondently up and down the region round about Mincing Lane and +Little East Cheap, hour after hour, bare-footed and cold, looking +in at cook-shop windows and longing for the dreadful pork-pies and +other deadly inventions displayed there--for to him these were +dainties fit for the angels; that is, judging by the smell, they +were--for it had never been his good luck to own and eat one. +There was a cold drizzle of rain; the atmosphere was murky; it was +a melancholy day. At night Tom reached home so wet and tired and +hungry that it was not possible for his father and grandmother to +observe his forlorn condition and not be moved--after their +fashion; wherefore they gave him a brisk cuffing at once and sent +him to bed. For a long time his pain and hunger, and the swearing +and fighting going on in the building, kept him awake; but at last +his thoughts drifted away to far, romantic lands, and he fell +asleep in the company of jewelled and gilded princelings who live +in vast palaces, and had servants salaaming before them or flying +to execute their orders. And then, as usual, he dreamed that HE +was a princeling himself. + +All night long the glories of his royal estate shone upon him; he +moved among great lords and ladies, in a blaze of light, breathing +perfumes, drinking in delicious music, and answering the reverent +obeisances of the glittering throng as it parted to make way for +him, with here a smile, and there a nod of his princely head. + +And when he awoke in the morning and looked upon the wretchedness +about him, his dream had had its usual effect--it had intensified +the sordidness of his surroundings a thousandfold. Then came +bitterness, and heart-break, and tears. + + + +Chapter III. Tom's meeting with the Prince. + +Tom got up hungry, and sauntered hungry away, but with his +thoughts busy with the shadowy splendours of his night's dreams. +He wandered here and there in the city, hardly noticing where he +was going, or what was happening around him. People jostled him, +and some gave him rough speech; but it was all lost on the musing +boy. By-and-by he found himself at Temple Bar, the farthest from +home he had ever travelled in that direction. He stopped and +considered a moment, then fell into his imaginings again, and +passed on outside the walls of London. The Strand had ceased to +be a country-road then, and regarded itself as a street, but by a +strained construction; for, though there was a tolerably compact +row of houses on one side of it, there were only some scattered +great buildings on the other, these being palaces of rich nobles, +with ample and beautiful grounds stretching to the river--grounds +that are now closely packed with grim acres of brick and stone. + +Tom discovered Charing Village presently, and rested himself at +the beautiful cross built there by a bereaved king of earlier +days; then idled down a quiet, lovely road, past the great +cardinal's stately palace, toward a far more mighty and majestic +palace beyond--Westminster. Tom stared in glad wonder at the vast +pile of masonry, the wide-spreading wings, the frowning bastions +and turrets, the huge stone gateway, with its gilded bars and its +magnificent array of colossal granite lions, and other the signs +and symbols of English royalty. Was the desire of his soul to be +satisfied at last? Here, indeed, was a king's palace. Might he +not hope to see a prince now--a prince of flesh and blood, if +Heaven were willing? + +At each side of the gilded gate stood a living statue--that is to +say, an erect and stately and motionless man-at-arms, clad from +head to heel in shining steel armour. At a respectful distance +were many country folk, and people from the city, waiting for any +chance glimpse of royalty that might offer. Splendid carriages, +with splendid people in them and splendid servants outside, were +arriving and departing by several other noble gateways that +pierced the royal enclosure. + +Poor little Tom, in his rags, approached, and was moving slowly +and timidly past the sentinels, with a beating heart and a rising +hope, when all at once he caught sight through the golden bars of +a spectacle that almost made him shout for joy. Within was a +comely boy, tanned and brown with sturdy outdoor sports and +exercises, whose clothing was all of lovely silks and satins, +shining with jewels; at his hip a little jewelled sword and +dagger; dainty buskins on his feet, with red heels; and on his +head a jaunty crimson cap, with drooping plumes fastened with a +great sparkling gem. Several gorgeous gentlemen stood near--his +servants, without a doubt. Oh! he was a prince--a prince, a +living prince, a real prince--without the shadow of a question; +and the prayer of the pauper-boy's heart was answered at last. + +Tom's breath came quick and short with excitement, and his eyes +grew big with wonder and delight. Everything gave way in his mind +instantly to one desire: that was to get close to the prince, and +have a good, devouring look at him. Before he knew what he was +about, he had his face against the gate-bars. The next instant +one of the soldiers snatched him rudely away, and sent him +spinning among the gaping crowd of country gawks and London +idlers. The soldier said,-- + +"Mind thy manners, thou young beggar!" + +The crowd jeered and laughed; but the young prince sprang to the +gate with his face flushed, and his eyes flashing with +indignation, and cried out,-- + +"How dar'st thou use a poor lad like that? How dar'st thou use +the King my father's meanest subject so? Open the gates, and let +him in!" + +You should have seen that fickle crowd snatch off their hats then. +You should have heard them cheer, and shout, "Long live the Prince +of Wales!" + +The soldiers presented arms with their halberds, opened the gates, +and presented again as the little Prince of Poverty passed in, in +his fluttering rags, to join hands with the Prince of Limitless +Plenty. + +Edward Tudor said-- + +"Thou lookest tired and hungry: thou'st been treated ill. Come +with me." + +Half a dozen attendants sprang forward to--I don't know what; +interfere, no doubt. But they were waved aside with a right royal +gesture, and they stopped stock still where they were, like so +many statues. Edward took Tom to a rich apartment in the palace, +which he called his cabinet. By his command a repast was brought +such as Tom had never encountered before except in books. The +prince, with princely delicacy and breeding, sent away the +servants, so that his humble guest might not be embarrassed by +their critical presence; then he sat near by, and asked questions +while Tom ate. + +"What is thy name, lad?" + +"Tom Canty, an' it please thee, sir." + +"'Tis an odd one. Where dost live?" + +"In the city, please thee, sir. Offal Court, out of Pudding +Lane." + +"Offal Court! Truly 'tis another odd one. Hast parents?" + +"Parents have I, sir, and a grand-dam likewise that is but +indifferently precious to me, God forgive me if it be offence to +say it--also twin sisters, Nan and Bet." + +"Then is thy grand-dam not over kind to thee, I take it?" + +"Neither to any other is she, so please your worship. She hath a +wicked heart, and worketh evil all her days." + +"Doth she mistreat thee?" + +"There be times that she stayeth her hand, being asleep or +overcome with drink; but when she hath her judgment clear again, +she maketh it up to me with goodly beatings." + +A fierce look came into the little prince's eyes, and he cried +out-- + +"What! Beatings?" + +"Oh, indeed, yes, please you, sir." + +"BEATINGS!--and thou so frail and little. Hark ye: before the +night come, she shall hie her to the Tower. The King my father"-- + +"In sooth, you forget, sir, her low degree. The Tower is for the +great alone." + +"True, indeed. I had not thought of that. I will consider of her +punishment. Is thy father kind to thee?" + +"Not more than Gammer Canty, sir." + +"Fathers be alike, mayhap. Mine hath not a doll's temper. He +smiteth with a heavy hand, yet spareth me: he spareth me not +always with his tongue, though, sooth to say. How doth thy mother +use thee?" + +"She is good, sir, and giveth me neither sorrow nor pain of any +sort. And Nan and Bet are like to her in this." + +"How old be these?" + +"Fifteen, an' it please you, sir." + +"The Lady Elizabeth, my sister, is fourteen, and the Lady Jane +Grey, my cousin, is of mine own age, and comely and gracious +withal; but my sister the Lady Mary, with her gloomy mien and-- +Look you: do thy sisters forbid their servants to smile, lest the +sin destroy their souls?" + +"They? Oh, dost think, sir, that THEY have servants?" + +The little prince contemplated the little pauper gravely a moment, +then said-- + +"And prithee, why not? Who helpeth them undress at night? Who +attireth them when they rise?" + +"None, sir. Would'st have them take off their garment, and sleep +without--like the beasts?" + +"Their garment! Have they but one?" + +"Ah, good your worship, what would they do with more? Truly they +have not two bodies each." + +"It is a quaint and marvellous thought! Thy pardon, I had not +meant to laugh. But thy good Nan and thy Bet shall have raiment +and lackeys enow, and that soon, too: my cofferer shall look to +it. No, thank me not; 'tis nothing. Thou speakest well; thou +hast an easy grace in it. Art learned?" + +"I know not if I am or not, sir. The good priest that is called +Father Andrew taught me, of his kindness, from his books." + +"Know'st thou the Latin?" + +"But scantly, sir, I doubt." + +"Learn it, lad: 'tis hard only at first. The Greek is harder; +but neither these nor any tongues else, I think, are hard to the +Lady Elizabeth and my cousin. Thou should'st hear those damsels +at it! But tell me of thy Offal Court. Hast thou a pleasant life +there?" + +"In truth, yes, so please you, sir, save when one is hungry. +There be Punch-and-Judy shows, and monkeys--oh such antic +creatures! and so bravely dressed!--and there be plays wherein +they that play do shout and fight till all are slain, and 'tis so +fine to see, and costeth but a farthing--albeit 'tis main hard to +get the farthing, please your worship." + +"Tell me more." + +"We lads of Offal Court do strive against each other with the +cudgel, like to the fashion of the 'prentices, sometimes." + +The prince's eyes flashed. Said he-- + +"Marry, that would not I mislike. Tell me more." + +"We strive in races, sir, to see who of us shall be fleetest." + +"That would I like also. Speak on." + +"In summer, sir, we wade and swim in the canals and in the river, +and each doth duck his neighbour, and splatter him with water, and +dive and shout and tumble and--" + +"'Twould be worth my father's kingdom but to enjoy it once! +Prithee go on." + +"We dance and sing about the Maypole in Cheapside; we play in the +sand, each covering his neighbour up; and times we make mud +pastry--oh the lovely mud, it hath not its like for delightfulness +in all the world!--we do fairly wallow in the mud, sir, saving +your worship's presence." + +"Oh, prithee, say no more, 'tis glorious! If that I could but +clothe me in raiment like to thine, and strip my feet, and revel +in the mud once, just once, with none to rebuke me or forbid, +meseemeth I could forego the crown!" + +"And if that I could clothe me once, sweet sir, as thou art clad-- +just once--" + +"Oho, would'st like it? Then so shall it be. Doff thy rags, and +don these splendours, lad! It is a brief happiness, but will be +not less keen for that. We will have it while we may, and change +again before any come to molest." + +A few minutes later the little Prince of Wales was garlanded with +Tom's fluttering odds and ends, and the little Prince of Pauperdom +was tricked out in the gaudy plumage of royalty. The two went and +stood side by side before a great mirror, and lo, a miracle: +there did not seem to have been any change made! They stared at +each other, then at the glass, then at each other again. At last +the puzzled princeling said-- + +"What dost thou make of this?" + +"Ah, good your worship, require me not to answer. It is not meet +that one of my degree should utter the thing." + +"Then will _I_ utter it. Thou hast the same hair, the same eyes, +the same voice and manner, the same form and stature, the same +face and countenance that I bear. Fared we forth naked, there is +none could say which was you, and which the Prince of Wales. And, +now that I am clothed as thou wert clothed, it seemeth I should be +able the more nearly to feel as thou didst when the brute soldier- +-Hark ye, is not this a bruise upon your hand?" + +"Yes; but it is a slight thing, and your worship knoweth that the +poor man-at-arms--" + +"Peace! It was a shameful thing and a cruel!" cried the little +prince, stamping his bare foot. "If the King--Stir not a step +till I come again! It is a command!" + +In a moment he had snatched up and put away an article of national +importance that lay upon a table, and was out at the door and +flying through the palace grounds in his bannered rags, with a hot +face and glowing eyes. As soon as he reached the great gate, he +seized the bars, and tried to shake them, shouting-- + +"Open! Unbar the gates!" + +The soldier that had maltreated Tom obeyed promptly; and as the +prince burst through the portal, half-smothered with royal wrath, +the soldier fetched him a sounding box on the ear that sent him +whirling to the roadway, and said-- + +"Take that, thou beggar's spawn, for what thou got'st me from his +Highness!" + +The crowd roared with laughter. The prince picked himself out of +the mud, and made fiercely at the sentry, shouting-- + +"I am the Prince of Wales, my person is sacred; and thou shalt +hang for laying thy hand upon me!" + +The soldier brought his halberd to a present-arms and said +mockingly-- + +"I salute your gracious Highness." Then angrily-- "Be off, thou +crazy rubbish!" + +Here the jeering crowd closed round the poor little prince, and +hustled him far down the road, hooting him, and shouting-- + +"Way for his Royal Highness! Way for the Prince of Wales!" + + + +Chapter IV. The Prince's troubles begin. + +After hours of persistent pursuit and persecution, the little +prince was at last deserted by the rabble and left to himself. As +long as he had been able to rage against the mob, and threaten it +royally, and royally utter commands that were good stuff to laugh +at, he was very entertaining; but when weariness finally forced +him to be silent, he was no longer of use to his tormentors, and +they sought amusement elsewhere. He looked about him, now, but +could not recognise the locality. He was within the city of +London--that was all he knew. He moved on, aimlessly, and in a +little while the houses thinned, and the passers-by were +infrequent. He bathed his bleeding feet in the brook which flowed +then where Farringdon Street now is; rested a few moments, then +passed on, and presently came upon a great space with only a few +scattered houses in it, and a prodigious church. He recognised +this church. Scaffoldings were about, everywhere, and swarms of +workmen; for it was undergoing elaborate repairs. The prince took +heart at once--he felt that his troubles were at an end, now. He +said to himself, "It is the ancient Grey Friars' Church, which the +king my father hath taken from the monks and given for a home for +ever for poor and forsaken children, and new-named it Christ's +Church. Right gladly will they serve the son of him who hath done +so generously by them--and the more that that son is himself as +poor and as forlorn as any that be sheltered here this day, or +ever shall be." + +He was soon in the midst of a crowd of boys who were running, +jumping, playing at ball and leap-frog, and otherwise disporting +themselves, and right noisily, too. They were all dressed alike, +and in the fashion which in that day prevailed among serving-men +and 'prentices{1}--that is to say, each had on the crown of his +head a flat black cap about the size of a saucer, which was not +useful as a covering, it being of such scanty dimensions, neither +was it ornamental; from beneath it the hair fell, unparted, to the +middle of the forehead, and was cropped straight around; a +clerical band at the neck; a blue gown that fitted closely and +hung as low as the knees or lower; full sleeves; a broad red belt; +bright yellow stockings, gartered above the knees; low shoes with +large metal buckles. It was a sufficiently ugly costume. + +The boys stopped their play and flocked about the prince, who said +with native dignity-- + +"Good lads, say to your master that Edward Prince of Wales +desireth speech with him." + +A great shout went up at this, and one rude fellow said-- + +"Marry, art thou his grace's messenger, beggar?" + +The prince's face flushed with anger, and his ready hand flew to +his hip, but there was nothing there. There was a storm of +laughter, and one boy said-- + +"Didst mark that? He fancied he had a sword--belike he is the +prince himself." + +This sally brought more laughter. Poor Edward drew himself up +proudly and said-- + +"I am the prince; and it ill beseemeth you that feed upon the king +my father's bounty to use me so." + +This was vastly enjoyed, as the laughter testified. The youth who +had first spoken, shouted to his comrades-- + +"Ho, swine, slaves, pensioners of his grace's princely father, +where be your manners? Down on your marrow bones, all of ye, and +do reverence to his kingly port and royal rags!" + +With boisterous mirth they dropped upon their knees in a body and +did mock homage to their prey. The prince spurned the nearest boy +with his foot, and said fiercely-- + +"Take thou that, till the morrow come and I build thee a gibbet!" + +Ah, but this was not a joke--this was going beyond fun. The +laughter ceased on the instant, and fury took its place. A dozen +shouted-- + +"Hale him forth! To the horse-pond, to the horse-pond! Where be +the dogs? Ho, there, Lion! ho, Fangs!" + +Then followed such a thing as England had never seen before--the +sacred person of the heir to the throne rudely buffeted by +plebeian hands, and set upon and torn by dogs. + +As night drew to a close that day, the prince found himself far +down in the close-built portion of the city. His body was +bruised, his hands were bleeding, and his rags were all besmirched +with mud. He wandered on and on, and grew more and more +bewildered, and so tired and faint he could hardly drag one foot +after the other. He had ceased to ask questions of anyone, since +they brought him only insult instead of information. He kept +muttering to himself, "Offal Court--that is the name; if I can but +find it before my strength is wholly spent and I drop, then am I +saved--for his people will take me to the palace and prove that I +am none of theirs, but the true prince, and I shall have mine own +again." And now and then his mind reverted to his treatment by +those rude Christ's Hospital boys, and he said, "When I am king, +they shall not have bread and shelter only, but also teachings out +of books; for a full belly is little worth where the mind is +starved, and the heart. I will keep this diligently in my +remembrance, that this day's lesson be not lost upon me, and my +people suffer thereby; for learning softeneth the heart and +breedeth gentleness and charity. {1} + +The lights began to twinkle, it came on to rain, the wind rose, +and a raw and gusty night set in. The houseless prince, the +homeless heir to the throne of England, still moved on, drifting +deeper into the maze of squalid alleys where the swarming hives of +poverty and misery were massed together. + +Suddenly a great drunken ruffian collared him and said-- + +"Out to this time of night again, and hast not brought a farthing +home, I warrant me! If it be so, an' I do not break all the bones +in thy lean body, then am I not John Canty, but some other." + +The prince twisted himself loose, unconsciously brushed his +profaned shoulder, and eagerly said-- + +"Oh, art HIS father, truly? Sweet heaven grant it be so--then +wilt thou fetch him away and restore me!" + +"HIS father? I know not what thou mean'st; I but know I am THY +father, as thou shalt soon have cause to--" + +"Oh, jest not, palter not, delay not!--I am worn, I am wounded, I +can bear no more. Take me to the king my father, and he will make +thee rich beyond thy wildest dreams. Believe me, man, believe +me!--I speak no lie, but only the truth!--put forth thy hand and +save me! I am indeed the Prince of Wales!" + +The man stared down, stupefied, upon the lad, then shook his head +and muttered-- + +"Gone stark mad as any Tom o' Bedlam!"--then collared him once +more, and said with a coarse laugh and an oath, "But mad or no +mad, I and thy Gammer Canty will soon find where the soft places +in thy bones lie, or I'm no true man!" + +With this he dragged the frantic and struggling prince away, and +disappeared up a front court followed by a delighted and noisy +swarm of human vermin. + + + +Chapter V. Tom as a patrician. + +Tom Canty, left alone in the prince's cabinet, made good use of +his opportunity. He turned himself this way and that before the +great mirror, admiring his finery; then walked away, imitating the +prince's high-bred carriage, and still observing results in the +glass. Next he drew the beautiful sword, and bowed, kissing the +blade, and laying it across his breast, as he had seen a noble +knight do, by way of salute to the lieutenant of the Tower, five +or six weeks before, when delivering the great lords of Norfolk +and Surrey into his hands for captivity. Tom played with the +jewelled dagger that hung upon his thigh; he examined the costly +and exquisite ornaments of the room; he tried each of the +sumptuous chairs, and thought how proud he would be if the Offal +Court herd could only peep in and see him in his grandeur. He +wondered if they would believe the marvellous tale he should tell +when he got home, or if they would shake their heads, and say his +overtaxed imagination had at last upset his reason. + +At the end of half an hour it suddenly occurred to him that the +prince was gone a long time; then right away he began to feel +lonely; very soon he fell to listening and longing, and ceased to +toy with the pretty things about him; he grew uneasy, then +restless, then distressed. Suppose some one should come, and +catch him in the prince's clothes, and the prince not there to +explain. Might they not hang him at once, and inquire into his +case afterward? He had heard that the great were prompt about +small matters. His fear rose higher and higher; and trembling he +softly opened the door to the antechamber, resolved to fly and +seek the prince, and, through him, protection and release. Six +gorgeous gentlemen-servants and two young pages of high degree, +clothed like butterflies, sprang to their feet and bowed low +before him. He stepped quickly back and shut the door. He said-- + +"Oh, they mock at me! They will go and tell. Oh! why came I here +to cast away my life?" + +He walked up and down the floor, filled with nameless fears, +listening, starting at every trifling sound. Presently the door +swung open, and a silken page said-- + +"The Lady Jane Grey." + +The door closed and a sweet young girl, richly clad, bounded +toward him. But she stopped suddenly, and said in a distressed +voice-- + +"Oh, what aileth thee, my lord?" + +Tom's breath was nearly failing him; but he made shift to stammer +out-- + +"Ah, be merciful, thou! In sooth I am no lord, but only poor Tom +Canty of Offal Court in the city. Prithee let me see the prince, +and he will of his grace restore to me my rags, and let me hence +unhurt. Oh, be thou merciful, and save me!" + +By this time the boy was on his knees, and supplicating with his +eyes and uplifted hands as well as with his tongue. The young +girl seemed horror-stricken. She cried out-- + +"O my lord, on thy knees?--and to ME!" + +Then she fled away in fright; and Tom, smitten with despair, sank +down, murmuring-- + +"There is no help, there is no hope. Now will they come and take +me." + +Whilst he lay there benumbed with terror, dreadful tidings were +speeding through the palace. The whisper--for it was whispered +always--flew from menial to menial, from lord to lady, down all +the long corridors, from story to story, from saloon to saloon, +"The prince hath gone mad, the prince hath gone mad!" Soon every +saloon, every marble hall, had its groups of glittering lords and +ladies, and other groups of dazzling lesser folk, talking +earnestly together in whispers, and every face had in it dismay. +Presently a splendid official came marching by these groups, +making solemn proclamation-- + + "IN THE NAME OF THE KING! + +Let none list to this false and foolish matter, upon pain of +death, nor discuss the same, nor carry it abroad. In the name of +the King!" + +The whisperings ceased as suddenly as if the whisperers had been +stricken dumb. + +Soon there was a general buzz along the corridors, of "The prince! +See, the prince comes!" + +Poor Tom came slowly walking past the low-bowing groups, trying to +bow in return, and meekly gazing upon his strange surroundings +with bewildered and pathetic eyes. Great nobles walked upon each +side of him, making him lean upon them, and so steady his steps. +Behind him followed the court-physicians and some servants. + +Presently Tom found himself in a noble apartment of the palace and +heard the door close behind him. Around him stood those who had +come with him. Before him, at a little distance, reclined a very +large and very fat man, with a wide, pulpy face, and a stern +expression. His large head was very grey; and his whiskers, which +he wore only around his face, like a frame, were grey also. His +clothing was of rich stuff, but old, and slightly frayed in +places. One of his swollen legs had a pillow under it, and was +wrapped in bandages. There was silence now; and there was no head +there but was bent in reverence, except this man's. This stern- +countenanced invalid was the dread Henry VIII. He said--and his +face grew gentle as he began to speak-- + +"How now, my lord Edward, my prince? Hast been minded to cozen +me, the good King thy father, who loveth thee, and kindly useth +thee, with a sorry jest?" + +Poor Tom was listening, as well as his dazed faculties would let +him, to the beginning of this speech; but when the words 'me, the +good King' fell upon his ear, his face blanched, and he dropped as +instantly upon his knees as if a shot had brought him there. +Lifting up his hands, he exclaimed-- + +"Thou the KING? Then am I undone indeed!" + +This speech seemed to stun the King. His eyes wandered from face +to face aimlessly, then rested, bewildered, upon the boy before +him. Then he said in a tone of deep disappointment-- + +"Alack, I had believed the rumour disproportioned to the truth; +but I fear me 'tis not so." He breathed a heavy sigh, and said in +a gentle voice, "Come to thy father, child: thou art not well." + +Tom was assisted to his feet, and approached the Majesty of +England, humble and trembling. The King took the frightened face +between his hands, and gazed earnestly and lovingly into it +awhile, as if seeking some grateful sign of returning reason +there, then pressed the curly head against his breast, and patted +it tenderly. Presently he said-- + +"Dost not know thy father, child? Break not mine old heart; say +thou know'st me. Thou DOST know me, dost thou not?" + +"Yea: thou art my dread lord the King, whom God preserve!" + +"True, true--that is well--be comforted, tremble not so; there is +none here would hurt thee; there is none here but loves thee. +Thou art better now; thy ill dream passeth--is't not so? Thou +wilt not miscall thyself again, as they say thou didst a little +while agone?" + +"I pray thee of thy grace believe me, I did but speak the truth, +most dread lord; for I am the meanest among thy subjects, being a +pauper born, and 'tis by a sore mischance and accident I am here, +albeit I was therein nothing blameful. I am but young to die, and +thou canst save me with one little word. Oh speak it, sir!" + +"Die? Talk not so, sweet prince--peace, peace, to thy troubled +heart--thou shalt not die!" + +Tom dropped upon his knees with a glad cry-- + +"God requite thy mercy, O my King, and save thee long to bless thy +land!" Then springing up, he turned a joyful face toward the two +lords in waiting, and exclaimed, "Thou heard'st it! I am not to +die: the King hath said it!" There was no movement, save that +all bowed with grave respect; but no one spoke. He hesitated, a +little confused, then turned timidly toward the King, saying, "I +may go now?" + +"Go? Surely, if thou desirest. But why not tarry yet a little? +Whither would'st go?" + +Tom dropped his eyes, and answered humbly-- + +"Peradventure I mistook; but I did think me free, and so was I +moved to seek again the kennel where I was born and bred to +misery, yet which harboureth my mother and my sisters, and so is +home to me; whereas these pomps and splendours whereunto I am not +used--oh, please you, sir, to let me go!" + +The King was silent and thoughtful a while, and his face betrayed +a growing distress and uneasiness. Presently he said, with +something of hope in his voice-- + +"Perchance he is but mad upon this one strain, and hath his wits +unmarred as toucheth other matter. God send it may be so! We +will make trial." + +Then he asked Tom a question in Latin, and Tom answered him lamely +in the same tongue. The lords and doctors manifested their +gratification also. The King said-- + +"'Twas not according to his schooling and ability, but showeth +that his mind is but diseased, not stricken fatally. How say you, +sir?" + +The physician addressed bowed low, and replied-- + +"It jumpeth with my own conviction, sire, that thou hast divined +aright." + +The King looked pleased with this encouragement, coming as it did +from so excellent authority, and continued with good heart-- + +"Now mark ye all: we will try him further." + +He put a question to Tom in French. Tom stood silent a moment, +embarrassed by having so many eyes centred upon him, then said +diffidently-- + +"I have no knowledge of this tongue, so please your majesty." + +The King fell back upon his couch. The attendants flew to his +assistance; but he put them aside, and said-- + +"Trouble me not--it is nothing but a scurvy faintness. Raise me! +There, 'tis sufficient. Come hither, child; there, rest thy poor +troubled head upon thy father's heart, and be at peace. Thou'lt +soon be well: 'tis but a passing fantasy. Fear thou not; thou'lt +soon be well." Then he turned toward the company: his gentle +manner changed, and baleful lightnings began to play from his +eyes. He said-- + +"List ye all! This my son is mad; but it is not permanent. Over- +study hath done this, and somewhat too much of confinement. Away +with his books and teachers! see ye to it. Pleasure him with +sports, beguile him in wholesome ways, so that his health come +again." He raised himself higher still, and went on with energy, +"He is mad; but he is my son, and England's heir; and, mad or +sane, still shall he reign! And hear ye further, and proclaim it: +whoso speaketh of this his distemper worketh against the peace and +order of these realms, and shall to the gallows! . . . Give me to +drink--I burn: this sorrow sappeth my strength. . . . There, take +away the cup. . . . Support me. There, that is well. Mad, is he? +Were he a thousand times mad, yet is he Prince of Wales, and I the +King will confirm it. This very morrow shall he be installed in +his princely dignity in due and ancient form. Take instant order +for it, my lord Hertford." + +One of the nobles knelt at the royal couch, and said-- + +"The King's majesty knoweth that the Hereditary Great Marshal of +England lieth attainted in the Tower. It were not meet that one +attainted--" + +"Peace! Insult not mine ears with his hated name. Is this man to +live for ever? Am I to be baulked of my will? Is the prince to +tarry uninstalled, because, forsooth, the realm lacketh an Earl +Marshal free of treasonable taint to invest him with his honours? +No, by the splendour of God! Warn my Parliament to bring me +Norfolk's doom before the sun rise again, else shall they answer +for it grievously!" {1} + +Lord Hertford said-- + +"The King's will is law;" and, rising, returned to his former +place. + +Gradually the wrath faded out of the old King's face, and he said- +- + +"Kiss me, my prince. There . . . what fearest thou? Am I not thy +loving father?" + +"Thou art good to me that am unworthy, O mighty and gracious lord: +that in truth I know. But--but--it grieveth me to think of him +that is to die, and--" + +"Ah, 'tis like thee, 'tis like thee! I know thy heart is still +the same, even though thy mind hath suffered hurt, for thou wert +ever of a gentle spirit. But this duke standeth between thee and +thine honours: I will have another in his stead that shall bring +no taint to his great office. Comfort thee, my prince: trouble +not thy poor head with this matter." + +"But is it not I that speed him hence, my liege? How long might +he not live, but for me?" + +"Take no thought of him, my prince: he is not worthy. Kiss me +once again, and go to thy trifles and amusements; for my malady +distresseth me. I am aweary, and would rest. Go with thine uncle +Hertford and thy people, and come again when my body is +refreshed." + +Tom, heavy-hearted, was conducted from the presence, for this last +sentence was a death-blow to the hope he had cherished that now he +would be set free. Once more he heard the buzz of low voices +exclaiming, "The prince, the prince comes!" + +His spirits sank lower and lower as he moved between the +glittering files of bowing courtiers; for he recognised that he +was indeed a captive now, and might remain for ever shut up in +this gilded cage, a forlorn and friendless prince, except God in +his mercy take pity on him and set him free. + +And, turn where he would, he seemed to see floating in the air the +severed head and the remembered face of the great Duke of Norfolk, +the eyes fixed on him reproachfully. + +His old dreams had been so pleasant; but this reality was so +dreary! + + + +Chapter VI. Tom receives instructions. + +Tom was conducted to the principal apartment of a noble suite, and +made to sit down--a thing which he was loth to do, since there +were elderly men and men of high degree about him. He begged them +to be seated also, but they only bowed their thanks or murmured +them, and remained standing. He would have insisted, but his +'uncle' the Earl of Hertford whispered in his ear-- + +"Prithee, insist not, my lord; it is not meet that they sit in thy +presence." + +The Lord St. John was announced, and after making obeisance to +Tom, he said-- + +"I come upon the King's errand, concerning a matter which +requireth privacy. Will it please your royal highness to dismiss +all that attend you here, save my lord the Earl of Hertford?" + +Observing that Tom did not seem to know how to proceed, Hertford +whispered him to make a sign with his hand, and not trouble +himself to speak unless he chose. When the waiting gentlemen had +retired, Lord St. John said-- + +"His majesty commandeth, that for due and weighty reasons of +state, the prince's grace shall hide his infirmity in all ways +that be within his power, till it be passed and he be as he was +before. To wit, that he shall deny to none that he is the true +prince, and heir to England's greatness; that he shall uphold his +princely dignity, and shall receive, without word or sign of +protest, that reverence and observance which unto it do appertain +of right and ancient usage; that he shall cease to speak to any of +that lowly birth and life his malady hath conjured out of the +unwholesome imaginings of o'er-wrought fancy; that he shall strive +with diligence to bring unto his memory again those faces which he +was wont to know--and where he faileth he shall hold his peace, +neither betraying by semblance of surprise or other sign that he +hath forgot; that upon occasions of state, whensoever any matter +shall perplex him as to the thing he should do or the utterance he +should make, he shall show nought of unrest to the curious that +look on, but take advice in that matter of the Lord Hertford, or +my humble self, which are commanded of the King to be upon this +service and close at call, till this commandment be dissolved. +Thus saith the King's majesty, who sendeth greeting to your royal +highness, and prayeth that God will of His mercy quickly heal you +and have you now and ever in His holy keeping." + +The Lord St. John made reverence and stood aside. Tom replied +resignedly-- + +"The King hath said it. None may palter with the King's command, +or fit it to his ease, where it doth chafe, with deft evasions. +The King shall be obeyed." + +Lord Hertford said-- + +"Touching the King's majesty's ordainment concerning books and +such like serious matters, it may peradventure please your +highness to ease your time with lightsome entertainment, lest you +go wearied to the banquet and suffer harm thereby." + +Tom's face showed inquiring surprise; and a blush followed when he +saw Lord St. John's eyes bent sorrowfully upon him. His lordship +said-- + +"Thy memory still wrongeth thee, and thou hast shown surprise--but +suffer it not to trouble thee, for 'tis a matter that will not +bide, but depart with thy mending malady. My Lord of Hertford +speaketh of the city's banquet which the King's majesty did +promise, some two months flown, your highness should attend. Thou +recallest it now?" + +"It grieves me to confess it had indeed escaped me," said Tom, in +a hesitating voice; and blushed again. + +At this moment the Lady Elizabeth and the Lady Jane Grey were +announced. The two lords exchanged significant glances, and +Hertford stepped quickly toward the door. As the young girls +passed him, he said in a low voice-- + +"I pray ye, ladies, seem not to observe his humours, nor show +surprise when his memory doth lapse--it will grieve you to note +how it doth stick at every trifle." + +Meantime Lord St. John was saying in Tom's ear-- + +"Please you, sir, keep diligently in mind his majesty's desire. +Remember all thou canst--SEEM to remember all else. Let them not +perceive that thou art much changed from thy wont, for thou +knowest how tenderly thy old play-fellows bear thee in their +hearts and how 'twould grieve them. Art willing, sir, that I +remain?--and thine uncle?" + +Tom signified assent with a gesture and a murmured word, for he +was already learning, and in his simple heart was resolved to +acquit himself as best he might, according to the King's command. + +In spite of every precaution, the conversation among the young +people became a little embarrassing at times. More than once, in +truth, Tom was near to breaking down and confessing himself +unequal to his tremendous part; but the tact of the Princess +Elizabeth saved him, or a word from one or the other of the +vigilant lords, thrown in apparently by chance, had the same happy +effect. Once the little Lady Jane turned to Tom and dismayed him +with this question,-- + +"Hast paid thy duty to the Queen's majesty to-day, my lord?" + +Tom hesitated, looked distressed, and was about to stammer out +something at hazard, when Lord St. John took the word and answered +for him with the easy grace of a courtier accustomed to encounter +delicate difficulties and to be ready for them-- + +"He hath indeed, madam, and she did greatly hearten him, as +touching his majesty's condition; is it not so, your highness?" + +Tom mumbled something that stood for assent, but felt that he was +getting upon dangerous ground. Somewhat later it was mentioned +that Tom was to study no more at present, whereupon her little +ladyship exclaimed-- + +"'Tis a pity, 'tis a pity! Thou wert proceeding bravely. But +bide thy time in patience: it will not be for long. Thou'lt yet +be graced with learning like thy father, and make thy tongue +master of as many languages as his, good my prince." + +"My father!" cried Tom, off his guard for the moment. "I trow he +cannot speak his own so that any but the swine that kennel in the +styes may tell his meaning; and as for learning of any sort +soever--" + +He looked up and encountered a solemn warning in my Lord St. +John's eyes. + +He stopped, blushed, then continued low and sadly: "Ah, my malady +persecuteth me again, and my mind wandereth. I meant the King's +grace no irreverence." + +"We know it, sir," said the Princess Elizabeth, taking her +'brother's' hand between her two palms, respectfully but +caressingly; "trouble not thyself as to that. The fault is none +of thine, but thy distemper's." + +"Thou'rt a gentle comforter, sweet lady," said Tom, gratefully, +"and my heart moveth me to thank thee for't, an' I may be so +bold." + +Once the giddy little Lady Jane fired a simple Greek phrase at +Tom. The Princess Elizabeth's quick eye saw by the serene +blankness of the target's front that the shaft was overshot; so +she tranquilly delivered a return volley of sounding Greek on +Tom's behalf, and then straightway changed the talk to other +matters. + +Time wore on pleasantly, and likewise smoothly, on the whole. +Snags and sandbars grew less and less frequent, and Tom grew more +and more at his ease, seeing that all were so lovingly bent upon +helping him and overlooking his mistakes. When it came out that +the little ladies were to accompany him to the Lord Mayor's +banquet in the evening, his heart gave a bound of relief and +delight, for he felt that he should not be friendless, now, among +that multitude of strangers; whereas, an hour earlier, the idea of +their going with him would have been an insupportable terror to +him. + +Tom's guardian angels, the two lords, had had less comfort in the +interview than the other parties to it. They felt much as if they +were piloting a great ship through a dangerous channel; they were +on the alert constantly, and found their office no child's play. +Wherefore, at last, when the ladies' visit was drawing to a close +and the Lord Guilford Dudley was announced, they not only felt +that their charge had been sufficiently taxed for the present, but +also that they themselves were not in the best condition to take +their ship back and make their anxious voyage all over again. So +they respectfully advised Tom to excuse himself, which he was very +glad to do, although a slight shade of disappointment might have +been observed upon my Lady Jane's face when she heard the splendid +stripling denied admittance. + +There was a pause now, a sort of waiting silence which Tom could +not understand. He glanced at Lord Hertford, who gave him a sign- +-but he failed to understand that also. The ready Elizabeth came +to the rescue with her usual easy grace. She made reverence and +said-- + +"Have we leave of the prince's grace my brother to go?" + +Tom said-- + +"Indeed your ladyships can have whatsoever of me they will, for +the asking; yet would I rather give them any other thing that in +my poor power lieth, than leave to take the light and blessing of +their presence hence. Give ye good den, and God be with ye!" +Then he smiled inwardly at the thought, "'Tis not for nought I +have dwelt but among princes in my reading, and taught my tongue +some slight trick of their broidered and gracious speech withal!" + +When the illustrious maidens were gone, Tom turned wearily to his +keepers and said-- + +"May it please your lordships to grant me leave to go into some +corner and rest me?" + +Lord Hertford said-- + +"So please your highness, it is for you to command, it is for us +to obey. That thou should'st rest is indeed a needful thing, +since thou must journey to the city presently." + +He touched a bell, and a page appeared, who was ordered to desire +the presence of Sir William Herbert. This gentleman came +straightway, and conducted Tom to an inner apartment. Tom's first +movement there was to reach for a cup of water; but a silk-and- +velvet servitor seized it, dropped upon one knee, and offered it +to him on a golden salver. + +Next the tired captive sat down and was going to take off his +buskins, timidly asking leave with his eye, but another silk-and- +velvet discomforter went down upon his knees and took the office +from him. He made two or three further efforts to help himself, +but being promptly forestalled each time, he finally gave up, with +a sigh of resignation and a murmured "Beshrew me, but I marvel +they do not require to breathe for me also!" Slippered, and +wrapped in a sumptuous robe, he laid himself down at last to rest, +but not to sleep, for his head was too full of thoughts and the +room too full of people. He could not dismiss the former, so they +stayed; he did not know enough to dismiss the latter, so they +stayed also, to his vast regret--and theirs. + + +Tom's departure had left his two noble guardians alone. They +mused a while, with much head-shaking and walking the floor, then +Lord St. John said-- + +"Plainly, what dost thou think?" + +"Plainly, then, this. The King is near his end; my nephew is mad- +-mad will mount the throne, and mad remain. God protect England, +since she will need it!" + +"Verily it promiseth so, indeed. But . . . have you no misgivings +as to . . . as to . . ." + +The speaker hesitated, and finally stopped. He evidently felt +that he was upon delicate ground. Lord Hertford stopped before +him, looked into his face with a clear, frank eye, and said-- + +"Speak on--there is none to hear but me. Misgivings as to what?" + +"I am full loth to word the thing that is in my mind, and thou so +near to him in blood, my lord. But craving pardon if I do offend, +seemeth it not strange that madness could so change his port and +manner?