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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:19:53 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:19:53 -0700 |
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diff --git a/26027-h/26027-h.html b/26027-h/26027-h.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ffa1477 --- /dev/null +++ b/26027-h/26027-h.html @@ -0,0 +1,5970 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /><link rel="schema.DC" href="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" /><meta name="DC.Creator" content="Rudyard Kipling" /><meta name="DC.Title" content="Puck of Pook's Hill" /><meta name="DC.Date" content="July 11, 2008" /><meta name="DC.Language" content="English" /><meta name="DC.Publisher" content="Project Gutenberg" /><meta name="DC.Identifier" content="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/26027" /><meta name="DC.Rights" content="This text is in the public domain." /><title>The Project Gutenberg EBook of Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling</title><style type="text/css">/* +The Gnutenberg Press - default CSS2 stylesheet + +Any generated element will have a class "tei" and a class "tei-elem" +where elem is the element name in TEI. +The order of statements is important !!! 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You may copy it, + give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project + Gutenberg License <a href="#pglicense" class="tei tei-ref">included with this + eBook</a> or online at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license" class="tei tei-xref">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a></p></div><pre class="pre tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em">Title: Puck of Pook's Hill + +Author: Rudyard Kipling + +Release Date: July 11, 2008 [Ebook #26027] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PUCK OF POOK'S HILL*** +</pre> + +<h4>There are several editions of this ebook in the Project Gutenberg collection. Various characteristics of each ebook are listed to aid in selecting the preferred file.<br />Click on any of the filenumbers below to quickly view each ebook. +</h4> + + +<table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto" cellpadding="4" border="3"> + +<tr><td> + <b><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/15976/15976-h/15976-h.htm"> +15976</a> </b> </td><td>(Illustrated in Black and White) +</td></tr> + +<tr><td> + <b><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26027/26027-h/26027-h.html"> +26027</a></b></td><td>(Illustrated in Color) +</td></tr> + +<tr><td> + <b><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/557/557-h/557-h.htm"> +557</a></b> </td><td>(Plain HTML) +</td></tr> + +</table> + + + +</div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + + + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/cover.jpg" width="454" height="700" alt="Cover illustration" /></div> + + + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <hr class="page" /><p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 144%">PUCK OF POOK’S HILL</span></span></p> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.20em; margin-top: 2.40em"><span style="font-size: 120%"> BOOKS BY RUDYARD KIPLING </span></p> + <table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 4.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Puck of Pook’s Hill</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">They</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Traffics and Discoveries</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">The Five Nations</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">The Just So Song Book</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Just So Stories</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Kim</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Stalky & Co.</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">The Day’s Work</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">The Brushwood Boy</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">From Sea to Sea</span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"> + <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Departmental Ditties and Ballads And Barrack-room Ballads</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Plain Tales From the Hills</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">The Light That Failed</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"> + <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Life’s Handicap: Being Stories of Mine Own People</span></span> + </td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Under the Deodars, the Phantom ’Rickshaw, and Wee Willie + Winkie</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"> + <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Soldiers Three, the Story of the Gadsbys, and in Black and + White</span></span> + </td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Soldier Stories</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">The Kipling Birthday Book</span></span></td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"> (<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">With Wolcott Balestier</span></span>) <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">The + Naulahka</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p></div><hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + <a name="image01" id="image01" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + + + + + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/col01s.jpg" width="400" height="510" alt="Illustration to page 247" title="‘“Go!” she says. “Go with my Leave an’ Goodwill.”’ See page 247" /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <br /> + <a href="#Pg247" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: center"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-style: italic">See page + 247</span></span></a></div></div> + + + + + </div> + <hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/tp.jpg" width="437" height="700" alt="title page" /></div> + + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-titlePage" style="text-align: center"> + <div class="tei tei-pb" style="text-align: center"></div> + + <span class="tei tei-docTitle" style="text-align: center"> + <span class="tei tei-titlePart" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 173%">Puck of Pook’s Hill</span></span> + </span> + <br /><br /> + <div class="tei tei-byline" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 144%">By </span><span class="tei tei-docAuthor" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 144%">Rudyard Kipling</span></span></div> + <br /><br /> + <span class="tei tei-titlePart" style="text-align: center"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-style: italic">Illustrated by</span></span><br />Arthur Rackham, A.R.W.S.</span> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <span class="tei tei-docImprint" style="text-align: center">NEW YORK<br />DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY</span> + <br /> + <span class="tei tei-docDate" style="text-align: center">1906</span> + </div> + <hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em">Copyright, 1905, 1906, by<br />RUDYARD KIPLING<br />Published, October, 1906</p> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 90%; font-style: italic">All rights reserved,</span><br /><span style="font-size: 90%; font-style: italic">including that of translation into foreign + languages,</span><br /><span style="font-size: 90%; font-style: italic">including the Scandinavian</span></span> + </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 10.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> ROBIN GOODFELLOW—HIS FRIENDS </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 10.00em"> By <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Rudyard Kipling</span></span> + </p> + <table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 10.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label">I. </th><td class="tei tei-item">A Centurion of the Thirtieth.</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label">II. </th><td class="tei tei-item">On the Great Wall.</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label">III. </th><td class="tei tei-item">The Winged Hats.</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label">IV. </th><td class="tei tei-item">Hal o’ the Draft.</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label">V. </th><td class="tei tei-item">Dymchurch Flit.</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label">VI. </th><td class="tei tei-item">The Treasure and the Law.</td></tr></tbody></table> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 10.00em"> Copyright, 1906, by <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">Rudyard Kipling</span></span>. </p> + </div> + <hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <a name="pdf1" id="pdf1"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">CONTENTS</span></h1> + <table summary="This is a table" cellspacing="0" class="tei tei-table" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><colgroup span="2"></colgroup><tbody><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: right"><span style="font-size: 81%">PAGE</span></span></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Puck’s Song</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg001" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">1</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell">Weland’s Sword</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg005" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">5</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">A Tree Song</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg029" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">29</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell">Young Men at the Manor</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg033" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">33</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Sir Richard’s Song</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg055" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">55</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Harp Song of the Dane Women</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg059" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">59</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell">The Knights of the Joyous Venture</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg061" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">61</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Thorkild’s Song</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg087" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">87</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell">Old Men at Pevensey</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg091" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">91</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">The Runes on Weland’s Sword</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg119" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">119</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell">A Centurion of the Thirtieth</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg125" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">125</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">A British-Roman Song</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg145" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">145</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell">On the Great Wall</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg149" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">149</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">A Song to Mithras</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg173" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">173</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell">The Winged Hats</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg177" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">177</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">A Pict Song</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg201" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">201</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell">Hal o’ the Draft</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg207" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">207</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">A Smugglers’ Song</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg227" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">227</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">The Bee Boy’s Song</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg231" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">231</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell">‘Dymchurch Flit’</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg233" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">233</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">A Three-Part Song</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg251" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">251</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Song of the Fifth River</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg255" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">255</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell">The Treasure and the Law</td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg257" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">257</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">The Children’s Song</span></span></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#Pg276" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">276</a></td> + </tr></tbody></table> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <a name="pdf2" id="pdf2"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</span></h1> + <table summary="This is a table" cellspacing="0" class="tei tei-table" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><colgroup span="2"></colgroup><tbody><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell">‘“Go!” she says, “Go with my Leave an’ Goodwill.”’ </td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#image01" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: right"><span style="font-style: italic">Frontispiece</span></span></a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"></td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: right"><span style="font-size: 81%">FACING PAGE</span></span></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"> + In the very spot where Dan had stood as Puck they + saw a small, brown, broad-shouldered, pointy-eared + person with a snub nose, slanting blue eyes, + and a grin that ran right across his freckled + face. + </td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#image02" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">6</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"> + ‘There’s where you meet hunters, and trappers for the + Circuses, prodding along chained bears and muzzled + wolves.’ + </td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#image03" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">152</a></td> + </tr><tr class="tei tei-row"> + <td class="tei tei-cell"> + ‘Hoity-toity!’ he cried. ‘Here’s Pride in purple feathers! + Here’s wrathy contempt and the Pomps of + the Flesh!’... And he doffed his cap + to the bubbling bird. + </td> + <td class="tei tei-cell" style="text-align: right"><a href="#image04" class="tei tei-ref" style="text-align: right">212</a></td> + </tr></tbody></table> + + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 144%">PUCK OF POOK’S HILL</span></span></p> + <div class="tei tei-pb"></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-body" style="margin-bottom: 6.00em; margin-top: 6.00em"> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page1">[pg 1]</span> + <a name="Pg001" id="Pg001" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf3" id="pdf3"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">PUCK’S SONG</span></h1> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">See you the dimpled track that runs,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">All hollow through the wheat?</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">O that was where they hauled the guns</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">That smote King Philip’s fleet.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">See you our little mill that clacks,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">So busy by the brook?</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">She has ground her corn and paid her tax</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Ever since Domesday Book.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">See you our stilly woods of oak,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And the dread ditch beside?</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">O that was where the Saxons broke,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">On the day that Harold died.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">See you the windy levels spread</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">About the gates of Rye?</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">O that was where the Northmen fled,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">When Alfred’s ships came by.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">See you our pastures wide and lone,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Where the red oxen browse?</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">O there was a City thronged and known,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Ere London boasted a house.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And see you, after rain, the trace</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Of mound and ditch and wall?</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">O that was a Legion’s camping-place,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">When Cæsar sailed from Gaul.</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page2">[pg 2]</span> + <a name="Pg002" id="Pg002" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And see you marks that show and fade,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Like shadows on the Downs?</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">O they are the lines the Flint Men made,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To guard their wondrous towns.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Trackway and Camp and City lost,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Salt Marsh where now is corn;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Old Wars, old Peace, old Arts that cease,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And so was England born!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">She is not any common Earth,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Water or wood or air,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But Merlin’s Isle of Gramarye,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Where you and I will fare.</span></span></div> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page3">[pg 3]</span> + <a name="Pg003" id="Pg003" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%"> WELAND’S SWORD </span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page4">[pg 4]</span> + <a name="Pg004" id="Pg004" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page5">[pg 5]</span> + <a name="Pg005" id="Pg005" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf4" id="pdf4"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">WELAND’S SWORD</span><a id="noteref_1" name="noteref_1" href="#note_1"><span class="tei tei-noteref" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">1</span></span></a></h2> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The children were at the Theatre, acting to Three Cows as much as they could remember + of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Midsummer Night’s Dream</span></span>. Their father had made them a small + play out of the big Shakespeare one, and they had rehearsed it with him and with their + mother till they could say it by heart. They began where Nick Bottom the weaver comes + out of the bushes with a donkey’s head on his shoulder, and finds Titania, Queen of the + Fairies, asleep. Then they skipped to the part where Bottom asks three little fairies to + scratch his head and bring him honey, and they ended where he falls asleep in Titania’s + arms. Dan was Puck and Nick Bottom, as well as all three Fairies. He wore a pointy-eared + cloth cap for Puck, and a paper donkey’s head out of a Christmas cracker—but it tore if + you were not careful—for Bottom. Una was Titania, with a wreath of columbines and a + foxglove wand. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The Theatre lay in a meadow called the Long Slip. A little mill-stream, carrying water + to a mill two or three fields away, bent round one corner of it, and in the middle of + the bend lay a large old fairy Ring of darkened grass, which was their stage. The + mill-stream banks, overgrown with willow, hazel, and guelder rose made convenient places + to wait in till your <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page6">[pg 6]</span><a name="Pg006" id="Pg006" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>turn came; and a grown-up who had + seen it said that Shakespeare himself could not have imagined a more suitable setting + for his play. They were not, of course, allowed to act on Midsummer Night itself, but + they went down after tea on Midsummer Eve, when the shadows were growing, and they took + their supper—hard-boiled eggs, Bath Oliver biscuits, and salt in an envelope—with + them. Three Cows had been milked and were grazing steadily with a tearing noise that one + could hear all down the meadow; and the noise of the mill at work sounded like bare feet + running on hard ground. A cuckoo sat on a gatepost singing his broken June tune, + ‘cuckoo-cuk,’ while a busy kingfisher crossed from the mill-stream to the brook which + ran on the other side of the meadow. Everything else was a sort of thick, sleepy + stillness smelling of meadow-sweet and dry grass. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Their play went beautifully. Dan remembered all his parts—Puck, Bottom, and the three + Fairies—and Una never forgot a word of Titania—not even the difficult piece where she + tells the Fairies how to feed Bottom with ‘apricocks, ripe figs, and dewberries,’ and + all the lines end in ‘ies.’ They were both so pleased that they acted it three times + over from beginning to end before they sat down in the unthistly centre of the Ring to + eat eggs and Bath Olivers. This was when they heard a whistle among the alders on the + bank, and they jumped. </p> + <a name="image02" id="image02" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + + + + + + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/col02s.jpg" width="400" height="506" alt="Illustration to page 6" title="In the very spot where Dan had stood as Puckthey now saw a small, brown, broad-shouldered, pointy-eared person with a snub nose, slanting blue eyes, and a grin that ran right across his freckled face." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em">In the very spot where Dan had stood as Puck<br />they now saw a small, brown, + broad-shouldered, pointy-eared person<br /> with a snub nose, slanting blue eyes,<br /> and + a grin that ran right across his freckled face.</a></div></div> + + + + + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The bushes parted. In the very spot where Dan had stood as Puck they saw a small, + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page7">[pg 7]</span><a name="Pg007" id="Pg007" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>brown, broad-shouldered, pointy-eared person with a snub nose, slanting blue eyes, and + a grin that ran right across his freckled face. He shaded his forehead as though he were + watching Quince, Snout, Bottom, and the others rehearsing <span class="tei tei-hi"><span class="tei tei-corr"><span style="font-style: italic">Pyramus</span></span><span style="font-style: italic"> and Thisbe</span></span>, and, in a voice as deep as Three Cows + asking to be milked, he began: </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">So near the cradle of our fairy Queen?’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He stopped, hollowed one hand round his ear, and, with a wicked twinkle in his eye, + went on: </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘What a play toward? I’ll be auditor,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">An actor too, perhaps, if I see cause.’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The children looked and gasped. The small thing—he was no taller than Dan’s + shoulder—stepped quietly into the Ring. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’m rather out of practice,’ said he; ‘but that’s the way my part ought to be + played.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Still the children stared at him—from his dark blue cap, like a big columbine flower, + to his bare, hairy feet. At last he laughed. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Please don’t look like that. It isn’t <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">my</span></span> fault. What else + could you expect?’ he said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We didn’t expect any one,’ Dan answered, slowly. ‘This is our field.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Is it?’ said their visitor, sitting down. ‘Then what on Human Earth made you act <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Midsummer Night’s Dream</span></span> three times over, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">on</span></span> + Midsummer Eve, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">in</span></span> the middle of a Ring, and under—right <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">under</span></span> one of my oldest hills in Old England? Pook’s Hill—Puck’s + Hill—<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page8">[pg 8]</span><a name="Pg008" id="Pg008" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Puck’s Hill—Pook’s Hill! It’s as plain as the + nose on my face.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He pointed to the bare, fern-covered slope of Pook’s Hill that runs up from the far + side of the mill-stream to a dark wood. Beyond that wood the ground rises and rises for + five hundred feet, till at last you climb out on the bare top of Beacon Hill, to look + over the Pevensey Levels and the Channel and half the naked South Downs. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘By Oak, Ash, and Thorn!’ he cried, still laughing. ‘If this had happened a few + hundred years ago you’d have had all the People of the Hills out like bees in June!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We didn’t know it was wrong,’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Wrong!’ The little fellow shook with laughter. ‘Indeed, it isn’t wrong. You’ve done + something that Kings and Knights and Scholars in old days would have given their crowns + and spurs and books to find out. If Merlin himself had helped you, you couldn’t have + managed better! You’ve broken the Hills—you’ve broken the Hills! It hasn’t happened in + a thousand years.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We—we didn’t mean to,’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Of course you didn’t! That’s just why you did it. Unluckily the Hills are empty now, + and all the People of the Hills are gone. I’m the only one left. I’m Puck, the oldest + Old Thing in England, very much at your service if—if you care to have anything to do + with me. If you don’t, of course you’ve only to say so, and I’ll go.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He looked at the children and the children looked at him for quite half a minute. His + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page9">[pg 9]</span><a name="Pg009" id="Pg009" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>eyes did not twinkle any more. They were very kind, + and there was the beginning of a good smile on his lips. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Una put out her hand. ‘Don’t go,’ she said. ‘We like you.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Have a Bath Oliver,’ said Dan, and he passed over the squashy envelope with the eggs. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘By Oak, Ash, and Thorn!’ cried Puck, taking off his blue cap, ‘I like you too. + Sprinkle a little salt on the biscuit, Dan, and I’ll eat it with you. That’ll show you + the sort of person I am. Some of us’—he went on, with his mouth full—<span class="tei tei-corr">‘couldn’t</span> abide Salt, or Horseshoes over a door, or Mountain-ash + berries, or Running Water, or Cold Iron, or the sound of Church Bells. But I’m Puck!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He brushed the crumbs carefully from his doublet and shook hands. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We always said, Dan and I,’ Una stammered, ‘that if it ever happened we’d know + ex-actly what to do; but—but now it seems all different somehow.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘She means meeting a fairy,’ said Dan. <span class="tei tei-corr">‘<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span></span> + never believed in ’em—not after I was six, anyhow.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I did,’ said Una. ‘At least, I sort of half believed till we learned “Farewell + Rewards.” Do you know “Farewell Rewards and Fairies”?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Do you mean this?’ said Puck. He threw his big head back and began at the second + line:— </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">‘Good housewives now may say,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">For now foul sluts in dairies</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">Do fare as well as they;</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">For though they sweep their hearths no less</div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page10">[pg 10]</span> + <a name="Pg010" id="Pg010" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> (‘Join in, Una!’) </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">Than maids were wont to do,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Yet who of late for cleanliness</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">Finds sixpence in her shoe?’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The echoes flapped all along the flat meadow. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Of course I know it,’ he said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And then there’s the verse about the Rings,’ said Dan. ‘When I was little it always + made me feel unhappy in my inside.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Witness those rings and roundelays,” do you mean?’ boomed Puck, with a voice like a + great church organ. </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">‘Of theirs which yet remain,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Were footed in Queen Mary’s days</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">On many a grassy plain.</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">But since of late Elizabeth,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">And later James came in,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Are never seen on any heath</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">As when the time hath been.</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It’s some time since I heard that sung, but there’s no good beating about the bush: + it’s true. The People of the Hills have all left. I saw them come into Old England and I + saw them go. Giants, trolls, kelpies, brownies, goblins, imps; wood, tree, mound, and + water spirits; heath-people, hill-watchers, treasure-guards, good people, little people, + pishogues, leprechauns, night-riders, pixies, nixies, gnomes and the rest—gone, all + gone! I came into England with Oak, Ash, and Thorn, and when Oak, Ash, and Thorn are + gone I shall go too.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Dan looked round the meadow—at Una’s oak by the lower gate, at the line of ash trees + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page11">[pg 11]</span><a name="Pg011" id="Pg011" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that overhang Otter Pool where the mill-stream spills + over when the mill does not need it, and at the gnarled old white-thorn where Three Cows + scratched their necks. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It’s all right,’ he said; and added, ‘I’m planting a lot of acorns this autumn too.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then aren’t you most awfully old?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Not old—fairly long-lived, as folk say hereabouts. Let me see—my friends used to + set my dish of cream for me o’ nights when Stonehenge was new. Yes, before the Flint Men + made the Dewpond under Chanctonbury Ring.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Una clasped her hands, cried ‘Oh!’ and nodded her head. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘She’s thought a plan,’ Dan explained. ‘She always does like that when she thinks a + plan.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I was thinking—suppose we saved some of our porridge and put it in the attic for + you. They’d notice if we left it in the nursery.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Schoolroom,’ said Dan, quickly, and Una flushed, because they had made a solemn + treaty that summer not to call the schoolroom the nursery any more. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Bless your heart o’ gold!’ said Puck. ‘You’ll make a fine considering wench some + market-day. I really don’t want you to put out a bowl for me; but if ever I need a bite, + be sure I’ll tell you.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He stretched himself at length on the dry grass, and the children stretched out beside + him, their bare legs waving happily in the air. They felt they could not be afraid of + him any <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page12">[pg 12]</span><a name="Pg012" id="Pg012" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>more than of their particular friend old + Hobden, the hedger. He did not bother them with grown-up questions, or laugh at the + donkey’s head, but lay and smiled to himself in the most sensible way. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Have you a knife on you?’ he said at last. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Dan handed over his big one-bladed outdoor knife, and Puck began to carve out a piece + of turf from the centre of the Ring. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What’s that for—Magic?’ said Una, as he pressed up the square of chocolate loam that + cut like so much cheese. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘One of my little Magics,’ he answered, and cut another. ‘You see, I can’t let you + into the Hills because the People of the Hills have gone; but if you care to take seizin + from me, I may be able to show you something out of the common here on Human Earth. You + certainly deserve it.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What’s taking seizin?’ said Dan, cautiously. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It’s an old custom the people had when they bought and sold land. They used to cut + out a clod and hand it over to the buyer, and you weren’t lawfully seized of your + land—it didn’t really belong to you—till the other fellow had actually given you a + piece of it—like this.’ He held out the turves. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But it’s our own meadow,’ said Dan, drawing back. ‘Are you going to magic it away?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Puck laughed. ‘I know it’s your meadow, but there’s a great deal more in it than you + or your father ever guessed. Try!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He turned his eyes on Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’ll do it,’ she said. Dan followed her example at once. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page13">[pg 13]</span> + <a name="Pg013" id="Pg013" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Now are you two lawfully seized and possessed of all Old England,’ began Puck, in a + sing-song voice. ‘By Right of Oak, Ash, and Thorn are you free to come and go and look + and know where I shall show or best you please. You shall see What you shall see and you + shall hear What you shall hear, though It shall have happened three thousand year; and + you shall know neither Doubt nor Fear. Fast! Hold fast all I give you.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The children shut their eyes, but nothing happened. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Well?’ said Una, disappointedly opening them. ‘I thought there would be dragons.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Though It shall have happened three thousand year,’ said Puck, and counted on his + fingers. ‘No; I’m afraid there were no <span class="tei tei-corr">dragons</span> three + thousand years ago.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But there hasn’t happened anything at all,’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Wait awhile,’ said Puck. ‘You don’t grow an oak in a year—and Old England’s older + than twenty oaks. Let’s sit down again and think. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> can do that + for a century at a time.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ah, but you are a fairy,’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Have you ever heard me use that word yet?’ said Puck, quickly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No. You talk about “the People of the Hills,” but you never say “fairies,”’ said Una. + ‘I was wondering at that. Don’t you like it?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘How would you like to be called “mortal” or “human being” all the time?’ said Puck; + ‘or “son of Adam” or “daughter of Eve”?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I shouldn’t like it at all,’ said Dan. ‘That’s <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page14">[pg 14]</span><a name="Pg014" id="Pg014" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>how + the Djinns and Afrits talk in the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Arabian Nights</span></span>.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And that’s how <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> feel about saying—that word that I don’t + say. Besides, what you call <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">them</span></span> are made-up things the People of + the Hills have never heard of—little buzzflies with butterfly wings and gauze + petticoats, and shiny stars in their hair, and a wand like a schoolteacher’s cane for + punishing bad boys and rewarding good ones. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> know ’em!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We don’t mean that sort,’ said Dan. ‘We hate ’em too.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Exactly,’ said Puck. ‘Can you wonder that the People of the Hills don’t care to be + confused with that painty-winged, wand-waving, sugar-and-shake-your-head set of + impostors? Butterfly wings, indeed! I’ve seen Sir Huon and a troop of his people setting + off from Tintagel Castle for Hy-Brasil in the teeth of a sou’-westerly gale, with the + spray flying all over the castle, and the Horses of the Hill wild with fright. Out + they’d go in a lull, screaming like gulls, and back they’d be driven five good miles + inland before they could come head to wind again. Butterfly-wings! It was Magic—Magic + as black as Merlin could make it, and the whole sea was green fire and white foam with + singing mermaids in it. And the Horses of the Hill picked their way from one wave to + another by the lightning flashes! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">That</span></span> was how it was in the old + days!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Splendid,’ said Dan, but Una shuddered. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’m glad they’re gone, then; but what made the People of the Hills go away?’ Una + asked. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Different things. I’ll tell you one of them <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page15">[pg 15]</span><a name="Pg015" id="Pg015" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>some + day—the thing that made the biggest flit of any,’ said Puck. ‘But they didn’t all flit + at once. They dropped off, one by one, through the centuries. Most of them were + foreigners who couldn’t stand our climate. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">They</span></span> flitted early.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘How early?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A couple of thousand years or more. The fact is they began as Gods. The Phœnicians + brought some over when they came to buy tin; and the Gauls, and the Jutes, and the + Danes, and the Frisians, and the Angles brought more when they landed. They were always + landing in those days, or being driven back to their ships, and they always brought + their Gods with them. England is a bad country for Gods. Now, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> + began as I mean to go on. A bowl of porridge, a dish of milk, and a little quiet fun + with the country folk in the lanes was enough for me then, as it is now. I belong here, + you see, and I have been mixed up with people all my days. But most of the others + insisted on being Gods, and having temples, and altars, and priests, and sacrifices of + their own.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘People burned in wicker baskets?’ said Dan. ‘Like Miss Blake tells us about?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘All sorts of sacrifices,’ said Puck. ‘If it wasn’t men, it was horses, or cattle, or + pigs, or metheglin—that’s a sticky, sweet sort of beer. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> never + liked it. They were a stiff-necked, extravagant set of idols, the Old Things. But what + was the result? Men don’t like being sacrificed at the best of times; they don’t even + like sacrificing their farm-horses. After a <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page16">[pg 16]</span><a name="Pg016" id="Pg016" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>while men + simply left the Old Things alone, and the roofs of their temples fell in, and the Old + Things had to scuttle out and pick up a living as they could. Some of them took to + hanging about trees, and hiding in graves and groaning o’ nights. If they groaned loud + enough and long enough they might frighten a poor countryman into sacrificing a hen, or + leaving a pound of butter for them. I remember one Goddess called Belisama. She became a + common wet water-spirit somewhere in Lancashire. And there were hundreds of other + friends of mine. First they were Gods. Then they were People of the Hills, and then they + flitted to other places because they couldn’t get on with the English for one reason or + another. There was only one Old Thing, I remember, who honestly worked for his living + after he came down in the world. He was called Weland, and he was a smith to some Gods. + I’ve forgotten their names, but he used to make them swords and spears. I think he + claimed kin with Thor of the Scandinavians.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Heroes of Asgard</span></span> Thor?’ said Una. She had been reading the + book. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Perhaps,’ answered Puck. ‘None the less, when bad times came, he didn’t beg or steal. + He worked; and I was lucky enough to be able to do him a good turn.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Tell us about it,’ said Dan. ‘I think I like hearing of Old Things.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They rearranged themselves comfortably, each chewing a grass stem. Puck propped + himself on one strong arm and went on: </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Let’s think! I met Weland first on a No<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page17">[pg 17]</span><a name="Pg017" id="Pg017" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>vember + afternoon in a sleet storm, on Pevensey Level——’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Pevensey? Over the hill, you mean?’ Dan pointed south. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes; but it was all marsh in those days, right up to Horsebridge and Hydeneye. I was + on Beacon Hill—they called it Brunanburgh then—when I saw the pale flame that burning + thatch makes, and I went down to look. Some pirates—I think they must have been Peofn’s + men—were burning a village on the Levels, and Weland’s image—a big, black wooden thing + with amber beads round its neck—lay in the bows of a black thirty-two-oar galley that + they had just beached. Bitter cold it was! There were icicles hanging from her deck, and + the oars were glazed over with ice, and there was ice on Weland’s lips. When he saw me + he began a long chant in his own tongue, telling me how he was going to rule England, + and how I should smell the smoke of his altars from Lincolnshire to the Isle of Wight. + <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> didn’t care! I’d seen too many Gods charging into Old England + to be upset about it. I let him sing himself out while his men were burning the village, + and then I said (I don’t know what put it into my head), “Smith of the Gods,” I said, + “the time comes when I shall meet you plying your trade for hire by the wayside.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What did Weland say?’ said Una. ‘Was he angry?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He called me names and rolled his eyes, and I went away to wake up the people inland. + But the pirates conquered the country, and for <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page18">[pg 18]</span><a name="Pg018" id="Pg018" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>centuries Weland was a most important God. He had temples everywhere—from + Lincolnshire to the Isle of Wight, as he said—and his sacrifices were simply + scandalous. To do him justice, he preferred horses to men; but men <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">or</span></span> horses, I knew that presently he’d have to come down in the world—like the + other Old Things. I gave him lots of time—I gave him about a thousand years—and at the + end of ’em I went into one of his temples near Andover to see how he prospered. There + was his altar, and there was his image, and there were his priests, and there were the + congregation, and everybody seemed quite happy, except Weland and the priests. In the + old days the congregation were unhappy until the priests had chosen their sacrifices; + and so would <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">you</span></span> have been. When the service began a priest + rushed out, dragged a man up to the altar, pretended to hit him on the head with a + little gilt axe, and the man fell down and pretended to die. Then everybody shouted: “A + sacrifice to Weland! A sacrifice to Weland!”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And the man wasn’t really dead?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Not a bit. All as much pretence as a dolls’ tea-party. Then they brought out a + splendid white horse, and the priest cut some hair from its mane and tail and burned it + on the altar, shouting, “A sacrifice!” That counted the same as if a man and a horse had + been killed. I saw poor Weland’s face through the smoke, and I couldn’t help laughing. + He looked so disgusted and so hungry, and all he had to satisfy himself was a horrid + smell of burning hair. Just a dolls’ tea-party! </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page19">[pg 19]</span> + <a name="Pg019" id="Pg019" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I judged it better not to say anything then (’twouldn’t have been fair), and the next + time I came to Andover, a few hundred years later, Weland and his temple were gone, and + there was a Christian bishop in a Church there. None of the People of the Hills could + tell me anything about him, and I supposed that he had left England.’ Puck turned; lay + on the other elbow, and thought for a long time. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Let’s see,’ he said at last. ‘It must have been some few years later—a year or two + before the Conquest, I think—that I came back to Pook’s Hill here, and one evening I + heard old Hobden talking about Weland’s Ford.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘If you mean old Hobden the hedger, he’s only seventy-two. He told me so himself,’ + said Dan. ‘He’s a intimate friend of ours.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘You’re quite right,’ Puck replied. ‘I meant old Hobden’s ninth great-grandfather. He + was a free man and burned charcoal hereabouts. I’ve known the family, father and son, so + long that I get confused sometimes. Hob of the Dene was my Hobden’s name, and he lived + at the Forge cottage. Of course, I pricked up my ears when I heard Weland mentioned, and + I scuttled through the woods to the Ford just beyond Bog Wood yonder.’ He jerked his + head westward, where the valley narrows between wooded hills and steep hop-fields. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Why, that’s Willingford Bridge,’ said Una. ‘We go there for walks often. There’s a + kingfisher there.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It was Weland’s Ford then, dear. A road led down to it from the Beacon on the top of + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page20">[pg 20]</span><a name="Pg020" id="Pg020" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the hill—a shocking bad road it was—and all the + hillside was thick, thick oak-forest, with deer in it. There was no trace of Weland, but + presently I saw a fat old farmer riding down from the Beacon under the greenwood tree. + His horse had cast a shoe in the clay, and when he came to the Ford he dismounted, took + a penny out of his purse, laid it on a stone, tied the old horse to an oak, and called + out: “Smith, Smith, here is work for you!” Then he sat down and went to sleep. You can + imagine how <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> felt when I saw a white-bearded, bent old + blacksmith in a leather apron creep out from behind the oak and begin to shoe the horse. + It was Weland himself. I was so astonished that I jumped out and said: “What on Human + Earth are you doing here, Weland?”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Poor Weland!’ sighed Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He pushed the long hair back from his forehead (he didn’t recognise me at first). + Then he said: “<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">You</span></span> ought to know. You foretold it, Old Thing. I’m + shoeing horses for hire. I’m not even Weland now,” he said. “They call me + Wayland-Smith.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Poor chap!’ said Dan. ‘What did you say?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What could I say? He looked up, with the horse’s foot on his lap, and he said, + smiling, “I remember the time when I wouldn’t have accepted this old bag of bones as a + sacrifice, and now I’m glad enough to shoe him for a penny.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Isn’t there any way for you to get back to Valhalla, or wherever you come from?” I + said. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page21">[pg 21]</span> + <a name="Pg021" id="Pg021" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I’m afraid not,” he said, rasping away at the hoof. He had a wonderful touch with + horses. The old beast was whinnying on his shoulder. “You may remember that I was not a + gentle God in my Day and my Time and my Power. I shall never be released till some human + being truly wishes me well.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Surely,” said I, “the farmer can’t do less than that. You’re shoeing the horse all + round for him.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Yes,” said he, “and my nails will hold a shoe from one full moon to the next. But + farmers and Weald Clay,” said he, “are both uncommon cold and sour.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Would you believe it, that when that farmer woke and found his horse shod he rode + away without one word of thanks? I was so angry that I wheeled his horse right round and + walked him back three miles to the Beacon just to teach the old sinner politeness.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Were you invisible?’ said Una. Puck nodded, gravely. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The Beacon was always laid in those days ready to light, in case the French landed at + Pevensey; and I walked the horse about and about it that lee-long summer night. The + farmer thought he was bewitched—well, he <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">was</span></span>, of course—and + began to pray and shout. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> didn’t care! I was as good a Christian + as he any fair-day in the County, and about four o’clock in the morning a young novice + came along from the monastery that used to stand on the top of Beacon hill.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What’s a novice?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It really means a man who is beginning to <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page22">[pg 22]</span><a name="Pg022" id="Pg022" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>be a monk, + but in those days people sent their sons to a monastery just the same as a school. This + young fellow had been to a monastery in France for a few months every year, and he was + finishing his studies in the monastery close to his home here. Hugh was his name, and he + had got up to go fishing hereabouts. His people owned all this valley. Hugh heard the + farmer shouting, and asked him what in the world he meant. The old man spun him a + wonderful tale about fairies and goblins and witches; and I <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">know</span></span> + he hadn’t seen a thing except rabbits and red deer all that night. (The People of the + Hills are like otters—they don’t show except when they choose.) But the novice wasn’t a + fool. He looked down at the horse’s feet, and saw the new shoes fastened as only Weland + knew how to fasten ’em. (Weland had a way of turning down the nails that folks called + the Smith’s Clinch.) </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“H’m!” said the novice. “Where did you get your horse shod?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The farmer wouldn’t tell him at first, because the priests never liked their people + to have any dealings with the Old Things. At last he confessed that the Smith had done + it. “What did you pay him?” said the novice. “Penny,” said the farmer, very sulkily. + “That’s less than a Christian would have charged,” said the novice. “I hope you threw a + ‘Thank you’ into the bargain.” “No,” said the farmer; “Wayland-Smith’s a heathen.” + “Heathen or no heathen,” said the novice, “you took his help, and where you get <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page23">[pg 23]</span><a name="Pg023" id="Pg023" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>help there you must give thanks.” “What?” said the + farmer—he was in a furious temper because I was walking the old horse in circles all + this time—“What, you young jackanapes?” said he. “Then by your reasoning I ought to say + ‘Thank you’ to Satan if he helped me?” “Don’t roll about up there splitting reasons with + me,” said the novice. “Come back to the Ford and thank the Smith, or you’ll be sorry.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Back the farmer had to go! I led the horse, though no one saw me, and the novice + walked beside us, his gown swishing through the shiny dew and his fishing-rod across his + shoulders spearwise. When we reached the Ford again—it was five o’clock and misty still + under the oaks—the farmer simply wouldn’t say “Thank you.” He said he’d tell the Abbot + that the novice wanted him to worship heathen gods. Then Hugh the novice lost his + temper. He just cried, “Out!” put his arm under the farmer’s fat leg, and heaved him + from his saddle on to the turf, and before he could rise he caught him by the back of + the neck and shook him like a rat till the farmer growled, “Thank you, Wayland-Smith.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Did Weland see all this?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, yes, and he shouted his old war-cry when the farmer thudded on to the ground. He + was delighted. Then the novice turned to the oak and said, “Ho! Smith of the Gods, I am + ashamed of this rude farmer; but for all you have done in kindness and charity to him + and to others of our people, I thank you and wish you well.” Then he picked up his <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page24">[pg 24]</span><a name="Pg024" id="Pg024" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>fishing-rod—it looked more like a tall spear than + ever—and tramped off down your valley.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And what did poor Weland do?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He laughed and cried with joy, because he had been released at last, and could go + away. But he was an honest Old Thing. He had worked for his living and he paid his debts + before he left. “I shall give that novice a gift,” said Weland. “A gift that shall do + him good the wide world over, and Old England after him. Blow up my fire, Old Thing, + while I get the iron for my last task.” Then he made a sword—a dark grey, wavy-lined + sword—and I blew the fire while he hammered. By Oak, Ash, and Thorn, I tell you, Weland + was a Smith of the Gods! He cooled that sword in running water twice, and the third time + he cooled it in the evening dew, and he laid it out in the moonlight and said Runes + (that’s charms) over it, and he carved Runes of Prophecy on the blade. “Old Thing,” he + said to me, wiping his forehead, “this is the best blade that Weland ever made. Even the + user will never know how good it is. Come to the monastery.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We went to the dormitory where the monks slept. We saw the novice fast asleep in his + cot, and Weland put the sword into his hand, and I remember the young fellow gripped it + in his sleep. Then Weland strode as far as he dared into the Chapel and threw down all + his shoeing-tools—his hammer, and pincers, and rasps—to show that he had done with + them for ever. It sounded like suits of armour falling, and the sleepy monks ran in, for + they thought the <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page25">[pg 25]</span><a name="Pg025" id="Pg025" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>monastery had been attacked by the + French. The novice came first of all, waving his new sword and shouting Saxon + battle-cries. When they saw the shoeing-tools they were very bewildered, till the novice + asked leave to speak, and told what he had done to the farmer, and what he had said to + Wayland-Smith, and how, though the dormitory light was burning, he had found the + wonderful rune-carved sword in his cot. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The Abbot shook his head at first, and then he laughed and said to the novice: “Son + Hugh, it needed no sign from a heathen God to show me that you will never be a monk. + Take your sword, and keep your sword, and go with your sword, and be as gentle as you + are strong and courteous. We will hang up the Smith’s tools before the Altar,” he said, + “because, whatever the Smith of the Gods may have been in the old days, we know that he + worked honestly for his living and made gifts to Mother Church.” Then they went to bed + again, all except the novice, and he sat up in the garth playing with his sword. Then + Weland said to me by the stables: “Farewell, Old Thing; you had the right of it. You saw + me come to England, and you see me go. Farewell!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘With that he strode down the hill to the corner of the Great Woods—Woods Corner, you + call it now—to the very place where he had first landed—and I heard him moving through + the thickets towards Horsebridge for a little, and then he was gone. That was how it + happened. I saw it.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page26">[pg 26]</span> + <a name="Pg026" id="Pg026" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Both children drew a long breath. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But what happened to Hugh the novice?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And the sword?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Puck looked down the meadow that lay all quiet and cool in the shadow of Pook’s Hill. + A corncrake jarred in a hay-field near by, and the small trouts of the brook began to + jump. A big white moth flew unsteadily from the alders and flapped round the children’s + heads, and the least little haze of water-mist rose from the brook. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Do you really want to know?’ Puck said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We do,’ cried the children. ‘Awfully!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Very good. I promised you that you shall see What you shall see, and you shall hear + What you shall hear, though It shall have happened three thousand year; but just now it + seems to me that, unless you go back to the house, people will be looking for you. I’ll + walk with you as far as the gate.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Will you be here when we come again?’ they asked. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Surely, sure-ly,’ said Puck. ‘I’ve been here some time already. One minute first, + please.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He gave them each three leaves—one of Oak, one of Ash, and one of Thorn. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Bite these,’ said he. ‘Otherwise you might be talking at home of what you’ve seen and + heard, and—if I know human beings—they’d send for the doctor. Bite!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They bit hard, and found themselves walking side by side to the lower gate. Their + father was leaning over it. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page27">[pg 27]</span> + <a name="Pg027" id="Pg027" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And how did your play go?’ he asked. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, splendidly,’ said Dan. ‘Only afterwards, I think, we went to sleep. It was very + hot and quiet. Don’t you remember, Una?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Una shook her head and said nothing. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I see,’ said her father. </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-corr" style="text-align: left">‘Late</span>—late in the evening Kilmeny came home,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">For Kilmeny had been she could not tell where,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">And Kilmeny had seen what she could not declare.</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> But why are you chewing leaves at your time of life, daughter? For fun?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No. It was for something, but I can’t azactly remember,’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> And neither of them could till— </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page28">[pg 28]</span> + <a name="Pg028" id="Pg028" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page29">[pg 29]</span> + <a name="Pg029" id="Pg029" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf5" id="pdf5"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">A TREE SONG</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Of all the trees that grow so fair,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Old England to adorn,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Greater are none beneath the Sun,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Than Oak, and Ash, and Thorn.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn, good Sirs</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">(All of a Midsummer morn)!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Surely we sing no little thing,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">In Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Oak of the Clay lived many a day,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Or ever Æneas began;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Ash of the Loam was a lady at home,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">When Brut was an outlaw man;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Thorn of the Down saw New Troy Town</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">(From which was London born);</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Witness hereby the ancientry</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Of Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Yew that is old in churchyard mould,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">He breedeth a mighty bow;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Alder for shoes do wise men choose,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And beech for cups also.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But when ye have killed, and your bowl is spilled,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And your shoes are clean outworn,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Back ye must speed for all that ye need,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page30">[pg 30]</span> + <a name="Pg030" id="Pg030" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Ellum she hateth mankind, and waiteth</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Till every gust be laid,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To drop a limb on the head of him,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">That anyway trusts her shade</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But whether a lad be sober or sad,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Or mellow with ale from the horn,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">He will take no wrong when he lieth along</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">’Neath Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Oh, do not tell the Priest our plight,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Or he would call it a sin;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But—we have been out in the woods all night</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">A-conjuring Summer in!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And we bring you news by word of mouth—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Good news for cattle and corn—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Now is the Sun come up from the South,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">With Oak, and Ash, and Thorn!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Sing Oak, and Ash, and Thorn, good Sirs</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">(All of a Midsummer morn)!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">England shall bide till Judgment Tide,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">By Oak, and Ash and Thorn!</span></span></div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page31">[pg 31]</span> + <a name="Pg031" id="Pg031" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%"> YOUNG MEN AT THE MANOR </span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page32">[pg 32]</span> + <a name="Pg032" id="Pg032" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page33">[pg 33]</span> + <a name="Pg033" id="Pg033" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf6" id="pdf6"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">YOUNG MEN AT THE MANOR</span></h2> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They were fishing, a few days later, in the bed of the brook that for centuries had + cut deep into the soft valley soil. The trees closing overhead made long tunnels through + which the sunshine worked in blobs and patches. Down in the tunnels were bars of sand + and gravel, old roots and trunks covered with moss or painted red by the irony water; + foxgloves growing lean and pale towards the light; clumps of fern and thirsty shy + flowers who could not live away from moisture and shade. In the pools you could see the + wave thrown up by the trouts as they charged hither and yon, and the pools were joined + to each other—except in flood time, when all was one brown rush—by sheets of thin + broken water that poured themselves chuckling round the darkness of the next bend. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> This was one of the children’s most secret hunting-grounds, and their particular + friend, old Hobden the hedger, had shown them how to use it. Except for the click of a + rod hitting a low willow, or a switch and tussle among the young ash-leaves as a line + hung up for the minute, nobody in the hot pasture could have guessed what game was going + on among the trouts below the banks. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We’s got half-a-dozen,’ said Dan, after a <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page34">[pg 34]</span><a name="Pg034" id="Pg034" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>warm, wet + hour. ‘I vote we go up to Stone Bay and try Long Pool.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Una nodded—most of her talk was by nods—and they crept from the gloom of the tunnels + towards the tiny weir that turns the brook into the mill-stream. Here the banks are low + and bare, and the glare of the afternoon sun on the Long Pool below the weir makes your + eyes ache. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> When they were in the open they nearly fell down with astonishment. A huge grey horse, + whose tail-hairs crinkled the glassy water, was drinking in the pool, and the ripples + about his muzzle flashed like melted gold. On his back sat an old, white-haired man + dressed in a loose glimmery gown of chain-mail. He was bareheaded, and a nut-shaped iron + helmet hung at his saddle-bow. His reins were of red leather five or six inches deep, + scalloped at the edges, and his high padded saddle with its red girths was held fore and + aft by a red leather breastband and crupper. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Look!’ said Una, as though Dan were not staring his very eyes out. ‘It’s like the + picture in your room—“Sir Isumbras at the Ford.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The rider turned towards them, and his thin, long face was just as sweet and gentle as + that of the knight who carries the children in that picture. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They should be here now, Sir Richard,’ said Puck’s deep voice among the willow-herb. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They are here,’ the knight said, and he smiled at Dan with the string of trouts in + his hand. ‘There seems no great change in boys since mine fished this water.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page35">[pg 35]</span> + <a name="Pg035" id="Pg035" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘If your horse has drunk, we shall be more at ease in the Ring,’ said Puck; and he + nodded to the children as though he had never magicked away their memories the week + before. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The great horse turned and hoisted himself into the pasture with a kick and a scramble + that tore the clods down rattling. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Your pardon!’ said Sir Richard to Dan. ‘When these lands were mine, I never loved + that mounted men should cross the brook except by the paved ford. But my Swallow here + was thirsty, and I wished to meet you.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We’re very glad you’ve come, sir,’ said Dan. ‘It doesn’t matter in the least about + the banks.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He trotted across the pasture on the sword-side of the mighty horse, and it was a + mighty iron-handled sword that swung from Sir Richard’s belt. Una walked behind with + Puck. She remembered everything now. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’m sorry about the Leaves,’ he said, ‘but it would never have done if you had gone + home and told, would it?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I s’pose not,’ Una answered. ‘But you said that all the fair—People of the Hills had + left England.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So they have; but I told you that you should come and go and look and know, didn’t I? + The knight isn’t a fairy. He’s Sir Richard Dalyngridge, a very old friend of mine. He + came over with William the Conqueror, and he wants to see you particularly.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What for?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘On account of your great wisdom and learning,’ Puck replied, without a twinkle. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page36">[pg 36]</span> + <a name="Pg036" id="Pg036" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Us?’ said Una. ‘Why, I don’t know my Nine Times—not to say it dodging; and Dan makes + the most <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">awful</span></span> mess of fractions. He can’t mean <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">us</span></span>!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Una!’ Dan called back. ‘Sir Richard says he is going to tell what happened to + Weland’s sword. He’s got it. Isn’t it splendid?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Nay—nay,’ said Sir Richard, dismounting as they reached the Ring, in the bend of the + mill-stream bank. ‘It is you that must tell me, for I hear the youngest child in our + England to-day is as wise as our wisest clerk.’ He slipped the bit out of Swallow’s + mouth, dropped the ruby-red reins over his head, and the wise horse moved off to graze. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Sir Richard (they noticed he limped a little) unslung his great sword. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That’s it,’ Dan whispered to Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘This is the sword that Brother Hugh had from Wayland-Smith,’ Sir Richard said. ‘Once + he gave it to me, but I would not take it; but at the last it became mine after such a + fight as never christened man fought. See!’ He half drew it from its sheath and turned + it before them. On either side just below the handle, where the Runic letters shivered + as though they were alive, were two deep gouges in the dull, deadly steel. ‘Now, what + Thing made those?’ said he. ‘I know not, but you, perhaps, can say.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Tell them all the tale, Sir Richard,’ said Puck. ‘It concerns their land somewhat.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes, from the very beginning,’ Una pleaded, for the knight’s good face and the smile + on it <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page37">[pg 37]</span><a name="Pg037" id="Pg037" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>more than ever reminded her of ‘Sir Isumbras at + the Ford.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They settled down to listen, Sir Richard bare-headed to the sunshine, dandling the + sword in both hands, while the grey horse cropped outside the Ring, and the helmet on + the saddle-bow clinged softly each time he jerked his head. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘From the beginning, then,’ Sir Richard said, ‘since it concerns your land, I will + tell the tale. When our Duke came out of Normandy to take his England, great knights + (have ye heard?) came and strove hard to serve the Duke, because he promised them lands + here, and small knights followed the great ones. My folk in Normandy were poor; but a + great knight, Engerrard of the Eagle—Engenulf De Aquila—who was kin to my father, + followed the Earl of Mortain, who followed William the Duke, and I followed De Aquila. + Yes, with thirty men-at-arms out of my father’s house and a new sword, I set out to + conquer England three days after I was made knight. I did not then know that England + would conquer me. We went up to Santlache with the rest—a very great host of us.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Does that mean the Battle of Hastings—Ten Sixty-Six?’ Una whispered, and Puck + nodded, so as not to interrupt. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘At Santlache, over the hill yonder’—he pointed south-eastward towards Fairlight—‘we + found Harold’s men. We fought. At the day’s end they ran. My men went with De Aquila’s + to chase and plunder, and in that chase Engerrard of the Eagle was slain, and <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page38">[pg 38]</span><a name="Pg038" id="Pg038" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>his son Gilbert took his banner and his men forward. This + I did not know till after, for Swallow here was cut in the flank, so I stayed to wash + the wound at a brook by a thorn. There a single Saxon cried out to me in French, and we + fought together. I should have known his voice, but we fought together. For a long time + neither had any advantage, till by pure ill-fortune his foot slipped and his sword flew + from his hand. Now I had but newly been made knight, and wished, above all, to be + courteous and fameworthy, so I forebore to strike and bade him get his sword again. “A + plague on my sword,” said he. “It has lost me my first fight. You have spared my life. + Take my sword.” He held it out to me, but as I stretched my hand the sword groaned like + a stricken man, and I leaped back crying, “Sorcery!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> [The children looked at the sword as though it might speak again.] </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Suddenly a clump of Saxons ran out upon me and, seeing a Norman alone, would have + killed me, but my Saxon cried out that I was his prisoner, and beat them off. Thus, see + you, he saved my life. He put me on my horse and led me through the woods ten long miles + to this valley.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘To here, d’you mean?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘To this very valley. We came in by the Lower Ford under the King’s Hill yonder’—he + pointed eastward where the valley widens. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And was that Saxon Hugh the novice?’ Dan asked. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes, and more than that. He had been <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page39">[pg 39]</span><a name="Pg039" id="Pg039" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>for three years + at the monastery at Bec by Rouen, where’—Sir Richard chuckled—‘the Abbot Herluin would + not suffer me to remain.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Why wouldn’t he?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Because I rode my horse into the refectory, when the scholars were at meat, to show + the Saxon boys we Normans were not afraid of an abbot. It was that very Saxon Hugh + tempted me to do it, and we had not met since that day. I thought I knew his voice even + inside my helmet, and, for all that our Lords fought, we each rejoiced we had not slain + the other. He walked by my side, and he told me how a Heathen God, as he believed, had + given him his sword, but he said he had never heard it sing before. I remember I warned + him to beware of sorcery and quick enchantments.’ Sir Richard smiled to himself. ‘I was + very young—very young! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When we came to his house here we had almost forgotten that we had been at blows. It + was near midnight, and the Great Hall was full of men and women waiting news. There I + first saw his sister, the Lady Ælueva, of whom he had spoken to us in France. She cried + out fiercely at me, and would have had me hanged in that hour, but her brother said that + I had spared his life—he said not how he saved mine from his Saxons—and that our Duke + had won the day; and even while they wrangled over my poor body, of a sudden he fell + down in a swoon from his wounds. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“This is <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">thy fault</span></span>,” said the Lady Ælueva to me, and she + kneeled above him and called for wine and cloths. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page40">[pg 40]</span> + <a name="Pg040" id="Pg040" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“If I had known,” I answered, “he should have ridden and I walked. But he set me on + my horse; he made no complaint; he walked beside me and spoke merrily throughout. I pray + I have done him no harm.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Thou hast need to pray,” she said, catching up her underlip. “If he dies, thou shalt + hang!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They bore off Hugh to his chamber; but three tall men of the house bound me and set + me under the beam of the Great Hall with a rope round my neck. The end of the rope they + flung over the beam, and they sat them down by the fire to wait word whether Hugh lived + or died. They cracked nuts with their knife-hilts the while.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And how did you feel?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Very weary; but I did heartily pray for my schoolmate Hugh his health. About noon I + heard horses in the valley, and the three men loosed my ropes and fled out, and De + Aquila’s men rode up. Gilbert de Aquila came with them, for it was his boast that, like + his father, he forgot no man that served him. He was little, like his father, but + terrible, with a nose like an eagle’s nose and yellow eyes like an eagle. He rode tall + war-horses—roans, which he bred himself—and he could never abide to be helped into the + saddle. He saw the rope hanging from the beam and laughed, and his men laughed, for I + was too stiff to rise. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“This is poor entertainment for a Norman knight,” he said, “but, such as it is, let + us be grateful. Show me, boy, to whom thou <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page41">[pg 41]</span><a name="Pg041" id="Pg041" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>owest most, + and we will pay them out of hand.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What did he mean? To kill ’em?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Assuredly. But I looked at the Lady Ælueva where she stood among her maids, and her + brother beside her. De Aquila’s men had driven them all into the Great Hall.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Was she pretty?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘In all my life I had never seen woman fit to strew rushes before my Lady Ælueva,’ the + knight replied, quite simply and quietly. ‘As I looked at her I thought I might save her + and her house by a jest. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Seeing that I came somewhat hastily and without warning,” said I to De Aquila, “I + have no fault to find with the courtesy that these Saxons have shown me.” But my voice + shook. It is—it was not good to jest with that little man. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘All were silent awhile, till De Aquila laughed. “Look, men—a miracle!” said he. “The + fight is scarce sped, my father is not yet buried, and here we find our youngest knight + already set down in his Manor, while his Saxons—ye can see it in their fat faces—have + paid him homage and service! By the Saints,” he said, rubbing his nose, “I never thought + England would be so easy won! Surely I can do no less than give the lad what he has + taken. This Manor shall be thine, boy,” he said, “till I come again, or till thou art + slain. Now, mount, men, and ride. We follow our Duke into Kent to make him King of + England.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He drew me with him to the door while <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page42">[pg 42]</span><a name="Pg042" id="Pg042" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>they brought + his horse—a lean roan, taller than my Swallow here, but not so well girthed. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Hark to me,” he said, fretting with his great war-gloves. “I have given thee this + Manor, which is a Saxon hornets’ nest, and I think thou wilt be slain in a month—as my + father was slain. Yet if thou canst keep the roof on the hall, the thatch on the barn, + and the plough in the furrow till I come back, thou shalt hold the Manor from me; for + the Duke has promised our Earl Mortain all the lands by Pevensey, and Mortain will give + me of them what he would have given my father. God knows if thou or I shall live till + England is won; but remember, boy, that here and now fighting is foolishness and”—he + reached for the reins—“craft and cunning is all.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Alas, I have no cunning,” said I. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Not yet,” said he, hopping abroad, foot in stirrup, and poking his horse in the + belly with his toe. “Not yet, but I think thou hast a good teacher. Farewell! Hold the + Manor and live. Lose the Manor and hang,” he said, and spurred out, his shield-straps + squeaking behind him. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So, children, here was I, little more than a boy, and Santlache fight not two days + old, left alone with my thirty men-at-arms, in a land I knew not, among a people whose + tongue I could not speak, to hold down the land which I had taken from them.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And that was here at home?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes, here. See! From the Upper Ford, Weland’s Ford, to the Lower Ford, by the <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page43">[pg 43]</span><a name="Pg043" id="Pg043" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Belle Allée, west and east it ran half a league. From the + Beacon of Brunanburgh behind us here, south and north it ran a full league—and all the + woods were full of broken men from Santlache, Saxon thieves, Norman plunderers, robbers, + and deerstealers. A hornets’ nest indeed! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When De Aquila had gone, Hugh would have thanked me for saving their lives; but Lady + Ælueva said that I had done it only for the sake of receiving the Manor. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“How could I know that De Aquila would give it me?” I said. “If I had told him I had + spent my night in your halter he would have burned the place twice over by now.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“If any man had put <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">my</span></span> neck in a rope,” she said, “I would + have seen his house burned thrice over before <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> would have made + terms.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“But it was a woman,” I said; and I laughed and she wept and said that I mocked her + in her captivity. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Lady,” said I, “there is no captive in this valley except one, and he is not a + Saxon.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘At this she cried that I was a Norman thief, who came with false, sweet words, having + intended from the first to turn her out in the fields to beg her bread. Into the fields! + She had never seen the face of war! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I was angry, and answered, “This much at least I can disprove, for I swear”—and on + my sword-hilt I swore it in that place—“I swear I will never set foot in the Great Hall + till the Lady Ælueva herself shall <span class="tei tei-corr">summon</span> me there.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘She went away, saying nothing, and I <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page44">[pg 44]</span><a name="Pg044" id="Pg044" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>walked out, and + Hugh limped after me, whistling dolorously (that is a custom of the English), and we + came upon the three Saxons that had bound me. They were now bound by my men-at-arms, and + behind them stood some fifty stark and sullen churls of the House and the Manor, waiting + to see what should fall. We heard De Aquila’s trumpets blow thin through the woods + Kentward. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Shall we hang these?” said my men. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Then my churls will fight,” said Hugh, beneath his breath; but I bade him ask the + three what mercy they hoped for. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“None,” said they all. “She bade us hang thee if our master died. And we would have + hanged thee. There is no more to it.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘As I stood doubting a woman ran down from the oak wood above the King’s Hill yonder, + and cried out that some Normans were driving off the swine there. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Norman or Saxon,” said I, “we must beat them back, or they will rob us every day. + Out at them with any arms ye have!” So I loosed those three carles and we ran together, + my men-at-arms and the Saxons with bills and bows which they had hidden in the thatch of + their huts, and Hugh led them. Half-way up the King’s Hill we found a false fellow from + Picardy—a sutler that sold wine in the Duke’s camp—with a dead knight’s shield on his + arm, a stolen horse under him, and some ten or twelve wastrels at his tail, all cutting + and slashing at the pigs. We beat them off, and saved our pork. One hundred and sev<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page45">[pg 45]</span><a name="Pg045" id="Pg045" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>enty pigs we saved in that great battle.’ Sir Richard + laughed. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That, then, was our first work together, and I bade Hugh tell his folk that so would + I deal with any man, knight or churl, Norman or Saxon, who stole as much as one egg from + our valley. Said he to me, riding home: “Thou hast gone far to conquer England this + evening.” I answered: “England must be thine and mine, then. Help me, Hugh, to deal + aright with this people. Make them to know that if they slay me De Aquila will surely + send to slay them, and he will put a worse man in my place.” “That may well be true,” + said he, and gave me his hand. “Better the devil we know than the devil we know not, + till we can pack you Normans home.” And so, too, said his Saxons; and they laughed as we + drove the pigs downhill. But I think some of them, even then, began not to hate me.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I like Brother Hugh,’ said Una, softly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Beyond question he was the most perfect, courteous, valiant, tender, and wise knight + that ever drew breath,’ said Richard, caressing the sword. ‘He hung up his sword—this + sword—on the wall of the Great Hall, because he said it was fairly mine, and never he + took it down till De Aquila returned, as I shall presently show. For three months his + men and mine guarded the valley, till all robbers and nightwalkers learned there was + nothing to get from us save hard tack and a hanging. Side by side we fought against all + who came—thrice a week sometimes we fought—against thieves <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page46">[pg 46]</span><a name="Pg046" id="Pg046" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and landless knights looking for good manors. Then we were in some peace, + and I made shift by Hugh’s help to govern the valley—for all this valley of yours was + my Manor—as a knight should. I kept the roof on the hall and the thatch on the barn, + but.... The English are a bold people. His Saxons would laugh and jest with Hugh, and + Hugh with them, and—this was marvellous to me—if even the meanest of them said that + such and such a thing was the Custom of the Manor, then straightway would Hugh and such + old men of the Manor as might be near forsake everything else to debate the matter—I + have seen them stop the mill with the corn half ground—and if the custom or usage were + proven to be as it was said, why, that was the end of it, even though it were flat + against Hugh, his wish and command. Wonderful!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Aye,’ said Puck, breaking in for the first time. ‘The Custom of Old England was here + before your Norman knights came, and it outlasted them, though they fought against it + cruel.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Not I,’ said Richard. ‘I let the Saxons go their stubborn way, but when my own + men-at-arms, Normans not six months in England, stood up and told me what was the custom + of the country, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">then</span></span> I was angry. Ah, good days! Ah, wonderful + people! And I loved them all.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The knight lifted his arms as though he would hug the whole dear valley, and Swallow, + hearing the chink of his chain-mail, looked up and whinnied softly. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page47">[pg 47]</span> + <a name="Pg047" id="Pg047" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘At last,’ he went on, ‘after a year of striving and contriving and some little + driving, De Aquila came to the valley, alone and without warning. I saw him first at the + Lower Ford, with a swine-herd’s brat on his saddle-bow. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“There is no need for thee to give any account of thy stewardship,” said he. “I have + it all from the child here.” And he told me how the young thing had stopped his tall + horse at the Ford, by waving of a branch, and crying that the way was barred. “And if + one bold, bare babe be enough to guard the Ford in these days, thou hast done well,” + said he, and puffed and wiped his head. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He pinched the child’s cheek, and looked at our cattle in the flat by the brook. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Both fat,” said he, rubbing his nose. “This is craft and cunning such as I love. + What did I tell thee when I rode away, boy?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Hold the Manor or hang,” said I. I had never forgotten it. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“True. And thou hast held.” He clambered from his saddle and with sword’s point cut + out a turf from the bank and gave it me where I kneeled.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Dan looked at Una, and Una looked at Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That’s seizin,’ said Puck, in a whisper. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Now thou art lawfully seized of the Manor, Sir Richard,” said he—’twas the first + time he ever called me that—“thou and thy heirs for ever. This must serve till the + King’s clerks write out thy title on a parchment. England is all ours—if we can hold + it.” </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page48">[pg 48]</span> + <a name="Pg048" id="Pg048" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What service shall I pay?” I asked, and I remember I was proud beyond words. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Knight’s fee, boy, knight’s fee!” said he, hopping round his horse on one foot. + (Have I said he was little, and could not endure to be helped to his saddle?) “Six + mounted men or twelve archers thou shalt send me whenever I call for them, and—where + got you that corn?” said he, for it was near harvest, and our corn stood well. “I have + never seen such bright straw. Send me three bags of the same seed yearly, and + furthermore, in memory of our last meeting—with the rope round thy neck—entertain me + and my men for two days of each year in the Great Hall of thy Manor.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Alas!” said I, “then my Manor is already forfeit. I am under vow not to enter the + Great Hall.” And I told him what I had sworn to the Lady Ælueva.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And hadn’t you ever been into the house since?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Never,’ Sir Richard answered smiling. ‘I had made me a little hut of wood up the + hill, and there I did justice and slept.... De Aquila wheeled aside, and his shield + shook on his back. “No matter, boy,” said he. “I will remit the homage for a year.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He meant Sir Richard needn’t give him dinner there the first year,’ Puck explained. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘De Aquila stayed with me in the hut and Hugh, who could read and write and cast + accounts, showed him the roll of the Manor, in which were written all the names of our + fields and men, and he asked a thousand questions touching the land, the timber, the <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page49">[pg 49]</span><a name="Pg049" id="Pg049" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>grazing, the mill, and the fish-ponds, and the worth of + every man in the valley. But never he named the Lady Ælueva’s name, nor went he near the + Great Hall. By night he drank with us in the hut. Yes, he sat on the straw like an eagle + ruffled in her feathers, his yellow eyes rolling above the cup, and he pounced in his + talk like an eagle, swooping from one thing to another, but always binding fast. Yes; he + would lie still awhile, and then rustle in the straw, and speak sometimes as though he + were King William himself, and anon he would speak in parables and tales, and if at once + we saw not his meaning he would yerk us in the ribs with his scabbarded sword. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Look you, boys,” said he, “I am born out of my due time. Five hundred years ago I + would have made all England such an England as neither Dane, Saxon, nor Norman should + have conquered. Five hundred years hence I should have been such a councillor to Kings + as the world hath never dreamed of. ’Tis all here,” said he, tapping his big head, “but + it hath no play in this black age. Now Hugh here is a better man than thou art, + Richard.” He had made his voice harsh and croaking, like a raven’s. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Truth,” said I. “But for Hugh, his help and patience and long-suffering, I could + never have kept the Manor.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Nor thy life either,” said De Aquila. “Hugh has saved thee not once, but a hundred + times. Be still, Hugh!” he said. “Dost thou know, Richard, why Hugh slept, and <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page50">[pg 50]</span><a name="Pg050" id="Pg050" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>why he still sleeps, among thy Norman men-at-arms?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“To be near me,” said I, for I thought this was truth. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Fool!” said De Aquila. “It is because his Saxons have begged him to rise against + thee, and to sweep every Norman out of the valley. No matter how I know. It is truth. + Therefore Hugh hath made himself an hostage for thy life, well knowing that if any harm + befell thee from his Saxons thy Normans would slay him without remedy. And this his + Saxons know. It is true, Hugh?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“In some sort,” said Hugh, shamefacedly; “at least, it was true half a year ago. My + Saxons would not harm Richard now. I think they know him; but I judged it best to make + sure.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Look, children, what that man had done—and I had never guessed it! Night after night + had he lain down among my men-at-arms, knowing that if one Saxon had lifted knife + against me his life would have answered for mine. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Yes,” said De Aquila. “And he is a swordless man.” He pointed to Hugh’s belt, for + Hugh had put away his sword—did I tell you?—the day after it flew from his hand at + Santlache. He carried only the short knife and the long-bow. “Swordless and landless art + thou, Hugh; and they call thee kin to Earl Godwin.” (Hugh was indeed of Godwin’s blood.) + “The Manor that was thine was given to this boy and to his <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page51">[pg 51]</span><a name="Pg051" id="Pg051" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>children for ever. Sit up and beg, for he can turn thee out like a dog, + Hugh!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Hugh said nothing, but I heard his teeth grind, and I bade De Aquila, my own + overlord, hold his peace, or I would stuff his words down his throat. Then De Aquila + laughed till the tears ran down his face. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I warned the King,” said he, “what would come of giving England to us Norman + thieves. Here art thou, Richard, less than two days confirmed in thy Manor, and already + thou hast risen against thy overlord. What shall <span class="tei tei-corr">we do</span> to him, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Sir</span></span> + Hugh?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I am a swordless man,” said Hugh. “Do not jest with me,” and he laid his head on his + knees and groaned. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“The greater fool thou,” said De Aquila, and all his voice changed; “for I have given + thee the Manor of Dallington up the hill this half-hour since,” and he yerked at Hugh + with his scabbard across the straw. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“To me?” said Hugh. “I am a Saxon, and, except that I love Richard here, I have not + sworn fealty to any Norman.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“In God’s good time, which because of my sins I shall not live to see, there will be + neither Saxon nor Norman in England,” said De Aquila. “If I know men, thou art more + faithful unsworn than a score of Normans I could name. Take Dallington, and join Sir + Richard to fight me to-morrow, if it please thee!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Nay,” said Hugh. “I am no child. Where I take a gift, there I render service”; and + he put his hands between De Aquila’s, <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page52">[pg 52]</span><a name="Pg052" id="Pg052" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and swore to be + faithful, and, as I remember, I kissed him, and De Aquila kissed us both. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We sat afterwards outside the hut while the sun rose, and De Aquila marked our churls + going to their work in the fields, and talked of holy things, and how we should govern + our Manors in time to come, and of hunting and of horse-breeding, and of the King’s + wisdom and unwisdom; for he spoke to us as though we were in all sorts now his brothers. + Anon a churl stole up to me—he was one of the three I had not hanged a year ago—and he + bellowed—which is the Saxon for whispering—that the Lady Ælueva would speak to me at + the Great House. She walked abroad daily in the Manor, and it was her custom to send me + word whither she went, that I might set an archer or two behind and in front to guard + her. Very often I myself lay up in the woods and watched on her also. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I went swiftly, and as I passed the great door it opened from within, and there stood + my Lady Ælueva, and she said to me: “Sir Richard, will it please you enter your Great + Hall?” Then she wept, but we were alone.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The knight was silent for a long time, his face turned across the valley, smiling. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, well done!’ said Una, and clapped her hands very softly. ‘She was sorry, and she + said so.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Aye, she was sorry, and she said so,’ said Sir Richard, coming back with a little + start. ‘Very soon—but <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">he</span></span> said it was two full hours later—De + Aquila rode to the door, with his shield new scoured (Hugh had cleansed it), <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page53">[pg 53]</span><a name="Pg053" id="Pg053" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and demanded entertainment, and called me a false knight, that + would starve his overlord to death. Then Hugh cried out that no man should work in the + valley that day, and our Saxons blew horns, and set about feasting and drinking, and + running of races, and dancing and singing; and De Aquila climbed upon a horse-block and + spoke to them in what he swore was good Saxon, but no man understood it. At night we + feasted in the Great Hall, and when the harpers and the singers were gone we four sat + late at the high table. As I remember, it was a warm night with a full moon, and De + Aquila bade Hugh take down his sword from the wall again, for the honour of the Manor of + Dallington, and Hugh took it gladly enough. Dust lay on the hilt, for I saw him blow it + off. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘She and I sat talking a little apart, and at first we thought the harpers had come + back, for the Great Hall was filled with a rushing noise of music. De Aquila leaped up; + but there was only the moonlight fretty on the floor. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Hearken!” said Hugh. “It is my sword,” and as he belted it on the music ceased. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Over Gods, forbid that I should ever belt blade like that,” said De Aquila. “What + does it foretell?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“The Gods that made it may know. Last time it spoke was at Hastings, when I lost all + my lands. Belike it sings now that I have new lands and am a man again,” said Hugh. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He loosed the blade a little and drove it back happily into the sheath, and the sword + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page54">[pg 54]</span><a name="Pg054" id="Pg054" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>answered him low and crooningly, as—as a woman would + speak to a man, her head on his shoulder. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Now that was the second time in all my life I heard this Sword sing.’... </p> + <div class="tei tei-tb"> </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Look!’ said Una. ‘There’s mother coming down the Long Slip. What will she say to Sir + Richard? She can’t help seeing him.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And Puck can’t magic us this time,’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Are you sure?’ said Puck; and he leaned forward and whispered to Sir Richard, who, + smiling, bowed his head. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But what befell the sword and my brother Hugh I will tell on another time,’ said he, + rising. ‘Ohé, Swallow!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The great horse cantered up from the far end of the meadow, close to mother. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They heard mother say: ‘Children, Gleason’s old horse has broken into the meadow + again. Where did he get through?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Just below Stone Bay,’ said Dan. ‘He tore down simple flobs of the bank! We noticed + it just now. And we’ve caught no end of fish. We’ve been at it all the afternoon.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> And they honestly believed that they had. They never noticed the Oak, Ash, and Thorn + leaves that Puck had slyly thrown into their laps. </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page55">[pg 55]</span> + <a name="Pg055" id="Pg055" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf7" id="pdf7"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">SIR RICHARD’S SONG</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">I followed my Duke ere I was a lover,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To take from England fief and fee;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But now this game is the other way over—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But now England hath taken me!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">I had my horse, my shield and banner,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And a boy’s heart, so whole and free;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But now I sing in another manner—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But now England hath taken me!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">As for my Father in his tower,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Asking news of my ship at sea;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">He will remember his own hour—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Tell him England hath taken me!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">As for my Mother in her bower,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">That rules my Father so cunningly;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">She will remember a maiden’s power—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Tell her England hath taken me!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">As for my Brother in Rouen city,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">A nimble and naughty page is he;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But he will come to suffer and pity—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Tell him England hath taken me!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">As for my little Sister waiting</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">In the pleasant orchards of Normandie;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Tell her youth is the time for mating—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Tell her England hath taken me!</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page56">[pg 56]</span> + <a name="Pg056" id="Pg056" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">As for my Comrades in camp and highway,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">That lift their eyebrows scornfully;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Tell them their way is not my way—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Tell them England hath taken me!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Kings and Princes and Barons famed,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Knights and Captains in your degree;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Hear me a little before I am blamed—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Seeing England hath taken me!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Howso great man’s strength be reckoned,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">There are two things he cannot flee;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Love is the first, and Death is the second—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And Love, in England, hath taken me!</span></span></div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page57">[pg 57]</span> + <a name="Pg057" id="Pg057" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%"> THE KNIGHTS OF THE JOYOUS VENTURE </span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page58">[pg 58]</span> + <a name="Pg058" id="Pg058" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page59">[pg 59]</span> + <a name="Pg059" id="Pg059" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf8" id="pdf8"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">HARP SONG OF THE DANE WOMEN</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">What is a woman that you forsake her,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And the hearth-fire and the home-acre,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To go with the old grey Widow-maker</span></span>?</div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">She has no house to lay a guest in—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But one chill bed for all to rest in,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">That the pale suns and the stray bergs nest in.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">She has no strong white arms to fold you,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But the ten-times-fingering weed to hold you</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Bound on the rocks where the tide has rolled you.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Yet, when the signs of summer thicken,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And the ice breaks, and the birch-buds quicken,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Yearly you turn from our side, and sicken—</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Sicken again for the shouts and the slaughters,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">You steal away to the lapping waters,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And look at your ship in her winter quarters.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">You forget our mirth, and talk at the tables,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The kine in the shed and the horse in the stables—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To pitch her sides and go over her cables!</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page60">[pg 60]</span> + <a name="Pg060" id="Pg060" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Then you drive out where the storm-clouds swallow:</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And the sound of your oar-blades falling hollow,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Is all we have left through the months to follow!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Ah, what is Woman that you forsake her,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And the hearth-fire and the home-acre,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To go with the old grey Widow-maker?</span></span></div> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page61">[pg 61]</span> + <a name="Pg061" id="Pg061" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf9" id="pdf9"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">THE KNIGHTS OF THE JOYOUS VENTURE</span></h2> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> It was too hot to run about in the open, so Dan asked their friend, old Hobden, to + take their own dinghy from the pond and put her on the brook at the bottom of the + garden. Her painted name was the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Daisy</span></span>, but for exploring + expeditions she was the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Golden Hind</span></span> or the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Long + Serpent</span></span>, or some such suitable name. Dan hiked and howked with a boat-hook (the + brook was too narrow for sculls), and Una punted with a piece of hop-pole. When they + came to a very shallow place (the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Golden Hind</span></span> drew quite three + inches of water) they disembarked and scuffled her over the gravel by her tow-rope, and + when they reached the overgrown banks beyond the garden they pulled themselves up stream + by the low branches. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> That day they intended to discover the North Cape like ‘Othere, the old sea-captain,’ + in the book of verses which Una had brought with her; but on account of the heat they + changed it to a voyage up the Amazon and the sources of the Nile. Even on the shaded + water the air was hot and heavy with drowsy scents, while outside, through breaks in the + trees, the sunshine burned the pasture like fire. The kingfisher was asleep on his + watching-branch, and the blackbirds scarcely took the trouble to dive into the next + bush. <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page62">[pg 62]</span><a name="Pg062" id="Pg062" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Dragon-flies wheeling and clashing were the only + things at work, except the moor-hens and a big Red Admiral who flapped down out of the + sunshine for a drink. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> When they reached Otter Pool the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Golden Hind</span></span> grounded + comfortably on a shallow, and they lay beneath a roof of close green, watching the water + trickle over the floodgates down the mossy brick chute from the mill-stream to the + brook. A big trout—the children knew him well—rolled head and shoulders at some fly + that sailed round the bend, while once in just so often the brook rose a fraction of an + inch against all the wet pebbles, and they watched the slow draw and shiver of a breath + of air through the tree-tops. Then the little voices of the slipping water began again. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It’s like the shadows talking, isn’t it?’ said Una. She had given up trying to read. + Dan lay over the bows, trailing his hands in the current. They heard feet on the + gravel-bar that runs half across the pool and saw Sir Richard Dalyngridge standing over + them. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Was yours a dangerous voyage?’ he asked, smiling. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘She bumped a lot, sir,’ said Dan. ‘There’s hardly any water this summer.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ah, the brook was deeper and wider when my children played at Danish pirates. Are you + <span class="tei tei-corr">pirate-folk?’</span> </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, no. We gave up being pirates years ago,’ explained Una. ‘We’re nearly always + explorers now. Sailing round the world, you know.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page63">[pg 63]</span> + <a name="Pg063" id="Pg063" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Round?’ said Sir Richard. He sat him in the comfortable crotch of the old ash-root on + the bank. ‘How can it be round?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Wasn’t it in your books?’ Dan suggested. He had been doing geography at his last + lesson. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I can neither write nor read,’ he replied. ‘Canst <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">thou</span></span> read, + child?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes,’ said Dan, ‘barring the very long words.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Wonderful! Read to me, that I may hear for myself.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Dan flushed, but opened the book and began—gabbling a little—at ‘The Discoverer of + the North Cape.’ </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘Othere, the old sea captain,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Who dwelt in Helgoland,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">To Alfred, lover of truth,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Brought a snow-white walrus tooth,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">That he held in his right hand.’