--not but that his port and speech are princely still, but +that they DIFFER, in one unweighty trifle or another, from what +his custom was aforetime. Seemeth it not strange that madness +should filch from his memory his father's very lineaments; the +customs and observances that are his due from such as be about +him; and, leaving him his Latin, strip him of his Greek and +French? My lord, be not offended, but ease my mind of its +disquiet and receive my grateful thanks. It haunteth me, his +saying he was not the prince, and so--" + +"Peace, my lord, thou utterest treason! Hast forgot the King's +command? Remember I am party to thy crime if I but listen." + +St. John paled, and hastened to say-- + +"I was in fault, I do confess it. Betray me not, grant me this +grace out of thy courtesy, and I will neither think nor speak of +this thing more. Deal not hardly with me, sir, else am I ruined." + +"I am content, my lord. So thou offend not again, here or in the +ears of others, it shall be as though thou hadst not spoken. But +thou need'st not have misgivings. He is my sister's son; are not +his voice, his face, his form, familiar to me from his cradle? +Madness can do all the odd conflicting things thou seest in him, +and more. Dost not recall how that the old Baron Marley, being +mad, forgot the favour of his own countenance that he had known +for sixty years, and held it was another's; nay, even claimed he +was the son of Mary Magdalene, and that his head was made of +Spanish glass; and, sooth to say, he suffered none to touch it, +lest by mischance some heedless hand might shiver it? Give thy +misgivings easement, good my lord. This is the very prince--I +know him well--and soon will be thy king; it may advantage thee to +bear this in mind, and more dwell upon it than the other." + +After some further talk, in which the Lord St. John covered up his +mistake as well as he could by repeated protests that his faith +was thoroughly grounded now, and could not be assailed by doubts +again, the Lord Hertford relieved his fellow-keeper, and sat down +to keep watch and ward alone. He was soon deep in meditation, and +evidently the longer he thought, the more he was bothered. By- +and-by he began to pace the floor and mutter. + +"Tush, he MUST be the prince! Will any he in all the land +maintain there can be two, not of one blood and birth, so +marvellously twinned? And even were it so, 'twere yet a stranger +miracle that chance should cast the one into the other's place. +Nay, 'tis folly, folly, folly!" + +Presently he said-- + +"Now were he impostor and called himself prince, look you THAT +would be natural; that would be reasonable. But lived ever an +impostor yet, who, being called prince by the king, prince by the +court, prince by all, DENIED his dignity and pleaded against his +exaltation? NO! By the soul of St. Swithin, no! This is the +true prince, gone mad!" + + + +Chapter VII. Tom's first royal dinner. + +Somewhat after one in the afternoon, Tom resignedly underwent the +ordeal of being dressed for dinner. He found himself as finely +clothed as before, but everything different, everything changed, +from his ruff to his stockings. He was presently conducted with +much state to a spacious and ornate apartment, where a table was +already set for one. Its furniture was all of massy gold, and +beautified with designs which well-nigh made it priceless, since +they were the work of Benvenuto. The room was half-filled with +noble servitors. A chaplain said grace, and Tom was about to fall +to, for hunger had long been constitutional with him, but was +interrupted by my lord the Earl of Berkeley, who fastened a napkin +about his neck; for the great post of Diaperers to the Prince of +Wales was hereditary in this nobleman's family. Tom's cupbearer +was present, and forestalled all his attempts to help himself to +wine. The Taster to his highness the Prince of Wales was there +also, prepared to taste any suspicious dish upon requirement, and +run the risk of being poisoned. He was only an ornamental +appendage at this time, and was seldom called upon to exercise his +function; but there had been times, not many generations past, +when the office of taster had its perils, and was not a grandeur +to be desired. Why they did not use a dog or a plumber seems +strange; but all the ways of royalty are strange. My Lord d'Arcy, +First Groom of the Chamber, was there, to do goodness knows what; +but there he was--let that suffice. The Lord Chief Butler was +there, and stood behind Tom's chair, overseeing the solemnities, +under command of the Lord Great Steward and the Lord Head Cook, +who stood near. Tom had three hundred and eighty-four servants +beside these; but they were not all in that room, of course, nor +the quarter of them; neither was Tom aware yet that they existed. + +All those that were present had been well drilled within the hour +to remember that the prince was temporarily out of his head, and +to be careful to show no surprise at his vagaries. These +'vagaries' were soon on exhibition before them; but they only +moved their compassion and their sorrow, not their mirth. It was +a heavy affliction to them to see the beloved prince so stricken. + +Poor Tom ate with his fingers mainly; but no one smiled at it, or +even seemed to observe it. He inspected his napkin curiously, and +with deep interest, for it was of a very dainty and beautiful +fabric, then said with simplicity-- + +"Prithee, take it away, lest in mine unheedfulness it be soiled." + +The Hereditary Diaperer took it away with reverent manner, and +without word or protest of any sort. + +Tom examined the turnips and the lettuce with interest, and asked +what they were, and if they were to be eaten; for it was only +recently that men had begun to raise these things in England in +place of importing them as luxuries from Holland. {1} His +question was answered with grave respect, and no surprise +manifested. When he had finished his dessert, he filled his +pockets with nuts; but nobody appeared to be aware of it, or +disturbed by it. But the next moment he was himself disturbed by +it, and showed discomposure; for this was the only service he had +been permitted to do with his own hands during the meal, and he +did not doubt that he had done a most improper and unprincely +thing. At that moment the muscles of his nose began to twitch, +and the end of that organ to lift and wrinkle. This continued, +and Tom began to evince a growing distress. He looked +appealingly, first at one and then another of the lords about him, +and tears came into his eyes. They sprang forward with dismay in +their faces, and begged to know his trouble. Tom said with +genuine anguish-- + +"I crave your indulgence: my nose itcheth cruelly. What is the +custom and usage in this emergence? Prithee, speed, for 'tis but +a little time that I can bear it." + +None smiled; but all were sore perplexed, and looked one to the +other in deep tribulation for counsel. But behold, here was a +dead wall, and nothing in English history to tell how to get over +it. The Master of Ceremonies was not present: there was no one +who felt safe to venture upon this uncharted sea, or risk the +attempt to solve this solemn problem. Alas! there was no +Hereditary Scratcher. Meantime the tears had overflowed their +banks, and begun to trickle down Tom's cheeks. His twitching nose +was pleading more urgently than ever for relief. At last nature +broke down the barriers of etiquette: Tom lifted up an inward +prayer for pardon if he was doing wrong, and brought relief to the +burdened hearts of his court by scratching his nose himself. + +His meal being ended, a lord came and held before him a broad, +shallow, golden dish with fragrant rosewater in it, to cleanse his +mouth and fingers with; and my lord the Hereditary Diaperer stood +by with a napkin for his use. Tom gazed at the dish a puzzled +moment or two, then raised it to his lips, and gravely took a +draught. Then he returned it to the waiting lord, and said-- + +"Nay, it likes me not, my lord: it hath a pretty flavour, but it +wanteth strength." + +This new eccentricity of the prince's ruined mind made all the +hearts about him ache; but the sad sight moved none to merriment. + +Tom's next unconscious blunder was to get up and leave the table +just when the chaplain had taken his stand behind his chair, and +with uplifted hands, and closed, uplifted eyes, was in the act of +beginning the blessing. Still nobody seemed to perceive that the +prince had done a thing unusual. + +By his own request our small friend was now conducted to his +private cabinet, and left there alone to his own devices. Hanging +upon hooks in the oaken wainscoting were the several pieces of a +suit of shining steel armour, covered all over with beautiful +designs exquisitely inlaid in gold. This martial panoply belonged +to the true prince--a recent present from Madam Parr the Queen. +Tom put on the greaves, the gauntlets, the plumed helmet, and such +other pieces as he could don without assistance, and for a while +was minded to call for help and complete the matter, but bethought +him of the nuts he had brought away from dinner, and the joy it +would be to eat them with no crowd to eye him, and no Grand +Hereditaries to pester him with undesired services; so he restored +the pretty things to their several places, and soon was cracking +nuts, and feeling almost naturally happy for the first time since +God for his sins had made him a prince. When the nuts were all +gone, he stumbled upon some inviting books in a closet, among them +one about the etiquette of the English court. This was a prize. +He lay down upon a sumptuous divan, and proceeded to instruct +himself with honest zeal. Let us leave him there for the present. + + + +Chapter VIII. The question of the Seal. + +About five o'clock Henry VIII. awoke out of an unrefreshing nap, +and muttered to himself, "Troublous dreams, troublous dreams! +Mine end is now at hand: so say these warnings, and my failing +pulses do confirm it." Presently a wicked light flamed up in his +eye, and he muttered, "Yet will not I die till HE go before." + +His attendants perceiving that he was awake, one of them asked his +pleasure concerning the Lord Chancellor, who was waiting without. + +"Admit him, admit him!" exclaimed the King eagerly. + +The Lord Chancellor entered, and knelt by the King's couch, +saying-- + +"I have given order, and, according to the King's command, the +peers of the realm, in their robes, do now stand at the bar of the +House, where, having confirmed the Duke of Norfolk's doom, they +humbly wait his majesty's further pleasure in the matter." + +The King's face lit up with a fierce joy. Said he-- + +"Lift me up! In mine own person will I go before my Parliament, +and with mine own hand will I seal the warrant that rids me of--" + +His voice failed; an ashen pallor swept the flush from his cheeks; +and the attendants eased him back upon his pillows, and hurriedly +assisted him with restoratives. Presently he said sorrowfully-- + +"Alack, how have I longed for this sweet hour! and lo, too late it +cometh, and I am robbed of this so coveted chance. But speed ye, +speed ye! let others do this happy office sith 'tis denied to me. +I put my Great Seal in commission: choose thou the lords that +shall compose it, and get ye to your work. Speed ye, man! Before +the sun shall rise and set again, bring me his head that I may see +it." + +"According to the King's command, so shall it be. Will't please +your majesty to order that the Seal be now restored to me, so that +I may forth upon the business?" + +"The Seal? Who keepeth the Seal but thou?" + +"Please your majesty, you did take it from me two days since, +saying it should no more do its office till your own royal hand +should use it upon the Duke of Norfolk's warrant." + +"Why, so in sooth I did: I do remember . . . What did I with it? +. . . I am very feeble . . . So oft these days doth my memory play +the traitor with me . . . 'Tis strange, strange--" + +The King dropped into inarticulate mumblings, shaking his grey +head weakly from time to time, and gropingly trying to recollect +what he had done with the Seal. At last my Lord Hertford ventured +to kneel and offer information-- + +"Sire, if that I may be so bold, here be several that do remember +with me how that you gave the Great Seal into the hands of his +highness the Prince of Wales to keep against the day that--" + +"True, most true!" interrupted the King. "Fetch it! Go: time +flieth!" + +Lord Hertford flew to Tom, but returned to the King before very +long, troubled and empty-handed. He delivered himself to this +effect-- + +"It grieveth me, my lord the King, to bear so heavy and unwelcome +tidings; but it is the will of God that the prince's affliction +abideth still, and he cannot recall to mind that he received the +Seal. So came I quickly to report, thinking it were waste of +precious time, and little worth withal, that any should attempt to +search the long array of chambers and saloons that belong unto his +royal high--" + +A groan from the King interrupted the lord at this point. After a +little while his majesty said, with a deep sadness in his tone-- + +"Trouble him no more, poor child. The hand of God lieth heavy +upon him, and my heart goeth out in loving compassion for him, and +sorrow that I may not bear his burden on mine old trouble-weighted +shoulders, and so bring him peace." + +He closed his eyes, fell to mumbling, and presently was silent. +After a time he opened his eyes again, and gazed vacantly around +until his glance rested upon the kneeling Lord Chancellor. +Instantly his face flushed with wrath-- + +"What, thou here yet! By the glory of God, an' thou gettest not +about that traitor's business, thy mitre shall have holiday the +morrow for lack of a head to grace withal!" + +The trembling Chancellor answered-- + +"Good your Majesty, I cry you mercy! I but waited for the Seal." + +"Man, hast lost thy wits? The small Seal which aforetime I was +wont to take with me abroad lieth in my treasury. And, since the +Great Seal hath flown away, shall not it suffice? Hast lost thy +wits? Begone! And hark ye--come no more till thou do bring his +head." + +The poor Chancellor was not long in removing himself from this +dangerous vicinity; nor did the commission waste time in giving +the royal assent to the work of the slavish Parliament, and +appointing the morrow for the beheading of the premier peer of +England, the luckless Duke of Norfolk. {1} + + + +Chapter IX. The river pageant. + +At nine in the evening the whole vast river-front of the palace +was blazing with light. The river itself, as far as the eye could +reach citywards, was so thickly covered with watermen's boats and +with pleasure-barges, all fringed with coloured lanterns, and +gently agitated by the waves, that it resembled a glowing and +limitless garden of flowers stirred to soft motion by summer +winds. The grand terrace of stone steps leading down to the +water, spacious enough to mass the army of a German principality +upon, was a picture to see, with its ranks of royal halberdiers in +polished armour, and its troops of brilliantly costumed servitors +flitting up and down, and to and fro, in the hurry of preparation. + +Presently a command was given, and immediately all living +creatures vanished from the steps. Now the air was heavy with the +hush of suspense and expectancy. As far as one's vision could +carry, he might see the myriads of people in the boats rise up, +and shade their eyes from the glare of lanterns and torches, and +gaze toward the palace. + +A file of forty or fifty state barges drew up to the steps. They +were richly gilt, and their lofty prows and sterns were +elaborately carved. Some of them were decorated with banners and +streamers; some with cloth-of-gold and arras embroidered with +coats-of-arms; others with silken flags that had numberless little +silver bells fastened to them, which shook out tiny showers of +joyous music whenever the breezes fluttered them; others of yet +higher pretensions, since they belonged to nobles in the prince's +immediate service, had their sides picturesquely fenced with +shields gorgeously emblazoned with armorial bearings. Each state +barge was towed by a tender. Besides the rowers, these tenders +carried each a number of men-at-arms in glossy helmet and +breastplate, and a company of musicians. + +The advance-guard of the expected procession now appeared in the +great gateway, a troop of halberdiers. 'They were dressed in +striped hose of black and tawny, velvet caps graced at the sides +with silver roses, and doublets of murrey and blue cloth, +embroidered on the front and back with the three feathers, the +prince's blazon, woven in gold. Their halberd staves were covered +with crimson velvet, fastened with gilt nails, and ornamented with +gold tassels. Filing off on the right and left, they formed two +long lines, extending from the gateway of the palace to the +water's edge. A thick rayed cloth or carpet was then unfolded, +and laid down between them by attendants in the gold-and-crimson +liveries of the prince. This done, a flourish of trumpets +resounded from within. A lively prelude arose from the musicians +on the water; and two ushers with white wands marched with a slow +and stately pace from the portal. They were followed by an +officer bearing the civic mace, after whom came another carrying +the city's sword; then several sergeants of the city guard, in +their full accoutrements, and with badges on their sleeves; then +the Garter King-at-arms, in his tabard; then several Knights of +the Bath, each with a white lace on his sleeve; then their +esquires; then the judges, in their robes of scarlet and coifs; +then the Lord High Chancellor of England, in a robe of scarlet, +open before, and purfled with minever; then a deputation of +aldermen, in their scarlet cloaks; and then the heads of the +different civic companies, in their robes of state. Now came +twelve French gentlemen, in splendid habiliments, consisting of +pourpoints of white damask barred with gold, short mantles of +crimson velvet lined with violet taffeta, and carnation coloured +hauts-de-chausses, and took their way down the steps. They were +of the suite of the French ambassador, and were followed by twelve +cavaliers of the suite of the Spanish ambassador, clothed in black +velvet, unrelieved by any ornament. Following these came several +great English nobles with their attendants.' + +There was a flourish of trumpets within; and the Prince's uncle, +the future great Duke of Somerset, emerged from the gateway, +arrayed in a 'doublet of black cloth-of-gold, and a cloak of +crimson satin flowered with gold, and ribanded with nets of +silver.' He turned, doffed his plumed cap, bent his body in a low +reverence, and began to step backward, bowing at each step. A +prolonged trumpet-blast followed, and a proclamation, "Way for the +high and mighty the Lord Edward, Prince of Wales!" High aloft on +the palace walls a long line of red tongues of flame leapt forth +with a thunder-crash; the massed world on the river burst into a +mighty roar of welcome; and Tom Canty, the cause and hero of it +all, stepped into view and slightly bowed his princely head. + +He was 'magnificently habited in a doublet of white satin, with a +front-piece of purple cloth-of-tissue, powdered with diamonds, and +edged with ermine. Over this he wore a mantle of white cloth-of- +gold, pounced with the triple-feathered crest, lined with blue +satin, set with pearls and precious stones, and fastened with a +clasp of brilliants. About his neck hung the order of the Garter, +and several princely foreign orders;' and wherever light fell upon +him jewels responded with a blinding flash. O Tom Canty, born in +a hovel, bred in the gutters of London, familiar with rags and +dirt and misery, what a spectacle is this! + + + +Chapter X. The Prince in the toils. + +We left John Canty dragging the rightful prince into Offal Court, +with a noisy and delighted mob at his heels. There was but one +person in it who offered a pleading word for the captive, and he +was not heeded; he was hardly even heard, so great was the +turmoil. The Prince continued to struggle for freedom, and to +rage against the treatment he was suffering, until John Canty lost +what little patience was left in him, and raised his oaken cudgel +in a sudden fury over the Prince's head. The single pleader for +the lad sprang to stop the man's arm, and the blow descended upon +his own wrist. Canty roared out-- + +"Thou'lt meddle, wilt thou? Then have thy reward." + +His cudgel crashed down upon the meddler's head: there was a +groan, a dim form sank to the ground among the feet of the crowd, +and the next moment it lay there in the dark alone. The mob +pressed on, their enjoyment nothing disturbed by this episode. + +Presently the Prince found himself in John Canty's abode, with the +door closed against the outsiders. By the vague light of a tallow +candle which was thrust into a bottle, he made out the main +features of the loathsome den, and also the occupants of it. Two +frowsy girls and a middle-aged woman cowered against the wall in +one corner, with the aspect of animals habituated to harsh usage, +and expecting and dreading it now. From another corner stole a +withered hag with streaming grey hair and malignant eyes. John +Canty said to this one-- + +"Tarry! There's fine mummeries here. Mar them not till thou'st +enjoyed them: then let thy hand be heavy as thou wilt. Stand +forth, lad. Now say thy foolery again, an thou'st not forgot it. +Name thy name. Who art thou?" + +The insulted blood mounted to the little prince's cheek once more, +and he lifted a steady and indignant gaze to the man's face and +said-- + +"'Tis but ill-breeding in such as thou to command me to speak. I +tell thee now, as I told thee before, I am Edward, Prince of +Wales, and none other." + +The stunning surprise of this reply nailed the hag's feet to the +floor where she stood, and almost took her breath. She stared at +the Prince in stupid amazement, which so amused her ruffianly son, +that he burst into a roar of laughter. But the effect upon Tom +Canty's mother and sisters was different. Their dread of bodily +injury gave way at once to distress of a different sort. They ran +forward with woe and dismay in their faces, exclaiming-- + +"Oh, poor Tom, poor lad!" + +The mother fell on her knees before the Prince, put her hands upon +his shoulders, and gazed yearningly into his face through her +rising tears. Then she said-- + +"Oh, my poor boy! Thy foolish reading hath wrought its woeful +work at last, and ta'en thy wit away. Ah! why did'st thou cleave +to it when I so warned thee 'gainst it? Thou'st broke thy +mother's heart." + +The Prince looked into her face, and said gently-- + +"Thy son is well, and hath not lost his wits, good dame. Comfort +thee: let me to the palace where he is, and straightway will the +King my father restore him to thee." + +"The King thy father! Oh, my child! unsay these words that be +freighted with death for thee, and ruin for all that be near to +thee. Shake of this gruesome dream. Call back thy poor wandering +memory. Look upon me. Am not I thy mother that bore thee, and +loveth thee?" + +The Prince shook his head and reluctantly said-- + +"God knoweth I am loth to grieve thy heart; but truly have I never +looked upon thy face before." + +The woman sank back to a sitting posture on the floor, and, +covering her eyes with her hands, gave way to heart-broken sobs +and wailings. + +"Let the show go on!" shouted Canty. "What, Nan!--what, Bet! +mannerless wenches! will ye stand in the Prince's presence? Upon +your knees, ye pauper scum, and do him reverence!" + +He followed this with another horse-laugh. The girls began to +plead timidly for their brother; and Nan said-- + +"An thou wilt but let him to bed, father, rest and sleep will heal +his madness: prithee, do." + +"Do, father," said Bet; "he is more worn than is his wont. To- +morrow will he be himself again, and will beg with diligence, and +come not empty home again." + +This remark sobered the father's joviality, and brought his mind +to business. He turned angrily upon the Prince, and said-- + +"The morrow must we pay two pennies to him that owns this hole; +two pennies, mark ye--all this money for a half-year's rent, else +out of this we go. Show what thou'st gathered with thy lazy +begging." + +The Prince said-- + +"Offend me not with thy sordid matters. I tell thee again I am +the King's son." + +A sounding blow upon the Prince's shoulder from Canty's broad palm +sent him staggering into goodwife Canty's arms, who clasped him to +her breast, and sheltered him from a pelting rain of cuffs and +slaps by interposing her own person. The frightened girls +retreated to their corner; but the grandmother stepped eagerly +forward to assist her son. The Prince sprang away from Mrs. +Canty, exclaiming-- + +"Thou shalt not suffer for me, madam. Let these swine do their +will upon me alone." + +This speech infuriated the swine to such a degree that they set +about their work without waste of time. Between them they +belaboured the boy right soundly, and then gave the girls and +their mother a beating for showing sympathy for the victim. + +"Now," said Canty, "to bed, all of ye. The entertainment has +tired me." + +The light was put out, and the family retired. As soon as the +snorings of the head of the house and his mother showed that they +were asleep, the young girls crept to where the Prince lay, and +covered him tenderly from the cold with straw and rags; and their +mother crept to him also, and stroked his hair, and cried over +him, whispering broken words of comfort and compassion in his ear +the while. She had saved a morsel for him to eat, also; but the +boy's pains had swept away all appetite--at least for black and +tasteless crusts. He was touched by her brave and costly defence +of him, and by her commiseration; and he thanked her in very noble +and princely words, and begged her to go to her sleep and try to +forget her sorrows. And he added that the King his father would +not let her loyal kindness and devotion go unrewarded. This +return to his 'madness' broke her heart anew, and she strained him +to her breast again and again, and then went back, drowned in +tears, to her bed. + +As she lay thinking and mourning, the suggestion began to creep +into her mind that there was an undefinable something about this +boy that was lacking in Tom Canty, mad or sane. She could not +describe it, she could not tell just what it was, and yet her +sharp mother-instinct seemed to detect it and perceive it. What +if the boy were really not her son, after all? Oh, absurd! She +almost smiled at the idea, spite of her griefs and troubles. No +matter, she found that it was an idea that would not 'down,' but +persisted in haunting her. It pursued her, it harassed her, it +clung to her, and refused to be put away or ignored. At last she +perceived that there was not going to be any peace for her until +she should devise a test that should prove, clearly and without +question, whether this lad was her son or not, and so banish these +wearing and worrying doubts. Ah, yes, this was plainly the right +way out of the difficulty; therefore she set her wits to work at +once to contrive that test. But it was an easier thing to propose +than to accomplish. She turned over in her mind one promising +test after another, but was obliged to relinquish them all--none +of them were absolutely sure, absolutely perfect; and an imperfect +one could not satisfy her. Evidently she was racking her head in +vain--it seemed manifest that she must give the matter up. While +this depressing thought was passing through her mind, her ear +caught the regular breathing of the boy, and she knew he had +fallen asleep. And while she listened, the measured breathing was +broken by a soft, startled cry, such as one utters in a troubled +dream. This chance occurrence furnished her instantly with a plan +worth all her laboured tests combined. She at once set herself +feverishly, but noiselessly, to work to relight her candle, +muttering to herself, "Had I but seen him THEN, I should have +known! Since that day, when he was little, that the powder burst +in his face, he hath never been startled of a sudden out of his +dreams or out of his thinkings, but he hath cast his hand before +his eyes, even as he did that day; and not as others would do it, +with the palm inward, but always with the palm turned outward--I +have seen it a hundred times, and it hath never varied nor ever +failed. Yes, I shall soon know, now!" + +By this time she had crept to the slumbering boy's side, with the +candle, shaded, in her hand. She bent heedfully and warily over +him, scarcely breathing in her suppressed excitement, and suddenly +flashed the light in his face and struck the floor by his ear with +her knuckles. The sleeper's eyes sprang wide open, and he cast a +startled stare about him--but he made no special movement with his +hands. + +The poor woman was smitten almost helpless with surprise and +grief; but she contrived to hide her emotions, and to soothe the +boy to sleep again; then she crept apart and communed miserably +with herself upon the disastrous result of her experiment. She +tried to believe that her Tom's madness had banished this habitual +gesture of his; but she could not do it. "No," she said, "his +HANDS are not mad; they could not unlearn so old a habit in so +brief a time. Oh, this is a heavy day for me!" + +Still, hope was as stubborn now as doubt had been before; she +could not bring herself to accept the verdict of the test; she +must try the thing again--the failure must have been only an +accident; so she startled the boy out of his sleep a second and a +third time, at intervals--with the same result which had marked +the first test; then she dragged herself to bed, and fell +sorrowfully asleep, saying, "But I cannot give him up--oh no, I +cannot, I cannot--he MUST be my boy!" + +The poor mother's interruptions having ceased, and the Prince's +pains having gradually lost their power to disturb him, utter +weariness at last sealed his eyes in a profound and restful sleep. +Hour after hour slipped away, and still he slept like the dead. +Thus four or five hours passed. Then his stupor began to lighten. +Presently, while half asleep and half awake, he murmured-- + +"Sir William!" + +After a moment-- + +"Ho, Sir William Herbert! Hie thee hither, and list to the +strangest dream that ever . . . Sir William! dost hear? Man, I +did think me changed to a pauper, and . . . Ho there! Guards! +Sir William! What! is there no groom of the chamber in waiting? +Alack! it shall go hard with--" + +"What aileth thee?" asked a whisper near him. "Who art thou +calling?" + +"Sir William Herbert. Who art thou?" + +"I? Who should I be, but thy sister Nan? Oh, Tom, I had forgot! +Thou'rt mad yet--poor lad, thou'rt mad yet: would I had never +woke to know it again! But prithee master thy tongue, lest we be +all beaten till we die!" + +The startled Prince sprang partly up, but a sharp reminder from +his stiffened bruises brought him to himself, and he sank back +among his foul straw with a moan and the ejaculation-- + +"Alas! it was no dream, then!" + +In a moment all the heavy sorrow and misery which sleep had +banished were upon him again, and he realised that he was no +longer a petted prince in a palace, with the adoring eyes of a +nation upon him, but a pauper, an outcast, clothed in rags, +prisoner in a den fit only for beasts, and consorting with beggars +and thieves. + +In the midst of his grief he began to be conscious of hilarious +noises and shoutings, apparently but a block or two away. The +next moment there were several sharp raps at the door; John Canty +ceased from snoring and said-- + +"Who knocketh? What wilt thou?" + +A voice answered-- + +"Know'st thou who it was thou laid thy cudgel on?" + +"No. Neither know I, nor care." + +"Belike thou'lt change thy note eftsoons. An thou would save thy +neck, nothing but flight may stead thee. The man is this moment +delivering up the ghost. 'Tis the priest, Father Andrew!" + +"God-a-mercy!" exclaimed Canty. He roused his family, and +hoarsely commanded, "Up with ye all and fly--or bide where ye are +and perish!" + +Scarcely five minutes later the Canty household were in the street +and flying for their lives. John Canty held the Prince by the +wrist, and hurried him along the dark way, giving him this caution +in a low voice-- + +"Mind thy tongue, thou mad fool, and speak not our name. I will +choose me a new name, speedily, to throw the law's dogs off the +scent. Mind thy tongue, I tell thee!" + +He growled these words to the rest of the family-- + +"If it so chance that we be separated, let each make for London +Bridge; whoso findeth himself as far as the last linen-draper's +shop on the bridge, let him tarry there till the others be come, +then will we flee into Southwark together." + +At this moment the party burst suddenly out of darkness into +light; and not only into light, but into the midst of a multitude +of singing, dancing, and shouting people, massed together on the +river frontage. There was a line of bonfires stretching as far as +one could see, up and down the Thames; London Bridge was +illuminated; Southwark Bridge likewise; the entire river was aglow +with the flash and sheen of coloured lights; and constant +explosions of fireworks filled the skies with an intricate +commingling of shooting splendours and a thick rain of dazzling +sparks that almost turned night into day; everywhere were crowds +of revellers; all London seemed to be at large. + +John Canty delivered himself of a furious curse and commanded a +retreat; but it was too late. He and his tribe were swallowed up +in that swarming hive of humanity, and hopelessly separated from +each other in an instant. We are not considering that the Prince +was one of his tribe; Canty still kept his grip upon him. The +Prince's heart was beating high with hopes of escape, now. A +burly waterman, considerably exalted with liquor, found himself +rudely shoved by Canty in his efforts to plough through the crowd; +he laid his great hand on Canty's shoulder and said-- + +"Nay, whither so fast, friend? Dost canker thy soul with sordid +business when all that be leal men and true make holiday?" + +"Mine affairs are mine own, they concern thee not," answered +Canty, roughly; "take away thy hand and let me pass." + +"Sith that is thy humour, thou'lt NOT pass, till thou'st drunk to +the Prince of Wales, I tell thee that," said the waterman, barring +the way resolutely. + +"Give me the cup, then, and make speed, make speed!" + +Other revellers were interested by this time. They cried out-- + +"The loving-cup, the loving-cup! make the sour knave drink the +loving-cup, else will we feed him to the fishes." + +So a huge loving-cup was brought; the waterman, grasping it by one +of its handles, and with the other hand bearing up the end of an +imaginary napkin, presented it in due and ancient form to Canty, +who had to grasp the opposite handle with one of his hands and +take off the lid with the other, according to ancient custom. {1} +This left the Prince hand-free for a second, of course. He wasted +no time, but dived among the forest of legs about him and +disappeared. In another moment he could not have been harder to +find, under that tossing sea of life, if its billows had been the +Atlantic's and he a lost sixpence. + +He very soon realised this fact, and straightway busied himself +about his own affairs without further thought of John Canty. He +quickly realised another thing, too. To wit, that a spurious +Prince of Wales was being feasted by the city in his stead. He +easily concluded that the pauper lad, Tom Canty, had deliberately +taken advantage of his stupendous opportunity and become a +usurper. + +Therefore there was but one course to pursue--find his way to the +Guildhall, make himself known, and denounce the impostor. He also +made up his mind that Tom should be allowed a reasonable time for +spiritual preparation, and then be hanged, drawn and quartered, +according to the law and usage of the day in cases of high +treason. + + + +Chapter XI. At Guildhall. + +The royal barge, attended by its gorgeous fleet, took its stately +way down the Thames through the wilderness of illuminated boats. +The air was laden with music; the river banks were beruffled with +joy-flames; the distant city lay in a soft luminous glow from its +countless invisible bonfires; above it rose many a slender spire +into the sky, incrusted with sparkling lights, wherefore in their +remoteness they seemed like jewelled lances thrust aloft; as the +fleet swept along, it was greeted from the banks with a continuous +hoarse roar of cheers and the ceaseless flash and boom of +artillery. + +To Tom Canty, half buried in his silken cushions, these sounds and +this spectacle were a wonder unspeakably sublime and astonishing. +To his little friends at his side, the Princess Elizabeth and the +Lady Jane Grey, they were nothing. + +Arrived at the Dowgate, the fleet was towed up the limpid Walbrook +(whose channel has now been for two centuries buried out of sight +under acres of buildings) to Bucklersbury, past houses and under +bridges populous with merry-makers and brilliantly lighted, and at +last came to a halt in a basin where now is Barge Yard, in the +centre of the ancient city of London. Tom disembarked, and he and +his gallant procession crossed Cheapside and made a short march +through the Old Jewry and Basinghall Street to the Guildhall. + +Tom and his little ladies were received with due ceremony by the +Lord Mayor and the Fathers of the City, in their gold chains and +scarlet robes of state, and conducted to a rich canopy of state at +the head of the great hall, preceded by heralds making +proclamation, and by the Mace and the City Sword. The lords and +ladies who were to attend upon Tom and his two small friends took +their places behind their chairs. + +At a lower table the Court grandees and other guests of noble +degree were seated, with the magnates of the city; the commoners +took places at a multitude of tables on the main floor of the +hall. From their lofty vantage-ground the giants Gog and Magog, +the ancient guardians of the city, contemplated the spectacle +below them with eyes grown familiar to it in forgotten +generations. There was a bugle-blast and a proclamation, and a +fat butler appeared in a high perch in the leftward wall, followed +by his servitors bearing with impressive solemnity a royal baron +of beef, smoking hot and ready for the knife. + +After grace, Tom (being instructed) rose--and the whole house with +him--and drank from a portly golden loving-cup with the Princess +Elizabeth; from her it passed to the Lady Jane, and then traversed +the general assemblage. So the banquet began. + +By midnight the revelry was at its height. Now came one of those +picturesque spectacles so admired in that old day. A description +of it is still extant in the quaint wording of a chronicler who +witnessed it: + +'Space being made, presently entered a baron and an earl appareled +after the Turkish fashion in long robes of bawdkin powdered with +gold; hats on their heads of crimson velvet, with great rolls of +gold, girded with two swords, called scimitars, hanging by great +bawdricks of gold. Next came yet another baron and another earl, +in two long gowns of yellow satin, traversed with white satin, and +in every bend of white was a bend of crimson satin, after the +fashion of Russia, with furred hats of gray on their heads; either +of them having an hatchet in their hands, and boots with pykes' +(points a foot long), 'turned up. And after them came a knight, +then the Lord High Admiral, and with him five nobles, in doublets +of crimson velvet, voyded low on the back and before to the +cannell-bone, laced on the breasts with chains of silver; and over +that, short cloaks of crimson satin, and on their heads hats after +the dancers' fashion, with pheasants' feathers in them. These +were appareled after the fashion of Prussia. The torchbearers, +which were about an hundred, were appareled in crimson satin and +green, like Moors, their faces black. Next came in a mommarye. +Then the minstrels, which were disguised, danced; and the lords +and ladies did wildly dance also, that it was a pleasure to +behold.' + +And while Tom, in his high seat, was gazing upon this 'wild' +dancing, lost in admiration of the dazzling commingling of +kaleidoscopic colours which the whirling turmoil of gaudy figures +below him presented, the ragged but real little Prince of Wales +was proclaiming his rights and his wrongs, denouncing the +impostor, and clamouring for admission at the gates of Guildhall! +The crowd enjoyed this episode prodigiously, and pressed forward +and craned their necks to see the small rioter. Presently they +began to taunt him and mock at him, purposely to goad him into a +higher and still more entertaining fury. Tears of mortification +sprang to his eyes, but he stood his ground and defied the mob +right royally. Other taunts followed, added mockings stung him, +and he exclaimed-- + +"I tell ye again, you pack of unmannerly curs, I am the Prince of +Wales! And all forlorn and friendless as I be, with none to give +me word of grace or help me in my need, yet will not I be driven +from my ground, but will maintain it!" + +"Though thou be prince or no prince, 'tis all one, thou be'st a +gallant lad, and not friendless neither! Here stand I by thy side +to prove it; and mind I tell thee thou might'st have a worser +friend than Miles Hendon and yet not tire thy legs with seeking. +Rest thy small jaw, my child; I talk the language of these base +kennel-rats like to a very native." + +The speaker was a sort of Don Caesar de Bazan in dress, aspect, +and bearing. He was tall, trim-built, muscular. His doublet and +trunks were of rich material, but faded and threadbare, and their +gold-lace adornments were sadly tarnished; his ruff was rumpled +and damaged; the plume in his slouched hat was broken and had a +bedraggled and disreputable look; at his side he wore a long +rapier in a rusty iron sheath; his swaggering carriage marked him +at once as a ruffler of the camp. The speech of this fantastic +figure was received with an explosion of jeers and laughter. Some +cried, "'Tis another prince in disguise!" "'Ware thy tongue, +friend: belike he is dangerous!" "Marry, he looketh it--mark his +eye!" "Pluck the lad from him--to the horse-pond wi' the cub!" + +Instantly a hand was laid upon the Prince, under the impulse of +this happy thought; as instantly the stranger's long sword was out +and the meddler went to the earth under a sounding thump with the +flat of it. The next moment a score of voices shouted, "Kill the +dog! Kill him! Kill him!" and the mob closed in on the warrior, +who backed himself against a wall and began to lay about him with +his long weapon like a madman. His victims sprawled this way and +that, but the mob-tide poured over their prostrate forms and +dashed itself against the champion with undiminished fury. His +moments seemed numbered, his destruction certain, when suddenly a +trumpet-blast sounded, a voice shouted, "Way for the King's +messenger!" and a troop of horsemen came charging down upon the +mob, who fled out of harm's reach as fast as their legs could +carry them. The bold stranger caught up the Prince in his arms, +and was soon far away from danger and the multitude. + +Return we within the Guildhall. Suddenly, high above the jubilant +roar and thunder of the revel, broke the clear peal of a bugle- +note. There was instant silence--a deep hush; then a single voice +rose--that of the messenger from the palace--and began to pipe +forth a proclamation, the whole multitude standing listening. + +The closing words, solemnly pronounced, were-- + +"The King is dead!" + +The great assemblage bent their heads upon their breasts with one +accord; remained so, in profound silence, a few moments; then all +sank upon their knees in a body, stretched out their hands toward +Tom, and a mighty shout burst forth that seemed to shake the +building-- + +"Long live the King!" + +Poor Tom's dazed eyes wandered abroad over this stupefying +spectacle, and finally rested dreamily upon the kneeling +princesses beside him, a moment, then upon the Earl of Hertford. +A sudden purpose dawned in his face. He said, in a low tone, at +Lord Hertford's ear-- + +"Answer me truly, on thy faith and honour! Uttered I here a +command, the which none but a king might hold privilege and +prerogative to utter, would such commandment be obeyed, and none +rise up to say me nay?" + +"None, my liege, in all these realms. In thy person bides the +majesty of England. Thou art the king--thy word is law." + +Tom responded, in a strong, earnest voice, and with great +animation-- + +"Then shall the king's law be law of mercy, from this day, and +never more be law of blood! Up from thy knees and away! To the +Tower, and say the King decrees the Duke of Norfolk shall not +die!" {1} + +The words were caught up and carried eagerly from lip to lip far +and wide over the hall, and as Hertford hurried from the presence, +another prodigious shout burst forth-- + +"The reign of blood is ended! Long live Edward, King of England!" + + + +Chapter XII. The Prince and his deliverer. + +As soon as Miles Hendon and the little prince were clear of the +mob, they struck down through back lanes and alleys toward the +river. Their way was unobstructed until they approached London +Bridge; then they ploughed into the multitude again, Hendon +keeping a fast grip upon the Prince's--no, the King's--wrist. The +tremendous news was already abroad, and the boy learned it from a +thousand voices at once--"The King is dead!" The tidings struck a +chill to the heart of the poor little waif, and sent a shudder +through his frame. He realised the greatness of his loss, and was +filled with a bitter grief; for the grim tyrant who had been such +a terror to others had always been gentle with him. The tears +sprang to his eyes and blurred all objects. For an instant he +felt himself the most forlorn, outcast, and forsaken of God's +creatures--then another cry shook the night with its far-reaching +thunders: "Long live King Edward the Sixth!" and this made his +eyes kindle, and thrilled him with pride to his fingers' ends. +"Ah," he thought, "how grand and strange it seems--I AM KING!" + +Our friends threaded their way slowly through the throngs upon the +bridge. This structure, which had stood for six hundred years, +and had been a noisy and populous thoroughfare all that time, was +a curious affair, for a closely packed rank of stores and shops, +with family quarters overhead, stretched along both sides of it, +from one bank of the river to the other. The Bridge was a sort of +town to itself; it had its inn, its beer-houses, its bakeries, its +haberdasheries, its food markets, its manufacturing industries, +and even its church. It looked upon the two neighbours which it +linked together--London and Southwark--as being well enough as +suburbs, but not otherwise particularly important. It was a close +corporation, so to speak; it was a narrow town, of a single street +a fifth of a mile long, its population was but a village +population and everybody in it knew all his fellow-townsmen +intimately, and had known their fathers and mothers before them-- +and all their little family affairs into the bargain. It had its +aristocracy, of course--its fine old families of butchers, and +bakers, and what-not, who had occupied the same old premises for +five or six hundred years, and knew the great history of the +Bridge from beginning to end, and all its strange legends; and who +always talked bridgy talk, and thought bridgy thoughts, and lied +in a long, level, direct, substantial bridgy way. It was just the +sort of population to be narrow and ignorant and self-conceited. +Children were born on the Bridge, were reared there, grew to old +age, and finally died without ever having set a foot upon any part +of the world but London Bridge alone. Such people would naturally +imagine that the mighty and interminable procession which moved +through its street night and day, with its confused roar of shouts +and cries, its neighings and bellowing and bleatings and its +muffled thunder-tramp, was the one great thing in this world, and +themselves somehow the proprietors of it. And so they were, in +effect--at least they could exhibit it from their windows, and +did--for a consideration--whenever a returning king or hero gave +it a fleeting splendour, for there was no place like it for +affording a long, straight, uninterrupted view of marching +columns. + +Men born and reared upon the Bridge found life unendurably dull +and inane elsewhere. History tells of one of these who left the +Bridge at the age of seventy-one and retired to the country. But +he could only fret and toss in his bed; he could not go to sleep, +the deep stillness was so painful, so awful, so oppressive. When +he was worn out with it, at last, he fled back to his old home, a +lean and haggard spectre, and fell peacefully to rest and pleasant +dreams under the lulling music of the lashing waters and the boom +and crash and thunder of London Bridge. + +In the times of which we are writing, the Bridge furnished 'object +lessons' in English history for its children--namely, the livid +and decaying heads of renowned men impaled upon iron spikes atop +of its gateways. But we digress. + +Hendon's lodgings were in the little inn on the Bridge. As he +neared the door with his small friend, a rough voice said-- + +"So, thou'rt come at last! Thou'lt not escape again, I warrant +thee; and if pounding thy bones to a pudding can teach thee +somewhat, thou'lt not keep us waiting another time, mayhap"--and +John Canty put out his hand to seize the boy. + +Miles Hendon stepped in the way and said-- + +"Not too fast, friend. Thou art needlessly rough, methinks. What +is the lad to thee?" + +"If it be any business of thine to make and meddle in others' +affairs, he is my son." + +"'Tis a lie!" cried the little King, hotly. + +"Boldly said, and I believe thee, whether thy small headpiece be +sound or cracked, my boy. But whether this scurvy ruffian be thy +father or no, 'tis all one, he shall not have thee to beat thee +and abuse, according to his threat, so thou prefer to bide with +me." + +"I do, I do--I know him not, I loathe him, and will die before I +will go with him." + +"Then 'tis settled, and there is nought more to say." + +"We will see, as to that!" exclaimed John Canty, striding past +Hendon to get at the boy; "by force shall he--" + +"If thou do but touch him, thou animated offal, I will spit thee +like a goose!" said Hendon, barring the way and laying his hand +upon his sword hilt. Canty drew back. "Now mark ye," continued +Hendon, "I took this lad under my protection when a mob of such as +thou would have mishandled him, mayhap killed him; dost imagine I +will desert him now to a worser fate?--for whether thou art his +father or no--and sooth to say, I think it is a lie--a decent +swift death were better for such a lad than life in such brute +hands as thine. So go thy ways, and set quick about it, for I +like not much bandying of words, being not over-patient in my +nature." + +John Canty moved off, muttering threats and curses, and was +swallowed from sight in the crowd. Hendon ascended three flights +of stairs to his room, with his charge, after ordering a meal to +be sent thither. It was a poor apartment, with a shabby bed and +some odds and ends of old furniture in it, and was vaguely lighted +by a couple of sickly candles. The little King dragged himself to +the bed and lay down upon it, almost exhausted with hunger and +fatigue. He had been on his feet a good part of a day and a night +(for it was now two or three o'clock in the morning), and had +eaten nothing meantime. He murmured drowsily-- + +"Prithee call me when the table is spread," and sank into a deep +sleep immediately. + +A smile twinkled in Hendon's eye, and he said to himself-- + +"By the mass, the little beggar takes to one's quarters and usurps +one's bed with as natural and easy a grace as if he owned them-- +with never a by-your-leave or so-please-it-you, or anything of the +sort. In his diseased ravings he called himself the Prince of +Wales, and bravely doth he keep up the character. Poor little +friendless rat, doubtless his mind has been disordered with ill- +usage. Well, I will be his friend; I have saved him, and it +draweth me strongly to him; already I love the bold-tongued little +rascal. How soldier-like he faced the smutty rabble and flung +back his high defiance! And what a comely, sweet and gentle face +he hath, now that sleep hath conjured away its troubles and its +griefs. I will teach him; I will cure his malady; yea, I will be +his elder brother, and care for him and watch over him; and whoso +would shame him or do him hurt may order his shroud, for though I +be burnt for it he shall need it!" + +He bent over the boy and contemplated him with kind and pitying +interest, tapping the young cheek tenderly and smoothing back the +tangled curls with his great brown hand. A slight shiver passed +over the boy's form. Hendon muttered-- + +"See, now, how like a man it was to let him lie here uncovered and +fill his body with deadly rheums. Now what shall I do? 'twill +wake him to take him up and put him within the bed, and he sorely +needeth sleep." + +He looked about for extra covering, but finding none, doffed his +doublet and wrapped the lad in it, saying, "I am used to nipping +air and scant apparel, 'tis little I shall mind the cold!"--then +walked up and down the room, to keep his blood in motion, +soliloquising as before. + +"His injured mind persuades him he is Prince of Wales; 'twill be +odd to have a Prince of Wales still with us, now that he that WAS +the prince is prince no more, but king--for this poor mind is set +upon the one fantasy, and will not reason out that now it should +cast by the prince and call itself the king. . . If my father +liveth still, after these seven years that I have heard nought +from home in my foreign dungeon, he will welcome the poor lad and +give him generous shelter for my sake; so will my good elder +brother, Arthur; my other brother, Hugh--but I will crack his +crown an HE interfere, the fox-hearted, ill-conditioned animal! +Yes, thither will we fare--and straightway, too." + +A servant entered with a smoking meal, disposed it upon a small +deal table, placed the chairs, and took his departure, leaving +such cheap lodgers as these to wait upon themselves. The door +slammed after him, and the noise woke the boy, who sprang to a +sitting posture, and shot a glad glance about him; then a grieved +look came into his face and he murmured to himself, with a deep +sigh, "Alack, it was but a dream, woe is me!" Next he noticed +Miles Hendon's doublet--glanced from that to Hendon, comprehended +the sacrifice that had been made for him, and said, gently-- + +"Thou art good to me, yes, thou art very good to me. Take it and +put it on--I shall not need it more." + +Then he got up and walked to the washstand in the corner and stood +there, waiting. Hendon said in a cheery voice-- + +"We'll have a right hearty sup and bite, now, for everything is +savoury and smoking hot, and that and thy nap together will make +thee a little man again, never fear!" + +The boy made no answer, but bent a steady look, that was filled +with grave surprise, and also somewhat touched with impatience, +upon the tall knight of the sword. Hendon was puzzled, and said-- + +"What's amiss?" + +"Good sir, I would wash me." + +"Oh, is that all? Ask no permission of Miles Hendon for aught +thou cravest. Make thyself perfectly free here, and welcome, with +all that are his belongings." + +Still the boy stood, and moved not; more, he tapped the floor once +or twice with his small impatient foot. Hendon was wholly +perplexed. Said he-- + +"Bless us, what is it?" + +"Prithee pour the water, and make not so many words!" + +Hendon, suppressing a horse-laugh, and saying to himself, "By all +the saints, but this is admirable!" stepped briskly forward and +did the small insolent's bidding; then stood by, in a sort of +stupefaction, until the command, "Come--the towel!" woke him +sharply up. He took up a towel, from under the boy's nose, and +handed it to him without comment. He now proceeded to comfort his +own face with a wash, and while he was at it his adopted child +seated himself at the table and prepared to fall to. Hendon +despatched his ablutions with alacrity, then drew back the other +chair and was about to place himself at table, when the boy said, +indignantly-- + +"Forbear! Wouldst sit in the presence of the King?" + +This blow staggered Hendon to his foundations. He muttered to +himself, "Lo, the poor thing's madness is up with the time! It +hath changed with the great change that is come to the realm, and +now in fancy is he KING! Good lack, I must humour the conceit, +too--there is no other way--faith, he would order me to the Tower, +else!" + +And pleased with this jest, he removed the chair from the table, +took his stand behind the King, and proceeded to wait upon him in +the courtliest way he was capable of. + +While the King ate, the rigour of his royal dignity relaxed a +little, and with his growing contentment came a desire to talk. +He said--"I think thou callest thyself Miles Hendon, if I heard +thee aright?" + +"Yes, Sire," Miles replied; then observed to himself, "If I MUST +humour the poor lad's madness, I must 'Sire' him, I must 'Majesty' +him, I must not go by halves, I must stick at nothing that +belongeth to the part I play, else shall I play it ill and work +evil to this charitable and kindly cause." + +The King warmed his heart with a second glass of wine, and said-- +"I would know thee--tell me thy story. Thou hast a gallant way +with thee, and a noble--art nobly born?" + +"We are of the tail of the nobility, good your Majesty. My father +is a baronet--one of the smaller lords by knight service {2}--Sir +Richard Hendon of Hendon Hall, by Monk's Holm in Kent." + +"The name has escaped my memory. Go on--tell me thy story." + +"'Tis not much, your Majesty, yet perchance it may beguile a short +half-hour for want of a better. My father, Sir Richard, is very +rich, and of a most generous nature. My mother died whilst I was +yet a boy. I have two brothers: Arthur, my elder, with a soul +like to his father's; and Hugh, younger than I, a mean spirit, +covetous, treacherous, vicious, underhanded--a reptile. Such was +he from the cradle; such was he ten years past, when I last saw +him--a ripe rascal at nineteen, I being twenty then, and Arthur +twenty-two. There is none other of us but the Lady Edith, my +cousin--she was sixteen then--beautiful, gentle, good, the +daughter of an earl, the last of her race, heiress of a great +fortune and a lapsed title. My father was her guardian. I loved +her and she loved me; but she was betrothed to Arthur from the +cradle, and Sir Richard would not suffer the contract to be +broken. Arthur loved another maid, and bade us be of good cheer +and hold fast to the hope that delay and luck together would some +day give success to our several causes. Hugh loved the Lady +Edith's fortune, though in truth he said it was herself he loved-- +but then 'twas his way, alway, to say the one thing and mean the +other. But he lost his arts upon the girl; he could deceive my +father, but none else. My father loved him best of us all, and +trusted and believed him; for he was the youngest child, and +others hated him--these qualities being in all ages sufficient to +win a parent's dearest love; and he had a smooth persuasive +tongue, with an admirable gift of lying--and these be qualities +which do mightily assist a blind affection to cozen itself. I was +wild--in troth I might go yet farther and say VERY wild, though +'twas a wildness of an innocent sort, since it hurt none but me, +brought shame to none, nor loss, nor had in it any taint of crime +or baseness, or what might not beseem mine honourable degree. + +"Yet did my brother Hugh turn these faults to good account--he +seeing that our brother Arthur's health was but indifferent, and +hoping the worst might work him profit were I swept out of the +path--so--but 'twere a long tale, good my liege, and little worth +the telling. Briefly, then, this brother did deftly magnify my +faults and make them crimes; ending his base work with finding a +silken ladder in mine apartments--conveyed thither by his own +means--and did convince my father by this, and suborned evidence +of servants and other lying knaves, that I was minded to carry off +my Edith and marry with her in rank defiance of his will. + +"Three years of banishment from home and England might make a +soldier and a man of me, my father said, and teach me some degree +of wisdom. I fought out my long probation in the continental +wars, tasting sumptuously of hard knocks, privation, and +adventure; but in my last battle I was taken captive, and during +the seven years that have waxed and waned since then, a foreign +dungeon hath harboured me. Through wit and courage I won to the +free air at last, and fled hither straight; and am but just +arrived, right poor in purse and raiment, and poorer still in +knowledge of what these dull seven years have wrought at Hendon +Hall, its people and belongings. So please you, sir, my meagre +tale is told." + +"Thou hast been shamefully abused!" said the little King, with a +flashing eye. "But I will right thee--by the cross will I! The +King hath said it." + +Then, fired by the story of Miles's wrongs, he loosed his tongue +and poured the history of his own recent misfortunes into the ears +of his astonished listener. When he had finished, Miles said to +himself-- + +"Lo, what an imagination he hath! Verily, this is no common mind; +else, crazed or sane, it could not weave so straight and gaudy a +tale as this out of the airy nothings wherewith it hath wrought +this curious romaunt. Poor ruined little head, it shall not lack +friend or shelter whilst I bide with the living. He shall never +leave my side; he shall be my pet, my little comrade. And he +shall be cured!--ay, made whole and sound--then will he make +himself a name--and proud shall I be to say, 'Yes, he is mine--I +took him, a homeless little ragamuffin, but I saw what was in him, +and I said his name would be heard some day--behold him, observe +him--was I right?'" + +The King spoke--in a thoughtful, measured voice-- + +"Thou didst save me injury and shame, perchance my life, and so my +crown. Such service demandeth rich reward. Name thy desire, and +so it be within the compass of my royal power, it is thine." + +This fantastic suggestion startled Hendon out of his reverie. He +was about to thank the King and put the matter aside with saying +he had only done his duty and desired no reward, but a wiser +thought came into his head, and he asked leave to be silent a few +moments and consider the gracious offer--an idea which the King +gravely approved, remarking that it was best to be not too hasty +with a thing of such great import. + +Miles reflected during some moments, then said to himself, "Yes, +that is the thing to do--by any other means it were impossible to +get at it--and certes, this hour's experience has taught me +'twould be most wearing and inconvenient to continue it as it is. +Yes, I will propose it; 'twas a happy accident that I did not +throw the chance away." Then he dropped upon one knee and said-- + +"My poor service went not beyond the limit of a subject's simple +duty, and therefore hath no merit; but since your Majesty is +pleased to hold it worthy some reward, I take heart of grace to +make petition to this effect. Near four hundred years ago, as +your grace knoweth, there being ill blood betwixt John, King of +England, and the King of France, it was decreed that two champions +should fight together in the lists, and so settle the dispute by +what is called the arbitrament of God. These two kings, and the +Spanish king, being assembled to witness and judge the conflict, +the French champion appeared; but so redoubtable was he, that our +English knights refused to measure weapons with him. So the +matter, which was a weighty one, was like to go against the +English monarch by default. Now in the Tower lay the Lord de +Courcy, the mightiest arm in England, stripped of his honours and +possessions, and wasting with long captivity. Appeal was made to +him; he gave assent, and came forth arrayed for battle; but no +sooner did the Frenchman glimpse his huge frame and hear his +famous name but he fled away, and the French king's cause was +lost. King John restored De Courcy's titles and possessions, and +said, 'Name thy wish and thou shalt have it, though it cost me +half my kingdom;' whereat De Courcy, kneeling, as I do now, made +answer, 'This, then, I ask, my liege; that I and my successors may +have and hold the privilege of remaining covered in the presence +of the kings of England, henceforth while the throne shall last.' +The boon was granted, as your Majesty knoweth; and there hath been +no time, these four hundred years, that that line has failed of an +heir; and so, even unto this day, the head of that ancient house +still weareth his hat or helm before the King's Majesty, without +let or hindrance, and this none other may do. {3} Invoking this +precedent in aid of my prayer, I beseech the King to grant to me +but this one grace and privilege--to my more than sufficient +reward--and none other, to wit: that I and my heirs, for ever, +may SIT in the presence of the Majesty of England!" + +"Rise, Sir Miles Hendon, Knight," said the King, gravely--giving +the accolade with Hendon's sword--"rise, and seat thyself. Thy +petition is granted. Whilst England remains, and the crown +continues, the privilege shall not lapse." + +His Majesty walked apart, musing, and Hendon dropped into a chair +at table, observing to himself, "'Twas a brave thought, and hath +wrought me a mighty deliverance; my legs are grievously wearied. +An I had not thought of that, I must have had to stand for weeks, +till my poor lad's wits are cured." After a little, he went on, +"And so I am become a knight of the Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows! +A most odd and strange position, truly, for one so matter-of-fact +as I. I will not laugh--no, God forbid, for this thing which is +so substanceless to me is REAL to him. And to me, also, in one +way, it is not a falsity, for it reflects with truth the sweet and +generous spirit that is in him." After a pause: "Ah, what if he +should call me by my fine title before folk!--there'd be a merry +contrast betwixt my glory and my raiment! But no matter, let him +call me what he will, so it please him; I shall be content." + + + +Chapter XIII. The disappearance of the Prince. + +A heavy drowsiness presently fell upon the two comrades. The King +said-- + +"Remove these rags"--meaning his clothing. + +Hendon disapparelled the boy without dissent or remark, tucked him +up in bed, then glanced about the room, saying to himself, +ruefully, "He hath taken my bed again, as before--marry, what +shall _I_ do?" The little King observed his perplexity, and +dissipated it with a word. He said, sleepily-- + +"Thou wilt sleep athwart the door, and guard it." In a moment +more he was out of his troubles, in a deep slumber. + +"Dear heart, he should have been born a king!" muttered Hendon, +admiringly; "he playeth the part to a marvel." + +Then he stretched himself across the door, on the floor, saying +contentedly-- + +"I have lodged worse for seven years; 'twould be but ill gratitude +to Him above to find fault with this." + +He dropped asleep as the dawn appeared. Toward noon he rose, +uncovered his unconscious ward--a section at a time--and took his +measure with a string. The King awoke, just as he had completed +his work, complained of the cold, and asked what he was doing. + +"'Tis done, now, my liege," said Hendon; "I have a bit of business +outside, but will presently return; sleep thou again--thou needest +it. There--let me cover thy head also--thou'lt be warm the +sooner." + +The King was back in dreamland before this speech was ended. +Miles slipped softly out, and slipped as softly in again, in the +course of thirty or forty minutes, with a complete second-hand +suit of boy's clothing, of cheap material, and showing signs of +wear; but tidy, and suited to the season of the year. He seated +himself, and began to overhaul his purchase, mumbling to himself-- + +"A longer purse would have got a better sort, but when one has not +the long purse one must be content with what a short one may do-- + + "'There was a woman in our town, + In our town did dwell--' + +"He stirred, methinks--I must sing in a less thunderous key; 'tis +not good to mar his sleep, with this journey before him, and he so +wearied out, poor chap . . . This garment--'tis well enough--a +stitch here and another one there will set it aright. This other +is better, albeit a stitch or two will not come amiss in it, +likewise . . . THESE be very good and sound, and will keep his +small feet warm and dry--an odd new thing to him, belike, since he +has doubtless been used to foot it bare, winters and summers the +same . . . Would thread were bread, seeing one getteth a year's +sufficiency for a farthing, and such a brave big needle without +cost, for mere love. Now shall I have the demon's own time to +thread it!" + +And so he had. He did as men have always done, and probably +always will do, to the end of time--held the needle still, and +tried to thrust the thread through the eye, which is the opposite +of a woman's way. Time and time again the thread missed the mark, +going sometimes on one side of the needle, sometimes on the other, +sometimes doubling up against the shaft; but he was patient, +having been through these experiences before, when he was +soldiering. He succeeded at last, and took up the garment that +had lain waiting, meantime, across his lap, and began his work. + +"The inn is paid--the breakfast that is to come, included--and +there is wherewithal left to buy a couple of donkeys and meet our +little costs for the two or three days betwixt this and the plenty +that awaits us at Hendon Hall-- + + "'She loved her hus--' + +"Body o' me! I have driven the needle under my nail! . . . It +matters little--'tis not a novelty--yet 'tis not a convenience, +neither . . .We shall be merry there, little one, never doubt it! +Thy troubles will vanish there, and likewise thy sad distemper-- + + "'She loved her husband dearilee, + But another man--' + +"These be noble large stitches!"--holding the garment up and +viewing it admiringly--"they have a grandeur and a majesty that do +cause these small stingy ones of the tailor-man to look mightily +paltry and plebeian-- + + "'She loved her husband dearilee, + But another man he loved she,--' + +"Marry, 'tis done--a goodly piece of work, too, and wrought with +expedition. Now will I wake him, apparel him, pour for him, feed +him, and then will we hie us to the mart by the Tabard Inn in +Southwark and--be pleased to rise, my liege!--he answereth not-- +what ho, my liege!--of a truth must I profane his sacred person +with a touch, sith his slumber is deaf to speech. What!" + +He threw back the covers--the boy was gone! + +He stared about him in speechless astonishment for a moment; +noticed for the first time that his ward's ragged raiment was also +missing; then he began to rage and storm and shout for the +innkeeper. At that moment a servant entered with the breakfast. + +"Explain, thou limb of Satan, or thy time is come!" roared the man +of war, and made so savage a spring toward the waiter that this +latter could not find his tongue, for the instant, for fright and +surprise. "Where is the boy?" + +In disjointed and trembling syllables the man gave the information +desired. + +"You were hardly gone from the place, your worship, when a youth +came running and said it was your worship's will that the boy come +to you straight, at the bridge-end on the Southwark side. I +brought him hither; and when he woke the lad and gave his message, +the lad did grumble some little for being disturbed 'so early,' as +he called it, but straightway trussed on his rags and went with +the youth, only saying it had been better manners that your +worship came yourself, not sent a stranger--and so--" + +"And so thou'rt a fool!--a fool and easily cozened--hang all thy +breed! Yet mayhap no hurt is done. Possibly no harm is meant the +boy. I will go fetch him. Make the table ready. Stay! the +coverings of the bed were disposed as if one lay beneath them-- +happened that by accident?" + +"I know not, good your worship. I saw the youth meddle with them- +-he that came for the boy." + +"Thousand deaths! 'Twas done to deceive me--'tis plain 'twas done +to gain time. Hark ye! Was that youth alone?" + +"All alone, your worship." + +"Art sure?" + +"Sure, your worship." + +"Collect thy scattered wits--bethink thee--take time, man." + +After a moment's thought, the servant said-- + +"When he came, none came with him; but now I remember me that as +the two stepped into the throng of the Bridge, a ruffian-looking +man plunged out from some near place; and just as he was joining +them--" + +"What THEN?--out with it!" thundered the impatient Hendon, +interrupting. + +"Just then the crowd lapped them up and closed them in, and I saw +no more, being called by my master, who was in a rage because a +joint that the scrivener had ordered was forgot, though I take all +the saints to witness that to blame ME for that miscarriage were +like holding the unborn babe to judgment for sins com--" + +"Out of my sight, idiot! Thy prating drives me mad! Hold! +Whither art flying? Canst not bide still an instant? Went they +toward Southwark?" + +"Even so, your worship--for, as I said before, as to that +detestable joint, the babe unborn is no whit more blameless than-- +" + +"Art here YET! And prating still! Vanish, lest I throttle thee!" +The servitor vanished. Hendon followed after him, passed him, and +plunged down the stairs two steps at a stride, muttering, "'Tis +that scurvy villain that claimed he was his son. I have lost +thee, my poor little mad master--it is a bitter thought--and I had +come to love thee so! No! by book and bell, NOT lost! Not lost, +for I will ransack the land till I find thee again. Poor child, +yonder is his breakfast--and mine, but I have no hunger now; so, +let the rats have it--speed, speed! that is the word!" As he +wormed his swift way through the noisy multitudes upon the Bridge +he several times said to himself--clinging to the thought as if it +were a particularly pleasing one--"He grumbled, but he WENT--he +went, yes, because he thought Miles Hendon asked it, sweet lad--he +would ne'er have done it for another, I know it well." + + + +Chapter XIV. 'Le Roi est mort--vive le Roi.' + +Toward daylight of the same morning, Tom Canty stirred out of a +heavy sleep and opened his eyes in the dark. He lay silent a few +moments, trying to analyse his confused thoughts and impressions, +and get some sort of meaning out of them; then suddenly he burst +out in a rapturous but guarded voice-- + +"I see it all, I see it all! Now God be thanked, I am indeed +awake at last! Come, joy! vanish, sorrow! Ho, Nan! Bet! kick off +your straw and hie ye hither to my side, till I do pour into your +unbelieving ears the wildest madcap dream that ever the spirits of +night did conjure up to astonish the soul of man withal! . . . Ho, +Nan, I say! Bet!" + +A dim form appeared at his side, and a voice said-- + +"Wilt deign to deliver thy commands?" + +"Commands? . . . O, woe is me, I know thy voice! Speak thou--who +am I?" + +"Thou? In sooth, yesternight wert thou the Prince of Wales; to- +day art thou my most gracious liege, Edward, King of England." + +Tom buried his head among his pillows, murmuring plaintively-- + +"Alack, it was no dream! Go to thy rest, sweet sir--leave me to +my sorrows." + +Tom slept again, and after a time he had this pleasant dream. He +thought it was summer, and he was playing, all alone, in the fair +meadow called Goodman's Fields, when a dwarf only a foot high, +with long red whiskers and a humped back, appeared to him suddenly +and said, "Dig by that stump." He did so, and found twelve bright +new pennies--wonderful riches! Yet this was not the best of it; +for the dwarf said-- + +"I know thee. Thou art a good lad, and a deserving; thy +distresses shall end, for the day of thy reward is come. Dig here +every seventh day, and thou shalt find always the same treasure, +twelve bright new pennies. Tell none--keep the secret." + +Then the dwarf vanished, and Tom flew to Offal Court with his +prize, saying to himself, "Every night will I give my father a +penny; he will think I begged it, it will glad his heart, and I +shall no more be beaten. One penny every week the good priest +that teacheth me shall have; mother, Nan, and Bet the other four. +We be done with hunger and rags, now, done with fears and frets +and savage usage." + +In his dream he reached his sordid home all out of breath, but +with eyes dancing with grateful enthusiasm; cast four of his +pennies into his mother's lap and cried out-- + +"They are for thee!--all of them, every one!--for thee and Nan and +Bet--and honestly come by, not begged nor stolen!" + +The happy and astonished mother strained him to her breast and +exclaimed-- + +"It waxeth late--may it please your Majesty to rise?" + +Ah! that was not the answer he was expecting. The dream had +snapped asunder--he was awake. + +He opened his eyes--the richly clad First Lord of the Bedchamber +was kneeling by his couch. The gladness of the lying dream faded +away--the poor boy recognised that he was still a captive and a +king. The room was filled with courtiers clothed in purple +mantles--the mourning colour--and with noble servants of the +monarch. Tom sat up in bed and gazed out from the heavy silken +curtains upon this fine company. + +The weighty business of dressing began, and one courtier after +another knelt and paid his court and offered to the little King +his condolences upon his heavy loss, whilst the dressing +proceeded. In the beginning, a shirt was taken up by the Chief +Equerry in Waiting, who passed it to the First Lord of the +Buckhounds, who passed it to the Second Gentleman of the +Bedchamber, who passed it to the Head Ranger of Windsor Forest, +who passed it to the Third Groom of the Stole, who passed it to +the Chancellor Royal of the Duchy of Lancaster, who passed it to +the Master of the Wardrobe, who passed it to Norroy King-at-Arms, +who passed it to the Constable of the Tower, who passed it to the +Chief Steward of the Household, who passed it to the Hereditary +Grand Diaperer, who passed it to the Lord High Admiral of England, +who passed it to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who passed it to +the First Lord of the Bedchamber, who took what was left of it and +put it on Tom. Poor little wondering chap, it reminded him of +passing buckets at a fire. + +Each garment in its turn had to go through this slow and solemn +process; consequently Tom grew very weary of the ceremony; so +weary that he felt an almost gushing gratefulness when he at last +saw his long silken hose begin the journey down the line and knew +that the end of the matter was drawing near. But he exulted too +soon. The First Lord of the Bedchamber received the hose and was +about to encase Tom's legs in them, when a sudden flush invaded +his face and he hurriedly hustled the things back into the hands +of the Archbishop of Canterbury with an astounded look and a +whispered, "See, my lord!" pointing to a something connected with +the hose. The Archbishop paled, then flushed, and passed the hose +to the Lord High Admiral, whispering, "See, my lord!" The Admiral +passed the hose to the Hereditary Grand Diaperer, and had hardly +breath enough in his body to ejaculate, "See, my lord!" The hose +drifted backward along the line, to the Chief Steward of the +Household, the Constable of the Tower, Norroy King-at-Arms, the +Master of the Wardrobe, the Chancellor Royal of the Duchy of +Lancaster, the Third Groom of the Stole, the Head Ranger of +Windsor Forest, the Second Gentleman of the Bedchamber, the First +Lord of the Buckhounds,--accompanied always with that amazed and +frightened "See! see!"--till they finally reached the hands of the +Chief Equerry in Waiting, who gazed a moment, with a pallid face, +upon what had caused all this dismay, then hoarsely whispered, +"Body of my life, a tag gone from a truss-point!--to the Tower +with the Head Keeper of the King's Hose!"--after which he leaned +upon the shoulder of the First Lord of the Buckhounds to regather +his vanished strength whilst fresh hose, without any damaged +strings to them, were brought. + +But all things must have an end, and so in time Tom Canty was in a +condition to get out of bed. The proper official poured water, +the proper official engineered the washing, the proper official +stood by with a towel, and by-and-by Tom got safely through the +purifying stage and was ready for the services of the Hairdresser- +royal. When he at length emerged from this master's hands, he was +a gracious figure and as pretty as a girl, in his mantle and +trunks of purple satin, and purple-plumed cap. He now moved in +state toward his breakfast-room, through the midst of the courtly +assemblage; and as he passed, these fell back, leaving his way +free, and dropped upon their knees. + +After breakfast he was conducted, with regal ceremony, attended by +his great officers and his guard of fifty Gentlemen Pensioners +bearing gilt battle-axes, to the throne-room, where he proceeded +to transact business of state. His 'uncle,' Lord Hertford, took +his stand by the throne, to assist the royal mind with wise +counsel. + +The body of illustrious men named by the late King as his +executors appeared, to ask Tom's approval of certain acts of +theirs--rather a form, and yet not wholly a form, since there was +no Protector as yet. The Archbishop of Canterbury made report of +the decree of the Council of Executors concerning the obsequies of +his late most illustrious Majesty, and finished by reading the +signatures of the Executors, to wit: the Archbishop of +Canterbury; the Lord Chancellor of England; William Lord St. John; +John Lord Russell; Edward Earl of Hertford; John Viscount Lisle; +Cuthbert Bishop of Durham-- + +Tom was not listening--an earlier clause of the document was +puzzling him. At this point he turned and whispered to Lord +Hertford-- + +"What day did he say the burial hath been appointed for?" + +"The sixteenth of the coming month, my liege." + +"'Tis a strange folly. Will he keep?" + +Poor chap, he was still new to the customs of royalty; he was used +to seeing the forlorn dead of Offal Court hustled out of the way +with a very different sort of expedition. However, the Lord +Hertford set his mind at rest with a word or two. + +A secretary of state presented an order of the Council appointing +the morrow at eleven for the reception of the foreign ambassadors, +and desired the King's assent. + +Tom turned an inquiring look toward Hertford, who whispered-- + +"Your Majesty will signify consent. They come to testify their +royal masters' sense of the heavy calamity which hath visited your +Grace and the realm of England." + +Tom did as he was bidden. Another secretary began to read a +preamble concerning the expenses of the late King's household, +which had amounted to 28,000 pounds during the preceding six +months--a sum so vast that it made Tom Canty gasp; he gasped again +when the fact appeared that 20,000 pounds of this money was still +owing and unpaid; {4} and once more when it appeared that the +King's coffers were about empty, and his twelve hundred servants +much embarrassed for lack of the wages due them. Tom spoke out, +with lively apprehension-- + +"We be going to the dogs, 'tis plain. 'Tis meet and necessary +that we take a smaller house and set the servants at large, sith +they be of no value but to make delay, and trouble one with +offices that harass the spirit and shame the soul, they +misbecoming any but a doll, that hath nor brains nor hands to help +itself withal. I remember me of a small house that standeth over +against the fish-market, by Billingsgate--" + +A sharp pressure upon Tom's arm stopped his foolish tongue and +sent a blush to his face; but no countenance there betrayed any +sign that this strange speech had been remarked or given concern. + +A secretary made report that forasmuch as the late King had +provided in his will for conferring the ducal degree upon the Earl +of Hertford and raising his brother, Sir Thomas Seymour, to the +peerage, and likewise Hertford's son to an earldom, together with +similar aggrandisements to other great servants of the Crown, the +Council had resolved to hold a sitting on the 16th of February for +the delivering and confirming of these honours, and that meantime, +the late King not having granted, in writing, estates suitable to +the support of these dignities, the Council, knowing his private +wishes in that regard, had thought proper to grant to Seymour '500 +pound lands,' and to Hertford's son '800 pound lands, and 300 +pound of the next bishop's lands which should fall vacant,'--his +present Majesty being willing. {5} + +Tom was about to blurt out something about the propriety of paying +the late King's debts first, before squandering all this money, +but a timely touch upon his arm, from the thoughtful Hertford, +saved him this indiscretion; wherefore he gave the royal assent, +without spoken comment, but with much inward discomfort. While he +sat reflecting a moment over the ease with which he was doing +strange and glittering miracles, a happy thought shot into his +mind: why not make his mother Duchess of Offal Court, and give +her an estate? But a sorrowful thought swept it instantly away: +he was only a king in name, these grave veterans and great nobles +were his masters; to them his mother was only the creature of a +diseased mind; they would simply listen to his project with +unbelieving ears, then send for the doctor. + +The dull work went tediously on. Petitions were read, and +proclamations, patents, and all manner of wordy, repetitious, and +wearisome papers relating to the public business; and at last Tom +sighed pathetically and murmured to himself, "In what have I +offended, that the good God should take me away from the fields +and the free air and the sunshine, to shut me up here and make me +a king and afflict me so?" Then his poor muddled head nodded a +while and presently drooped to his shoulder; and the business of +the empire came to a standstill for want of that august factor, +the ratifying power. Silence ensued around the slumbering child, +and the sages of the realm ceased from their deliberations. + +During the forenoon, Tom had an enjoyable hour, by permission of +his keepers, Hertford and St. John, with the Lady Elizabeth and +the little Lady Jane Grey; though the spirits of the princesses +were rather subdued by the mighty stroke that had fallen upon the +royal house; and at the end of the visit his 'elder sister'-- +afterwards the 'Bloody Mary' of history--chilled him with a solemn +interview which had but one merit in his eyes, its brevity. He +had a few moments to himself, and then a slim lad of about twelve +years of age was admitted to his presence, whose clothing, except +his snowy ruff and the laces about his wrists, was of black,-- +doublet, hose, and all. He bore no badge of mourning but a knot +of purple ribbon on his shoulder. He advanced hesitatingly, with +head bowed and bare, and dropped upon one knee in front of Tom. +Tom sat still and contemplated him soberly a moment. Then he +said-- + +"Rise, lad. Who art thou. What wouldst have?" + +The boy rose, and stood at graceful ease, but with an aspect of +concern in his face. He said-- + +"Of a surety thou must remember me, my lord. I am thy whipping- +boy." + +"My WHIPPING-boy?" + +"The same, your Grace. I am Humphrey--Humphrey Marlow." + +Tom perceived that here was someone whom his keepers ought to have +posted him about. The situation was delicate. What should he +do?--pretend he knew this lad, and then betray by his every +utterance that he had never heard of him before? No, that would +not do. An idea came to his relief: accidents like this might be +likely to happen with some frequency, now that business urgencies +would often call Hertford and St. John from his side, they being +members of the Council of Executors; therefore perhaps it would be +well to strike out a plan himself to meet the requirements of such +emergencies. Yes, that would be a wise course--he would practise +on this boy, and see what sort of success he might achieve. So he +stroked his brow perplexedly a moment or two, and presently said-- + +"Now I seem to remember thee somewhat--but my wit is clogged and +dim with suffering--" + +"Alack, my poor master!" ejaculated the whipping-boy, with +feeling; adding, to himself, "In truth 'tis as they said--his mind +is gone--alas, poor soul! But misfortune catch me, how am I +forgetting! They said one must not seem to observe that aught is +wrong with him." + +"'Tis strange how my memory doth wanton with me these days," said +Tom. "But mind it not--I mend apace--a little clue doth often +serve to bring me back again the things and names which had +escaped me. (And not they, only, forsooth, but e'en such as I +ne'er heard before--as this lad shall see.) Give thy business +speech." + +"'Tis matter of small weight, my liege, yet will I touch upon it, +an' it please your Grace. Two days gone by, when your Majesty +faulted thrice in your Greek--in the morning lessons,--dost +remember it?" + +"Y-e-s--methinks I do. (It is not much of a lie--an' I had +meddled with the Greek at all, I had not faulted simply thrice, +but forty times.) Yes, I do recall it, now--go on." + +"The master, being wroth with what he termed such slovenly and +doltish work, did promise that he would soundly whip me for it-- +and--" + +"Whip THEE!" said Tom, astonished out of his presence of mind. +"Why should he whip THEE for faults of mine?" + +"Ah, your Grace forgetteth again. He always scourgeth me when +thou dost fail in thy lessons." + +"True, true--I had forgot. Thou teachest me in private--then if I +fail, he argueth that thy office was lamely done, and--" + +"Oh, my liege, what words are these? I, the humblest of thy +servants, presume to teach THEE?" + +"Then where is thy blame? What riddle is this? Am I in truth +gone mad, or is it thou? Explain--speak out." + +"But, good your Majesty, there's nought that needeth simplifying.- +-None may visit the sacred person of the Prince of Wales with +blows; wherefore, when he faulteth, 'tis I that take them; and +meet it is and right, for that it is mine office and my +livelihood." {1} + +Tom stared at the tranquil boy, observing to himself, "Lo, it is a +wonderful thing,--a most strange and curious trade; I marvel they +have not hired a boy to take my combings and my dressings for me-- +would heaven they would!--an' they will do this thing, I will take +my lashings in mine own person, giving God thanks for the change." +Then he said aloud-- + +"And hast thou been beaten, poor friend, according to the +promise?" + +"No, good your Majesty, my punishment was appointed for this day, +and peradventure it may be annulled, as unbefitting the season of +mourning that is come upon us; I know not, and so have made bold +to come hither and remind your Grace about your gracious promise +to intercede in my behalf--" + +"With the master? To save thee thy whipping?" + +"Ah, thou dost remember!" + +"My memory mendeth, thou seest. Set thy mind at ease--thy back +shall go unscathed--I will see to it." + +"Oh, thanks, my good lord!" cried the boy, dropping upon his knee +again. "Mayhap I have ventured far enow; and yet--" + +Seeing Master Humphrey hesitate, Tom encouraged him to go on, +saying he was "in the granting mood." + +"Then will I speak it out, for it lieth near my heart. Sith thou +art no more Prince of Wales but King, thou canst order matters as +thou wilt, with none to say thee nay; wherefore it is not in +reason that thou wilt longer vex thyself with dreary studies, but +wilt burn thy books and turn thy mind to things less irksome. +Then am I ruined, and mine orphan sisters with me!" + +"Ruined? Prithee how?" + +"My back is my bread, O my gracious liege! if it go idle, I +starve. An' thou cease from study mine office is gone thou'lt +need no whipping-boy. Do not turn me away!" + +Tom was touched with this pathetic distress. He said, with a +right royal burst of generosity-- + +"Discomfort thyself no further, lad. Thine office shall be +permanent in thee and thy line for ever." Then he struck the boy +a light blow on the shoulder with the flat of his sword, +exclaiming, "Rise, Humphrey Marlow, Hereditary Grand Whipping-Boy +to the Royal House of England! Banish sorrow--I will betake me to +my books again, and study so ill that they must in justice treble +thy wage, so mightily shall the business of thine office be +augmented." + +The grateful Humphrey responded fervidly-- + +"Thanks, O most noble master, this princely lavishness doth far +surpass my most distempered dreams of fortune. Now shall I be +happy all my days, and all the house of Marlow after me." + +Tom had wit enough to perceive that here was a lad who could be +useful to him. He encouraged Humphrey to talk, and he was nothing +loath. He was delighted to believe that he was helping in Tom's +'cure'; for always, as soon as he had finished calling back to +Tom's diseased mind the various particulars of his experiences and +adventures in the royal school-room and elsewhere about the +palace, he noticed that Tom was then able to 'recall' the +circumstances quite clearly. At the end of an hour Tom found +himself well freighted with very valuable information concerning +personages and matters pertaining to the Court; so he resolved to +draw instruction from this source daily; and to this end he would +give order to admit Humphrey to the royal closet whenever he might +come, provided the Majesty of England was not engaged with other +people. Humphrey had hardly been dismissed when my Lord Hertford +arrived with more trouble for Tom. + +He said that the Lords of the Council, fearing that some +overwrought report of the King's damaged health might have leaked +out and got abroad, they deemed it wise and best that his Majesty +should begin to dine in public after a day or two--his wholesome +complexion and vigorous step, assisted by a carefully guarded +repose of manner and ease and grace of demeanour, would more +surely quiet the general pulse--in case any evil rumours HAD gone +about--than any other scheme that could be devised. + +Then the Earl proceeded, very delicately, to instruct Tom as to +the observances proper to the stately occasion, under the rather +thin disguise of 'reminding' him concerning things already known +to him; but to his vast gratification it turned out that Tom +needed very little help in this line--he had been making use of +Humphrey in that direction, for Humphrey had mentioned that within +a few days he was to begin to dine in public; having gathered it +from the swift-winged gossip of the Court. Tom kept these facts +to himself, however. + +Seeing the royal memory so improved, the Earl ventured to apply a +few tests to it, in an apparently casual way, to find out how far +its amendment had progressed. The results were happy, here and +there, in spots--spots where Humphrey's tracks remained--and on +the whole my lord was greatly pleased and encouraged. So +encouraged was he, indeed, that he spoke up and said in a quite +hopeful voice-- + +"Now am I persuaded that if your Majesty will but tax your memory +yet a little further, it will resolve the puzzle of the Great +Seal--a loss which was of moment yesterday, although of none to- +day, since its term of service ended with our late lord's life. +May it please your Grace to make the trial?" + +Tom was at sea--a Great Seal was something which he was totally +unacquainted with. After a moment's hesitation he looked up +innocently and asked-- + +"What was it like, my lord?" + +The Earl started, almost imperceptibly, muttering to himself, +"Alack, his wits are flown again!