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But—but—this I know! This is an old song! This I have heard sung! This is a + miracle,’ Sir Richard interrupted. ‘Nay, do not stop!’ He leaned forward, and the + shadows of the leaves slipped and slid upon his chain-mail. </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘I ploughed the land with horses,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">But my heart was ill at ease,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">For the old sea-faring men</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Came to me now and then</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">With their Sagas of the Seas.’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> His hand fell on the hilt of the great sword. ‘This is truth,’ he cried, ‘for so did + it happen to <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page64">[pg 64]</span><a name="Pg064" id="Pg064" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>me,’ and he beat time delightedly to the + tramp of verse after verse. </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘“And now the land,” said Othere,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">“Bent southward suddenly,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">And I followed the curving shore,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">And ever southward bore</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Into a nameless sea.”’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A nameless sea!’ he repeated. ‘So did I—so did Hugh and I.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Where did you go? Tell us,’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Wait. Let me hear all first.’ So Dan read to the poem’s very end. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Good,’ said the knight. ‘That is Othere’s tale—even as I have heard the men in the + Dane ships sing it. Not in those same valiant words, but something like to them.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Have you ever explored North?’ Dan shut the book. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Nay. My venture was South. Farther South than any man has fared, Hugh and I went down + with Witta and his heathen.’ He jerked the tall sword forward, and leaned on it with + both hands; but his eyes looked long past them. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I thought you always lived here,’ said Una, timidly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> <span class="tei tei-corr">‘Yes;</span> while my Lady Ælueva lived. But she died. She died. Then, my eldest son being a + man, I asked De Aquila’s leave that he should hold the Manor while I went on some + journey or pilgrimage—to forget. De Aquila, whom the Second William had made Warden of + Pevensey in Earl Mortain’s place, was very old then, but still he rode his tall, <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page65">[pg 65]</span><a name="Pg065" id="Pg065" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>roan horses, and in the saddle he looked like a little + white falcon. When Hugh, at Dallington over yonder, heard what I did, he sent for my + second son, whom being unmarried he had ever looked upon as his own child, and, by De + Aquila’s leave, gave him the Manor of Dallington to hold till he should return. Then + Hugh came with me.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When did this happen?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That I can answer to the very day, for as we rode with De Aquila by Pevensey—have I + said that he was Lord of Pevensey and of the Honour of the Eagle?—to the Bordeaux ship + that fetched him his wines yearly out of France, a Marsh man ran to us crying that he + had seen a great black goat which bore on his back the body of the King, and that the + goat had spoken to him. On that same day Red William our King, the Conqueror’s son, died + of a secret arrow while he hunted in a forest. “This is a cross matter,” said De Aquila, + “to meet on the threshold of a journey. If Red William be dead I may have to fight for + my lands. Wait a little.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My Lady being dead, I cared nothing for signs and omens, nor Hugh either. We took + that wine-ship to go to Bordeaux; but the wind failed while we were yet in sight of + Pevensey; a thick mist hid us, and we drifted with the tide along the cliffs to the + west. Our company was, for the most part, merchants returning to France, and we were + laden with wool and there were three couple of tall hunting-dogs chained to the rail. + Their master was a knight of Artois. His name I never <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page66">[pg 66]</span><a name="Pg066" id="Pg066" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>learned, but his shield bore gold pieces on a red ground, and he limped much as I do, + from a wound which he had got in his youth at Mantes siege. He served the Duke of + Burgundy against the Moors in Spain, and was returning to that war with his dogs. He + sang us strange Moorish songs that first night, and half persuaded us to go with him. I + was on pilgrimage to forget—which is what no pilgrimage brings. I think I would have + gone, but.... </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Look you how the life and fortune of man changes! Towards morning a Dane ship, rowing + silently, struck against us in the mist, and while we rolled hither and yon Hugh, + leaning over the rail, fell outboard. I leaped after him, and we two tumbled aboard the + Dane, and were caught and bound ere we could rise. Our own ship was swallowed up in the + mist. I judge the Knight of the Gold Pieces muzzled his dogs with his cloak, lest they + should give tongue and betray the merchants, for I heard their baying suddenly stop. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We lay bound among the benches till morning, when the Danes dragged us to the high + deck by the steering-place, and their captain—Witta, he was called—turned us over with + his foot. Bracelets of gold from elbow to armpit he wore, and his red hair was long as a + woman’s, and came down in plaited locks on his shoulder. He was stout, with bowed legs + and long arms. He spoiled us of all we had, but when he laid hand on Hugh’s sword and + saw the runes on the blade hastily he thrust it back. Yet his covetousness over<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page67">[pg 67]</span><a name="Pg067" id="Pg067" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>came him and he tried again and again, and the third time + the Sword sang loud and angrily, so that the rowers leaned on their oars to listen. Here + they all spoke together, screaming like gulls, and a Yellow Man, such as I have never + seen, came to the high deck and cut our bonds. He was yellow—not from sickness, but by + nature. Yellow as honey, and his eyes stood endwise in his head.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘How do you mean?’ said Una, her chin on her hand. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Thus,’ said Sir Richard. He put a finger to the corner of each eye, and pushed it up + till his eyes narrowed to slits. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Why, you look just like a Chinaman!’ cried Dan. ‘Was the man a Chinaman?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I know not what that may be. Witta had found him half dead among ice on the shores of + Muscovy. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">We</span></span> thought he was a devil. He crawled before us and + brought food in a silver dish which these sea-wolves had robbed from some rich abbey, + and Witta with his own hands gave us wine. He spoke a little in French, a little in + South Saxon, and much in the Northman’s tongue. We asked him to set us ashore, promising + to pay him better ransom than he would get price if he sold us to the Moors—as once + befell a knight of my acquaintance sailing from Flushing. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Not by my father Guthrum’s head,” said he. “The Gods sent ye into my ship for a + luck-offering.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘At this I quaked, for I knew it was still the Dane’s custom to sacrifice captives to + their gods for fair weather. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page68">[pg 68]</span> + <a name="Pg068" id="Pg068" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“A plague on thy four long bones!” said Hugh. “What profit canst thou make of poor + old pilgrims that can neither work nor fight?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Gods forbid I should fight against thee, poor Pilgrim with the Singing Sword,” <span class="tei tei-corr">said</span> he. “Come with us and be poor no more. Thy teeth are far + apart, which is a sure sign thou wilt travel and grow rich.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What if we will not come?” said Hugh. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Swim to England or France,” said Witta. “We are midway between the two. Unless ye + choose to drown yourselves no hair of your head will be harmed here aboard. We think ye + bring us luck, and I myself know the runes on that Sword are good.” He turned and bade + them hoist sail. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Hereafter all made way for us as we walked about the ship, and the ship was full of + wonders.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What was she like?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Long, low, and narrow, bearing one mast with a red sail, and rowed by fifteen oars a + side,’ the knight answered. ‘At her bows was a deck under which men might lie, and at + her stern another shut off by a painted door from the rowers’ benches. Here Hugh and I + slept, with Witta and the Yellow Man, upon tapestries as soft as wool. I remember’—he + laughed to himself—‘when first we entered there a loud voice cried, “Out swords! Out + swords! Kill, <span class="tei tei-corr">kill!”</span> Seeing us start Witta laughed, and showed us it was but a + great-beaked grey bird with a red tail. He sat her on his shoulder, and she called for + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page69">[pg 69]</span><a name="Pg069" id="Pg069" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>bread and wine hoarsely, and prayed him to kiss her. + Yet she was no more than a silly bird. But—ye knew this?’ He looked at their smiling + faces. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We weren’t laughing at you,’ said Una. ‘That must have been a parrot. It’s just what + Pollies do.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So we learned later. But here is another marvel. The Yellow Man, whose name was + Kitai, had with him a brown box. In the box was a blue bowl with red marks upon the rim, + and within the bowl, hanging from a fine thread, was a piece of iron no thicker than + that grass stem, and as long, maybe, as my spur, but straight. In this iron, said Witta, + abode an Evil Spirit which <span class="tei tei-corr">Kitai,</span> the Yellow Man, had brought by Art Magic out of his own + country that lay three years’ journey southward. The Evil Spirit strove day and night to + return to his country, and therefore, look you, the iron needle pointed continually to + the South.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘South?’ said Dan, suddenly, and put his hand into his pocket. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘With my own eyes I saw it. Every day and all day long, though the ship rolled, though + the sun and the moon and the stars were hid, this blind Spirit in the iron knew whither + it would go, and strained to the South. Witta called it the Wise Iron, because it showed + him his way across the unknowable seas.’ Again Sir Richard looked keenly at the + children. ‘How think ye? Was it sorcery?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Was it anything like this?’ Dan fished <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page70">[pg 70]</span><a name="Pg070" id="Pg070" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>out his old + brass pocket-compass, that generally lived with his knife and key-ring. ‘The glass has + got cracked, but the needle waggles all right, sir.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The knight drew a long breath of wonder. ‘Yes, yes. The Wise Iron shook and swung in + just this fashion. Now it is still. Now it points to the South.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘North,’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Nay, South! There is the South,’ said Sir Richard. Then they both laughed, for + naturally when one end of a straight compass-needle points to the North, the other must + point to the South. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Té,’ said Sir Richard, clicking his tongue. ‘There can be no sorcery if a child + carries it. Wherefore does it point South—or North?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Father says that nobody knows,’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Sir Richard looked relieved. ‘Then it may still be magic. It was magic to <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">us</span></span>. And so we voyaged. When the wind served we hoisted sail, and + lay all up along the windward rail, our shields on our backs to break the spray. When it + failed, they rowed with long oars; the Yellow Man sat by the Wise Iron, and Witta + steered. At first I feared the great white-flowering waves, but as I saw how wisely + Witta led his ship among them I grew bolder. Hugh liked it well from the first. My skill + is not upon the water; and rocks, and whirlpools such as we saw by the West Isles of + France, where an oar caught on a rock and broke, are much against my stomach. We sailed + South across a stormy sea, where by moonlight, between clouds, we saw a Flanders <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page71">[pg 71]</span><a name="Pg071" id="Pg071" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ship roll clean over and sink. Again, though Hugh + laboured with Witta all night, I lay under the deck with the Talking Bird, and cared not + whether I lived or died. There is a sickness of the sea which, for three days, is pure + death! When we next saw land Witta said it was Spain, and we stood out to sea. That + coast was full of ships busy in the Duke’s war against the Moors, and we feared to be + hanged by the Duke’s men or sold into slavery by the Moors. So we put into a small + harbour which Witta knew. At night men came down with loaded mules, and Witta exchanged + amber out of the North against little wedges of iron and packets of beads in earthen + pots. The pots he put under the decks, and the wedges of iron he laid on the bottom of + the ship after he had cast out the stones and shingle which till then had been our + ballast. Wine, too, he bought for lumps of sweet-smelling grey amber—a little morsel no + bigger than a thumbnail purchased a cask of wine. But I speak like a merchant.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No, no! Tell us what you had to eat,’ cried Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Meat dried in the sun, and dried fish and ground beans, Witta took in; and corded + frails of a certain sweet, soft fruit, which the Moors use, which is like paste of figs, + but with thin, long stones. Aha! Dates is the name. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Now,” said Witta, when the ship was loaded, “I counsel you <span class="tei tei-sic">strangers,</span> to pray to + your gods, for from here on our road is No Man’s road.” He and his men killed a black + goat for sacrifice on the bows; and the Yellow <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page72">[pg 72]</span><a name="Pg072" id="Pg072" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Man + brought out a small, smiling image of dull-green glass and burned incense before it. + Hugh and I commended ourselves to God, and Saint Bartholomew, and Our Lady of the + Assumption, who was specially dear to my Lady. We were not young, but I think no shame + to say, when as we drove out of that secret harbour at sunrise over a still sea, we two + rejoiced and sang as did the knights of old when they followed our great Duke to + England. Yet was our leader an heathen pirate; all our proud fleet but one galley + perilously overloaded; for guidance we leaned on a pagan sorcerer; and our port was + beyond the world’s end. Witta told us that his father Guthrum had once in his life rowed + along the shores of Africa to a land where naked men sold gold for iron and beads. There + had he bought much gold, and no few elephants’ teeth, and thither by help of the Wise + Iron would Witta go. Witta feared nothing—except to be poor. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“My father told me,” said Witta, “that a great Shoal runs three days’ sail out from + that land, and south of the shoal lies a Forest which grows in the sea. South and east + of the Forest my father came to a place where the men hid gold in their hair; but all + that country, he said, was full of Devils who lived in trees, and tore folk limb from + limb. How think ye?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Gold or no gold,” said Hugh, fingering his sword, “it is a joyous venture. Have at + these devils of thine, Witta!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Venture!” said Witta, sourly. “I am <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page73">[pg 73]</span><a name="Pg073" id="Pg073" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>only a poor + sea-thief. I do not set my life adrift on a plank for joy, or the venture. Once I beach + ship again at Stavanger, and feel the wife’s arms round my neck, I’ll seek no more + ventures. A ship is heavier care than a wife or cattle.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He leaped down among the rowers, chiding them for their little strength and their + great stomachs. Yet Witta was a wolf in fight, and a very fox in cunning. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We were driven South by a storm, and for three days and three nights he took the + stern-oar and threddled the longship through the sea. When it rose beyond measure he + brake a pot of whale’s oil upon the water, which wonderfully smoothed it, and in that + anointed patch he turned her head to the wind and threw out oars at the end of a rope, + to make, he said, an anchor at which we lay rolling sorely, but dry. This craft his + father Guthrum had shown him. He knew, too, all the Leech-Book of Bald, who was a wise + doctor, and he knew the Ship-Book of Hlaf the Woman, who robbed Egypt. He knew all the + care of a ship. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘After the storm we saw a mountain whose top was covered with snow and pierced the + clouds. The grasses under this mountain, boiled and eaten, are a good cure for soreness + of the gums and swelled ankles. We lay there eight days, till men in skins threw stones + at us. When the heat increased Witta spread a cloth on bent sticks above the rowers, for + the wind failed between the Island of the Mountain and the shore of Africa, which is <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page74">[pg 74]</span><a name="Pg074" id="Pg074" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>east of it. That shore is sandy, and we rowed along it + within three bowshots. Here we saw whales, and fish in the shape of shields, but longer + than our ship. Some slept, some opened their mouths at us, and some danced on the hot + waters. The water was hot to the hand, and the sky was hidden by hot, grey mists, out of + which blew a fine dust that whitened our hair and beards of a morning. Here, too, were + fish that flew in the air like birds. They would fall on the laps of the rowers, and + when we went ashore we would roast and eat them.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The knight paused to see if the children doubted him, but they only nodded and said, + ‘Go on.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The yellow land lay on our left, the grey sea on our right. Knight though I was, I + pulled my oar amongst the rowers. I caught seaweed and dried it, and stuffed it between + the pots of beads lest they should break. Knighthood is for the land. At sea, look you, + a man is but a spurless rider on a bridleless horse. I learned to make strong knots in + ropes—yes, and to join two ropes end to end, so that even Witta could scarcely see + where they had been married. But Hugh had tenfold more sea-cunning than I. Witta gave + him charge of the rowers of the left side. Thorkild of Borkum, a man with a broken nose, + that wore a Norman steel cap, had the rowers of the right, and each side rowed and sang + against the other. They saw that no man was idle. Truly, as Hugh said, and Witta would + laugh at him, a ship is all more care than a Manor. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page75">[pg 75]</span> + <a name="Pg075" id="Pg075" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘How? Thus. There was water to fetch from the shore when we could find it, as well as + wild fruit and grasses, and sand for scrubbing of the decks and benches to keep them + sweet. Also we hauled the ship out on low islands and emptied all her gear, even to the + iron wedges, and burned off the weed, that had grown on her, with torches of rush, and + smoked below the decks with rushes dampened in salt water, as Hlaf the Woman orders in + her Ship-Book. Once when we were thus stripped, and the ship lay propped on her keel, + the bird cried, “Out swords!” as though she saw an enemy. Witta vowed he would wring her + neck.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Poor Polly! Did he?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Nay. She was the ship’s bird. She could call all the rowers by name.... Those were + good days—for a wifeless man—with Witta and his heathen—beyond the world’s end.... + After many weeks we came on the Great Shoal which stretched, as Witta’s father had said, + far out to sea. We skirted it till we were giddy with the sight and dizzy with the sound + of bars and breakers; and when we reached land again we found a naked black people + dwelling among woods, who for one wedge of iron loaded us with fruits and grasses and + eggs. Witta scratched his head at them in sign he would buy gold. They had no gold, but + they understood the sign (all the gold-traders hide their gold in their thick hair), for + they pointed along the coast. They beat, too, on their chests with their clenched hands, + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page76">[pg 76]</span><a name="Pg076" id="Pg076" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and that, if we had known it, was an evil sign.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What did it mean?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Patience. Ye shall hear. We followed the coast eastward sixteen days (counting time + by sword-cuts on the helm-rail) till we came to the Forest in the Sea. Trees grew out of + mud, arched upon lean and high roots, and many muddy water-ways ran allwhither into + darkness under the trees. Here we lost the sun. We followed the winding channels between + the trees, and <span class="tei tei-corr">where</span> we could not row we laid hold of the + crusted roots and hauled ourselves along. The water was foul, and great glittering flies + tormented us. Morning and evening a blue mist covered the mud, which bred fevers. Four + of our rowers sickened, and were bound to their benches, lest they should leap overboard + and be eaten by the monsters of the mud. The Yellow Man lay sick beside the Wise Iron, + rolling his head and talking in his own tongue. Only the Bird throve. She sat on Witta’s + shoulder and screamed in that noisome, silent darkness. Yes; I think it was the silence + we feared.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He paused to listen to the comfortable home noises of the brook. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When we had lost count of time among those black gullies and swashes, we heard, as it + were, a drum beat far off, and following it we broke into a broad, brown river by a hut + in a clearing among fields of pumkins. We thanked God to see the sun again. The people + of the village gave the good welcome, and Witta scratched his head at them (for gold), + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page77">[pg 77]</span><a name="Pg077" id="Pg077" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and showed them our iron and beads. They ran to the + bank—we were still in the ship—and pointed to our swords and bows, for always when + near shore we lay armed. Soon they fetched store of gold in bars and in dust from their + huts, and some great blackened elephant teeth. These they piled on the bank, as though + to tempt us, and made signs of dealing blows in battle, and pointed up to the tree tops, + and to the forest behind. Their captain or chief sorcerer then beat on his chest with + his fists, and gnashed his teeth. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Said Thorkild of Borkum: “Do they mean we must fight for all this gear?” and he half + drew his sword. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Nay,” said Hugh. “I think they ask us to league against some enemy.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I like this not,” said Witta, of a sudden. “Back into midstream.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So we did, and sat still all, watching the black folk and the gold they piled on the + bank. Again we heard drums beat in the forest, and the people fled to their huts, + leaving the gold unguarded. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then Hugh, at the bows, pointed without speech, and we saw a great Devil come out of + the forest. He shaded his brows with his hand, and moistened his pink tongue between his + lips—thus.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A Devil!’ said Dan, delightfully horrified. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yea. Taller than a man; covered with reddish hair. When he had well regarded our + ship, he beat on his chest with his fists till it sounded like rolling drums, and came + to the bank swinging all his body between his long <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page78">[pg 78]</span><a name="Pg078" id="Pg078" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>arms, and gnashed his teeth at us. Hugh loosed arrow, and pierced him through the + throat. He fell roaring, and three other Devils ran out of the forest and hauled him + into a tall tree out of sight. Anon they cast down the blood-stained arrow, and lamented + together among the leaves. Witta saw the gold on the bank; he was loath to leave it. + “Sirs,” said he (no man had spoken till then), “yonder is that we have come so far and + so painfully to find, laid out to our very hand. Let us row in while these Devils bewail + themselves, and at least bear off what we may.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Bold as a wolf, cunning as a fox was Witta! He set four archers on the foredeck to + shoot the Devils if they should leap from the tree, which was close to the bank. He + manned ten oars a side, and bade them watch his hand to row in or back out, and so + coaxed he them toward the bank. But none would set foot ashore, though the gold was + within ten paces. No man is hasty to his hanging. They whimpered at their oars like + beaten hounds, and Witta bit his fingers for rage. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Said Hugh of a sudden, “Hark!” At first we thought it was the buzzing of the + glittering flies on the water, but it grew loud and fierce, so that all men heard.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What?’ said Dan and Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It was the sword.’ Sir Richard patted the smooth hilt. ‘It sang as a Dane sings + before battle. “I go,” said Hugh, and he leaped from the bows and fell among the gold. I + was afraid to my four bones’ marrow, but for shame’s sake I followed, and Thorkild of + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page79">[pg 79]</span><a name="Pg079" id="Pg079" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Borkum leaped after me. None other came. “Blame me + not,” cried Witta behind us, “I must abide by my ship.” We three had no time to blame or + praise. We stooped to the gold and threw it back over our shoulders, one hand on our + swords and one eye on the tree, which nigh overhung us. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I know not how the Devils leaped down, or how the fight began. I heard Hugh cry: + “Out! out!” as though he were at Santlache again; I saw Thorkild’s steel cap smitten off + his head by a great hairy hand, and I felt an arrow from the ship whistle past my ear. + They say that till Witta took his sword to the rowers he could not bring his ship in + shore; and each one of the four archers said afterwards that he alone had pierced the + Devil that fought me. I do not know. I went to it in my mail-shirt, which saved my skin. + With long-sword and belt-dagger I fought for the life against a Devil whose very feet + were hands, and who whirled me back and forth like a dead branch. He had me by the + waist, my arms to my side, when an arrow from the ship pierced him between the + shoulders, and he loosened grip. I passed my sword twice through him, and he crutched + himself away between his long arms, coughing and moaning. Next, as I remember, I saw + Thorkild of Borkum bareheaded and smiling, leaping up and down before a Devil that + leaped and gnashed his teeth. Then Hugh passed, his sword shifted to his left hand, and + I wondered why I had not known that Hugh was a left-handed man; and thereafter I + remembered nothing till I <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page80">[pg 80]</span><a name="Pg080" id="Pg080" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>felt spray on my face, and we + were in sunshine on the open sea. That was twenty days after.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What had happened? Did Hugh die?’ the children asked. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Never was such a fight fought by christened man,’ said Sir Richard. ‘An arrow from + the ship had saved me from my Devil, and Thorkild of Borkum had given back before his + Devil, till the bowmen on the ship could shoot it all full of arrows from near by; but + Hugh’s Devil was cunning, and had kept behind trees, where no arrow could reach. Body to + body there, by stark strength of sword and hand, had Hugh slain him, and, dying, the + Thing had clenched his teeth on the sword. Judge what teeth they were!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Sir Richard turned the sword again that the children might see the two great chiselled + gouges on either side of the blade. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Those same teeth met in Hugh’s right arm and side,’ Sir Richard went on. ‘I? Oh, I + had no more than a broken foot and a fever. Thorkild’s ear was bitten, but Hugh’s arm + and side clean withered away. I saw him where he lay along, sucking a fruit in his left + hand. His flesh was wasted off his bones, his hair was patched with white, and his hand + was blue-veined like a woman’s. He put his left hand round my neck and whispered, “Take + my sword. It has been thine since Hastings, O, my brother, but I can never hold hilt + again.” We lay there on the high deck talking of Santlache and, I think, of every day + since Santlache, and it came so that we <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page81">[pg 81]</span><a name="Pg081" id="Pg081" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>both wept. I + was weak, and he little more than a shadow. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Nay—nay,” said Witta, at the helm-rail. “Gold is a good right arm to any man. + Look—look at the gold!” He bade Thorkild show us the gold and the elephants’ teeth, as + though we had been children. He had brought away all the gold on the bank, and twice as + much more, that the people of the village gave him for slaying the Devils. They + worshipped us as gods, Thorkild told me: it was one of their old women healed up Hugh’s + poor arm.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘How much gold did you get?’ asked Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘How can I say? Where we came out with wedges of iron under the rowers’ feet we + returned with wedges of gold hidden beneath planks. There was dust of gold in packages + where we slept; and along the side and crosswise under the benches we lashed the + blackened elephants’ teeth. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I had sooner have my right arm,” said Hugh, when he had seen all. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ahai! That was my fault,” said Witta. “I should have taken ransom and landed you in + France when first you came aboard, ten months ago.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“It is over-late now,” said Hugh, laughing. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Witta plucked at his long shoulder-lock. “But think!” said he. “If I had let ye + go—which I swear I would never have done, for I love ye more than brothers—if I had + let ye go, by now ye might have been horribly slain by some mere Moor in the Duke of + Burgundy’s war, or ye might have been murdered by <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page82">[pg 82]</span><a name="Pg082" id="Pg082" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>land-thieves, or ye might have died of the plague at an inn. Think of this and do not + blame me overmuch, Hugh. See! I will only take a half of the gold.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I blame thee not at all, Witta,” said Hugh. “It was a joyous venture, and we + thirty-five here have done what never men have done. If I live till England, I will + build me a stout keep over Dallington out of my share.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I will buy cattle and amber and warm red cloth for the wife,” said Witta, “and I + will hold all the land at the head of Stavanger Fiord. Many will fight for me now. But + first we must turn North, and with this honest treasure aboard I pray we meet no pirate + ships.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We did not laugh. We were careful. We were afraid lest we should lose one grain of + our gold for which we had fought Devils. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Where is the Sorcerer?” said I, for Witta was looking at the Wise Iron in the box, + and I could not see the Yellow Man. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He has gone to his own country,” said he. “He rose up in the night while we were + beating out of that forest in the mud, and said that he could see it behind the trees. + He leaped out on to the mud, and did not answer when we called; so we called no more. He + left the Wise Iron, which is all that I care for—and see, the Spirit still points to + the South!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We were troubled for fear that the Wise Iron should fail us now that its Yellow Man + had gone, and when we saw the Spirit still served us we grew afraid of too strong winds, + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page83">[pg 83]</span><a name="Pg083" id="Pg083" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and of shoals, and of careless leaping fish, and of + all the people on all the shores where we landed.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Why?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Because of the gold—because of our gold. Gold changes men altogether. Thorkild of + Borkum did not change. He laughed at Witta for his fears, and at us for our counselling + Witta to furl sail when the ship pitched at all. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Better be drowned out of hand,” said Thorkild of Borkum, “than go tied to a + deck-load of yellow dust.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He was a landless man, and had been slave to some King in the East. He would have + beaten out the gold into deep bands to put round the oars, and round the prow. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yet, though he vexed himself for the gold, Witta waited upon Hugh like a woman, + lending him his shoulder when the ship rolled, and tying of ropes from side to side that + Hugh might hold by them. But for Hugh, he said—and so did all his men—they would never + have won the gold. I remember Witta made a little, thin gold ring for our Bird to swing + in. Three months we rowed and sailed and went ashore for fruits or to clean the ship. + When we saw wild horsemen, riding among sand-dunes, flourishing spears we knew we were + on the Moors’ coast, and stood over north to Spain; and a strong south-west wind bore us + in ten days to a coast of high red rocks, where we heard a hunting-horn blow among the + yellow gorse and knew it was England. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Now find ye Pevensey yourselves,” said <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page84">[pg 84]</span><a name="Pg084" id="Pg084" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Witta. “I + love not these narrow ship-filled seas.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He set the dried, salted head of the Devil, which Hugh had killed, high on our prow, + and all boats fled from us. Yet, for our gold’s sake, we were more afraid than they. We + crept along the coast by night till we came to the chalk cliffs, and so east to + Pevensey. Witta would not come ashore with us, though Hugh promised him wine at + Dallington enough to swim in. He was on fire to see his wife, and ran into the Marsh + after sunset, and there he left us and our share of gold, and backed out on the same + tide. He made no promise; he swore no oath; he looked for no thanks; but to Hugh, an + armless man, and to me, an old cripple whom he could have flung into the sea, he passed + over wedge upon wedge, packet upon packet of gold and dust of gold, and only ceased when + we would take no more. As he stooped from the rail to bid us farewell he stripped off + his right-arm bracelets and put them all on Hugh’s left, and he kissed Hugh on the + cheek. I think when Thorkild of Borkum bade the rowers give way we were near weeping. It + is true that Witta was an heathen and a pirate; true it is he held us by force many + months in his ship, but I loved that bow-legged, blue-eyed man for his great boldness, + his cunning, his skill, and, beyond all, for his simplicity.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Did he get home all right?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I never knew. We saw him hoist sail under the moon-track and stand away. I have + prayed that he found his wife and the children.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page85">[pg 85]</span> + <a name="Pg085" id="Pg085" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And what did you do?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We waited on the Marsh till the day. Then I sat by the gold, all tied in an old sail, + while Hugh went to Pevensey, and De Aquila sent us horses.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Sir Richard crossed hands on his sword-hilt, and stared down stream through the soft + warm shadows. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A whole shipload of <span class="tei tei-corr">gold!’</span> said Una, looking at the little <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Golden + Hind</span></span>. ‘But I’m glad I didn’t see the Devils.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I don’t believe they were Devils,’ Dan whispered back. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Eh?’ said Sir Richard. ‘Witta’s father warned him they were unquestionable Devils. + One must believe one’s father, and not one’s children. What were my Devils, then?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Dan flushed all over. ‘I—I only thought,’ he stammered; ‘I’ve got a book called <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">The Gorilla Hunters</span></span>—it’s a continuation of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Coral + Island</span></span>, sir—and it says there that the gorillas (they’re big monkeys, you know) + were always chewing iron up.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Not always,’ said Una. ‘Only twice.’ They had been reading <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">The + Gorilla Hunters</span></span> in the orchard. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Well, anyhow, they always drummed on their chests, like Sir Richard’s did, before + they went for people. And they built houses in trees, too.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ha!’ Sir Richard opened his eyes. ‘Houses like flat nests did our Devils make, where + their imps lay and looked at us. I did not see them (I was sick after the fight), but + Witta told me and, lo, ye know it also? Won<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page86">[pg 86]</span><a name="Pg086" id="Pg086" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>derful! Were + our Devils only nest-building apes? Is there no sorcery left in the world?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I don’t know,’ answered Dan, uncomfortably. ‘I’ve seen a man take rabbits out of a + hat, and he told us we could see how he did it, if we watched hard. And we did.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But we didn’t,’ said Una sighing. ‘Oh! there’s Puck!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The little fellow, brown and smiling, peered between two stems of an ash, nodded, and + slid down the bank into the cool beside them. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No sorcery, Sir Richard?’ he laughed, and blew on a full dandelion head he had + picked. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They tell me that Witta’s Wise Iron was a toy. The boy carries such an Iron with him. + They tell me our Devils were apes, called gorillas!’ said Sir Richard, indignantly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That is the sorcery of books,’ said Puck. ‘I warned thee they were wise children. All + people can be wise by reading of books.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But are the books true?’ Sir Richard frowned. ‘I like not all this reading and + writing.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ye-es,’ said Puck, holding the naked dandelion head at arm’s length. ‘But if we hang + all fellows who write falsely, why did De Aquila not begin with Gilbert, the Clerk? <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">He</span></span> was false enough.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Poor false Gilbert. Yet in his fashion, he was bold,’ said Sir Richard. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What did he do?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He wrote,’ said Sir Richard. ‘Is the tale meet for children, think you?’ He looked at + Puck; but, ‘Tell us! Tell us!’ cried Dan and Una together. </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page87">[pg 87]</span> + <a name="Pg087" id="Pg087" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf10" id="pdf10"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">THORKILD’S SONG</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">There is no wind along these seas,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">Out oars for Stavanger!</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">Forward all for Stavanger!</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">So we must wake the white-ash breeze,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">Let fall for Stavanger!</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">A long pull for Stavanger!</div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Oh, hear the benches creak and strain!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">(A long pull for Stavanger!)</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">She thinks she smells the Northland rain!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">(A long pull for Stavanger!)</div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">She thinks she smells the Northland snow,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And she’s as glad as we to go!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">She thinks she smells the Northland rime,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And the dear dark nights of winter-time.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Her very bolts are sick for shore,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And we—we want it ten times more!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Hoe—all you Gods that love brave men,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Send us a three-reef gale again!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Send us a gale, and watch us come,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">With close-cropped canvas slashing home!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">But—<span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">there’s no wind in all these seas,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">A long pull for Stavanger!</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">So we must wake the white-ash breeze,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">A long pull for Stavanger!</div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page88">[pg 88]</span> + <a name="Pg088" id="Pg088" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page89">[pg 89]</span> + <a name="Pg089" id="Pg089" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%"> OLD MEN AT PEVENSEY </span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page90">[pg 90]</span> + <a name="Pg090" id="Pg090" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page91">[pg 91]</span> + <a name="Pg091" id="Pg091" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf11" id="pdf11"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">OLD MEN AT PEVENSEY</span></h2> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It has nought to do with apes or devils,’ Sir Richard went on, in an undertone. ‘It + concerns De Aquila, than whom there was never bolder nor craftier, nor more hardy knight + born. And, remember, he was an old, old man at that time.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When we came back from sailing with Witta.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What did you do with your gold?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Have patience. Link by link is chain-mail made. I will tell all in its place. We bore + the gold to Pevensey on horseback—three loads of it—and then up to the north chamber, + above the Great Hall of Pevensey Castle, where De Aquila lay in winter. He sat on his + bed like a little white falcon, turning his head swiftly from one to the other as we + told our tale. Jehan the Crab, an old sour man-at-arms, guarded the stairway, but De + Aquila bade him wait at the stair-foot, and let down both leather curtains over the + door. It was Jehan whom De Aquila had sent to us with the horses, and only Jehan had + loaded the gold. When our story was told, De Aquila gave us the news of England, for we + were as men waked from a year-long sleep. The Red King was dead—slain (ye remember?) + the day we set sail—and Henry, his younger <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page92">[pg 92]</span><a name="P092" id="P092" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>brother, + had made himself King of England over the head of Robert of Normandy. This was the very + thing that the Red King had done to Robert when our Great William died. Then Robert of + Normandy, mad, as De Aquila said, at twice missing of this kingdom, had sent an army + against England, which army had been well beaten back to their ships at Portsmouth. A + little earlier, and Witta’s ship would have rowed through them. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“And now,” said De Aquila, “half the great Barons of the north and west are out + against the King between Salisbury and Shrewsbury; and half the other half wait to see + which way the game shall go. They say Henry is overly English for their stomachs, + because he hath married an English wife and she hath coaxed him to give back their old + laws to our Saxons. (Better ride a horse on the bit he knows, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> + say.) But that is only a cloak to their falsehood.” He cracked his finger on the table + where the wine was spilt, and thus he spoke:— </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“William crammed us Norman barons full of good English acres after Santlache. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> had my share too,” he said, and clapped Hugh on the shoulder; + “but I warned him—I warned him before Odo rebelled—that he should have bidden the + Barons give up their lands and lordships in Normandy if they would be English lords. Now + they are all but princes both in England and Normandy—trencher-fed hounds, with a foot + in one trough and both eyes on the other! Robert of Normandy has sent them word that if + they do not <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page93">[pg 93]</span><a name="Pg093" id="Pg093" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>fight for him in England he will sack and + harry out their lands in Normandy. Therefore Clare has risen, Fitz Osborn has risen, + Montgomery has risen—whom our First William made an English earl. Even D’Arcy is out + with his men, whose father I remember a little hedge-sparrow knight nearby Caen. If + Henry wins, the Barons can still flee to Normandy, where Robert will welcome them. If + Henry loses, Robert, he says, will give them more lands in England. Oh, a pest—a pest + on Normandy, for she will be our England’s curse this many a long year!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Amen,” said Hugh. “But will the war come our ways, think you?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Not from the North,” said De Aquila. “But the sea is always open. If the Barons gain + the upper hand Robert will send another army into England for sure; and this time I + think he will land here—where his father, the Conqueror, landed. Ye have brought your + pigs to a pretty market! Half England alight, and gold enough on the ground”—he stamped + on the bars beneath the table—“to set every sword in Christendom fighting.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What is to do?” said Hugh. “I have no keep at Dallington; and if we buried it, whom + could we trust?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Me,” said De Aquila. “Pevensey walls are strong. No man but Jehan, who is my dog, + knows what is between them.” He drew a curtain by the shot-window and showed us the + shaft of a well in the thickness of the wall. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I made it for a drinking-well,” he said, <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page94">[pg 94]</span><a name="Pg094" id="Pg094" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>“but we + found salt water, and it rises and falls with the tide. Hark!” We heard the water + whistle and blow at the bottom. “Will it serve?” said he. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Needs must,” said Hugh. “Our lives are in thy hands.” So we lowered all the gold + down except one small chest of it by De Aquila’s bed, which we kept as much for his + delight in its weight and colour as for any our needs. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘In the morning, ere we rode to our Manors, he said: “I do not say farewell; because + ye will return and bide here. Not for love nor for sorrow, but to be with the gold. Have + a care,” he said, laughing, “lest I use it to make myself Pope. Trust me not, but + return!”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Sir Richard paused and smiled sadly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘In seven days, then, we returned from our Manors—from the Manors which had been + ours.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And were the children quite well?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My sons were young. Land and governance belong by right to young men.’ Sir Richard + was talking to himself. ‘It would have broken their hearts if we had taken back our + Manors. They made us great welcome, but we could see—Hugh and I could see—that our day + was done. I was a cripple and he a one-armed man. No!’ He shook his head. ‘And + therefore’—he raised his voice—‘we rode back to Pevensey.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’m sorry,’ said Una, for the knight seemed very sorrowful. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Little maid, it all passed long ago. They <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page95">[pg 95]</span><a name="Pg095" id="Pg095" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>were + young; we were old. We let them rule the Manors. “Aha!” cried De Aquila from his + shot-window, when we dismounted. “Back again to earth, old foxes?” but when we were in + his chamber above the hall he puts his arms about us and says, “Welcome, ghosts! + Welcome, poor ghosts!”... Thus it fell out that we were rich beyond belief, and lonely. + And lonely!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What did you do?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We watched for Robert of Normandy,’ said the knight. ‘De Aquila was like Witta. He + suffered no idleness. In fair weather we would ride along between Bexlei on the one + side, to Cuckmere on the other—sometimes with hawk, sometimes with hound (there are + stout hares both on the Marsh and the Downland), but always with an eye to the sea, for + fear of fleets from Normandy. In foul weather he would walk on the top of his tower, + frowning against the rain—peering here and pointing there. It always vexed him to think + how Witta’s ship had come and gone without his knowledge. When the wind ceased and ships + anchored, to the wharf’s edge he would go and, leaning on his sword among the stinking + fish, would call to the mariners for their news from France. His other eye he kept + landward for word of Henry’s war against the Barons. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Many brought him news—jongleurs, harpers, pedlars, sutlers, priests, and the like; + and, though he was secret enough in small things, yet, if their news misliked him, then, + regarding neither time nor place nor people, <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page96">[pg 96]</span><a name="Pg096" id="Pg096" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>would he + curse our King Henry for a fool or a babe. I have heard him cry aloud by the + fishing-boats: “If I were King of England I would do thus and thus”; and when I rode out + to see that the warning-beacons were laid and dry, he hath often called to me from the + shot-window: “Look to it, Richard! Do not copy our blind King, but see with thine own + eyes and feel with thine own hands.” I do not think he knew any sort of fear. And so we + lived at Pevensey, in the little chamber above the Hall. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘One foul night came word that a messenger of the King waited below. We were chilled + after a long riding in the fog towards Bexlei, which is an easy place for ships to land. + De Aquila sent word the man might either eat with us or wait till we had fed. Anon + Jehan, at the stair-head, cried that he had called for horse, and was gone. “Pest on + him!” said De Aquila. “I have more to do than to shiver in the Great Hall for every + gadling the King sends. Left he no word?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“None,” said Jehan, “except”—he had been with De Aquila at Santlache—“except he + said that if an old dog could not learn new tricks it was time to sweep out the kennel.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Oho!” said De Aquila, rubbing his nose, “to whom did he say that?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“To his beard, chiefly, but some to his horse’s flank as he was girthing up. I + followed him out,” said Jehan the Crab. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What was his shield-mark?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Gold horseshoes on black,” said the Crab. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page97">[pg 97]</span> + <a name="Pg097" id="Pg097" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“That is one of Fulke’s men,” said De Aquila.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Puck broke in very gently, ‘Gold horseshoes on black is <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">not</span></span> the + Fulkes’ shield. The Fulkes’ arms are——’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The knight waved one hand statelily. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Thou knowest that evil man’s true name,’ he replied, ‘but I have chosen to call him + Fulke because I promised him I would not tell the story of his wickedness so that any + man might guess it. I have changed <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">all</span></span> the names in my tale. His + children’s children may be still alive.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘True—true,’ said Puck, smiling softly. ‘It is knightly to keep faith—even after a + thousand years.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Sir Richard bowed a little and went on:— </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Gold horseshoes on black?” said De <span class="tei tei-corr">Aquila.</span> “I had heard Fulke had joined the + Barons, but if this is true our King must be of the upper hand. No matter, all Fulkes + are faithful. Still, I would not have sent the man away empty.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He fed,” said Jehan. “Gilbert the Clerk fetched him meat and wine from the kitchens. + He ate at Gilbert’s table.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘This Gilbert was a clerk from Battle Abbey, who kept the accounts of the Manor of + Pevensey. He was tall and pale-coloured, and carried those new-fashioned beads for + counting of prayers. They were large brown nuts or seeds, and hanging from his girdle + with his penner and inkhorn they clashed when he walked. His place was in the great + fireplace. There was his table of accounts, and there he <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page98">[pg 98]</span><a name="Pg098" id="Pg098" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>lay o’ nights. He feared the hounds in the Hall that came nosing after bones or to + sleep on the warm ashes, and would slash at them with his beads—like a woman. When De + Aquila sat in Hall to do justice, take fines, or grant lands, Gilbert would so write it + in the Manor-roll. But it was none of his work to feed our guests, or to let them depart + without his lord’s knowledge. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Said De Aquila, after Jehan was gone down the stair: “Hugh, hast thou ever told my + Gilbert thou canst read Latin hand-of-write?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No,” said Hugh. “He is no friend to me, or to Odo my hound either.” “No matter,” + said De Aquila. “Let him never know thou canst tell one letter from its fellow, + and”—here he jerked us in the ribs with his scabbard—“watch him both of ye. There be + devils in Africa, as I have heard, but by the Saints there be greater devils in + Pevensey!” And that was all he would say. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It chanced, some small while afterwards, a Norman man-at-arms would wed a Saxon wench + of the Manor, and Gilbert (we had watched him well since De Aquila spoke) doubted + whether her folk were free or slave. Since De Aquila would give them a field of good + land, if she were free, the matter came up at the justice in Great Hall before De + Aquila. First the wench’s father spoke; then her mother; then all together, till the + hall rang and the hounds bayed. De Aquila held up his hands. “Write her free,” he called + to Gilbert by the fireplace. “A’ God’s Name write her free, before she deafens me! Yes, + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page99">[pg 99]</span><a name="Pg099" id="Pg099" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>yes,” he said to the wench that was on her knees at + him; “thou art Cerdic’s sister, and own cousin to the Lady of Mercia, if thou wilt be + silent. In fifty years there will be neither Norman nor Saxon, but all English,” said + he, “and <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">these</span></span> are the men that do our work!” He clapped the + man-at-arms, that was Jehan’s nephew, on the <span class="tei tei-corr">shoulder</span>, and + kissed the wench, and fretted with his feet among the rushes to show it was finished. + (The Great Hall is always bitter cold.) I stood at his side; Hugh was behind Gilbert in + the fireplace making to play with wise rough Odo. He signed to De Aquila, who bade + Gilbert measure the new field for the new couple. Out then runs our Gilbert between man + and maid, his beads clashing at his waist, and the Hall being empty, we three sit by the + fire. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Said Hugh, leaning down to the hearthstones, “I saw this stone move under Gilbert’s + foot when Odo snuffed at it. <span class="tei tei-corr">Look!”</span> De Aquila digged in the ashes with his sword; the + stone tilted; beneath it lay a parchment folden, and the writing atop was: “Words spoken + against the King by our Lord of Pevensey—the second part.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Here was set out (Hugh read it us whispering) every jest De Aquila had made to us + touching the King; every time he had called out to me from the shot-window, and every + time he had said what he would do if he were King of England. Yes, day by day had his + daily speech, which he never stinted, been set down by Gilbert, tricked out and twisted + from its true meaning, yet withal so cunningly <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page100">[pg 100]</span><a name="Pg100" id="Pg100" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that + none could deny who knew him that De Aquila had in some sort spoken those words. Ye + see?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Dan and Una nodded. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes,’ said Una, gravely. ‘It isn’t what you say so much. It’s what you mean when you + say it. Like calling Dan a beast in fun. Only grown-ups don’t always understand.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He hath done this day by day before our very face?” said De Aquila. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> “Nay, hour by hour,” said Hugh. “When De Aquila spoke even now, in the hall, of Saxons + and Normans, I saw Gilbert write on a parchment, which he kept beside the Manor-roll, + that De Aquila said soon there would be no Normans left in England if his men-at-arms + did their work aright.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Bones of the Saints!” said De Aquila. “What avail is honour or a sword against a + pen? Where did Gilbert hide that writing? He shall eat it.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“In his breast when he ran out,” said Hugh. “Which made me look to see where he kept + his finished stuff. When Odo scratched at this stone here, I saw his face change. So I + was sure.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He is bold,” said De Aquila. “Do him justice. In his own fashion, my Gilbert is + bold.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Overbold,” said Hugh. “Hearken here,” and he read: “Upon the feast of St. Agatha, + our Lord of Pevensey, lying in his upper chamber, being clothed in his second fur gown + reversed with rabbit——” </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page101">[pg 101]</span> + <a name="Pg101" id="Pg101" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Pest on him! He is not my tire-woman!” said De Aquila, and Hugh and I laughed. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Reversed with rabbit, seeing a fog over the marshes, did wake Sir Richard + Dalyngridge, his drunken cup-mate” (here they laughed at me) “and said, ‘Peer out, old + fox, for God is on the Duke of Normandy’s side.’” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“So did I. It was a black fog. Robert could have landed ten thousand men, and we none + the wiser. Does he tell how we were out all day riding the marsh, and how I near + perished in a quicksand, and coughed like a sick ewe for ten days after?” cried De + Aquila. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No,” said Hugh. “But here is the prayer of Gilbert himself to his master Fulke.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ah,” said De Aquila. “Well I knew it was Fulke. What is the price of my blood?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Gilbert prayeth that when our Lord of Pevensey is stripped of his lands on this + evidence which Gilbert hath, with fear and pains, collected——” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Fear and pains is a true word,” said De Aquila, and sucked in his cheeks. “But how + excellent a weapon is a pen! I must learn it.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He prays that Fulke will advance him from his present service to that honour in the + Church which Fulke promised him. And lest Fulke should forget, he has written below, ‘To + be Sacristan of Battle.’” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘At this De Aquila whistled. “A man who can plot against one lord can plot against + another. When I am stripped of my lands Fulke will whip off my Gilbert’s foolish head. + None the less Battle needs a new Sacristan. <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page102">[pg 102]</span><a name="Pg102" id="Pg102" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>They tell + me the Abbot Henry keeps no sort of rule there.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Let the Abbot wait,” said Hugh. “It is our heads and our lands that are in danger. + This parchment is the second part of the tale. The first has gone to Fulke, and so to + the King, who will hold us traitors.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Assuredly,” said De Aquila. “Fulke’s man took the first part that evening when + Gilbert fed him, and our King is so beset by his brother and his Barons (small blame, + too!) that he is mad with mistrust. Fulke has his ear, and pours poison into it. + Presently the King gives him my land and yours. This is old,” and he <span class="tei tei-corr">leaned</span> back and yawned. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“And thou wilt surrender Pevensey without word or blow?” said Hugh. “We Saxons will + fight your King then. I will go warn my nephew at Dallington. Give me a horse!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Give thee a toy and a rattle.” said De Aquila. “Put back the parchment, and rake + over the ashes. If Fulke is given my Pevensey which is England’s gate, what will he do + with it? He is Norman at heart, and his heart is in Normandy, where he can kill peasants + at his pleasure. He will open England’s gate to our sleepy Robert, as Odo and Mortain + tried to do, and then there will be another landing and another Santlache. Therefore I + cannot give up Pevensey.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Good,” said we two. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ah, but wait! If my King be made, on Gilbert’s evidence, to mistrust me, he will + send his men against me here, and, while we fight, England’s gate is left unguarded. <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page103">[pg 103]</span><a name="Pg103" id="Pg103" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Who will be the first to come through thereby? Even + Robert of Normandy. Therefore I cannot fight my King.” He nursed his sword—thus. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“This is saying and unsaying like a Norman,” said Hugh. “What of our Manors?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I do not think for myself,” said De Aquila, “nor for our King, nor for your lands. I + think for England, for whom neither King nor Baron thinks. I am not Norman, Sir Richard, + nor Saxon, Sir Hugh. English am I.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Saxon, Norman, or English,” said Hugh, “our lives are thine, however the game goes. + When do we hang Gilbert?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Never,” said De Aquila. “Who knows he may yet be Sacristan of Battle, for, to do him + justice, he <span class="tei tei-corr">is a good</span> writer. Dead men make dumb witnesses. Wait.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“But the King may give Pevensey to Fulke. And our Manors go with it,” said I. “Shall + we tell our sons?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No. The King will not wake up a hornet’s nest in the South till he has smoked out + the bees in the North. He may hold me a traitor; but at least he sees I am not fighting + against him, and every day that I lie still is so much gain to him while he fights the + barons. If he were wise he would wait till that war were over before he made new + enemies. But I think Fulke will play upon him to send for me, and if I do not obey the + summons that will, to Henry’s mind, be proof of my treason. But mere talk, such as + Gilbert sends, is no proof nowadays. We Barons follow the Church, and, like Anselm, we + speak what we <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page104">[pg 104]</span><a name="Pg104" id="Pg104" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>please. Let us go about our day’s + dealings, and say naught to Gilbert.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Then we do nothing?” said Hugh. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“We wait,” said De Aquila. “I am old, but still I find that the most grievous work I + know.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And so we found it, but in the end De Aquila was right. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A little later in the year, armed men rode over the hill, the Golden Horseshoes + flying behind the King’s banner. Said De Aquila, at the window of our chamber: “How did + I tell you? Here comes Fulke himself to spy out his new lands which our King hath + promised him if he can bring proof of my treason.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“How dost thou know?” said Hugh. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Because that is what I would do if I were Fulke, but <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> should + have brought more men. My roan horse to your old shoes,” said he, “Fulke brings me the + King’s Summons to leave Pevensey and join the war.” He sucked in his cheeks and drummed + on the edge of the shaft, where the water sounded all hollow. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Shall we go?” said I. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Go! At this time of year? Stark madness,” said he. “Take <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">me</span></span> + from Pevensey to fisk and flyte through fern and forest, and in three days Robert’s + keels would be lying on Pevensey mud with ten thousand men! Who would stop them—Fulke?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The horns blew without, and anon Fulke cried the King’s Summons at the great door + that De Aquila with all men and horse should join the King’s camp at Salisbury. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page105">[pg 105]</span> + <a name="Pg105" id="Pg105" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“How did I tell you?” said De Aquila. “There are twenty Barons ’twixt here and + Salisbury could give King Henry good land-service, but he has been worked upon by Fulke + to send south and call me—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">me!</span></span>—off the Gate of England, when his + enemies stand about to batter it in. See that Fulke’s men lie in the big south barn,” + said he. “Give them drink, and when Fulke has eaten we will drink in my chamber. The + Great Hall is too cold for old bones.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘As soon as he was off-horse Fulke went to the chapel with Gilbert to give thanks for + his safe coming, and when he had eaten—he was a fat man, and rolled his eyes greedily + at our good roast Sussex wheatears—we led him to the little upper chamber, whither + Gilbert had already gone with the Manor-roll. I remember when Fulke heard the tide blow + and whistle in the shaft he leaped back, and his long down-turned stirrup-shoes caught + in the rushes and he stumbled, so that Jehan behind him found it easy to knock his head + against the wall.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Did you know it was going to happen?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Assuredly,’ said Sir Richard, with a sweet smile. ‘I put my foot on his sword and + plucked away his dagger, but he knew not whether it was day or night for a while. He lay + rolling his eyes and bubbling with his mouth, and Jehan roped him like a calf. He was + cased all in that new-fangled armour which we call lizard-mail. Not rings like my + hauberk here’—Sir Richard tapped his <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page106">[pg 106]</span><a name="Pg106" id="Pg106" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>chest—‘but + little pieces of dagger-proof steel overlapping on stout leather. We stripped it off (no + need to spoil good harness by wetting it), and in the neck-piece De Aquila found the + same folden piece of parchment which we had put back under the hearthstone. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘At this Gilbert would have run out. I laid my hand on his shoulder. It sufficed. He + fell to trembling and praying on his beads. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Gilbert,” said De Aquila, “here be more notable sayings and doings of our Lord of + Pevensey for thee to write down. Take penner and inkhorn, Gilbert. We cannot all be + Sacristans of Battle.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Said Fulke from the floor, “Ye have bound a King’s messenger. Pevensey shall burn for + this!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Maybe. I have seen it besieged once,” said De Aquila, “but heart up, Fulke. I + promise thee that thou shalt be hanged in the middle of the flames at the end of that + siege, if I have to share my last loaf with thee; and that is more than Odo would have + done when we starved out him and Mortain.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then Fulke sat up and looked long and cunningly at De Aquila. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“By the Saints,” said he, “why didst thou not say thou wast on the Duke’s side at the + first?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Am I?” said De Aquila. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Fulke laughed and said, “No man who serves King Henry dare do this much to his + messenger. When didst thou come over to the Duke? Let me up and we can smooth <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page107">[pg 107]</span><a name="Pg107" id="Pg107" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>it out together.” And he smiled and becked and winked. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Yes, we will smooth it out,” said De Aquila. He nodded to me, and Jehan and I heaved + up Fulke—he was a heavy man—and lowered him into the shaft by a rope, not so as to + stand on our gold, but dangling by his shoulders a little above. It was turn of ebb, and + the water came to his knees. He said nothing, but shivered somewhat. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then Jehan of a sudden beat down Gilbert’s wrist with his sheathed dagger, “Stop!” he + said. “He swallows his beads.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Poison, belike,” said De Aquila. “It is good for men who know too much. I have + carried it these thirty years. Give me!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then Gilbert wept and howled. De Aquila ran the beads through his fingers. The last + one—I have said they were large nuts—opened in two halves on a pin, and there was a + small folded parchment within. On it was written: “<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">The Old Dog goes to + Salisbury to be beaten. I have his Kennel. Come quickly.</span></span>” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“This is worse than poison,” said De Aquila, very softly, and sucked in his cheeks. + Then Gilbert grovelled in the rushes, and told us all he knew. The letter, as we + guessed, was from Fulke to the Duke (and not the first that had passed between them); + Fulke had given it to Gilbert in the chapel, and Gilbert thought to have taken it by + morning to a certain fishing-boat at the wharf, which trafficked between Pevensey and + the French shore. Gilbert was a false fellow, but he <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page108">[pg 108]</span><a name="Pg108" id="Pg108" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>found time between his quakings and shakings to swear that the master of the boat knew + nothing of the matter. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He hath called me shaved head,” said Gilbert, “and he hath thrown haddock-guts at + me; but for all that, he is no traitor.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I will have no clerk of mine mishandled or miscalled,” said De Aquila. “That seaman + shall be whipped at his own mast. Write me first a letter, and thou shalt bear it, with + the order for the whipping, to-morrow to the boat.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘<span class="tei tei-corr">At</span> this Gilbert would have kissed De Aquila’s hand—he had not hoped to live until + the morning—and when he trembled less he wrote a letter as from Fulke to the Duke + saying that the Kennel, which signified Pevensey, was shut, and that the old Dog (which + was De Aquila) sat outside it, and, moreover, that all had been betrayed. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Write to any man that all is betrayed,” said De Aquila, “and even the Pope himself + would sleep uneasily. Eh, Jehan? If one told thee all was betrayed, what wouldst thou + do?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I would run away,” said Jehan. “It might be true.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Well said,” quoth De Aquila. “Write, Gilbert, that Montgomery, the great Earl, hath + made his peace with the King, and that little D’Arcy, whom I hate, hath been hanged by + the heels. We will give Robert full measure to chew upon. Write also that Fulke himself + is sick to death of a dropsy.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Nay?” cried Fulke, hanging in the well-<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page109">[pg 109]</span><a name="Pg109" id="Pg109" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>shaft. + “Drown me out of hand, but do not make a jest of me.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Jest? I?” said De Aquila. “I am but fighting for life and lands with a pen, as thou + hast shown me, Fulke.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then Fulke groaned, for he was cold, and, “Let me confess,” said he. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Now, this is right neighbourly,” said De Aquila, leaning over the shaft. “Thou hast + read my sayings and doings—or at least the first part of them—and thou art minded to + repay me with thy own doings and sayings. Take penner and inkhorn, Gilbert. Here is work + that will not irk thee.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Let my men go without hurt, and I will confess my treason against the King,” said + Fulke. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Now, why has he grown so tender of his men of a sudden?” said Hugh to me; for Fulke + had no name for mercy to his men. Plunder he gave them, but pity, none. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Té! Té!” said De Aquila. “Thy treason was all confessed long ago by Gilbert. It + would be enough to hang Montgomery himself.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Nay; but spare my men,” said Fulke; and we heard him splash like a fish in a pond, + for the tide was rising. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“All in good time,” said De Aquila. “The night is young; the wine is old; and we need + only the merry tale. Begin the story of thy life since when thou wast a lad at Tours. + Tell it nimbly!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ye shame me to my soul,” said Fulke. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Then I have done what neither King <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page110">[pg 110]</span><a name="Pg110" id="Pg110" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>nor Duke could + do,” said De Aquila. “But begin, and forget nothing.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Send thy man away,” said Fulke. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“That much I can,” said De Aquila. <span class="tei tei-corr">“But,</span> remember, I am like the Danes’ King; I + cannot turn the tide.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“How long will it rise?” said Fulke, and splashed anew. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“For three hours,” said De Aquila. “Time to tell all thy good deeds. Begin, and + Gilbert—I have heard thou art somewhat careless—do not twist his words from their true + meaning.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So—fear of death in the dark being upon him—Fulke began; and Gilbert, not knowing + what his fate might be, wrote it word by word. I have heard many tales, but never heard + I aught to match the tale of Fulke, his black life, as Fulke told it hollowly, hanging + in the shaft.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Was it bad?’ said Dan, awestruck. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Beyond belief,’ Sir Richard answered. ‘None the less, there was that in it which + forced even Gilbert to laugh. We three laughed till we ached. At one place his teeth so + chattered that we could not well hear, and we reached him down a cup of wine. Then he + warmed to it, and smoothly set out all his shifts, malices, and treacheries, his extreme + boldnesses (he was desperate bold); his retreats, shufflings, and counterfeitings (he + was also inconceivably a coward); his lack of gear and honour; his despair at their + loss; his remedies, and well-coloured contrivances. Yes, he waved the filthy rags of his + life before us, as <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page111">[pg 111]</span><a name="Pg111" id="Pg111" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>though they had been some proud + banner. When he ceased, we saw by torches that the tide stood at the corners of his + mouth, and he breathed strongly through his nose. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We had him out, and rubbed him; we wrapped him in a cloak, and gave him wine, and we + leaned and looked upon him the while he drank. He was shivering, but shameless. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Of a sudden we heard Jehan at the stairway wake, but a boy pushed past him, and stood + before us, the hall rushes in his hair, all slubbered with sleep. “My father! My father! + I dreamed of treachery,” he cried, and babbled thickly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“There is no treachery here,” said Fulke. “Go,” and the boy turned, even then not + fully awake, and Jehan led him by the hand to the Great Hall. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Thy only son!” said De Aquila, “Why didst thou bring the child here?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He is my heir. I dared not trust him to my brother,” said Fulke, and now he was + ashamed. De Aquila said nothing, but sat weighing a wine cup in his two hands—thus. + Anon, Fulke touched him on the knee. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Let the boy escape to Normandy,” said he, “and do with me at thy pleasure. Yea, hang + me to-morrow, with my letter to Robert round my neck, but let the boy go.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Be still,” said De Aquila. “I think for England.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So we waited what our Lord of Pevensey should devise; and the sweat ran down Fulke’s + forehead. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘At last said De Aquila: “I am too old to <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page112">[pg 112]</span><a name="Pg112" id="Pg112" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>judge, or + to trust any man. I do not covet thy lands, as thou hast coveted mine; and whether thou + art any better or any worse than any other black Angevin thief, it is for thy King to + find out. Therefore, go back to thy King, Fulke.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“And thou wilt say nothing of what has passed?” said Fulke. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Why should I? Thy son will stay with me. If the King calls me again to leave + Pevensey, which I must guard against England’s enemies; if the King sends his men + against me for a traitor; or if I hear that the King in his bed thinks any evil of me or + my two knights, thy son will be hanged from out this window, Fulke.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But it hadn’t anything to do with his son,’ cried Una, startled. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘How could we have hanged Fulke?’ said Sir Richard. ‘We needed him to make our peace + with the King. He would have betrayed half England for the boy’s sake. Of that we were + sure.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I don’t understand,’ said Una. ‘But I think it was simply awful.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So did not Fulke. He was well pleased.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What? Because his son was going to be killed?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Nay. Because De Aquila had shown him how he might save the boy’s life and his own + lands and honours. “I will do it,” he said. “I swear I will do it. I will tell the King + thou art no traitor, but the most excellent, valiant, and perfect of us all. Yes, I will + save thee.” </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page113">[pg 113]</span> + <a name="Pg113" id="Pg113" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘De Aquila looked still into the bottom of the cup, rolling the wine-dregs to and fro. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ay,” he said. “If I had a son, I would, I think, save him. But do not by any means + tell me how thou wilt go about it.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Nay, nay,” said Fulke, nodding his bald head wisely. “That is my secret. But rest at + ease, De Aquila, no hair of thy head nor rood of thy land shall be forfeited,” and he + smiled like one planning great good deeds. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“And henceforward,” said De Aquila, “I counsel thee to serve one master—not two.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What?” said Fulke. “Can I work no more honest trading between the two sides these + troublous times?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Serve Robert or the King—England or Normandy,” said De Aquila. “I care not which it + is, but make thy choice here and now.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“The King, then,” said Fulke, “for I see he is better served than Robert. Shall I + swear it?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No need,” said De Aquila, and he laid his hand on the parchments which Gilbert had + written. “It shall be some part of my Gilbert’s penance to copy out the savoury tale of + thy life, till we have made ten, twenty, an hundred, maybe, copies. How many cattle, + think you, would the Bishop of Tours give for that tale? Or thy brother? Or the Monks of + Blois? Minstrels will turn it into songs which thy own Saxon serfs shall sing behind + their plough-stilts, and men-at-arms riding through thy Norman towns. From here to Rome, + Fulke, men will make very merry over <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page114">[pg 114]</span><a name="Pg114" id="Pg114" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that tale, and how + Fulke told it, hanging in a well, like a drowned puppy. This shall be thy punishment, if + ever I find thee double-dealing with thy King any more. Meantime, the parchments stay + here with thy son. Him I will return to thee when thou hast made my peace with the King. + The parchments never.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Fulke hid his face and groaned. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Bones of the Saints!” said De Aquila, laughing. “The pen cuts deep. I could never + have fetched that grunt out of thee with any sword.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“But so long as I do not anger thee, my tale will be secret?” said Fulke. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Just so long. Does that comfort thee, Fulke?” said De Aquila. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What other comfort have ye left me?” he said, and of a sudden he wept hopelessly + like a child, dropping his face on his knees.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Poor Fulke,’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I pitied him also,’ said Sir Richard. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“After the spur, corn,” said De Aquila, and he threw Fulke three wedges of gold that + he had taken from our little chest by the bed-place. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“If I had known this,” said Fulke, catching his breath, “I would never have lifted + hand against Pevensey. Only lack of this yellow stuff has made me so unlucky in my + dealings.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It was dawn then, and they stirred in the Great Hall below. We sent down Fulke’s mail + to be scoured, and when he rode away at noon under his own and the King’s banner very + splendid and stately did he show. He <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page115">[pg 115]</span><a name="Pg115" id="Pg115" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>smoothed his long + beard, and called his son to his stirrup and kissed him. De Aquila rode with him as far + as the New Mill landward. We thought the night had been all a dream.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But did he make it right with the King?’ Dan asked. ‘About your not being traitors, I + mean?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Sir Richard smiled. ‘The King sent no second summons to Pevensey, nor did he ask why + De Aquila had not obeyed the first. Yes, that was Fulke’s work. I know not how he did + it, but it was well and swiftly done.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then you didn’t do anything to his son?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The boy? Oh, he was an imp. He turned the keep doors out of dortoirs while we had + him. He sang foul songs, learned in the Barons’ camps—poor fool; he set the hounds + fighting in hall; he lit the rushes to drive out, as he said, the fleas; he drew his + dagger on Jehan, who threw him down the stairway for it; and he rode his horse through + crops and among sheep. But when we had beaten him, and showed him wolf and deer, he + followed us old men like a young, eager hound, and called us “uncle.” His father came + the summer’s end to take him away, but the boy had no lust to go, because of the + otter-hunting, and he stayed on till the fox-hunting. I gave him a bittern’s claw to + bring him good luck at shooting. An imp, if ever there was!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And what happened to Gilbert?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Not even a whipping. De Aquila said he would sooner a clerk, however false, that knew + the Manor-roll than a fool, however true, <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page116">[pg 116]</span><a name="Pg116" id="Pg116" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that must be + taught his work afresh. Moreover, after that night I think Gilbert loved as much as he + feared De Aquila. At least he would not leave us—not even when Vivian, the King’s + Clerk, would have made him Sacristan of Battle Abbey. A false fellow, but, in his + fashion, bold.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Did Robert ever land in Pevensey after all?’ Dan went on. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We guarded the coast too well while Henry was fighting his Barons; and three or four + years later, when England had peace, Henry crossed to Normandy and showed his brother + some work at Tenchebrai that cured Robert of fighting. Many of Henry’s men sailed from + Pevensey to that war. Fulke came, I remember, and we all four lay in the little chamber + once again, and drank together. De Aquila was right. One should not judge men. Fulke was + merry. Yes, always merry—with a catch in his breath.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And what did you do afterwards?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We talked together of times past. That is all men can do when they grow old, little + maid.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The bell for tea rang faintly across the meadows. Dan lay in the bows of the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Golden Hind</span></span>; Una in the stern, the book of verses open in her lap, + was reading from ‘The Slave’s Dream’:— </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘Again in the mist and shadow of sleep</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">He saw his native land.’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I don’t know when you began that,’ said Dan, sleepily. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page117">[pg 117]</span> + <a name="Pg117" id="Pg117" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> On the middle thwart of the boat, beside Una’s sun-bonnet, lay an Oak leaf, an Ash + leaf, and a Thorn leaf, that must have dropped down from the trees above; and the brook + giggled as though it had just seen some joke. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page118">[pg 118]</span> + <a name="Pg118" id="Pg118" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page119">[pg 119]</span> + <a name="Pg119" id="Pg119" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf12" id="pdf12"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">THE RUNES ON WELAND’S SWORD</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">A Smith makes me</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To betray my Man</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">In my first fight.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To gather Gold</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">At the world’s end</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">I am sent.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Gold I gather</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Comes into England</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Out of deep Water.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Like a shining Fish</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Then it descends</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Into deep Water.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">It is not given</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">For goods or gear.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But for The Thing</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Gold I gather</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">A King covets</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">For an ill use.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Gold I gather</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Is drawn up</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Out of deep Water.</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page120">[pg 120]</span> + <a name="Pg120" id="Pg120" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Like a shining Fish</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Then it descends</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Into deep Water.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">It is not given</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">For goods or gear</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But for The Thing.</span></span></div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page121">[pg 121]</span> + <a name="Pg121" id="Pg121" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%"> A CENTURION OF THE THIRTIETH </span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page122">[pg 122]</span> + <a name="Pg122" id="Pg122" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page123">[pg 123]</span> + <a name="Pg123" id="Pg123" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Cities and Thrones and Powers,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Stand in Time’s eye,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Almost as long as flowers,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Which daily die:</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But, as new buds put forth,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To glad new men,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Out of the spent and unconsidered Earth,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Cities rise again.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">This season’s Daffodil,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">She never hears,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">What change, what chance, what chill,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Cut down last year’s;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But with bold countenance,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And knowledge small,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Esteems her seven days’ continuance</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To be perpetual.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">So Time that is o’er-kind,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To all that be,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Ordains us e’en as blind,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">As bold as she:</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">That in our very death,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And burial sure,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Shadow to shadow, well-persuaded, saith,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">‘See how our works endure!’</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page124">[pg 124]</span> + <a name="Pg124" id="Pg124" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page125">[pg 125]</span> + <a name="Pg125" id="Pg125" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf13" id="pdf13"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">A CENTURION OF THE THIRTIETH</span></h2> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Dan had come to grief over his Latin, and was kept in; so Una went alone to Far Wood. + Dan’s big catapult and the lead bullets that Hobden had made for him were hidden in an + old hollow beech-stub on the west of the wood. They had named the place out of the verse + in <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Lays of Ancient Rome</span></span>. </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">From lordly Volaterrae,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">Where scowls the far-famed hold,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Piled by the hands of giants</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">For Godlike Kings of old.</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They were the ‘Godlike Kings,’ and when old Hobden piled some comfortable brushwood + between the big wooden knees of Volaterrae, they called him ‘Hands of Giants.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Una slipped through their private gap in the fence, and sat still a while, scowling as + scowlily and lordlily as she knew how; for ‘Volaterrae’ is an important watch-tower that + juts out of Far Wood just as Far Wood juts out of the hillside. Pook’s Hill lay below + her, and all the turns of the brook as it wanders from out of the Willingford Woods, + between hop-gardens, to old Hobden’s cottage at the Forge. The Sou’-West wind (there is + always a wind by ‘Volaterrae’) blew from the bare ridge where Cherry Clack Windmill + stands. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Now wind prowling through woods sounds like exciting things going to happen, and <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page126">[pg 126]</span><a name="Pg126" id="Pg126" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that is why on ‘blowy days’ you stand up in Volaterrae + and shout bits of the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Lays</span></span> to suit its noises. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Una took Dan’s catapult from its secret place, and made ready to meet Lars Porsena’s + army stealing through the wind-whitened aspens by the brook. A gust boomed up the + valley, and Una chanted sorrowfully: </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘Verbenna down to Ostia</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">Hath wasted all the plain;</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Astur hath stormed Janiculum</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">And the stout guards are slain.’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> But the wind, not charging fair to the wood, started aside and shook a single oak in + Gleason’s pasture. Here it made itself all small and crouched among the grasses, waving + the tips of them as a cat waves the tip of her tail before she springs. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Now welcome—welcome Sextus,’ sang Una, loading the catapult— </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">‘Now welcome to thy home,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Why dost thou turn and run away?</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">Here lies the rod of Rome.’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> She fired into the face of the lull, to wake up the cowardly wind, and heard a grunt + from behind a thorn in the pasture. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, my Winkie!’ she said aloud, and that was something she had picked up from Dan. ‘I + believe I’ve tickled up a Gleason cow.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘You little painted beast!’ a voice cried. ‘I’ll teach you to sling your masters!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> She looked down most cautiously, and saw a young man covered with hoopy bronze armour + all glowing among the late broom. <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page127">[pg 127]</span><a name="Pg127" id="Pg127" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>But what Una admired + beyond all was his great bronze helmet with its red horse-tail that flicked in the wind. + She could hear the long hairs rasp on his shimmery shoulder-plates. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What does the Faun mean,’ he said, half aloud to himself, ‘by telling me the Painted + People have changed?’ He caught sight of Una’s yellow head. ‘Have you seen a painted + lead-slinger?’ he called. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No-o,’ said Una. ‘But if you’ve seen a bullet——’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Seen?’ cried the man. ‘It passed within a hair’s breadth of my ear.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Well, that was me. I’m most awfully sorry.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Didn’t the Faun tell you I was coming?’ He smiled. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Not if you mean Puck. I thought you were a Gleason cow. I—I didn’t know you were + a—a——What are you?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He laughed outright, showing a set of splendid teeth. His face and eyes were dark, and + his eyebrows met above his big nose in one bushy black bar. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They call me Parnesius. I have been an officer of the Seventh Cohort of the Thirtieth + Legion—the Ulpia Victrix. Did you sling that bullet?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I did. I was using Dan’s <span class="tei tei-corr">catapult,’</span> said <span class="tei tei-corr">Una.</span> + </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Catapults!’ said he. ‘I ought to know something about them. Show me!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He leaped the rough fence with a rattle of spear, shield, and armour, and hoisted + himself into ‘Volaterrae’ as <span class="tei tei-corr">quickly</span> as a shadow. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page128">[pg 128]</span> + <a name="Pg128" id="Pg128" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A sling on a forked stick. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> understand!’ he cried, and pulled + at the elastic. ‘But what wonderful beast yields this stretching leather?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It’s laccy—elastic. You put the bullet into that loop, and then you pull hard.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The man pulled, and hit himself square on his thumb-nail. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Each to his own weapon,’ he said, gravely, handing it back. ‘I am better with the + <span class="tei tei-corr">bigger</span> machine, little maiden. But it’s a pretty toy. A + wolf would laugh at it. Aren’t you afraid of wolves?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘There aren’t any,’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Never believe it! A wolf is like a Winged Hat. He comes when he isn’t expected. Don’t + they hunt wolves here?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We don’t hunt,’ said Una, remembering what she had heard from grown-ups. ‘We + preserve—pheasants. Do you know them?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I ought to,’ said the young man, smiling again, and he imitated the cry of the + cock-pheasant so perfectly that a bird answered out of the wood. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What a big painted clucking fool is a pheasant,’ he said. ‘Just like some Romans!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But you’re a Roman yourself, aren’t you?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ye-es and no. I’m one of a good few thousands who have never seen Rome except in a + picture. My people have lived at Vectis for generations. Vectis! That island West yonder + that you can see from so far in clear weather.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Do you mean the Isle of Wight? It lifts <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page129">[pg 129]</span><a name="Pg129" id="Pg129" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>up just + before rain, and we see it from the Downs.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Very likely. Our Villa’s on the South edge of the Island, by the Broken Cliffs. Most + of it is three hundred years old, but the cow-stables, where our first ancestor lived, + must be a hundred years older. Oh, quite that, because the founder of our family had his + land given him by Agricola at the Settlement. It’s not a bad little place for its size. + In spring-time violets grow down to the very beach. I’ve gathered sea-weeds for myself + and violets for my Mother many a time with our old nurse.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Was your nurse a—a Romaness too?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No, a Numidian. Gods be good to her! A dear, fat, brown thing with a tongue like a + cowbell. She was a free woman. By the way, are you free, maiden?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, quite,’ said Una. ‘At least, till tea-time; and in summer our governess doesn’t + say much if we’re late.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The young man laughed again—a proper understanding laugh. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I see,’ said he. ‘That accounts for your being in the wood. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">We</span></span> + hid among the cliffs.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Did <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">you</span></span> have a governess, then?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Did we not? A Greek, too. She had a way of clutching her dress when she hunted us + among the gorze-bushes that made us laugh. Then she’d say she’d get us whipped. She + never did, though, bless her! Aglaia was a thorough sportswoman, for all her learning.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But what lessons did you do—when—when you were little!’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page130">[pg 130]</span> + <a name="Pg130" id="Pg130" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ancient history, the Classics, arithmetic, and so on,’ he answered. ‘My sister and I + were thickheads, but my two brothers (I’m the middle one) liked those things, and, of + course, Mother was clever enough for any six. She was nearly as tall as I am, and she + looked like the new statue on the Western Road—the Demeter of the Baskets, you know. + And funny! Roma Dea! How Mother could make us laugh!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What at?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Little jokes and sayings that every family has. Don’t you know?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I know <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">we</span></span> have, but I didn’t know other people had them too,’ + said Una. ‘Tell me about all your family, please.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Good families are very much alike. Mother would sit spinning of evenings while Aglaia + read in her corner, and Father did accounts, and we four romped about the passages. When + our noise grew too loud the Pater would say, “Less tumult! Less tumult! Have you never + heard of a Father’s right over his children? He can slay them, my loves—slay them dead, + and the Gods highly approve of the action!” Then Mother would prim up her dear mouth + over the wheel and answer: “H’m! I’m afraid there can’t be much of the Roman Father + about you!” Then the Pater would roll up his accounts, and say, “I’ll show you!” and + then—then, he’d be worse than any of us!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Fathers can—if they like,’ said Una, her eyes dancing. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page131">[pg 131]</span> + <a name="Pg131" id="Pg131" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Didn’t I say all good families are very much the same?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What did you do in summer?’ said Una. ‘Play about, like us?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes, and we visited our friends. There are no wolves in Vectis. We had many friends, + and as many ponies as we wished.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It must have been lovely,’ said Una. ‘I hope it lasted for ever.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Not quite, little maid. When I was about sixteen or seventeen, the Father felt gouty, + and we all went to the Waters.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What waters?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘At Aquae Solis. Every one goes there. You ought to get your Father to take you some + day.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But where? I don’t know,’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The young man looked astonished for a moment. ‘Aquae Solis,’ he repeated. ‘The best + baths in Britain. Just as good, I’m told, as Rome. All the old gluttons sit in its hot + water, and talk scandal and politics. And the Generals come through the streets with + their guards behind them; and the magistrates come in their chairs with their stiff + guards behind them; and you meet fortune-tellers, and goldsmiths, and merchants, and + philosophers, and feather-sellers, and ultra-Roman Britons, and ultra-British Romans, + and tame tribesmen pretending to be civilised, and Jew lecturers, and—oh, everybody + interesting. We young people, of course, took no interest in politics. We had not the + gout: there were many of our age like us. We did not find life sad. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page132">[pg 132]</span> + <a name="Pg132" id="Pg132" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But while we were enjoying ourselves without thinking, my sister met the son of a + magistrate in the West—and a year afterwards she was married to him. My young brother, + who was always interested in plants and roots, met the First Doctor of a Legion from the + City of the Legions, and he decided that he would be an Army doctor. I do not think it + is a profession for a well-born man, but then—I’m not my brother. He went to Rome to + study medicine, and now he’s First Doctor of a Legion in Egypt—at Antinoe, I think, but + I have not heard from him for some time. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My eldest brother came across a Greek philosopher, and told my Father that he + intended to settle down on the estate as a farmer and a philosopher. You see’—the young + man’s eyes twinkled—‘his philosopher was a long-haired one!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I thought philosophers were bald,’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Not all. She was very pretty. I don’t blame him. Nothing could have suited me better + than my eldest brother’s doing this, for I was only too keen to join the Army. I had + always feared I should have to stay at home and look after the estate while my brother + took <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">this</span></span>.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He rapped on his great glistening shield that never seemed to be in his way. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So we were well contented—we young people—and we rode back to Clausentum along the + Wood Road very quietly. But when we reached home, Aglaia, our governess, <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page133">[pg 133]</span><a name="Pg133" id="Pg133" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>saw what had come to us. I remember her at the door, the torch + over her head, watching us climb the cliff-path from the boat. “Aie! Aie!” she said. + “Children you went away. Men and a woman you return!” Then she kissed Mother, and Mother + wept. Thus our visit to the Waters settled our fates for each of us, Maiden.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He rose to his feet and listened, leaning on the shield-rim. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I think that’s Dan—my brother,’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes; and the Faun is with him,’ he replied, as Dan with Puck stumbled through the + copse. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We should have come sooner,’ Puck called, ‘but the beauties of your native tongue, O + Parnesius, have enthralled this young citizen.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Parnesius looked bewildered, even when Una explained. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Dan said the plural of “dominus” was “dominoes,” and when Miss Blake said it wasn’t + he said he supposed it was “backgammon,” and so he had to write it out twice—for cheek, + you know.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Dan had climbed into Volaterrae, hot and panting. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’ve run nearly all the way,’ he gasped, ‘and then Puck met me. How do you do, Sir?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I am in good health,’ Parnesius answered. ‘See! I have tried to bend the bow of + Ulysses, but——’ He held up his thumb. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’m sorry. You must have pulled off too soon,’ said Dan. ‘Puck said you were telling + Una a story.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page134">[pg 134]</span> + <a name="Pg134" id="Pg134" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Continue, O Parnesius,’ said Puck, who had perched himself on a dead branch above + them. ‘I will be chorus. Has he puzzled you much, Una?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Not a bit, except—I didn’t know where Ak—Ak something was,’ she answered. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, Aquae Solis. That’s Bath, where the buns come from. Let the hero tell his own + tale.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Parnesius pretended to thrust his spear at Puck’s legs, but Puck reached down, caught + at the horse-tail plume, and pulled off the tall helmet. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Thanks, jester,’ said Parnesius, shaking his curly dark head. ‘That is cooler. Now + hang it up for me.... </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I was telling your sister how I joined the Army,’ he said to Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Did you have to pass an Exam?’ Dan asked, eagerly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No. I went to my Father, and said I should like to enter the Dacian Horse (I had seen + some at Aquae Solis); but he said I had better begin service in a regular Legion from + Rome. Now, like many of our youngsters, I was not too fond of anything Roman. The + Roman-born officers and magistrates looked down on us British-born as though we were + barbarians. I told my Father so. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I know they do,” he said; “but remember, after all, we are the people of the Old + Stock, and our duty is to the Empire.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“To which Empire?’” I asked. “We split the Eagle before I was born.” </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page135">[pg 135]</span> + <a name="Pg135" id="Pg135" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What thieves’ talk is that?” said my Father. He hated slang. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Well, Sir,” I said, “we’ve one Emperor in Rome, and I don’t know how many Emperors + the outlying Provinces have set up from time to time. Which am I to follow?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Gratian,” said he. “At least he’s a sportsman.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He’s all that,” I said. “Hasn’t he turned himself into a raw-beef-eating Scythian?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Where did you hear of it?” said the Pater. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“At Aquae Solis,” I said. It was perfectly true. This precious Emperor Gratian of + ours had a bodyguard of fur-cloaked Scythians, and he was so crazy about them that he + dressed like them. In Rome of all places in the world! It was as bad as if my own Father + had painted <span class="tei tei-corr">himself</span> blue! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No matter for the clothes,” said the Pater. “They are only the fringe of the + trouble. It began before your time or mine. Rome has forsaken her Gods, and must be + punished. The great war with the Painted People broke out in the very year the temples + of our Gods were destroyed. We beat the Painted People in the very year our temples were + rebuilt. Go back further still.”... He went back to the time of Diocletian; and to + listen to him you would have thought Eternal Rome herself was on the edge of + destruction, just because a few people had become a little large-minded. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> knew nothing about it. Aglaia never <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page136">[pg 136]</span><a name="Pg136" id="Pg136" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>taught us the history of our own country. She was so full of her ancient + Greeks. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“There is no hope for Rome,” said the Pater, at last. “She has forsaken her Gods, but + if the Gods forgive <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">us</span></span> here, we may save Britain. To do that, we + must keep the Painted People back. Therefore, I tell you, Parnesius, as a Father, that + if your heart is set on service, your place is among men on the Wall—and not with women + among the cities.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What Wall?’ asked Dan and Una at once. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Father meant the one we call Hadrian’s Wall. I’ll tell you about it later. It was + built long ago, across North Britain, to keep out the Painted People—Picts you call + them. Father had fought in the great Pict War that lasted more than twenty years, and he + knew what fighting meant. Theodosius, one of our great Generals, had chased the little + beasts back far into the North before I was born: down at Vectis, of course, we never + troubled our heads about them. But when my Father spoke as he did, I kissed his hand, + and waited for orders. We British-born Romans know what is due to our parents.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘If I kissed my Father’s hand, he’d laugh,’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Customs change; but if you do not obey your father, the Gods remember it. You may be + quite sure of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span>. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘After our talk, seeing I was in earnest, the Pater sent me over to Clausentum to + learn my foot-drill in a barrack full of foreign Auxiliaries—as unwashed and unshaved a + mob <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page137">[pg 137]</span><a name="Pg137" id="Pg137" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of mixed barbarians as ever scrubbed a + breast-plate. It was your stick in their stomachs and your shield in their faces to push + them into any sort of formation. When I had learned my work the Instructor gave me a + handful—and they were a handful!—of Gauls and Iberians to polish up till they were + sent to their stations up-country. I did my best, and one night a villa in the suburbs + caught fire, and I had my handful out and at work before any of the other troops. I + noticed a quiet-looking man on the lawn, leaning on a stick. He watched us passing + buckets from the pond, and at last he said to me: “Who are you?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“A probationer, waiting for a cohort,” I answered. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> + <span class="tei tei-corr">didn’t</span> know who he was from Deucalion! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Born in Britain?” he said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Yes, if you were born in Spain,” I said, for he neighed his words like an Iberian + mule. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“And what might you call yourself when you are at home?” he said laughing. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“That depends,” I answered; “sometimes one thing and sometimes another. But now I’m + busy.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He said no more till we had saved the family gods (they were respectable + householders), and then he grunted across the laurels: “Listen, young + sometimes-one-thing-and-sometimes-another. In future call yourself Centurion of the + Seventh Cohort of the Thirtieth, the Ulpia Victrix. That will help me to remember you. + Your Father and a few other people call me Maximus.” </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page138">[pg 138]</span> + <a name="Pg138" id="Pg138" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He tossed me the polished stick he was leaning on, and went away. You might have + knocked me down with it!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Who was he?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Maximus himself, our great General! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">The</span></span> General of Britain who + had been Theodosius’s right hand in the Pict War! Not only had he given me my + Centurion’s stick direct, but three steps in a good Legion as well! A new man generally + begins in the Tenth Cohort of his Legion, and works up.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And were you pleased?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Very. I thought Maximus had chosen me for my good looks and fine style in marching, + but, when I went home, the Pater told me he had served under Maximus in the great Pict + War, and had asked him to promote me.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A child you were!’ said Puck, from above. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I was,’ said Parnesius. ‘Don’t begrudge it me, Faun. Afterwards—the Gods know I put + aside the games!’ And Puck nodded, brown chin on brown hand, his big eyes still. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The night before I left we sacrificed to our ancestors—the usual little Home + Sacrifice—but I never prayed so earnestly to all the Good Shades, and then I went with + my Father by boat to Regnum, and across the chalk eastwards to Anderida yonder.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Regnum? Anderida?’ The children turned their faces to Puck. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Regnum’s Chichester,’ he said, pointing towards Cherry Clack, and—he threw his arm + South behind him—‘Anderida’s Pevensey.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Pevensey again!’ said Dan. ‘Where Weland landed?’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page139">[pg 139]</span> + <a name="Pg139" id="Pg139" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Weland and a few others,’ said Puck. ‘Pevensey isn’t young—even compared to me!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The head-quarters of the Thirtieth lay at Anderida in summer, but my own Cohort, the + Seventh, was on the Wall up North. Maximus was inspecting Auxiliaries—the Abulci, I + think—at Anderida, and we stayed with him, for he and my Father were very old friends. + I was only there ten days when I was ordered to go up with thirty men to my Cohort.’ He + laughed merrily. ‘A man never forgets his first march. I was happier than any Emperor + when I led my handful through the North Gate of the Camp, and we saluted the guard and + the Altar of Victory there.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘How? How?’ said Dan and Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Parnesius smiled, and stood up, flashing in his armour. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So!’ said he; and he moved slowly through the beautiful movements of the Roman + Salute, that ends with a hollow clang of the shield coming into its place between the + shoulders. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Hai!’ said Puck. ‘That sets one thinking!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We went out fully armed,’ said Parnesius, sitting down; ‘but as soon as the road + entered the Great Forest, my men expected the pack-horses to hang their shields on. + “No!” I said; “you can dress like women in Anderida, but while you’re with me you will + carry your own weapons and armour.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“But it’s hot,” said one of them, “and we haven’t a doctor. Suppose we get sunstroke, + or a fever?” </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page140">[pg 140]</span> + <a name="Pg140" id="Pg140" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Then die,” I said, “and a good riddance to Rome! Up shield—up spears, and tighten + your foot-wear!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Don’t think yourself Emperor of Britain already,” a fellow shouted. I knocked him + over with the butt of my spear, and explained to these Roman-born Romans that, if there + were any further trouble, we should go on with one man short. And, by the Light of the + Sun, I meant it too! My raw Gauls at Clausentum had never treated me so. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then, quietly as a cloud, Maximus rode out of the fern (my Father behind him), and + reined up across the road. He wore the Purple, as though he were already Emperor; his + leggings were of white buckskin laced with gold. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My men dropped like—like partridges. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He said nothing for some time, only looked, with his eyes puckered. Then he crooked + his forefinger, and my men walked—crawled, I mean—to one side. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Stand in the sun, children,” he said, and they formed up on the hard road. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What would you have done?” he said to me, “If I had not been here?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I should have killed that man,” I answered. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Kill him now,” he said. “He will not move a limb.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No,” I said. “You’ve taken my men out of my command. I should only be your butcher + if I killed him now.” Do you see what I meant?’ Parnesius turned to Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes,’ said Dan. ‘It wouldn’t have been fair, somehow.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page141">[pg 141]</span> + <a name="Pg141" id="Pg141" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That was what I thought,’ said Parnesius. <span class="tei tei-corr">‘But</span> Maximus frowned. “You’ll never be an + Emperor,” he said. “Not even a General will you be.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I was silent, but my Father seemed pleased. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I came here to see the last of you,” he said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“You have seen it,” said Maximus. “I shall never need your son any more. He will live + and he will die an officer of a Legion—and he might have been Prefect of one of my + Provinces. Now eat and drink with us,” he said. “Your men will wait till you have + finished.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My miserable thirty stood like wine-skins glistening in the hot sun, and Maximus led + us to where his people had set a meal. Himself he mixed the wine. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“A year from now,” he said, “you will remember that you have sat with the Emperor of + Britain—and Gaul.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Yes,” said the Pater, “you can drive two mules—Gaul and Britain.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Five years hence you will remember that you have drunk”—he passed me the cup and + there was blue borage in it—“with the Emperor of Rome!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No; you can’t drive three mules; they will tear you in pieces,” said my Father. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“And you on the Wall, among the heather, will weep because your notion of justice was + more to you than the favour of the Emperor of Rome.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I sat quite still. One does not answer a General who wears the Purple. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page142">[pg 142]</span> + <a name="Pg142" id="Pg142" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I am not angry with you,” he went on; “I owe too much to your Father——” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“You owe me nothing but advice that you never took,” said the Pater. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“——to be unjust to any of your family. Indeed, I say you will make a good officer, + but, so far as I am concerned, on the Wall you will live, and on the Wall you will die,” + said Maximus. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Very like,” said my Father. “But we shall have the Picts <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">and</span></span> + their friends breaking through before long. You cannot move all troops out of Britain to + make you Emperor, and expect the North to sit quiet.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I follow my destiny,” said Maximus. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Follow it, then,” said my Father pulling up a fern root; “and die as Theodosius + died.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ah!” said Maximus. “My old General was killed because he served the Empire too well. + <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> may be killed, but not for that <span class="tei tei-corr">reason,”</span> and he smiled a little pale grey smile that made my blood run cold. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Then I had better follow my destiny,” I said, “and take my men to the Wall.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He looked at me a long time, and bowed his head slanting like a Spaniard. “Follow it, + boy,” he said. That was all. I was only too glad to get away, though I had many messages + for home. I found my men standing as they had been put—they had not even shifted their + feet in the dust,—and off I marched, still feeling that terrific smile like an east + wind up my back. I never halted them till sunset, and’—he turned about and looked at + Pook’s Hill below him—‘then I <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page143">[pg 143]</span><a name="Pg143" id="Pg143" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>halted yonder.’ He + pointed to the broken, bracken-covered shoulder of the Forge Hill behind old Hobden’s + cottage. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘There? Why, that’s only the old Forge—where they made iron once,’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Very good stuff it was too,’ said Parnesius, calmly. ‘We mended three shoulder-straps + here and had a spear-head riveted. The forge was rented from the Government by a + one-eyed smith from Carthage. I remember we called him <span class="tei tei-corr">Cyclops</span>. He sold me a beaver-skin rug for my sister’s room.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But it couldn’t have been here,’ Dan insisted. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But it was! From the Altar of Victory at Anderida to the First Forge in the Forest + here is twelve miles seven hundred paces. It is all in the Road Book. A man doesn’t + forget his first march. I think I could tell you every station between this and——’ He + leaned forward, but his eye was caught by the setting sun. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> It had come down to the top of Cherry Clack Hill, and the light poured in between the + tree trunks so that you could see red and gold and black deep into the heart of Far + Wood; and Parnesius in his armour shone as though he had been afire. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Wait,’ he said, lifting a hand, and the sunlight jinked on his glass bracelet. ‘Wait! + I pray to Mithras!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He rose and stretched his arms westward, with deep, splendid-sounding words. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Then Puck began to sing too, in a voice like bells tolling, and as he sang he slipped + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page144">[pg 144]</span><a name="Pg144" id="Pg144" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>from ‘Volaterrae’ to the ground, and beckoned the + children to follow. They obeyed; it seemed as though the voices were pushing them along; + and through the goldy-brown light on the beech leaves they walked, while Puck between + them chanted something like this:— </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Cur mundus militat sub vana gloria</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Cujus prosperitas est transitoria?</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Tam cito labitur ejus potentia</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Quam vasa figuli quæ sunt fragilia.</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They found themselves at the little locked gates of the wood. </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Quo Cæsar abiit celsus imperio?</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Vel Dives splendidus totus in prandio?</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Dic ubi Tullius——</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Still singing, he took Dan’s hand and wheeled him round to face Una as she came out of + the gate. It shut behind her, at the same time as Puck threw the memory-magicking Oak, + Ash, and Thorn leaves over their heads. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Well, you <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">are</span></span> jolly late,’ said Una. ‘Couldn’t you get away + before?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I did,’ said Dan. ‘I got away in lots of time, but—but I didn’t know it was so late. + Where’ve you been?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘In Volaterrae—waiting for you.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Sorry,’ said Dan. ‘It was all that beastly Latin.’ </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page145">[pg 145]</span> + <a name="Pg145" id="Pg145" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf14" id="pdf14"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">A BRITISH-ROMAN SONG</span></h2> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 8.00em"> (A. D. 406) </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">My father’s father saw it not,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And I, belike, shall never come,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To look on that so-holy spot—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 10.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The very Rome—</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Crowned by all Time, all Art, all Might,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The equal work of Gods and Man—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">City beneath whose oldest height</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 10.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Race began,—</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Soon to send forth again a brood</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Unshakeable, we pray, that clings,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To Rome’s thrice-hammered hardihood—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 10.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">In arduous things.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Strong heart with triple armour bound,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Beat strongly, for thy life-blood runs,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Age after Age, the Empire round—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 10.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">In us thy Sons,</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Who, distant from the Seven Hills,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Loving and serving much, require</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Thee, Thee to guard ’gainst home-born ills,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 10.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Imperial Fire!</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page146">[pg 146]</span> + <a name="Pg146" id="Pg146" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page147">[pg 147]</span> + <a name="Pg147" id="Pg147" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%"> ON THE GREAT WALL </span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page148">[pg 148]</span> + <a name="Pg148" id="Pg148" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page149">[pg 149]</span> + <a name="Pg149" id="Pg149" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf15" id="pdf15"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">ON THE GREAT WALL</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">When I left Rome for Lalage’s sake</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">By the Legions’ Road to Rimini,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">She vowed her heart was mine to take</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">With me and my shield to Rimini—</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">(Till the Eagles flew from Rimini!)</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">And I’ve tramped Britain and I’ve tramped Gaul</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">And the Pontic shore where the snow-flakes fall</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">As white as the neck of Lalage—</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em">As cold as the heart of Lalage!</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">And I’ve lost Britain and I’ve lost Gaul</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> (the voice seemed very cheerful about it), </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">And I’ve lost Rome, and worst of all,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 6.00em">I’ve lost Lalage!</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They were standing by the gate to Far Wood when they heard this song. Without a word + they hurried to their private gap and wriggled through the hedge almost atop of a jay + that was feeding from Puck’s hand. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Gently!’ said Puck. ‘What are you looking for?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Parnesius, of course,’ Dan answered. ‘We’ve only just remembered yesterday. It isn’t + fair.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Puck chuckled as he rose. ‘I’m sorry, but children who spend the afternoon with me and + a Roman Centurion need a little settling dose of Magic before they go to tea with their + governess. Ohé, Parnesius!’ he called. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page150">[pg 150]</span> + <a name="Pg150" id="Pg150" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Here, Faun!’ came the answer from ‘Volaterrae.’ They could see the shimmer of bronze + armour in the beech crotch, and the friendly flash of the great shield uplifted. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I have driven out the Britons.’ Parnesius laughed like a boy. ‘I occupy their high + forts. But Rome is merciful! You may come up.’ And up they three all scrambled. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What was the song you were singing just now?’ said Una, as soon as she had settled + herself. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That? Oh, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Rimini</span></span>. It’s one of the tunes that are always being + born somewhere in the Empire. They run like a pestilence for six months or a year, till + another one pleases the Legions, and then they march to <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span>.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Tell them about the marching, Parnesius. Few people nowadays walk from end to end of + this country,’ said Puck. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The greater their loss. I know nothing better than the Long March when your feet are + hardened. You begin after the mists have risen, and you end, perhaps, an hour after + sundown.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And what do you have to eat?’ Dan asked, promptly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Fat bacon, beans, and bread, and whatever wine happens to be in the rest-houses. But + soldiers are born grumblers. Their very first day out, my men complained of our + water-ground British corn. They said it wasn’t so filling as the rough stuff that is + ground in the Roman ox-mills. However, they had to fetch and eat it.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Fetch it? Where from?’ said Una. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page151">[pg 151]</span> + <a name="Pg151" id="Pg151" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘From that newly-invented water-mill below the Forge.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That’s Forge Mill—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">our</span></span> Mill!’ Una looked at Puck. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes; yours,’ Puck put in. ‘How old did you think it was?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I don’t know. Didn’t Sir Richard Dalyngridge talk about it?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He did, and it was old in his day,’ Puck answered. ‘Hundreds of years old.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It was new in mine,’ said Parnesius. ‘My men looked at the flour in their helmets as + though it had been a nest of adders. They did it to try my patience. But I—addressed + them, and we became friends. To tell the truth, they taught me the Roman Step. You see, + I’d only served with quick-marching Auxiliaries. A Legion’s pace is altogether + different. It is a long, slow stride, that never varies from sunrise to sunset. “Rome’s + Race—Rome’s Pace,” as the proverb says. Twenty-four miles in eight hours, neither more + nor less. Head and spear up, shield on your back, cuirass-collar open one hand’s + breadth—and that’s how you take the Eagles through Britain.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And did you meet any adventures?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘There are no adventures South the Wall,’ said Parnesius. ‘The worst thing that + happened me was having to appear before a magistrate up North, where a wandering + philosopher had jeered at the Eagles. I was able to show that the old man had + deliberately blocked our road, and the magistrate told <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page152">[pg 152]</span><a name="Pg152" id="Pg152" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>him, out of his own Book, I believe, that, whatever his God might be, he should pay + proper respect to <span class="tei tei-corr">Cæsar</span>.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What did you do?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Went on. Why should <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> care for such things, my business being + to reach my station? It took me twenty days. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Of course, the farther North you go the emptier are the roads. At last you fetch + clear of the forests and climb bare hills, where wolves howl in the ruins of our cities + that have been. No more pretty girls; no more jolly magistrates who knew your Father + when he was young, and invite you to stay with them; no news at the temples and + way-stations except bad news of wild beasts. There’s where you meet hunters, and + trappers for the Circuses, prodding along chained bears and muzzled wolves. Your pony + shies at them, and your men laugh. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The houses change from gardened villas to shut forts with watch-towers of grey stone, + and great stone-walled sheepfolds, guarded by armed Britons of the North Shore. In the + naked hills beyond the naked houses, where the shadows of the clouds play like cavalry + charging, you see puffs of black smoke from the mines. The hard road goes on and on—and + the wind sings through your helmet-plume—past altars to Legions and Generals forgotten, + and broken statues of Gods and Heroes, and thousands of graves where the mountain foxes + and hares peep at you. Red-hot in summer, freezing in winter, is that big, purple + heather country of broken stone. </p> + <a name="image03" id="image03" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + + + + + + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/col03s.jpg" width="400" height="547" alt="Illustration to page 152" title="‘There’s where you meet hunters, and trappers for the Circuses, prodding along chained bears and muzzled wolves.’" /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em">‘There’s where you meet hunters, and trappers for the Circuses,<br /> prodding + along chained bears and muzzled wolves.’</a></div></div> + + + + + + + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page153">[pg 153]</span> + <a name="Pg153" id="Pg153" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Just when you think you are at the world’s end, you see a smoke from East to West as + far as the eye can turn, and then, under it, also as far as the eye can stretch, houses + and temples, shops and theatres, barracks, and granaries, trickling along like dice + behind—always behind—one long, low, rising and falling, and hiding and showing line of + towers. And that is the Wall!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ah!’ said the <span class="tei tei-corr">children,</span> taking breath. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘You may well,’ said Parnesius. ‘Old men who have followed the Eagles since boyhood + say nothing in the Empire is more wonderful than first sight of the Wall!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Is it just a Wall? Like the one round the kitchen-garden?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No, no! It is <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">the</span></span> Wall. Along the top are towers with + guard-houses, small towers, between. Even on the narrowest part of it three men with + shields can walk abreast from guard-house to guard-house. A little curtain wall, no + higher than a man’s neck, runs along the top of the thick wall, so that from a distance + you see the helmets of the sentries sliding back and forth like beads. Thirty feet high + is the Wall, and on the Picts’ side, the North, is a ditch, strewn with blades of old + swords and spear-heads set in wood, and tyres of wheels joined by chains. The Little + People come there to steal iron for their arrow-heads. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But the Wall itself is not more wonderful than the town behind it. Long ago there + were great ramparts and ditches on the South side, and no one was allowed to build <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page154">[pg 154]</span><a name="Pg154" id="Pg154" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>there. Now the ramparts are partly pulled down and built + over, from end to end of the Wall; making a thin town eighty miles long. Think of it! + One roaring, rioting, cockfighting, wolf-baiting, horse-racing town, from Ituna on the + West to Segedunum on the cold eastern beach! On one side heather, woods and ruins where + Picts hide, and on the other, a vast town—long like a snake, and wicked like a snake. + Yes, a snake basking beside a warm wall! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My Cohort, I was told, lay at Hunno, where the Great North Road runs through the Wall + into the Province of Valentia.’ Parnesius laughed scornfully. ‘The Province of Valentia! + We followed the road, therefore, into Hunno town, and stood astonished. The place was a + fair—a fair of peoples from every corner of the Empire. Some were racing horses: some + sat in wine-shops: some watched dogs baiting bears, and many gathered in a ditch to see + cocks fight. A boy not much older than myself, but I could see he was an Officer, reined + up before me and asked what I wanted. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“My station,” I said, and showed him my shield.’ Parnesius held up his broad shield + with its three X’s like letters on a beer-cask. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Lucky omen!” said he. “Your Cohort’s the next tower to us, but they’re all at the + cock-fight. This is a happy place. Come and wet the Eagles.” He meant to offer me a + drink. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“When I’ve handed over my men,” I said. I felt angry and ashamed. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page155">[pg 155]</span> + <a name="Pg155" id="Pg155" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Oh, you’ll soon outgrow that sort of nonsense,” he answered. “But don’t let me + interfere with your hopes. Go on to the Statue of Roma Dea. You can’t miss it. The main + road into Valentia!” and he laughed and rode off. I could see the Statue not a quarter + of a mile away, and there I went. At some time or other the Great North Road ran under + it into Valentia; but the far end had been blocked up because of the Picts, and on the + plaster a man had scratched, “Finish!” It was like marching into a cave. We grounded + spears together, my little thirty, and it echoed in the barrel of the arch, but none + came. There was a door at one side painted with our number. We prowled in, and I found a + cook asleep, and ordered him to give us food. Then I climbed to the top of the Wall, and + looked out over the Pict country, and I—thought,’ said Parnesius. ‘The bricked-up arch + with “Finish!” on the plaster was what shook me, for I was not much more than a boy.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What a shame!’ said Una. ‘But did you feel happy after you’d had a good——’ Dan + stopped her with a nudge. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Happy?’ said Parnesius. ‘When the men of the Cohort I was to command came back + unhelmeted from the cock-fight, their birds under their arms, and asked me who I was? + No, I was not happy; but I made my new Cohort unhappy too.... I wrote my Mother I was + happy, but, oh, my friends’—he stretched arms over bare knees—‘I would not wish my + worst enemy to suffer as I suf<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page156">[pg 156]</span><a name="Pg156" id="Pg156" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>fered through my first + months on the Wall. Remember this: among the officers was scarcely one, except myself + (and I thought I had lost the favour of Maximus, my General), scarcely one who had not + done something of wrong or folly. Either he had killed a man, or taken money, or + insulted the magistrates, or blasphemed the Gods, and so had been sent to the Wall as a + hiding-place from shame or fear. And the men were as the officers. Remember, also, that + the Wall was manned by every breed and race in the Empire. No two towers spoke the same + tongue, or worshipped the same Gods. In one thing only we were all equal. No matter what + arms we had used before we came to the Wall, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">on</span></span> the Wall we were + all archers, like the Scythians. The Pict cannot run away from the arrow, or crawl under + it. He is a bowman himself. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">He</span></span> knows!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I suppose you were fighting Picts all the time,’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Picts seldom fight. I never saw a fighting Pict for half a year. The tame Picts told + us they had all gone North.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What is a tame Pict?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A Pict—there were many such—who speaks a few words of our tongue, and slips across + the Wall to sell ponies and wolf-hounds. Without a horse and a dog, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">and</span></span> a friend, man would perish. The Gods gave me all three, and there is no gift + like friendship. Remember this’—Parnesius turned to Dan—‘when you become a young man. + For your fate will turn on the first true friend you <span class="tei tei-corr">make.’</span> </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page157">[pg 157]</span> + <a name="Pg157" id="Pg157" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He means,’ said Puck, grinning, ‘that if you try to make yourself a decent chap when + you’re young, you’ll make rather decent friends when you grow up. If you’re a beast, + you’ll have beastly friends. Listen to the Pious Parnesius on Friendship!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I am not pious,’ Parnesius answered, ‘but I know what goodness means; and my friend, + though he was without hope, was ten thousand times better than I. Stop laughing, Faun!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh Youth Eternal and All-believing,’ cried Puck, as he rocked on the branch above. + ‘Tell them about your Pertinax.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He was that friend the Gods sent me—the boy who spoke to me when I first came. + Little older than myself, commanding the Augusta Victoria Cohort on the tower next to us + and the Numidians. In virtue he was far my superior.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then why was he on the Wall?’ Una asked, quickly. ‘They’d all done something bad. You + said so yourself.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He was the nephew, his Father had died, of a great rich man in Gaul who was not + always kind to his Mother. When Pertinax grew up, he discovered this, and so his uncle + shipped him off, by trickery and force, to the Wall. We came to know each other at a + ceremony in our Temple—in the dark. It was the Bull Killing,’ Parnesius explained to + Puck. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> see,’ said Puck, and turned to the children. ‘That’s + something you wouldn’t quite understand. Parnesius means he met Pertinax in church.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page158">[pg 158]</span> + <a name="Pg158" id="Pg158" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes—in the Cave we first met, and we were both raised to the Degree of Gryphons + together.’ Parnesius lifted his hand towards his neck for an instant. ‘He had been on + the Wall two years, and knew the Picts well. He taught me first how to take Heather.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What’s that?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Going out hunting in the Pict country with a tame Pict. You are quite safe so long as + you are his guest, and wear a sprig of heather where it can be seen. If you went alone + you would surely be killed, if you were not smothered first in the bogs. Only the Picts + know their way about those black and hidden bogs. Old Allo, the one-eyed, withered + little Pict from whom we bought our ponies, was our special friend. At first we went + only to escape from the terrible town, and to talk together about our homes. Then he + showed us how to hunt wolves and those great red deer with horns like Jewish + candlesticks. The Roman-born officers rather looked down on us for doing this, but we + preferred the heather to their amusements. Believe me,’ Parnesius turned again to Dan, + ‘a boy is safe from all things that really harm when he is astride a pony or after a + deer. Do you remember, O Faun,’ he turned to Puck, ‘the little altar I built to the + Sylvan Pan by the pine-forest beyond the brook?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Which? The stone one with the line from Xenophon?’ said Puck, in quite a new voice. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No. What do <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> know of Xenophon? That was Pertinax—after he + had shot his first mountain-hare with an arrow—by chance! <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page159">[pg 159]</span><a name="Pg159" id="Pg159" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Mine I made of round pebbles in memory of my first bear. It took me one + happy day to build.’ Parnesius faced the children quickly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And that was how we lived on the Wall for two years—a little scuffling with the + Picts, and a great deal of hunting with old Allo in the Pict country. He called us his + children sometimes, and we were fond of him and his barbarians, though we never let them + paint us Pict fashion. The marks endure till you die.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘How’s it done?’ said Dan. ‘Anything like tattooing?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They prick the skin till the blood runs, and rub in coloured juices. Allo was painted + blue, green, and red from his forehead to his ankles. He said it was part of his + religion. He told us about his religion (Pertinax was always interested in such things), + and as we came to know him well, he told us what was happening in Britain behind the + Wall. Many things took place behind us in those days. And, by the Light of the Sun,’ + said Parnesius, earnestly, ‘there was not much that those little people did not know! He + told me when Maximus crossed over to Gaul, after he had made himself Emperor of Britain, + and what troops and emigrants he had taken with him. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">We</span></span> did not + get the news on the Wall till fifteen days later. He told me what troops Maximus was + taking out of Britain every month to help him to conquer Gaul; and I always found the + numbers as he said. Wonderful! And I tell another strange thing!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He jointed his hands across his knees, and <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page160">[pg 160]</span><a name="Pg160" id="Pg160" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>leaned his + head on the curve of the shield behind him. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Late in the summer, when the first frosts begin and the Picts kill their bees, we + three rode out after wolf with some new hounds. Rutilianus, our General, had given us + ten days’ leave, and we had pushed beyond the Second Wall—beyond the Province of + Valentia—into the higher hills, where there are not even any of Rome’s old ruins. We + killed a she-wolf before noon, and while Allo was skinning her he looked up and said to + me, “When you are Captain of the Wall, my child, you won’t be able to do this any more!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I might as well have been made Prefect of Lower Gaul, so I laughed and said, “Wait + till I am Captain.” “<span class="tei tei-corr">No, don’t</span> wait,” said Allo. “Take my advice and go home—both of + you.” “We have no homes,” said Pertinax. “You know that as well as we do. We’re finished + men—thumbs down against both of us. Only men without hope would risk their necks on + your ponies.” The old man laughed one of those short Pict laughs—like a fox barking on + a frosty night. “I’m fond of you two,” he said. “Besides, I’ve taught you what little + you know about hunting. Take my advice and go home.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“We can’t,” I said. “I’m out of favour with my General, for one thing; and for + another, Pertinax has an uncle.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I don’t know about his uncle,” said Allo, “but the trouble with you, Parnesius, is + that your General thinks well of you.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Roma Dea!” said Pertinax, sitting <span class="tei tei-corr">up.</span> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page161">[pg 161]</span><a name="Pg161" id="Pg161" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>“What can you guess what Maximus thinks, you old + horse-coper?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Just then (you know how near the brutes creep when one is eating?) a great dog-wolf + jumped out behind us, and away our rested hounds tore after him, with us at their tails. + He ran us far out of any country we’d ever heard of, straight as an arrow till sunset, + towards the sunset. We came at last to long capes stretching into winding waters, and on + a grey beach below us we saw ships drawn up. Forty-seven we counted—not Roman galleys + but the raven-winged ships from the North where Rome does not rule. Men moved in the + ships, and the sun flashed on their helmets—winged helmets of the red-haired men from + the North where Rome does not rule. We watched, and we counted, and we wondered; for + though we had heard rumours concerning these Winged Hats, as the Picts called them, + never before had we looked upon them. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Come away! Come away!” said Allo. “My Heather won’t protect you here. We shall all + be killed!” His legs trembled like his voice. Back we went—back across the heather + under the moon, till it was nearly morning, and our poor beasts stumbled on some ruins. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When we woke, very stiff and cold, Allo was mixing the meal and water. One does not + light fires in the Pict country except near a village. The little men are always + signalling to each other with smokes, and a strange smoke brings them out buzzing like + bees. They can sting, too! </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page162">[pg 162]</span> + <a name="Pg162" id="Pg162" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What we saw last night was a trading-station,” said Allo. “Nothing but a + trading-station.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I do not like lies on an empty stomach,” said Pertinax. “I suppose” (he had eyes + like an eagle’s), “I suppose <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span> is a trading-station also?” He + pointed to a smoke far off on a hill-top, ascending in what we call the Pict’s + Call:—Puff—double-puff: double-puff—puff! They make it by raising and dropping a wet + hide on a fire. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No,” said Allo, pushing the platter back into the bag. “That is for you and me. Your + fate is fixed. Come.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We came. When one takes Heather, one must obey one’s Pict—but that wretched smoke + was twenty miles distant, well over on the east coast, and the day was as hot as a bath. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Whatever happens,” said Allo, while our ponies grunted along, “I want you to + remember me.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I shall not forget,” said Pertinax. “You have cheated me out of my breakfast.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What is a handful of crushed oats to a Roman?” he said. Then he laughed his laugh + that was not a laugh. “What would you do if you were a handful of oats being crushed + between the upper and lower stones of a mill?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I’m Pertinax, not a riddle-guesser,” said Pertinax. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“You’re a fool,” said Allo. “Your Gods and my Gods are threatened by strange Gods, + and all you can do is to laugh.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Threatened men live long,” I said. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page163">[pg 163]</span> + <a name="Pg163" id="Pg163" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I pray the Gods that may be true,” he said. “But I ask you again not to forget me.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We climbed the last hot hill and looked out on the eastern sea, three or four miles + off. There was a small sailing-galley of the North Gaul pattern at anchor, her + landing-plank down and her sail half up; and below us, alone in a hollow, holding his + pony, sat Maximus, Emperor of Britain! He was dressed like a hunter, and he leaned on + his little stick; but I knew that back as far as I could see it, and I told Pertinax. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“You’re madder than Allo!” he said. “It must be the sun!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Maximus never stirred till we stood before him. Then he looked me up and down, and + said: “Hungry again? It seems to be my destiny to feed you whenever we meet. I have food + here. Allo shall cook it.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No,” said Allo. “A Prince in his own land does not wait on wandering Emperors. I + feed my two children without asking your leave.” He began to blow up the ashes. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I was wrong,” said Pertinax. “We are all mad. Speak up, O Madman called Emperor!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Maximus smiled his terrible tight-lipped smile, but two years on the Wall do not make + a man afraid of mere looks. So I was not afraid. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I meant you, Parnesius, to live and die an Officer of the Wall,” said Maximus. “But + it seems from these,” he fumbled in his breast, “you can think as well as draw.” He + pulled out a roll of letters I had written to my <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page164">[pg 164]</span><a name="Pg164" id="Pg164" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>people, full of drawings of Picts, and bears, and men I had met on the Wall. Mother + and my sister always liked my pictures. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He handed me one that I had called “Maximus’s Soldiers.” It showed a row of fat + wine-skins, and our old Doctor of the Hunno hospital snuffing at them. Each time that + Maximus had taken troops out of Britain to help him to conquer Gaul, he used to send the + garrisons more wine—to keep them quiet, I suppose. On the Wall, we always called a + wine-skin a “Maximus.” Oh, yes; and I had drawn them in Imperial helmets! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Not long since,” he went on, “men’s names were sent up to Cæsar for smaller jokes + than this.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“True, Cæsar,” said Pertinax; “but you forget that was before I, your friend’s + friend, became such a good spear-thrower.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He did not actually point his hunting spear at Maximus, but balanced it on his + palm—so! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I was speaking of time past,” said Maximus, never fluttering an eyelid. “Nowadays + one is only too pleased to find boys who can think for themselves, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">and</span></span> their friends.” He nodded at Pertinax. “Your Father lent me the letters, + Parnesius, so you run no risk from me.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“None whatever,” said Pertinax, and rubbed the spear-point on his sleeve. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I have been forced to reduce the garrisons in Britain, because I need troops in + Gaul. Now I come to take troops from the Wall itself,” said he. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I wish you joy of us,” said Pertinax. <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page165">[pg 165]</span><a name="Pg165" id="Pg165" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>“We’re the + last sweepings of the Empire—the men without hope. Myself, I’d sooner trust condemned + criminals.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“You think so?” he said, quite seriously. “But it will only be till I win Gaul. One + must always risk one’s life, or one’s soul, or one’s peace—or some little thing.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Allo passed round the fire with the sizzling deer’s meat. He served us two first. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ah!” said Maximus, waiting his turn. “I perceive you are in your own country. Well, + you deserve it. They tell me you have quite a following among the Picts, Parnesius.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I have hunted with them,” I said. “Maybe I have a few friends among the Heather.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He is the only armoured man of you all who understands us,” said Allo, and he began + a long speech about our virtues, and how we had saved one of his grandchildren from a + wolf the year before.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Had you?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes; but that was neither here nor there. The little green man orated like a—like + Cicero. He made us out to be magnificent fellows. Maximus never took his eyes off our + faces. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Enough,” he said. “I have heard Allo on you. I wish to hear you on the Picts.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I told him as much as I knew, and Pertinax helped me out. There is never harm in a + Pict if you but take the trouble to find out what he wants. Their real grievance against + us came from our burning their heather. The whole garrison of the Wall moved out twice a + year, and solemnly burned the heather for <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page166">[pg 166]</span><a name="Pg166" id="Pg166" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>ten miles + North. Rutilianus, our General, called it clearing the country. The Picts, of course, + scampered away, and all we did was to destroy their bee-bloom in the summer, and ruin + their sheep-food in the spring. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“True, quite true,” said Allo. “How can we make our holy heather-wine, if you burn + our bee-pasture?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We talked long, Maximus asking keen questions that showed he knew much and had + thought more about the Picts. He said presently to me: “If I gave you the old Province + of Valentia to govern, could you keep the Picts contented till I won Gaul? Stand away, + so that you do not see Allo’s face; and speak your own <span class="tei tei-corr">thoughts.”</span> + </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No,” I said. “You cannot re-make that Province. The Picts have been free too long.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Leave them their village councils, and let them furnish their own soldiers,” he + said. “You, I am sure, would hold the reins very lightly.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Even then, no,” I said. “At least not now. They have been too oppressed by us to + trust anything with a Roman name for years and years.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I heard old Allo behind me mutter: “Good child!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Then what do you recommend,” said Maximus, “to keep the North quiet till I win + Gaul?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Leave the Picts alone,” I said. “Stop the heather-burning at once, and—they are + improvident little animals—send them a shipload or two of corn now and then.” </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page167">[pg 167]</span> + <a name="Pg167" id="Pg167" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Their own men must distribute it—not some cheating Greek accountant,” said + Pertinax. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Yes, and allow them to come to our hospitals when they are sick,” I said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Surely they would die first,” said Maximus. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Not if Parnesius brought them in,” said Allo. “I could show you twenty wolf-bitten, + bear-clawed Picts within twenty miles of here. But Parnesius must stay with them in + Hospital, else they would go mad with fear.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> see,” said Maximus. “Like everything else in the world, it + is one man’s work. You, I think, are that one man.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Pertinax and I are one,” I said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“As you please, so long as you work. Now, Allo, you know that I mean your people no + harm. Leave us to talk together,” said Maximus. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No need!” said Allo. “I am the corn between the upper and lower millstones. I must + know what the lower millstone means to do. These boys have spoken the truth as far as + they know it. I, a Prince, will tell you the rest. I am troubled about the Men of the + North.” He squatted like a hare in the heather, and looked over his shoulder. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I also,” said Maximus, “or I should not be here.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Listen,” said Allo. “Long and long ago the Winged Hats”—he meant the + Northmen—“came to our beaches and said, ‘Rome falls! Push her down!’ We fought you. You + sent men. We were beaten. After <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page168">[pg 168]</span><a name="Pg168" id="Pg168" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>that we said to the + Winged Hats, ‘You are liars! Make our men alive that Rome killed, and we will believe + you.’ They went away ashamed. Now they come back bold, and they tell the old tale, which + we begin to believe—that Rome falls!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Give me three years’ peace on the Wall,” cried Maximus, “and I will show you and all + the ravens how they lie!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ah, I wish it too! I wish to save what is left of the corn from the millstones. But + you shoot us Picts when we come to borrow a little iron from the Iron Ditch; you burn + our heather, which is all our crop; you trouble us with your great catapults. Then you + hide behind the Wall, and scorch us with Greek fire. How can I keep my young men from + listening to the Winged Hats—in winter especially, when we are hungry? My young men + will say, ‘Rome can neither fight nor rule. She is taking her men out of Britain. The + Winged Hats will help us to push down the Wall. Let us show them the secret roads across + the bogs.’ Do <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> want that? No!” He spat like an adder. “<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> would keep the secrets of my people though I were burned alive. + My two children here have spoken truth. Leave us Picts alone. Comfort us, and cherish + us, and feed us from far off—with the hand behind your back. Parnesius understands us. + Let <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">him</span></span> have rule on the Wall, and I will hold my young men quiet + for”—he ticked it off on his fingers—“one year easily: the next year not so easily: + the third year, perhaps! See, I give you three <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page169">[pg 169]</span><a name="Pg169" id="Pg169" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>years. + If then you do not show us that Rome is strong in men and terrible in arms, the Winged + Hats, I tell you, will sweep down the Wall from either sea till they meet in the middle, + and you will go. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> shall not grieve over that, but well I know + tribe never helps tribe except for one price. We Picts will go too. The Winged Hats will + grind us to this!” He tossed a handful of dust in the air. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Oh, Roma Dea!” said Maximus, half aloud. “It is always one man’s work—always and + everywhere!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“And one man’s life,” said Allo. “You are Emperor, but not a God. You may die.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I have thought of that, too,” said he. “Very good. If this wind holds, I shall be at + the East end of the Wall by morning. To-morrow, then, I shall see you two when I + inspect; and I will make you Captains of the Wall for this work.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“One instant, Cæsar,” said Pertinax. “All men have their price. I am not bought yet.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Do <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">you</span></span> also begin to bargain so early?” said Maximus. “Well?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Give me justice against my uncle Icenus, the Duumvir of Divio in Gaul,” he said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Only a life? I thought it would be money or an office. Certainly you shall have him. + Write his name on these tablets—on the red side; the other is for the living!” And + Maximus held out his tablets. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He is of no use to me dead,” said Pertinax. “My mother is a widow. I am far off. I + am not sure he pays her all her dowry.” </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page170">[pg 170]</span> + <a name="Pg170" id="Pg170" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No matter. My arm is reasonably long. We will look through your uncle’s accounts in + due time. Now, farewell till to-morrow, O Captains of the Wall!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We saw him grow small across the heather as he walked to the galley. There were + Picts, scores, each side of him, hidden behind stones. He never looked left or right. He + sailed away Southerly, full spread before the evening breeze, and when we had watched + him out to sea, we were silent. We understood Earth bred few men like to this man. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Presently Allo brought the ponies and held them for us to mount—a thing he had never + done before. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Wait awhile,” said Pertinax, and he made a little altar of cut turf, and strewed + heather-bloom atop, and laid upon it a letter from a girl in Gaul. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What do you do, O my friend?” I said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I sacrifice to my dead youth,” he answered, and, when the flames had consumed the + letter, he ground them out with his heel. Then we rode back to that Wall of which we + were to be Captains.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Parnesius stopped. The children sat still, not even asking if that were all the tale. + Puck beckoned, and pointed the way out of the wood. <span class="tei tei-corr">‘Sorry,’</span> he whispered, ‘but you + must go now.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We haven’t made him angry, have we?’ said Una. ‘He looks so far off, + and—and—thinky.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Bless your heart, no. Wait till to-morrow. <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page171">[pg 171]</span><a name="Pg171" id="Pg171" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>It won’t + be long. Remember, you’ve been playing “<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Lays of Ancient Rome</span></span>.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> And as soon as they had scrambled through their gap, where Oak, Ash and Thorn grow, + that was all they remembered. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page172">[pg 172]</span> + <a name="Pg172" id="Pg172" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page173">[pg 173]</span> + <a name="Pg173" id="Pg173" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf16" id="pdf16"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">A SONG TO MITHRAS</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Mithras, God of the Morning, our trumpets waken the Wall!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">‘Rome is above the Nations, but Thou art over all!’</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Now as the names are answered and the guards are marched away,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Mithras, also a soldier, give us strength for the day!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Mithras, God of the Noontide, the heather swims in the heat,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Our helmets scorch our foreheads; our sandals burn our feet!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Now in the ungirt hour; now ere we blink and drowse,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Mithras, also a soldier, keep us true to our vows!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Mithras, God of the Sunset, low on the Western main,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Thou descending immortal, immortal to rise again!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Now when the watch is ended, now when the wine is drawn,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Mithras, also a soldier, keep us pure till the dawn!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Mithras, God of the Midnight, here where the great bull lies,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Look on thy children in darkness. Oh take our sacrifice!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Many roads Thou hast fashioned: all of them lead to the Light,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Mithras, also a soldier, teach us to die aright!</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page174">[pg 174]</span> + <a name="Pg174" id="Pg174" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page175">[pg 175]</span> + <a name="Pg175" id="Pg175" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%"> THE WINGED HATS </span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page176">[pg 176]</span> + <a name="Pg176" id="Pg176" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page177">[pg 177]</span> + <a name="Pg177" id="Pg177" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf17" id="pdf17"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">THE WINGED HATS</span></h2> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The next day happened to be what they called a Wild Afternoon. Father and Mother went + out to pay calls; Miss Blake went for a ride on her bicycle, and they were left all + alone till eight o’clock. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> When they had seen their dear parents and their dear preceptress politely off the + premises they got a cabbage-leaf full of raspberries from the gardener, and a Wild Tea + from Ellen. They ate the raspberries to prevent their squashing, and they meant to + divide the cabbage-leaf with Three Cows down at the Theatre, but they came across a dead + hedgehog which they simply <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">had</span></span> to bury, and the leaf was too + useful to waste. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Then they went on to the Forge and found old Hobden the hedger at home with his son + the Bee Boy who is not quite right in his head, but who can pick up swarms of bees in + his naked hands; and the Bee Boy told them the rhyme about the slow-worm:— </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘If I had eyes <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">as</span></span> I could see,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">No mortal man would trouble me.’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They all had tea together by the hives, and Hobden said the loaf-cake which Ellen had + given them was almost as good as what his wife used to make, and he showed them how <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page178">[pg 178]</span><a name="Pg178" id="Pg178" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to set a wire at the right height for hares. They knew + about rabbits already. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Then they climbed up Long Ditch into the lower end of Far Wood. This is sadder and + darker than the ‘Volaterrae’ end because of an old marlpit full of black water, where + weepy, hairy moss hangs round the stumps of the willows and alders. But the birds come + to perch on the dead branches, and Hobden says that the bitter willow-water is a sort of + medicine for sick animals. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They sat down on a felled oak-trunk in the shadows of the beech undergrowth, and were + looping the wires Hobden had given them, when they saw Parnesius. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘How quietly you came!’ said Una, moving up to make room. ‘Where’s Puck?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The Faun and I have disputed whether it is better that I should tell you all my tale, + or leave it untold,’ he replied. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I only said that if he told it as it happened you wouldn’t understand it,’ said Puck, + jumping up like a squirrel from behind the log. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I don’t understand all of it,’ said Una, ‘but I like hearing about the little Picts.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> can’t understand,’ said Dan, ‘is how Maximus knew all + about the Picts when he was over in Gaul.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He who makes himself Emperor anywhere must know everything, everywhere,’ said + Parnesius. ‘We had this much from Maximus’ mouth after the Games.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Games? What games?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Parnesius stretched his arm out stiffly, <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page179">[pg 179]</span><a name="Pg179" id="Pg179" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>thumb + pointed to the ground. ‘Gladiators! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">That</span></span> sort of game,’ he said. + ‘There were two days’ Games in his honour when he landed all unexpected at Segedunum on + the East end of the Wall. Yes, the day after we had met him we held two days’ games; but + I think the greatest risk was run, not by the poor wretches on the sand, but by Maximus. + In the old days the Legions kept silence before their Emperor. So did not we! You could + hear the solid roar run West along the Wall as his chair was carried rocking through the + crowds. The garrison beat round him—clamouring, clowning, asking for pay, for change of + quarters, for anything that came into their wild heads. That chair was like a little + boat among waves, dipping and falling, but always rising again after one had shut the + eyes.’ Parnesius shivered. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Were they angry with him?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No more angry than wolves in a cage when their trainer walks among them. If he had + turned his back an instant, or for an instant had ceased to hold their eyes, there would + have been another Emperor made on the Wall that hour. Was it not so, Faun?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So it was. So it always will be,’ said Puck. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Late in the evening his messenger came for us, and we followed to the Temple of + Victory, where he lodged with Rutilianus, the General of the Wall. I had hardly seen the + General before, but he always gave me leave when I wished to take Heather. He was a + great glutton, and kept five Asian cooks, <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page180">[pg 180]</span><a name="Pg180" id="Pg180" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>and he came + of a family that believed in oracles. We could smell his good dinner when we entered, + but the tables were empty. He lay snorting on a couch. Maximus sat apart among long + rolls of accounts. Then the doors were shut. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“These are your men,” said Maximus to the General, who propped his eye-corners open + with his gouty fingers, and stared at us like a fish. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I shall know them again, Cæsar,” said Rutilianus. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Very good,” said Maximus. “Now hear! You are not to move man or shield on the Wall + except as these boys shall tell you. You will do nothing, except eat, without their + permission. They are the head and arms. You are the belly!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“As Cæsar pleases,” the old man grunted. “If my pay and profits are not cut, you may + make my Ancestors’ Oracle my master. Rome has been! Rome has been!” Then he turned on + his side to sleep. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He has it,” said Maximus. “We will get to what <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> need.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He unrolled full copies of the number of men and supplies on the Wall—down to the + sick that very day in Hunno Hospital. Oh, but I groaned when his pen marked off + detachment after detachment of our best—of our least worthless men! He took two towers + of our Scythians, two of our North British auxiliaries, two Numidian cohorts, the + Dacians all, and half the Belgians. It was like an eagle pecking a carcass. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page181">[pg 181]</span> + <a name="Pg181" id="Pg181" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“And now, how many catapults have you?” He turned up a new list, but Pertinax laid + his open hand there. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No, Cæsar,” said he. “Do not tempt the Gods too far. Take men, or engines, but not + both; else we refuse.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Engines?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The catapults of the Wall—huge things forty feet high to the head—firing nets of + raw stone or forged bolts. Nothing can stand against them. He left us our catapults at + last, but he took a Cæsar’s half of our men without pity. We were a shell when he rolled + up the lists! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Hail, Cæsar! We, about to die, salute you!” said Pertinax, laughing. “If any enemy + even leans against the Wall now, it will tumble.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Give me the three years Allo spoke of,” he answered, “and you shall have twenty + thousand men of your own choosing up here. But now it is a gamble—a game played against + the Gods, and the stakes are Britain, Gaul, and perhaps, Rome. You play on my side?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“We will play, Cæsar,” I said for I had never met a man like this man. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Good. To-morrow,” said he, “I proclaim you Captains of the Wall before the troops.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So we went into the moonlight, where they were cleaning the ground after the Games. + We saw great Roma Dea atop of the Wall, the frost on her helmet, and her spear pointed + towards the North Star. We saw the twinkle <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page182">[pg 182]</span><a name="Pg182" id="Pg182" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of + night-fires all along the guard-towers, and the line of the black catapults growing + smaller and smaller in the distance. All these things we knew till we were weary; but + that night they seemed very strange to us, because the next day we knew we were to be + their masters. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The men took the news well; but when Maximus went away with half our strength, and we + had to spread ourselves into the emptied towers, and the townspeople complained that + trade would be ruined, and the Autumn gales blew—it was dark days for us two. Here + Pertinax was more than my right hand. Being born and bred among the great country-houses + in Gaul, he knew the proper words to address to all—from Roman-born Centurions to those + dogs of the Third—the Libyans. And he spoke to each as though that man were as + high-minded as himself. Now <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> saw so strongly what things were + needed to be done, that I forgot things are only accomplished by means of men. That was + a mistake. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I feared nothing from the Picts, at least for that year, but Allo warned me that the + Winged Hats would soon come in from the sea at each end of the Wall to prove to the + Picts how weak we were. So I made ready in haste, and none too soon. I shifted our best + men to the ends of the Wall, and set up screened catapults by the beach. The Winged Hats + would drive in before the snow-squalls—ten or twenty boats at a time—on Segedunum or + Ituna, according as the wind blew. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Now a ship coming in to land men must <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page183">[pg 183]</span><a name="Pg183" id="Pg183" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>furl her sail. + If you wait till you see her men gather up the sail’s foot, your catapults can jerk a + net of loose stones (bolts only cut through the cloth) into the bag of it. Then she + turns over, and the sea makes everything clean again. A few men may come ashore, but + very few.... It was not hard work, except the waiting on the beach in blowing sand and + snow. And that was how we dealt with the Winged Hats that winter. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Early in the Spring, when the East winds blow like skinning-knives, they gathered + again off the East end with many ships. Allo told me they would never rest till they had + taken a tower in open fight. Certainly they fought in the open. We dealt with them + thoroughly through a long day: and when all was finished, one man dived clear of the + wreckage of his ship, and swam towards shore. I waited, and a wave tumbled him at my + feet. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘As I stooped, I saw he wore such a medal as I wear.’ Parnesius raised his hand to his + neck. ‘Therefore, when he could speak, I addressed him a certain Question which can only + be answered in a certain manner. He answered with the necessary Word—the Word that + belongs to the Degree of Gryphons in the science of Mithras my God. I put my shield over + him till he could stand up. You see I am not short, but he was a head taller than I. He + said: “What now?” I said: “At your pleasure, my brother, to stay or go.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He looked out across the surf. There remained one ship unhurt, beyond range of our + catapults. I checked the catapults and he <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page184">[pg 184]</span><a name="Pg184" id="Pg184" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>waved her in. + She came as a hound comes to a master. When she was yet a hundred paces from the beach, + he flung back his hair, and swam out. They hauled him in, and went away. I knew that + those who worship Mithras are many and of all races, so I did not think much more upon + the matter. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A month later I saw Allo with his horses—by the Temple of Pan, O Faun!—and he gave + me a great necklace of gold studded with coral. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘At first I thought it was a bribe from some tradesman in the town—meant for old + Rutilianus. “Nay,” said Allo. “This is a gift from Amal, that Winged Hat whom you saved + on the beach. He says you are a <span class="tei tei-corr">Man.”</span> + </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He is a Man, too. Tell him I can wear his gift,” I answered. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Oh, Amal is a young fool; but, speaking as sensible men, your Emperor is doing such + great things in Gaul that the Winged Hats are anxious to be his friends, or, better + still, the friends of his servants. They think you and Pertinax could lead them to + victories.” Allo looked at me like a one-eyed raven. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Allo,” I said, “you are the corn between the two millstones. Be content if they + grind evenly, and don’t thrust your hand between them.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I?” said Allo. “I hate Rome and the Winged Hats equally; but if the Winged Hats + thought that some day you and Pertinax might join them against Maximus, they would leave + you in peace while you considered. Time is what we need—you and I and Maxi<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page185">[pg 185]</span><a name="Pg185" id="Pg185" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>mus. Let me carry a pleasant message back to the Winged + Hats—something for them to make a council over. We barbarians are all alike. We sit up + half the night to discuss anything a Roman says. Eh?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“We have no men. We must fight with words,” said Pertinax. “Leave it to Allo and me.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So Allo carried word back to the Winged Hats that we would not fight them if they did + not fight us; and they (I think they were a little tired of losing men in the sea) + agreed to a sort of truce. I believe Allo, who being a horse-dealer loved lies, also + told them we might some day rise against Maximus as Maximus had risen against Rome. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Indeed, they permitted the corn-ships which I sent to the Picts to pass North that + season without harm. Therefore the Picts were well fed that winter, and since they were + in some sort my children, I was glad of it. We had only two thousand men on the Wall, + and I wrote many times to Maximus and begged—prayed—him to send me only one cohort of + my old North British troops. He could not spare them. He needed them to win more + victories in Gaul. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then came news that he had defeated and slain the Emperor Gratian, and thinking he + must now be secure, I wrote again for men. He answered: “You will learn that I have at + last settled accounts with the pup Gratian. There was no need that he should have died, + but he became confused and lost his head, which is a bad thing to befall any Emperor. + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page186">[pg 186]</span><a name="Pg186" id="Pg186" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Tell your Father I am content to drive two mules + only; for unless my old General’s son thinks himself destined to destroy me, I shall + rest Emperor of Gaul and Britain, and then you, my two children, will presently get all + the men you need. Just now I can spare none.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What did he mean by his General’s son?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He meant Theodosius Emperor of Rome, who was the son of Theodosius the General under + whom Maximus had fought in the old Pict War. The two men never loved each other, and + when Gratian made the younger Theodosius Emperor of the East (at least, so I’ve heard), + Maximus carried on the war to the second generation. It was his fate, and it was his + fall. But Theodosius the Emperor is a good man. As I know.’ Parnesius was silent for a + moment and then continued. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I wrote back to Maximus that, though we had peace on the Wall, I should be happier + with a few more men and some new catapults. He answered: “You must live a little longer + under the shadow of my victories, till I can see what young Theodosius intends. He may + welcome me as a brother-Emperor, or he may be preparing an army. In either case I cannot + spare men just now.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But he was always saying that,’ cried Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It was true. He did not make excuses; but thanks, as he said, to the news of his + victories, we had no trouble on the Wall for a long, long time. The Picts grew fat as + their own sheep among the heather, and as many <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page187">[pg 187]</span><a name="Pg187" id="Pg187" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of my + men as lived were well exercised in their weapons. Yes, the Wall looked strong. For + myself, I knew how weak we were. I knew that if even a false rumour of any defeat to + Maximus broke loose among the Winged Hats, they might come down in earnest, and + then—the Wall must go! For the Picts I never cared, but in those years I learned + something of the strength of the Winged Hats. They increased their strength every day, + but I could not increase my men. Maximus had emptied Britain behind us, and I felt + myself to be a man with a rotten stick standing before a broken fence to turn bulls. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Thus, my friends, we lived on the Wall, waiting—waiting—waiting for the men that + Maximus never sent! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Presently he wrote that he was preparing an army against Theodosius. He wrote—and + Pertinax read it over my shoulder in our quarters: “<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Tell your Father + that my destiny orders me to drive three mules or be torn in pieces by them. I hope + within a year to finish with Theodosius, son of Theodosius, once and for all. Then you + shall have Britain to rule, and Pertinax, if he chooses, Gaul. To-day I wish strongly + you were with me to beat my Auxiliaries into shape. Do not, I pray you, believe any + rumour of my sickness. I have a little evil in my old body which I shall cure by + riding swiftly into Rome.</span></span>” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Said Pertinax: “It is finished with Maximus! He writes as a man without hope. I, a + man without hope, can see this. What does he add at the bottom of the roll? ‘<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Tell </span><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page188">[pg 188]</span><a name="Pg188" id="Pg188" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span style="font-style: italic">Pertinax I have met his late + Uncle, the Duumvir of Divio, and that he accounted to me quite truthfully for all his + Mother’s monies. I have sent her with a fitting escort, for she is the mother of a + hero, to Nicæa, where the climate is warm.</span></span>’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“That is proof!” said Pertinax. “Nicæa is not far by sea from Rome. A woman there + could take ship and fly to Rome in time of war. Yes, Maximus foresees his death, and is + fulfilling his promises one by one. But I am glad my Uncle met <span class="tei tei-corr">him.”</span> + </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“You think blackly <span class="tei tei-corr">to-day?”</span> I asked. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I think truth. The Gods weary of the play we have played against them. Theodosius + will destroy Maximus. It is <span class="tei tei-corr">finished!”</span> + </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Will you write him that?” I said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“See what I shall write,” he answered, and he took pen and wrote a letter cheerful as + the light of day, tender as a woman’s and full of jests. Even I, reading over his + shoulder, took comfort from it till—I saw his face! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“And now,” he said, sealing it, “we be two dead men, my brother. Let us go to the + Temple.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We prayed awhile to Mithras, where we had many times prayed before. After that we + lived day by day among evil rumours till winter came again. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It happened one morning that we rode to the East Shore, and found on the beach a + fair-haired man, half frozen, bound to some broken planks. Turning him over, we saw by + his belt-buckle that he was a Goth of an Eastern Legion. Suddenly he opened his eyes and + cried loudly: “He is dead! The <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page189">[pg 189]</span><a name="Pg189" id="Pg189" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>letters were with me, + but the Winged Hats sunk the ship.” So saying, he died between our hands. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We asked not who was dead. We knew! We raced before the driving snow to Hunno, + thinking perhaps Allo might be there. We found him already at our stables, and he saw by + our faces what we had heard. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“It was in a tent by the Sea,” he stammered. “He was beheaded by Theodosius. He sent + a letter to you, written while he waited to be slain. The Winged Hats met the ship and + took it. The news is running through the heather like fire. Blame me not! I cannot hold + back my young men any more.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I would we could say as much for our men,” said Pertinax, laughing. “But, Gods be + praised, they cannot run away.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What do you do?” said Allo. “I bring an order—a message—from the Winged Hats that + you join them with your men, and march South to plunder Britain.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“It grieves me,” said Pertinax, “but we are stationed here to stop that thing.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“If I carry back such an answer they will kill me,” said Allo. “I always promised the + Winged Hats that you would rise when Maximus fell. I—I did not think he could fall.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Alas! my poor barbarian,” said Pertinax, still laughing. “Well, you have sold us too + many good ponies to be thrown back to your friends. We will make you a prisoner, + although you are an ambassador.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Yes, that will be best,” said Allo, holding <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page190">[pg 190]</span><a name="Pg190" id="Pg190" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>out a + halter. We bound him lightly, for he was an old man. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Presently the Winged Hats may come to look for you, and that will give us more time. + See how the habit of playing for time sticks to a man!” said Pertinax, as he tied the + rope. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No,” I said. “Time may help. If Maximus wrote us letters while he was a prisoner, + Theodosius must have sent the ship that brought it. If he can send ships, he can send + men.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“How will that profit us?” said Pertinax. “We serve Maximus, not Theodosius. Even if + by some miracle of the Gods Theodosius down South sent and saved the Wall, we could not + expect more than the death Maximus died.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“It concerns us to defend the Wall, no matter what Emperor dies, or makes die,” I + said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“That is worthy of your brother the philosopher,” said Pertinax. “Myself I am without + hope, so I do not say solemn and stupid things! Rouse the Wall!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We armed the Wall from end to end; we told the officers that there was a rumour of + Maximus’s death which might bring down the Winged Hats, but we were sure, even if it + were true, that Theodosius, for the sake of Britain, would send us help. Therefore, we + must stand fast.... My friends, it is above all things strange to see how men bear ill + news! Often the strongest till then become the weakest, while the weakest, as it <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page191">[pg 191]</span><a name="Pg191" id="Pg191" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>were, reach up and steal strength from the Gods. So it + was with us. Yet my Pertinax by his jests and his courtesy and his labours had put heart + and training into our poor numbers during the past years—more than I should have + thought possible. Even our Libyan Cohort—the Thirds—stood up in their padded cuirasses + and did not whimper. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘In three days came seven chiefs and elders of the Winged Hats. Among them was that + tall young man, Amal, whom I had met on the beach, and he smiled when he saw my + necklace. We made them welcome, for they were ambassadors. We showed them Allo, alive + but bound. They thought we had killed him, and I saw it would not have vexed them if we + had. Allo saw it too, and it vexed him. Then in our quarters at Hunno we came to + Council. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They said that Rome was falling, and that we must join them. They offered me all + South Britain to govern after they had taken a tribute out of it. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I answered, “Patience. This Wall is not weighed off like plunder. Give me proof that + my General is dead.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Nay,” said one elder, “prove to us that he lives”; and another said, cunningly, + “What will you give us if we read you his last words?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“We are not merchants to bargain,” cried Amal. “Moreover, I owe this man my life. He + shall have his proof.” He threw across to me a letter (well I knew the seal) from + Maximus. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page192">[pg 192]</span> + <a name="Pg192" id="Pg192" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“We took this out of the ship we sunk,” he cried. “I cannot read, but I know one + sign, at least, which makes me believe.” He showed me a dark stain on the outer roll + that my heavy heart perceived was the valiant blood of Maximus. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Read!” said Amal. “Read, and then let us hear whose servants you are!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Said Pertinax, very softly, after he had looked through it: “I will read it all. + Listen, barbarians!” He read from that which I have carried next my heart ever since.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Parnesius drew from his neck a folded and spotted piece of parchment, and began in a + hushed voice:— </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">To Parnesius and Pertinax, the not unworthy Captains of the Wall, + from Maximus, once Emperor of Gaul and Britain, now prisoner waiting death by the sea + in the camp of Theodosius—Greeting and Good-bye!</span></span>” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Enough,” said young Amal; “there is your proof! You must join us now!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Pertinax looked long and silently at him, till that fair man blushed like a girl. + Then read Pertinax:— </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I have joyfully done much evil in my life to those who have wished + me evil, but if ever I did any evil to you two I repent, and I ask your forgiveness. + The three mules which I strove to drive have torn me in pieces as your Father + prophesied. The naked swords wait at the tent door to give me the death I gave to + Gratian. Therefore I, your General and your Emperor, send you free and honourable + dismissal from my service, which you entered, not for money </span><span class="tei tei-pb" id="page193">[pg 193]</span><a name="Pg193" id="Pg193" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><span style="font-style: italic">or office, but, as it makes me warm to believe, because you loved + me!</span></span>” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“By the Light of the Sun,” Amal broke in. “This was in some sort a Man! We may have + been mistaken in his servants!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And Pertinax read on: “<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">You gave me the time for which I asked. If I + have failed to use it, do not lament. We have gambled very splendidly against the + Gods, but they hold weighted dice, and I must pay the forfeit. Remember, I have been; + but Rome is; and Rome will be! Tell Pertinax his Mother is in safety at Nicæa, and her + monies are in charge of the Prefect at Antipolis. Make my remembrances to your Father + and to your Mother, whose friendship was great gain to me. Give also to my little + Picts and to the Winged Hats such messages as their thick heads can understand. I + would have sent you three Legions this very day if all had gone aright. Do not forget + me. We have worked together. Farewell! Farewell! Farewell!</span></span>” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Now, that was my Emperor’s last <span class="tei tei-corr">letter.’</span> (The children heard the parchment + crackle as Parnesius returned it to its place.) </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I was mistaken,” said Amal. “The servants of such a man will sell nothing except + over the sword. I am glad of it.” He held out his hand to me. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“But Maximus has given you your dismissal,” said an elder. “You are certainly free to + serve—or to rule—whom you please. Join—do not follow—join us!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“We thank you,” said Pertinax. “But Maximus tells us to give you such messages as<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page194">[pg 194]</span><a name="Pg194" id="Pg194" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>—pardon me, but I use his words—your thick heads can + understand.” He pointed through the door to the foot of a catapult wound up. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“We understand,” said an elder. “The Wall must be won at a price?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“It grieves me,” said Pertinax, laughing, “but so it must be won,” and he gave them + of our best Southern wine. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They drank, and wiped their yellow beards in silence till they rose to go. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Said Amal, stretching himself (for they were barbarians), “We be a goodly company; I + wonder what the ravens and the dogfish will make of some of us before this snow melts.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Think rather what Theodosius may send,” I answered; and though they laughed, I saw + that my chance shot troubled them. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Only old Allo lingered behind a little. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“You see,” he said, winking and blinking, “I am no more than their dog. When I have + shown their men the secret short ways across our bogs, they will kick me like one.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Then I should not be in haste to show them those ways,” said Pertinax, “till I were + sure that Rome could not save the Wall.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“You think so? Woe is me!” said the old man. “I only wanted peace for my people,” and + he went out stumbling through the snow behind the tall Winged Hats. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘In this fashion then, slowly, a day at a time, which is very bad for doubting troops, + the War came upon us. At first the Winged Hats swept in from the sea as they had done + before, and there we met them as before—with the catapults; and they sickened of it. + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page195">[pg 195]</span><a name="Pg195" id="Pg195" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Yet for a long time they would not trust their + duck-legs on land, and I think when it came to revealing the secrets of the tribe, the + little Picts were afraid or ashamed to show them all the roads across the heather. I had + this from a Pict prisoner. They were as much our spies as our enemies, for the Winged + Hats oppressed them, and took their winter stores. Ah, foolish Little People! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then the Winged Hats began to roll us up from each end of the Wall. I sent runners + Southward to see what the news might be in Britain; but the wolves were very bold that + winter among the deserted stations where the troops had once been, and none came back. + We had trouble too with the forage for the ponies along the Wall. I kept ten, and so did + Pertinax. We lived and slept in the saddle riding east or west, and we ate our worn-out + ponies. The people of the town also made us some trouble till I gathered them all in one + quarter behind Hunno. We broke down the Wall on either side of it to make as it were a + citadel. Our men fought better in close order. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘By the end of the second month we were deep in the War as a man is deep in a + snow-drift or in a dream. I think we fought in our sleep. At least I know I have gone on + the Wall and come off again, remembering nothing between, though my throat was harsh + with giving orders, and my sword, I could see, had been used. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The Winged Hats fought like wolves—all in a pack. Where they had suffered most, <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page196">[pg 196]</span><a name="Pg196" id="Pg196" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>there they charged in most hotly. This was hard for the + defender, but it held them from sweeping on into Britain. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘In those days Pertinax and I wrote on the plaster of the bricked archway into + Valentia the names of the towers, and the days on which they fell one by one. We wished + for some record. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And the fighting? The fight was always hottest to left and right of the great Statue + of Roma Dea, near to Rutilianus’ house. By the light of the Sun, that old fat man, whom + we had not considered at all, grew young again among the trumpets! I remember he said + his sword was an oracle! “Let us consult the Oracle,” he would say, and put the handle + against his ear, and shake his head wisely. “And <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">this</span></span> day is + allowed Rutilianus to live,” he would say, and, tucking up his cloak, he would puff and + pant and fight well. Oh, there were jests in plenty on the Wall to take the place of + food! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We endured for two months and seventeen days—always being pressed from three sides + into a smaller space. Several times Allo sent in word that help was at hand. We did not + believe it, but it cheered our men. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The end came not with shoutings of joy, but, like the rest, as in a dream. The Winged + Hats suddenly left us in peace for one night, and the next day; which is too long for + spent men. We slept at first lightly, expecting to be roused, and then like logs, each + where he lay. May you never need such sleep! When I waked our towers were full of + strange, <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page197">[pg 197]</span><a name="Pg197" id="Pg197" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>armed men, who watched us snoring. I roused + Pertinax, and we leaped up together. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What?” said a young man in clean armour. “Do you fight against Theodosius? Look!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘North we looked over the red snow. No Winged Hats were there. South we looked over + the white snow, and behold there were the Eagles of two strong Legions encamped. East + and west we saw flame and fighting, but by Hunno all was still. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Trouble no more,” said the young man. “Rome’s arm is long. Where are the Captains of + the Wall?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We said we were those men. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“But you are old and grey-haired,” he cried. “Maximus said that they were boys.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Yes that was true some years ago,” said Pertinax. “What is our fate to be, you fine + and well-fed child?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I am called Ambrosius, a secretary of the Emperor,” he answered. “Show me a certain + letter which Maximus wrote from a tent at Aquileia, and perhaps I will believe.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I took it from my breast, and when he had read it he saluted us, saying: “Your fate + is in your own hands. If you choose to serve Theodosius, he will give you a Legion. If + it suits you to go to your homes, we will give you a Triumph.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I would like better a bath, wine, food, razors, soaps, oils, and scents,” said + Pertinax, laughing. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Oh, I see you are a boy,” said Ambrosius. “And you?” turning to me. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page198">[pg 198]</span> + <a name="Pg198" id="Pg198" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“We bear no ill-will against Theodosius, but in War——” I began. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“In War it is as it is in Love,” said Pertinax. “Whether she be good or bad, one + gives one’s best once, to one only. That given, there remains no second worth giving or + taking.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“That is true,” said Ambrosius. “I was with Maximus before he died. He warned + Theodosius that you would never serve him, and frankly I say I am sorry for my Emperor.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He has Rome to console him,” said Pertinax. “I ask you of your kindness to let us go + to our homes and get this smell out of our nostrils.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘None the less they gave us a Triumph!’ </p> + <div class="tei tei-tb"> </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It was well earned,’ said Puck, throwing some leaves into the still water of the + marlpit. The black, oily circles spread dizzily as the children watched them. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I want to know, oh, ever so many things,’ said Dan, ‘What happened to old Allo? Did + the Winged Hats ever come back? And what did Amal do?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And what happened to the fat old General with the five cooks?’ said Una. ‘And what + did your Mother say when you came home?’... </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘She’d say you’re settin’ too long over this old pit, so late as ’tis already,’ said + old Hobden’s voice behind them. ‘Hst!’ he whispered. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He stood still, for not twenty paces away a magnificent dog-fox sat on his haunches + and <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page199">[pg 199]</span><a name="Pg199" id="Pg199" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>looked at the children as though he were an old + friend of theirs. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, Mus’ Reynolds, Mus’ Reynolds!’ said Hobden, under his breath. ‘If I knowed all + was inside your head, I’d know something wuth knowin’. Mus’ Dan an’ Miss Una, come along + o’ me while I lock up my liddle hen-house.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page200">[pg 200]</span> + <a name="Pg200" id="Pg200" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page201">[pg 201]</span> + <a name="Pg201" id="Pg201" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf18" id="pdf18"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">A PICT SONG</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Rome never looks where she treads,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Always her heavy hooves fall,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">On our stomachs, our hearts or our heads;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And Rome never heeds when we bawl.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Her sentries pass on—that is all,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And we gather behind them in hordes,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And plot to reconquer the Wall,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">With only our tongues for our + swords.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">We are the Little Folk—we!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Too little to love or to hate.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Leave us alone and you’ll see</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">How we can drag down the Great!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">We are the worm in the wood!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">We are the rot at the root!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">We are the germ in the blood!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">We are the thorn in the foot!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Mistletoe killing an oak—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Rats gnawing cables in two—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Moths making holes in a cloak—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">How they must love what they do!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Yes,—and we Little Folk too,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">We are as busy as they—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Working our works out of view—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Watch, and you’ll see it some day!</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page202">[pg 202]</span> + <a name="Pg202" id="Pg202" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">No indeed! We are not strong,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But we know Peoples that are.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Yes, and we’ll guide them along,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To smash and destroy you in War!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">We shall be slaves just the same?</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Yes, we have always been slaves;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But you—you will die of the shame,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And then we shall dance on your graves!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">We are the Little Folk, we! etc.</span></span></div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page203">[pg 203]</span> + <a name="Pg203" id="Pg203" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%"> HAL O’ THE DRAFT </span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page204">[pg 204]</span> + <a name="Pg204" id="Pg204" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page205">[pg 205]</span> + <a name="Pg205" id="Pg205" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Prophets have honour all over the Earth,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Except in the village where they were + born;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Where such as knew them boys from birth,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Nature-ally hold ’em in scorn.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">When Prophets are naughty and young and vain,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">They make a won’erful grievance of it;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">(You can see by their writings how they </span><span class="tei tei-corr" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">complain),</span></span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But O, ’tis won’erful good for the + Prophet!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">There’s nothing Nineveh Town can give,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">(Nor being swallowed by whales between),</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Makes up for the place where a man’s folk live,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">That don’t care nothing what he has been.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">He might ha’ been that, or he might ha’ been this,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But they love and they hate him for what he is!</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page206">[pg 206]</span> + <a name="Pg206" id="Pg206" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page207">[pg 207]</span> + <a name="Pg207" id="Pg207" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf19" id="pdf19"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">HAL O’ THE DRAFT</span></h2> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> A rainy afternoon drove Dan and Una over to play pirates in the Little Mill. If you + don’t mind rats on the rafters and oats in your shoes, the mill-attic, with its + trap-doors and inscriptions on beams about floods and sweethearts, is a splendid place. + It is lighted by a foot-square window, called Duck Window, that looks across to Little + Lindens Farm, and the spot where Jack Cade was killed. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> When they had climbed the attic ladder (they called it the ‘mainmast tree’ out of the + ballad of Sir Andrew Barton, and Dan ‘swarved it with might and main,’ as the ballad + says) they saw a man sitting on Duck window-sill. He was dressed in a plum-coloured + doublet and tight plum-coloured hose, and he drew busily in a red-edged book. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Sit ye! Sit ye!’ Puck cried from a rafter overhead. ‘See what it is to be beautiful! + Sir Harry Dawe—pardon, Hal—says I am the very image of a head for a gargoyle.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The man laughed and raised his dark velvet cap to the children, and his grizzled hair + bristled out in a stormy fringe. He was old—forty at least—but his eyes were young, + with funny little wrinkles all round them. A satchel of embroidered leather hung from + his broad belt, which looked interesting. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page208">[pg 208]</span> + <a name="Pg208" id="Pg208" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘May we see?’ said Una, coming forward. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Surely—sure-ly!’ he said, moving up on the window-seat, and returned to his work + with a silver-pointed pencil. Puck sat as though the grin were fixed for ever on his + broad face, while they watched the quick, certain fingers that copied it. Presently the + man took a reed pen from his satchel, and trimmed it with a little ivory knife, carved + in the semblance of a fish. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, what a beauty!’ cried Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘’Ware fingers! That blade is perilous sharp. I made it myself of the best Low Country + cross-bow steel. And so, too, this fish. When his back-fin travels to his tail—so—he + swallows up the blade, even as the whale swallowed Gaffer Jonah.... Yes, and that’s my + ink-horn. I made the four silver saints round it. Press Barnabas’s head. It opens, and + then——’ He dipped the trimmed pen, and with careful boldness began to put in the + essential lines of Puck’s rugged face, that had been but faintly revealed by the + silver-point. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The children gasped, for it fairly leaped from the page. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> As he worked, and the rain fell on the tiles, he talked—now clearly, now muttering, + now breaking off to frown or smile at his work. He told them he was born at Little + Lindens Farms, and his father used to beat him for drawing things instead of doing + things, till an old priest called Father Roger, who drew illuminated letters in rich + people’s books, coaxed the parents to let him take the boy <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page209">[pg 209]</span><a name="Pg209" id="Pg209" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>as a sort of painter’s apprentice. Then he went with Father Roger to + Oxford, where he cleaned plates and carried cloaks and shoes for the scholars of a + College called Merton. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Didn’t you hate that?’ said Dan after a great many other questions. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I never thought on’t. Half Oxford was building new colleges or beautifying the old, + and she had called to her aid the master-craftsmen of all Christendie—kings in their + trade and honoured of Kings. I knew them. I worked for them: that was enough. No + wonder——’ He stopped and laughed. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘You became a great man,’ said Puck. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They said so, Robin. Even Bramante said so.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Why? What did you do?’ Dan asked. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The artist looked at him queerly. ‘Things in stone and such, up and down England. You + would not have heard of ’em. To come nearer home, I re-builded this little St. + Bartholomew’s church of ours. It cost me more trouble and sorrow than aught I’ve touched + in my life. But ’twas a sound lesson.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Um,’ said Dan. ‘We had lessons this morning.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’ll not afflict ye, lad,’ said Hal, while Puck roared. ‘Only ’tis strange to think + how that little church was re-built, re-roofed, and made glorious, thanks to some few + godly Sussex iron-masters, a Bristol sailor lad, a proud ass called Hal o’ the Draft + because, d’you see, he was always drawing and drafting; and’—he dragged the words + slowly—‘<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">and</span></span> a Scotch pirate.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page210">[pg 210]</span> + <a name="Pg210" id="Pg210" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Pirate?’ said Dan. He wriggled like a hooked fish. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Even that Andrew Barton you were singing of on the stair just now.’ He dipped again + in the ink-well, and held his breath over a sweeping line, as though he had forgotten + everything else. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Pirates don’t build churches, do they?’ said Dan. ‘Or <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">do</span></span> + they?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They help mightily,’ Hal laughed. ‘But you were at your lessons this morn, Jack + Scholar?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, pirates aren’t lessons. It was only Bruce and his silly old spider,’ said Una. + ‘Why did Sir Andrew Barton help you?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I question if he ever knew it,’ said Hal, twinkling. ‘Robin, how a-mischief’s name am + I to tell these innocents what comes of sinful pride?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, we know all about <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span>,’ said Una pertly. ‘If you get too + beany—that’s cheeky—you get sat upon, of course.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Hal considered a moment, pen in air, and Puck said some long words. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Aha! That was my case too,’ he cried. ‘Beany—you say—but certainly I did not + conduct myself well. I was proud of—of such things as porches—a Galilee porch at + Lincoln for choice—proud of one Torrigiano’s arm on my shoulder, proud of my knighthood + when I made the gilt scroll-work for <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">The Sovereign</span></span>—our King’s + ship. But Father Roger sitting in Merton Library, he did not forget me. At the top of my + pride, when I and no other should have builded the porch <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page211">[pg 211]</span><a name="Pg211" id="Pg211" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>at Lincoln, he laid it on me with a terrible forefinger to go back to my Sussex clays + and re-build, at my own charges, my own church, where we Dawes have been buried for six + generations. “Out! Son of my Art!” said he. “Fight the Devil at home ere you call + yourself a man and a craftsman.” And I quaked, and I went.... How’s yon, Robin?’ He + flourished the finished sketch before Puck. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Me! Me past peradventure,’ said Puck, smirking like a man at a mirror. ‘Ah, see! The + rain has took off! I hate housen in daylight.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Whoop! Holiday!’ cried Hal, leaping up. ‘Who’s for my Little Lindens? We can talk + there.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They tumbled downstairs, and turned past the dripping willows by the sunny mill dam. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Body o’ me,’ said Hal, staring at the hop-garden, where the hops were just ready to + blossom. ‘What are these vines? No, not vines, and they twine the wrong way to beans.’ + He began to draw in his ready book. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Hops. New since your day,’ said Puck. ‘They’re an herb of Mars, and their flowers + dried flavour ale. We say:— </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘“Turkeys, Heresy, Hops, and Beer</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Came into England all in one year.”’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Heresy I know. I’ve seen Hops—God be praised for their beauty! What is your Turkis?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The children laughed. They knew the Lindens turkeys, and as soon as they reached <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page212">[pg 212]</span><a name="Pg212" id="Pg212" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Lindens’ orchard on the hill the flock charged at them. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Out came Hal’s book at once. ‘Hoity-toity!’ he cried. ‘Here’s Pride in purple + feathers! Here’s wrathy contempt and the Pomps of the Flesh! How d’you call <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">them</span></span>?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Turkeys! Turkeys!’ the children shouted, as the old gobbler raved and flamed against + Hal’s plum-coloured hose. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Save Your Magnificence!’ he said. ‘I’ve drafted two good new things to-day.’ And he + doffed his cap to the bubbling bird. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Then they walked through the grass to the knoll where Little Lindens stands. The old + farm-house, weather-tiled to the ground, took almost the colour of a blood-ruby in the + afternoon light. The pigeons pecked at the mortar in the chimney-stacks; the bees that + had lived under the tiles since it was built filled the hot August air with their + booming; and the smell of the box-tree by the dairy-window mixed with the smell of earth + after rain, bread after baking, and a tickle of wood-smoke. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The farmer’s wife came to the door, baby on arm, shaded her brows against the sun, + stooped to pluck a sprig of rosemary, and turned down the orchard. The old spaniel in + his barrel barked once or twice to show he was in charge of the empty house. Puck + clicked back the garden-gate. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘D’you marvel that I love it?’ said Hal, in a whisper. ‘What can town folk know of the + nature of housen—or land?’ </p> + <a name="image04" id="image04" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + + + + + + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p><div class="tei tei-figure" style="text-align: center"><img src="images/col04s.jpg" width="400" height="496" alt="Illustration to page 212" title="‘Hoity-toity,’ he cried. ‘Here’s Pride in purple feathers! Here’s wrathy contempt and the Pomps of the Flesh!’... And he doffed his cap to the bubbling bird." /><div class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em">‘Hoity-toity,’ he cried. ‘Here’s Pride in purple feathers!<br /> Here’s wrathy + contempt and the Pomps of the Flesh!’...<br /> And he doffed his cap to the bubbling + bird.</a></div></div> + + + + + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They perched themselves arow on the old + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page213">[pg 213]</span><a name="Pg213" id="Pg213" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>hacked oak bench in Lindens’ garden, looking across the valley of the brook at the + fern-covered dimples and hollows of the Forge behind Hobden’s cottage. The old man was + cutting a faggot in his garden by the hives. It was quite a second after his chopper + fell that the chump of the blow reached their lazy ears. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Eh—yeh!’ said Hal. ‘I mind when where that old gaffer stands was Nether + Forge—Master John Collins’s foundry. Many a night has his big trip-hammer shook me in + my bed here. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Boom-bitty! Boom-bitty!</span></span> If the wind was east, I + could hear Master Tom Collins’s forge at Stockens answering his brother, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Boom-oop! Boom-oop!</span></span> and midway between, Sir John Pelham’s + sledge-hammers at Brightling would strike in like a pack o’scholars, and “<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Hic-haec-hoc</span></span>” they’d say, “<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Hic-haec-hoc</span></span>,” + till I fell asleep. Yes. The valley was as full o’ forges and fineries as a May shaw o’ + cuckoos. All gone to grass now!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What did they make?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Guns for the King’s ships—and for others. Serpentines and cannon mostly. When the + guns were cast, down would come the King’s Officers, and take our plough-oxen to haul + them to the coast. Look! Here’s one of the first and finest craftsmen of the Sea!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He fluttered back a page of his book, and showed them a young man’s head. Underneath + was written: ‘Sebastianus.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He came down with a King’s Order on Master John Collins for twenty serpentines + (wicked little cannon they be!) to furnish a <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page214">[pg 214]</span><a name="Pg214" id="Pg214" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>venture of + ships. I drafted him thus sitting by our fire telling Mother of the new lands he’d find + the far side the world. And he found them, too! There’s a nose to cleave through unknown + seas! Cabot was his name—a Bristol lad—half a foreigner. I set a heap by him. He + helped me to my church-building.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I thought that was Sir Andrew Barton,’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ay, but foundations before roofs,’ Hal answered. ‘Sebastian first put me in the way + of it. I had come down here, not to serve God as a craftsman should, but to show my + people how great a craftsman I was. They cared not, and it served me right, one split + straw for my craft or my greatness. What a murrain call had I, they said, to mell with + old St. Barnabas’s? Ruinous the church had been since the Black Death, and ruinous she + should remain; and I could hang myself in my new scaffold-ropes! Gentle and simple, high + and low—the Hayes, the Fowles, the Fanners, the Collinses—they were all in a tale + against me. Only Sir John Pelham up yonder to Brightling bade me heart-up and go on. Yet + how could I? Did I ask Master Collins for his timber-tug to haul beams? The oxen had + gone to Lewes after <span class="tei tei-corr">lime.</span> Did he promise me a set of iron cramps + or ties for the roof? They never came to hand, or else they were spaulty or cracked. So + with everything. Nothing said, but naught done except I stood by them, and then done + amiss. I thought the countryside was fair bewitched.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page215">[pg 215]</span> + <a name="Pg215" id="Pg215" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It was, sure-ly,’ said Puck, knees under chin. ‘Did you never suspect any one?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Not till Sebastian came for his guns, and John Collins played him the same dog’s + tricks as he’d played me with my ironwork. Week in, week out, two of three serpentines + would be flawed in the casting, and only fit, they said, to be remelted. Then John + Collins would shake his head, and vow he could pass no cannon for the King’s service + that were not perfect. Saints! How Sebastian stormed! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> know, for + we sat on this bench sharing our sorrows inter-common. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When Sebastian had fumed away six weeks at Lindens and gotten just six serpentines, + Dirk Brenzett, Master of the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Cygnet</span></span> hoy, sends me word that the + block of stone he was fetching me from France for our new font he’d hove overboard to + lighten his ship, chased by Andrew Barton up to Rye Port.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ah! The pirate!’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes. And while I am tearing my hair over this, Ticehurst Will, my best mason, comes + to me shaking, and vowing that the Devil, horned, tailed, and chained, has run out on + him from the church-tower, and the men would work there no more. So I took ’em off the + foundations, which we were strengthening, and went into the Bell Tavern for a cup of + ale. Says Master John Collins: “Have it your own way, lad; but if I was you, I’d take + the sinnification o’ the sign, and leave old Barnabas’s Church alone!” And they all + wagged their sinful heads, and agreed. Less afraid of the Devil than of me—as I saw + later. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page216">[pg 216]</span> + <a name="Pg216" id="Pg216" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When I brought my sweet news to Lindens, Sebastian was <span class="tei tei-sic">limewashing</span> the + kitchen-beams for Mother. He loved her like a son. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Cheer up, lad,” he says. “God’s where He was. Only you and I chance to be pure pute + asses! We’ve been tricked, Hal, and more shame to me, a sailor, that I did not guess it + before! You must leave your belfry alone, forsooth, because the Devil is adrift there; + and I cannot get my serpentines because John Collins cannot cast them aright. Meantime + Andrew Barton hawks off the Port of Rye. And why? To take those very serpentines which + poor Cabot must whistle for; the said serpentines, I’ll wager my share of new + Continents, being now hid away in St. Barnabas church tower. Clear as the Irish coast at + noonday!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“They’d sure never dare to do it,” I said; “and for another thing, selling cannon to + the King’s enemies is black treason—hanging and fine.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“It is sure large profit. Men’ll dare any gallows for that. I have been a trader + myself,” says he. “We must be upsides with ’em for the honour of Bristol.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then he hatched a plot, sitting on the <span class="tei tei-sic">lime-wash</span> bucket. We gave out to + ride o’ Tuesday to London and made a show of making farewells of our friends—especially + of Master John Collins. But at Wadhurst Woods we turned; rode by night to the + watermeadows; hid our horses in a willow-tot at the foot of the glebe, and stole + a-tiptoe up hill to Bar<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page217">[pg 217]</span><a name="Pg217" id="Pg217" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>nabas’s church again. A thick + mist, and a moon coming through. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I had no sooner locked the tower-door behind us than over goes Sebastian full length + in the dark. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Pest!” he says. “Step high and feel low, Hal. I’ve stumbled over guns before.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I groped, and one by one—the tower was pitchy dark—I counted the lither barrels of + twenty serpentines laid out on pease-straw. No conceal at all! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“There’s two demi-cannon my end,” says Sebastian, slapping metal. “They’ll be for + Andrew Barton’s lower deck. Honest—honest John Collins! So this is his warehouse, his + arsenal, his armoury! Now, see you why your pokings and pryings have raised the Devil in + Sussex? You’ve hindered John’s lawful trade for months,” and he laughed where he lay. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A clay-cold tower is no fireside at midnight, so we climbed the belfry stairs, and + there Sebastian trips over a cow-hide with its horns and tail. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Aha! Your Devil has left his doublet! Does it become me, Hal?” He draws it on and + capers in the slits of window-moonlight—won’erful devilish-like. Then he sits on the + stair, rapping with his tail on a board, and his back-aspect was dreader than his front; + and a howlet lit in, and screeched at the horns of him. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“If you’d keep out the Devil, shut the door,” he whispered. “And that’s another <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page218">[pg 218]</span><a name="Pg218" id="Pg218" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>false proverb, Hal, for I can hear your tower-door + opening.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I locked it. Who a-plague has another key, then?” I said. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“All the congregation, to judge by their feet,” he says, and peers into the + blackness. “Still! Still, Hal! Hear ’em grunt! That’s more o’ my <span class="tei tei-corr">serpentines</span>, I’ll be bound. One—two—three—four they bear in! Faith, Andrew + equips himself like an admiral! Twenty-four serpentines in all!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘As if it had been an echo, we heard John Collins’s voice come up all hollow: + “Twenty-four serpentines and two demi-cannon. That’s the full tally for Sir Andrew + Barton.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Courtesy costs naught,” whispers Sebastian. “Shall I drop my dagger on his head?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“They go over to Rye o’ Thursday in the <span class="tei tei-sic">wool-wains</span>, hid + under the wool packs. Dirk Brenzett meets them at Udimore, as before,” says John. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Lord! What a worn, handsmooth trade it is!” says Sebastian. “I lay we are the sole + two babes in the village that have not our lawful share in the venture.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘There was a full score folk below, talking like all Robertsbridge Market. We counted + them by voice. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Master John Collins pipes: “The guns for the French carrack must lie here next month. + Will, when does your young fool (me, so please you!) come back from Lunnon?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No odds,” I heard Ticehurst Will answer. + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page219">[pg 219]</span> + <a name="Pg219" id="Pg219" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>“Lay ’em just where you’ve a mind, Mus’ Collins. We’re all too afraid o’ the Devil to + mell with the tower now.” And the long knave laughed. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ah! ’tis easy enow for you to raise the Devil, Will,” says another—Ralph Hobden + from the Forge. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Aaa-men!” roars Sebastian, and ere I could hold him, he leaps down the + stairs—won’erful devilish-like—howling no bounds. He had scarce time to lay out for + the nearest than they ran. Saints, how they ran! We heard them pound on the door of the + Bell Tavern, and then we ran too. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“What’s next?” says Sebastian, looping up his cow-tail as he leaped the briars. “I’ve + broke honest John’s face.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ride to Sir John Pelham’s,” I said. “He is the only one that ever stood by me.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We rode to Brightling, and past Sir John’s lodges, where the keepers would have shot + at us for deer-stealers, and we had Sir John down into his Justice’s chair, and when we + had told him our tale and showed him the cow-hide which Sebastian wore still girt about + him, he laughed till the tears ran. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Wel-a-well!” he says. “I’ll see justice done before daylight. What’s your complaint? + Master Collins is my old friend.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“He’s none of mine,” I cried. “When I think how he and his likes have baulked and + dozened and cozened me at every turn over the church”——and I choked at the thought. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ah, but ye see now they needed it for another use,” says he, smoothly. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page220">[pg 220]</span> + <a name="Pg220" id="Pg220" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“So they did my serpentines,” Sebastian cries. “I should be half across the Western + Ocean by this if my guns had been ready. But they’re sold to a Scotch pirate by your old + friend.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Where’s your proof?” says Sir John, stroking his beard. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I broke my shins over them not an hour since, and I heard John give order where they + were to be taken,” says Sebastian. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Words! Words only,” says Sir John. “Master Collins is somewhat of a liar at best.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He carried it so gravely, that for the moment, I thought he was dipped in this secret + traffick too, and that there was not an honest ironmaster in Sussex. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Name o’ Reason!” says Sebastian, and raps with his cow-tail on the table, “Whose + guns are they, then?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Yours, manifestly,” says Sir John. “You come with the King’s Order for ’em, and + Master Collins casts them in his foundry. If he chooses to bring them up from Nether + Forge and lay ’em out in the church tower, why they are e’en so much the nearer to the + main road and you are saved a day’s hauling. What a coil to make of a mere act of + neighbourly kindness, lad!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I fear I have requited him very scurvily,” says Sebastian, looking at his knuckles. + “But what of the demi-cannon? I could do with ’em well, but <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">they</span></span> + are not in the King’s Order.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Kindness—loving-kindness,” says Sir John. “Questionless, in his zeal for the King + and his love for you, John adds those two <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page221">[pg 221]</span><a name="Pg221" id="Pg221" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>cannon as a + gift. ’Tis plain as this coming daylight, ye stockfish!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“So it is,” says Sebastian. “Oh, Sir John, Sir John, why did you never use the sea? + You are lost ashore.” And he looked on him with great love. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I do my best in my station.” Sir John strokes his beard again and rolls forth his + deep drumming Justice’s voice thus:—“But—suffer me!—you two lads, on some midnight + frolic into which I probe not, roystering around the taverns, surprise Master Collins at + his”—he thinks a moment—“at his good deeds done by stealth. Ye surprise him, I say, + cruelly.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Truth, Sir John. If you had seen him run!” says Sebastian. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“On this you ride breakneck to me with a tale of pirates, and wool-wains, and + cow-hides, which, though it hath moved my mirth as a man, offendeth my reason as a + magistrate. So I will e’en accompany you back to the tower with, perhaps, some few of my + own people, and three to four wagons, and I’ll be your warrant that Master John Collins + will freely give you your guns and your demi-cannon, Master Sebastian.” He breaks into + his proper voice—“I warned the old tod and his neighbours long ago that they’d come to + trouble with their side-sellings and bye-dealings; but we cannot have half Sussex hanged + for a little gun-running. Are ye content, lads?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I’d commit any treason for two demi-cannon,” said Sebastian, and rubs his hands. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page222">[pg 222]</span> + <a name="Pg222" id="Pg222" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ye have just compounded with rank treason-felony for the same bribe,” says Sir John. + “Wherefore to horse, and get the guns.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But Master Collins meant the guns for Sir Andrew Barton all along, didn’t he?’ said + Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Questionless, that he did,’ said Hal. ‘But he lost them. We poured into the village + on the red edge of dawn, Sir John horsed, in half-armour, his pennon flying; behind him + thirty stout Brightling knaves, five abreast; behind them four wool-wains, and behind + them four trumpets to triumph over the jest, blowing: <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Our King went + forth to Normandie</span></span>. When we halted and rolled the ringing guns out of the tower, + ’twas for all the world like Friar Roger’s picture of the French siege in the Queen’s + Missal-book.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And what did we—I mean, what did our village do?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh! Bore it nobly—nobly,’ cried Hal. ‘Though they had tricked me, I was proud of us. + They came out of their housen, looked at that little army as though it had been a post, + and went their shut-mouthed way. Never a sign! Never a word! They’d ha’ perished sooner + than let Brightling overcrow us. Even that villain, Ticehurst Will, coming out of the + Bell for his morning ale, he all but ran under Sir John’s horse. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Ware, Sirrah Devil!” cries Sir John, reining back. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Oh!” says Will. “Market day, is it? And all the bullocks from Brightling here?”</p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page223">[pg 223]</span> + <a name="Pg223" id="Pg223" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I spared him his belting for that—the brazen knave! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But John Collins was our masterpiece! He happened along-street (his jaw tied up where + Sebastian had clouted him) when we were trundling the first demi-cannon through the + lych-gate. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“I reckon you’ll find her middlin’ heavy,” he says. “If you’ve a mind to pay, I’ll + loan ye my timber-tug. She won’t lie easy on <span class="tei tei-sic">ary</span> wool-wain.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That was the one time I ever saw Sebastian taken flat aback. He opened and shut his + mouth, fishy-like. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No offence,” says Master John. “You’ve got her reasonable good cheap. I thought ye + might not grudge me a groat if I help move her.” Ah, he was a masterpiece! They say that + morning’s work cost our John two hundred pounds, and he never winked an eyelid, not even + when he saw the guns all carted off to Lewes.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Neither then nor later?’ said Puck. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Once. ’Twas after he gave St. Barnabas the new chime of bells. (Oh, there was nothing + the Collinses, or the Hayes, or the Fowles, or the Fanners would not do for the church + then! “Ask and have” was their song.) We had rung ’em in, and he was in the tower with + Black Nick Fowle, that gave us our rood-screen. The old man pinches the bell-rope one + hand and scratches his neck with t’other. “Sooner she was pulling yon clapper than my + neck,” he says. That was all! That was Sussex—seely Sussex for everlastin’!’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page224">[pg 224]</span> + <a name="Pg224" id="Pg224" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And what happened after?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I went back into England,’ said Hal, slowly. ‘I’d had my lesson against pride. But + they tell me I left St. Barnabas’s a jewel—just about a jewel! Wel-a-well! ’Twas done + for and among my own people, and—Father Roger was right—I never knew such trouble or + such triumph since. That’s the nature o’ things. A dear—dear land.’ He dropped his chin + on his chest. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘There’s your Father at the Forge. What’s he talking to old Hobden about?’ said Puck, + opening his hand with three leaves in it. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Dan looked towards the cottage. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, I know. It’s that old oak lying across the brook. Pater always wants it grubbed.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> In the still valley they could hear old Hobden’s deep tones. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Have it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">as</span></span> you’ve a mind to,’ he was saying. ‘But the vivers + of her roots they hold the bank together. If you grub her out, the bank she’ll all come + tearin’ down, an’ next floods the brook’ll swarve up. But have it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">as</span></span> you’ve a mind. The mistuss she sets a heap by the ferns on her trunk.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh! I’ll think it over,’ said the Pater. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Una laughed a little bubbling chuckle. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What Devil’s in <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span> belfry?’ said Hal, with a lazy laugh. + ‘That should be Hobden by his <span class="tei tei-corr">voice.’</span> + </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Why, the oak is the regular bridge for all the rabbits between the Three Acre and our + meadow. The best place for wires on the farm, Hobden says. He’s got two there now,’ <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page225">[pg 225]</span><a name="Pg225" id="Pg225" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Una answered. ‘<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">He</span></span> won’t ever let + it be grubbed!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ah, Sussex! Silly Sussex for everlastin’,’ murmured Hal; and the next moment their + Father’s voice calling across to Little Lindens broke the spell as St. Barnabas’s clock + struck five. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page226">[pg 226]</span> + <a name="Pg226" id="Pg226" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page227">[pg 227]</span> + <a name="Pg227" id="Pg227" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf20" id="pdf20"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">SMUGGLERS’ SONG</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">If you wake at midnight, and hear a horse’s feet,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Don’t go drawing back the blind, or looking in the street,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Them that asks no questions isn’t told a lie.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Watch the wall, my darling, while the Gentlemen go by!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Five and twenty ponies</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Trotting through the dark;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Brandy for the Parson,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">’Baccy for the Clerk</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Laces for a lady, letters for a spy,</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And watch the wall, my darling, while the Gentlemen go by!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Running round the woodlump if you chance to find</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Little barrels, roped and tarred, all full of brandywined;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Don’t you shout to come and look, nor take ’em for your play;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Put the brishwood back again,—and they’ll be gone next + day!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">If you see the stableyard setting open wide;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">If you see a tied horse lying down inside;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">If your mother mends a coat cut about and tore;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">If the lining’s wet and warm—don’t you ask no more!</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page228">[pg 228]</span> + <a name="Pg228" id="Pg228" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">If you meet King George’s men, dressed in blue and red,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">You be careful what you say, and mindful what is said.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">If they call you ’pretty maid,’ and chuck you ’neath the chin,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Don’t you tell where no one is, nor yet where no one’s + been!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Knocks and footsteps round the house—whistles after dark—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">You’ve no call for running out till the house-dogs bark.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Trusty’s <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">here, and</span></span> Pincher’s <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">here, and see + how dumb they lie—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">They don’t fret to follow when the Gentlemen go by!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">If you do as you’ve been told, likely there’s a chance,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">You’ll be give a dainty doll, all the way from France,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">With a cap of Valenciennes, and a velvet hood—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">A present from the Gentlemen, along o’ being good!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Five and twenty ponies,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Trotting through the Park—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Brandy for the Parson,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">’Baccy for the Clerk.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Them that asks no questions isn’t told a lie.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Watch the wall, my darling, while the Gentlemen go by!</span></span></div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page229">[pg 229]</span> + <a name="Pg229" id="Pg229" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%"> ‘DYMCHURCH FLIT’ </span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page230">[pg 230]</span> + <a name="Pg230" id="Pg230" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page231">[pg 231]</span> + <a name="Pg231" id="Pg231" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf21" id="pdf21"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">THE BEE BOY’S SONG</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Bees! Bees! Hark to the Bees!</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘Hide from your neighbours as much as you please,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">But all that has happened to <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">us</span></span> you must tell!</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Or else we will give you no honey to sell.’</div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">A maiden in her glory,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Upon her wedding-day,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Must tell her Bees the story,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Or else they’ll fly away.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 6.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Fly away—die away—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 8.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Dwindle down and leave you!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 6.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But if you don’t deceive your Bees,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 8.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Your Bees will not deceive you!—</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Marriage, birth or buryin’,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">News across the seas,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">All you’re sad or merry in,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">You must tell the Bees.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 6.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Tell ’em coming in an’ out,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 8.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Where the Fanners fan,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 6.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">’Cause the Bees are justabout</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 8.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">As curious as a man!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Don’t you wait where trees are,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">When the lightnings play;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 2.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Nor don’t you hate where Bees are,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Or else they’ll pine away.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 6.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Pine away—dwine away—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 8.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Anything to leave you!</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 6.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But if you never grieve your Bees,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 8.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Your Bees’ll never grieve you.</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page232">[pg 232]</span> + <a name="Pg232" id="Pg232" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page233">[pg 233]</span> + <a name="Pg233" id="Pg233" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf22" id="pdf22"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">‘DYMCHURCH FLIT’</span></h2> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Just at dusk, a soft September rain began to fall on the hop-pickers. The mothers + wheeled the bouncing perambulators out of the gardens; bins were put away, and + tally-books made up. The young couples strolled home, two to each umbrella, and the + single men walked behind them laughing. Dan and Una, who had been picking after their + lessons, marched off to roast potatoes at the oast-house, where old Hobden, with + Blue-eyed Bess, his lurcher-dog, lived all the month through, drying the hops. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They settled themselves, as usual, on the sack-strewn cot in front of the fires, and, + when Hobden drew up the shutter, stared, as usual, at the flameless bed of coals + spouting its heat up the dark well of the old-fashioned roundel. Slowly he cracked off a + few fresh pieces of coal, packed them, with fingers that never flinched, exactly where + they would do most good; slowly he reached behind him till Dan tilted the potatoes into + his iron scoop of a hand; carefully he arranged them round the fire, and then stood for + a moment, black against the glare. As he closed the shutter, the oast-house seemed dark + before the day’s end, and he lit the candle in the lanthorn. The children liked all + these things because they knew them so well. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page234">[pg 234]</span> + <a name="Pg234" id="Pg234" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The Bee Boy, Hobden’s son, who is not quite right in his head, though he can do + anything with bees, slipped in like a shadow. They only guessed it when Bess’s + stump-tail wagged against them. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> A big voice began singing outside in the drizzle:— </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘Old Mother Laidinwool had nigh twelve months been dead,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">She heard the hops were doing well, and then popped up her head.’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘There can’t be two people made to holler like that!’ cried old Hobden, wheeling + round. </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘For, says she, “The boys I’ve picked with when I was young and fair,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">They’re bound to be at hoppin’, and I’m——”’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> A man showed at the doorway. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Well, well! They do say hoppin’ll draw the very deadest; and now I belieft ’em. You, + Tom? Tom Shoesmith!’ Hobden lowered his lanthorn. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘You’re a hem of a time makin’ your mind to it, Ralph!’ The stranger strode in—three + full inches taller than Hobden, a grey-whiskered, brown-faced giant with clear blue + eyes. They shook hands, and the children could hear the hard palms rasp together. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘You ain’t lost none o’ your grip,’ said Hobden. ‘Was it thirty or forty year back you + broke my head at Peasmarsh Fair?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Only thirty, an’ no odds ’tween us regardin’ heads, neither. You had it back at me + with a hop-pole. How did we get home that night? Swimmin’?’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page235">[pg 235]</span> + <a name="Pg235" id="Pg235" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Same way the pheasant come into Gubbs’s pocket—by a little luck an’ a deal o’ <span class="tei tei-corr">conjurin’.’</span> Old Hobden laughed in his deep chest. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I see you’ve not forgot your way about the woods. D’ye do any o’ <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">this</span></span> still?’ The stranger pretended to look along a gun. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Hobden answered with a quick movement of the hand as though he were pegging down a + rabbit-wire. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">That’s</span></span> all that’s left me now. Age she must as Age she + can. An’ what’s your news since all these years?’ </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘Oh, I’ve bin to Plymouth, I’ve bin to Dover—</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">I’ve bin ramblin’, boys, the wide world over,’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> the man answered cheerily. ‘I reckon I know as much of Old England as most.’ He turned + towards the children and winked boldly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I lay they told you a sight o’ lies, then. I’ve been into England fur as Wiltsheer + once. I was cheated proper over a pair of hedging-gloves,’ said Hobden. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘There’s fancy-talkin’ everywhere. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">You’ve</span></span> cleaved to your own + parts pretty middlin’ close, Ralph.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Can’t shift an old tree ’thout it dyin’,’ Hobden chuckled. ‘An’ I be no more anxious + to die than you look to be to help me with my hops to-night.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The great man leaned against the brickwork of the roundel, and swung his arms abroad. + ‘Hire me!’ was all he said, and they stumped upstairs laughing. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page236">[pg 236]</span> + <a name="Pg236" id="Pg236" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The children heard their shovels rasp on the cloth where the yellow hops lie drying + above the fires, and all the oast-house filled with the sweet, sleepy smell as they were + turned. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Who is it?’ Una whispered to the Bee Boy. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Dunno, no more’n you—if <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">you</span></span> dunno,’ said he, and smiled. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The voices on the drying-floor talked and chuckled together, and the heavy footsteps + went back and forth. Presently a hop-pocket dropped through the press-hole overhead, and + stiffened and fattened as they shovelled it full. ‘Clank!’ went the press, and rammed + the loose stuff into tight cake. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Gently!’ they heard Hobden cry. ‘You’ll bust her crop if you lay on so. You be as + careless as Gleason’s bull, Tom. Come an’ sit by the fires. She’ll do now.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They came down, and as Hobden opened the shutter to see if the potatoes were done Tom + Shoesmith said to the children, ‘Put a plenty salt on ’em. That’ll show you the sort o’ + man <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> be.’ Again he winked, and again the Bee Boy laughed and Una + stared at Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> know what sort o’ man you be,’ old Hobden grunted, groping + for the potatoes round the fire. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Do ye?’ Tom went on behind his back. ‘Some of us can’t abide Horseshoes, or Church + Bells, or Running Water; an’, talkin’ o’ runnin’ water’—he turned to Hobden, who was + backing out of the roundel—‘d’you mind <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page237">[pg 237]</span><a name="Pg237" id="Pg237" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>the great + floods at Robertsbridge, when the miller’s man was drowned in the street?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Middlin’ well.’ Old Hobden let himself down on the coals by the fire door. ‘I was + courtin’ my woman on the Marsh that year. Carter to Mus’ Plum I was—gettin’ ten + shillin’s week. Mine was a Marsh woman.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Won’erful odd-gates place—Romney Marsh,’ said Tom Shoesmith. ‘I’ve heard say the + world’s divided like into Europe, Ashy, Afriky, Ameriky, Australy, an’ Romney Marsh.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The Marsh folk think so,’ said Hobden. ‘I had a hem o’ trouble to get my woman to + leave it.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Where did she come out of? I’ve forgot, Ralph.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-corr">‘Dymchurch</span> under the Wall,’ Hobden answered, a potato in + his hand. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then she’d be a Pett—or a Whitgift, would she?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Whitgift.’ Hobden broke open the potato and ate it with the curious neatness of men + who make most of their meals in the blowy open. ‘She growed to be quite reasonable-like + after livin’ in the Weald awhile, but our first twenty year or two she was + odd-fashioned, no bounds. And she was a won’erful hand with bees.’ He cut away a little + piece of potato and threw it out to the door. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ah! I’ve heard say the Whitgifts could see further through a millstone than most,’ + said Shoesmith. ‘Did she, now?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘She was honest-innocent, of any nigro<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page238">[pg 238]</span><a name="Pg238" id="Pg238" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>mancin’,’ said + Hobden. ‘Only she’d read signs and sinnifications out o’ birds flyin’, stars fallin’, + bees hivin’, and such. An’ she’d lie awake—listenin’ for calls, she said.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That don’t prove naught,’ said Tom. ‘All Marsh folk has been smugglers since time + everlastin’. ’Twould be in her blood to listen out o’ nights.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Nature-ally,’ old Hobden replied, smiling. ‘I mind when there was smugglin’ a sight + nearer us than the Marsh be. But that wasn’t my woman’s trouble. ’Twas a passel o’ + no-sense talk,’ he dropped his voice, ‘about Pharisees.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes. I’ve heard Marsh men beleft in ’em.’ Tom looked straight at the wide-eyed + children beside Bess. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Pharisees,’ cried Una. ‘Fairies? Oh, I see!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘People o’ the Hills,’ said the Bee Boy, throwing half of his potato towards the door. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘There you be!’ said Hobden, pointing at him. ‘My boy, he has her eyes and her + out-gate senses. That’s what <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">she</span></span> called ’em!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And what did you think of it all?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Um—um,’ Hobden rumbled. ‘A man that uses fields an’ shaws after dark as much as I’ve + done, he don’t go out of his road excep’ for keepers.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But settin’ that aside?’ said Tom, coaxingly. ‘I saw ye throw the Good Piece out-at + doors just now. Do ye believe or—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">do</span></span> ye?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘There was a great black eye to that tater,’ said Hobden, indignantly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My liddle eye didn’t see un, then. It <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page239">[pg 239]</span><a name="Pg239" id="Pg239" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>looked as if + you meant it for—for Any One that might need it. But settin’ that aside. D’ye believe + or—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">do</span></span> ye?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I ain’t sayin’ <span class="tei tei-corr">nothin’,</span> because I’ve heard naught, an’ I’ve seen naught. But if you + was to say there was more things after dark in the shaws than men, or fur, or feather, + or fin, I dunno as I’d go farabout to call you a liar. Now turn again, Tom. What’s your + say?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’m like you. I say nothin’. But I’ll tell you a tale, an’ you can fit it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">as</span></span> how you please.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Passel o’ no-sense stuff,’ growled Hobden, but he filled his pipe. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The Marsh men they call it Dymchurch Flit,’ Tom went on slowly. ‘Hap you’ve heard + it?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My woman she’ve told it me scores o’ times. Dunno as I didn’t end by belieft in’ + it—sometimes.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Hobden crossed over as he spoke, and sucked with his pipe at the yellow + lanthorn-flame. Tom rested one great elbow on one great knee, where he sat among the + coal. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Have you ever bin in the Marsh?’ he said to Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Only as far as Rye, once,’ Dan answered. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ah, that’s but the edge. Back behind of her there’s steeples settin’ beside churches, + an’ wise women settin’ beside their doors, an’ the sea settin’ above the land, an’ ducks + herdin’ wild in the diks’ (he meant ditches). ‘The Marsh is justabout riddled with diks + an’ sluices, an’ tide-gates an’ water-lets. You can hear em’ bubblin’ an’ grummelin’ + when the tide works in em’, an’ then you hear the <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page240">[pg 240]</span><a name="Pg240" id="Pg240" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>sea + rangin’ left and right-handed all up along the Wall. You’ve seen how flat she is—the + Marsh? You’d think nothin’ easier than to walk eend-on acrost her? Ah, but the diks an’ + the water-lets, they twists the roads about as ravelly as witch-yarn on the spindles. So + ye get all turned round in broad daylight.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That’s because they’ve dreened the waters into the diks,’ said Hobden. ‘When I + courted my woman the rushes was green—Eh me! the rushes was green—an’ the Bailiff o’ + the Marshes, he rode up and down as free as the fog.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Who was he?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Why, the Marsh fever an’ ague. He’ve clapped me on the <span class="tei tei-corr">shoulder</span> once or twice till I + shook proper. But now the dreenin’ off of the waters have done away with the fevers; so + they make a joke, like, that the Bailiff o’ the Marshes broke his neck in a dik. A + won’erful place for bees an’ ducks ’tis too.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘An’ old!’ Tom went on. ‘Flesh an’ Blood have been there since Time Everlastin’ + Beyond. Well, now, speakin’ among themselves, the Marshmen say that from Time + Everlastin’ Beyond the Pharisees favoured the Marsh above the rest of Old England. I lay + the Marshmen ought to know. They’ve been out after dark, father an’ son, smugglin’ some + one thing or t’other, since ever wool grew to sheep’s backs. They say there was always a + middlin’ few Pharisees to be seen on the Marsh. Impident as rabbits, they was. They’d + dance on the nakid roads in the nakid daytime; they’d flash their liddle green lights + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page241">[pg 241]</span><a name="Pg241" id="Pg241" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>along the diks, comin’ an’ goin’, like honest + smugglers. Yes, an’ times they’d lock the church doors against parson an’ clerk of + Sundays!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘That ’ud be smugglers layin’ in the lace or the brandy till they could run it out o’ + the Marsh. I’ve told my woman so,’ said Hobden. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’ll lay she didn’t beleft it, then—not if she was a Whitgift. A won’erful choice + place for Pharisees, the Marsh, by all accounts, till Queen Bess’s father he come in + with his Reformatories.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Would that be a Act o’ Parliament like?’ Hobden asked. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Sure-ly! ’Can’t do nothing in Old England without Act, Warrant, an’ Summons. He got + his Act allowed him, an’, they say, Queen Bess’s father he used the parish churches + something shameful. Justabout tore the gizzards out of I dunnamany. Some folk in England + they held with ’en; but some they saw it different, an’ it eended in ’em takin’ sides + an’ burnin’ each other no bounds, accordin’ which side was top, <span class="tei tei-corr">time bein’.</span> That + tarrified the Pharisees: for Goodwill among Flesh an’ Blood is meat an’ drink to ’em, + an’ ill-will is poison.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Same as bees,’ said the Bee Boy. ‘Bees won’t stay by a house where there’s hating.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘True,’ said Tom. ‘This Reformations tarrified the Pharisees same as the reaper goin’ + round a last stand o’ wheat tarrifies rabbits. They packed into the Marsh from all + parts, and they says, “Fair or foul, we must flit out <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page242">[pg 242]</span><a name="Pg242" id="Pg242" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>o’ this, for Merry England’s done with, an’ we’re reckoned among the Images.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Did they <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">all</span></span> see it that way?’ said Hobden. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘All but one that was called Robin—if you’ve heard of him. What are you laughing at?’ + Tom turned to Dan. ‘The Pharisees’s trouble didn’t tech Robin, because he’d cleaved + middlin’ close to people like. No more he never meant to go out of Old England—not he; + so he was sent messagin’ for help among Flesh an’ Blood. But Flesh an’ Blood must always + think of their own concerns, an’ Robin couldn’t get <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">through</span></span> at + ’em, ye see. They thought it was tide-echoes off the Marsh.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What did you—what did the fai—Pharisees want?’ Una asked. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A boat to be sure. Their liddle wings could no more cross Channel than so many tired + butterflies. A boat an’ a crew they desired to sail ’em over to France, where yet awhile + folks hadn’t tore down the Images. They couldn’t abide cruel Canterbury Bells ringin’ to + Bulverhithe for more pore men an’ women to be burnded, nor the King’s proud messenger + ridin’ through the land givin’ orders to tear down the Images. They couldn’t abide it no + shape. Nor yet they couldn’t get their boat an’ crew to flit by without Leave an’ + Good-will from Flesh an’ Blood; an’ Flesh an’ Blood came an’ went about its own business + the while the Marsh was swarvin’ up, an’ swarvin’ up with Pharisees from all England + over, striving all means <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page243">[pg 243]</span><a name="Pg243" id="Pg243" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>to get <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">through</span></span> at Flesh an’ Blood to tell ’en their sore need.... I don’t know as + you’ve ever heard say Pharisees are like chickens?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My woman used to say that too,’ said Hobden, folding his brown arms. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They be. You run too many chickens together, an’ the ground sickens like, an’ you get + a squat, an’ your chickens die. ’Same way, you crowd Pharisees all in one place—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">they</span></span> don’t die, but Flesh an’ Blood walkin’ among ’em is apt to + sick up an’ pine off. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">They</span></span> don’t mean it, an’ Flesh an’ Blood + don’t know it, but that’s the truth—as I’ve heard. The Pharisees through bein’ all + stenched up an’ frighted, an’ tryin’ to come <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">through</span></span> with their + supplications, they nature-ally changed the thin airs and humours in Flesh an’ Blood. It + lay on the Marsh like thunder. Men saw their churches ablaze with the wildfire in the + windows after dark; they saw their cattle scatterin’ and no man scarin’; their sheep + flockin’ and no man drivin’; their horses latherin’ an’ no man leadin’; they saw the + liddle low green lights more than ever in the dik-sides; they heard the liddle feet + patterin’ more than ever round the houses; an’ night an’ day, day an’ night, ’twas all + as though they were bein’ creeped up on, and hinted at by some One or Other that + couldn’t rightly shape their trouble. Oh, I lay they sweated! Man an’ maid, woman an’ + child, their Nature done ’em no service all the weeks while the Marsh was swarvin’ up + with Pharisees. But they was Flesh an’ Blood, an’ Marsh men before all. They reckoned + the signs sinnified <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page244">[pg 244]</span><a name="Pg244" id="Pg244" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>trouble for the Marsh. Or that the + sea ’ud rear up against Dymchurch Wall an’ they’d be drownded like Old Winchelsea; or + that the Plague was comin’. So they looked for the meanin’ in the sea or in the + clouds—far an’ high up. They never thought to look near an’ knee-high, where they could + see naught. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Now there was a poor widow at Dymchurch under the Wall, which, lacking man or + property, she had the more time for feeling; and she come to feel there was a Trouble + outside her doorstep bigger an’ heavier than aught she’d ever carried over it. She had + two sons—one born blind, and t’other struck dumb through fallin’ off the Wall when he + was liddle. They was men grown, but not wage-earnin’, an’ she worked for ’em, keepin’ + bees and answerin’ Questions.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What sort of questions?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Like where lost things might be found, an’ what to put about a crooked baby’s neck, + an’ how to join parted sweethearts. She felt the Trouble on the Marsh same as eels feel + thunder. She was a wise woman.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My woman was won’erful weather-tender, too,’ said Hobden. ‘I’ve seen her brish sparks + like off an anvil out of her hair in thunderstorms. But she never laid out to answer + Questions.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘This woman was a Seeker like, an’ Seekers they sometimes find. One night, while she + lay abed, hot an’ aching, there come a Dream <span class="tei tei-corr">an’</span> tapped at her + window, and “Widow Whitgift,” it said, “Widow Whitgift!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘First, by the wings an’ the whistling, she <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page245">[pg 245]</span><a name="Pg245" id="Pg245" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>thought + it was peewits, but last she arose an’ dressed herself, an’ opened her door to the + Marsh, an’ she felt the Trouble an’ the Groaning all about her, strong as fever an’ + ague, an’ she calls: “What is it? Oh, what is it?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then ’twas all like the frogs in the diks peeping: then ’twas all like the reeds in + the diks clipclapping; an’ then the great Tide-wave rummelled along the Wall, an’ she + couldn’t hear proper. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Three times she called, an’ three times the Tide-wave did her down. But she catched + the quiet between, an’ she cries out, “What is the Trouble on the Marsh that’s been + lying down with my heart an’ arising with my body this month gone?” She felt a liddle + hand lay hold on her gown-hem, an’ she stooped to the pull o’ that liddle hand.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Tom Shoesmith spread his huge fist before the fire and smiled at it. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Will the sea drown the Marsh?” she says. She was a Marsh-woman first an’ foremost. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No,” says the liddle voice. “Sleep sound for all o’ that.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Is the Plague comin’ to the Marsh?” she says. Them was all the ills she knowed. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“No. Sleep sound for all o’ that,” says Robin. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘She turned about, half mindful to go in, but the liddle voices grieved that shrill + an’ sorrowful she turns back, an’ she cries: “If it is not a Trouble of Flesh an’ Blood, + what can I do?” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The Pharisees cried out upon her from <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page246">[pg 246]</span><a name="Pg246" id="Pg246" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>all round to + fetch them a boat to sail to France, an’ come back no more. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“There’s a boat on the Wall,” she says, “but I can’t push it down to the sea, nor + sail it when ’tis there.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Lend us your sons,” says all the Pharisees. “Give ’em Leave an’ Good-will to sail it + for us, Mother—O Mother!” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“One’s dumb, an’ t’other’s blind,” she says. “But all the dearer me for that; and + you’ll lose them in the big sea.” The voices justabout pierced through her. An’ there + was children’s voices too. She stood out all she could, but she couldn’t rightly stand + against <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span>. So she says: “If you can draw my sons for your job, + I’ll not hinder ’em. You can’t ask no more of a Mother.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘She saw them liddle green lights dance an’ cross till she was dizzy; she heard them + liddle feet patterin’ by the thousand; she heard cruel Canterbury Bells ringing to + Bulverhithe, an’ she heard the great Tide-wave ranging along the Wall. That was while + the Pharisees was workin’ a Dream to wake her two sons asleep: an’ while she bit on her + fingers she saw them two she’d bore come out an’ pass her with never a word. She + followed ’em, cryin’ pitiful, to the old boat on the Wall, an’ that they took an’ runned + down to the Sea. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When they’d stepped mast an’ sail the blind son speaks up: “Mother, we’re waitin’ + your Leave an’ Good-will to take Them over.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Tom Shoesmith threw back his head and half shut his eyes. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page247">[pg 247]</span> + <a name="Pg247" id="Pg247" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Eh, me!’ he said. ‘She was a fine, valiant woman, the Widow Whitgift. She stood + twistin’ the ends of her long hair over her fingers, an’ she shook like a poplar, makin’ + up her mind. The Pharisees all about they hushed their children from cryin’ an’ they + waited dumb-still. She was all their dependence. ’Thout her Leave an’ Goodwill they + could not pass; for she was the Mother. So she shook like a asp-tree makin’ up her mind. + ’Last she drives the word past her teeth, an’ “Go!” she says. “Go with my Leave an’ + Goodwill.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Then I saw—then, they say, she had to brace back same as if she was wadin’ in + tide-water; for the Pharisees justabout flowed past her—down the beach to the boat, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> dunnamany of ’em—with their wives an’ children an’ valooables, + all escapin’ out of cruel Old England. Silver you could hear clinkin’, an’ liddle + bundles hove down dunt on the bottom-boards, an’ passels o’ liddle swords an’ shield’s + raklin’, an’ liddle fingers an’ toes scratchin’ on the boatside to board her when the + two sons pushed her off. That boat she sunk lower an’ lower, but all the Widow could see + in it was her boys movin’ hampered-like to get at the tackle. Up sail they did, an’ away + they went, deep as a Rye barge, away into the off-shore mistes, an’ the Widow Whitgift + she sat down and eased her grief till mornin’ light.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I never heard she was <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">all</span></span> alone,’ said Hobden. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I remember now. The one called Robin <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page248">[pg 248]</span><a name="Pg248" id="Pg248" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>he stayed with + her, they tell. She was all too grievious to listen to his promises.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Ah! She should ha’ made her bargain beforehand. I allus told my woman so!’ Hobden + cried. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No. She loaned her sons for a pure love-loan, bein’ as she sensed the Trouble on the + Marshes, an’ was simple good-willing to ease it.’ Tom laughed softly. ‘She done that. + Yes, she done that! From Hithe to Bulverthithe, fretty man an’ petty maid, ailin’ woman + an’ wailin’ child, they took the advantage of the change in the thin airs just about <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">as</span></span> soon as the Pharisees flitted. Folks come out fresh an’ shining + all over the Marsh like snails after wet. An’ that while the Widow Whitgift sat grievin’ + on the Wall. She might have beleft us—she might have trusted her sons would be sent + back! She fussed, no bounds, when their boat come in after three days.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And, of course, the sons were both quite cured?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No-o. That would have been out o’ Nature. She got ’em back <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">as</span></span> + she sent ’em. The blind man he hadn’t seen naught of anything, an’ the dumb man + nature-ally, he couldn’t say aught of what he’d seen. I reckon that was why the + Pharisees pitched on ’em for the ferrying job.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But what did you—what did <span class="tei tei-corr">Robin</span> promise the Widow?’ said Dan. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">did</span></span> he promise, now?’ Tom pretended to think. ‘Wasn’t + your woman a Whitgift, Ralph? Didn’t she say?’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page249">[pg 249]</span> + <a name="Pg249" id="Pg249" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘She told me a passel o’ no-sense stuff when he was born.’ Hobden pointed at his son. + ‘There was always to be one of ’em that could see further into a millstone than most.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Me! That’s me!’ said the Bee Boy so suddenly that they all laughed. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’ve got it now!’ cried Tom, slapping his knee. ‘So long as Whitgift blood lasted, + Robin promised there would allers be one o’ her stock that—that no Trouble ’ud lie on, + no Maid ’ud sigh on, no Night could frighten, no Fright could harm, no Harm could make + sin, an’ no Woman could make a fool.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Well, ain’t that just me?’ said the Bee Boy, where he sat in the silver square of the + great September moon that was staring into the oast-house door. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘They was the exact words she told me when we first found he wasn’t like others. But + it beats me how you known ’em,’ said Hobden. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Aha! There’s more under my hat besides hair!’ Tom laughed and stretched himself. + ‘When I’ve seen these two young folk home, we’ll make a night of old days, Ralph, with + passin’ old tales—eh? An’ where might you live?’ he said, gravely, to Dan. ‘An’ do you + think your Pa ’ud give me a drink for takin’ you there, Missy?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They giggled so at this that they had to run out. Tom picked them both up, set one on + each broad shoulder, and tramped across the ferny pasture where the cows puffed milky + puffs at them in the moonlight. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, Puck! Puck! I guessed you right <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page250">[pg 250]</span><a name="Pg250" id="Pg250" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>from when you + talked about the salt. How could you ever do it?’ Una cried, swinging along delighted. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Do what?’ he said, and climbed the stile by the pollard oak. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Pretend to be Tom Shoesmith,’ said Dan, and they ducked to avoid the two little ashes + that grow by the bridge over the brook. Tom was almost running. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes. That’s my name, Mus’ Dan,’ he said, hurrying over the silent shining lawn, where + a rabbit sat by the big white-thorn near the croquet ground. ‘Here you be.’ He strode + into the old kitchen yard, and slid them down as Ellen came to ask questions. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I’m helping in Mus’ Spray’s oast-house,’ he said to her. ‘No, I’m no foreigner. I + knowed this country ’fore your Mother was born; an’—yes it’s dry work oasting, Miss. + Thank you.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Ellen went to get a jug, and the children went in—magicked once more by Oak, Ash, and + Thorn! </p> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page251">[pg 251]</span> + <a name="Pg251" id="Pg251" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf23" id="pdf23"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">A THREE-PART SONG</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">I’m just in love with all these three,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Weald and the Marsh and the Down countrie;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Nor I don’t know which I love the most,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Weald or the Marsh or the white chalk coast!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">I’ve buried my heart in a ferny hill,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Twix’ a liddle low Shaw an’ a great high Gill.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Oh hop-vine yaller and woodsmoke blue,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">I reckon you’ll keep her middling true!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">I’ve loosed my mind for to out and run,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">On a Marsh that was old when Kings begun;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Oh Romney Level and Brenzett reeds,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">I reckon you know what my mind needs!</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">I’ve given my soul to the Southdown grass,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And sheep-bells tinkled where you pass.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Oh Firle an’ Ditchling an’ sails at sea,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">I reckon you’ll keep my soul or me!</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page252">[pg 252]</span> + <a name="Pg252" id="Pg252" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page253">[pg 253]</span> + <a name="Pg253" id="Pg253" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%"> THE TREASURE AND THE LAW </span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page254">[pg 254]</span> + <a name="Pg254" id="Pg254" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> + </p> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page255">[pg 255]</span> + <a name="Pg255" id="Pg255" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf24" id="pdf24"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">SONG OF THE FIFTH RIVER</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">When first by Eden Tree,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Four Great Rivers ran,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To each was appointed a Man</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Her Prince and Ruler to be.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But after this was ordained,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">(The ancient legends tell),</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">There came dark Israel,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">For whom no River remained.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Then He That is Wholly Just,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Said to him: ‘Fling on the ground</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">A handful of yellow dust,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And a Fifth Great River shall run,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Mightier than these Four,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">In secret the Earth around;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And Her secret evermore,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Shall be shown to thee and thy Race.’</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">So it was said and done.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And, deep in the veins of Earth,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And, fed by a thousand springs</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">That comfort the market-place,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Or sap the power of Kings,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Fifth Great River had birth,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Even as it was foretold—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Secret River of Gold!</span></span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page256">[pg 256]</span> + <a name="Pg256" id="Pg256" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And Israel laid down</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">His sceptre and his crown,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">To brood on that River bank,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Where the waters flashed and sank,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And burrowed in earth and fell,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And bided a season below;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">For reason that none might know,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Save only Israel.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">He is Lord of the Last—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The Fifth, most wonderful, Flood.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">He hears her thunder past</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And Her Song is in his blood.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">He can foresay: ‘She will fall,’</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">For he knows which fountain dries,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Behind which desert belt</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">A thousand leagues to the South.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">He can foresay: ‘She will rise.’</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">He knows what far snows melt;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Along what mountain wall</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">A thousand leagues to the North.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">He snuffs the coming drouth</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">As he snuffs the coming rain,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">He knows what each will bring forth</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">And turns it to his gain.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">A Prince without a Sword,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">A Ruler without a Throne;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Israel follows his quest:—</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">In every land a guest.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Of many lands the lord.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">In no land King is he.</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">But the Fifth Great River keeps</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">The secret of her deeps</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">For Israel alone,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">As it was ordered to be.</span></span></div> + </div> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page257">[pg 257]</span> + <a name="Pg257" id="Pg257" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf25" id="pdf25"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">THE TREASURE AND THE LAW</span></h2> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Now it was the third week in November, and the woods rang with the noise of + pheasant-shooting. No one hunted that steep, cramped country except the village beagles, + who, as often as not, escaped from their kennels and made a day of their own. Dan and + Una found a couple of them towling round the kitchen-garden after the laundry cat. The + little brutes were only too pleased to go rabbiting, so the children ran them all along + the brook pastures and into Little Lindens farm-yard, where the old sow vanquished + them—and up to the quarry-hole, where they started a fox. He headed for Far Wood, and + there they frightened out all the pheasants who were sheltering from a big beat across + the valley. Then the cruel guns began again, and they grabbed the beagles lest they + should stray and get hurt. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I wouldn’t be a pheasant—in November—for a lot,’ Dan panted, as he caught <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Folly</span></span> by the neck. ‘Why did you laugh that horrid way?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I didn’t,’ said Una, sitting on <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Flora</span></span>, the fat lady-dog. ‘Oh, + look! The silly birds are going back to their own woods instead of ours, where they + would be safe.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Safe till it pleased you to kill them.’ An old man, so tall he was almost a giant, + stepped <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page258">[pg 258]</span><a name="Pg258" id="Pg258" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>from behind the clump of hollies by + ‘Volaterrae.’ The children jumped, and the dogs dropped like setters. He wore a sweeping + gown of dark thick stuff, lined and edged with yellowish fur, and he bowed a bent-down + bow that made them feel both proud and ashamed. Then he looked at them steadily, and + they stared back without doubt or fear. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘You are not afraid?’ he said, running his hands through his splendid grey beard. ‘Not + afraid that those men yonder’—he jerked his head towards the incessant pop-pop of the + guns from the lower woods—‘will do you hurt?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘We-ell’—Dan liked to be accurate, especially when he was shy—‘old Hobd—a friend of + mine told me that one of the beaters got peppered last week—hit in the leg, I mean. You + see, Mr. Meyer <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">will</span></span> fire at rabbits. But he gave Waxy Garnett a + quid—sovereign, I mean—and Waxy told Hobden he’d have stood both barrels for half the + money.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘He doesn’t understand,’ Una cried, watching the pale, troubled face. ‘Oh, I wish——’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> She had scarcely said it when Puck rustled out of the hollies and spoke to the man + quickly in foreign words. Puck wore a long cloak too—the afternoon was just frosting + down—and it changed his appearance altogether. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Nay, nay!’ he said at last. ‘You did not understand the boy. A freeman was a little + hurt, by pure mischance, at the hunting.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I know that mischance! What did his Lord do? Laugh and ride over him?’ the old man + sneered. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page259">[pg 259]</span> + <a name="Pg259" id="Pg259" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘It was one of your own people did the hurt, Kadmiel.’ Puck’s eyes twinkled + maliciously. ‘So he gave the freeman a piece of gold, and no more was said.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A Jew drew blood from a Christian and no more was said?’ Kadmiel cried. ‘Never! When + did they torture him?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No man may be bound, or fined, or slain till he has been judged by his peers,’ Puck + insisted. ‘There is but one Law in Old England for Jew or Christian—the Law that was + signed at Runnymede.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Why, that’s Magna Charta!’ Dan whispered. It was one of the few history dates that he + could remember. Kadmiel turned on him with a sweep and a whirr of his spicy-scented + gown. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Dost <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">thou</span></span> know of that, babe?’ he cried, and lifted his hands + in wonder. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yes,’ said Dan, firmly. </p> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">‘Magna Charta was signed by John,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">That Henry the Third put his heel upon.</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> And old Hobden says that if it hadn’t been for her (he calls everything “her,” you + know), the keepers would have him clapped in Lewes Gaol all the year round.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Again Puck translated to Kadmiel in the strange, solemn-sounding language, and at last + Kadmiel laughed. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Out of the mouths of babes do we learn,’ said he. ‘But tell me now, and I will not + call you a babe but a Rabbi, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">why</span></span> did the King sign the roll of + the New Law at Runnymede? For he was a King.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page260">[pg 260]</span> + <a name="Pg260" id="Pg260" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Dan looked sideways at his sister. It was her turn. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Because he jolly well had to,’ <span class="tei tei-corr">said</span> Una, softly. ‘The Barons + made him.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Nay,’ Kadmiel answered, shaking his head. ‘You Christians always forget that gold + does more than the sword. Our good King signed because he could not borrow more money + from us bad Jews.’ He curved his shoulders as he spoke. ‘A King without gold is a snake + with a broken back, and’—his nose sneered up and his eyebrows frowned down—‘it is a + good deed to break a snake’s back. That was <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">my</span></span> work,’ he cried, + triumphantly, to Puck. ‘Spirit of Earth, bear witness that that was my work!’ He shot up + to his full towering height, and his words rang like a trumpet. He had a voice that + changed its tone almost as an opal changes colour—sometimes deep and thundery, + sometimes thin and waily, but always it made you listen. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Many people can bear witness to that,’ Puck answered. ‘Tell these babes how it was + done. Remember, Master, they do not know Doubt or Fear.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So I saw in their faces when we met,’ said Kadmiel. ‘Yet surely, surely they are + taught to spit upon Jews?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Are they?’ said Dan, much interested. ‘Where at?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Puck fell back a pace, laughing. ‘Kadmiel is thinking of King John’s reign,’ he + explained. ‘His people were badly treated then.’ </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page261">[pg 261]</span> + <a name="Pg261" id="Pg261" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, we know <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span>,’ they answered, and (it was very rude of + them, but they could not help it) they stared straight at Kadmiel’s mouth to see if his + teeth were all there. It stuck in their lesson-memory that King John used to pull out + Jews’ teeth to make them lend him money. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Kadmiel understood the look and smiled bitterly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No. Your King never drew my teeth: I think, perhaps, I drew his. Listen! I was not + born among Christians, but among Moors—in Spain—in a little white town under the + mountains. Yes, the Moors are cruel, but at least their learned men dare to think. It + was prophesied of me at my birth that I should be a Lawgiver to a People of a strange + speech and a hard language. We Jews are always looking for the Prince and the Lawgiver + to come. Why not? My people in the town (we were very few) set me apart as a child of + the prophecy—the Chosen of the Chosen. We Jews dream so many dreams. You would never + guess it to see us slink about the rubbish-heaps in our quarter; but at the day’s + end—doors shut, candles lit—aha! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">then</span></span> we become the Chosen + again.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He paced back and forth through the wood as he talked. The rattle of the shot-guns + never ceased, and the dogs whimpered a little and lay flat on the leaves. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I was a Prince. Yes! Think of a little Prince who had never known rough words in his + own house handed over to shouting, bearded Rabbis, who pulled his ears and <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page262">[pg 262]</span><a name="Pg262" id="Pg262" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>filliped his nose, all that he might learn—learn—learn to be + King when his time came. Hé! Such a little Prince it was! One eye he kept on the + stone-throwing Moorish boys, and the other it roved about the streets looking for his + Kingdom. Yes, and he learned to cry softly when he was hunted up and down those streets. + He learned to do all things without noise. He played beneath his father’s table when the + Great Candle was lit, and he listened as children listen to the talk of his father’s + friends above the table. They came across the mountains, from out of all the world; for + my Prince’s father was their councillor. They came from behind the armies of + Sala-ud-Din: from Rome: from Venice: from England. They stole down our alley, they + tapped secretly at our door, they took off their rags, they arrayed themselves, and they + talked to my father at the wine. All over the world the heathen fought each other. They + brought news of these wars, and while he played beneath the table, my Prince heard these + meanly-dressed ones decide between themselves how, and when, and for how long King + should draw sword against King, and People rise up against People. Why not? There can be + no war without gold, and we Jews know how the earth’s gold moves with the seasons, and + the crops, and the winds; circling and looping and rising and sinking away like a + river—a wonderful underground river. How should the foolish Kings know <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span> while they fight and steal and kill?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The children’s faces showed that they knew <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page263">[pg 263]</span><a name="Pg263" id="Pg263" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>nothing at + all as, with open eyes, they trotted and turned beside the long-striding old man. He + twitched his gown over his shoulders, and a square plate of gold, studded with jewels, + gleamed for an instant through the fur, like a star through flying snow. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘No matter,’ he said. ‘But, credit me, my Prince saw peace or war decided not once, + but many times, by the fall of a coin spun between a Jew from Bury and a Jewess from + Alexandria, in his father’s house, when the Great Candle was lit. Such power had we Jews + among the Gentiles. Ah, my little Prince! Do you wonder that he learned quickly? Why + not?’ He muttered to himself and went on:— </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My trade was that of a physician. When I had learned it in Spain I went to the East + to find my Kingdom. Why not? A Jew is as free as a sparrow—or a dog. He goes where he + is hunted. In the East I found libraries where men dared to think—schools of medicine + where they dared to learn. I was diligent in my business. Therefore I stood before + Kings. I have been a brother to Princes and a companion to beggars, and I have walked + between the living and the dead. There was no profit in it. I did not find my Kingdom. + So, in the tenth year of my travels, when I had reached the Uttermost Eastern Sea, I + returned to my father’s house. God had wonderfully preserved my people. None had been + slain, none even wounded, and only a few scourged. I became once more a son in my + father’s house. + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page264">[pg 264]</span> + <a name="Pg264" id="Pg264" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Again the Great Candle was lit; again the meanly-apparelled ones tapped on our door + after dusk; and again I heard them weigh out peace and war, as they weighed out the gold + on the table. But I was not rich—not very rich. Therefore, when those that had power + and knowledge and wealth talked together, I sat in the shadow. Why not? </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Yet all my wanderings had shown me one sure thing, which is, that a King without + money is like a spear without a head. He cannot do much harm. I said, therefore, to + Elias of Bury, a great one among our people: “Why do our people lend any more to the + Kings that oppress us?” “Because,” said Elias, “if we refuse they stir up their people + against us, and the People are tenfold more cruel than Kings. If thou doubtest, come + with me to Bury in England and live as I live.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I saw my mother’s face across the candle-flame, and I said, “I will come with thee + to Bury. Maybe my Kingdom shall be there.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So I sailed with Elias to the darkness and the cruelty of Bury in England, where + there are no learned men. How can a man be wise if he hate? At Bury I kept his accounts + for Elias, and I saw men kill Jews there by the tower. No—none laid hands on Elias. He + lent money to the King, and the King’s favour was about him. A King will not take the + life so long as there is any gold. This King—yes, John—oppressed his people bitterly + because they would not give him money. Yet his land was a good land. If he had only <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page265">[pg 265]</span><a name="Pg265" id="Pg265" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>given it rest he might have cropped it as a Christian + crops his beard. But even <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span> little he did not know; for God + had deprived him of all understanding, and had multiplied pestilence, and famine, and + despair upon the people. Therefore his people turned against us Jews, who are all + people’s dogs. Why not? Lastly the Barons and the people rose together against the King + because of his cruelties. Nay—nay—the Barons did not love the people, but they saw + that if the King eat up and destroyed the common people, he would presently destroy the + Barons. They joined then, as cats and pigs will join to slay a snake. I kept the + accounts, and I watched all these things, for I remembered the Prophecy. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A great gathering of Barons (to most of whom we had lent money) came to Bury, and + there, after much talk and a thousand runnings-about, they made a roll of the New Laws + that they would force on the King. If he swore to keep those Laws, they would allow him + a little money. That was the King’s God—Money—to waste. They showed us the roll of the + New Laws. Why not? We had lent them money. We knew all their counsels—we Jews shivering + behind our doors in Bury.’ He threw out his hands suddenly. ‘We did not seek to be paid + <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">all</span></span> in money. We sought Power—Power—Power! That is <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">our</span></span> God in our captivity. Power to use! </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I said to Elias: “These New Laws are good. Lend no more money to the King: so long as + he has money he will lie and slay the people.” </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page266">[pg 266]</span> + <a name="Pg266" id="Pg266" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Nay,” said Elias. “I know this people. They are madly cruel. Better one King than a + thousand butchers. I have lent a little money to the Barons, or they would torture us, + but my most I will lend to the King. He hath promised me a place near him at Court, + where my wife and I shall be safe.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“But if the King be made to keep these New Laws,” I said, “the land will have peace, + and our trade will grow. If we lend he will fight again.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“Who made thee a Lawgiver in England?” said Elias. “I know this people. Let the dogs + tear one another! I will lend the King ten thousand pieces of gold, and he can fight the + Barons at his pleasure.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘“There are not two thousand pieces of gold in all England this summer,” I said, for I + kept the accounts, and I knew how the earth’s gold moved—that wonderful underground + river! Elias barred home the windows, and, his hands about his mouth, he told me how, + when he was trading with small wares in a French ship, he had come to the Castle of + Pevensey.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh!’ said Dan. ‘Pevensey again!’ and looked at Una, who nodded and skipped. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘There, after they had scattered his pack up and down the Great Hall, some young + knights carried him to an upper room, and dropped him into a well in a wall, that rose + and fell with the tide. They called him Joseph, and threw torches at his wet head. Why + not?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Why, of course,’ cried Dan. ‘Didn’t you know it was——’ Puck held up his hand to <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page267">[pg 267]</span><a name="Pg267" id="Pg267" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>stop him, and Kadmiel, who never noticed, went on. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When the tide dropped he thought he stood on old armour, but feeling with his toes, + he raked up bar on bar of soft gold. Some wicked treasure of the old days put away, and + the secret cut off by the sword. I have heard the like before.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So have we,’ Una whispered. ‘But it wasn’t wicked a bit.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Elias took a morsel of the stuff with him, and thrice yearly he would return to + Pevensey as a chapman, selling at no price or profit, till they suffered him to sleep in + the empty room, where he would plumb and grope, and steal away a few bars. The great + store of it still remained, and by long brooding he had come to look on it as his own. + Yet when we thought how we should lift and convey it, we saw no way. This was before the + Word of the Lord had come to me. A walled fortress possessed by Normans; in the midst a + forty-foot tide-well out of which to remove secretly many horse-loads of gold! Hopeless! + So Elias wept. Adah, his wife, wept too. She had hoped to stand beside the Queen’s + Christian tiring-maids at Court, when the King should give them that place at Court + which he had promised. Why not? She was born in England—an odious woman. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘The present evil to us was that Elias, out of his strong folly, had, as it were, + promised the King that he would arm him with more gold. Wherefore the King in his camp + stopped his ears against the Barons and the people. <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page268">[pg 268]</span><a name="Pg268" id="Pg268" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>Wherefore men died daily. Adah so desired her place at Court, she besought Elias to + tell the King where the treasure lay, that the King might take it by force, and—they + would trust in his gratitude. Why not? This Elias refused to do, for he looked on the + gold as his own. They quarrelled, and they wept at the evening meal, and late in the + night came one Langton—a priest, almost learned—to borrow more money for the Barons. + Elias and Adah went to their chamber.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Kadmiel laughed scornfully in his beard. The shots across the valley stopped as the + shooting-party changed their ground for the last beat. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘So it was I, not Elias,’ he went on, quietly, ‘that made terms with Langton touching + the fortieth of the New Laws.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘What terms?’ said Puck, quickly. ‘The Fortieth of the Great Charter say: “To none + will we sell, refuse, or deny right or justice.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘True, but the Barons had written first: <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">To no free man.</span></span> It + cost me two hundred broad pieces of gold to change those narrow words. Langton, the + priest, understood. “Jew though thou art,” said he, “the change is just, and if ever + Christian and Jew come to be equal in England thy people may thank thee.” Then he went + out stealthily, as men do who deal with Israel by night. I think he spent my gift upon + his altar. Why not? I have spoken with Langton. He was such a man as I might have been + if—if we Jews had been a people. But yet, in many things, a child. </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page269">[pg 269]</span> + <a name="Pg269" id="Pg269" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I heard Elias and Adah abovestairs quarrel, and, knowing the woman was the stronger, + I saw that Elias would tell the King of the gold and that the King would continue in his + <span class="tei tei-corr">stubbornness</span>. Therefore I saw that the gold must be put + away from the reach of any man. Of a sudden, the Word of the Lord came to me saying, + “The Morning is come, O thou that dwellest in the land.”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Kadmiel halted, all black against the pale green sky beyond the wood—a huge robed + figure, like the Moses in the picture-Bible. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I rose. I went out, and as I shut the door on that House of Foolishness, the woman + looked from the window and whispered, “I have prevailed on my husband to tell the King!” + I answered, “There is no need. The Lord is with me.” </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘In that hour the Lord gave me full understanding of all that I must do; and His Hand + covered me in my ways. First I went to London, to a physician of our people, who sold me + certain drugs that I needed. You shall see why. Thence I went swiftly to Pevensey. Men + fought all around me, for there were neither rulers nor judges in the abominable land. + Yet when I walked by them they cried out that I was one Ahasuerus, a Jew, condemned, as + they believe, to live for ever, and they fled from me everyways. Thus the Lord saved me + for my work, and at Pevensey I bought me a little boat and moored it on the mud beneath + the Marsh-gate of the Castle. That also God showed me.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> He was as calm as though he were speaking <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page270">[pg 270]</span><a name="Pg270" id="Pg270" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>of some + stranger, and his voice filled the little bare wood with rolling music. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I cast’—his hand went to his breast, and again the strange jewel gleamed—‘I cast + the drugs which I had prepared into the common well of the Castle. Nay, I did no harm. + The more we physicians know, the less do we do. Only the fool says: “I dare.” I caused a + blotched and itching rash to break out upon their skins, but I knew it would fade in + fifteen days. I did not stretch out my hand against their life. They in the Castle + thought it was the Plague, and they ran forth, taking with them their very dogs. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘A Christian physician, seeing that I was a Jew and a stranger, vowed that I had + brought the sickness from London. This is the one time I have ever heard a Christian + leech speak truth of any disease. Thereupon the people beat me, but a merciful woman + said: “Do not kill him now. Push him into our Castle with his plague, and if, as he + says, it will abate on the fifteenth day, we can kill him then.” Why not? They drove me + across the drawbridge of the Castle, and fled back to their booths. Thus I came to be + alone with the treasure.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But did you know this was all going to happen just right?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘My Prophecy was that I should be a Lawgiver to a People of a strange land and a hard + speech. I knew I should not die. I washed my cuts. I found the tide-well in the wall, + and from Sabbath to Sabbath I dove and dug there in that empty, Christian-smelling <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page271">[pg 271]</span><a name="Pg271" id="Pg271" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>fortress. Hé! I spoiled the Egyptians! Hé! If they had + only known! I drew up many good loads of gold, which I loaded by night into my boat. + There had been gold-dust too, but that had been washed away by the tides.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Didn’t you ever wonder who had put it there?’ said Dan, stealing a glance at Puck’s + calm, dark face under the hood of his gown. Puck shook his head and pursed his lips. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Often; for the gold was new to me,’ Kadmiel replied. ‘I know the Golds. I can judge + them in the dark; but this was heavier and redder than any we deal in. Perhaps it was + the very gold of Parvaim. Eh, why not? It went to my heart to heave it on to the mud, + but I saw well that if the evil thing remained, or if even the hope of finding it + remained, the King would not sign the New Laws, and the land would perish.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Oh, Marvel!’ said Puck, beneath his breath, rustling in the dead leaves. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘When the boat was loaded I washed my hands seven times, and pared beneath my nails, + for I would not keep one grain. I went out by the little gate where the Castle’s refuse + is thrown. I dared not hoist sail lest men should see me; but the Lord commanded the + tide to bear me carefully, and I was far from land before the morning.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Weren’t you afraid?’ said Una. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Why? There were no Christians in the boat. At sunrise I made my prayer, and cast the + gold—all—all that gold into the deep sea! A King’s ransom—no, the ransom of a People! + When I had loosed hold of the last <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page272">[pg 272]</span><a name="Pg272" id="Pg272" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>bars, the Lord + commanded the tide to return me to a haven at the mouth of a river, and thence I walked + across a wilderness to Lewes, where I have brethren. They opened the door to me, and + they say—I had not eaten for two days—they say that I fell across the threshold, + crying, “I have sunk an army with horsemen in the sea!”’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But you hadn’t,’ said Una. ‘Oh, yes! I see! You meant that King John might have spent + it on that?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Even so,’ said Kadmiel. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> The firing broke out again close behind them. The pheasants poured over the top of a + belt of tall firs. They could see young Mr. Meyer, in his new yellow gaiters, very busy + and excited at the end of the line, and they could hear the thud of the falling birds. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘But what did Elias of Bury do?’ Puck demanded. ‘He had promised money to the King.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Kadmiel smiled grimly. ‘I sent him word from London that the Lord was on my side. When + he heard that the Plague had broken out in Pevensey, and that a Jew had been thrust into + the Castle to cure it, he understood my word was true. He and Adah hurried to Lewes and + asked me for an accounting. He still looked on the gold as his own. I told them where I + had laid it, and I gave them full leave to pick it up.... Eh, well! The curses of a fool + and the dust of a journey are two things no wise man can escape.... But I pitied Elias! + The King was wroth at him because he could not lend; the Barons <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page273">[pg 273]</span><a name="Pg273" id="Pg273" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>were wroth at him because they heard that he would have lent to the King; + and Adah was wroth at him because she was an odious woman. They took ship from Lewes to + Spain. That was wise!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘And you? Did you see the signing of the Law at Runnymede?’ said Puck, as Kadmiel + laughed noiselessly. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Nay. Who am I to meddle with things too high for me? I returned to Bury, and lent + money on the autumn crops. Why not?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> There was a crackle overhead. A cock-pheasant that had sheered aside after being hit + spattered down almost on top of them, driving up the dry leaves like a shell. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Flora</span></span> and <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Folly</span></span> threw themselves at it; the + children rushed forward, and when they had beaten them off and smoothed down the plumage + Kadmiel had disappeared. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Well,’ said Puck, calmly, ‘what did you think of it? Weland gave the Sword. The Sword + gave the Treasure, and the Treasure gave the Law. It’s as natural as an oak growing.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘I don’t understand. Didn’t he know it was Sir Richard’s old treasure?’ said Dan. ‘And + why did Sir Richard and Brother Hugh leave it lying about? And—and——’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Never mind,’ said Una, politely. ‘He’ll let us come and go, and look, and know + another time. Won’t you, Puck?’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Another time maybe,’ Puck answered. ‘Brr! It’s cold—and late. I’ll race you towards + home!’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> They hurried down into the sheltered <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page274">[pg 274]</span><a name="Pg274" id="Pg274" class="tei tei-anchor"></a>valley. The sun + had almost sunk behind Cherry Clack, the trodden ground by the cattle-gates was freezing + at the edges, and the new-waked north wind blew the night on them from over the hills. + They picked up their feet and flew across the browned pastures, and when they halted, + panting in the steam of their own breath, the dead leaves whirled up behind them. There + was Oak and Ash and Thorn enough in that year-end shower to magic away a thousand + memories. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> So they trotted to the brook at the bottom of the lawn, wondering why <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Flora</span></span> and <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Folly</span></span> had missed the quarry-hole + fox. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Old Hobden was just finishing some hedge-work. They saw his white smock glimmer in the + twilight where he faggoted the rubbish. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Winter, he’s come, I rackon, Mus’ Dan,’ he called. ‘Hard times now till Heffle Cuckoo + Fair. Yes, we’ll all be glad to see the Old Woman let the Cuckoo out o’ the basket for + to start lawful Spring in England.’ They heard a crash, and a stamp and a splash of + water as though a heavy old cow were crossing almost under their noses. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Hobden ran forward angrily to the ford. </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> ‘Gleason’s bull again, playin’ Robin all over the Farm! Oh, look, Mus’ Dan—his great + footmark as big as a trencher. No bounds to his impidence! He might count himself to be + a man—or Somebody.’ </p> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> A voice the other side of the brook boomed: </p> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page275">[pg 275]</span> + <a name="Pg275" id="Pg275" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-corr" style="text-align: left">‘I</span> marvel who his cloak would turn</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">When Puck had led him round</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Or where those walking fires would <span class="tei tei-corr" style="text-align: left">burn</span>——’</div> + </div> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"> Then the children went in singing “Farewell Rewards and Fairies” at the tops of their + voices. They had forgotten that they had not even said good-night to Puck. </p> + </div> + <hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page276">[pg 276]</span> + <a name="Pg276" id="Pg276" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf26" id="pdf26"></a> + <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">THE CHILDREN’S SONG</span></h2> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Land of our Birth, we pledge to thee</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Our love and toil in the years to be,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">When we are grown and take our place,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">As men and women with our race.</span></span></div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Father in Heaven who lovest all,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Oh help Thy children when they call;</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">That they may build from age to age,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">An undefiled heritage!</div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Teach us to bear the yoke in youth,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">With steadfastness and careful truth;</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">That, in our time, Thy Grace may give</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">The Truth whereby the Nations live.</div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Teach us to rule ourselves alway,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Controlled and cleanly night and day;</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">That we may bring, if need arise,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">No maimed or worthless sacrifice.</div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Teach us to look in all our ends,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">On Thee for judge, and not our friends;</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">That we, with Thee, may walk uncowed</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">By fear or favour of the crowd.</div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Teach us the Strength that cannot seek,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">By deed or thought, to hurt the weak;</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">That, under Thee, we may possess</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Man’s strength to comfort man’s distress.</div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page277">[pg 277]</span> + <a name="Pg277" id="Pg277" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Teach us Delight in simple things,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">And Mirth that has no bitter springs;</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">Forgiveness free of evil done,</div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left">And Love to all men ’neath the sun!</div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-left: 2.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Land of our Birth, our Faith our Pride,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">For whose dear sake our fathers died;</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">O Motherland, we pledge to thee,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-style: italic">Head, heart, and hand through the years to be!</span></span></div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + </div> + <div class="tei tei-back" style="margin-bottom: 2.00em; margin-top: 6.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + + + + <hr class="page" /><div id="footnotes" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Footnote</span></h1> + <dl class="tei tei-list-footnotes"><dt class="tei tei-notelabel"><a id="note_1" name="note_1" href="#noteref_1">1.</a></dt><dd class="tei tei-notetext">Copyright, 1905, by Rudyard Kipling.</dd></dl> + </div> + + + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="pdf27" id="pdf27"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Transcriber’s note</span></h1> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The following typographical errors were corrected:</p> + <table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg007" class="tei tei-ref">page 7</a>, “Pyramis” changed to “Pyramus”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg009" class="tei tei-ref">page 9</a>, quotes added before “couldn’t” and “I”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg013" class="tei tei-ref">page 13</a>, “draggons” changed to “dragons”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg027" class="tei tei-ref">page 27</a>, quote added before “Late”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg043" class="tei tei-ref">page 43</a>, “summons” changed to “summon”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg051" class="tei tei-ref">page 51</a>, “we” added before “do”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg062" class="tei tei-ref">page 62</a>, double quote changed to single quote after “pirate-folk?”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg064" class="tei tei-ref">page 64</a>, semicolon added after “Yes”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg068" class="tei tei-ref">page 68</a>, double “said” removed, single quote changed to double quote after “kill!”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg069" class="tei tei-ref">page 69</a>, comma added after “Kitai”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg076" class="tei tei-ref">page 76</a>, double “where” removed</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg085" class="tei tei-ref">page 85</a>, quote added after “gold!”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg097" class="tei tei-ref">page 97</a>, quote removed after “Aquila.”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg099" class="tei tei-ref">page 99</a>, “shouder” changed to “shoulder”, single quote changed to double quote after “Look!”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg102" class="tei tei-ref">page 102</a>, “learned” changed to “leaned”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg103" class="tei tei-ref">page 103</a>, “a” added between “is” and “good”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg108" class="tei tei-ref">page 108</a>, quote removed before “At”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg110" class="tei tei-ref">page 110</a>, single quote changed to double quote before “But”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg127" class="tei tei-ref">page 127</a>, quote added after “catapult,”, quote removed after “Una.”, “quicky” changed to “quickly”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg128" class="tei tei-ref">page 128</a>, comma removed after “bigger”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg135" class="tei tei-ref">page 135</a>, “hmself” changed to “himself”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg137" class="tei tei-ref">page 137</a>, “did'nt” changed to “didn’t”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg141" class="tei tei-ref">page 141</a>, quote added before “But”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg142" class="tei tei-ref">page 142</a>, single quote changed to double quote after “reason,”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg143" class="tei tei-ref">page 143</a>, “Cylops” changed to “Cyclops”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg152" class="tei tei-ref">page 152</a>, “Caesar” changed to “Cæsar”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg153" class="tei tei-ref">page 153</a>, comma added after “children,”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg156" class="tei tei-ref">page 156</a>, quote added after “make.”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg160" class="tei tei-ref">page 160</a>, comma added after “No”, period added after “up”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg166" class="tei tei-ref">page 166</a>, quote added after “thoughts.”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg170" class="tei tei-ref">page 170</a>, double quote changed to single quote before “Sorry”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg184" class="tei tei-ref">page 184</a>, single quote changed to double quote after “Man.”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg188" class="tei tei-ref">page 188</a>, single quote changed to double quote after “him,”, “to-day?” and “finished!”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg193" class="tei tei-ref">page 193</a>, quote added after “letter.”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg205" class="tei tei-ref">page 205</a>, parenthesis added after “complain”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg214" class="tei tei-ref">page 214</a>, period added after “lime.”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg218" class="tei tei-ref">page 218</a>, “sepentines” changed to “serpentines”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg224" class="tei tei-ref">page 224</a>, quote added after “voice.”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg235" class="tei tei-ref">page 235</a>, apostroph moved after “conjurin’.”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg237" class="tei tei-ref">page 237</a>, quote added before “Dymchurch”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg239" class="tei tei-ref">page 239</a>, apostroph and comma changed after “nothin’,“</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg240" class="tei tei-ref">page 240</a>, “shouder” changed to “shoulder”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg241" class="tei tei-ref">page 241</a>, apostroph and periodchanged after “bein’.”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg244" class="tei tei-ref">page 244</a>, apostroph added after “an”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg248" class="tei tei-ref">page 248</a>, comma removed after “Robin”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg260" class="tei tei-ref">page 260</a>, “asid” changed to “said”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg269" class="tei tei-ref">page 269</a>, “stubborness” changed to “stubbornness”</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><a href="#Pg275" class="tei tei-ref">page 275</a>, quote added before “I”, “burne” changed to “burn”</td></tr></tbody></table> + </div> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <div id="pgfooter" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"><pre class="pre tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em">***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PUCK OF POOK'S HILL*** +</pre><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em"><a name="rightpageheader28" id="rightpageheader28"></a><a name="pgtoc29" id="pgtoc29"></a><a name="pdf30" id="pdf30"></a><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Credits</span></h1><table summary="This is a list." class="tei 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