--it was ill wisdom to lead him +on to strain them"--then he deftly turned the talk to other +matters, with the purpose of sweeping the unlucky seal out of +Tom's thoughts--a purpose which easily succeeded. + + + +Chapter XV. Tom as King. + +The next day the foreign ambassadors came, with their gorgeous +trains; and Tom, throned in awful state, received them. The +splendours of the scene delighted his eye and fired his +imagination at first, but the audience was long and dreary, and so +were most of the addresses--wherefore, what began as a pleasure +grew into weariness and home-sickness by-and-by. Tom said the +words which Hertford put into his mouth from time to time, and +tried hard to acquit himself satisfactorily, but he was too new to +such things, and too ill at ease to accomplish more than a +tolerable success. He looked sufficiently like a king, but he was +ill able to feel like one. He was cordially glad when the +ceremony was ended. + +The larger part of his day was 'wasted'--as he termed it, in his +own mind--in labours pertaining to his royal office. Even the two +hours devoted to certain princely pastimes and recreations were +rather a burden to him than otherwise, they were so fettered by +restrictions and ceremonious observances. However, he had a +private hour with his whipping-boy which he counted clear gain, +since he got both entertainment and needful information out of it. + +The third day of Tom Canty's kingship came and went much as the +others had done, but there was a lifting of his cloud in one way-- +he felt less uncomfortable than at first; he was getting a little +used to his circumstances and surroundings; his chains still +galled, but not all the time; he found that the presence and +homage of the great afflicted and embarrassed him less and less +sharply with every hour that drifted over his head. + +But for one single dread, he could have seen the fourth day +approach without serious distress--the dining in public; it was to +begin that day. There were greater matters in the programme--for +on that day he would have to preside at a council which would take +his views and commands concerning the policy to be pursued toward +various foreign nations scattered far and near over the great +globe; on that day, too, Hertford would be formally chosen to the +grand office of Lord Protector; other things of note were +appointed for that fourth day, also; but to Tom they were all +insignificant compared with the ordeal of dining all by himself +with a multitude of curious eyes fastened upon him and a multitude +of mouths whispering comments upon his performance,--and upon his +mistakes, if he should be so unlucky as to make any. + +Still, nothing could stop that fourth day, and so it came. It +found poor Tom low-spirited and absent-minded, and this mood +continued; he could not shake it off. The ordinary duties of the +morning dragged upon his hands, and wearied him. Once more he +felt the sense of captivity heavy upon him. + +Late in the forenoon he was in a large audience-chamber, +conversing with the Earl of Hertford and dully awaiting the +striking of the hour appointed for a visit of ceremony from a +considerable number of great officials and courtiers. + +After a little while, Tom, who had wandered to a window and become +interested in the life and movement of the great highway beyond +the palace gates--and not idly interested, but longing with all +his heart to take part in person in its stir and freedom--saw the +van of a hooting and shouting mob of disorderly men, women, and +children of the lowest and poorest degree approaching from up the +road. + +"I would I knew what 'tis about!" he exclaimed, with all a boy's +curiosity in such happenings. + +"Thou art the King!" solemnly responded the Earl, with a +reverence. "Have I your Grace's leave to act?" + +"O blithely, yes! O gladly, yes!" exclaimed Tom excitedly, adding +to himself with a lively sense of satisfaction, "In truth, being a +king is not all dreariness--it hath its compensations and +conveniences." + +The Earl called a page, and sent him to the captain of the guard +with the order-- + +"Let the mob be halted, and inquiry made concerning the occasion +of its movement. By the King's command!" + +A few seconds later a long rank of the royal guards, cased in +flashing steel, filed out at the gates and formed across the +highway in front of the multitude. A messenger returned, to +report that the crowd were following a man, a woman, and a young +girl to execution for crimes committed against the peace and +dignity of the realm. + +Death--and a violent death--for these poor unfortunates! The +thought wrung Tom's heart-strings. The spirit of compassion took +control of him, to the exclusion of all other considerations; he +never thought of the offended laws, or of the grief or loss which +these three criminals had inflicted upon their victims; he could +think of nothing but the scaffold and the grisly fate hanging over +the heads of the condemned. His concern made him even forget, for +the moment, that he was but the false shadow of a king, not the +substance; and before he knew it he had blurted out the command-- + +"Bring them here!" + +Then he blushed scarlet, and a sort of apology sprung to his lips; +but observing that his order had wrought no sort of surprise in +the Earl or the waiting page, he suppressed the words he was about +to utter. The page, in the most matter-of-course way, made a +profound obeisance and retired backwards out of the room to +deliver the command. Tom experienced a glow of pride and a +renewed sense of the compensating advantages of the kingly office. +He said to himself, "Truly it is like what I was used to feel when +I read the old priest's tales, and did imagine mine own self a +prince, giving law and command to all, saying 'Do this, do that,' +whilst none durst offer let or hindrance to my will." + +Now the doors swung open; one high-sounding title after another +was announced, the personages owning them followed, and the place +was quickly half-filled with noble folk and finery. But Tom was +hardly conscious of the presence of these people, so wrought up +was he and so intensely absorbed in that other and more +interesting matter. He seated himself absently in his chair of +state, and turned his eyes upon the door with manifestations of +impatient expectancy; seeing which, the company forbore to trouble +him, and fell to chatting a mixture of public business and court +gossip one with another. + +In a little while the measured tread of military men was heard +approaching, and the culprits entered the presence in charge of an +under-sheriff and escorted by a detail of the king's guard. The +civil officer knelt before Tom, then stood aside; the three doomed +persons knelt, also, and remained so; the guard took position +behind Tom's chair. Tom scanned the prisoners curiously. +Something about the dress or appearance of the man had stirred a +vague memory in him. "Methinks I have seen this man ere now . . . +but the when or the where fail me"--such was Tom's thought. Just +then the man glanced quickly up and quickly dropped his face +again, not being able to endure the awful port of sovereignty; but +the one full glimpse of the face which Tom got was sufficient. He +said to himself: "Now is the matter clear; this is the stranger +that plucked Giles Witt out of the Thames, and saved his life, +that windy, bitter, first day of the New Year--a brave good deed-- +pity he hath been doing baser ones and got himself in this sad +case . . . I have not forgot the day, neither the hour; by reason +that an hour after, upon the stroke of eleven, I did get a hiding +by the hand of Gammer Canty which was of so goodly and admired +severity that all that went before or followed after it were but +fondlings and caresses by comparison." + +Tom now ordered that the woman and the girl be removed from the +presence for a little time; then addressed himself to the under- +sheriff, saying-- + +"Good sir, what is this man's offence?" + +The officer knelt, and answered-- + +"So please your Majesty, he hath taken the life of a subject by +poison." + +Tom's compassion for the prisoner, and admiration of him as the +daring rescuer of a drowning boy, experienced a most damaging +shock. + +"The thing was proven upon him?" he asked. + +"Most clearly, sire." + +Tom sighed, and said-- + +"Take him away--he hath earned his death. 'Tis a pity, for he was +a brave heart--na--na, I mean he hath the LOOK of it!" + +The prisoner clasped his hands together with sudden energy, and +wrung them despairingly, at the same time appealing imploringly to +the 'King' in broken and terrified phrases-- + +"O my lord the King, an' thou canst pity the lost, have pity upon +me! I am innocent--neither hath that wherewith I am charged been +more than but lamely proved--yet I speak not of that; the judgment +is gone forth against me and may not suffer alteration; yet in +mine extremity I beg a boon, for my doom is more than I can bear. +A grace, a grace, my lord the King! in thy royal compassion grant +my prayer--give commandment that I be hanged!" + +Tom was amazed. This was not the outcome he had looked for. + +"Odds my life, a strange BOON! Was it not the fate intended +thee?" + +"O good my liege, not so! It is ordered that I be BOILED ALIVE!" + +The hideous surprise of these words almost made Tom spring from +his chair. As soon as he could recover his wits he cried out-- + +"Have thy wish, poor soul! an' thou had poisoned a hundred men +thou shouldst not suffer so miserable a death." + +The prisoner bowed his face to the ground and burst into +passionate expressions of gratitude--ending with-- + +"If ever thou shouldst know misfortune--which God forefend!--may +thy goodness to me this day be remembered and requited!" + +Tom turned to the Earl of Hertford, and said-- + +"My lord, is it believable that there was warrant for this man's +ferocious doom?" + +"It is the law, your Grace--for poisoners. In Germany coiners be +boiled to death in OIL--not cast in of a sudden, but by a rope let +down into the oil by degrees, and slowly; first the feet, then the +legs, then--" + +"O prithee no more, my lord, I cannot bear it!" cried Tom, +covering his eyes with his hands to shut out the picture. "I +beseech your good lordship that order be taken to change this law- +-oh, let no more poor creatures be visited with its tortures." + +The Earl's face showed profound gratification, for he was a man of +merciful and generous impulses--a thing not very common with his +class in that fierce age. He said-- + +"These your Grace's noble words have sealed its doom. History +will remember it to the honour of your royal house." + +The under-sheriff was about to remove his prisoner; Tom gave him a +sign to wait; then he said-- + +"Good sir, I would look into this matter further. The man has +said his deed was but lamely proved. Tell me what thou knowest." + +"If the King's grace please, it did appear upon the trial that +this man entered into a house in the hamlet of Islington where one +lay sick--three witnesses say it was at ten of the clock in the +morning, and two say it was some minutes later--the sick man being +alone at the time, and sleeping--and presently the man came forth +again and went his way. The sick man died within the hour, being +torn with spasms and retchings." + +"Did any see the poison given? Was poison found?" + +"Marry, no, my liege." + +"Then how doth one know there was poison given at all?" + +"Please your Majesty, the doctors testified that none die with +such symptoms but by poison." + +Weighty evidence, this, in that simple age. Tom recognised its +formidable nature, and said-- + +"The doctor knoweth his trade--belike they were right. The matter +hath an ill-look for this poor man." + +"Yet was not this all, your Majesty; there is more and worse. +Many testified that a witch, since gone from the village, none +know whither, did foretell, and speak it privately in their ears, +that the sick man WOULD DIE BY POISON--and more, that a stranger +would give it--a stranger with brown hair and clothed in a worn +and common garb; and surely this prisoner doth answer woundily to +the bill. Please your Majesty to give the circumstance that +solemn weight which is its due, seeing it was FORETOLD." + +This was an argument of tremendous force in that superstitious +day. Tom felt that the thing was settled; if evidence was worth +anything, this poor fellow's guilt was proved. Still he offered +the prisoner a chance, saying-- + +"If thou canst say aught in thy behalf, speak." + +"Nought that will avail, my King. I am innocent, yet cannot I +make it appear. I have no friends, else might I show that I was +not in Islington that day; so also might I show that at that hour +they name I was above a league away, seeing I was at Wapping Old +Stairs; yea more, my King, for I could show, that whilst they say +I was TAKING life, I was SAVING it. A drowning boy--" + +"Peace! Sheriff, name the day the deed was done!" + +"At ten in the morning, or some minutes later, the first day of +the New Year, most illustrious--" + +"Let the prisoner go free--it is the King's will!" + +Another blush followed this unregal outburst, and he covered his +indecorum as well as he could by adding-- + +"It enrageth me that a man should be hanged upon such idle, hare- +brained evidence!" + +A low buzz of admiration swept through the assemblage. It was not +admiration of the decree that had been delivered by Tom, for the +propriety or expediency of pardoning a convicted poisoner was a +thing which few there would have felt justified in either +admitting or admiring--no, the admiration was for the intelligence +and spirit which Tom had displayed. Some of the low-voiced +remarks were to this effect-- + +"This is no mad king--he hath his wits sound." + +"How sanely he put his questions--how like his former natural self +was this abrupt imperious disposal of the matter!" + +"God be thanked, his infirmity is spent! This is no weakling, but +a king. He hath borne himself like to his own father." + +The air being filled with applause, Tom's ear necessarily caught a +little of it. The effect which this had upon him was to put him +greatly at his ease, and also to charge his system with very +gratifying sensations. + +However, his juvenile curiosity soon rose superior to these +pleasant thoughts and feelings; he was eager to know what sort of +deadly mischief the woman and the little girl could have been +about; so, by his command, the two terrified and sobbing creatures +were brought before him. + +"What is it that these have done?" he inquired of the sheriff. + +"Please your Majesty, a black crime is charged upon them, and +clearly proven; wherefore the judges have decreed, according to +the law, that they be hanged. They sold themselves to the devil-- +such is their crime." + +Tom shuddered. He had been taught to abhor people who did this +wicked thing. Still, he was not going to deny himself the +pleasure of feeding his curiosity for all that; so he asked-- + +"Where was this done?--and when?" + +"On a midnight in December, in a ruined church, your Majesty." + +Tom shuddered again. + +"Who was there present?" + +"Only these two, your grace--and THAT OTHER." + +"Have these confessed?" + +"Nay, not so, sire--they do deny it." + +"Then prithee, how was it known?" + +"Certain witness did see them wending thither, good your Majesty; +this bred the suspicion, and dire effects have since confirmed and +justified it. In particular, it is in evidence that through the +wicked power so obtained, they did invoke and bring about a storm +that wasted all the region round about. Above forty witnesses +have proved the storm; and sooth one might have had a thousand, +for all had reason to remember it, sith all had suffered by it." + +"Certes this is a serious matter." Tom turned this dark piece of +scoundrelism over in his mind a while, then asked-- + +"Suffered the woman also by the storm?" + +Several old heads among the assemblage nodded their recognition of +the wisdom of this question. The sheriff, however, saw nothing +consequential in the inquiry; he answered, with simple directness- +- + +"Indeed did she, your Majesty, and most righteously, as all aver. +Her habitation was swept away, and herself and child left +shelterless." + +"Methinks the power to do herself so ill a turn was dearly bought. +She had been cheated, had she paid but a farthing for it; that she +paid her soul, and her child's, argueth that she is mad; if she is +mad she knoweth not what she doth, therefore sinneth not." + +The elderly heads nodded recognition of Tom's wisdom once more, +and one individual murmured, "An' the King be mad himself, +according to report, then is it a madness of a sort that would +improve the sanity of some I wot of, if by the gentle providence +of God they could but catch it." + +"What age hath the child?" asked Tom. + +"Nine years, please your Majesty." + +"By the law of England may a child enter into covenant and sell +itself, my lord?" asked Tom, turning to a learned judge. + +"The law doth not permit a child to make or meddle in any weighty +matter, good my liege, holding that its callow wit unfitteth it to +cope with the riper wit and evil schemings of them that are its +elders. The DEVIL may buy a child, if he so choose, and the child +agree thereto, but not an Englishman--in this latter case the +contract would be null and void." + +"It seemeth a rude unchristian thing, and ill contrived, that +English law denieth privileges to Englishmen to waste them on the +devil!" cried Tom, with honest heat. + +This novel view of the matter excited many smiles, and was stored +away in many heads to be repeated about the Court as evidence of +Tom's originality as well as progress toward mental health. + +The elder culprit had ceased from sobbing, and was hanging upon +Tom's words with an excited interest and a growing hope. Tom +noticed this, and it strongly inclined his sympathies toward her +in her perilous and unfriended situation. Presently he asked-- + +"How wrought they to bring the storm?" + +"BY PULLING OFF THEIR STOCKINGS, sire." + +This astonished Tom, and also fired his curiosity to fever heat. +He said, eagerly-- + +"It is wonderful! Hath it always this dread effect?" + +"Always, my liege--at least if the woman desire it, and utter the +needful words, either in her mind or with her tongue." + +Tom turned to the woman, and said with impetuous zeal-- + +"Exert thy power--I would see a storm!" + +There was a sudden paling of cheeks in the superstitious +assemblage, and a general, though unexpressed, desire to get out +of the place--all of which was lost upon Tom, who was dead to +everything but the proposed cataclysm. Seeing a puzzled and +astonished look in the woman's face, he added, excitedly-- + +"Never fear--thou shalt be blameless. More--thou shalt go free-- +none shall touch thee. Exert thy power." + +"Oh, my lord the King, I have it not--I have been falsely +accused." + +"Thy fears stay thee. Be of good heart, thou shalt suffer no +harm. Make a storm--it mattereth not how small a one--I require +nought great or harmful, but indeed prefer the opposite--do this +and thy life is spared--thou shalt go out free, with thy child, +bearing the King's pardon, and safe from hurt or malice from any +in the realm." + +The woman prostrated herself, and protested, with tears, that she +had no power to do the miracle, else she would gladly win her +child's life alone, and be content to lose her own, if by +obedience to the King's command so precious a grace might be +acquired. + +Tom urged--the woman still adhered to her declarations. Finally +he said-- + +"I think the woman hath said true. An' MY mother were in her +place and gifted with the devil's functions, she had not stayed a +moment to call her storms and lay the whole land in ruins, if the +saving of my forfeit life were the price she got! It is argument +that other mothers are made in like mould. Thou art free, +goodwife--thou and thy child--for I do think thee innocent. NOW +thou'st nought to fear, being pardoned--pull off thy stockings!-- +an' thou canst make me a storm, thou shalt be rich!" + +The redeemed creature was loud in her gratitude, and proceeded to +obey, whilst Tom looked on with eager expectancy, a little marred +by apprehension; the courtiers at the same time manifesting +decided discomfort and uneasiness. The woman stripped her own +feet and her little girl's also, and plainly did her best to +reward the King's generosity with an earthquake, but it was all a +failure and a disappointment. Tom sighed, and said-- + +"There, good soul, trouble thyself no further, thy power is +departed out of thee. Go thy way in peace; and if it return to +thee at any time, forget me not, but fetch me a storm." {13} + + + +Chapter XVI. The State Dinner. + +The dinner hour drew near--yet strangely enough, the thought +brought but slight discomfort to Tom, and hardly any terror. The +morning's experiences had wonderfully built up his confidence; the +poor little ash-cat was already more wonted to his strange garret, +after four days' habit, than a mature person could have become in +a full month. A child's facility in accommodating itself to +circumstances was never more strikingly illustrated. + +Let us privileged ones hurry to the great banqueting-room and have +a glance at matters there whilst Tom is being made ready for the +imposing occasion. It is a spacious apartment, with gilded +pillars and pilasters, and pictured walls and ceilings. At the +door stand tall guards, as rigid as statues, dressed in rich and +picturesque costumes, and bearing halberds. In a high gallery +which runs all around the place is a band of musicians and a +packed company of citizens of both sexes, in brilliant attire. In +the centre of the room, upon a raised platform, is Tom's table. +Now let the ancient chronicler speak: + +"A gentleman enters the room bearing a rod, and along with him +another bearing a tablecloth, which, after they have both kneeled +three times with the utmost veneration, he spreads upon the table, +and after kneeling again they both retire; then come two others, +one with the rod again, the other with a salt-cellar, a plate, and +bread; when they have kneeled as the others had done, and placed +what was brought upon the table, they too retire with the same +ceremonies performed by the first; at last come two nobles, richly +clothed, one bearing a tasting-knife, who, after prostrating +themselves three times in the most graceful manner, approach and +rub the table with bread and salt, with as much awe as if the King +had been present." {6} + +So end the solemn preliminaries. Now, far down the echoing +corridors we hear a bugle-blast, and the indistinct cry, "Place +for the King! Way for the King's most excellent majesty!" These +sounds are momently repeated--they grow nearer and nearer--and +presently, almost in our faces, the martial note peals and the cry +rings out, "Way for the King!" At this instant the shining +pageant appears, and files in at the door, with a measured march. +Let the chronicler speak again:-- + +"First come Gentlemen, Barons, Earls, Knights of the Garter, all +richly dressed and bareheaded; next comes the Chancellor, between +two, one of which carries the royal sceptre, the other the Sword +of State in a red scabbard, studded with golden fleurs-de-lis, the +point upwards; next comes the King himself--whom, upon his +appearing, twelve trumpets and many drums salute with a great +burst of welcome, whilst all in the galleries rise in their +places, crying 'God save the King!' After him come nobles +attached to his person, and on his right and left march his guard +of honour, his fifty Gentlemen Pensioners, with gilt battle-axes." + +This was all fine and pleasant. Tom's pulse beat high, and a glad +light was in his eye. He bore himself right gracefully, and all +the more so because he was not thinking of how he was doing it, +his mind being charmed and occupied with the blithe sights and +sounds about him--and besides, nobody can be very ungraceful in +nicely-fitting beautiful clothes after he has grown a little used +to them--especially if he is for the moment unconscious of them. +Tom remembered his instructions, and acknowledged his greeting +with a slight inclination of his plumed head, and a courteous "I +thank ye, my good people." + +He seated himself at table, without removing his cap; and did it +without the least embarrassment; for to eat with one's cap on was +the one solitary royal custom upon which the kings and the Cantys +met upon common ground, neither party having any advantage over +the other in the matter of old familiarity with it. The pageant +broke up and grouped itself picturesquely, and remained +bareheaded. + +Now to the sound of gay music the Yeomen of the Guard entered,-- +"the tallest and mightiest men in England, they being carefully +selected in this regard"--but we will let the chronicler tell +about it:-- + +"The Yeomen of the Guard entered, bareheaded, clothed in scarlet, +with golden roses upon their backs; and these went and came, +bringing in each turn a course of dishes, served in plate. These +dishes were received by a gentleman in the same order they were +brought, and placed upon the table, while the taster gave to each +guard a mouthful to eat of the particular dish he had brought, for +fear of any poison." + +Tom made a good dinner, notwithstanding he was conscious that +hundreds of eyes followed each morsel to his mouth and watched him +eat it with an interest which could not have been more intense if +it had been a deadly explosive and was expected to blow him up and +scatter him all about the place. He was careful not to hurry, and +equally careful not to do anything whatever for himself, but wait +till the proper official knelt down and did it for him. He got +through without a mistake--flawless and precious triumph. + +When the meal was over at last and he marched away in the midst of +his bright pageant, with the happy noises in his ears of blaring +bugles, rolling drums, and thundering acclamations, he felt that +if he had seen the worst of dining in public it was an ordeal +which he would be glad to endure several times a day if by that +means he could but buy himself free from some of the more +formidable requirements of his royal office. + + + +Chapter XVII. Foo-foo the First. + +Miles Hendon hurried along toward the Southwark end of the bridge, +keeping a sharp look-out for the persons he sought, and hoping and +expecting to overtake them presently. He was disappointed in +this, however. By asking questions, he was enabled to track them +part of the way through Southwark; then all traces ceased, and he +was perplexed as to how to proceed. Still, he continued his +efforts as best he could during the rest of the day. Nightfall +found him leg-weary, half-famished, and his desire as far from +accomplishment as ever; so he supped at the Tabard Inn and went to +bed, resolved to make an early start in the morning, and give the +town an exhaustive search. As he lay thinking and planning, he +presently began to reason thus: The boy would escape from the +ruffian, his reputed father, if possible; would he go back to +London and seek his former haunts? No, he would not do that, he +would avoid recapture. What, then, would he do? Never having had +a friend in the world, or a protector, until he met Miles Hendon, +he would naturally try to find that friend again, provided the +effort did not require him to go toward London and danger. He +would strike for Hendon Hall, that is what he would do, for he +knew Hendon was homeward bound and there he might expect to find +him. Yes, the case was plain to Hendon--he must lose no more time +in Southwark, but move at once through Kent, toward Monk's Holm, +searching the wood and inquiring as he went. Let us return to the +vanished little King now. + +The ruffian whom the waiter at the inn on the bridge saw 'about to +join' the youth and the King did not exactly join them, but fell +in close behind them and followed their steps. He said nothing. +His left arm was in a sling, and he wore a large green patch over +his left eye; he limped slightly, and used an oaken staff as a +support. The youth led the King a crooked course through +Southwark, and by-and-by struck into the high road beyond. The +King was irritated, now, and said he would stop here--it was +Hendon's place to come to him, not his to go to Hendon. He would +not endure such insolence; he would stop where he was. The youth +said-- + +"Thou'lt tarry here, and thy friend lying wounded in the wood +yonder? So be it, then." + +The King's manner changed at once. He cried out-- + +"Wounded? And who hath dared to do it? But that is apart; lead +on, lead on! Faster, sirrah! Art shod with lead? Wounded, is +he? Now though the doer of it be a duke's son he shall rue it!" + +It was some distance to the wood, but the space was speedily +traversed. The youth looked about him, discovered a bough +sticking in the ground, with a small bit of rag tied to it, then +led the way into the forest, watching for similar boughs and +finding them at intervals; they were evidently guides to the point +he was aiming at. By-and-by an open place was reached, where were +the charred remains of a farm-house, and near them a barn which +was falling to ruin and decay. There was no sign of life +anywhere, and utter silence prevailed. The youth entered the +barn, the King following eagerly upon his heels. No one there! +The King shot a surprised and suspicious glance at the youth, and +asked-- + +"Where is he?" + +A mocking laugh was his answer. The King was in a rage in a +moment; he seized a billet of wood and was in the act of charging +upon the youth when another mocking laugh fell upon his ear. It +was from the lame ruffian who had been following at a distance. +The King turned and said angrily-- + +"Who art thou? What is thy business here?" + +"Leave thy foolery," said the man, "and quiet thyself. My +disguise is none so good that thou canst pretend thou knowest not +thy father through it." + +"Thou art not my father. I know thee not. I am the King. If +thou hast hid my servant, find him for me, or thou shalt sup +sorrow for what thou hast done." + +John Canty replied, in a stern and measured voice-- + +"It is plain thou art mad, and I am loath to punish thee; but if +thou provoke me, I must. Thy prating doth no harm here, where +there are no ears that need to mind thy follies; yet it is well to +practise thy tongue to wary speech, that it may do no hurt when +our quarters change. I have done a murder, and may not tarry at +home--neither shalt thou, seeing I need thy service. My name is +changed, for wise reasons; it is Hobbs--John Hobbs; thine is Jack- +-charge thy memory accordingly. Now, then, speak. Where is thy +mother? Where are thy sisters? They came not to the place +appointed--knowest thou whither they went?" + +The King answered sullenly-- + +"Trouble me not with these riddles. My mother is dead; my sisters +are in the palace." + +The youth near by burst into a derisive laugh, and the King would +have assaulted him, but Canty--or Hobbs, as he now called himself- +-prevented him, and said-- + +"Peace, Hugo, vex him not; his mind is astray, and thy ways fret +him. Sit thee down, Jack, and quiet thyself; thou shalt have a +morsel to eat, anon." + +Hobbs and Hugo fell to talking together, in low voices, and the +King removed himself as far as he could from their disagreeable +company. He withdrew into the twilight of the farther end of the +barn, where he found the earthen floor bedded a foot deep with +straw. He lay down here, drew straw over himself in lieu of +blankets, and was soon absorbed in thinking. He had many griefs, +but the minor ones were swept almost into forgetfulness by the +supreme one, the loss of his father. To the rest of the world the +name of Henry VIII. brought a shiver, and suggested an ogre whose +nostrils breathed destruction and whose hand dealt scourgings and +death; but to this boy the name brought only sensations of +pleasure; the figure it invoked wore a countenance that was all +gentleness and affection. He called to mind a long succession of +loving passages between his father and himself, and dwelt fondly +upon them, his unstinted tears attesting how deep and real was the +grief that possessed his heart. As the afternoon wasted away, the +lad, wearied with his troubles, sank gradually into a tranquil and +healing slumber. + +After a considerable time--he could not tell how long--his senses +struggled to a half-consciousness, and as he lay with closed eyes +vaguely wondering where he was and what had been happening, he +noted a murmurous sound, the sullen beating of rain upon the roof. +A snug sense of comfort stole over him, which was rudely broken, +the next moment, by a chorus of piping cackles and coarse +laughter. It startled him disagreeably, and he unmuffled his head +to see whence this interruption proceeded. A grim and unsightly +picture met his eye. A bright fire was burning in the middle of +the floor, at the other end of the barn; and around it, and lit +weirdly up by the red glare, lolled and sprawled the motliest +company of tattered gutter-scum and ruffians, of both sexes, he +had ever read or dreamed of. There were huge stalwart men, brown +with exposure, long-haired, and clothed in fantastic rags; there +were middle-sized youths, of truculent countenance, and similarly +clad; there were blind mendicants, with patched or bandaged eyes; +crippled ones, with wooden legs and crutches; diseased ones, with +running sores peeping from ineffectual wrappings; there was a +villain-looking pedlar with his pack; a knife-grinder, a tinker, +and a barber-surgeon, with the implements of their trades; some of +the females were hardly-grown girls, some were at prime, some were +old and wrinkled hags, and all were loud, brazen, foul-mouthed; +and all soiled and slatternly; there were three sore-faced babies; +there were a couple of starveling curs, with strings about their +necks, whose office was to lead the blind. + +The night was come, the gang had just finished feasting, an orgy +was beginning; the can of liquor was passing from mouth to mouth. +A general cry broke forth-- + +"A song! a song from the Bat and Dick and Dot-and-go-One!" + +One of the blind men got up, and made ready by casting aside the +patches that sheltered his excellent eyes, and the pathetic +placard which recited the cause of his calamity. Dot-and-go-One +disencumbered himself of his timber leg and took his place, upon +sound and healthy limbs, beside his fellow-rascal; then they +roared out a rollicking ditty, and were reinforced by the whole +crew, at the end of each stanza, in a rousing chorus. By the time +the last stanza was reached, the half-drunken enthusiasm had risen +to such a pitch, that everybody joined in and sang it clear +through from the beginning, producing a volume of villainous sound +that made the rafters quake. These were the inspiring words:-- + + 'Bien Darkman's then, Bouse Mort and Ken, + The bien Coves bings awast, + On Chates to trine by Rome Coves dine + For his long lib at last. + Bing'd out bien Morts and toure, and toure, + Bing out of the Rome vile bine, + And toure the Cove that cloy'd your duds, + Upon the Chates to trine.' + (From 'The English Rogue.' London, +1665.) + +Conversation followed; not in the thieves' dialect of the song, +for that was only used in talk when unfriendly ears might be +listening. In the course of it, it appeared that 'John Hobbs' was +not altogether a new recruit, but had trained in the gang at some +former time. His later history was called for, and when he said +he had 'accidentally' killed a man, considerable satisfaction was +expressed; when he added that the man was a priest, he was roundly +applauded, and had to take a drink with everybody. Old +acquaintances welcomed him joyously, and new ones were proud to +shake him by the hand. He was asked why he had 'tarried away so +many months.' He answered-- + +"London is better than the country, and safer, these late years, +the laws be so bitter and so diligently enforced. An' I had not +had that accident, I had stayed there. I had resolved to stay, +and never more venture country-wards--but the accident has ended +that." + +He inquired how many persons the gang numbered now. The +'ruffler,' or chief, answered-- + +"Five and twenty sturdy budges, bulks, files, clapperdogeons and +maunders, counting the dells and doxies and other morts. {7} Most +are here, the rest are wandering eastward, along the winter lay. +We follow at dawn." + +"I do not see the Wen among the honest folk about me. Where may +he be?" + +"Poor lad, his diet is brimstone, now, and over hot for a delicate +taste. He was killed in a brawl, somewhere about midsummer." + +"I sorrow to hear that; the Wen was a capable man, and brave." + +"That was he, truly. Black Bess, his dell, is of us yet, but +absent on the eastward tramp; a fine lass, of nice ways and +orderly conduct, none ever seeing her drunk above four days in the +seven." + +"She was ever strict--I remember it well--a goodly wench and +worthy all commendation. Her mother was more free and less +particular; a troublesome and ugly-tempered beldame, but furnished +with a wit above the common." + +"We lost her through it. Her gift of palmistry and other sorts of +fortune-telling begot for her at last a witch's name and fame. +The law roasted her to death at a slow fire. It did touch me to a +sort of tenderness to see the gallant way she met her lot--cursing +and reviling all the crowd that gaped and gazed around her, whilst +the flames licked upward toward her face and catched her thin +locks and crackled about her old gray head--cursing them! why an' +thou should'st live a thousand years thoud'st never hear so +masterful a cursing. Alack, her art died with her. There be base +and weakling imitations left, but no true blasphemy." + +The Ruffler sighed; the listeners sighed in sympathy; a general +depression fell upon the company for a moment, for even hardened +outcasts like these are not wholly dead to sentiment, but are able +to feel a fleeting sense of loss and affliction at wide intervals +and under peculiarly favouring circumstances--as in cases like to +this, for instance, when genius and culture depart and leave no +heir. However, a deep drink all round soon restored the spirits +of the mourners. + +"Have any others of our friends fared hardly?" asked Hobbs. + +"Some--yes. Particularly new comers--such as small husbandmen +turned shiftless and hungry upon the world because their farms +were taken from them to be changed to sheep ranges. They begged, +and were whipped at the cart's tail, naked from the girdle up, +till the blood ran; then set in the stocks to be pelted; they +begged again, were whipped again, and deprived of an ear; they +begged a third time--poor devils, what else could they do?--and +were branded on the cheek with a red-hot iron, then sold for +slaves; they ran away, were hunted down, and hanged. 'Tis a brief +tale, and quickly told. Others of us have fared less hardly. +Stand forth, Yokel, Burns, and Hodge--show your adornments!" + +These stood up and stripped away some of their rags, exposing +their backs, criss-crossed with ropy old welts left by the lash; +one turned up his hair and showed the place where a left ear had +once been; another showed a brand upon his shoulder--the letter V- +-and a mutilated ear; the third said-- + +"I am Yokel, once a farmer and prosperous, with loving wife and +kids--now am I somewhat different in estate and calling; and the +wife and kids are gone; mayhap they are in heaven, mayhap in--in +the other place--but the kindly God be thanked, they bide no more +in ENGLAND! My good old blameless mother strove to earn bread by +nursing the sick; one of these died, the doctors knew not how, so +my mother was burnt for a witch, whilst my babes looked on and +wailed. English law!--up, all, with your cups!--now all together +and with a cheer!--drink to the merciful English law that +delivered HER from the English hell! Thank you, mates, one and +all. I begged, from house to house--I and the wife--bearing with +us the hungry kids--but it was crime to be hungry in England--so +they stripped us and lashed us through three towns. Drink ye all +again to the merciful English law!--for its lash drank deep of my +Mary's blood and its blessed deliverance came quick. She lies +there, in the potter's field, safe from all harms. And the kids-- +well, whilst the law lashed me from town to town, they starved. +Drink, lads--only a drop--a drop to the poor kids, that never did +any creature harm. I begged again--begged, for a crust, and got +the stocks and lost an ear--see, here bides the stump; I begged +again, and here is the stump of the other to keep me minded of it. +And still I begged again, and was sold for a slave--here on my +cheek under this stain, if I washed it off, ye might see the red S +the branding-iron left there! A SLAVE! Do you understand that +word? An English SLAVE!--that is he that stands before ye. I +have run from my master, and when I am found--the heavy curse of +heaven fall on the law of the land that hath commanded it!--I +shall hang!" {1} + +A ringing voice came through the murky air-- + +"Thou shalt NOT!--and this day the end of that law is come!" + +All turned, and saw the fantastic figure of the little King +approaching hurriedly; as it emerged into the light and was +clearly revealed, a general explosion of inquiries broke out-- + +"Who is it? WHAT is it? Who art thou, manikin?" + +The boy stood unconfused in the midst of all those surprised and +questioning eyes, and answered with princely dignity-- + +"I am Edward, King of England." + +A wild burst of laughter followed, partly of derision and partly +of delight in the excellence of the joke. The King was stung. He +said sharply-- + +"Ye mannerless vagrants, is this your recognition of the royal +boon I have promised?" + +He said more, with angry voice and excited gesture, but it was +lost in a whirlwind of laughter and mocking exclamations. 'John +Hobbs' made several attempts to make himself heard above the din, +and at last succeeded--saying-- + +"Mates, he is my son, a dreamer, a fool, and stark mad--mind him +not--he thinketh he IS the King." + +"I AM the King," said Edward, turning toward him, "as thou shalt +know to thy cost, in good time. Thou hast confessed a murder-- +thou shalt swing for it." + +"THOU'LT betray me?--THOU? An' I get my hands upon thee--" + +"Tut-tut!" said the burley Ruffler, interposing in time to save +the King, and emphasising this service by knocking Hobbs down with +his fist, "hast respect for neither Kings NOR Rufflers? An' thou +insult my presence so again, I'll hang thee up myself." Then he +said to his Majesty, "Thou must make no threats against thy mates, +lad; and thou must guard thy tongue from saying evil of them +elsewhere. BE King, if it please thy mad humour, but be not +harmful in it. Sink the title thou hast uttered--'tis treason; we +be bad men in some few trifling ways, but none among us is so base +as to be traitor to his King; we be loving and loyal hearts, in +that regard. Note if I speak truth. Now--all together: 'Long +live Edward, King of England!'" + +"LONG LIVE EDWARD, KING OF ENGLAND!" + +The response came with such a thundergust from the motley crew +that the crazy building vibrated to the sound. The little King's +face lighted with pleasure for an instant, and he slightly +inclined his head, and said with grave simplicity-- + +"I thank you, my good people." + +This unexpected result threw the company into convulsions of +merriment. When something like quiet was presently come again, +the Ruffler said, firmly, but with an accent of good nature-- + +"Drop it, boy, 'tis not wise, nor well. Humour thy fancy, if thou +must, but choose some other title." + +A tinker shrieked out a suggestion-- + +"Foo-foo the First, King of the Mooncalves!" + +The title 'took,' at once, every throat responded, and a roaring +shout went up, of-- + +"Long live Foo-foo the First, King of the Mooncalves!" followed by +hootings, cat-calls, and peals of laughter. + +"Hale him forth, and crown him!" + +"Robe him!" + +"Sceptre him!" + +"Throne him!" + +These and twenty other cries broke out at once! and almost before +the poor little victim could draw a breath he was crowned with a +tin basin, robed in a tattered blanket, throned upon a barrel, and +sceptred with the tinker's soldering-iron. Then all flung +themselves upon their knees about him and sent up a chorus of +ironical wailings, and mocking supplications, whilst they swabbed +their eyes with their soiled and ragged sleeves and aprons-- + +"Be gracious to us, O sweet King!" + +"Trample not upon thy beseeching worms, O noble Majesty!" + +"Pity thy slaves, and comfort them with a royal kick!" + +"Cheer us and warm us with thy gracious rays, O flaming sun of +sovereignty!" + +"Sanctify the ground with the touch of thy foot, that we may eat +the dirt and be ennobled!" + +"Deign to spit upon us, O Sire, that our children's children may +tell of thy princely condescension, and be proud and happy for +ever!" + +But the humorous tinker made the 'hit' of the evening and carried +off the honours. Kneeling, he pretended to kiss the King's foot, +and was indignantly spurned; whereupon he went about begging for a +rag to paste over the place upon his face which had been touched +by the foot, saying it must be preserved from contact with the +vulgar air, and that he should make his fortune by going on the +highway and exposing it to view at the rate of a hundred shillings +a sight. He made himself so killingly funny that he was the envy +and admiration of the whole mangy rabble. + +Tears of shame and indignation stood in the little monarch's eyes; +and the thought in his heart was, "Had I offered them a deep wrong +they could not be more cruel--yet have I proffered nought but to +do them a kindness--and it is thus they use me for it!" + + + +Chapter XVIII. The Prince with the tramps. + +The troop of vagabonds turned out at early dawn, and set forward +on their march. There was a lowering sky overhead, sloppy ground +under foot, and a winter chill in the air. All gaiety was gone +from the company; some were sullen and silent, some were irritable +and petulant, none were gentle-humoured, all were thirsty. + +The Ruffler put 'Jack' in Hugo's charge, with some brief +instructions, and commanded John Canty to keep away from him and +let him alone; he also warned Hugo not to be too rough with the +lad. + +After a while the weather grew milder, and the clouds lifted +somewhat. The troop ceased to shiver, and their spirits began to +improve. They grew more and more cheerful, and finally began to +chaff each other and insult passengers along the highway. This +showed that they were awaking to an appreciation of life and its +joys once more. The dread in which their sort was held was +apparent in the fact that everybody gave them the road, and took +their ribald insolences meekly, without venturing to talk back. +They snatched linen from the hedges, occasionally in full view of +the owners, who made no protest, but only seemed grateful that +they did not take the hedges, too. + +By-and-by they invaded a small farmhouse and made themselves at +home while the trembling farmer and his people swept the larder +clean to furnish a breakfast for them. They chucked the housewife +and her daughters under the chin whilst receiving the food from +their hands, and made coarse jests about them, accompanied with +insulting epithets and bursts of horse-laughter. They threw bones +and vegetables at the farmer and his sons, kept them dodging all +the time, and applauded uproariously when a good hit was made. +They ended by buttering the head of one of the daughters who +resented some of their familiarities. When they took their leave +they threatened to come back and burn the house over the heads of +the family if any report of their doings got to the ears of the +authorities. + +About noon, after a long and weary tramp, the gang came to a halt +behind a hedge on the outskirts of a considerable village. An +hour was allowed for rest, then the crew scattered themselves +abroad to enter the village at different points to ply their +various trades--'Jack' was sent with Hugo. They wandered hither +and thither for some time, Hugo watching for opportunities to do a +stroke of business, but finding none--so he finally said-- + +"I see nought to steal; it is a paltry place. Wherefore we will +beg." + +"WE, forsooth! Follow thy trade--it befits thee. But _I_ will +not beg." + +"Thou'lt not beg!" exclaimed Hugo, eyeing the King with surprise. +"Prithee, since when hast thou reformed?" + +"What dost thou mean?" + +"Mean? Hast thou not begged the streets of London all thy life?" + +"I? Thou idiot!" + +"Spare thy compliments--thy stock will last the longer. Thy +father says thou hast begged all thy days. Mayhap he lied. +Peradventure you will even make so bold as to SAY he lied," +scoffed Hugo. + +"Him YOU call my father? Yes, he lied." + +"Come, play not thy merry game of madman so far, mate; use it for +thy amusement, not thy hurt. An' I tell him this, he will scorch +thee finely for it." + +"Save thyself the trouble. I will tell him." + +"I like thy spirit, I do in truth; but I do not admire thy +judgment. Bone-rackings and bastings be plenty enow in this life, +without going out of one's way to invite them. But a truce to +these matters; _I_ believe your father. I doubt not he can lie; I +doubt not he DOTH lie, upon occasion, for the best of us do that; +but there is no occasion here. A wise man does not waste so good +a commodity as lying for nought. But come; sith it is thy humour +to give over begging, wherewithal shall we busy ourselves? With +robbing kitchens?" + +The King said, impatiently-- + +"Have done with this folly--you weary me!" + +Hugo replied, with temper-- + +"Now harkee, mate; you will not beg, you will not rob; so be it. +But I will tell you what you WILL do. You will play decoy whilst +_I_ beg. Refuse, an' you think you may venture!" + +The King was about to reply contemptuously, when Hugo said, +interrupting-- + +"Peace! Here comes one with a kindly face. Now will I fall down +in a fit. When the stranger runs to me, set you up a wail, and +fall upon your knees, seeming to weep; then cry out as all the +devils of misery were in your belly, and say, 'Oh, sir, it is my +poor afflicted brother, and we be friendless; o' God's name cast +through your merciful eyes one pitiful look upon a sick, forsaken, +and most miserable wretch; bestow one little penny out of thy +riches upon one smitten of God and ready to perish!'--and mind +you, keep you ON wailing, and abate not till we bilk him of his +penny, else shall you rue it." + +Then immediately Hugo began to moan, and groan, and roll his eyes, +and reel and totter about; and when the stranger was close at +hand, down he sprawled before him, with a shriek, and began to +writhe and wallow in the dirt, in seeming agony. + +"O, dear, O dear!" cried the benevolent stranger, "O poor soul, +poor soul, how he doth suffer! There--let me help thee up." + +"O noble sir, forbear, and God love you for a princely gentleman-- +but it giveth me cruel pain to touch me when I am taken so. My +brother there will tell your worship how I am racked with anguish +when these fits be upon me. A penny, dear sir, a penny, to buy a +little food; then leave me to my sorrows." + +"A penny! thou shalt have three, thou hapless creature"--and he +fumbled in his pocket with nervous haste and got them out. +"There, poor lad, take them and most welcome. Now come hither, my +boy, and help me carry thy stricken brother to yon house, where--" + +"I am not his brother," said the King, interrupting. + +"What! not his brother?" + +"Oh, hear him!" groaned Hugo, then privately ground his teeth. +"He denies his own brother--and he with one foot in the grave!" + +"Boy, thou art indeed hard of heart, if this is thy brother. For +shame!--and he scarce able to move hand or foot. If he is not thy +brother, who is he, then?" + +"A beggar and a thief! He has got your money and has picked your +pocket likewise. An' thou would'st do a healing miracle, lay thy +staff over his shoulders and trust Providence for the rest." + +But Hugo did not tarry for the miracle. In a moment he was up and +off like the wind, the gentleman following after and raising the +hue and cry lustily as he went. The King, breathing deep +gratitude to Heaven for his own release, fled in the opposite +direction, and did not slacken his pace until he was out of harm's +reach. He took the first road that offered, and soon put the +village behind him. He hurried along, as briskly as he could, +during several hours, keeping a nervous watch over his shoulder +for pursuit; but his fears left him at last, and a grateful sense +of security took their place. He recognised, now, that he was +hungry, and also very tired. So he halted at a farmhouse; but +when he was about to speak, he was cut short and driven rudely +away. His clothes were against him. + +He wandered on, wounded and indignant, and was resolved to put +himself in the way of like treatment no more. But hunger is +pride's master; so, as the evening drew near, he made an attempt +at another farmhouse; but here he fared worse than before; for he +was called hard names and was promised arrest as a vagrant except +he moved on promptly. + +The night came on, chilly and overcast; and still the footsore +monarch laboured slowly on. He was obliged to keep moving, for +every time he sat down to rest he was soon penetrated to the bone +with the cold. All his sensations and experiences, as he moved +through the solemn gloom and the empty vastness of the night, were +new and strange to him. At intervals he heard voices approach, +pass by, and fade into silence; and as he saw nothing more of the +bodies they belonged to than a sort of formless drifting blur, +there was something spectral and uncanny about it all that made +him shudder. Occasionally he caught the twinkle of a light-- +always far away, apparently--almost in another world; if he heard +the tinkle of a sheep's bell, it was vague, distant, indistinct; +the muffled lowing of the herds floated to him on the night wind +in vanishing cadences, a mournful sound; now and then came the +complaining howl of a dog over viewless expanses of field and +forest; all sounds were remote; they made the little King feel +that all life and activity were far removed from him, and that he +stood solitary, companionless, in the centre of a measureless +solitude. + +He stumbled along, through the gruesome fascinations of this new +experience, startled occasionally by the soft rustling of the dry +leaves overhead, so like human whispers they seemed to sound; and +by-and-by he came suddenly upon the freckled light of a tin +lantern near at hand. He stepped back into the shadows and +waited. The lantern stood by the open door of a barn. The King +waited some time--there was no sound, and nobody stirring. He got +so cold, standing still, and the hospitable barn looked so +enticing, that at last he resolved to risk everything and enter. +He started swiftly and stealthily, and just as he was crossing the +threshold he heard voices behind him. He darted behind a cask, +within the barn, and stooped down. Two farm-labourers came in, +bringing the lantern with them, and fell to work, talking +meanwhile. Whilst they moved about with the light, the King made +good use of his eyes and took the bearings of what seemed to be a +good-sized stall at the further end of the place, purposing to +grope his way to it when he should be left to himself. He also +noted the position of a pile of horse blankets, midway of the +route, with the intent to levy upon them for the service of the +crown of England for one night. + +By-and-by the men finished and went away, fastening the door +behind them and taking the lantern with them. The shivering King +made for the blankets, with as good speed as the darkness would +allow; gathered them up, and then groped his way safely to the +stall. Of two of the blankets he made a bed, then covered himself +with the remaining two. He was a glad monarch, now, though the +blankets were old and thin, and not quite warm enough; and besides +gave out a pungent horsey odour that was almost suffocatingly +powerful. + +Although the King was hungry and chilly, he was also so tired and +so drowsy that these latter influences soon began to get the +advantage of the former, and he presently dozed off into a state +of semi-consciousness. Then, just as he was on the point of +losing himself wholly, he distinctly felt something touch him! He +was broad awake in a moment, and gasping for breath. The cold +horror of that mysterious touch in the dark almost made his heart +stand still. He lay motionless, and listened, scarcely breathing. +But nothing stirred, and there was no sound. He continued to +listen, and wait, during what seemed a long time, but still +nothing stirred, and there was no sound. So he began to drop into +a drowse once more, at last; and all at once he felt that +mysterious touch again! It was a grisly thing, this light touch +from this noiseless and invisible presence; it made the boy sick +with ghostly fears. What should he do? That was the question; +but he did not know how to answer it. Should he leave these +reasonably comfortable quarters and fly from this inscrutable +horror? But fly whither? He could not get out of the barn; and +the idea of scurrying blindly hither and thither in the dark, +within the captivity of the four walls, with this phantom gliding +after him, and visiting him with that soft hideous touch upon +cheek or shoulder at every turn, was intolerable. But to stay +where he was, and endure this living death all night--was that +better? No. What, then, was there left to do? Ah, there was but +one course; he knew it well--he must put out his hand and find +that thing! + +It was easy to think this; but it was hard to brace himself up to +try it. Three times he stretched his hand a little way out into +the dark, gingerly; and snatched it suddenly back, with a gasp-- +not because it had encountered anything, but because he had felt +so sure it was just GOING to. But the fourth time, he groped a +little further, and his hand lightly swept against something soft +and warm. This petrified him, nearly, with fright; his mind was +in such a state that he could imagine the thing to be nothing else +than a corpse, newly dead and still warm. He thought he would +rather die than touch it again. But he thought this false thought +because he did not know the immortal strength of human curiosity. +In no long time his hand was tremblingly groping again--against +his judgment, and without his consent--but groping persistently +on, just the same. It encountered a bunch of long hair; he +shuddered, but followed up the hair and found what seemed to be a +warm rope; followed up the rope and found an innocent calf!--for +the rope was not a rope at all, but the calf's tail. + +The King was cordially ashamed of himself for having gotten all +that fright and misery out of so paltry a matter as a slumbering +calf; but he need not have felt so about it, for it was not the +calf that frightened him, but a dreadful non-existent something +which the calf stood for; and any other boy, in those old +superstitious times, would have acted and suffered just as he had +done. + +The King was not only delighted to find that the creature was only +a calf, but delighted to have the calf's company; for he had been +feeling so lonesome and friendless that the company and +comradeship of even this humble animal were welcome. And he had +been so buffeted, so rudely entreated by his own kind, that it was +a real comfort to him to feel that he was at last in the society +of a fellow-creature that had at least a soft heart and a gentle +spirit, whatever loftier attributes might be lacking. So he +resolved to waive rank and make friends with the calf. + +While stroking its sleek warm back--for it lay near him and within +easy reach--it occurred to him that this calf might be utilised in +more ways than one. Whereupon he re-arranged his bed, spreading +it down close to the calf; then he cuddled himself up to the +calf's back, drew the covers up over himself and his friend, and +in a minute or two was as warm and comfortable as he had ever been +in the downy couches of the regal palace of Westminster. + +Pleasant thoughts came at once; life took on a cheerfuller +seeming. He was free of the bonds of servitude and crime, free of +the companionship of base and brutal outlaws; he was warm; he was +sheltered; in a word, he was happy. The night wind was rising; it +swept by in fitful gusts that made the old barn quake and rattle, +then its forces died down at intervals, and went moaning and +wailing around corners and projections--but it was all music to +the King, now that he was snug and comfortable: let it blow and +rage, let it batter and bang, let it moan and wail, he minded it +not, he only enjoyed it. He merely snuggled the closer to his +friend, in a luxury of warm contentment, and drifted blissfully +out of consciousness into a deep and dreamless sleep that was full +of serenity and peace. The distant dogs howled, the melancholy +kine complained, and the winds went on raging, whilst furious +sheets of rain drove along the roof; but the Majesty of England +slept on, undisturbed, and the calf did the same, it being a +simple creature, and not easily troubled by storms or embarrassed +by sleeping with a king. + + + +Chapter XIX. The Prince with the peasants. + +When the King awoke in the early morning, he found that a wet but +thoughtful rat had crept into the place during the night and made +a cosy bed for itself in his bosom. Being disturbed now, it +scampered away. The boy smiled, and said, "Poor fool, why so +fearful? I am as forlorn as thou. 'Twould be a sham in me to +hurt the helpless, who am myself so helpless. Moreover, I owe you +thanks for a good omen; for when a king has fallen so low that the +very rats do make a bed of him, it surely meaneth that his +fortunes be upon the turn, since it is plain he can no lower go." + +He got up and stepped out of the stall, and just then he heard the +sound of children's voices. The barn door opened and a couple of +little girls came in. As soon as they saw him their talking and +laughing ceased, and they stopped and stood still, gazing at him +with strong curiosity; they presently began to whisper together, +then they approached nearer, and stopped again to gaze and +whisper. By-and-by they gathered courage and began to discuss him +aloud. One said-- + +"He hath a comely face." + +The other added-- + +"And pretty hair." + +"But is ill clothed enow." + +"And how starved he looketh." + +They came still nearer, sidling shyly around and about him, +examining him minutely from all points, as if he were some strange +new kind of animal, but warily and watchfully the while, as if +they half feared he might be a sort of animal that would bite, +upon occasion. Finally they halted before him, holding each +other's hands for protection, and took a good satisfying stare +with their innocent eyes; then one of them plucked up all her +courage and inquired with honest directness-- + +"Who art thou, boy?" + +"I am the King," was the grave answer. + +The children gave a little start, and their eyes spread themselves +wide open and remained so during a speechless half minute. Then +curiosity broke the silence-- + +"The KING? What King?" + +"The King of England." + +The children looked at each other--then at him--then at each other +again--wonderingly, perplexedly; then one said-- + +"Didst hear him, Margery?--he said he is the King. Can that be +true?" + +"How can it be else but true, Prissy? Would he say a lie? For +look you, Prissy, an' it were not true, it WOULD be a lie. It +surely would be. Now think on't. For all things that be not +true, be lies--thou canst make nought else out of it." + +It was a good tight argument, without a leak in it anywhere; and +it left Prissy's half-doubts not a leg to stand on. She +considered a moment, then put the King upon his honour with the +simple remark-- + +"If thou art truly the King, then I believe thee." + +"I am truly the King." + +This settled the matter. His Majesty's royalty was accepted +without further question or discussion, and the two little girls +began at once to inquire into how he came to be where he was, and +how he came to be so unroyally clad, and whither he was bound, and +all about his affairs. It was a mighty relief to him to pour out +his troubles where they would not be scoffed at or doubted; so he +told his tale with feeling, forgetting even his hunger for the +time; and it was received with the deepest and tenderest sympathy +by the gentle little maids. But when he got down to his latest +experiences and they learned how long he had been without food, +they cut him short and hurried him away to the farmhouse to find a +breakfast for him. + +The King was cheerful and happy now, and said to himself, "When I +am come to mine own again, I will always honour little children, +remembering how that these trusted me and believed in me in my +time of trouble; whilst they that were older, and thought +themselves wiser, mocked at me and held me for a liar." + +The children's mother received the King kindly, and was full of +pity; for his forlorn condition and apparently crazed intellect +touched her womanly heart. She was a widow, and rather poor; +consequently she had seen trouble enough to enable her to feel for +the unfortunate. She imagined that the demented boy had wandered +away from his friends or keepers; so she tried to find out whence +he had come, in order that she might take measures to return him; +but all her references to neighbouring towns and villages, and all +her inquiries in the same line went for nothing--the boy's face, +and his answers, too, showed that the things she was talking of +were not familiar to him. He spoke earnestly and simply about +court matters, and broke down, more than once, when speaking of +the late King 'his father'; but whenever the conversation changed +to baser topics, he lost interest and became silent. + +The woman was mightily puzzled; but she did not give up. As she +proceeded with her cooking, she set herself to contriving devices +to surprise the boy into betraying his real secret. She talked +about cattle--he showed no concern; then about sheep--the same +result: so her guess that he had been a shepherd boy was an +error; she talked about mills; and about weavers, tinkers, smiths, +trades and tradesmen of all sorts; and about Bedlam, and jails, +and charitable retreats: but no matter, she was baffled at all +points. Not altogether, either; for she argued that she had +narrowed the thing down to domestic service. Yes, she was sure +she was on the right track, now; he must have been a house +servant. So she led up to that. But the result was discouraging. +The subject of sweeping appeared to weary him; fire-building +failed to stir him; scrubbing and scouring awoke no enthusiasm. +The goodwife touched, with a perishing hope, and rather as a +matter of form, upon the subject of cooking. To her surprise, and +her vast delight, the King's face lighted at once! Ah, she had +hunted him down at last, she thought; and she was right proud, +too, of the devious shrewdness and tact which had accomplished it. + +Her tired tongue got a chance to rest, now; for the King's, +inspired by gnawing hunger and the fragrant smells that came from +the sputtering pots and pans, turned itself loose and delivered +itself up to such an eloquent dissertation upon certain toothsome +dishes, that within three minutes the woman said to herself, "Of a +truth I was right--he hath holpen in a kitchen!" Then he +broadened his bill of fare, and discussed it with such +appreciation and animation, that the goodwife said to herself, +"Good lack! how can he know so many dishes, and so fine ones +withal? For these belong only upon the tables of the rich and +great. Ah, now I see! ragged outcast as he is, he must have +served in the palace before his reason went astray; yes, he must +have helped in the very kitchen of the King himself! I will test +him." + +Full of eagerness to prove her sagacity, she told the King to mind +the cooking a moment--hinting that he might manufacture and add a +dish or two, if he chose; then she went out of the room and gave +her children a sign to follow after. The King muttered-- + +"Another English king had a commission like to this, in a bygone +time--it is nothing against my dignity to undertake an office +which the great Alfred stooped to assume. But I will try to +better serve my trust than he; for he let the cakes burn." + +The intent was good, but the performance was not answerable to it, +for this King, like the other one, soon fell into deep thinkings +concerning his vast affairs, and the same calamity resulted--the +cookery got burned. The woman returned in time to save the +breakfast from entire destruction; and she promptly brought the +King out of his dreams with a brisk and cordial tongue-lashing. +Then, seeing how troubled he was over his violated trust, she +softened at once, and was all goodness and gentleness toward him. + +The boy made a hearty and satisfying meal, and was greatly +refreshed and gladdened by it. It was a meal which was +distinguished by this curious feature, that rank was waived on +both sides; yet neither recipient of the favour was aware that it +had been extended. The goodwife had intended to feed this young +tramp with broken victuals in a corner, like any other tramp or +like a dog; but she was so remorseful for the scolding she had +given him, that she did what she could to atone for it by allowing +him to sit at the family table and eat with his betters, on +ostensible terms of equality with them; and the King, on his side, +was so remorseful for having broken his trust, after the family +had been so kind to him, that he forced himself to atone for it by +humbling himself to the family level, instead of requiring the +woman and her children to stand and wait upon him, while he +occupied their table in the solitary state due to his birth and +dignity. It does us all good to unbend sometimes. This good +woman was made happy all the day long by the applauses which she +got out of herself for her magnanimous condescension to a tramp; +and the King was just as self-complacent over his gracious +humility toward a humble peasant woman. + +When breakfast was over, the housewife told the King to wash up +the dishes. This command was a staggerer, for a moment, and the +King came near rebelling; but then he said to himself, "Alfred the +Great watched the cakes; doubtless he would have washed the dishes +too--therefore will I essay it." + +He made a sufficiently poor job of it; and to his surprise too, +for the cleaning of wooden spoons and trenchers had seemed an easy +thing to do. It was a tedious and troublesome piece of work, but +he finished it at last. He was becoming impatient to get away on +his journey now; however, he was not to lose this thrifty dame's +society so easily. She furnished him some little odds and ends of +employment, which he got through with after a fair fashion and +with some credit. Then she set him and the little girls to paring +some winter apples; but he was so awkward at this service that she +retired him from it and gave him a butcher knife to grind. +Afterwards she kept him carding wool until he began to think he +had laid the good King Alfred about far enough in the shade for +the present in the matter of showy menial heroisms that would read +picturesquely in story-books and histories, and so he was half- +minded to resign. And when, just after the noonday dinner, the +goodwife gave him a basket of kittens to drown, he did resign. At +least he was just going to resign--for he felt that he must draw +the line somewhere, and it seemed to him that to draw it at +kitten-drowning was about the right thing--when there was an +interruption. The interruption was John Canty--with a peddler's +pack on his back--and Hugo. + +The King discovered these rascals approaching the front gate +before they had had a chance to see him; so he said nothing about +drawing the line, but took up his basket of kittens and stepped +quietly out the back way, without a word. He left the creatures +in an out-house, and hurried on, into a narrow lane at the rear. + + + +Chapter XX. The Prince and the hermit. + +The high hedge hid him from the house, now; and so, under the +impulse of a deadly fright, he let out all his forces and sped +toward a wood in the distance. He never looked back until he had +almost gained the shelter of the forest; then he turned and +descried two figures in the distance. That was sufficient; he did +not wait to scan them critically, but hurried on, and never abated +his pace till he was far within the twilight depths of the wood. +Then he stopped; being persuaded that he was now tolerably safe. +He listened intently, but the stillness was profound and solemn-- +awful, even, and depressing to the spirits. At wide intervals his +straining ear did detect sounds, but they were so remote, and +hollow, and mysterious, that they seemed not to be real sounds, +but only the moaning and complaining ghosts of departed ones. So +the sounds were yet more dreary than the silence which they +interrupted. + +It was his purpose, in the beginning, to stay where he was the +rest of the day; but a chill soon invaded his perspiring body, and +he was at last obliged to resume movement in order to get warm. +He struck straight through the forest, hoping to pierce to a road +presently, but he was disappointed in this. He travelled on and +on; but the farther he went, the denser the wood became, +apparently. The gloom began to thicken, by-and-by, and the King +realised that the night was coming on. It made him shudder to +think of spending it in such an uncanny place; so he tried to +hurry faster, but he only made the less speed, for he could not +now see well enough to choose his steps judiciously; consequently +he kept tripping over roots and tangling himself in vines and +briers. + +And how glad he was when at last he caught the glimmer of a light! +He approached it warily, stopping often to look about him and +listen. It came from an unglazed window-opening in a shabby +little hut. He heard a voice, now, and felt a disposition to run +and hide; but he changed his mind at once, for this voice was +praying, evidently. He glided to the one window of the hut, +raised himself on tiptoe, and stole a glance within. The room was +small; its floor was the natural earth, beaten hard by use; in a +corner was a bed of rushes and a ragged blanket or two; near it +was a pail, a cup, a basin, and two or three pots and pans; there +was a short bench and a three-legged stool; on the hearth the +remains of a faggot fire were smouldering; before a shrine, which +was lighted by a single candle, knelt an aged man, and on an old +wooden box at his side lay an open book and a human skull. The +man was of large, bony frame; his hair and whiskers were very long +and snowy white; he was clothed in a robe of sheepskins which +reached from his neck to his heels. + +"A holy hermit!" said the King to himself; "now am I indeed +fortunate." + +The hermit rose from his knees; the King knocked. A deep voice +responded-- + +"Enter!--but leave sin behind, for the ground whereon thou shalt +stand is holy!" + +The King entered, and paused. The hermit turned a pair of +gleaming, unrestful eyes upon him, and said-- + +"Who art thou?" + +"I am the King," came the answer, with placid simplicity. + +"Welcome, King!" cried the hermit, with enthusiasm. Then, +bustling about with feverish activity, and constantly saying, +"Welcome, welcome," he arranged his bench, seated the King on it, +by the hearth, threw some faggots on the fire, and finally fell to +pacing the floor with a nervous stride. + +"Welcome! Many have sought sanctuary here, but they were not +worthy, and were turned away. But a King who casts his crown +away, and despises the vain splendours of his office, and clothes +his body in rags, to devote his life to holiness and the +mortification of the flesh--he is worthy, he is welcome!--here +shall he abide all his days till death come." The King hastened +to interrupt and explain, but the hermit paid no attention to him- +-did not even hear him, apparently, but went right on with his +talk, with a raised voice and a growing energy. "And thou shalt +be at peace here. None shall find out thy refuge to disquiet thee +with supplications to return to that empty and foolish life which +God hath moved thee to abandon. Thou shalt pray here; thou shalt +study the Book; thou shalt meditate upon the follies and delusions +of this world, and upon the sublimities of the world to come; thou +shalt feed upon crusts and herbs, and scourge thy body with whips, +daily, to the purifying of thy soul. Thou shalt wear a hair shirt +next thy skin; thou shalt drink water only; and thou shalt be at +peace; yes, wholly at peace; for whoso comes to seek thee shall go +his way again, baffled; he shall not find thee, he shall not +molest thee." + +The old man, still pacing back and forth, ceased to speak aloud, +and began to mutter. The King seized this opportunity to state +his case; and he did it with an eloquence inspired by uneasiness +and apprehension. But the hermit went on muttering, and gave no +heed. And still muttering, he approached the King and said +impressively-- + +"'Sh! I will tell you a secret!" He bent down to impart it, but +checked himself, and assumed a listening attitude. After a moment +or two he went on tiptoe to the window-opening, put his head out, +and peered around in the gloaming, then came tiptoeing back again, +put his face close down to the King's, and whispered-- + +"I am an archangel!" + +The King started violently, and said to himself, "Would God I were +with the outlaws again; for lo, now am I the prisoner of a +madman!" His apprehensions were heightened, and they showed +plainly in his face. In a low excited voice the hermit continued- +- + +"I see you feel my atmosphere! There's awe in your face! None +may be in this atmosphere and not be thus affected; for it is the +very atmosphere of heaven. I go thither and return, in the +twinkling of an eye. I was made an archangel on this very spot, +it is five years ago, by angels sent from heaven to confer that +awful dignity. Their presence filled this place with an +intolerable brightness. And they knelt to me, King! yes, they +knelt to me! for I was greater than they. I have walked in the +courts of heaven, and held speech with the patriarchs. Touch my +hand--be not afraid--touch it. There--now thou hast touched a +hand which has been clasped by Abraham and Isaac and Jacob! For I +have walked in the golden courts; I have seen the Deity face to +face!" He paused, to give this speech effect; then his face +suddenly changed, and he started to his feet again saying, with +angry energy, "Yes, I am an archangel; A MERE ARCHANGEL!--I that +might have been pope! It is verily true. I was told it from +heaven in a dream, twenty years ago; ah, yes, I was to be pope!-- +and I SHOULD have been pope, for Heaven had said it--but the King +dissolved my religious house, and I, poor obscure unfriended monk, +was cast homeless upon the world, robbed of my mighty destiny!" +Here he began to mumble again, and beat his forehead in futile +rage, with his fist; now and then articulating a venomous curse, +and now and then a pathetic "Wherefore I am nought but an +archangel--I that should have been pope!" + +So he went on, for an hour, whilst the poor little King sat and +suffered. Then all at once the old man's frenzy departed, and he +became all gentleness. His voice softened, he came down out of +his clouds, and fell to prattling along so simply and so humanly, +that he soon won the King's heart completely. The old devotee +moved the boy nearer to the fire and made him comfortable; +doctored his small bruises and abrasions with a deft and tender +hand; and then set about preparing and cooking a supper--chatting +pleasantly all the time, and occasionally stroking the lad's cheek +or patting his head, in such a gently caressing way that in a +little while all the fear and repulsion inspired by the archangel +were changed to reverence and affection for the man. + +This happy state of things continued while the two ate the supper; +then, after a prayer before the shrine, the hermit put the boy to +bed, in a small adjoining room, tucking him in as snugly and +lovingly as a mother might; and so, with a parting caress, left +him and sat down by the fire, and began to poke the brands about +in an absent and aimless way. Presently he paused; then tapped +his forehead several times with his fingers, as if trying to +recall some thought which had escaped from his mind. Apparently +he was unsuccessful. Now he started quickly up, and entered his +guest's room, and said-- + +"Thou art King?" + +"Yes," was the response, drowsily uttered. + +"What King?" + +"Of England." + +"Of England? Then Henry is gone!" + +"Alack, it is so. I am his son." + +A black frown settled down upon the hermit's face, and he clenched +his bony hands with a vindictive energy. He stood a few moments, +breathing fast and swallowing repeatedly, then said in a husky +voice-- + +"Dost know it was he that turned us out into the world houseless +and homeless?" + +There was no response. The old man bent down and scanned the +boy's reposeful face and listened to his placid breathing. "He +sleeps--sleeps soundly;" and the frown vanished away and gave +place to an expression of evil satisfaction. A smile flitted +across the dreaming boy's features. The hermit muttered, "So--his +heart is happy;" and he turned away. He went stealthily about the +place, seeking here and there for something; now and then halting +to listen, now and then jerking his head around and casting a +quick glance toward the bed; and always muttering, always mumbling +to himself. At last he found what he seemed to want--a rusty old +butcher knife and a whetstone. Then he crept to his place by the +fire, sat himself down, and began to whet the knife softly on the +stone, still muttering, mumbling, ejaculating. The winds sighed +around the lonely place, the mysterious voices of the night +floated by out of the distances. The shining eyes of venturesome +mice and rats peered out at the old man from cracks and coverts, +but he went on with his work, rapt, absorbed, and noted none of +these things. + +At long intervals he drew his thumb along the edge of his knife, +and nodded his head with satisfaction. "It grows sharper," he +said; "yes, it grows sharper." + +He took no note of the flight of time, but worked tranquilly on, +entertaining himself with his thoughts, which broke out +occasionally in articulate speech-- + +"His father wrought us evil, he destroyed us--and is gone down +into the eternal fires! Yes, down into the eternal fires! He +escaped us--but it was God's will, yes it was God's will, we must +not repine. But he hath not escaped the fires! No, he hath not +escaped the fires, the consuming, unpitying, remorseless fires-- +and THEY are everlasting!" + +And so he wrought, and still wrought--mumbling, chuckling a low +rasping chuckle at times--and at times breaking again into words-- + +"It was his father that did it all. I am but an archangel; but +for him I should be pope!" + +The King stirred. The hermit sprang noiselessly to the bedside, +and went down upon his knees, bending over the prostrate form with +his knife uplifted. The boy stirred again; his eyes came open for +an instant, but there was no speculation in them, they saw +nothing; the next moment his tranquil breathing showed that his +sleep was sound once more. + +The hermit watched and listened, for a time, keeping his position +and scarcely breathing; then he slowly lowered his arms, and +presently crept away, saying,-- + +"It is long past midnight; it is not best that he should cry out, +lest by accident someone be passing." + +He glided about his hovel, gathering a rag here, a thong there, +and another one yonder; then he returned, and by careful and +gentle handling he managed to tie the King's ankles together +without waking him. Next he essayed to tie the wrists; he made +several attempts to cross them, but the boy always drew one hand +or the other away, just as the cord was ready to be applied; but +at last, when the archangel was almost ready to despair, the boy +crossed his hands himself, and the next moment they were bound. +Now a bandage was passed under the sleeper's chin and brought up +over his head and tied fast--and so softly, so gradually, and so +deftly were the knots drawn together and compacted, that the boy +slept peacefully through it all without stirring. + + + +Chapter XXI. Hendon to the rescue. + +The old man glided away, stooping, stealthy, cat-like, and brought +the low bench. He seated himself upon it, half his body in the +dim and flickering light, and the other half in shadow; and so, +with his craving eyes bent upon the slumbering boy, he kept his +patient vigil there, heedless of the drift of time, and softly +whetted his knife, and mumbled and chuckled; and in aspect and +attitude he resembled nothing so much as a grizzly, monstrous +spider, gloating over some hapless insect that lay bound and +helpless in his web. + +After a long while, the old man, who was still gazing,--yet not +seeing, his mind having settled into a dreamy abstraction,-- +observed, on a sudden, that the boy's eyes were open! wide open +and staring!--staring up in frozen horror at the knife. The smile +of a gratified devil crept over the old man's face, and he said, +without changing his attitude or his occupation-- + +"Son of Henry the Eighth, hast thou prayed?" + +The boy struggled helplessly in his bonds, and at the same time +forced a smothered sound through his closed jaws, which the hermit +chose to interpret as an affirmative answer to his question. + +"Then pray again. Pray the prayer for the dying!" + +A shudder shook the boy's frame, and his face blenched. Then he +struggled again to free himself--turning and twisting himself this +way and that; tugging frantically, fiercely, desperately--but +uselessly--to burst his fetters; and all the while the old ogre +smiled down upon him, and nodded his head, and placidly whetted +his knife; mumbling, from time to time, "The moments are precious, +they are few and precious--pray the prayer for the dying!" + +The boy uttered a despairing groan, and ceased from his struggles, +panting. The tears came, then, and trickled, one after the other, +down his face; but this piteous sight wrought no softening effect +upon the savage old man. + +The dawn was coming now; the hermit observed it, and spoke up +sharply, with a touch of nervous apprehension in his voice-- + +"I may not indulge this ecstasy longer! The night is already +gone. It seems but a moment--only a moment; would it had endured +a year! Seed of the Church's spoiler, close thy perishing eyes, +an' thou fearest to look upon--" + +The rest was lost in inarticulate mutterings. The old man sank +upon his knees, his knife in his hand, and bent himself over the +moaning boy. + +Hark! There was a sound of voices near the cabin--the knife +dropped from the hermit's hand; he cast a sheepskin over the boy +and started up, trembling. The sounds increased, and presently +the voices became rough and angry; then came blows, and cries for +help; then a clatter of swift footsteps, retreating. Immediately +came a succession of thundering knocks upon the cabin door, +followed by-- + +"Hullo-o-o! Open! And despatch, in the name of all the devils!" + +Oh, this was the blessedest sound that had ever made music in the +King's ears; for it was Miles Hendon's voice! + +The hermit, grinding his teeth in impotent rage, moved swiftly out +of the bedchamber, closing the door behind him; and straightway +the King heard a talk, to this effect, proceeding from the +'chapel':-- + +"Homage and greeting, reverend sir! Where is the boy--MY boy?" + +"What boy, friend?" + +"What boy! Lie me no lies, sir priest, play me no deceptions!--I +am not in the humour for it. Near to this place I caught the +scoundrels who I judged did steal him from me, and I made them +confess; they said he was at large again, and they had tracked him +to your door. They showed me his very footprints. Now palter no +more; for look you, holy sir, an' thou produce him not--Where is +the boy?" + +"O good sir, peradventure you mean the ragged regal vagrant that +tarried here the night. If such as you take an interest in such +as he, know, then, that I have sent him of an errand. He will be +back anon." + +"How soon? How soon? Come, waste not the time--cannot I overtake +him? How soon will he be back?" + +"Thou need'st not stir; he will return quickly." + +"So be it, then. I will try to wait. But stop!--YOU sent him of +an errand?--you! Verily this is a lie--he would not go. He would +pull thy old beard, an' thou didst offer him such an insolence. +Thou hast lied, friend; thou hast surely lied! He would not go +for thee, nor for any man." + +"For any MAN--no; haply not. But I am not a man." + +"WHAT! Now o' God's name what art thou, then?" + +"It is a secret--mark thou reveal it not. I am an archangel!" + +There was a tremendous ejaculation from Miles Hendon--not +altogether unprofane--followed by-- + +"This doth well and truly account for his complaisance! Right +well I knew he would budge nor hand nor foot in the menial service +of any mortal; but, lord, even a king must obey when an archangel +gives the word o' command! Let me--'sh! What noise was that?" + +All this while the little King had been yonder, alternately +quaking with terror and trembling with hope; and all the while, +too, he had thrown all the strength he could into his anguished +moanings, constantly expecting them to reach Hendon's ear, but +always realising, with bitterness, that they failed, or at least +made no impression. So this last remark of his servant came as +comes a reviving breath from fresh fields to the dying; and he +exerted himself once more, and with all his energy, just as the +hermit was saying-- + +"Noise? I heard only the wind." + +"Mayhap it was. Yes, doubtless that was it. I have been hearing +it faintly all the--there it is again! It is not the wind! What +an odd sound! Come, we will hunt it out!" + +Now the King's joy was nearly insupportable. His tired lungs did +their utmost--and hopefully, too--but the sealed jaws and the +muffling sheepskin sadly crippled the effort. Then the poor +fellow's heart sank, to hear the hermit say-- + +"Ah, it came from without--I think from the copse yonder. Come, I +will lead the way." + +The King heard the two pass out, talking; heard their footsteps +die quickly away--then he was alone with a boding, brooding, awful +silence. + +It seemed an age till he heard the steps and voices approaching +again--and this time he heard an added sound,--the trampling of +hoofs, apparently. Then he heard Hendon say-- + +"I will not wait longer. I CANNOT wait longer. He has lost his +way in this thick wood. Which direction took he? Quick--point it +out to me." + +"He--but wait; I will go with thee." + +"Good--good! Why, truly thou art better than thy looks. Marry I +do not think there's not another archangel with so right a heart +as thine. Wilt ride? Wilt take the wee donkey that's for my boy, +or wilt thou fork thy holy legs over this ill-conditioned slave of +a mule that I have provided for myself?--and had been cheated in +too, had he cost but the indifferent sum of a month's usury on a +brass farthing let to a tinker out of work." + +"No--ride thy mule, and lead thine ass; I am surer on mine own +feet, and will walk." + +"Then prithee mind the little beast for me while I take my life in +my hands and make what success I may toward mounting the big one." + +Then followed a confusion of kicks, cuffs, tramplings and +plungings, accompanied by a thunderous intermingling of volleyed +curses, and finally a bitter apostrophe to the mule, which must +have broken its spirit, for hostilities seemed to cease from that +moment. + +With unutterable misery the fettered little King heard the voices +and footsteps fade away and die out. All hope forsook him, now, +for the moment, and a dull despair settled down upon his heart. +"My only friend is deceived and got rid of," he said; "the hermit +will return and--" He finished with a gasp; and at once fell to +struggling so frantically with his bonds again, that he shook off +the smothering sheepskin. + +And now he heard the door open! The sound chilled him to the +marrow--already he seemed to feel the knife at his throat. Horror +made him close his eyes; horror made him open them again--and +before him stood John Canty and Hugo! + +He would have said "Thank God!" if his jaws had been free. + +A moment or two later his limbs were at liberty, and his captors, +each gripping him by an arm, were hurrying him with all speed +through the forest. + + + +Chapter XXII. A victim of treachery. + +Once more 'King Foo-foo the First' was roving with the tramps and +outlaws, a butt for their coarse jests and dull-witted railleries, +and sometimes the victim of small spitefulness at the hands of +Canty and Hugo when the Ruffler's back was turned. None but Canty +and Hugo really disliked him. Some of the others liked him, and +all admired his pluck and spirit. During two or three days, Hugo, +in whose ward and charge the King was, did what he covertly could +to make the boy uncomfortable; and at night, during the customary +orgies, he amused the company by putting small indignities upon +him--always as if by accident. Twice he stepped upon the King's +toes--accidentally--and the King, as became his royalty, was +contemptuously unconscious of it and indifferent to it; but the +third time Hugo entertained himself in that way, the King felled +him to the ground with a cudgel, to the prodigious delight of the +tribe. Hugo, consumed with anger and shame, sprang up, seized a +cudgel, and came at his small adversary in a fury. Instantly a +ring was formed around the gladiators, and the betting and +cheering began. But poor Hugo stood no chance whatever. His +frantic and lubberly 'prentice-work found but a poor market for +itself when pitted against an arm which had been trained by the +first masters of Europe in single-stick, quarter-staff, and every +art and trick of swordsmanship. The little King stood, alert but +at graceful ease, and caught and turned aside the thick rain of +blows with a facility and precision which set the motley on- +lookers wild with admiration; and every now and then, when his +practised eye detected an opening, and a lightning-swift rap upon +Hugo's head followed as a result, the storm of cheers and laughter +that swept the place was something wonderful to hear. At the end +of fifteen minutes, Hugo, all battered, bruised, and the target +for a pitiless bombardment of ridicule, slunk from the field; and +the unscathed hero of the fight was seized and borne aloft upon +the shoulders of the joyous rabble to the place of honour beside +the Ruffler, where with vast ceremony he was crowned King of the +Game-Cocks; his meaner title being at the same time solemnly +cancelled and annulled, and a decree of banishment from the gang +pronounced against any who should thenceforth utter it. + +All attempts to make the King serviceable to the troop had failed. +He had stubbornly refused to act; moreover, he was always trying +to escape. He had been thrust into an unwatched kitchen, the +first day of his return; he not only came forth empty-handed, but +tried to rouse the housemates. He was sent out with a tinker to +help him at his work; he would not work; moreover, he threatened +the tinker with his own soldering-iron; and finally both Hugo and +the tinker found their hands full with the mere matter of keeping +his from getting away. He delivered the thunders of his royalty +upon the heads of all who hampered his liberties or tried to force +him to service. He was sent out, in Hugo's charge, in company +with a slatternly woman and a diseased baby, to beg; but the +result was not encouraging--he declined to plead for the +mendicants, or be a party to their cause in any way. + +Thus several days went by; and the miseries of this tramping life, +and the weariness and sordidness and meanness and vulgarity of it, +became gradually and steadily so intolerable to the captive that +he began at last to feel that his release from the hermit's knife +must prove only a temporary respite from death, at best. + +But at night, in his dreams, these things were forgotten, and he +was on his throne, and master again. This, of course, intensified +the sufferings of the awakening--so the mortifications of each +succeeding morning of the few that passed between his return to +bondage and the combat with Hugo, grew bitterer and bitterer, and +harder and harder to bear. + +The morning after that combat, Hugo got up with a heart filled +with vengeful purposes against the King. He had two plans, in +particular. One was to inflict upon the lad what would be, to his +proud spirit and 'imagined' royalty, a peculiar humiliation; and +if he failed to accomplish this, his other plan was to put a crime +of some kind upon the King, and then betray him into the +implacable clutches of the law. + +In pursuance of the first plan, he purposed to put a 'clime' upon +the King's leg; rightly judging that that would mortify him to the +last and perfect degree; and as soon as the clime should operate, +he meant to get Canty's help, and FORCE the King to expose his leg +in the highway and beg for alms. 'Clime' was the cant term for a +sore, artificially created. To make a clime, the operator made a +paste or poultice of unslaked lime, soap, and the rust of old +iron, and spread it upon a piece of leather, which was then bound +tightly upon the leg. This would presently fret off the skin, and +make the flesh raw and angry-looking; blood was then rubbed upon +the limb, which, being fully dried, took on a dark and repulsive +colour. Then a bandage of soiled rags was put on in a cleverly +careless way which would allow the hideous ulcer to be seen, and +move the compassion of the passer-by. {8} + +Hugo got the help of the tinker whom the King had cowed with the +soldering-iron; they took the boy out on a tinkering tramp, and as +soon as they were out of sight of the camp they threw him down and +the tinker held him while Hugo bound the poultice tight and fast +upon his leg. + +The King raged and stormed, and promised to hang the two the +moment the sceptre was in his hand again; but they kept a firm +grip upon him and enjoyed his impotent struggling and jeered at +his threats. This continued until the poultice began to bite; and +in no long time its work would have been perfected, if there had +been no interruption. But there was; for about this time the +'slave' who had made the speech denouncing England's laws, +appeared on the scene, and put an end to the enterprise, and +stripped off the poultice and bandage. + +The King wanted to borrow his deliverer's cudgel and warm the +jackets of the two rascals on the spot; but the man said no, it +would bring trouble--leave the matter till night; the whole tribe +being together, then, the outside world would not venture to +interfere or interrupt. He marched the party back to camp and +reported the affair to the Ruffler, who listened, pondered, and +then decided that the King should not be again detailed to beg, +since it was plain he was worthy of something higher and better-- +wherefore, on the spot he promoted him from the mendicant rank and +appointed him to steal! + +Hugo was overjoyed. He had already tried to make the King steal, +and failed; but there would be no more trouble of that sort, now, +for of course the King would not dream of defying a distinct +command delivered directly from head-quarters. So he planned a +raid for that very afternoon, purposing to get the King in the +law's grip in the course of it; and to do it, too, with such +ingenious strategy, that it should seem to be accidental and +unintentional; for the King of the Game-Cocks was popular now, and +the gang might not deal over-gently with an unpopular member who +played so serious a treachery upon him as the delivering him over +to the common enemy, the law. + +Very well. All in good time Hugo strolled off to a neighbouring +village with his prey; and the two drifted slowly up and down one +street after another, the one watching sharply for a sure chance +to achieve his evil purpose, and the other watching as sharply for +a chance to dart away and get free of his infamous captivity for +ever. + +Both threw away some tolerably fair-looking opportunities; for +both, in their secret hearts, were resolved to make absolutely +sure work this time, and neither meant to allow his fevered +desires to seduce him into any venture that had much uncertainty +about it. + +Hugo's chance came first. For at last a woman approached who +carried a fat package of some sort in a basket. Hugo's eyes +sparkled with sinful pleasure as he said to himself, "Breath o' my +life, an' I can but put THAT upon him, 'tis good-den and God keep +thee, King of the Game-Cocks!" He waited and watched--outwardly +patient, but inwardly consuming with excitement--till the woman +had passed by, and the time was ripe; then said, in a low voice-- + +"Tarry here till I come again," and darted stealthily after the +prey. + +The King's heart was filled with joy--he could make his escape, +now, if Hugo's quest only carried him far enough away. + +But he was to have no such luck. Hugo crept behind the woman, +snatched the package, and came running back, wrapping it in an old +piece of blanket which he carried on his arm. The hue and cry was +raised in a moment, by the woman, who knew her loss by the +lightening of her burden, although she had not seen the pilfering +done. Hugo thrust the bundle into the King's hands without +halting, saying-- + +"Now speed ye after me with the rest, and cry 'Stop thief!' but +mind ye lead them astray!" + +The next moment Hugo turned a corner and darted down a crooked +alley--and in another moment or two he lounged into view again, +looking innocent and indifferent, and took up a position behind a +post to watch results. + +The insulted King threw the bundle on the ground; and the blanket +fell away from it just as the woman arrived, with an augmenting +crowd at her heels; she seized the King's wrist with one hand, +snatched up her bundle with the other, and began to pour out a +tirade of abuse upon the boy while he struggled, without success, +to free himself from her grip. + +Hugo had seen enough--his enemy was captured and the law would get +him, now--so he slipped away, jubilant and chuckling, and wended +campwards, framing a judicious version of the matter to give to +the Ruffler's crew as he strode along. + +The King continued to struggle in the woman's strong grasp, and +now and then cried out in vexation-- + +"Unhand me, thou foolish creature; it was not I that bereaved thee +of thy paltry goods." + +The crowd closed around, threatening the King and calling him +names; a brawny blacksmith in leather apron, and sleeves rolled to +his elbows, made a reach for him, saying he would trounce him +well, for a lesson; but just then a long sword flashed in the air +and fell with convincing force upon the man's arm, flat side down, +the fantastic owner of it remarking pleasantly, at the same time-- + +"Marry, good souls, let us proceed gently, not with ill blood and +uncharitable words. This is matter for the law's consideration, +not private and unofficial handling. Loose thy hold from the boy, +goodwife." + +The blacksmith averaged the stalwart soldier with a glance, then +went muttering away, rubbing his arm; the woman released the boy's +wrist reluctantly; the crowd eyed the stranger unlovingly, but +prudently closed their mouths. The King sprang to his deliverer's +side, with flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes, exclaiming-- + +"Thou hast lagged sorely, but thou comest in good season, now, Sir +Miles; carve me this rabble to rags!" + + + +Chapter XXIII. The Prince a prisoner. + +Hendon forced back a smile, and bent down and whispered in the +King's ear-- + +"Softly, softly, my prince, wag thy tongue warily--nay, suffer it +not to wag at all. Trust in me--all shall go well in the end." +Then he added to himself: "SIR Miles! Bless me, I had totally +forgot I was a knight! Lord, how marvellous a thing it is, the +grip his memory doth take upon his quaint and crazy fancies! . . . +An empty and foolish title is mine, and yet it is something to +have deserved it; for I think it is more honour to be held worthy +to be a spectre-knight in his Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows, than +to be held base enough to be an earl in some of the REAL kingdoms +of this world." + +The crowd fell apart to admit a constable, who approached and was +about to lay his hand upon the King's shoulder, when Hendon said-- + +"Gently, good friend, withhold your hand--he shall go peaceably; I +am responsible for that. Lead on, we will follow." + +The officer led, with the woman and her bundle; Miles and the King +followed after, with the crowd at their heels. The King was +inclined to rebel; but Hendon said to him in a low voice-- + +"Reflect, Sire--your laws are the wholesome breath of your own +royalty; shall their source resist them, yet require the branches +to respect them? Apparently one of these laws has been broken; +when the King is on his throne again, can it ever grieve him to +remember that when he was seemingly a private person he loyally +sank the king in the citizen and submitted to its authority?" + +"Thou art right; say no more; thou shalt see that whatsoever the +King of England requires a subject to suffer, under the law, he +will himself suffer while he holdeth the station of a subject." + +When the woman was called upon to testify before the justice of +the peace, she swore that the small prisoner at the bar was the +person who had committed the theft; there was none able to show +the contrary, so the King stood convicted. The bundle was now +unrolled, and when the contents proved to be a plump little +dressed pig, the judge looked troubled, whilst Hendon turned pale, +and his body was thrilled with an electric shiver of dismay; but +the King remained unmoved, protected by his ignorance. The judge +meditated, during an ominous pause, then turned to the woman, with +the question-- + +"What dost thou hold this property to be worth?" + +The woman courtesied and replied-- + +"Three shillings and eightpence, your worship--I could not abate a +penny and set forth the value honestly." + +The justice glanced around uncomfortably upon the crowd, then +nodded to the constable, and said-- + +"Clear the court and close the doors." + +It was done. None remained but the two officials, the accused, +the accuser, and Miles Hendon. This latter was rigid and +colourless, and on his forehead big drops of cold sweat gathered, +broke and blended together, and trickled down his face. The judge +turned to the woman again, and said, in a compassionate voice-- + +"'Tis a poor ignorant lad, and mayhap was driven hard by hunger, +for these be grievous times for the unfortunate; mark you, he hath +not an evil face--but when hunger driveth--Good woman! dost know +that when one steals a thing above the value of thirteenpence +ha'penny the law saith he shall HANG for it?" + +The little King started, wide-eyed with consternation, but +controlled himself and held his peace; but not so the woman. She +sprang to her feet, shaking with fright, and cried out-- + +"Oh, good lack, what have I done! God-a-mercy, I would not hang +the poor thing for the whole world! Ah, save me from this, your +worship--what shall I do, what CAN I do?" + +The justice maintained his judicial composure, and simply said-- + +"Doubtless it is allowable to revise the value, since it is not +yet writ upon the record." + +"Then in God's name call the pig eightpence, and heaven bless the +day that freed my conscience of this awesome thing!" + +Miles Hendon forgot all decorum in his delight; and surprised the +King and wounded his dignity, by throwing his arms around him and +hugging him. The woman made her grateful adieux and started away +with her pig; and when the constable opened the door for her, he +followed her out into the narrow hall. The justice proceeded to +write in his record book. Hendon, always alert, thought he would +like to know why the officer followed the woman out; so he slipped +softly into the dusky hall and listened. He heard a conversation +to this effect-- + +"It is a fat pig, and promises good eating; I will buy it of thee; +here is the eightpence." + +"Eightpence, indeed! Thou'lt do no such thing. It cost me three +shillings and eightpence, good honest coin of the last reign, that +old Harry that's just dead ne'er touched or tampered with. A fig +for thy eightpence!" + +"Stands the wind in that quarter? Thou wast under oath, and so +swore falsely when thou saidst the value was but eightpence. Come +straightway back with me before his worship, and answer for the +crime!--and then the lad will hang." + +"There, there, dear heart, say no more, I am content. Give me the +eightpence, and hold thy peace about the matter." + +The woman went off crying: Hendon slipped back into the court +room, and the constable presently followed, after hiding his prize +in some convenient place. The justice wrote a while longer, then +read the King a wise and kindly lecture, and sentenced him to a +short imprisonment in the common jail, to be followed by a public +flogging. The astounded King opened his mouth, and was probably +going to order the good judge to be beheaded on the spot; but he +caught a warning sign from Hendon, and succeeded in closing his +mouth again before he lost anything out of it. Hendon took him by +the hand, now, made reverence to the justice, and the two departed +in the wake of the constable toward the jail. The moment the +street was reached, the inflamed monarch halted, snatched away his +hand, and exclaimed-- + +"Idiot, dost imagine I will enter a common jail ALIVE?" + +Hendon bent down and said, somewhat sharply-- + +"WILL you trust in me? Peace! and forbear to worsen our chances +with dangerous speech. What God wills, will happen; thou canst +not hurry it, thou canst not alter it; therefore wait, and be +patient--'twill be time enow to rail or rejoice when what is to +happen has happened." {1} + + + +Chapter XXIV. The escape. + +The short winter day was nearly ended. The streets were deserted, +save for a few random stragglers, and these hurried straight +along, with the intent look of people who were only anxious to +accomplish their errands as quickly as possible, and then snugly +house themselves from the rising wind and the gathering twilight. +They looked neither to the right nor to the left; they paid no +attention to our party, they did not even seem to see them. +Edward the Sixth wondered if the spectacle of a king on his way to +jail had ever encountered such marvellous indifference before. +By-and-by the constable arrived at a deserted market-square, and +proceeded to cross it. When he had reached the middle of it, +Hendon laid his hand upon his arm, and said in a low voice-- + +"Bide a moment, good sir, there is none in hearing, and I would +say a word to thee." + +"My duty forbids it, sir; prithee hinder me not, the night comes +on." + +"Stay, nevertheless, for the matter concerns thee nearly. Turn +thy back a moment and seem not to see: LET THIS POOR LAD ESCAPE." + +"This to me, sir! I arrest thee in--" + +"Nay, be not too hasty. See thou be careful and commit no foolish +error"--then he shut his voice down to a whisper, and said in the +man's ear--"the pig thou hast purchased for eightpence may cost +thee thy neck, man!" + +The poor constable, taken by surprise, was speechless, at first, +then found his tongue and fell to blustering and threatening; but +Hendon was tranquil, and waited with patience till his breath was +spent; then said-- + +"I have a liking to thee, friend, and would not willingly see thee +come to harm. Observe, I heard it all--every word. I will prove +it to thee." Then he repeated the conversation which the officer +and the woman had had together in the hall, word for word, and +ended with-- + +"There--have I set it forth correctly? Should not I be able to +set it forth correctly before the judge, if occasion required?" + +The man was dumb with fear and distress, for a moment; then he +rallied, and said with forced lightness-- + +"'Tis making a mighty matter, indeed, out of a jest; I but plagued +the woman for mine amusement." + +"Kept you the woman's pig for amusement?" + +The man answered sharply-- + +"Nought else, good sir--I tell thee 'twas but a jest." + +"I do begin to believe thee," said Hendon, with a perplexing +mixture of mockery and half-conviction in his tone; "but tarry +thou here a moment whilst I run and ask his worship--for nathless, +he being a man experienced in law, in jests, in--" + +He was moving away, still talking; the constable hesitated, +fidgeted, spat out an oath or two, then cried out-- + +"Hold, hold, good sir--prithee wait a little--the judge! Why, +man, he hath no more sympathy with a jest than hath a dead +corpse!--come, and we will speak further. Ods body! I seem to be +in evil case--and all for an innocent and thoughtless pleasantry. +I am a man of family; and my wife and little ones-- List to +reason, good your worship: what wouldst thou of me?" + +"Only that thou be blind and dumb and paralytic whilst one may +count a hundred thousand--counting slowly," said Hendon, with the +expression of a man who asks but a reasonable favour, and that a +very little one. + +"It is my destruction!" said the constable despairingly. "Ah, be +reasonable, good sir; only look at this matter, on all its sides, +and see how mere a jest it is--how manifestly and how plainly it +is so. And even if one granted it were not a jest, it is a fault +so small that e'en the grimmest penalty it could call forth would +be but a rebuke and warning from the judge's lips." + +Hendon replied with a solemnity which chilled the air about him-- + +"This jest of thine hath a name, in law,--wot you what it is?" + +"I knew it not! Peradventure I have been unwise. I never dreamed +it had a name--ah, sweet heaven, I thought it was original." + +"Yes, it hath a name. In the law this crime is called Non compos +mentis lex talionis sic transit gloria mundi." + +"Ah, my God!" + +"And the penalty is death!" + +"God be merciful to me a sinner!" + +"By advantage taken of one in fault, in dire peril, and at thy +mercy, thou hast seized goods worth above thirteenpence ha'penny, +paying but a trifle for the same; and this, in the eye of the law, +is constructive barratry, misprision of treason, malfeasance in +office, ad hominem expurgatis in statu quo--and the penalty is +death by the halter, without ransom, commutation, or benefit of +clergy." + +"Bear me up, bear me up, sweet sir, my legs do fail me! Be thou +merciful--spare me this doom, and I will turn my back and see +nought that shall happen." + +"Good! now thou'rt wise and reasonable. And thou'lt restore the +pig?" + +"I will, I will indeed--nor ever touch another, though heaven send +it and an archangel fetch it. Go--I am blind for thy sake--I see +nothing. I will say thou didst break in and wrest the prisoner +from my hands by force. It is but a crazy, ancient door--I will +batter it down myself betwixt midnight and the morning." + +"Do it, good soul, no harm will come of it; the judge hath a +loving charity for this poor lad, and will shed no tears and break +no jailer's bones for his escape." + + + +Chapter XXV. Hendon Hall. + +As soon as Hendon and the King were out of sight of the constable, +his Majesty was instructed to hurry to a certain place outside the +town, and wait there, whilst Hendon should go to the inn and +settle his account. Half an hour later the two friends were +blithely jogging eastward on Hendon's sorry steeds. The King was +warm and comfortable, now, for he had cast his rags and clothed +himself in the second-hand suit which Hendon had bought on London +Bridge. + +Hendon wished to guard against over-fatiguing the boy; he judged +that hard journeys, irregular meals, and illiberal measures of +sleep would be bad for his crazed mind; whilst rest, regularity, +and moderate exercise would be pretty sure to hasten its cure; he +longed to see the stricken intellect made well again and its +diseased visions driven out of the tormented little head; +therefore he resolved to move by easy stages toward the home +whence he had so long been banished, instead of obeying the +impulse of his impatience and hurrying along night and day. + +When he and the King had journeyed about ten miles, they reached a +considerable village, and halted there for the night, at a good +inn. The former relations were resumed; Hendon stood behind the +King's chair, while he dined, and waited upon him; undressed him +when he was ready for bed; then took the floor for his own +quarters, and slept athwart the door, rolled up in a blanket. + +The next day, and the day after, they jogged lazily along talking +over the adventures they had met since their separation, and +mightily enjoying each other's narratives. Hendon detailed all +his wide wanderings in search of the King, and described how the +archangel had led him a fool's journey all over the forest, and +taken him back to the hut, finally, when he found he could not get +rid of him. Then--he said--the old man went into the bedchamber +and came staggering back looking broken-hearted, and saying he had +expected to find that the boy had returned and laid down in there +to rest, but it was not so. Hendon had waited at the hut all day; +hope of the King's return died out, then, and he departed upon the +quest again. + +"And old Sanctum Sanctorum WAS truly sorry your highness came not +back," said Hendon; "I saw it in his face." + +"Marry I will never doubt THAT!" said the King--and then told his +own story; after which, Hendon was sorry he had not destroyed the +archangel. + +During the last day of the trip, Hendon's spirits were soaring. +His tongue ran constantly. He talked about his old father, and +his brother Arthur, and told of many things which illustrated +their high and generous characters; he went into loving frenzies +over his Edith, and was so glad-hearted that he was even able to +say some gentle and brotherly things about Hugh. He dwelt a deal +on the coming meeting at Hendon Hall; what a surprise it would be +to everybody, and what an outburst of thanksgiving and delight +there would be. + +It was a fair region, dotted with cottages and orchards, and the +road led through broad pasture lands whose receding expanses, +marked with gentle elevations and depressions, suggested the +swelling and subsiding undulations of the sea. In the afternoon +the returning prodigal made constant deflections from his course +to see if by ascending some hillock he might not pierce the +distance and catch a glimpse of his home. At last he was +successful, and cried out excitedly-- + +"There is the village, my Prince, and there is the Hall close by! +You may see the towers from here; and that wood there--that is my +father's park. Ah, NOW thou'lt know what state and grandeur be! +A house with seventy rooms--think of that!--and seven and twenty +servants! A brave lodging for such as we, is it not so? Come, +let us speed--my impatience will not brook further delay." + +All possible hurry was made; still, it was after three o'clock +before the village was reached. The travellers scampered through +it, Hendon's tongue going all the time. "Here is the church-- +covered with the same ivy--none gone, none added." "Yonder is the +inn, the old Red Lion,--and yonder is the market-place." "Here is +the Maypole, and here the pump--nothing is altered; nothing but +the people, at any rate; ten years make a change in people; some +of these I seem to know, but none know me." So his chat ran on. +The end of the village was soon reached; then the travellers +struck into a crooked, narrow road, walled in with tall hedges, +and hurried briskly along it for half a mile, then passed into a +vast flower garden through an imposing gateway, whose huge stone +pillars bore sculptured armorial devices. A noble mansion was +before them. + +"Welcome to Hendon Hall, my King!" exclaimed Miles. "Ah, 'tis a +great day! My father and my brother, and the Lady Edith will be +so mad with joy that they will have eyes and tongue for none but +me in the first transports of the meeting, and so thou'lt seem but +coldly welcomed--but mind it not; 'twill soon seem otherwise; for +when I say thou art my ward, and tell them how costly is my love +for thee, thou'lt see them take thee to their breasts for Miles +Hendon's sake, and make their house and hearts thy home for ever +after!" + +The next moment Hendon sprang to the ground before the great door, +helped the King down, then took him by the hand and rushed within. +A few steps brought him to a spacious apartment; he entered, +seated the King with more hurry than ceremony, then ran toward a +young man who sat at a writing-table in front of a generous fire +of logs. + +"Embrace me, Hugh," he cried, "and say thou'rt glad I am come +again! and call our father, for home is not home till I shall +touch his hand, and see his face, and hear his voice once more!" + +But Hugh only drew back, after betraying a momentary surprise, and +bent a grave stare upon the intruder--a stare which indicated +somewhat of offended dignity, at first, then changed, in response +to some inward thought or purpose, to an expression of marvelling +curiosity, mixed with a real or assumed compassion. Presently he +said, in a mild voice-- + +"Thy wits seem touched, poor stranger; doubtless thou hast +suffered privations and rude buffetings at the world's hands; thy +looks and dress betoken it. Whom dost thou take me to be?" + +"Take thee? Prithee for whom else than whom thou art? I take +thee to be Hugh Hendon," said Miles, sharply. + +The other continued, in the same soft tone-- + +"And whom dost thou imagine thyself to be?" + +"Imagination hath nought to do with it! Dost thou pretend thou +knowest me not for thy brother Miles Hendon?" + +An expression of pleased surprise flitted across Hugh's face, and +he exclaimed-- + +"What! thou art not jesting? can the dead come to life? God be +praised if it be so! Our poor lost boy restored to our arms after +all these cruel years! Ah, it seems too good to be true, it IS +too good to be true--I charge thee, have pity, do not trifle with +me! Quick--come to the light--let me scan thee well!" + +He seized Miles by the arm, dragged him to the window, and began +to devour him from head to foot with his eyes, turning him this +way and that, and stepping briskly around him and about him to +prove him from all points of view; whilst the returned prodigal, +all aglow with gladness, smiled, laughed, and kept nodding his +head and saying-- + +"Go on, brother, go on, and fear not; thou'lt find nor limb nor +feature that cannot bide the test. Scour and scan me to thy +content, my good old Hugh--I am indeed thy old Miles, thy same old +Miles, thy lost brother, is't not so? Ah, 'tis a great day--I +SAID 'twas a great day! Give me thy hand, give me thy cheek-- +lord, I am like to die of very joy!" + +He was about to throw himself upon his brother; but Hugh put up +his hand in dissent, then dropped his chin mournfully upon his +breast, saying with emotion-- + +"Ah, God of his mercy give me strength to bear this grievous +disappointment!" + +Miles, amazed, could not speak for a moment; then he found his +tongue, and cried out-- + +"WHAT disappointment? Am I not thy brother?" + +Hugh shook his head sadly, and said-- + +"I pray heaven it may prove so, and that other eyes may find the +resemblances that are hid from mine. Alack, I fear me the letter +spoke but too truly." + +"What letter?" + +"One that came from over sea, some six or seven years ago. It +said my brother died in battle." + +"It was a lie! Call thy father--he will know me." + +"One may not call the dead." + +"Dead?" Miles's voice was subdued, and his lips trembled. "My +father dead!--oh, this is heavy news. Half my new joy is withered +now. Prithee let me see my brother Arthur--he will know me; he +will know me and console me." + +"He, also, is dead." + +"God be merciful to me, a stricken man! Gone,--both gone--the +worthy taken and the worthless spared, in me! Ah! I crave your +mercy!--do not say the Lady Edith--" + +"Is dead? No, she lives." + +"Then, God be praised, my joy is whole again! Speed thee, +brother--let her come to me! An' SHE say I am not myself--but she +will not; no, no, SHE will know me, I were a fool to doubt it. +Bring her--bring the old servants; they, too, will know me." + +"All are gone but five--Peter, Halsey, David, Bernard, and +Margaret." + +So saying, Hugh left the room. Miles stood musing a while, then +began to walk the floor, muttering-- + +"The five arch-villains have survived the two-and-twenty leal and +honest--'tis an odd thing." + +He continued walking back and forth, muttering to himself; he had +forgotten the King entirely. By-and-by his Majesty said gravely, +and with a touch of genuine compassion, though the words +themselves were capable of being interpreted ironically-- + +"Mind not thy mischance, good man; there be others in the world +whose identity is denied, and whose claims are derided. Thou hast +company." + +"Ah, my King," cried Hendon, colouring slightly, "do not thou +condemn me--wait, and thou shalt see. I am no impostor--she will +say it; you shall hear it from the sweetest lips in England. I an +impostor? Why, I know this old hall, these pictures of my +ancestors, and all these things that are about us, as a child +knoweth its own nursery. Here was I born and bred, my lord; I +speak the truth; I would not deceive thee; and should none else +believe, I pray thee do not THOU doubt me--I could not bear it." + +"I do not doubt thee," said the King, with a childlike simplicity +and faith. + +"I thank thee out of my heart!" exclaimed Hendon with a fervency +which showed that he was touched. The King added, with the same +gentle simplicity-- + +"Dost thou doubt ME?" + +A guilty confusion seized upon Hendon, and he was grateful that +the door opened to admit Hugh, at that moment, and saved him the +necessity of replying. + +A beautiful lady, richly clothed, followed Hugh, and after her +came several liveried servants. The lady walked slowly, with her +head bowed and her eyes fixed upon the floor. The face was +unspeakably sad. Miles Hendon sprang forward, crying out-- + +"Oh, my Edith, my darling--" + +But Hugh waved him back, gravely, and said to the lady-- + +"Look upon him. Do you know him?" + +At the sound of Miles's voice the woman had started slightly, and +her cheeks had flushed; she was trembling now. She stood still, +during an impressive pause of several moments; then slowly lifted +up her head and looked into Hendon's eyes with a stony and +frightened gaze; the blood sank out of her face, drop by drop, +till nothing remained but the grey pallor of death; then she said, +in a voice as dead as the face, "I know him not!" and turned, with +a moan and a stifled sob, and tottered out of the room. + +Miles Hendon sank into a chair and covered his face with his +hands. After a pause, his brother said to the servants-- + +"You have observed him. Do you know him?" + +They shook their heads; then the master said-- + +"The servants know you not, sir. I fear there is some mistake. +You have seen that my wife knew you not." + +"Thy WIFE!" In an instant Hugh was pinned to the wall, with an +iron grip about his throat. "Oh, thou fox-hearted slave, I see it +all! Thou'st writ the lying letter thyself, and my stolen bride +and goods are its fruit. There--now get thee gone, lest I shame +mine honourable soldiership with the slaying of so pitiful a +mannikin!" + +Hugh, red-faced, and almost suffocated, reeled to the nearest +chair, and commanded the servants to seize and bind the murderous +stranger. They hesitated, and one of them said-- + +"He is armed, Sir Hugh, and we are weaponless." + +"Armed! What of it, and ye so many? Upon him, I say!" + +But Miles warned them to be careful what they did, and added-- + +"Ye know me of old--I have not changed; come on, an' it like you." + +This reminder did not hearten the servants much; they still held +back. + +"Then go, ye paltry cowards, and arm yourselves and guard the +doors, whilst I send one to fetch the watch!" said Hugh. He +turned at the threshold, and said to Miles, "You'll find it to +your advantage to offend not with useless endeavours at escape." + +"Escape? Spare thyself discomfort, an' that is all that troubles +thee. For Miles Hendon is master of Hendon Hall and all its +belongings. He will remain--doubt it not." + + + +Chapter XXVI. Disowned. + +The King sat musing a few moments, then looked up and said-- + +"'Tis strange--most strange. I cannot account for it." + +"No, it is not strange, my liege. I know him, and this conduct is +but natural. He was a rascal from his birth." + +"Oh, I spake not of HIM, Sir Miles." + +"Not of him? Then of what? What is it that is strange?" + +"That the King is not missed." + +"How? Which? I doubt I do not understand." + +"Indeed? Doth it not strike you as being passing strange that the +land is not filled with couriers and proclamations describing my +person and making search for me? Is it no matter for commotion +and distress that the Head of the State is gone; that I am +vanished away and lost?" + +"Most true, my King, I had forgot." Then Hendon sighed, and +muttered to himself, "Poor ruined mind--still busy with its +pathetic dream." + +"But I have a plan that shall right us both--I will write a paper, +in three tongues--Latin, Greek and English--and thou shalt haste +away with it to London in the morning. Give it to none but my +uncle, the Lord Hertford; when he shall see it, he will know and +say I wrote it. Then he will send for me." + +"Might it not be best, my Prince, that we wait here until I prove +myself and make my rights secure to my domains? I should be so +much the better able then to--" + +The King interrupted him imperiously-- + +"Peace! What are thy paltry domains, thy trivial interests, +contrasted with matters which concern the weal of a nation and the +integrity of a throne?" Then, he added, in a gentle voice, as if +he were sorry for his severity, "Obey, and have no fear; I will +right thee, I will make thee whole--yes, more than whole. I shall +remember, and requite." + +So saying, he took the pen, and set himself to work. Hendon +contemplated him lovingly a while, then said to himself-- + +"An' it were dark, I should think it WAS a king that spoke; +there's no denying it, when the humour's upon on him he doth +thunder and lighten like your true King; now where got he that +trick? See him scribble and scratch away contentedly at his +meaningless pot-hooks, fancying them to be Latin and Greek--and +except my wit shall serve me with a lucky device for diverting him +from his purpose, I shall be forced to pretend to post away to- +morrow on this wild errand he hath invented for me." + +The next moment Sir Miles's thoughts had gone back to the recent +episode. So absorbed was he in his musings, that when the King +presently handed him the paper which he had been writing, he +received it and pocketed it without being conscious of the act. +"How marvellous strange she acted," he muttered. "I think she +knew me--and I think she did NOT know me. These opinions do +conflict, I perceive it plainly; I cannot reconcile them, neither +can I, by argument, dismiss either of the two, or even persuade +one to outweigh the other. The matter standeth simply thus: she +MUST have known my face, my figure, my voice, for how could it be +otherwise? Yet she SAID she knew me not, and that is proof +perfect, for she cannot lie. But stop--I think I begin to see. +Peradventure he hath influenced her, commanded her, compelled her +to lie. That is the solution. The riddle is unriddled. She +seemed dead with fear--yes, she was under his compulsion. I will +seek her; I will find her; now that he is away, she will speak her +true mind. She will remember the old times when we were little +playfellows together, and this will soften her heart, and she will +no more betray me, but will confess me. There is no treacherous +blood in her--no, she was always honest and true. She has loved +me, in those old days--this is my security; for whom one has +loved, one cannot betray." + +He stepped eagerly toward the door; at that moment it opened, and +the Lady Edith entered. She was very pale, but she walked with a +firm step, and her carriage was full of grace and gentle dignity. +Her face was as sad as before. + +Miles sprang forward, with a happy confidence, to meet her, but +she checked him with a hardly perceptible gesture, and he stopped +where he was. She seated herself, and asked him to do likewise. +Thus simply did she take the sense of old comradeship out of him, +and transform him into a stranger and a guest. The surprise of +it, the bewildering unexpectedness of it, made him begin to +question, for a moment, if he WAS the person he was pretending to +be, after all. The Lady Edith said-- + +"Sir, I have come to warn you. The mad cannot be persuaded out of +their delusions, perchance; but doubtless they may be persuaded to +avoid perils. I think this dream of yours hath the seeming of +honest truth to you, and therefore is not criminal--but do not +tarry here with it; for here it is dangerous." She looked +steadily into Miles's face a moment, then added, impressively, "It +is the more dangerous for that you ARE much like what our lost lad +must have grown to be if he had lived." + +"Heavens, madam, but I AM he!" + +"I truly think you think it, sir. I question not your honesty in +that; I but warn you, that is all. My husband is master in this +region; his power hath hardly any limit; the people prosper or +starve, as he wills. If you resembled not the man whom you +profess to be, my husband might bid you pleasure yourself with +your dream in peace; but trust me, I know him well; I know what he +will do; he will say to all that you are but a mad impostor, and +straightway all will echo him." She bent upon Miles that same +steady look once more, and added: "If you WERE Miles Hendon, and +he knew it and all the region knew it--consider what I am saying, +weigh it well--you would stand in the same peril, your punishment +would be no less sure; he would deny you and denounce you, and +none would be bold enough to give you countenance." + +"Most truly I believe it," said Miles, bitterly. "The power that +can command one life-long friend to betray and disown another, and +be obeyed, may well look to be obeyed in quarters where bread and +life are on the stake and no cobweb ties of loyalty and honour are +concerned." + +A faint tinge appeared for a moment in the lady's cheek, and she +dropped her eyes to the floor; but her voice betrayed no emotion +when she proceeded-- + +"I have warned you--I must still warn you--to go hence. This man +will destroy you, else. He is a tyrant who knows no pity. I, who +am his fettered slave, know this. Poor Miles, and Arthur, and my +dear guardian, Sir Richard, are free of him, and at rest: better +that you were with them than that you bide here in the clutches of +this miscreant. Your pretensions are a menace to his title and +possessions; you have assaulted him in his own house: you are +ruined if you stay. Go--do not hesitate. If you lack money, take +this purse, I beg of you, and bribe the servants to let you pass. +Oh, be warned, poor soul, and escape while you may." + +Miles declined the purse with a gesture, and rose up and stood +before her. + +"Grant me one thing," he said. "Let your eyes rest upon mine, so +that I may see if they be steady. There--now answer me. Am I +Miles Hendon?" + +"No. I know you not." + +"Swear it!" + +The answer was low, but distinct-- + +"I swear." + +"Oh, this passes belief!" + +"Fly! Why will you waste the precious time? Fly, and save +yourself." + +At that moment the officers burst into the room, and a violent +struggle began; but Hendon was soon overpowered and dragged away. +The King was taken also, and both were bound and led to prison. + + + +Chapter XXVII. In prison. + +The cells were all crowded; so the two friends were chained in a +large room where persons charged with trifling offences were +commonly kept. They had company, for there were some twenty +manacled and fettered prisoners here, of both sexes and of varying +ages,--an obscene and noisy gang. The King chafed bitterly over +the stupendous indignity thus put upon his royalty, but Hendon was +moody and taciturn. He was pretty thoroughly bewildered; he had +come home, a jubilant prodigal, expecting to find everybody wild +with joy over his return; and instead had got the cold shoulder +and a jail. The promise and the fulfilment differed so widely +that the effect was stunning; he could not decide whether it was +most tragic or most grotesque. He felt much as a man might who +had danced blithely out to enjoy a rainbow, and got struck by +lightning. + +But gradually his confused and tormenting thoughts settled down +into some sort of order, and then his mind centred itself upon +Edith. He turned her conduct over, and examined it in all lights, +but he could not make anything satisfactory out of it. Did she +know him--or didn't she know him? It was a perplexing puzzle, and +occupied him a long time; but he ended, finally, with the +conviction that she did know him, and had repudiated him for +interested reasons. He wanted to load her name with curses now; +but this name had so long been sacred to him that he found he +could not bring his tongue to profane it. + +Wrapped in prison blankets of a soiled and tattered condition, +Hendon and the King passed a troubled night. For a bribe the +jailer had furnished liquor to some of the prisoners; singing of +ribald songs, fighting, shouting, and carousing was the natural +consequence. At last, a while after midnight, a man attacked a +woman and nearly killed her by beating her over the head with his +manacles before the jailer could come to the rescue. The jailer +restored peace by giving the man a sound clubbing about the head +and shoulders--then the carousing ceased; and after that, all had +an opportunity to sleep who did not mind the annoyance of the +moanings and groanings of the two wounded people. + +During the ensuing week, the days and nights were of a monotonous +sameness as to events; men whose faces Hendon remembered more or +less distinctly, came, by day, to gaze at the 'impostor' and +repudiate and insult him; and by night the carousing and brawling +went on with symmetrical regularity. However, there was a change +of incident at last. The jailer brought in an old man, and said +to him-- + +"The villain is in this room--cast thy old eyes about and see if +thou canst say which is he." + +Hendon glanced up, and experienced a pleasant sensation for the +first time since he had been in the jail. He said to himself, +"This is Blake Andrews, a servant all his life in my father's +family--a good honest soul, with a right heart in his breast. +That is, formerly. But none are true now; all are liars. This +man will know me--and will deny me, too, like the rest." + +The old man gazed around the room, glanced at each face in turn, +and finally said-- + +"I see none here but paltry knaves, scum o' the streets. Which is +he?" + +The jailer laughed. + +"Here," he said; "scan this big animal, and grant me an opinion." + +The old man approached, and looked Hendon over, long and +earnestly, then shook his head and said-- + +"Marry, THIS is no Hendon--nor ever was!" + +"Right! Thy old eyes are sound yet. An' I were Sir Hugh, I would +take the shabby carle and--" + +The jailer finished by lifting himself a-tip-toe with an imaginary +halter, at the same time making a gurgling noise in his throat +suggestive of suffocation. The old man said, vindictively-- + +"Let him bless God an' he fare no worse. An' _I_ had the handling +o' the villain he should roast, or I am no true man!" + +The jailer laughed a pleasant hyena laugh, and said-- + +"Give him a piece of thy mind, old man--they all do it. Thou'lt +find it good diversion." + +Then he sauntered toward his ante-room and disappeared. The old +man dropped upon his knees and whispered-- + +"God be thanked, thou'rt come again, my master! I believed thou +wert dead these seven years, and lo, here thou art alive! I knew +thee the moment I saw thee; and main hard work it was to keep a +stony countenance and seem to see none here but tuppenny knaves +and rubbish o' the streets. I am old and poor, Sir Miles; but say +the word and I will go forth and proclaim the truth though I be +strangled for it." + +"No," said Hendon; "thou shalt not. It would ruin thee, and yet +help but little in my cause. But I thank thee, for thou hast +given me back somewhat of my lost faith in my kind." + +The old servant became very valuable to Hendon and the King; for +he dropped in several times a day to 'abuse' the former, and +always smuggled in a few delicacies to help out the prison bill of +fare; he also furnished the current news. Hendon reserved the +dainties for the King; without them his Majesty might not have +survived, for he was not able to eat the coarse and wretched food +provided by the jailer. Andrews was obliged to confine himself to +brief visits, in order to avoid suspicion; but he managed to +impart a fair degree of information each time--information +delivered in a low voice, for Hendon's benefit, and interlarded +with insulting epithets delivered in a louder voice for the +benefit of other hearers. + +So, little by little, the story of the family came out. Arthur +had been dead six years. This loss, with the absence of news from +Hendon, impaired the father's health; he believed he was going to +die, and he wished to see Hugh and Edith settled in life before he +passed away; but Edith begged hard for delay, hoping for Miles's +return; then the letter came which brought the news of Miles's +death; the shock prostrated Sir Richard; he believed his end was +very near, and he and Hugh insisted upon the marriage; Edith +begged for and obtained a month's respite, then another, and +finally a third; the marriage then took place by the death-bed of +Sir Richard. It had not proved a happy one. It was whispered +about the country that shortly after the nuptials the bride found +among her husband's papers several rough and incomplete drafts of +the fatal letter, and had accused him of precipitating the +marriage--and Sir Richard's death, too--by a wicked forgery. +Tales of cruelty to the Lady Edith and the servants were to be +heard on all hands; and since the father's death Sir Hugh had +thrown off all soft disguises and become a pitiless master toward +all who in any way depended upon him and his domains for bread. + +There was a bit of Andrew's gossip which the King listened to with +a lively interest-- + +"There is rumour that the King is mad. But in charity forbear to +say _I_ mentioned it, for 'tis death to speak of it, they say." + +His Majesty glared at the old man and said-- + +"The King is NOT mad, good man--and thou'lt find it to thy +advantage to busy thyself with matters that nearer concern thee +than this seditious prattle." + +"What doth the lad mean?" said Andrews, surprised at this brisk +assault from such an unexpected quarter. Hendon gave him a sign, +and he did not pursue his question, but went on with his budget-- + +"The late King is to be buried at Windsor in a day or two--the +16th of the month--and the new King will be crowned at Westminster +the 20th." + +"Methinks they must needs find him first," muttered his Majesty; +then added, confidently, "but they will look to that--and so also +shall I." + +"In the name of--" + +But the old man got no further--a warning sign from Hendon checked +his remark. He resumed the thread of his gossip-- + +"Sir Hugh goeth to the coronation--and with grand hopes. He +confidently looketh to come back a peer, for he is high in favour +with the Lord Protector." + +"What Lord Protector?" asked his Majesty. + +"His Grace the Duke of Somerset." + +"What Duke of Somerset?" + +"Marry, there is but one--Seymour, Earl of Hertford." + +The King asked sharply-- + +"Since when is HE a duke, and Lord Protector?" + +"Since the last day of January." + +"And prithee who made him so?" + +"Himself and the Great Council--with help of the King." + +His Majesty started violently. "The KING!" he cried. "WHAT king, +good sir?" + +"What king, indeed! (God-a-mercy, what aileth the boy?) Sith we +have but one, 'tis not difficult to answer--his most sacred +Majesty King Edward the Sixth--whom God preserve! Yea, and a dear +and gracious little urchin is he, too; and whether he be mad or +no--and they say he mendeth daily--his praises are on all men's +lips; and all bless him, likewise, and offer prayers that he may +be spared to reign long in England; for he began humanely with +saving the old Duke of Norfolk's life, and now is he bent on +destroying the cruellest of the laws that harry and oppress the +people." + +This news struck his Majesty dumb with amazement, and plunged him +into so deep and dismal a reverie that he heard no more of the old +man's gossip. He wondered if the 'little urchin' was the beggar- +boy whom he left dressed in his own garments in the palace. It +did not seem possible that this could be, for surely his manners +and speech would betray him if he pretended to be the Prince of +Wales--then he would be driven out, and search made for the true +prince. Could it be that the Court had set up some sprig of the +nobility in his place? No, for his uncle would not allow that--he +was all-powerful and could and would crush such a movement, of +course. The boy's musings profited him nothing; the more he tried +to unriddle the mystery the more perplexed he became, the more his +head ached, and the worse he slept. His impatience to get to +London grew hourly, and his captivity became almost unendurable. + +Hendon's arts all failed with the King--he could not be comforted; +but a couple of women who were chained near him succeeded better. +Under their gentle ministrations he found peace and learned a +degree of patience. He was very grateful, and came to love them +dearly and to delight in the sweet and soothing influence of their +presence. He asked them why they were in prison, and when they +said they were Baptists, he smiled, and inquired-- + +"Is that a crime to be shut up for in a prison? Now I grieve, for +I shall lose ye--they will not keep ye long for such a little +thing." + +They did not answer; and something in their faces made him uneasy. +He said, eagerly-- + +"You do not speak; be good to me, and tell me--there will be no +other punishment? Prithee tell me there is no fear of that." + +They tried to change the topic, but his fears were aroused, and he +pursued it-- + +"Will they scourge thee? No, no, they would not be so cruel! Say +they would not. Come, they WILL not, will they?" + +The women betrayed confusion and distress, but there was no +avoiding an answer, so one of them said, in a voice choked with +emotion-- + +"Oh, thou'lt break our hearts, thou gentle spirit!--God will help +us to bear our--" + +"It is a confession!" the King broke in. "Then they WILL scourge +thee, the stony-hearted wretches! But oh, thou must not weep, I +cannot bear it. Keep up thy courage--I shall come to my own in +time to save thee from this bitter thing, and I will do it!" + +When the King awoke in the morning, the women were gone. + +"They are saved!" he said, joyfully; then added, despondently, +"but woe is me!--for they were my comforters." + +Each of them had left a shred of ribbon pinned to his clothing, in +token of remembrance. He said he would keep these things always; +and that soon he would seek out these dear good friends of his and +take them under his protection. + +Just then the jailer came in with some subordinates, and commanded +that the prisoners be conducted to the jail-yard. The King was +overjoyed--it would be a blessed thing to see the blue sky and +breathe the fresh air once more. He fretted and chafed at the +slowness of the officers, but his turn came at last, and he was +released from his staple and ordered to follow the other prisoners +with Hendon. + +The court or quadrangle was stone-paved, and open to the sky. The +prisoners entered it through a massive archway of masonry, and +were placed in file, standing, with their backs against the wall. +A rope was stretched in front of them, and they were also guarded +by their officers. It was a chill and lowering morning, and a +light snow which had fallen during the night whitened the great +empty space and added to the general dismalness of its aspect. +Now and then a wintry wind shivered through the place and sent the +snow eddying hither and thither. + +In the centre of the court stood two women, chained to posts. A +glance showed the King that these were his good friends. He +shuddered, and said to himself, "Alack, they are not gone free, as +I had thought. To think that such as these should know the lash!- +-in England! Ay, there's the shame of it--not in Heathennesse, +Christian England! They will be scourged; and I, whom they have +comforted and kindly entreated, must look on and see the great +wrong done; it is strange, so strange, that I, the very source of +power in this broad realm, am helpless to protect them. But let +these miscreants look well to themselves, for there is a day +coming when I will require of them a heavy reckoning for this +work. For every blow they strike now, they shall feel a hundred +then." + +A great gate swung open, and a crowd of citizens poured in. They +flocked around the two women, and hid them from the King's view. +A clergyman entered and passed through the crowd, and he also was +hidden. The King now heard talking, back and forth, as if +questions were being asked and answered, but he could not make out +what was said. Next there was a deal of bustle and preparation, +and much passing and repassing of officials through that part of +the crowd that stood on the further side of the women; and whilst +this proceeded a deep hush gradually fell upon the people. + +Now, by command, the masses parted and fell aside, and the King +saw a spectacle that froze the marrow in his bones. Faggots had +been piled about the two women, and a kneeling man was lighting +them! + +The women bowed their heads, and covered their faces with their +hands; the yellow flames began to climb upward among the snapping +and crackling faggots, and wreaths of blue smoke to stream away on +the wind; the clergyman lifted his hands and began a prayer--just +then two young girls came flying through the great gate, uttering +piercing screams, and threw themselves upon the women at the +stake. Instantly they were torn away by the officers, and one of +them was kept in a tight grip, but the other broke loose, saying +she would die with her mother; and before she could be stopped she +had flung her arms about her mother's neck again. She was torn +away once more, and with her gown on fire. Two or three men held +her, and the burning portion of her gown was snatched off and +thrown flaming aside, she struggling all the while to free +herself, and saying she would be alone in the world, now; and +begging to be allowed to die with her mother. Both the girls +screamed continually, and fought for freedom; but suddenly this +tumult was drowned under a volley of heart-piercing shrieks of +mortal agony--the King glanced from the frantic girls to the +stake, then turned away and leaned his ashen face against the +wall, and looked no more. He said, "That which I have seen, in +that one little moment, will never go out from my memory, but will +abide there; and I shall see it all the days, and dream of it all +the nights, till I die. Would God I had been blind!" + +Hendon was watching the King. He said to himself, with +satisfaction, "His disorder mendeth; he hath changed, and groweth +gentler. If he had followed his wont, he would have stormed at +these varlets, and said he was King, and commanded that the women +be turned loose unscathed. Soon his delusion will pass away and +be forgotten, and his poor mind will be whole again. God speed +the day!" + +That same day several prisoners were brought in to remain over +night, who were being conveyed, under guard, to various places in +the kingdom, to undergo punishment for crimes committed. The King +conversed with these--he had made it a point, from the beginning, +to instruct himself for the kingly office by questioning prisoners +whenever the opportunity offered--and the tale of their woes wrung +his heart. One of them was a poor half-witted woman who had +stolen a yard or two of cloth from a weaver--she was to be hanged +for it. Another was a man who had been accused of stealing a +horse; he said the proof had failed, and he had imagined that he +was safe from the halter; but no--he was hardly free before he was +arraigned for killing a deer in the King's park; this was proved +against him, and now he was on his way to the gallows. There was +a tradesman's apprentice whose case particularly distressed the +King; this youth said he found a hawk, one evening, that had +escaped from its owner, and he took it home with him, imagining +himself entitled to it; but the court convicted him of stealing +it, and sentenced him to death. + +The King was furious over these inhumanities, and wanted Hendon to +break jail and fly with him to Westminster, so that he could mount +his throne and hold out his sceptre in mercy over these +unfortunate people and save their lives. "Poor child," sighed +Hendon, "these woeful tales have brought his malady upon him +again; alack, but for this evil hap, he would have been well in a +little time." + +Among these prisoners was an old lawyer--a man with a strong face +and a dauntless mien. Three years past, he had written a pamphlet +against the Lord Chancellor, accusing him of injustice, and had +been punished for it by the loss of his ears in the pillory, and +degradation from the bar, and in addition had been fined 3,000 +pounds and sentenced to imprisonment for life. Lately he had +repeated his offence; and in consequence was now under sentence to +lose WHAT REMAINED OF HIS EARS, pay a fine of 5,000 pounds, be +branded on both cheeks, and remain in prison for life. + +"These be honourable scars," he said, and turned back his grey +hair and showed the mutilated stubs of what had once been his +ears. + +The King's eye burned with passion. He said-- + +"None believe in me--neither wilt thou. But no matter--within the +compass of a month thou shalt be free; and more, the laws that +have dishonoured thee, and shamed the English name, shall be swept +from the statute books. The world is made wrong; kings should go +to school to their own laws, at times, and so learn mercy." {1} + + + +Chapter XXVIII. The sacrifice. + +Meantime Miles was growing sufficiently tired of confinement and +inaction. But now his trial came on, to his great gratification, +and he thought he could welcome any sentence provided a further +imprisonment should not be a part of it. But he was mistaken +about that. He was in a fine fury when he found himself described +as a 'sturdy vagabond' and sentenced to sit two hours in the +stocks for bearing that character and for assaulting the master of +Hendon Hall. His pretensions as to brothership with his +prosecutor, and rightful heirship to the Hendon honours and +estates, were left contemptuously unnoticed, as being not even +worth examination. + +He raged and threatened on his way to punishment, but it did no +good; he was snatched roughly along by the officers, and got an +occasional cuff, besides, for his irreverent conduct. + +The King could not pierce through the rabble that swarmed behind; +so he was obliged to follow in the rear, remote from his good +friend and servant. The King had been nearly condemned to the +stocks himself for being in such bad company, but had been let off +with a lecture and a warning, in consideration of his youth. When +the crowd at last halted, he flitted feverishly from point to +point around its outer rim, hunting a place to get through; and at +last, after a deal of difficulty and delay, succeeded. There sat +his poor henchman in the degrading stocks, the sport and butt of a +dirty mob--he, the body servant of the King of England! Edward +had heard the sentence pronounced, but he had not realised the +half that it meant. His anger began to rise as the sense of this +new indignity which had been put upon him sank home; it jumped to +summer heat, the next moment, when he saw an egg sail through the +air and crush itself against Hendon's cheek, and heard the crowd +roar its enjoyment of the episode. He sprang across the open +circle and confronted the officer in charge, crying-- + +"For shame! This is my servant--set him free! I am the--" + +"Oh, peace!" exclaimed Hendon, in a panic, "thou'lt destroy +thyself. Mind him not, officer, he is mad." + +"Give thyself no trouble as to the matter of minding him, good +man, I have small mind to mind him; but as to teaching him +somewhat, to that I am well inclined." He turned to a subordinate +and said, "Give the little fool a taste or two of the lash, to +mend his manners." + +"Half a dozen will better serve his turn," suggested Sir Hugh, who +had ridden up, a moment before, to take a passing glance at the +proceedings. + +The King was seized. He did not even struggle, so paralysed was +he with the mere thought of the monstrous outrage that was +proposed to be inflicted upon his sacred person. History was +already defiled with the record of the scourging of an English +king with whips--it was an intolerable reflection that he must +furnish a duplicate of that shameful page. He was in the toils, +there was no help for him; he must either take this punishment or +beg for its remission. Hard conditions; he would take the +stripes--a king might do that, but a king could not beg. + +But meantime, Miles Hendon was resolving the difficulty. "Let the +child go," said he; "ye heartless dogs, do ye not see how young +and frail he is? Let him go--I will take his lashes." + +"Marry, a good thought--and thanks for it," said Sir Hugh, his +face lighting with a sardonic satisfaction. "Let the little +beggar go, and give this fellow a dozen in his place--an honest +dozen, well laid on." The King was in the act of entering a +fierce protest, but Sir Hugh silenced him with the potent remark, +"Yes, speak up, do, and free thy mind--only, mark ye, that for +each word you utter he shall get six strokes the more." + +Hendon was removed from the stocks, and his back laid bare; and +whilst the lash was applied the poor little King turned away his +face and allowed unroyal tears to channel his cheeks unchecked. +"Ah, brave good heart," he said to himself, "this loyal deed shall +never perish out of my memory. I will not forget it--and neither +shall THEY!" he added, with passion. Whilst he mused, his +appreciation of Hendon's magnanimous conduct grew to greater and +still greater dimensions in his mind, and so also did his +gratefulness for it. Presently he said to himself, "Who saves his +prince from wounds and possible death--and this he did for me-- +performs high service; but it is little--it is nothing--oh, less +than nothing!--when 'tis weighed against the act of him who saves +his prince from SHAME!" + +Hendon made no outcry under the scourge, but bore the heavy blows +with soldierly fortitude. This, together with his redeeming the +boy by taking his stripes for him, compelled the respect of even +that forlorn and degraded mob that was gathered there; and its +gibes and hootings died away, and no sound remained but the sound +of the falling blows. The stillness that pervaded the place, when +Hendon found himself once more in the stocks, was in strong +contrast with the insulting clamour which had prevailed there so +little a while before. The King came softly to Hendon's side, and +whispered in his ear-- + +"Kings cannot ennoble thee, thou good, great soul, for One who is +higher than kings hath done that for thee; but a king can confirm +thy nobility to men." He picked up the scourge from the ground, +touched Hendon's bleeding shoulders lightly with it, and +whispered, "Edward of England dubs thee Earl!" + +Hendon was touched. The water welled to his eyes, yet at the same +time the grisly humour of the situation and circumstances so +undermined his gravity that it was all he could do to keep some +sign of his inward mirth from showing outside. To be suddenly +hoisted, naked and gory, from the common stocks to the Alpine +altitude and splendour of an Earldom, seemed to him the last +possibility in the line of the grotesque. He said to himself, +"Now am I finely tinselled, indeed! The spectre-knight of the +Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows is become a spectre-earl--a dizzy +flight for a callow wing! An' this go on, I shall presently be +hung like a very maypole with fantastic gauds and make-believe +honours. But I shall value them, all valueless as they are, for +the love that doth bestow them. Better these poor mock dignities +of mine, that come unasked, from a clean hand and a right spirit, +than real ones bought by servility from grudging and interested +power." + +The dreaded Sir Hugh wheeled his horse about, and as he spurred +away, the living wall divided silently to let him pass, and as +silently closed together again. And so remained; nobody went so +far as to venture a remark in favour of the prisoner, or in +compliment to him; but no matter--the absence of abuse was a +sufficient homage in itself. A late comer who was not posted as +to the present circumstances, and who delivered a sneer at the +'impostor,' and was in the act of following it with a dead cat, +was promptly knocked down and kicked out, without any words, and +then the deep quiet resumed sway once more. + + + +Chapter XXIX. To London. + +When Hendon's term of service in the stocks was finished, he was +released and ordered to quit the region and come back no more. +His sword was restored to him, and also his mule and his donkey. +He mounted and rode off, followed by the King, the crowd opening +with quiet respectfulness to let them pass, and then dispersing +when they were gone. + +Hendon was soon absorbed in thought. There were questions of high +import to be answered. What should he do? Whither should he go? +Powerful help must be found somewhere, or he must relinquish his +inheritance and remain under the imputation of being an impostor +besides. Where could he hope to find this powerful help? Where, +indeed! It was a knotty question. By-and-by a thought occurred +to him which pointed to a possibility--the slenderest of slender +possibilities, certainly, but still worth considering, for lack of +any other that promised anything at all. He remembered what old +Andrews had said about the young King's goodness and his generous +championship of the wronged and unfortunate. Why not go and try +to get speech of him and beg for justice? Ah, yes, but could so +fantastic a pauper get admission to the august presence of a +monarch? Never mind--let that matter take care of itself; it was +a bridge that would not need to be crossed till he should come to +it. He was an old campaigner, and used to inventing shifts and +expedients: no doubt he would be able to find a way. Yes, he +would strike for the capital. Maybe his father's old friend Sir +Humphrey Marlow would help him--'good old Sir Humphrey, Head +Lieutenant of the late King's kitchen, or stables, or something'-- +Miles could not remember just what or which. Now that he had +something to turn his energies to, a distinctly defined object to +accomplish, the fog of humiliation and depression which had +settled down upon his spirits lifted and blew away, and he raised +his head and looked about him. He was surprised to see how far he +had come; the village was away behind him. The King was jogging +along in his wake, with his head bowed; for he, too, was deep in +plans and thinkings. A sorrowful misgiving clouded Hendon's new- +born cheerfulness: would the boy be willing to go again to a city +where, during all his brief life, he had never known anything but +ill-usage and pinching want? But the question must be asked; it +could not be avoided; so Hendon reined up, and called out-- + +"I had forgotten to inquire whither we are bound. Thy commands, +my liege!" + +"To London!" + +Hendon moved on again, mightily contented with the answer--but +astounded at it too. + +The whole journey was made without an adventure of importance. +But it ended with one. About ten o'clock on the night of the 19th +of February they stepped upon London Bridge, in the midst of a +writhing, struggling jam of howling and hurrahing people, whose +beer-jolly faces stood out strongly in the glare from manifold +torches--and at that instant the decaying head of some former duke +or other grandee tumbled down between them, striking Hendon on the +elbow and then bounding off among the hurrying confusion of feet. +So evanescent and unstable are men's works in this world!--the +late good King is but three weeks dead and three days in his +grave, and already the adornments which he took such pains to +select from prominent people for his noble bridge are falling. A +citizen stumbled over that head, and drove his own head into the +back of somebody in front of him, who turned and knocked down the +first person that came handy, and was promptly laid out himself by +that person's friend. It was the right ripe time for a free +fight, for the festivities of the morrow--Coronation Day--were +already beginning; everybody was full of strong drink and +patriotism; within five minutes the free fight was occupying a +good deal of ground; within ten or twelve it covered an acre of +so, and was become a riot. By this time Hendon and the King were +hopelessly separated from each other and lost in the rush and +turmoil of the roaring masses of humanity. And so we leave them. + + + +Chapter XXX. Tom's progress. + +Whilst the true King wandered about the land poorly clad, poorly +fed, cuffed and derided by tramps one while, herding with thieves +and murderers in a jail another, and called idiot and impostor by +all impartially, the mock King Tom Canty enjoyed quite a different +experience. + +When we saw him last, royalty was just beginning to have a bright +side for him. This bright side went on brightening more and more +every day: in a very little while it was become almost all +sunshine and delightfulness. He lost his fears; his misgivings +faded out and died; his embarrassments departed, and gave place to +an easy and confident bearing. He worked the whipping-boy mine to +ever-increasing profit. + +He ordered my Lady Elizabeth and my Lady Jane Grey into his +presence when he wanted to play or talk, and dismissed them when +he was done with them, with the air of one familiarly accustomed +to such performances. It no longer confused him to have these +lofty personages kiss his hand at parting. + +He came to enjoy being conducted to bed in state at night, and +dressed with intricate and solemn ceremony in the morning. It +came to be a proud pleasure to march to dinner attended by a +glittering procession of officers of state and gentlemen-at-arms; +insomuch, indeed, that he doubled his guard of gentlemen-at-arms, +and made them a hundred. He liked to hear the bugles sounding +down the long corridors, and the distant voices responding, "Way +for the King!" + +He even learned to enjoy sitting in throned state in council, and +seeming to be something more than the Lord Protector's mouthpiece. +He liked to receive great ambassadors and their gorgeous trains, +and listen to the affectionate messages they brought from +illustrious monarchs who called him brother. O happy Tom Canty, +late of Offal Court! + +He enjoyed his splendid clothes, and ordered more: he found his +four hundred servants too few for his proper grandeur, and trebled +them. The adulation of salaaming courtiers came to be sweet music +to his ears. He remained kind and gentle, and a sturdy and +determined champion of all that were oppressed, and he made +tireless war upon unjust laws: yet upon occasion, being offended, +he could turn upon an earl, or even a duke, and give him a look +that would make him tremble. Once, when his royal 'sister,' the +grimly holy Lady Mary, set herself to reason with him against the +wisdom of his course in pardoning so many people who would +otherwise be jailed, or hanged, or burned, and reminded him that +their august late father's prisons had sometimes contained as high +as sixty thousand convicts at one time, and that during his +admirable reign he had delivered seventy-two thousand thieves and +robbers over to death by the executioner, {9} the boy was filled +with generous indignation, and commanded her to go to her closet, +and beseech God to take away the stone that was in her breast, and +give her a human heart. + +Did Tom Canty never feel troubled about the poor little rightful +prince who had treated him so kindly, and flown out with such hot +zeal to avenge him upon the insolent sentinel at the palace-gate? +Yes; his first royal days and nights were pretty well sprinkled +with painful thoughts about the lost prince, and with sincere +longings for his return, and happy restoration to his native +rights and splendours. But as time wore on, and the prince did +not come, Tom's mind became more and more occupied with his new +and enchanting experiences, and by little and little the vanished +monarch faded almost out of his thoughts; and finally, when he did +intrude upon them at intervals, he was become an unwelcome +spectre, for he made Tom feel guilty and ashamed. + +Tom's poor mother and sisters travelled the same road out of his +mind. At first he pined for them, sorrowed for them, longed to +see them, but later, the thought of their coming some day in their +rags and dirt, and betraying him with their kisses, and pulling +him down from his lofty place, and dragging him back to penury and +degradation and the slums, made him shudder. At last they ceased +to trouble his thoughts almost wholly. And he was content, even +glad: for, whenever their mournful and accusing faces did rise +before him now, they made him feel more despicable than the worms +that crawl. + +At midnight of the 19th of February, Tom Canty was sinking to +sleep in his rich bed in the palace, guarded by his loyal vassals, +and surrounded by the pomps of royalty, a happy boy; for tomorrow +was the day appointed for his solemn crowning as King of England. +At that same hour, Edward, the true king, hungry and thirsty, +soiled and draggled, worn with travel, and clothed in rags and +shreds--his share of the results of the riot--was wedged in among +a crowd of people who were watching with deep interest certain +hurrying gangs of workmen who streamed in and out of Westminster +Abbey, busy as ants: they were making the last preparation for +the royal coronation. + + + +Chapter XXXI. The Recognition procession. + +When Tom Canty awoke the next morning, the air was heavy with a +thunderous murmur: all the distances were charged with it. It +was music to him; for it meant that the English world was out in +its strength to give loyal welcome to the great day. + +Presently Tom found himself once more the chief figure in a +wonderful floating pageant on the Thames; for by ancient custom +the 'recognition procession' through London must start from the +Tower, and he was bound thither. + +When he arrived there, the sides of the venerable fortress seemed +suddenly rent in a thousand places, and from every rent leaped a +red tongue of flame and a white gush of smoke; a deafening +explosion followed, which drowned the shoutings of the multitude, +and made the ground tremble; the flame-jets, the smoke, and the +explosions, were repeated over and over again with marvellous +celerity, so that in a few moments the old Tower disappeared in +the vast fog of its own smoke, all but the very top of the tall +pile called the White Tower; this, with its banners, stood out +above the dense bank of vapour as a mountain-peak projects above a +cloud-rack. + +Tom Canty, splendidly arrayed, mounted a prancing war-steed, whose +rich trappings almost reached to the ground; his 'uncle,' the Lord +Protector Somerset, similarly mounted, took place in his rear; the +King's Guard formed in single ranks on either side, clad in +burnished armour; after the Protector followed a seemingly +interminable procession of resplendent nobles attended by their +vassals; after these came the lord mayor and the aldermanic body, +in crimson velvet robes, and with their gold chains across their +breasts; and after these the officers and members of all the +guilds of London, in rich raiment, and bearing the showy banners +of the several corporations. Also in the procession, as a special +guard of honour through the city, was the Ancient and Honourable +Artillery Company--an organisation already three hundred years old +at that time, and the only military body in England possessing the +privilege (which it still possesses in our day) of holding itself +independent of the commands of Parliament. It was a brilliant +spectacle, and was hailed with acclamations all along the line, as +it took its stately way through the packed multitudes of citizens. +The chronicler says, 'The King, as he entered the city, was +received by the people with prayers, welcomings, cries, and tender +words, and all signs which argue an earnest love of subjects +toward their sovereign; and the King, by holding up his glad +countenance to such as stood afar off, and most tender language to +those that stood nigh his Grace, showed himself no less thankful +to receive the people's goodwill than they to offer it. To all +that wished him well, he gave thanks. To such as bade "God save +his Grace," he said in return, "God save you all!" and added that +"he thanked them with all his heart." Wonderfully transported +were the people with the loving answers and gestures of their +King.' + +In Fenchurch Street a 'fair child, in costly apparel,' stood on a +stage to welcome his Majesty to the city. The last verse of his +greeting was in these words-- + + 'Welcome, O King! as much as hearts can think; + Welcome, again, as much as tongue can tell,-- + Welcome to joyous tongues, and hearts that will not shrink: + God thee preserve, we pray, and wish thee ever well.' + +The people burst forth in a glad shout, repeating with one voice +what the child had said. Tom Canty gazed abroad over the surging +sea of eager faces, and his heart swelled with exultation; and he +felt that the one thing worth living for in this world was to be a +king, and a nation's idol. Presently he caught sight, at a +distance, of a couple of his ragged Offal Court comrades--one of +them the lord high admiral in his late mimic court, the other the +first lord of the bedchamber in the same pretentious fiction; and +his pride swelled higher than ever. Oh, if they could only +recognise him now! What unspeakable glory it would be, if they +could recognise him, and realise that the derided mock king of the +slums and back alleys was become a real King, with illustrious +dukes and princes for his humble menials, and the English world at +his feet! But he had to deny himself, and choke down his desire, +for such a recognition might cost more than it would come to: so +he turned away his head, and left the two soiled lads to go on +with their shoutings and glad adulations, unsuspicious of whom it +was they were lavishing them upon. + +Every now and then rose the cry, "A largess! a largess!" and Tom +responded by scattering a handful of bright new coins abroad for +the multitude to scramble for. + +The chronicler says, 'At the upper end of Gracechurch Street, +before the sign of the Eagle, the city had erected a gorgeous +arch, beneath which was a stage, which stretched from one side of +the street to the other. This was an historical pageant, +representing the King's immediate progenitors. There sat +Elizabeth of York in the midst of an immense white rose, whose +petals formed elaborate furbelows around her; by her side was +Henry VII., issuing out of a vast red rose, disposed in the same +manner: the hands of the royal pair were locked together, and the +wedding-ring ostentatiously displayed. From the red and white +roses proceeded a stem, which reached up to a second stage, +occupied by Henry VIII., issuing from a red and white rose, with +the effigy of the new King's mother, Jane Seymour, represented by +his side. One branch sprang from this pair, which mounted to a +third stage, where sat the effigy of Edward VI. himself, enthroned +in royal majesty; and the whole pageant was framed with wreaths of +roses, red and white.' + +This quaint and gaudy spectacle so wrought upon the rejoicing +people, that their acclamations utterly smothered the small voice +of the child whose business it was to explain the thing in +eulogistic rhymes. But Tom Canty was not sorry; for this loyal +uproar was sweeter music to him than any poetry, no matter what +its quality might be. Whithersoever Tom turned his happy young +face, the people recognised the exactness of his effigy's likeness +to himself, the flesh and blood counterpart; and new whirlwinds of +applause burst forth. + +The great pageant moved on, and still on, under one triumphal arch +after another, and past a bewildering succession of spectacular +and symbolical tableaux, each of which typified and exalted some +virtue, or talent, or merit, of the little King's. 'Throughout +the whole of Cheapside, from every penthouse and window, hung +banners and streamers; and the richest carpets, stuffs, and cloth- +of-gold tapestried the streets--specimens of the great wealth of +the stores within; and the splendour of this thoroughfare was +equalled in the other streets, and in some even surpassed.' + +"And all these wonders and these marvels are to welcome me--me!" +murmured Tom Canty. + +The mock King's cheeks were flushed with excitement, his eyes were +flashing, his senses swam in a delirium of pleasure. At this +point, just as he was raising his hand to fling another rich +largess, he caught sight of a pale, astounded face, which was +strained forward out of the second rank of the crowd, its intense +eyes riveted upon him. A sickening consternation struck through +him; he recognised his mother! and up flew his hand, palm outward, +before his eyes--that old involuntary gesture, born of a forgotten +episode, and perpetuated by habit. In an instant more she had +torn her way out of the press, and past the guards, and was at his +side. She embraced his leg, she covered it with kisses, she +cried, "O my child, my darling!" lifting toward him a face that +was transfigured with joy and love. The same instant an officer +of the King's Guard snatched her away with a curse, and sent her +reeling back whence she came with a vigorous impulse from his +strong arm. The words "I do not know you, woman!" were falling +from Tom Canty's lips when this piteous thing occurred; but it +smote him to the heart to see her treated so; and as she turned +for a last glimpse of him, whilst the crowd was swallowing her +from his sight, she seemed so wounded, so broken-hearted, that a +shame fell upon him which consumed his pride to ashes, and +withered his stolen royalty. His grandeurs were stricken +valueless: they seemed to fall away from him like rotten rags. + +The procession moved on, and still on, through ever augmenting +splendours and ever augmenting tempests of welcome; but to Tom +Canty they were as if they had not been. He neither saw nor +heard. Royalty had lost its grace and sweetness; its pomps were +become a reproach. Remorse was eating his heart out. He said, +"Would God I were free of my captivity!" + +He had unconsciously dropped back into the phraseology of the +first days of his compulsory greatness. + +The shining pageant still went winding like a radiant and +interminable serpent down the crooked lanes of the quaint old +city, and through the huzzaing hosts; but still the King rode with +bowed head and vacant eyes, seeing only his mother's face and that +wounded look in it. + +"Largess, largess!" The cry fell upon an unheeding ear. + +"Long live Edward of England!" It seemed as if the earth shook +with the explosion; but there was no response from the King. He +heard it only as one hears the thunder of the surf when it is +blown to the ear out of a great distance, for it was smothered +under another sound which was still nearer, in his own breast, in +his accusing conscience--a voice which kept repeating those +shameful words, "I do not know you, woman!" + +The words smote upon the King's soul as the strokes of a funeral +bell smite upon the soul of a surviving friend when they remind +him of secret treacheries suffered at his hands by him that is +gone. + +New glories were unfolded at every turning; new wonders, new +marvels, sprang into view; the pent clamours of waiting batteries +were released; new raptures poured from the throats of the waiting +multitudes: but the King gave no sign, and the accusing voice +that went moaning through his comfortless breast was all the sound +he heard. + +By-and-by the gladness in the faces of the populace changed a +little, and became touched with a something like solicitude or +anxiety: an abatement in the volume of the applause was +observable too. The Lord Protector was quick to notice these +things: he was as quick to detect the cause. He spurred to the +King's side, bent low in his saddle, uncovered, and said-- + +"My liege, it is an ill time for dreaming. The people observe thy +downcast head, thy clouded mien, and they take it for an omen. Be +advised: unveil the sun of royalty, and let it shine upon these +boding vapours, and disperse them. Lift up thy face, and smile +upon the people." + +So saying, the Duke scattered a handful of coins to right and +left, then retired to his place. The mock King did mechanically +as he had been bidden. His smile had no heart in it, but few eyes +were near enough or sharp enough to detect that. The noddings of +his plumed head as he saluted his subjects were full of grace and +graciousness; the largess which he delivered from his hand was +royally liberal: so the people's anxiety vanished, and the +acclamations burst forth again in as mighty a volume as before. + +Still once more, a little before the progress was ended, the Duke +was obliged to ride forward, and make remonstrance. He whispered- +- + +"O dread sovereign! shake off these fatal humours; the eyes of the +world are upon thee." Then he added with sharp annoyance, +"Perdition catch that crazy pauper! 'twas she that hath disturbed +your Highness." + +The gorgeous figure turned a lustreless eye upon the Duke, and +said in a dead voice-- + +"She was my mother!" + +"My God!" groaned the Protector as he reined his horse backward to +his post, "the omen was pregnant with prophecy. He is gone mad +again!" + + + +Chapter XXXII. Coronation Day. + +Let us go backward a few hours, and place ourselves in Westminster +Abbey, at four o'clock in the morning of this memorable Coronation +Day. We are not without company; for although it is still night, +we find the torch-lighted galleries already filling up with people +who are well content to sit still and wait seven or eight hours +till the time shall come for them to see what they may not hope to +see twice in their lives--the coronation of a King. Yes, London +and Westminster have been astir ever since the warning guns boomed +at three o'clock, and already crowds of untitled rich folk who +have bought the privilege of trying to find sitting-room in the +galleries are flocking in at the entrances reserved for their +sort. + +The hours drag along tediously enough. All stir has ceased for +some time, for every gallery has long ago been packed. We may +sit, now, and look and think at our leisure. We have glimpses, +here and there and yonder, through the dim cathedral twilight, of +portions of many galleries and balconies, wedged full with other +people, the other portions of these galleries and balconies being +cut off from sight by intervening pillars and architectural +projections. We have in view the whole of the great north +transept--empty, and waiting for England's privileged ones. We +see also the ample area or platform, carpeted with rich stuffs, +whereon the throne stands. The throne occupies the centre of the +platform, and is raised above it upon an elevation of four steps. +Within the seat of the throne is enclosed a rough flat rock--the +stone of Scone--which many generations of Scottish kings sat on to +be crowned, and so it in time became holy enough to answer a like +purpose for English monarchs. Both the throne and its footstool +are covered with cloth of gold. + +Stillness reigns, the torches blink dully, the time drags heavily. +But at last the lagging daylight asserts itself, the torches are +extinguished, and a mellow radiance suffuses the great spaces. +All features of the noble building are distinct now, but soft and +dreamy, for the sun is lightly veiled with clouds. + +At seven o'clock the first break in the drowsy monotony occurs; +for on the stroke of this hour the first peeress enters the +transept, clothed like Solomon for splendour, and is conducted to +her appointed place by an official clad in satins and velvets, +whilst a duplicate of him gathers up the lady's long train, +follows after, and, when the lady is seated, arranges the train +across her lap for her. He then places her footstool according to +her desire, after which he puts her coronet where it will be +convenient to her hand when the time for the simultaneous +coroneting of the nobles shall arrive. + +By this time the peeresses are flowing in in a glittering stream, +and the satin-clad officials are flitting and glinting everywhere, +seating them and making them comfortable. The scene is animated +enough now. There is stir and life, and shifting colour +everywhere. After a time, quiet reigns again; for the peeresses +are all come and are all in their places, a solid acre or such a +matter, of human flowers, resplendent in variegated colours, and +frosted like a Milky Way with diamonds. There are all ages here: +brown, wrinkled, white-haired dowagers who are able to go back, +and still back, down the stream of time, and recall the crowning +of Richard III. and the troublous days of that old forgotten age; +and there are handsome middle-aged dames; and lovely and gracious +young matrons; and gentle and beautiful young girls, with beaming +eyes and fresh complexions, who may possibly put on their jewelled +coronets awkwardly when the great time comes; for the matter will +be new to them, and their excitement will be a sore hindrance. +Still, this may not happen, for the hair of all these ladies has +been arranged with a special view to the swift and successful +lodging of the crown in its place when the signal comes. + +We have seen that this massed array of peeresses is sown thick +with diamonds, and we also see that it is a marvellous spectacle-- +but now we are about to be astonished in earnest. About nine, the +clouds suddenly break away and a shaft of sunshine cleaves the +mellow atmosphere, and drifts slowly along the ranks of ladies; +and every rank it touches flames into a dazzling splendour of +many-coloured fires, and we tingle to our finger-tips with the +electric thrill that is shot through us by the surprise and the +beauty of the spectacle! Presently a special envoy from some +distant corner of the Orient, marching with the general body of +foreign ambassadors, crosses this bar of sunshine, and we catch +our breath, the glory that streams and flashes and palpitates +about him is so overpowering; for he is crusted from head to heel +with gems, and his slightest movement showers a dancing radiance +all around him. + +Let us change the tense for convenience. The time drifted along-- +one hour--two hours--two hours and a half; then the deep booming +of artillery told that the King and his grand procession had +arrived at last; so the waiting multitude rejoiced. All knew that +a further delay must follow, for the King must be prepared and +robed for the solemn ceremony; but this delay would be pleasantly +occupied by the assembling of the peers of the realm in their +stately robes. These were conducted ceremoniously to their seats, +and their coronets placed conveniently at hand; and meanwhile the +multitude in the galleries were alive with interest, for most of +them were beholding for the first time, dukes, earls, and barons, +whose names had been historical for five hundred years. When all +were finally seated, the spectacle from the galleries and all +coigns of vantage was complete; a gorgeous one to look upon and to +remember. + +Now the robed and mitred great heads of the church, and their +attendants, filed in upon the platform and took their appointed +places; these were followed by the Lord Protector and other great +officials, and these again by a steel-clad detachment of the +Guard. + +There was a waiting pause; then, at a signal, a triumphant peal of +music burst forth, and Tom Canty, clothed in a long robe of cloth +of gold, appeared at a door, and stepped upon the platform. The +entire multitude rose, and the ceremony of the Recognition ensued. + +Then a noble anthem swept the Abbey with its rich waves of sound; +and thus heralded and welcomed, Tom Canty was conducted to the +throne. The ancient ceremonies went on, with impressive +solemnity, whilst the audience gazed; and as they drew nearer and +nearer to completion, Tom Canty grew pale, and still paler, and a +deep and steadily deepening woe and despondency settled down upon +his spirits and upon his remorseful heart. + +At last the final act was at hand. The Archbishop of Canterbury +lifted up the crown of England from its cushion and held it out +over the trembling mock-King's head. In the same instant a +rainbow-radiance flashed along the spacious transept; for with one +impulse every individual in the great concourse of nobles lifted a +coronet and poised it over his or her head--and paused in that +attitude. + +A deep hush pervaded the Abbey. At this impressive moment, a +startling apparition intruded upon the scene--an apparition +observed by none in the absorbed multitude, until it suddenly +appeared, moving up the great central aisle. It was a boy, +bareheaded, ill shod, and clothed in coarse plebeian garments that +were falling to rags. He raised his hand with a solemnity which +ill comported with his soiled and sorry aspect, and delivered this +note of warning-- + +"I forbid you to set the crown of England upon that forfeited +head. I am the King!" + +In an instant several indignant hands were laid upon the boy; but +in the same instant Tom Canty, in his regal vestments, made a +swift step forward, and cried out in a ringing voice-- + +"Loose him and forbear! He IS the King!" + +A sort of panic of astonishment swept the assemblage, and they +partly rose in their places and stared in a bewildered way at one +another and at the chief figures in this scene, like persons who +wondered whether they were awake and in their senses, or asleep +and dreaming. The Lord Protector was as amazed as the rest, but +quickly recovered himself, and exclaimed in a voice of authority-- + +"Mind not his Majesty, his malady is upon him again--seize the +vagabond!" + +He would have been obeyed, but the mock-King stamped his foot and +cried out-- + +"On your peril! Touch him not, he is the King!" + +The hands were withheld; a paralysis fell upon the house; no one +moved, no one spoke; indeed, no one knew how to act or what to +say, in so strange and surprising an emergency. While all minds +were struggling to right themselves, the boy still moved steadily +forward, with high port and confident mien; he had never halted +from the beginning; and while the tangled minds still floundered +helplessly, he stepped upon the platform, and the mock-King ran +with a glad face to meet him; and fell on his knees before him and +said-- + +"Oh, my lord the King, let poor Tom Canty be first to swear fealty +to thee, and say, 'Put on thy crown and enter into thine own +again!'" + +The Lord Protector's eye fell sternly upon the new-comer's face; +but straightway the sternness vanished away, and gave place to an +expression of wondering surprise. This thing happened also to the +other great officers. They glanced at each other, and retreated a +step by a common and unconscious impulse. The thought in each +mind was the same: "What a strange resemblance!" + +The Lord Protector reflected a moment or two in perplexity, then +he said, with grave respectfulness-- + +"By your favour, sir, I desire to ask certain questions which--" + +"I will answer them, my lord." + +The Duke asked him many questions about the Court, the late King, +the prince, the princesses--the boy answered them correctly and +without hesitating. He described the rooms of state in the +palace, the late King's apartments, and those of the Prince of +Wales. + +It was strange; it was wonderful; yes, it was unaccountable--so +all said that heard it. The tide was beginning to turn, and Tom +Canty's hopes to run high, when the Lord Protector shook his head +and said-- + +"It is true it is most wonderful--but it is no more than our lord +the King likewise can do." This remark, and this reference to +himself as still the King, saddened Tom Canty, and he felt his +hopes crumbling from under him. "These are not PROOFS," added the +Protector. + +The tide was turning very fast now, very fast indeed--but in the +wrong direction; it was leaving poor Tom Canty stranded on the +throne, and sweeping the other out to sea. The Lord Protector +communed with himself--shook his head--the thought forced itself +upon him, "It is perilous to the State and to us all, to entertain +so fateful a riddle as this; it could divide the nation and +undermine the throne." He turned and said-- + +"Sir Thomas, arrest this--No, hold!" His face lighted, and he +confronted the ragged candidate with this question-- + +"Where lieth the Great Seal? Answer me this truly, and the riddle +is unriddled; for only he that was Prince of Wales CAN so answer! +On so trivial a thing hang a throne and a dynasty!" + +It was a lucky thought, a happy thought. That it was so +considered by the great officials was manifested by the silent +applause that shot from eye to eye around their circle in the form +of bright approving glances. Yes, none but the true prince could +dissolve the stubborn mystery of the vanished Great Seal--this +forlorn little impostor had been taught his lesson well, but here +his teachings must fail, for his teacher himself could not answer +THAT question--ah, very good, very good indeed; now we shall be +rid of this troublesome and perilous business in short order! And +so they nodded invisibly and smiled inwardly with satisfaction, +and looked to see this foolish lad stricken with a palsy of guilty +confusion. How surprised they were, then, to see nothing of the +sort happen--how they marvelled to hear him answer up promptly, in +a confident and untroubled voice, and say-- + +"There is nought in this riddle that is difficult." Then, without +so much as a by-your-leave to anybody, he turned and gave this +command, with the easy manner of one accustomed to doing such +things: "My Lord St. John, go you to my private cabinet in the +palace--for none knoweth the place better than you--and, close +down to the floor, in the left corner remotest from the door that +opens from the ante-chamber, you shall find in the wall a brazen +nail-head; press upon it and a little jewel-closet will fly open +which not even you do know of--no, nor any sould else in all the +world but me and the trusty artisan that did contrive it for me. +The first thing that falleth under your eye will be the Great +Seal--fetch it hither." + +All the company wondered at this speech, and wondered still more +to see the little mendicant pick out this peer without hesitancy +or apparent fear of mistake, and call him by name with such a +placidly convincing air of having known him all his life. The +peer was almost surprised into obeying. He even made a movement +as if to go, but quickly recovered his tranquil attitude and +confessed his blunder with a blush. Tom Canty turned upon him and +said, sharply-- + +"Why dost thou hesitate? Hast not heard the King's command? Go!" + +The Lord St. John made a deep obeisance--and it was observed that +it was a significantly cautious and non-committal one, it not +being delivered at either of the kings, but at the neutral ground +about half-way between the two--and took his leave. + +Now began a movement of the gorgeous particles of that official +group which was slow, scarcely perceptible, and yet steady and +persistent--a movement such as is observed in a kaleidoscope that +is turned slowly, whereby the components of one splendid cluster +fall away and join themselves to another--a movement which, little +by little, in the present case, dissolved the glittering crowd +that stood about Tom Canty and clustered it together again in the +neighbourhood of the new-comer. Tom Canty stood almost alone. +Now ensued a brief season of deep suspense and waiting--during +which even the few faint hearts still remaining near Tom Canty +gradually scraped together courage enough to glide, one by one, +over to the majority. So at last Tom Canty, in his royal robes +and jewels, stood wholly alone and isolated from the world, a +conspicuous figure, occupying an eloquent vacancy. + +Now the Lord St. John was seen returning. As he advanced up the +mid-aisle the interest was so intense that the low murmur of +conversation in the great assemblage died out and was succeeded by +a profound hush, a breathless stillness, through which his +footfalls pulsed with a dull and distant sound. Every eye was +fastened upon him as he moved along. He reached the platform, +paused a moment, then moved toward Tom Canty with a deep +obeisance, and said-- + +"Sire, the Seal is not there!" + +A mob does not melt away from the presence of a plague-patient +with more haste than the band of pallid and terrified courtiers +melted away from the presence of the shabby little claimant of the +Crown. In a moment he stood all alone, without friend or +supporter, a target upon which was concentrated a bitter fire of +scornful and angry looks. The Lord Protector called out fiercely- +- + +"Cast the beggar into the street, and scourge him through the +town--the paltry knave is worth no more consideration!" + +Officers of the guard sprang forward to obey, but Tom Canty waved +them off and said-- + +"Back! Whoso touches him perils his life!" + +The Lord Protector was perplexed in the last degree. He said to +the Lord St. John-- + +"Searched you well?--but it boots not to ask that. It doth seem +passing strange. Little things, trifles, slip out of one's ken, +and one does not think it matter for surprise; but how so bulky a +thing as the Seal of England can vanish away and no man be able to +get track of it again--a massy golden disk--" + +Tom Canty, with beaming eyes, sprang forward and shouted-- + +"Hold, that is enough! Was it round?--and thick?--and had it +letters and devices graved upon it?--yes? Oh, NOW I know what +this Great Seal is that there's been such worry and pother about. +An' ye had described it to me, ye could have had it three weeks +ago. Right well I know where it lies; but it was not I that put +it there--first." + +"Who, then, my liege?" asked the Lord Protector. + +"He that stands there--the rightful King of England. And he shall +tell you himself where it lies--then you will believe he knew it +of his own knowledge. Bethink thee, my King--spur thy memory--it +was the last, the very LAST thing thou didst that day before thou +didst rush forth from the palace, clothed in my rags, to punish +the soldier that insulted me." + +A silence ensued, undisturbed by a movement or a whisper, and all +eyes were fixed upon the new-comer, who stood, with bent head and +corrugated brow, groping in his memory among a thronging multitude +of valueless recollections for one single little elusive fact, +which, found, would seat him upon a throne--unfound, would leave +him as he was, for good and all--a pauper and an outcast. Moment +after moment passed--the moments built themselves into minutes-- +still the boy struggled silently on, and gave no sign. But at +last he heaved a sigh, shook his head slowly, and said, with a +trembling lip and in a despondent voice-- + +"I call the scene back--all of it--but the Seal hath no place in +it." He paused, then looked up, and said with gentle dignity, "My +lords and gentlemen, if ye will rob your rightful sovereign of his +own for lack of this evidence which he is not able to furnish, I +may not stay ye, being powerless. But--" + +"Oh, folly, oh, madness, my King!" cried Tom Canty, in a panic, +"wait!--think! Do not give up!--the cause is not lost! Nor SHALL +be, neither! List to what I say--follow every word--I am going to +bring that morning back again, every hap just as it happened. We +talked--I told you of my sisters, Nan and Bet--ah, yes, you +remember that; and about mine old grandam--and the rough games of +the lads of Offal Court--yes, you remember these things also; very +well, follow me still, you shall recall everything. You gave me +food and drink, and did with princely courtesy send away the +servants, so that my low breeding might not shame me before them-- +ah, yes, this also you remember." + +As Tom checked off his details, and the other boy nodded his head +in recognition of them, the great audience and the officials +stared in puzzled wonderment; the tale sounded like true history, +yet how could this impossible conjunction between a prince and a +beggar-boy have come about? Never was a company of people so +perplexed, so interested, and so stupefied, before. + +"For a jest, my prince, we did exchange garments. Then we stood +before a mirror; and so alike were we that both said it seemed as +if there had been no change made--yes, you remember that. Then +you noticed that the soldier had hurt my hand--look! here it is, I +cannot yet even write with it, the fingers are so stiff. At this +your Highness sprang up, vowing vengeance upon that soldier, and +ran towards the door--you passed a table--that thing you call the +Seal lay on that table--you snatched it up and looked eagerly +about, as if for a place to hide it--your eye caught sight of--" + +"There, 'tis sufficient!--and the good God be thanked!" exclaimed +the ragged claimant, in a mighty excitement. "Go, my good St. +John--in an arm-piece of the Milanese armour that hangs on the +wall, thou'lt find the Seal!" + +"Right, my King! right!" cried Tom Canty; "NOW the sceptre of +England is thine own; and it were better for him that would +dispute it that he had been born dumb! Go, my Lord St. John, give +thy feet wings!" + +The whole assemblage was on its feet now, and well-nigh out of its +mind with uneasiness, apprehension, and consuming excitement. On +the floor and on the platform a deafening buzz of frantic +conversation burst forth, and for some time nobody knew anything +or heard anything or was interested in anything but what his +neighbour was shouting into his ear, or he was shouting into his +neighbour's ear. Time--nobody knew how much of it--swept by +unheeded and unnoted. At last a sudden hush fell upon the house, +and in the same moment St. John appeared upon the platform, and +held the Great Seal aloft in his hand. Then such a shout went up- +- + +"Long live the true King!" + +For five minutes the air quaked with shouts and the crash of +musical instruments, and was white with a storm of waving +handkerchiefs; and through it all a ragged lad, the most +conspicuous figure in England, stood, flushed and happy and proud, +in the centre of the spacious platform, with the great vassals of +the kingdom kneeling around him. + +Then all rose, and Tom Canty cried out-- + +"Now, O my King, take these regal garments back, and give poor +Tom, thy servant, his shreds and remnants again." + +The Lord Protector spoke up-- + +"Let the small varlet be stripped and flung into the Tower." + +But the new King, the true King, said-- + +"I will not have it so. But for him I had not got my crown again- +-none shall lay a hand upon him to harm him. And as for thee, my +good uncle, my Lord Protector, this conduct of thine is not +grateful toward this poor lad, for I hear he hath made thee a +duke"--the Protector blushed--"yet he was not a king; wherefore +what is thy fine title worth now? To-morrow you shall sue to me, +THROUGH HIM, for its confirmation, else no duke, but a simple +earl, shalt thou remain." + +Under this rebuke, his Grace the Duke of Somerset retired a little +from the front for the moment. The King turned to Tom, and said +kindly--"My poor boy, how was it that you could remember where I +hid the Seal when I could not remember it myself?" + +"Ah, my King, that was easy, since I used it divers days." + +"Used it--yet could not explain where it was?" + +"I did not know it was THAT they wanted. They did not describe +it, your Majesty." + +"Then how used you it?" + +The red blood began to steal up into Tom's cheeks, and he dropped +his eyes and was silent. + +"Speak up, good lad, and fear nothing," said the King. "How used +you the Great Seal of England?" + +Tom stammered a moment, in a pathetic confusion, then got it out-- + +"To crack nuts with!" + +Poor child, the avalanche of laughter that greeted this nearly +swept him off his feet. But if a doubt remained in any mind that +Tom Canty was not the King of England and familiar with the august +appurtenances of royalty, this reply disposed of it utterly. + +Meantime the sumptuous robe of state had been removed from Tom's +shoulders to the King's, whose rags were effectually hidden from +sight under it. Then the coronation ceremonies were resumed; the +true King was anointed and the crown set upon his head, whilst +cannon thundered the news to the city, and all London seemed to +rock with applause. + + + +Chapter XXXIII. Edward as King. + +Miles Hendon was picturesque enough before he got into the riot on +London Bridge--he was more so when he got out of it. He had but +little money when he got in, none at all when he got out. The +pickpockets had stripped him of his last farthing. + +But no matter, so he found his boy. Being a soldier, he did not +go at his task in a random way, but set to work, first of all, to +arrange his campaign. + +What would the boy naturally do? Where would he naturally go? +Well--argued Miles--he would naturally go to his former haunts, +for that is the instinct of unsound minds, when homeless and +forsaken, as well as of sound ones. Whereabouts were his former +haunts? His rags, taken together with the low villain who seemed +to know him and who even claimed to be his father, indicated that +his home was in one or another of the poorest and meanest +districts of London. Would the search for him be difficult, or +long? No, it was likely to be easy and brief. He would not hunt +for the boy, he would hunt for a crowd; in the centre of a big +crowd or a little one, sooner or later, he should find his poor +little friend, sure; and the mangy mob would be entertaining +itself with pestering and aggravating the boy, who would be +proclaiming himself King, as usual. Then Miles Hendon would +cripple some of those people, and carry off his little ward, and +comfort and cheer him with loving words, and the two would never +be separated any more. + +So Miles started on his quest. Hour after hour he tramped through +back alleys and squalid streets, seeking groups and crowds, and +finding no end of them, but never any sign of the boy. This +greatly surprised him, but did not discourage him. To his notion, +there was nothing the matter with his plan of campaign; the only +miscalculation about it was that the campaign was becoming a +lengthy one, whereas he had expected it to be short. + +When daylight arrived, at last, he had made many a mile, and +canvassed many a crowd, but the only result was that he was +tolerably tired, rather hungry and very sleepy. He wanted some +breakfast, but there was no way to get it. To beg for it did not +occur to him; as to pawning his sword, he would as soon have +thought of parting with his honour; he could spare some of his +clothes--yes, but one could as easily find a customer for a +disease as for such clothes. + +At noon he was still tramping--among the rabble which followed +after the royal procession, now; for he argued that this regal +display would attract his little lunatic powerfully. He followed +the pageant through all its devious windings about London, and all +the way to Westminster and the Abbey. He drifted here and there +amongst the multitudes that were massed in the vicinity for a +weary long time, baffled and perplexed, and finally wandered off, +thinking, and trying to contrive some way to better his plan of +campaign. By-and-by, when he came to himself out of his musings, +he discovered that the town was far behind him and that the day +was growing old. He was near the river, and in the country; it +was a region of fine rural seats--not the sort of district to +welcome clothes like his. + +It was not at all cold; so he stretched himself on the ground in +the lee of a hedge to rest and think. Drowsiness presently began +to settle upon his senses; the faint and far-off boom of cannon +was wafted to his ear, and he said to himself, "The new King is +crowned," and straightway fell asleep. He had not slept or +rested, before, for more than thirty hours. He did not wake again +until near the middle of the next morning. + +He got up, lame, stiff, and half famished, washed himself in the +river, stayed his stomach with a pint or two of water, and trudged +off toward Westminster, grumbling at himself for having wasted so +much time. Hunger helped him to a new plan, now; he would try to +get speech with old Sir Humphrey Marlow and borrow a few marks, +and--but that was enough of a plan for the present; it would be +time enough to enlarge it when this first stage should be +accomplished. + +Toward eleven o'clock he approached the palace; and although a +host of showy people were about him, moving in the same direction, +he was not inconspicuous--his costume took care of that. He +watched these people's faces narrowly, hoping to find a charitable +one whose possessor might be willing to carry his name to the old +lieutenant--as to trying to get into the palace himself, that was +simply out of the question. + +Presently our whipping-boy passed him, then wheeled about and +scanned his figure well, saying to himself, "An' that is not the +very vagabond his Majesty is in such a worry about, then am I an +ass--though belike I was that before. He answereth the +description to a rag--that God should make two such would be to +cheapen miracles by wasteful repetition. I would I could contrive +an excuse to speak with him." + +Miles Hendon saved him the trouble; for he turned about, then, as +a man generally will when somebody mesmerises him by gazing hard +at him from behind; and observing a strong interest in the boy's +eyes, he stepped toward him and said-- + +"You have just come out from the palace; do you belong there?" + +"Yes, your worship." + +"Know you Sir Humphrey Marlow?" + +The boy started, and said to himself, "Lord! mine old departed +father!" Then he answered aloud, "Right well, your worship." + +"Good--is he within?" + +"Yes," said the boy; and added, to himself, "within his grave." + +"Might I crave your favour to carry my name to him, and say I beg +to say a word in his ear?" + +"I will despatch the business right willingly, fair sir." + +"Then say Miles Hendon, son of Sir Richard, is here without--I +shall be greatly bounden to you, my good lad." + +The boy looked disappointed. "The King did not name him so," he +said to himself; "but it mattereth not, this is his twin brother, +and can give his Majesty news of t'other Sir-Odds-and-Ends, I +warrant." So he said to Miles, "Step in there a moment, good sir, +and wait till I bring you word." + +Hendon retired to the place indicated--it was a recess sunk in the +palace wall, with a stone bench in it--a shelter for sentinels in +bad weather. He had hardly seated himself when some halberdiers, +in charge of an officer, passed by. The officer saw him, halted +his men, and commanded Hendon to come forth. He obeyed, and was +promptly arrested as a suspicious character prowling within the +precincts of the palace. Things began to look ugly. Poor Miles +was going to explain, but the officer roughly silenced him, and +ordered his men to disarm him and search him. + +"God of his mercy grant that they find somewhat," said poor Miles; +"I have searched enow, and failed, yet is my need greater than +theirs." + +Nothing was found but a document. The officer tore it open, and +Hendon smiled when he recognised the 'pot-hooks' made by his lost +little friend that black day at Hendon Hall. The officer's face +grew dark as he read the English paragraph, and Miles blenched to +the opposite colour as he listened. + +"Another new claimant of the Crown!" cried the officer. "Verily +they breed like rabbits, to-day. Seize the rascal, men, and see +ye keep him fast whilst I convey this precious paper within and +send it to the King." + +He hurried away, leaving the prisoner in the grip of the +halberdiers. + +"Now is my evil luck ended at last," muttered Hendon, "for I shall +dangle at a rope's end for a certainty, by reason of that bit of +writing. And what will become of my poor lad!--ah, only the good +God knoweth." + +By-and-by he saw the officer coming again, in a great hurry; so he +plucked his courage together, purposing to meet his trouble as +became a man. The officer ordered the men to loose the prisoner +and return his sword to him; then bowed respectfully, and said-- + +"Please you, sir, to follow me." + +Hendon followed, saying to himself, "An' I were not travelling to +death and judgment, and so must needs economise in sin, I would +throttle this knave for his mock courtesy." + +The two traversed a populous court, and arrived at the grand +entrance of the palace, where the officer, with another bow, +delivered Hendon into the hands of a gorgeous official, who +received him with profound respect and led him forward through a +great hall, lined on both sides with rows of splendid flunkeys +(who made reverential obeisance as the two passed along, but fell +into death-throes of silent laughter at our stately scarecrow the +moment his back was turned), and up a broad staircase, among +flocks of fine folk, and finally conducted him into a vast room, +clove a passage for him through the assembled nobility of England, +then made a bow, reminded him to take his hat off, and left him +standing in the middle of the room, a mark for all eyes, for +plenty of indignant frowns, and for a sufficiency of amused and +derisive smiles. + +Miles Hendon was entirely bewildered. There sat the young King, +under a canopy of state, five steps away, with his head bent down +and aside, speaking with a sort of human bird of paradise--a duke, +maybe. Hendon observed to himself that it was hard enough to be +sentenced to death in the full vigour of life, without having this +peculiarly public humiliation added. He wished the King would +hurry about it--some of the gaudy people near by were becoming +pretty offensive. At this moment the King raised his head +slightly, and Hendon caught a good view of his face. The sight +nearly took his breath away!--He stood gazing at the fair young +face like one transfixed; then presently ejaculated-- + +"Lo, the Lord of the Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows on his throne!" + +He muttered some broken sentences, still gazing and marvelling; +then turned his eyes around and about, scanning the gorgeous +throng and the splendid saloon, murmuring, "But these are REAL-- +verily these are REAL--surely it is not a dream." + +He stared at the King again--and thought, "IS it a dream . . . or +IS he the veritable Sovereign of England, and not the friendless +poor Tom o' Bedlam I took him for--who shall solve me this +riddle?" + +A sudden idea flashed in his eye, and he strode to the wall, +gathered up a chair, brought it back, planted it on the floor, and +sat down in it! + +A buzz of indignation broke out, a rough hand was laid upon him +and a voice exclaimed-- + +"Up, thou mannerless clown! would'st sit in the presence of the +King?" + +The disturbance attracted his Majesty's attention, who stretched +forth his hand and cried out-- + +"Touch him not, it is his right!" + +The throng fell back, stupefied. The King went on-- + +"Learn ye all, ladies, lords, and gentlemen, that this is my +trusty and well-beloved servant, Miles Hendon, who interposed his +good sword and saved his prince from bodily harm and possible +death--and for this he is a knight, by the King's voice. Also +learn, that for a higher service, in that he saved his sovereign +stripes and shame, taking these upon himself, he is a peer of +England, Earl of Kent, and shall have gold and lands meet for the +dignity. More--the privilege which he hath just exercised is his +by royal grant; for we have ordained that the chiefs of his line +shall have and hold the right to sit in the presence of the +Majesty of England henceforth, age after age, so long as the crown +shall endure. Molest him not." + +Two persons, who, through delay, had only arrived from the country +during this morning, and had now been in this room only five +minutes, stood listening to these words and looking at the King, +then at the scarecrow, then at the King again, in a sort of torpid +bewilderment. These were Sir Hugh and the Lady Edith. But the +new Earl did not see them. He was still staring at the monarch, +in a dazed way, and muttering-- + +"Oh, body o' me! THIS my pauper! This my lunatic! This is he +whom _I_ would show what grandeur was, in my house of seventy +rooms and seven-and-twenty servants! This is he who had never +known aught but rags for raiment, kicks for comfort, and offal for +diet! This is he whom _I_ adopted and would make respectable! +Would God I had a bag to hide my head in!" + +Then his manners suddenly came back to him, and he dropped upon +his knees, with his hands between the King's, and swore allegiance +and did homage for his lands and titles. Then he rose and stood +respectfully aside, a mark still for all eyes--and much envy, too. + +Now the King discovered Sir Hugh, and spoke out with wrathful +voice and kindling eye-- + +"Strip this robber of his false show and stolen estates, and put +him under lock and key till I have need of him." + +The late Sir Hugh was led away. + +There was a stir at the other end of the room, now; the assemblage +fell apart, and Tom Canty, quaintly but richly clothed, marched +down, between these living walls, preceded by an usher. He knelt +before the King, who said-- + +"I have learned the story of these past few weeks, and am well +pleased with thee. Thou hast governed the realm with right royal +gentleness and mercy. Thou hast found thy mother and thy sisters +again? Good; they shall be cared for--and thy father shall hang, +if thou desire it and the law consent. Know, all ye that hear my +voice, that from this day, they that abide in the shelter of +Christ's Hospital and share the King's bounty shall have their +minds and hearts fed, as well as their baser parts; and this boy +shall dwell there, and hold the chief place in its honourable body +of governors, during life. And for that he hath been a king, it +is meet that other than common observance shall be his due; +wherefore note this his dress of state, for by it he shall be +known, and none shall copy it; and wheresoever he shall come, it +shall remind the people that he hath been royal, in his time, and +none shall deny him his due of reverence or fail to give him +salutation. He hath the throne's protection, he hath the crown's +support, he shall be known and called by the honourable title of +the King's Ward." + +The proud and happy Tom Canty rose and kissed the King's hand, and +was conducted from the presence. He did not waste any time, but +flew to his mother, to tell her and Nan and Bet all about it and +get them to help him enjoy the great news. {1} + + + +Conclusion. Justice and retribution. + +When the mysteries were all cleared up, it came out, by confession +of Hugh Hendon, that his wife had repudiated Miles by his command, +that day at Hendon Hall--a command assisted and supported by the +perfectly trustworthy promise that if she did not deny that he was +Miles Hendon, and stand firmly to it, he would have her life; +whereupon she said, "Take it!"--she did not value it--and she +would not repudiate Miles; then the husband said he would spare +her life but have Miles assassinated! This was a different +matter; so she gave her word and kept it. + +Hugh was not prosecuted for his threats or for stealing his +brother's estates and title, because the wife and brother would +not testify against him--and the former would not have been +allowed to do it, even if she had wanted to. Hugh deserted his +wife and went over to the continent, where he presently died; and +by-and-by the Earl of Kent married his relict. There were grand +times and rejoicings at Hendon village when the couple paid their +first visit to the Hall. + +Tom Canty's father was never heard of again. + +The King sought out the farmer who had been branded and sold as a +slave, and reclaimed him from his evil life with the Ruffler's +gang, and put him in the way of a comfortable livelihood. + +He also took that old lawyer out of prison and remitted his fine. +He provided good homes for the daughters of the two Baptist women +whom he saw burned at the stake, and roundly punished the official +who laid the undeserved stripes upon Miles Hendon's back. + +He saved from the gallows the boy who had captured the stray +falcon, and also the woman who had stolen a remnant of cloth from +a weaver; but he was too late to save the man who had been +convicted of killing a deer in the royal forest. + +He showed favour to the justice who had pitied him when he was +supposed to have stolen a pig, and he had the gratification of +seeing him grow in the public esteem and become a great and +honoured man. + +As long as the King lived he was fond of telling the story of his +adventures, all through, from the hour that the sentinel cuffed +him away from the palace gate till the final midnight when he +deftly mixed himself into a gang of hurrying workmen and so +slipped into the Abbey and climbed up and hid himself in the +Confessor's tomb, and then slept so long, next day, that he came +within one of missing the Coronation altogether. He said that the +frequent rehearsing of the precious lesson kept him strong in his +purpose to make its teachings yield benefits to his people; and +so, whilst his life was spared he should continue to tell the +story, and thus keep its sorrowful spectacles fresh in his memory +and the springs of pity replenished in his heart. + +Miles Hendon and Tom Canty were favourites of the King, all +through his brief reign, and his sincere mourners when he died. +The good Earl of Kent had too much sense to abuse his peculiar +privilege; but he exercised it twice after the instance we have +seen of it before he was called from this world--once at the +accession of Queen Mary, and once at the accession of Queen +Elizabeth. A descendant of his exercised it at the accession of +James I. Before this one's son chose to use the privilege, near a +quarter of a century had elapsed, and the 'privilege of the Kents' +had faded out of most people's memories; so, when the Kent of that +day appeared before Charles I. and his court and sat down in the +sovereign's presence to assert and perpetuate the right of his +house, there was a fine stir indeed! But the matter was soon +explained, and the right confirmed. The last Earl of the line +fell in the wars of the Commonwealth fighting for the King, and +the odd privilege ended with him. + +Tom Canty lived to be a very old man, a handsome, white-haired old +fellow, of grave and benignant aspect. As long as he lasted he +was honoured; and he was also reverenced, for his striking and +peculiar costume kept the people reminded that 'in his time he had +been royal;' so, wherever he appeared the crowd fell apart, making +way for him, and whispering, one to another, "Doff thy hat, it is +the King's Ward!"--and so they saluted, and got his kindly smile +in return--and they valued it, too, for his was an honourable +history. + +Yes, King Edward VI. lived only a few years, poor boy, but he +lived them worthily. More than once, when some great dignitary, +some gilded vassal of the crown, made argument against his +leniency, and urged that some law which he was bent upon amending +was gentle enough for its purpose, and wrought no suffering or +oppression which any one need mightily mind, the young King turned +the mournful eloquence of his great compassionate eyes upon him +and answered-- + +"What dost THOU know of suffering and oppression? I and my people +know, but not thou." + +The reign of Edward VI. was a singularly merciful one for those +harsh times. Now that we are taking leave of him, let us try to +keep this in our minds, to his credit. + + + +FOOTNOTES AND TWAIN'S NOTES + + + +{1} For Mark Twain's note see below under the relevant chapter +heading. + +{2} He refers to the order of baronets, or baronettes; the +barones minores, as distinct from the parliamentary barons--not, +it need hardly be said, to the baronets of later creation. + +{3} The lords of Kingsale, descendants of De Courcy, still enjoy +this curious privilege. + +{4} Hume. + +{5} Ib. + +{6} Leigh Hunt's 'The Town,' p.408, quotation from an early +tourist. + +{7} Canting terms for various kinds of thieves, beggars and +vagabonds, and their female companions. + +{8} From 'The English Rogue.' London, 1665. + +{9} Hume's England. + +{10} See Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull's Blue Laws, True and False, p. +11. + +NOTE 1, Chapter IV. Christ's Hospital Costume. + +It is most reasonable to regard the dress as copied from the +costume of the citizens of London of that period, when long blue +coats were the common habit of apprentices and serving-men, and +yellow stockings were generally worn; the coat fits closely to the +body, but has loose sleeves, and beneath is worn a sleeveless +yellow under-coat; around the waist is a red leathern girdle; a +clerical band around the neck, and a small flat black cap, about +the size of a saucer, completes the costume.--Timbs' Curiosities +of London. + +NOTE 2, Chapter IV. + +It appears that Christ's Hospital was not originally founded as a +SCHOOL; its object was to rescue children from the streets, to +shelter, feed, clothe them. +--Timbs' Curiosities of London. + +NOTE 3, Chapter V. The Duke of Norfolk's Condemnation commanded. + +The King was now approaching fast towards his end; and fearing +lest Norfolk should escape him, he sent a message to the Commons, +by which he desired them to hasten the Bill, on pretence that +Norfolk enjoyed the dignity of Earl Marshal, and it was necessary +to appoint another, who might officiate at the ensuing ceremony of +installing his son Prince of Wales.--Hume's History of England, +vol. iii. p. 307. + +NOTE 4, Chapter VII. + +It was not till the end of this reign (Henry VIII.) that any +salads, carrots, turnips, or other edible roots were produced in +England. The little of these vegetables that was used was +formerly imported from Holland and Flanders. Queen Catherine, +when she wanted a salad, was obliged to despatch a messenger +thither on purpose.--Hume's History of England, vol. iii. p. 314. + +NOTE 5, Chapter VIII. Attainder of Norfolk. + +The House of Peers, without examining the prisoner, without trial +or evidence, passed a Bill of Attainder against him and sent it +down to the Commons . . . The obsequious Commons obeyed his (the +King's) directions; and the King, having affixed the Royal assent +to the Bill by commissioners, issued orders for the execution of +Norfolk on the morning of January 29 (the next day).--Hume's +History of England, vol iii. p 306. + +NOTE 6, Chapter X. The Loving-cup. + +The loving-cup, and the peculiar ceremonies observed in drinking +from it, are older than English history. It is thought that both +are Danish importations. As far back as knowledge goes, the +loving-cup has always been drunk at English banquets. Tradition +explains the ceremonies in this way. In the rude ancient times it +was deemed a wise precaution to have both hands of both drinkers +employed, lest while the pledger pledged his love and fidelity to +the pledgee, the pledgee take that opportunity to slip a dirk into +him! + +NOTE 7, Chapter XI. The Duke of Norfolk's narrow Escape. + +Had Henry VIII. survived a few hours longer, his order for the +duke's execution would have been carried into effect. 'But news +being carried to the Tower that the King himself had expired that +night, the lieutenant deferred obeying the warrant; and it was not +thought advisable by the Council to begin a new reign by the death +of the greatest nobleman in the kingdom, who had been condemned by +a sentence so unjust and tyrannical.'--Hume's History of England, +vol. iii, p. 307. + +NOTE 8, Chapter XIV. The Whipping-boy. + +James I. and Charles II. had whipping-boys, when they were little +fellows, to take their punishment for them when they fell short in +their lessons; so I have ventured to furnish my small prince with +one, for my own purposes. + +NOTES to Chapter XV. + +Character of Hertford. + +The young King discovered an extreme attachment to his uncle, who +was, in the main, a man of moderation and probity.--Hume's History +of England, vol. iii.p324. + +But if he (the Protector) gave offence by assuming too much state, +he deserves great praise on account of the laws passed this +session, by which the rigour of former statutes was much +mitigated, and some security given to the freedom of the +constitution. All laws were repealed which extended the crime of +treason beyond the statute of the twenty-fifth of Edward III.; all +laws enacted during the late reign extending the crime of felony; +all the former laws against Lollardy or heresy, together with the +statute of the Six Articles. None were to be accused for words, +but within a month after they were spoken. By these repeals +several of the most rigorous laws that ever had passed in England +were annulled; and some dawn, both of civil and religious liberty, +began to appear to the people. A repeal also passed of that law, +the destruction of all laws, by which the King's proclamation was +made of equal force with a statute.--Ibid. vol. iii. p. 339. + +Boiling to Death. + +In the reign of Henry VIII. poisoners were, by Act of Parliament, +condemned to be BOILED TO DEATH. This Act was repealed in the +following reign. + +In Germany, even in the seventeenth century, this horrible +punishment was inflicted on coiners and counterfeiters. Taylor, +the Water Poet, describes an execution he witnessed in Hamburg in +1616. The judgment pronounced against a coiner of false money was +that he should 'BE BOILED TO DEATH IN OIL; not thrown into the +vessel at once, but with a pulley or rope to be hanged under the +armpits, and then let down into the oil BY DEGREES; first the +feet, and next the legs, and so to boil his flesh from his bones +alive.'--Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull's Blue Laws, True and False, p. +13. + +The Famous Stocking Case. + +A woman and her daughter, NINE YEARS OLD, were hanged in +Huntingdon for selling their souls to the devil, and raising a +storm by pulling off their stockings!--Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull's +Blue Laws, True and False, p. 20. + +NOTE 10, Chapter XVII. Enslaving. + +So young a King and so ignorant a peasant were likely to make +mistakes; and this is an instance in point. This peasant was +suffering from this law BY ANTICIPATION; the King was venting his +indignation against a law which was not yet in existence; for this +hideous statute was to have birth in this little King's OWN REIGN. +However, we know, from the humanity of his character, that it +could never have been suggested by him. + +NOTES to Chapter XXIII. Death for Trifling Larcenies. + +When Connecticut and New Haven were framing their first codes, +larceny above the value of twelve pence was a capital crime in +England--as it had been since the time of Henry I.--Dr. J. Hammond +Trumbull's Blue Laws, True and False, p. 17. + +The curious old book called The English Rogue makes the limit +thirteen pence ha'penny: death being the portion of any who steal +a thing 'above the value of thirteen pence ha'penny.' + +NOTES to Chapter XXVII. + +From many descriptions of larceny the law expressly took away the +benefit of clergy: to steal a horse, or a HAWK, or woollen cloth +from the weaver, was a hanging matter. So it was to kill a deer +from the King's forest, or to export sheep from the kingdom.--Dr. +J. Hammond Trumbull's Blue Laws, True and False, p.13. + +William Prynne, a learned barrister, was sentenced (long after +Edward VI.'s time) to lose both his ears in the pillory, to +degradation from the bar, a fine of 3,000 pounds, and imprisonment +for life. Three years afterwards he gave new offence to Laud by +publishing a pamphlet against the hierarchy. He was again +prosecuted, and was sentenced to lose WHAT REMAINED OF HIS EARS, +to pay a fine of 5,000 pounds, to be BRANDED ON BOTH HIS CHEEKS +with the letters S. L. (for Seditious Libeller), and to remain in +prison for life. The severity of this sentence was equalled by +the savage rigour of its execution.--Ibid. p. 12. + +NOTES to Chapter XXXIII. + +Christ's Hospital, or Bluecoat School, 'the noblest institution in +the world.' + +The ground on which the Priory of the Grey Friars stood was +conferred by Henry VIII. on the Corporation of London (who caused +the institution there of a home for poor boys and girls). +Subsequently, Edward VI. caused the old Priory to be properly +repaired, and founded within it that noble establishment called +the Bluecoat School, or Christ's Hospital, for the EDUCATION and +maintenance of orphans and the children of indigent persons . . . +Edward would not let him (Bishop Ridley) depart till the letter +was written (to the Lord Mayor), and then charged him to deliver +it himself, and signify his special request and commandment that +no time might be lost in proposing what was convenient, and +apprising him of the proceedings. The work was zealously +undertaken, Ridley himself engaging in it; and the result was the +founding of Christ's Hospital for the education of poor children. +(The King endowed several other charities at the same time.) +"Lord God," said he, "I yield Thee most hearty thanks that Thou +hast given me life thus long to finish this work to the glory of +Thy name!" That innocent and most exemplary life was drawing +rapidly to its close, and in a few days he rendered up his spirit +to his Creator, praying God to defend the realm from Papistry.--J. +Heneage Jesse's London: its Celebrated Characters and Places. + +In the Great Hall hangs a large picture of King Edward VI. seated +on his throne, in a scarlet and ermined robe, holding the sceptre +in his left hand, and presenting with the other the Charter to the +kneeling Lord Mayor. By his side stands the Chancellor, holding +the seals, and next to him are other officers of state. Bishop +Ridley kneels before him with uplifted hands, as if supplicating a +blessing on the event; whilst the Aldermen, etc., with the Lord +Mayor, kneel on both sides, occupying the middle ground of the +picture; and lastly, in front, are a double row of boys on one +side and girls on the other, from the master and matron down to +the boy and girl who have stepped forward from their respective +rows, and kneel with raised hands before the King.--Timbs' +Curiosities of London, p. 98. + +Christ's Hospital, by ancient custom, possesses the privilege of +addressing the Sovereign on the occasion of his or her coming into +the City to partake of the hospitality of the Corporation of +London.--Ibid. + +The Dining Hall, with its lobby and organ-gallery, occupies the +entire storey, which is 187 feet long, 51 feet wide, and 47 feet +high; it is lit by nine large windows, filled with stained glass +on the south side; and is, next to Westminster Hall, the noblest +room in the metropolis. Here the boys, now about 800 in number, +dine; and here are held the 'Suppings in Public,' to which +visitors are admitted by tickets issued by the Treasurer and by +the Governors of Christ's Hospital. The tables are laid with +cheese in wooden bowls, beer in wooden piggins, poured from +leathern jacks, and bread brought in large baskets. The official +company enter; the Lord Mayor, or President, takes his seat in a +state chair made of oak from St. Catherine's Church, by the Tower; +a hymn is sung, accompanied by the organ; a 'Grecian,' or head +boy, reads the prayers from the pulpit, silence being enforced by +three drops of a wooden hammer. After prayer the supper +commences, and the visitors walk between the tables. At its close +the 'trade-boys' take up the baskets, bowls, jacks, piggins, and +candlesticks, and pass in procession, the bowing to the Governors +being curiously formal. This spectacle was witnessed by Queen +Victoria and Prince Albert in 1845. + +Among the more eminent Bluecoat boys are Joshua Barnes, editor of +Anacreon and Euripides; Jeremiah Markland, the eminent critic, +particularly in Greek Literature; Camden, the antiquary; Bishop +Stillingfleet; Samuel Richardson, the novelist; Thomas Mitchell, +the translator of Aristophanes; Thomas Barnes, many years editor +of the London Times; Coleridge, Charles Lamb, and Leigh Hunt. + +No boy is admitted before he is seven years old, or after he is +nine; and no boy can remain in the school after he is fifteen, +King's boys and 'Grecians' alone excepted. There are about 500 +Governors, at the head of whom are the Sovereign and the Prince of +Wales. The qualification for a Governor is payment of 500 +pounds.--Ibid. + + +GENERAL NOTE. + + +One hears much about the 'hideous Blue Laws of Connecticut,' and +is accustomed to shudder piously when they are mentioned. There +are people in America--and even in England!--who imagine that they +were a very monument of malignity, pitilessness, and inhumanity; +whereas in reality they were about the first SWEEPING DEPARTURE +FROM JUDICIAL ATROCITY which the 'civilised' world had seen. This +humane and kindly Blue Law Code, of two hundred and forty years +ago, stands all by itself, with ages of bloody law on the further +side of it, and a century and three-quarters of bloody English law +on THIS side of it. + +There has never been a time--under the Blue Laws or any other-- +when above FOURTEEN crimes were punishable by death in +Connecticut. But in England, within the memory of men who are +still hale in body and mind, TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THREE crimes +were punishable by death! {10} These facts are worth knowing--and +worth thinking about, too. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext The Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain + |