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diff --git a/41829-8.txt b/41829-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index b3ce9ef..0000000 --- a/41829-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7396 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Serf, by Guy Thorne - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Serf - -Author: Guy Thorne - -Release Date: January 12, 2013 [EBook #41829] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SERF *** - - - - -Produced by Mark C. Orton, Sue Fleming and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - THE SERF - - - - - THE SERF - - - By - - GUY THORNE - - _Author of "When It Was Dark" - "A Lost Cause," etc., etc._ - - - - - Illustration - - - - - R. F. FENNO & COMPANY - 18 East 17th Street----New York - - - GREENING & CO., LTD., London - - - - - TO THE - - MEMBERS OF THE - - NATIONAL LIBERAL CLUB. - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - CHAP. PAGE. - - I. 1 - - II. 25 - - III. 52 - - IV. 79 - - V. 103 - - VI. 128 - - VII. 150 - - VIII. 168 - - IX. 189 - - X. 205 - - XI. 217 - - XII. 230 - - XIII. 242 - - XIV. 250 - - XV. 270 - - XVI. 286 - - XVII. 297 - - - - - THE SERF - - - - - CHAPTER I - - "When Christ slept" - - -_This is the history of a man who lived in misery and torture, and was -held as the very dirt of the world. In great travail of body and mind, -in a state of bitter and sore distress, he lived his life. His death was -stern and pitiless, for they would have slain a dog more gently than -he._ - -_And yet, while his lords and masters survive only in a few old -chronicles of evil Latin, or perhaps you may see poor broken effigies of -them in a very ancient church, the thoughts that Hyla thought still run -down time, and have their way with us now. They seared him with heat and -scourged him with whips, and hung him high against the sunset from the -battlements of Outfangthef Tower, until his body fell in pieces to the -fen dogs in the stable yards below. Yet the little misshapen man is -worthy of a place in your hearts._ - -_Geoffroi de la Bourne is unthought-of dust; Fulke, his son, claims fame -by three lines in an old compte-book as a baron who enjoyed the right -of making silver coin. In the anarchy of King Stephen's reign he coined -money, using black metal--"moneta nigra"--with no small profit to -himself. So he has three lines in a chronicle._ - -_Hyla, serf and thrall to him, has had never a word of record until -now._ - -_And yet Hyla, who inspired the village community--the first Radical one -might fancy him to be--was greater than Fulke or Geoffroi; and this is -the Story of his life. The human heart that beat in him is even as the -heart of a good man now. It will be difficult to see any lovable things -in this slave, who was a murderer, and whose life was so remote from -ours. But, indeed, in regarding such a man, one must remember always his -environment. With a little exercise of thought you will see that he was -a lovable man, a small hero and untrumpeted, but worthy of a place in a -very noble hierarchy._ - - * * * * * - -A man sat in a roughly-constructed punt or raft, low down among the -rushes, one hot evening in June. The sun was setting in banks of -blood-red light, which turned all the innumerable water-ways and pools -of the fen from black to crimson. In the fierce light the tall reeds -and grasses rose high into the air, like spears stained with blood. - -Although there was no wind to play among the rushes and give the reeds a -voice, the air was full of sound, and an enormous life palpitated and -moved all round. - -The marsh frogs were barking to each other with small elfin voices, and -diving into the pools in play. There was a continual sucking sound, as -thousands of great eels drew in the air with their heads just rising -from the water. Now and again some heavy fish would leap out of the -pools with a great noise, and the bitterns called to each other like -copper gongs. - -Very high in the air a few birds of the plover species wailed sadly to -their mates, grieving that day was over. - -These sounds of busy life were occasionally mingled with noises which -came from the castle and village on the high grounds which bordered the -fen on the south. Now and again the sound of hammers beating upon metal -floated over the water, showing that they were working in the armourer's -shop. A bell rang frequently, and some one was learning to blow calls -upon a horn, for occasionally the clear, sweet notes abruptly changed -into a windy lowing, like a bull in pain. - -The man in the punt was busy catching eels with a pronged pole, tipped -with iron. He drove the pole through the water again and again till a -fish was transfixed, and added to the heap in the bottom of the boat. He -was a short, thick-set fellow, with arms which were too long for his -body, and huge hands and feet. No hair grew upon his face, which was -heavy and without expression, though there was evidence of intelligence -in the light green-grey eyes. - -Round his neck a thin ring of iron was soldered, and where the two ends -had been joined together another and smaller ring had been fixed. He was -dressed in a coat of leather, black with age and dirt, but strong and -supple. This descended almost to his knees, and was caught in round the -middle by a leather strap, which was fastened with an iron pin. - -His arms were bare, and on one of them, just below the fore-arm, was a -red circle the size of a penny, burnt into the flesh, and bearing some -marks arranged in a regular pattern. - -This was Hyla, one of the serfs belonging to Geoffroi de la Bourne, -Baron of Hilgay, and the holder of lands near Mortain, in France. - -The absolute anarchy of the country in 1136,--the dark age in which this -story of Hyla begins--secured to each petty baron an overwhelming power, -and Geoffroi de la Bourne was king, in all but name, of the fens, hills, -and corn-lands, from Thorney to Thetford, and the undoubted lord of the -Southfolk. - -For many miles the fens spread under the sky from Ely to King's Lynn, -then but a few fisher huts. Hilgay itself rose up on an eminence towards -the south of the Great Fen. At the bottom of the hill ran the wide river -Ouse, and beyond it stretched the treacherous wastes. - -The Castle of Hilgay stood on the hill itself, and was surrounded by a -small village, built in the latter years of Henry's reign. It was one of -the most modern buildings in East Anglia. Here, surrounded by his -men-at-arms, villeins, and serfs, Geoffroi de la Bourne lived secure, -and kept the country-side in stern obedience. The Saxon Chronicle, which -at the time was being written in the Monastery of Peterborough, says of -him: "He took all those he thought had any goods, both by night and day, -men and women alike, and put them in prison to get their gold and -silver, and tortured them with tortures unspeakable." - -Of he and his kind it says: "Never yet was there such misery in the -land; never did heathen men worse than they. Christ slept, and all His -saints." - -Hyla had been spearing his eels in various backwaters and fen-pools -which wound in and out from the great river. When his catch was -sufficient, he laid down the trident, and, taking up the punt pole, set -seriously about the business of return. The red lights of the sky turned -opal and grew dim as he sent his punt gliding swiftly in and out among -the rushes. - -After several minutes of twisting and turning, the ditch widened into a -large, still pool, over which the flies were dancing, and beyond it was -the black expanse of the river itself. As the boat swung out into the -main stream, the castle came plain to the view. A well-beaten road -fringed with grass, among which bright golden kingcups were shining, led -up to the walls. Clustered round the walls was a little village of -sheds, huts, and houses, where the labourers and serfs who were -employed on the farm-lands lived. - -The castle itself was a massive and imposing place, of great strength -and large area. At one corner of the keep stood a great tower, the -highest for many miles round, which was covered with a pointed roof of -tiles, like that of a French chateau. This was known as the Outfangthef -Tower, and Geoffroi and his daughter, Lady Alice, had their private -chambers in it. - -There was something very stately in the view from the river, all -irradiated as it was by the ruddy evening light. - -Hyla's punt glided over the still waters till it reached a well-built -landing-stage of stone steps descending into the river. Several punts -and boats were tied up to mooring stakes. Hard by, the sewage from the -castle was carried down by a little brook, and the air all about the -landing-place was stagnant and foul. - -He moored the punt, and, stringing his eels upon an iron hook, carried -them up the hill in the waning light. The very last lights of the day -were now expiring, and the scene was full of peace and rest, as night -threw her cloak over the world. A rabbit ran across Hyla's path from -side to side of the road, a dusky flash; and, high up in the air, a bird -suddenly began to trill the night a welcome. - -The man walked slowly, lurching along with his head bent down, and -seeing nothing of the evening time. About half-way up the hill he heard -someone whistling a comic song, with which a wandering minstrel had -convulsed the inmates of the castle a night or two before. - -Sitting by the roadside in the dusk, he could distinguish the figure of -Pierce, one of the men-at-arms. He was oiling the trigger and barrel of -a crossbow, and polishing the steel parts with a soft skin. The -man-at-arms lived in the village with his wife, and was practically in -the position of a villein, holding some fields from Lord Geoffroi in -return for military service. He was from Boulogne, and had been in the -garrison of one of Robert de Bellême's castles in Normandy. - -The lessons learnt at Tenchebrai had sunk deep into the mind of this -fellow; and when any dirty work was afoot or any foul deed to be done, -to Pierce was given the doing of it. As Hyla approached, he stopped his -whistling, and broke out into the words of the song, which, filthy and -obscene as it was, had enormous popularity all over the countryside. - -Then he noticed the serf's approach. "Who are you?" he called out in a -_patois_ of Norman-French and English, with the curious see-saw of -French accentuation in his voice. - -"Hyla!" came the answer, and there was strength and music in it. - -Something seemed to tickle the soldier to immediate merriment when he -heard the identity of the man with the eels. - -Hyla knew him well. When he was free from his duties in the castle, Hyla -and his wife worked in this man's fields for a loaf of wastel bread or a -chance rabbit, and he was in a sense their immediate employer and -patron. - -It was at the order of Pierce that Hyla had been fishing that evening. -The soldier chuckled on, regarding the serf with obvious amusement, -though for what reason _he_ could not imagine. - -"Show your catch," he said at last. - -He was shown the hook of great eels, some of which still writhed slowly -in torture. - -"Take them to my wife," said the soldier, "and take what you want of -them for yourself and your people." - -"Very gladly," said Hyla, "for there are many mouths to fill." - -"Oh! that can be altered," said the soldier, with a grin; "your family -can be used in other ways, and live in other housen than under your -roof-tree." - -"Duke Christ forbid!" said Hyla, giving the Saviour the highest name he -knew; "had I not my children and my wife, I should be poor indeed." - -"God's teeth!" cried the soldier, with a nasty snarl and complete change -of tone, "_your_ wife, _your_ girls! Man, man! we have been too good to -the serfs of late. See to this now, when I was in the train of my Lord -de Bellême, both in France and here, we killed serfs like rabbits. - -"Well I remember, in the Welsh March, how we hanged men like you up by -the feet, and smoked them with foul smoke. Some were hanged up by their -thumbs, others by the head, and burning things were hung on to their -feet. We put knotted strings about their heads, and writhed them till -they went into the brain. We put men into prisons where adders, snakes, -and toads were crawling, and so we tormented them. And the whiles we -took their wives and daughters for our own pleasure. Hear you that, -Hyla, my friend? Get you off to my wife with the eels, you old dog." - -He blazed his bold eyes at the serf, and his swarthy face and coal-black -hair seemed bristling with anger and disdain. His face was deeply pitted -with marks which one of the numerous varieties of the plague had left -upon it, and as his white, strong teeth flashed in anger through the -gloom, he looked, so Hyla thought, like the grinning devil-face of stone -carved over the servants' wicket at Icombe Abbey. - -He slunk away from the man-at-arms without a word, and toiled on up the -hill. He fancied he could hear Pierce laughing down below him, and he -spat upon the ground in impotent rage. - -He soon came to a few pasture fields on the outskirts of the village, -some parts of them all silver-white with "lady-smocks." Hardy little -cows, goats, and sheep roamed in the meadows, which were enclosed with -rough stone walls. A herd of pigs were wallowing in the mud which lined -the banks of the sewage stream, for, with their usual ignorance, the -castle architects allowed this to run right through the pastures on the -hill slope. - -The cows were lowing uneasily to each other, for they were tormented by -hosts of knats and marsh-begotten flies which rose up from the fen -below. - -Past the fields the road widened out into a square of yellow, -dust-powdered grass--the village green--and round this were set some of -the principal houses. - -There was no room for comfortable dwelling-places inside the castle -itself for the crowd of inferior officers and men-at-arms. Accordingly -they made their home in the village at its walls, and could retreat into -safety in times of war. - -Eustace, the head armourer, had a house here, the best in the village, -roofed with shingle and built of solid timber. The men-at-arms, Pierce -among them, who were married, or lived with women taken in battle, had -their dwellings there; and one thatched Saxon house belonged to Lewin, -the worker in metal, and chief of Baron Geoffroi's mint. - -Hyla was a labourer in the mint, and under the orders of Lewin the Jew. - -In 1133 it was established as a general truth and legal adage, by the -Justiciar of England himself, that no subject might coin silver money. -The adulteration practised in the baronial mints had reduced coins, -which pretended to be of silver, into an alloy which was principally -composed of a bastard copper. A few exceptions were made to the law, but -all private mints were supposed to be under the direct superintendence -of crown officials. In the anarchy of Stephen's reign this rule became -inoperative, and many barons and bishops coined money for themselves. - -Few did this so completely and well as Geoffroi de la Bourne. - -When Bishop Roger of Salisbury made his son Chancellor of the Exchequer, -in King Henry's reign, the chancellor had in his train a clever Jew boy, -baptised by force, very skilful in the manual arts. - -It was the youth Lewin who invented the cloth, chequered like a -chess-board, which covered the table of the "Exchequer," and on which -money was counted out; and he also claimed that the "tallies" which were -given in receipt for taxes to the county sheriffs were a product of his -fertile brain. - -This man, was always looked upon with suspicion by the many churchmen -with whom he came in contact. Finance was almost entirely in the hands -of the great clergymen, and the servant Lewin was distrusted for his -cleverness and anti-Christian blood. At dinner many a worthy bishop -would urge the chancellor to dismiss him. - -The Jew was too shrewd not to feel their hostility and know their -dislike; and when he came across Geoffroi de la Bourne in the Tower -Royal, where Cheapside now stands, he was easily persuaded to enter his -service. - -At Hilgay Castle he was at the head of a fine organisation of -metal-workers, and under the direct protection of a powerful chief. So -lawless was the time that he could gratify the coarse passions of his -Eastern blood to the full, and he counted few men, and certainly no -other Jew in East England, more fortunately circumstanced than he was. - -A few villeins of the farmer class, who were also skilled men at arms, -had rough houses in the village, and tilled the corn-fields and looked -after the cattle. Beyond their dwellings, on the verge of the woods of -oak and beech which purpled the southern distance, were the huts of the -serfs. - -Hyla passed slowly through the village. On the green, by a well which -stood in the centre, a group of light-haired Saxon women were chattering -over their household affairs. At the doors of some of the houses of the -Norman men-at-arms sat French women on stools, rinsing pot herbs and -scouring iron cooking bowls. Their black hair, prominent noses, and -alert eyes contrasted favourably with the somewhat stupid faces of the -Saxons, and there could be seen in them more than one sign of a -conquering race. - -They were also more neatly dressed, and a coarse flax linen bound their -temples in its whiteness, or lay about their throats. - -Stepping over a gutter full of evil-smelling refuse, Hyla came to the -house of Pierce, and beat upon the wooden door, which hung upon hinges -of leather made from bullock's hide. - -It swung open, and Adelais, the soldier's wife, named after the Duke of -Brabant's daughter, stood upon the threshold obedient to the summons. - -She took the eels from him without a word, and began to unhook them. - -"Pierce said that I might have some fish to take home," Hyla told her -humbly. - -"You may take your belly full," she answered; "it's little enough I like -the river worms, for that is all they are. My man likes them as little -as I." - -"It was he that sent me a-fishing," said Hyla in surprise. - -"Then he had a due reason," said the woman; "but get you home, the -evening is spent, and the night comes." - -Just then, from the castle above their heads, which towered up into the -still warm air, came the mellow sound of a horn, and following upon it -the deep tolling of a bell ringing the curfew. - -Although the evening bell did not ring at that time with any legal -significance as it did in towns, its sound was generally a signal for -sleep; and as the brazen notes floated above them, the groups at the -doors and on the green broke up and dispersed. - -"Sleep well, Hyla!" Adelais said kindly, and, retiring into the house, -she shut her door. - -Hyla went on till he came opposite the great gate of the castle, and -could hear the guards being changed on the other side of the drawbridge. - -He was now on the very brow of the hill, and, stopping for a moment, -looked right down over the road he had traversed. The moon was just -rising, and the road was all white in its light. Far beyond, the vast -fens were a sea of white mist, and the blue will-o'-the-wisp was -beginning to bob and pirouette among it. The air of the village was -full of the sweet pungent smell of the blue wood smoke. - -The night was full of peace and sweetness, and, as the last throbbing -note of the curfew bell died away, it would have been difficult to find -a gentler, mellower place. - -Thin lines of lights, like jewels in velvet, began to twinkle out in the -black walls of the castle as he turned towards the place of the serfs. -He went down a lane fringed with beeches, and emerged upon the open -glade. A fire was burning in the centre, and dark forms were flitting -round it cooking the evening meals. Dogs were barking, and there was a -continual hum and clatter of life. - -Picture for yourself an oblong space surrounded by heavy trees, the -outer boles being striped clear of bark, and many of them remaining but -dead stumps. - -Round the arena stood forty or fifty huts of wood, wattled with oziers -and thatched with fern and dried rushes. - -Many of the huts were built round a tree trunk, and the pole in the -middle served to hang skins and implements upon by means of wooden pegs -driven into it. - -A hole in the roof let out smoke, and in the walls let in the light. -The floors of these huts were of hard-beaten earth, as durable as stone; -but they were littered with old bones, dust, and dried rushes for -several inches deep, and swarming with animal life. - -They were the merest shelters, and served only for sleep. Most of the -household business was conducted in the open before the huts, and in -fine weather the fires were nearly all outside. In winter time the serf -women and girls generally suffered from an irritating soreness of the -eyes, which was produced by living in the acrid smoke which filled the -shelters and escaped but slowly through the roofs. - -The household utensils were few and simple. A large wooden bucket, which -was carried on a pole between two women, served to fetch water from the -well upon the village green, for the serfs had no watering-place in -their own enclosure. An earthenware pot or so--very liable to break and -crack, as it was baked from the black and porous fen clay--and an iron -cooking pot, often the common property of two or more families, -comprised the household goods. - -They slept in the back part of the huts, men, women, and children -together, on dried fern, or with, perhaps, an old and filthy sheep's -skin for cover. The sleeping-room was called the "bower." - -This enclosure where the theows lived was known as the "fold," as it was -fenced in from the forest, on which it abutted, by felled trees. This -was done for protection against wild beasts. Herds of wild and savage -white cattle, such as may now only be seen at Chillingham, roamed -through the wood. Savage boars lived on the forest acorns, and would -attack an unarmed man at sight. Wolves abounded in the depths of the -forest. It often happened that some little serf child wandered away, and -was never seen again, and it was useless for a thrall to attempt escape -into its mysterious depths. - -For the most part only married serfs lived in the fold or "stoke," as it -was sometimes called. Many of the younger men were employed as grooms -and water-carriers in the castle, or slept and lived in sheds and cattle -houses belonging to the men-at-arms and farmers in the village. - -It was thus that the serfs lived, and Hyla skirted the fold till he came -to his own house. He was very tired and hungry, and eager for a meal -before sleeping. - -All the morning he had laboured, sweating by the glowing fires of the -mint, pouring molten metal into the moulds. At mid-day the steward had -given him a vessel of spoilt black barley for his wife to bake bread, -and he had taken it home to her and his two daughters against his -return. - -In the afternoon Hyla and his two daughters, Frija and Elgifu, girls of -twenty and nineteen, had been at work dunging the fields of Pierce the -man-at-arms, and the evening had been spent, as we have seen, in -spearing eels. - -Hyla was very weary and hungry. When he came up to his hut he saw -angrily that the fire in front of it was nothing but dead embers, and, -indeed, was long since cold. His two little sons, who were generally -tumbling about naked by the hut, were not there, nor could he see Gruach -his wife. - -He flung down the eels in a temper, and called aloud, in his strong -voice, "Frija! Elgifu! Gruach!" - -His cries brought no response, and he turned towards the fire in the -centre of the stoke which was now but a red glow, and round which -various people were sitting eating their evening meal. - -He burst into the circle. "Where is Gruach?" he said to a young man who -was dipping his hand into an earthen pot held between his knees. - -This was Harl, an armourer's rivetter, who generally lived within the -castle walls. - -"Gruach is at the hut of Cerdic," he said, with some embarrassment, and, -so it seemed to Hyla, with pity in his voice. - -The men and women sitting by the fire turned their faces towards him -without exception, and their faces bore the same expression as Harl's. - -Hyla stared stupidly from one to the other. His eyes fell upon Cerdic -himself, a kennel serf, and something of a veterinary surgeon. It was he -who cut off two toes from each dog used for droving, so that they should -not hunt the deer. - -Fastened to his girdle was the ring through which the feet of the -"lawed" dogs were passed, and he carried his operating knife in a sheath -at his side. - -"My woman is in your hut, Cerdic," said Hyla, "and why is she with?" - -"She is with," said Cerdic, "because she is in sore trouble, and walks -in fear of worse. Go you to her, Hyla, and hear her words, and then -come you here again to me." - -A deep sigh burst from all of them as Cerdic spoke, and one woman fell -crying. - -Hyla turned, and strode hastily to Cerdic's hut. He heard a low moaning -coming from it, which rose and fell unceasingly, and was broken in upon -by a woman's voice cooing kind words of comfort. - -He pushed into the hut. It was quite dark and full of foetid smoke and -a most evil odour. - -"Gruach," he said, "Gruach! why are you not home? What hurts you?" - -The moaning stopped, and there was a sound of some one rising. - -Then a voice, which Hyla recognised as belonging to Cerdic's wife, said, -"Here is your man, Gruach! Rise and tell him what bitter things have -been afoot." - -Gruach rose, a tall woman of middle age, and came out of the hut into -the twilight. - -"Hyla!" she said, "Saints help you and me, for they have taken Elgifu -and Frija to the castle." - -The man quivered all over as if he would have fallen on the ground. Then -he gripped his wife's arm. "Tell me," he said hoarsely, "To the castle? -to the castle? Frija and Elgifu?" - -"Aye, your maids and mine, and maids no longer. I had gone to Adelais to -seek food for this night, and found you sent a-fishing. Frija and Elgifu -were carrying the dung to the fields. Pierce was in the field speaking -to our girls. Then came Huber and John from the castle with their pikes, -and they took away our daughters, saying Lord Geoffroi and Lord Fulke -had sent for them. Huber struck me in the face at my crying. 'Take -care!' cwaeth he, 'old women are easily flogged; there is little value -in you.' And I saw them holding my girls, and they took them in the -great gate of the castle laughing, and I did not see them again." - -Hyla said nothing for a minute, but remained still and motionless. The -blow struck him too hard for speech. - -"Get you home," he said at length, "if perchance you may fall asleep. I -am going to talk with Cerdic. Take her home, wife, and God rest you for -your comfort!" - -He walked quickly across the open space back to the fire. The circle was -broken up, and only Cerdic and Harl sat there waiting Hyla's return. - -Stuck into the ground was a cow's horn full of ale, and as Hyla came -into the circle of dim red light, Harl handed it to him. - -He drank deep, and drank again till the comfort of the liquor filled his -craving stomach, and his brain grew clearer. - -"Sit here, friend," said Cerdic. "This is a foul thing that has been -done." - - - - - CHAPTER II - - "Coelum coeli Domino terram autem dedit filiis hominum." - - -In the fifth volume of an instructive work by Le Grand d'Aussy, who was, -in his way, a kind of inferior Dean Swift, there is an interesting -story, one of a collection of "Fabliaux." - -There was once a genial ruffian who lived by highway robbery, but who, -on setting about his occupation, was careful to address a prayer to the -Virgin. He was taken at the end, and sentenced with doom of hanging. -While the executioner was fitting him with the cord, he made his usual -little prayer. It proved effectual. The Virgin supported his feet "with -her white hands," and thus kept him alive two days to the no small -surprise of the executioner, who attempted to complete his work with a -hatchet. But this was turned aside by the same invisible hand, and the -executioner bowed to the miracle, and unstrung the robber. With -that--very naturally--the rogue entered a monastery. - -In another tale the Virgin takes the shape of a nun, who had eloped from -the convent where she was professed, and performs her duties for ten -years. At last, tired of a libertine life, the nun returned unsuspected. -This signal service was performed in consideration of the nun's having -never omitted to say an _Ave_ as she passed the Virgin's image.[1] - - [1] _These stories are perfectly fair examples of monastic - teachings in the Twelfth Century. Roughly speaking, any one - might do anything if he or she said an occasional_ Ave. _Indeed, - Dom Mathew Paris, the most pious and trustworthy monkish - historian, and in his way a scourge to the laxity of his own - order, has more than one story of this kind in which he - evidently believes._ - -It may be therefore said, without exciting any undue surprise, that -Geoffroi de la Bourne had a resident chaplain in the castle, one Dom -Anselm, and that religious ceremonies were more or less regularly -observed. - -In the outer courtyard of the castle a doorway led into the chapel. This -was a long room, with a roof of vaulted stone lit by windows on the -courtyard side, full of some very presentable stained glass. The glass, -which had far more lead in it than ours, was in fact a kind of mosaic, -and the continual lattice work of metal much obscured the pattern. - -What could be seen of it, however, represented Saint Peter armed, and -riding out to go hawking, with a falcon on his wrist. - -Strips of cloth bandaged cross-wise from the ankle to the knee, and -fastened over red stockings, were part of the saint's costume, and he -wore black-pointed shoes split along the instep almost to the toes, -fastened with two thongs. - -In fact, the artists of that day were under the influence of a realistic -movement, in much the same way as the exhibitors in the modern French -salon, and what superficial students of Twelfth-Century manners put down -as unimaginative ignorance was really the outcome of a widely understood -artistic pose. - -On a shrine by the chapel door stood an image of the Blessed Virgin, a -trifle gaudy. The head was bound round with a linen veil, and a loose -gown of the same material was laced over a tight-fitting bodice. Round -the arms were wound gold snake bracelets, imitations, made by Lewin in -the forge, of some old Danish ornaments in the possession of the Lady -Alice de la Bourne. The foldings of the robe were looped up here and -there with jewelled butterflies, differing not at all from a Palais -Royal toy of to-day. - -In front of the shrine hung two lamps, or "light vats" as they were -called, of distinctly Roman type--luxuries which were rare then, and of -which Dom Anselm was exceedingly proud. They dated from the time of King -Alfred, that inventive monarch, who had adapted the idea of lamps from -old Roman relics found in excavations. - -Except that the altar furniture was in exceedingly good taste, it -differed hardly at all from anything that may be seen in twenty London -churches to-day. - -There were no pews or seats in the chapel, save some heavy oak chairs by -the altar side, where a wooden perch, clamped to the table itself and -white with guano, indicated that Geoffroi de la Bourne would sit with -his hawks. - -The sun rose in full June majesty the next morning, and soon shone upon -the picturesque activity of a mediæval fortress in prosperous being. - -The serfs and workmen, who slept in lightly constructed huts of thin elm -planks under a raised wooden gallery which went round the courtyard, -rose from the straw in which they lay with the dogs, and, shaking -themselves, set about work. - -The windlass of the well creaked and groaned as the water for the horses -was drawn. The carpenters began their labour of cutting boards for some -new mead-benches which were wanted in the hall, and men began to stoke -afresh the furnaces of the armoury and mint. - -Paved ways ran from door to door of the various buildings, but all the -rest of the bailey was carpeted with grass, which had been sown there to -feed the cattle who would be herded within the walls in dangerous times. - -About half-past eight Dom Anselm let himself out of a little gate in the -corner of Outfangthef Tower, and came grumbling down the steps. He -crossed the courtyard, taking no notice of the salutations of the -labourers, but looking as if he were half asleep, as indeed he was. His -long beard was matted and thick with wine-stains from the night before, -and his thin face was an unhealthy yellow colour. - -He unlocked the chapel door, and mechanically pushed a dirty thumb into -a holy water stoup. Then he bowed low to the monstrance on the altar, -and lower still to the figure of the Virgin. After the hot sunshine of -the outside world, the chapel was chill and damp, and the air struck -unpleasantly upon him. - -He went up to the altar to find his missal. Sleeping always in a filthy -little cell with no ventilation, and generally seeking his bed in a -state of intoxication, had afflicted the priest with a chronic catarrh -of the nose and throat--as common a complaint among the priesthood then -as it is now in the country districts of Italy and southern France. -Quite regardless of his environment, he expectorated horribly even as he -bowed to the presence of Christ upon the altar. - -It is necessary for an understanding of those times to make a point of -things, which, in a tale of contemporary events, would be unseemly and -inartistic. Dom Anselm saw nothing amiss with his manners, and the fact -helps to explain Dom Anselm and his brethren to the reader. - -With a small key the priest opened a strong box banded with bronze, and -drew from it the vessels. - -Among the contents of the box were some delicate napkins which Lady -Alice had worked--some of those beautiful pieces of embroidery which -were known all over Europe as "English work." - -When the silver vessels were placed upon the altar, and everything was -ready for the service, the thirst of the morning got firm hold upon Dom -Anselm's throat. - -He left the chapel, and summoned a theow who was passing the door with a -great bundle of cabbages in his arm. - -"Set those down," he said, "and ring the bell for Mass;" and while the -man obeyed, and the bell beat out its summons to prayer--very musical in -the morning air--he strode across the courtyard to the mint. - -By this time, in the long, low buildings, the fires were banked up, the -tools lay ready upon the benches, and the men were greasing the moulds -with bacon fat. - -The priest went through the room with two raised fingers, turning -quickly and mechanically towards the toil-worn figures who knelt or -bowed low for his blessing. He walked towards an inner room, the door of -which was hung with a curtain of moth-eaten cat-skin--the cheapest -drapery of the time. Pushing this curtain aside, he entered with a -cheery "Good-day!" to find, as he expected, Lewin, the mint-master. - -The Jew was a slim man of middle size, clean-shaven, and with dark-red -hair. His face was handsome and commanding, and yet animal. The wolf and -pig struggled for mastery in it. He was engaged in opening the -brass-bound door of a recess or cupboard in the wall, where the dies for -stamping coin were kept in strict ward. - -The mint-master straightway called to one of the men in the outer room, -who thereon brought in a great horn of ale in the manner of use. Every -morning the priest would call upon the Jew, so that they might take -their drink together. Each day the two friends conveniently forgot--or -at any rate disregarded--the rule which bids men fast before the Mass. -Lewin attended Church with great devotion, and, like many modern -Israelites, was most anxious that the fact of his ancient and honourable -descent should be forgotten. - -Though he himself was a professing Christian, and secure in his -position, yet his brethren, who nearly always remained staunch to their -ancient faith, were in very sad case in the Twelfth Century. Vaissette, -in his history of Languedoc, dwells upon a pleasing custom which -obtained at Toulouse, to give a blow on the face to a Jew every Easter. -In some districts of England, from Palm Sunday to Easter was regarded as -a licensed time for the baiting of Jews, and the populace was regularly -instigated by the priests to attack Jewish houses with stones. Yet, at -the same time, it was possible for a Jew to obtain a respectable -position if he avoided the practice of usury, and Lewin the minter was -an example of the fact. - -"This is the best beer of the day," said the priest, "eke the beer at -noon meat. My belly is so hot in the morning, and all the pipes of my -body burn." - -Lewin poured out some ale from the horn into a Saxon drinking-glass with -a rounded bottom like a modern soda-water bottle--the invariable -pattern--and handed the horn back to Dom Anselm. They drank -simultaneously with certain words of pledge, and clinked the vessels -together. - -"It's time for service," said the clergyman, when the horn was empty. -"Lady Alice will be upon arriving and in a devilish temper, keep I her -waiting." - -"Lord Geoffroi," said Lewin, "will he be at Mass?" - -The priest grinned with an evil smile. "What do you think, minter?" he -chuckled. "Geoffroi never comes to Mass when he sins a mortal sin o'er -night; no, nor young Fulke either." - -Lewin looked enquiringly at him. - -"Two of the men-at-arms brought the daughters of one Hyla into the -castle last night before curfew." - -"He works for me here," said the minter. - -"I am sorry for him," said the priest, "and I do not like this force, -for the girls were screaming as they took them to Outfangthef. Lord -Christ forbid that I should ever take from a maiden what she would not -give. It will mean candles of real wax for me from Geoffroi, this will." - -"The master is a stern man," said Lewin as they entered the chapel door. - -Lady Alice was already in the chapel, kneeling on the altar steps, and -behind her were two or three maids also kneeling. - -On the eyelids of one of these girls the tears still stood glistening, -and a red mark upon her cheek showed that Lady Alice had not risen in -the best of tempers. The chatelaine frowned at Anselm when she heard his -foot-steps, and, turning, saw him robing by the door. - -Many of the workmen and men-at-arms crowded into the chapel, all -degrees mingling together. Some of the villein farmers had come in from -the village, sturdy, open-featured men, prosperously dressed in woollen -tunics reaching to the knees, fastened with a brooch of bone. The serfs -knelt at the back, and as the deep pattering Latin rolled down the -church every head was bent low in reverence. - -Although among nearly all of them there was such a contrast between -conduct and belief, yet, at the daily mystery and miracle of the Mass, -every evil brain was filled with reverence and awe. When the Host was -raised--the very body of Christ--to them all, you may judge how it moved -every human heart. - -The system which held them all was a very easy and pleasant system. -Unconditional submission to the Church, and belief in her mysteries, -ensured the redemption of sins and the joys of heaven hereafter. To the -popular mind, my Lords the Saints and the Blessed Virgin were great, -good-humoured people, always approachable by an _Ave_ and a little -private understanding with the priest. It was, indeed, the pleasantest -and easiest of all religious systems. - -This, then, was the ordinary attitude of men and women towards the -unseen, and it helps to explain the wickedness of the time. Yet it must -not be thought that in this dark tapestry there were no lighter threads. -The saints of God were still to be found on earth. Bright lines of gold -and white and silver ran through the warp and woof, and we shall meet -with more than one fine and Christian character in this story of Hyla. - -The stately monotone went on. Huber and John, the two men-at-arms who -had hurried the poor serf girls into the castle the night before, knelt -in reverence, and beat their breasts. - -"The Lord is debonair," Huber muttered to himself. Alice de la Bourne -forgot her ill temper and petty dislike of pretty Gundruda, her maid, -and fervently made the sign of the cross. Lewin alone, of all that -kneeling throng, was uninfluenced by the ceremony and full of earthly -thoughts. - -After Mass was over, Anselm remained kneeling, repeating prayers, while -the congregation filed out into the sunlight. A little significant -incident happened on the very threshold. A poor serf had become -possessed of a rosary made from the shells of a pretty little pink and -green snail which was found--not too frequently--in the marshes below. -This possession of his he valued, and, as he said his prayers day by -day, it became invested with a mystical importance. He looked on it as a -very holy thing. - -Coming out of church, among the last of the crowd, he let it fall upon -the step of the door. He was stooping to pick it up, when he came in the -way of Huber, the soldier, who sent him flying into the courtyard with a -hearty kick. - -The soldier stepped upon the rosary, breaking most of the shells, and -then picked it up in some curiosity. He had it in his hand, and was -showing it to his companions, when the serf, who had risen from the -ground, leapt upon him in anger. - -There was an instant scuffle, and a loud explosion of oaths. In a second -or two three or four men held the unhappy serf by the arms, and had -fastened him up to the post of the well in the centre of the yard. They -tied him up with two or three turns of the well rope, which they -unhooked from the bucket. - -Huber took his leather belt and flogged him lustily, after his tunic of -cat-skin had been pulled down to the waist. The wretch screamed for -mercy, and attracted all the workmen round, who stood watching--the -serfs in timid silence, and the men-at-arms with mirth and laughter. It -may sound incredible, but Lady Alice herself, standing on the top step -of the stairway leading to the tower door, watched with every sign of -amusement. It was, in fact, no uncommon thing in those cruel times for -great Norman and Saxon ladies to order their slaves to be horribly -tortured on the slightest provocation. Cruelty seemed an integral part -of their characters. There is, for example, a well-attested story of -Ethelred's mother, who struck him so heavily with a bunch of candles -which lay to her hand, that he fell senseless for near an hour. - -Dom Anselm came out of chapel after a while, and sought the cause of the -uproar. - -"There, my men," he said, "let the theow go. Whatever he has done, he -has paid toll now. And look to it, Henry, that you say an _Ave_ to our -Blessed Lady that you harbour no wrath towards your just lords." - -With that they let him go, and, bleeding and sobbing, the poor fellow -slunk away into the stables. Sitting in the straw, he cried as if his -heart would break, until he felt hot breath on his cheek, and looking -up saw large mild eyes, like still woodland pools, regarding him with -love. Above him towered the vast form of "Duke Robert," Geoffroi's great -war charger, as large and ponderous as a small elephant, his one dear -friend. So he forgot his troubles a little while. - -It was now about nine o'clock, and breakfast was served. The Baron and -his son, and also the Lady Alice, never appeared in the great hall until -the "noon meat" at three. They ate the first meal of the day in the -"bowers" or sleeping chambers. - -While the Lady Alice and her women superintended the more important -household business, or sat in the orchard outside the south wall of the -castle with their needlework, the Baron was throned in the gateway of -the castle conducting the business of his estate, and presiding over a -kind of local court. - -The Justices in Eyre were hardly yet sufficiently established on -circuit, and, moreover, the country was in so disturbed a state that the -administration of law was merely in most cases, certainly at Hilgay, a -question of local tyranny. - -The whole business of the day was well afoot with all its multifarious -activity when Hyla rested from his work, and sitting under the shadow -of a stone wall, ate a hunk of bread which he had brought with him. He -had sat late with Cerdic the night before, and, as he had half expected, -had been bidden in the morning to work in Pierce's fields, and not to go -to the castle. All the morning, since early dawn, he had been manuring -fields with marl, in the old British fashion. The work was very hard, as -the fields were only in the first stage of being reclaimed from wild -common land, and required infinite preparation. - -The supply of dung had given out, and the marl was hard to carry and bad -to breathe. - -The awful blow dealt to his whole life had dazed his brain for hours, -but the long talk with Cerdic and Harl had condensed his pain within -him, and turned it to strong purpose. - -He thought over his life as he remembered it, his dull life of slavery, -and saw with bitter clearness how the clouds were gathering round him -and his kind. The present and the future alike were black as night, and -the years pressed more and more heavily as they dragged onwards. - -During the last years the serfs at Hilgay had been more ill-used and -down-trodden than ever before. The Saxon gentlemen, who had held the -forefathers of Hyla in thrall, were stern and hard, but life had been -possible with them. Life was more light-hearted. Githa would sometimes -dance upon the green when the day's work was done, and spend a few -long-hoarded triens in an ivory comb or a string of coloured beads. - -The Gesith or Thanes, the lesser nobility, had not been unkind to their -slaves, and there was sometimes a draught of "pigment" for them--a sweet -liquor, made of honey, wine, and spice--at times of festival. - -Now everything was changed, and among the serfs a passionate spirit of -hatred and revolt was springing up. The less intelligent of them sank -into the condition of mere beasts of burden, without soul or brain. On -the other hand, adversity had sharpened the powers of others, and in -many of them was being born the first glimmerings of a consciousness -that even they had rights. - -Hyla himself was one of the most advanced among his brethren. He felt -his manhood and "individuality" more than most of them. "I am I" his -brain sometimes whispered to him. The cruel oppressions to which he was -subject roused him more poignantly day by day. - -Some nine months before a peculiarly atrocious deed had consolidated the -nebulous and unexpressed sense of revolt among the serfs of Hilgay into -a regular and definite subject of conversation. - -The Forest Laws, which Knut had fenced round with a number of ferocious -edicts, placing the deer and swine far above the serfs themselves, were -made even more vigorous and harsh by the Normans. A theow named Gurth, -who had been seen by a forester picking wood for fires, was suspected of -killing a young boar, which had been found not long after with its belly -ripped open by a sharp stake. Parts of the animal had been cut away, -obviously by a knife, and were missing. Although the serf was absolutely -innocent of the beast's slaughter, which was purely accidental--he had -come upon it dead in the forest, and taken a forequarter to his -home--Geoffroi de la Bourne burnt him in the centre of the village, and -flogged mercilessly all the serfs, women included, who were thought to -have partaken of the dish. - -Since that time the men-at-arms and inferior followers of the castle had -taken license to ill-use the serfs in every possible way. The virtue of -no comely girl or married woman was safe, floggings were of daily -occurrence, and, as there were plenty of theows to work, nothing was -said if one or two were occasionally killed or maimed for life in a -drunken brawl. - -The serfs in the castle itself had no thoughts but of submission; but -those who lived in the stoke, mingling freely with each other, and with -the poor freedom of their own huts and wives, began to meet night by -night round the central fire to discuss their wrongs. - -The Normans never went into the stoke, or at least very rarely. The -theows could not escape, and so that they did the tasks set them, their -proceedings at night mattered not at all. - -Hyla sat munching his manchet, and drinking from a horn of sour Welsh -ale, a thin brew staple to the common people. The thought of Frija and -Elgifu was almost more than he could bear. - -It is interesting to note that Hyla's passionate anger was directed -entirely against his masters. He had never known a spiritual revolt. It -never entered his head to imagine that the God to whom he prayed had -much to do with the state of the world. He never supplicated for bodily -relief in his prayers, but only for pardon for his sins and for hope of -heaven. The principalities and powers of the other world were too awful -and mysterious, he thought, to have any actual bearing upon life. - -The dominant idea of his brain was a lust for revenge, and yet it was by -no means a _personal_ revenge. He was full of pity for his friends, for -all the serfs, and his own miseries were only as a drop in the cup of -his wrath. - -Night by night the serfs had begun to sit in the stoke holding conclave. -It was an ominous gathering for those in high places! Hyla was generally -the speaker of these poor parliaments. "HE went after the herons this -noon, with Lady Alice and the squires," one man would say, provoking -discussion. - -"Yes," Hyla might answer, "and his falcon had t' head in a broidered -hood eke a peal of silver bells. Never a bonnet of fine cloth for you, -Harl; you are no bird." - -"HE rode over Oswald's field of ripening corn, and had noon meat with -all his train at the farm." - -"That is the law for a lord. Or--" - -"I was at the hall door, supper time, among the lecheurs. Lord Fulke he -did call me, and bade me fetch the board for chess and the images, -having in his mind to game with Brian de Burgh. He broke the board on my -head when I knelt with it, for he said I had the ugliest face he ever -saw." - -"Lord Christ made your face," would come from Cerdic or Hyla, and the -ill-favoured one would finger his scars with more resentment than ever. - -This man Cerdic was a born agitator. Without the dogged sincerity of -Hyla, he had a readier tongue and a more commanding presence. His own -injuries were the mainspring of his actions, for he had once been a full -ceorl, with boc-land of his own. From yeoman to serf was a terrible drop -in the social scale. As a ceorl, Cerdic had a freeman's right of bearing -arms, and could have reasonably hoped to climb up, by years of industry -and fortunate speculation, into the ranks of the Gesith or Thanes. -Speculation, indeed, proved his ruin, and debt was the last occasion of -his downfall. He was nearly sixty now, and a slave who could own no -property, take no oath, complete no document. - -As Hyla sat in the sun he saw Cerdic coming towards him, followed by a -little frisking crowd of puppies. The lawer of dogs sat him down beside -his friend, and, taking out his knife, began to whet it upon a hone. - -"It's a sure thing, then?" he said to Hyla. "You are certain in purpose, -Hyla? You will do it indeed? Remember, eftsoons you said that it was in -you to strike a blow for us all; but it's a fool's part to fumble with -Satan his tail. Are you firm?" - -He took one of the little dogs between his knees, a pretty, frisking -little creature, thinking nothing of its imminent pain, and, holding one -of its fore-paws in his hand, picked up the knife. The puppy whined -piteously as the swift scalpel divided the living gristle of its foot, -but its brethren frisked about all unheeding. - -Hyla saw nothing for a time. He seemed thinking. His intelligent eyes -were glazed and far away, only the impassive, hairless face remained, -with little or no soul to brighten it. And yet a great struggle was -surging over this poor man's heart, and such as he had never known -before. To his rough and animal life an emotional crisis was new and -startling. Something seemed to have suddenly given way in his -brain--some membrane which hitherto had separated him from real things. - -While the little dog struggled and yelped as its bleeding paw was thrust -in measurement through the metal ring, a new man was being born. Hyla's -sub-conscious brain told him that nothing that had happened before -mattered a shred of straw. He had never understood what life might mean -for a man till now. - -An IDEAL was suddenly revealed to him. But to accept that ideal? that -was hard indeed. It meant almost certain death and torture for himself. - -The promptings of self-interest, which spring from our lower nature, and -which are pictorially personified into a grim personality, began to -flutter and whisper. - -"Supposing," they said, "that you did this, that you killed Geoffroi for -his sins, and to show that the down-trodden and the poor are yet men, -and can exact a penalty. How much better would your companions be? Fulke -would be lord then, and he is even as his father. Let it go, hold Gruach -in your arms--you have that joy, you know. And work is not so bad. They -have not beaten you yet; there are sometimes good things to eat and -drink, are there not? Mind when you took home a whole mess of goose and -garlic from the hall door? Often you snare a rabbit, and the minter is -not ill-disposed to you. You are the best of his men; to you it is given -to drive the die and hammer the coin, to beat the die into the silver -and to burnish it. It is possible--stranger things have happened--that -you might even gain freedom, and become a villein. Lewin might speak for -you--who knows? These things have happened before. Is it indeed worth -while to do this thing?" - -While these thoughts were racing through Hyla's brain, and he was -considering them, a strange thing happened. To the struggling brain of -the serf, all unused to any subtle emotion, Nature made a direct -æsthetic appeal. - -In the middle sky a lark began to trill a song so loud and tuneful, so -instinct with Freedom, that it seemed a direct message to him. He stared -up at the tiny speck from which these heavenly notes were falling down -to earth, and his doubts rolled up like a curtain. - -He saw that it was his duty to kill Geoffroi for the sake of the others, -and, come what might, he said to himself that he would do this thing. - -The clumsy medium of the printed page has allowed us to follow Hyla's -thoughts very slowly. Even as his resolve was taken, he heard Cerdic -muttering that it was "ill to fumble with Satan's tail." - -"I'll do it," he said, "and it's not the Divell that will be glad, -Cerdic. No, it's not the Divell," he repeated, a little at a loss what -further to say. - -Cerdic pulled from his tunic a little cross of wood, and held it out to -him. The passer-by would have seen two serfs, ill-clothed, unwashed, -uncouth, eating bread and cheese under a wall. He would never have put a -thought to them. Yet the conference of the two was fraught with -tremendous meaning to those times. For a hundred years Hyla was -remembered, and a star in the darkness to the weary; and after his name -was forgotten, the influence of his deeds made life sweeter for many -generations of the poor. - -Hyla took the little cross, so that he might swear faith. With a -lingering memory of the form in which men swore oath of fealty to their -lords, he said, "I become true man to this deed from this day forward, -of life and limb and earthly service, and unto it shall be true and -faithful, and bear to you faith, Cerdic, for the aid I claim to hold of -you." - -He did this in seriousness, beyond all opinion; but the importance of -the occasion, and the drama of it, pleased him not a little. The new toy -of words was pleasant. - -Cerdic kissed him, entering into the spirit of the oath, for it was the -custom to kiss a man sworn to service. - -"And I also am with you to the end," said Cerdic, "and may all false -ribalds die who use poor men so." - -In a high voice which shook with hate he quavered out a verse of the -"Song of the Husbandman," a popular political song of those days; a -ballad which the common people sang under their breath: - - "Ne mai us nyse no rest rycheis ne ro. - Thus me pileth the pore that is of lute pris: - Nede in swot and in swynk swynde mot swo." - -It was the poor fellow's Marseillaise! - -"_There may not arise to us, or remain with us, riches or rest. Thus -they rob the poor man, who is of little value: he must waste away in -sweat and labour._" - -Doggerel, but how bitter! A sign of the times which Geoffroi could not -hear--ominous, threatening. - -"A right good song, Cerdic," said Hyla. "But it will not be ever so. I -know not if we shall see it, but all things change and change shall -come from us. A tree stands not for ever." - -The two men gazed steadfastly into each other's eyes, and then went -about their work in silence. - - * * * * * - -The drama of this history may now be said to have begun. The lamps are -trimmed, the scene set, and you shall hear the stirring story of Hyla -the Serf. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - The last night of Geoffroi de la Bourne - - -While Cerdic and Hyla sat in the field weaving their design to -completion, Lord Geoffroi, Lord Fulke, Lady Alice, and Brian de Burgh, -the squire, set out after forest game. They were attended by a great -hunting train. Very few people of any importance were left in the -castle, save Lewin and Dom Anselm. - -The sun, though still very hot, had begun to decline towards his western -bower, and the quiet of the afternoon already seemed to foreshadow the -ultimate peace of evening. - -Very little was doing in the castle. Some of the grooms lay about -sleeping in the sun, waiting the long return of the hunters in idleness. -From the armoury now and again the musical tinkering of a chisel upon -steel sounded intermittent. Soon this also stopped, and a weapon-smith, -who had been engraving foliates upon a blade, came out of his forge -yawning. The Pantler, a little stomachy man, descended from the great -hall, and, passing through the court, went out of the great gate into -the village. Time seemed all standing still, in the silence and the -heat. - -Dom Anselm came into the court-yard, and sat him down upon a bench by -the draw-well, just in the fringe of the long violet shadow thrown over -the yard by Outfangthef. There was a bucket of water, full of cool green -lights, standing by the well. After a little consideration, the priest -kicked off his sandals and thrust his feet into its translucence. Then, -comfortably propped up against the post, he fell to reading his -Latin-book. In half-an-hour the book had slipped from his hand, and he -was fast asleep. - -While he slept, a door opened in the tower. From it came Pierce, and -after him two girls, tall, comely Saxon lasses, bronzed by sun and wind. -One of them, the eldest of the two, held her hands clenched, and her -face was set in sullen silence. Her eyes alone blazed, and were dilated -with anger. The younger girl seemed more at ease. Her eyes were timid, -but a half smile lingered on her pretty, rather foolish lips. She -fingered a massive bracelet of silver which encircled her arm. Pierce -was giving Frija and Elgifu their freedom. - -They came down the steps, and he pointed across the court-yard towards -the gateway passage. "There! girls," said he, "there lies your way, to -take or leave, just as suits your mind. For me, were I you, I'd never go -back to the stoke. Hard fare, and dogs lying beyond all opinion! My -Lords bid me say that you can take your choice." - -Frija swung round at him, shaking with passion. - -"Vitaille and bower," she shrilled at him, "and the prys shame! A lord -for a leofman, indeed! Before I would fill my belly with lemman's food -to your lord's pleasure, I would throw myself from Outfangthef." - -Pierce smiled calmly at her. - -"You talk of shame!--it is my lord's, if shame there is! Off with you to -the fold, little serf lamb!" - -She flushed a deep crimson, and seemed to cower at his words. "Come, -Elgifu," she said, "mother will be glad to see us come, even coming as -we do." - -"Pretty Elgifu!" said the man. "No, you are not going! My Lord Fulke's a -fine young man. Did he not give you that bracelet? Stay here with us -all, good comrades, and you shall be our little friend. We will treat -you well. Is it not so?" - -The girl hesitated. She was a pretty, brainless little thing, and had -not protested. They had been kind enough to her. The stoke seemed very -horrible and noisome after the glories of the castle. Her sister's -burning flow of Saxon seemed unnecessary. Frija looked at her in -surprise at her hesitation. - -"Say nothing to the divell," she cried impatiently; "come you home to -mother." - -Her imperious elder sister's tone irritated the little fool. "No, then," -she said. "I will stay here. I will not go with you. You may talk of -'shame,' but if shame it is to live in this tower, then I have shame for -my choys. Life is short; it is better here." - -With that frank confession, she turned to the man-at-arms for approval. - -He stepped in front of her, and, scowling at Frija, bid her be off. With -a great cry of sorrow, the elder girl bowed her head and swiftly walked -away. They saw her disappear through the gateway, and heard the -challenge and laughter of the guards, pursuing her with jests as she -went by. - -"Oh, you are wise, pretty one!" said Pierce, putting his arm round her -waist. "See, now, I will take you to the topmost part of the tower, to -that balcony. We shall see all the country-side from there!" - -They turned and entered Outfangthef, and the clanging of the door as it -closed behind them roused Anselm from his slumber. - -He sat up, stupidly gazing round him. His book was fallen, and a dog was -nosing in its pages. He kicked the cur away, and picked up the breviary. -By the shadow of the tower, which stood at the corner of the keep, he -saw the afternoon was getting on. He looked round him impatiently, and, -even as he did so, saw the man he was expectant of approaching. - -"I am late," said Lewin, as he came up; "but I have been hearing news, -and have much to tell you. We had better go at once." - -"Whiles I fetch my staff," said the other, and soon they were walking -through the village, down the road which led to the fen. They came to -the fields, where a herd of swine was feeding among the sewage. - -"They are unclean things," said Lewin, regarding them with dislike. -"Though I am no Jew in practice, yet I confess that I do not like them. -Pig! the very name is an outrage to one's ear." - -"So not I," said Dom Anselm. "When the brute lives in the charge of a -Saxon slave, she goes by her Saxon name; but she becomes a Norman, and -is called 'pork,' when she is carried to castle-hall to feast among us. -I want no better dish." - -"Each to his taste. But here we are. By the Mass, but the place stinks!" - -They had come to the landing-stage in the river, and, indeed, the odour -was almost unbearable. For twenty yards round, the water was thick with -foulness. They got into a flat-bottomed boat and pushed off across the -stream. The water was too deep to pole in the centre, but one or two -vigorous strokes sent them gliding towards the further rushes. Lewin -punted skilfully, skirting the reeds, which rose far above his head, -until he came to a narrow opening. - -"This will do as well as another," he said, and turned the boat down it. - -The water-way was little more than two yards wide, and the reeds grew -thick and high, so that they could only see a little way in front. At -last, after many turns and twists, they came to a still, green pool, a -hundred yards across. In this stagnant evil-looking place they rested, -floating motionless in the centre. - -"Geoffroi himself, were he in the reeds, could not hear us now," said -the priest. - -"True, but drop a line to give a reason for being here." - -The priest took from his girdle a line, wound upon a wooden spool. -Baiting the hook with a piece of meat, he dropped it overboard, and -settled himself comfortably in the bottom of the boat. - -"Now, Lewin," said he, "you may go into the matter." - -"I will tell you all I have heard," said the minter, "and we will settle -all we purpose to do. You have heard that Roger Bigot has taken Norwich, -and assumed the earldom of the county in rebellion to the king. Hamo de -Copton, the moneyer, is a correspondent of mine, from London, and we -have been interested together in more than one mercantile venture. From -him letters are to hand upon the disposal of four chests of silver -triens in London. You know our money is but token money, and not worth -the face value of the stamp. We are making trial to circulate our money -through Hamo, and in return he sends Lord Geoffroi bars of silver -uncoined. Now, the letter bears a post scriptum to this end. 'The king -is sick, and indeed was taken so before Whitsuntide.' The talk is all -that his cause is losing, and that wise men will be nimble to seize -opportunity. Hamo urges me to consider well if I should seek some other -master than Geoffroi, who is the king's friend." - -He stopped suddenly, alarmed by a great disturbance in the water. A pike -had swallowed Anselm's bait and was beating about the pool five or six -yards away, leaping out of the water in its agony. They hauled the line -in slowly, until the great, evil-looking creature was snapping and -writhing at the boat-side. Then, with a joint heave, it lay at the -bottom of the boat, and was soon despatched by the minter's dagger. - -"Go on," said Dom Anselm. - -"Yestreen," resumed Lewin, "John Heyrown was privy with me for near two -hours. He comes peddling spice from Dentown, hard by Norwich town. I -have known him privily these six months. From him I hear that Roger -Bigot is in the article of setting forth to come upon us here to take -the castle. Geoffroi has great store of fine armour of war, eke fine -metals and jewels of silver and gold. Hilgay would extend Roger's arm -far south, and make a fort for him on the eastern road to London. He is -pressing to London with a great force and inventions of war. Now, -listen, John Heyrown is neither more nor less than in his pay, and he -comes here to see if he can find friends within our walls. Roger knows -of me and my value, and offereth me a high place, and also for my -friends, do I but help him. What do you say?" - -Dom Anselm's thin face wrinkled up in thought, weighing the chances. - -"I think," he said at last, very slowly, "I think, that we must throw -our lot in with Roger Bigot, and be his men." - -"I also," said Lewin. "And I have already been preparing a token of our -choice." - -He pulled a piece of vellum from his tunic. - -"Here is a map of the castle, clear drawn. There you see marked the weak -spot by the orchard wall; Geoffroi has been long a-mending of it since -we noticed the sinking, but nothing has been done. To enter the castle -need not be difficult. The donjon will be harder; but I have marked a -plan for that also. At the foot of Outfangthef lie _les oubliettes_, and -many deep cellars, raised on arches. It is there keep we our coined -silver and the silver in bars. With his engines, knowing the spot, Roger -could mine deep, and Outfangthef would fall, leaving a great breach." - -Anselm took the plan with admiration. - -"It's finely writ," he said; "should'st have been in a scriptorium." - -"My two hands are good thralls to me," said Lewin, pleased at the -compliment to his work. "Then you and I stand committed to this thing?" - -"Since it seems the wisest course, for Lord Roger is a great lord and -strong, I give you my hand." - -"Let it be so, friend Anselm. I will give John the plan this night." - -"Then it is a thing done. But what is your immediate end?--for I -conceive you have some near purpose in view." - -"Some time I will tell you, but not yet." - -"It's a woman, you dog!" said the priest with a grin. - -"We must homewards," answered the other. "Hark! I hear the horns, they -have returned from the chase." - -As he spoke, clear and sweet the tantivy came floating down the hill and -over the water. - -"We shall be late for supper," said Lewin, "make haste; take the other -pole." - -"God forbid we should be late for supper," said Anselm, and they began -to push back. - -"Will Geoffroi know that Roger is about to attack Hilgay?" Anselm asked -Lewin. - -"Certainly he will, in a day or two. You may be sure that he has friends -in Norwich, and an expedition does not start without a clatter and talk -all along the country-side. I would wager you a wager, Sir Anselm, that -Geoffroi will hear of it by to-morrow morn." - -"And then?" - -"Why then to making ready, to get provision and vitaille for the siege." - -"Well, I wait it in patience: I never moil and fret. He who waiteth, all -things reach at the last." - -"Beware of too much patience, Sir Anselm. Mind you the fable of Chiche -Vache, the monstrous cow, who fed entirely on patient men and women, -and, the tale went, was sorely lean on that fare? - - "'Gardez vous de la shicheface, - El vous mordra s'el vous encontre.'" - -The Jew gave out the song with a fine trill in his voice, which was as -tuneful as a bell. - -The priest, as he watched him and marked his handsome, intelligent face, -was filled with wonder of him. There was nothing he could not do well, -so ran his thoughts, and an air of accomplishment and ease was attendant -upon all his movements. As he threw back his head, drinking in the -evening air, and humming his catch--"el vous mordra s'el vous -encontre"--Anselm was suddenly filled with fear of him. He seemed not -quite to fit into life. He was a Jew, too, and his forefathers had -scourged God Incarnate. Strange things were said about the Jews--art -magic helped them in their work. The priest clutched the cross by his -side, and there was a wonderful comfort in the mere physical contact -with it. - -"No," said he, "I have never heard of Chiche Vache that I can call to -mind. I do not care much for fables and fairy tales. There is merry -reading in the lives of Saints, and good for the soul withal." - -"The loss is yours, priest. I love the stories and tales of the common -folk, eke the songs they sing to the children. I can learn much from -them. Chiche Vache is as common to the English as to French folk. 'Lest -Chichewache yow swelwe in hir entraille,'" he drawled in a capital -imitation of the uncouth Saxon speech. - -By that time they had got to the castle and turned in at its gates. - -The courtyard was full with a press of people, and busy as a hive. -Outside the stable doors the horses were being rubbed down by the serfs. -As they splashed the cool water over the quivering fetlocks and hot -legs, all scratched by thorns and forest growth, they crooned a little -song in unison. The "ballad of my lord going hawking" was a melancholy -cadence, which seemed, in its slow minors, instinct with the sadness of -a conquered race. The first verse ran-- - - "Lord his wyfe upstood and kyssed, - Faucon peregryn on wryst; - Faucon she of fremde londe, - With hir beek Sir Heyrown fonde." - -Lewin and Anselm passed by them and stood watching a moment. - -"Hear you that song of the grooms?" Lewin said. - -"I have heard it a hundred times, but never listened till now," said -Anselm. "But what say they of Faucon peregryn? what means fremde londe?" - -"It stands for foreign land in their speech," said the Jew. "Hast much -to learn of thy flock, Anselm?" - -"Not I. My belly moves at the crooning. It is like the wind in the -forest of a winter's night. Come you to supper." - -"That I will, when I have washed my hands; they are all foul with pike's -blood." - -Dom Anselm gave a superior smile, and turned towards the hall. - -The great keep lifted its huge angular block of masonry high into the -ruddy evening air, Outfangthef frowned over the bailey below. The door -which opened on the hall steps stood wide, and the servants were -hurrying in and out with dishes of food, while the men-at-arms stood -lingering round it till supper should be ready. - -Cookery was an art upon the upward path, and Geoffroi's _chef_ was no -mean professor of it. The hungry crowd saw bowls of stew made from goose -and garlic borne up the stairs. Pork and venison in great quarters -followed, and after them came two kitchen serfs carrying wooden trays of -pastry, and round cakes piously marked with a cross. - -Soon came the summons to supper. A page boy came down the steps and -cried that my lord was seated, and every one pressed up the stairs with -much jangling of metal and grinding of feet upon the stones. To our -modern ideas the great hall would present an extraordinary sight. This -rich nobleman fed with less outward-seeming comfort than a pauper in a -clean-scrubbed, whitewashed workhouse of to-day. And yet, though many a -lazy casual would grumble at a dinner served as was Geoffroi de la -Bourne's, there was something enormously impressive in the scene. We are -fortunate in many old chronicles and tales which enable us to -reconstruct it in all its picturesqueness. - -Imagine, then, that you are standing on the threshold of the hall just -as supper has been begun. - -The hall was a great room of bare stone, with a roof of oaken beams, in -which more than one bird had its nest. There was an enormous stone -chimney, now all empty of fire, and the place was lit with narrow -chinks, unglazed, pierced in the ten-foot wall. The day of splendid -oriels was yet to come in fortress architecture, which was, like the -time, grim and stern. It was dusk now in the outside world, and the hall -was lit with horn lanterns, and also with tall spiked sticks, into which -were fixed rough candles of tallow. The table went right up the hall, -and was a heavy board supported on trestles. Benches were the only -seats. - -On a daïs at the far end of the building was the high table, where -Geoffroi and his son and daughter sat. The two squires, Brian de Burgh -and Richard Ferville, also sat at the high table, and Dom Anselm had a -place on the baron's right hand. - -Lewin was seated at the head of the lower table, and the baron could -lean over and speak to him if he had a mind to do so. - -Geoffroi and his son sat in chairs which were covered with rugs, and at -their side stood great goblets of silver. The dim light threw fantastic -shadows upon the colours of the dresses and the weapons hung on pegs -driven into the wall, blending them into a harmonious whole. - -It was a picture of warm reds and browns, of mellow, comfortable -colours, with here and there a sudden twinkle of rich, vivid madder or -old gold. - -When every one was seated, Geoffroi nodded to Dom Anselm, who thereupon -pattered out a grace, an act of devotion which was rather marred by the -behaviour of Lord Fulke, who was audibly relating some merry tale to his -friend, Brian de Burgh. - -Then every one fell to with a great appetite. The serfs, kneeling, -brought barons of beef and quarters of hot pork on iron dishes. Each man -cut what he fancied with his dagger or hunting-knife, and laid it on his -trencher. Such as chose stew or ragout, ate it from a wooden bowl, -scooping up the mess in their bare hands. Lady Alice held a bone in her -white fingers, and gnawed it like any kitchen wench; and so did they -all, and were, indeed, none the worse for that. - -Geoffroi de la Bourne, the central figure of that company, was a tall, -thin man of some five-and-fifty years. His face was lined and seamed -with deep furrows. Heavy brows hung over cold green eyes, and a beaked -eagle nose dominated a small grey moustache, which did not hide a pair -of firm, thin lips. His grey hair fell almost to his shoulders. - -Geoffroi, like his son and the squires, was dressed in a tunic, long, -tight hose, a short cloak trimmed with expensive fur, and shoes with -peaked corkscrew toes. - -The Baron sat eating quickly, and joining little in the talk around him. -He seemed very conscious of his position as lord of vast lands, and had -the exaggerated manner of the overworked business man. - -He had many things to trouble him. The mint was not going well. His -unblushing adulteration of coined monies was severely commented on, and -his silver pennies were looked upon with suspicion in more than one -mercantile centre. The king was ill, and the license made possible by -the disordered state of the country was exciting the great churchmen to -every intrigue against the barons. Moreover, plunder was become -increasingly difficult. Merchants no longer passed with their trains -anywhere near the notorious castle of Hilgay, and, except for his -immediate retainers, all the country round was up in arms against -Geoffroi. - -He had imagined that stern, repressive measures would terrify his less -powerful neighbours into silence. Two flaming churches in the fens and -the summary hanging of the priests had, however, only incensed East -Anglia to a passion of hatred. - -Even as he sat at supper a certain popular Saxon gentleman, Byrlitelm by -name, lay at the bottom of an unmentionable hole beneath Outfangthef, -groaning his life away in darkness and silence, while his daughter was -the sport and plaything of the two young squires. Disquieting rumours -were abroad about the intentions of the powerful Roger Bigot of Norwich, -who was known to be hand-in-glove with the Earl of Gloucester, the -half-brother of Matilda. - -Added to these weighty troubles, Geoffroi, who like all nobles of that -day was an expert carver in wood and metal, had cut his thumb almost to -the bone by the slip of a graving tool, and it throbbed unbearably. A -still further annoyance threatened him. Gertrude of Albermarl, a little -girl of fifteen, now acting as an attendant to Lady Alice, was a ward of -his whom he had taken quietly, usurping one of the especial privileges -of his friend the king. - -The Crown managed the estates of minors, and held the right of giving in -marriage the heirs and heiresses of its tenants. "The poor child may be -tossed and tumbled chopped and changed, bought and sold, like a jade in -Smithfield, and, what is more, married to whom it pleaseth his -guardian--whereof many evils ensue," says Jocelyn de Brakelond, and the -wardship of little Gertrude was a very comfortable thing. Stephen had -heard of this act of Geoffroi's, and had sent him a peremptory summons -to send the child immediately to town. Geoffroi had that day determined -that little Gertrude should be married incontinently, to the young -ruffian his son, but the step was a grave one to take, and would -probably alienate the king irrevocably. - -So he ate his supper gloomily. Every one in the place knew immediately -that he was displeased, and it cast a gloom over them also. - -As the meal went on, conversation became fitful and constrained, and the -crowd of lecheurs, or beggars, who waited round the door, disputing -scraps of food with the lean fen dogs, could be distinctly heard -growling and gobbling among themselves in obscene chatter. - -When at last Lady Alice withdrew and the cups were filled afresh with -cool wine from the cellar, Geoffroi signed to Fulke to come up to him. -The young man was a debauched creature of twenty-six, clean-shaven. His -hair was not long like his father's, but clipped close. The back of his -head was also shaven, and gave him a fantastic, elfin appearance. It was -a custom to shave the back of the head, which was very generally -adopted, especially in hot weather, among the young dandies of the -time.[2] - -"Letters from the king," said Geoffroi shortly, in a deep, hoarse voice. - -"About Gertrude?" - -"Yes, that is it. Now there is but one answer to make to that. You must -marry her in a day or so, and then nothing more can be said." - -"That is the only thing," said Fulke, grinning and wrinkling up his -forehead till his stubble of hair seemed squirting out of it. "But I -will not give up my pleasures for that." - -"Who asked you?" said the father. "She is but a child and a-knoweth -nothing--you can make them her maids-in-waiting, that will please her." -He laughed a short, snarling laugh. "Sir Anselm shall tie the knot with -Holy Church her benediction." - - [2] _It is quite possible that this fashion of the shavelings - accounted for the mistake of Harold's spies at the Conquest, who - said that there were more priests in the Norman camp than - fighting men in the English army!_ - -He summoned that scandalous old person from his wine. - -"Priest," said he, "my Lord Fulke is about to wed little Lady Gertrude; -so make you ready in a day or two. I will give you the gold cross I took -from Medhampstede, for a memorial, and we will eke have a feast for -every one of my people." - -"It is the wisest possible thing, Lord Geoffroi," said Anselm. "I will -say a Mass or two and get to praying for the young folk, and Heaven will -be kind to them." - -"That do," said Fulke and Geoffroi, making the sign of the cross, for, -strange as it may seem, both the scoundrels were real believers in the -mysterious powers of the chaplain. Though they saw him drunken, -lecherous, and foul of tongue, yet they believed entirely in his power -to arrange things for them with God. Indeed, paradoxical as it may -sound, if Anselm had not been at Hilgay, both of them would have been -better men. They would not have dared some of their excesses, had it not -been possible to obtain immediate absolution. A rape and a murder were -cheap at a pound of wax altar lights and a special Mass. - -"Here's good fortune," said Anselm, lifting the cup and bowing to Fulke. - -"Thank you for't," said the young man. "Father, the minter shall make us -a ring, and his mouth shall give the tidings to the other officers. -Lewin, come you here, you have a health to drink." Lewin was summoned to -the upper table, and sat drinking with them, pledging many toasts. Once -he cast a curious glance at Anselm, and that worthy smiled back at him. - -The evening was growing very hot and oppressive as it wore on. It was -quite dark outside and there was thunder in the air. Every now and again -the sky muttered in wrath, and at such sounds a sudden stillness fell -upon the four knaves at the high table, and, putting down their wine -vessels, they crossed themselves. Lewin made the "great cross" each -time, "from brow to navel, and from arm to arm." - -Little Gertrude was long since a-bed, her prayers said, and her little -dark head tucked under the coverlet. She felt quite safe from the -thunder, for she had invoked Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint Luke and -Saint Matthew, to stand round her bed all night, and she knew that they -would be there while she slept. Who, indeed, shall say that my Lords the -Saints were not guarding the sleeping child on that eventful night? - -Geoffroi began to be less taciturn as the wine warmed him. Some bone -dice were produced, and they fell to playing for silver pennies. One of -the squires joined them, but the other left the hall early, as he had -some tender business afoot with Gundruda, the pretty serving-maid. - -In the middle of the game, a stir came about at the hall door. One or -two of the soldiers went to see what was toward. A traveller, wet with -rain, was asking speech with Geoffroi, and he was brought up to the high -table by Huber and John. - -"My lord," said he, "you will remember me. I am Oswald, your liege man. -I come from Norwich bearing news of war. I have been there a-buying -rams, and I bring you grave news. Roger Bigot is arming all his men in -hot speed, and comes to Hilgay to overthrow us. In a week or two he will -be here. He is very strong in arms." - -These tidings affected the five men very differently. - -Lewin glanced quickly at Anselm, and then turned to Oswald, waiting -more. The young squire tossed his head, and rang his hand upon the table -joyously. Fulke's lips tightened, and an ugly light came into his eyes. -The Baron alone showed no outward sign of agitation. He drummed his -fingers on the side of the wine-goblet for a minute, in silence. - -Then he suddenly looked up, "Well," he said, "that is news, Oswald, but -I had thought to hear it a month since! Let the man come up against me -if he will, he shall rot for't, damn his soul! I am lord of this -country-side, with a rare lot of devils, lusty for blood, to guard this -keep. A week, you say? Very well, in a week he shall find us ready. But -get you to the table, Oswald, along of my merry men, and see that you -drink in God's name. Get you drunken, Oswald, my man; I thank you for -this. Get you drunk. Really, you should, in God's name. Huber! John! -Tell Master Pantler from me to put rope to windlass and draw up a cask -of wine for the men-at-arms. HEI! HEI!! HEI!!!" he shouted in a vast and -wonderful voice, rising in his seat and holding his beaker above his -head, "Men of mine! men of mine! my Lord Roger Bigot, the bastard from -Norwich town, lusteth for our blood and castle. The foining scamp -a-comes riding with a great force to take us. Drink ye all to me, men of -mine, and we will go against this traitor to the king--HEI! HEI! HEI!" - -There was a fierce roar of exultation which pierced the very roof. The -war spirit ran like fire round the great hall, and as Geoffroi's tall -figure stood high above them, his voice rolled louder than the mightest -shouter there. - -They broached the cask of wine, and brought torches into the hall until -the whole place flamed with light. The enthusiasm was indescribable. -They had all been long spoiling for a fight, and here was news indeed! -Oswald was plied with drink and pestered with questions. - -When, in some half-hour's time, the excitement had in some degree -subsided, it began to be told among the men that a jongleur was in the -castle, and had been there since the afternoon. Lewin told Geoffroi of -this, and the man was sent for, so that he might amuse them with songs -of battle. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - Other incidents which occurred on the last night of Geoffroi de la - Bourne - - -In the early Middle Ages, no less than now, men and women believed in -ominous happenings to those about to die. Strange things were known to -occur in monasteries when a priest was going, and it was said that the -night before a battle soldiers would sometimes feel an icy cold wind -upon their faces, which fell from Death himself, beating his great -wings. - -There were no materialists in England in those times, and the unseen -world was very near and present to men's minds. - -On this night of thunder and alarms, there was to happen another of -those supernatural occurrences which are so difficult to explain away. - -About the time the jongleur was brought into the hall--a little elderly -man, very pleasant and merry, but yet with something greedy, brutal, -and dangerous in his face--the enclosure of the serfs began to be -agitated by new and terrible emotions. Tragedy, indeed, had often -entered there, but it was at the bidding of some one in the outside -world. To-night she was to be invoked by the downtrodden and oppressed -themselves. - -When men are gathered together, set upon some fearful act of retribution -or revenge, the very air seems instinct with the thoughts that are in -their hearts, and fluid with the electricity of the great deed to be -done. - -In the centre of the stoke the common fire burnt without flame, for the -rain had tamed it. Round the fire sat the conspirators, and in the -stillness, for the rain was over and there was no wind, the murmuring of -their voice seemed like the note of an organ hidden in the wood. - -Round the stoke the giant trees made a tremendous sable wall, grim and -silent, and even the dark sky above was brighter and more hopeful than -the silent company of trees. The sky was full of flickering -lightnings--white, green, and amethyst--and ever and again the thunder -murmured from somewhere over against Ely. Sometimes a spear of -lightning came right into the stoke, cracking like a whip. - -The little group of inky figures round the embers seemed in no way -disturbed by the elements, but only drew closer and fell into more -earnest talk. - -Hyla, Cerdic, Harl, Gurth, and Richard, sat planning the murder of -Geoffroi. On the morrow the Baron was to ride after a great boar which -the foresters knew of in the wood. This was settled, and it was thought -there would be a great hunt, for the boar was cunning, fierce, and old. - -Now Geoffroi was skilled in all the elaborate science of woodcraft. He -knew every word of the pedantic Norman jargon of the hunt in all its -extravagance. He could wind upon his horn every mot known to the chase, -and no man could use the dissecting dagger upon a dead stag more -scientifically than he. More than all this, he rode better and with more -ardour than either his son or squires. Often it would happen that he -would gallop far into the forest after game, outstripping all his train. -They were used to that, and would often start another quarry for -themselves. Geoffroi was a moody man, happy alone, privy to himself, -and it had become somewhat of a custom to let him ride alone. - -Now the serfs plotted that they should lie hidden in the underwood and -turn the boar towards a distant glade called Monkshood. In that open -space--for the trees were sparse there and studded the turf at wide -intervals--it was probable that Geoffroi would wind the death mot of the -quarry. It was to be his last mellow call in this world, for Hyla -planned to take him as he stood over the dead boar and kill him in the -ride. - -Then when he had done the work, he was to return through the brushwood -towards the village. Provided only that the other hunters were far away -while he was killing the Baron, his presence in the wood would excite -little comment, even if he was seen returning. Moreover, he purposed to -carry an armful of dry sticks, so that he might appear as if he were -gathering kindling wood. - -He would reach the stoke, he thought, just about the time that the -huntsmen would discover the Baron lying stark. He was to go through the -village, down the hill to the river, and embark in a small punt. He -would fly for his life then, poling swiftly through all the waterways of -the fen till he reached Icombe in the heart of the waters, where he -should find sanctuary and lie hid till happier times. - -Hyla sat among them curiously confident. He never for a moment doubted -the result of the enterprise. None of them did. The resolution which -they had taken was too overwhelming to allow a suspicion of failure. - -There was something terrible in this grim certainty. - -In an hour or two, Gruach and Frija, with the two little prattling boys, -were to be taken down to the river and to set out for the Priory -beforehand, so that Hyla should find them waiting him. Harl was to punt -throughout the night, hoping to reach safety by dawn. It was a hard -journey, for the Priory was fifteen miles away. - -"It is near time to set out," said Harl. "My heart is gride at this -night's work." - -"Sore things always happen in time of wracke," said Cerdic. "See that -you protect Gruach and Frija in their unlustiness." - -"The boat shall speed as boat never did before, and they shall be safe -at dawning." - -Hyla had been sitting in silence staring at the red heart of the fire as -if he saw pictures there. "I am nothing accoyed," he said at length, "I -fear nothing save for Elgifu." - -Harl beat upon the ground with his fist. "An you kill Geoffroi, I have a -mind to deal with Fulke also in sic a way. Little Elgifu!" - -"She was always a little fool," said Hyla roughly. "She has made choys -and lies in the arms of a lord. Think no more of her, Harl. I hope they -will not hurt her, that is all." - -"They will not hurt her, I wote," Cerdic broke in cheerfully. "They will -gain nothing by that. She is a piece of goods of value. They will not -hurt her." - -The arrangements were all made for the flight of Gruach and Frija; the -plot was planned in every detail, and a silence fell upon them. Few of -them had the art of conversation or knew how to talk. Hyla sat silent, -with nothing in his brain to say. Although he was in a state of fierce -excitement, of exultation at a revelation of self, which appeared -miraculous in its freshness--as if he had been suddenly given a new -personality--he had never a word to say. Cerdic was his firm and -faithful friend, but he could express none of the thoughts surging over -him even to Cerdic. The poor toiling, tired souls had never learnt the -gift of speech; they were cut off from each other, except in the rarest -instances. - -For example, a combination, such as the one we are discussing, was -unheard of. Of course, only a few of the serfs had been told of the -plot, for it would not have been safe in the hands of many of them. Yet, -that eight or nine men, with all the stumbling blocks of inherited -slavery, a miserable life, and an incredible lack of opportunity, should -have learnt and put in practice the lesson of combination, is a most -startling fact. - -"Combination," indeed, was born that night, and stood ready to be -clothed with a vigorous life, and to supply the means for a slow but -glorious revolution. The direct effects of the proceedings at Hilgay -have affected our whole history to this day. - -After a half-hour of silence, broken only by an occasional -word-of-course, the women, who had been sleeping to gain strength, were -summoned for departure. - -The great enterprise seemed to knit the men at the fire together in a -wonderful way. They felt they must keep with each other, and all rose to -accompany the fugitives to the river. The little boys, sleepily -protesting, were carried in the arms of two of the men, and the -melancholy procession stole out into the warm darkness. The other serfs -were all asleep, and deep breathings resounded as they passed the huts. -At the entrance to the stoke a mongrel dog barked at them, but a blow -with a stick sent him away whining. - -In a few minutes, treading very quietly, they were passing along the -green by the castle. There were still points of light in the towering -black walls, and distant sounds of revelry coming to them sent them -along with faster steps. - -Now that the enterprise was actually embarked upon, most of them felt -very uneasy. The mere sight of that enormous pile brought before their -minds the tremendous power they were going up against. It was so visible -and tangible a thing, such a symbol of their own poor estate. - -But Frija, as she passed the castle, spat towards the palisades and -ground her teeth in fury. That heartened them up a little. They had -wives and daughters also. As Gruach passed, she wept bitterly for Elgifu -within. They went without mishap through the village. All the houses -were silent and showed no sign of life. The way was very dark, though -the white chalk of the road helped them a little to find it. Also, now -and then, the lightning lit up the scene strangely, showing the members -of the group to each other, hurrying, very furtive and white of face. - -The fens opened before them as a wall of white vapour. No stranger would -have imagined the vast flat expanses beyond. The mist might have -concealed any other kind of scenery. Standing on the hill they could see -the mysterious blue lights dancing over the fen. They crossed themselves -at that. It was thought that restless souls danced over the waters at -night, and that many evil things were abroad after dark. - -They were quite close to the landing-stage and, encircled by the mist, -walking very warily, when Harl, who was a pioneer, was heard to give a -quick shout of alarm. - -Another voice was heard roughly challenging. They passed through the -vapour and came suddenly upon Pierce, the man-at-arms. At his feet lay a -heap of fish, phosphorescent in the dark. He looked at them with deep -amazement. "What are you?" he said. - -As he spoke, and his voice gave clue to his identity, Hyla gathered -himself together and leapt upon him. The two men fell with a great -clatter on to the very edge of the landing-stage, slipping and -struggling among the great heap of wet fish. Had not the others come to -their assistance both would have been in the water. - -Hyla rose bleeding from scratches on the face. Gurth had a great bony -hand over the soldier's mouth, and the others held him pinned to the -ground, so that he was quite powerless. - -"Get the women away," said Cerdic, "get the women away." - -Harl stepped from punt to punt until he came to a long light boat of -oak, low in the water, and built for speed. He cast off the rope which -tied it to one of the other punts, and brought it alongside the steps. -He put a bundle of clothing and food in the centre, and waited for -Gruach and her daughter. - -Hyla lifted the little boys, wrapped in cat-skins, into the boat, and -turned to Gruach. She lay sobbing in his arms, pressing her wet face to -his. - -"Pray Lord Christ that I am with you on the morrow, wife," he said, "and -fare you well!" He embraced Frija, and helped both women into the boat. -Harl took up the pole. - -"Farewell!" came in a deep, low chorus from the group of serfs, and, -with no further words, the boat shot away into the dark. They could hear -the splash of the pole and the wailing of the women, and then the -darkness closed up and hid them utterly. - -The men closed round Pierce. There seemed no hesitation in their -movements. It was felt by every one that he must die. Despite his -frantic struggles, they unbuckled his belt and dagger. Cerdic pulled -down the neck of his tunic and laid bare the flesh beneath. Hyla -unsheathed the dagger, trembling with joy as his enemy lay beneath -him---- - -It was as easy as killing a cat, and they took the body and sank it in -mid-stream. Then they stood upon the landing-stage speechless, huddled -close together--torn by exultation and fear. - -Cerdic saw that they were terrified at what had been done. "Come, -friends," said he, "fall upon your knees with me, and pray the Blessed -Virgin to shed her favour upon Hyla and his work to-morrow. The fish are -at one black knave already, to-morrow a greater shall meet his man in -hell. Our Lady and my Lords the Saints are with us; get you to praying." - -In a moment a sudden flash of lightning, which leapt across the great -arch of heaven, showed a group of kneeling forms, silent, with bended -heads. - -Soon they went stealing up the hill again, but not before Gurth had -delivered himself of a grim, though practical pleasantry. "I'll have the -divell's fish," he said, and with that he slung them over his shoulder, -for they were threaded upon a string. - - * * * * * - -The jongleur in the hall played upon his crowth, and sang them -Serventes, Lays, and songs of battle. Between each song he rested his -fiddle upon the floor and drank a draught of morat, till his lips and -chin were all purple with the mulberry juice. Then he would say that he -would give them a little something which dealt with the great surquedy -and outrecuidance of a certain baron, the son of a lady of ill-fame, and -how, being in his cups, this man was minded to go up in fight against a -rock. So, forthwith, the hero got him up on his destrier and ran full -tilt against the rock. "Then," the jongleur would conclude in quite the -approved modern music-hall style, "the sward was all besprent with what -remained." Vulgar wit then was own brother to coarse wit to-day, and a -vulgar fool in the twelfth century differed but little from a vulgar -fool in the nineteenth. - -A broad grin sat solid upon the faces of the soldiers. When the jongleur -began to sing little catches in couplets, plucking the string of his -crowth the while for accompaniment, they nudged each other with delight -at each coarse suggestion. They were exactly like a group of little -foolish boys in the fourth form of a public school, just initiated into -the newness of cheap wit, whispering ancient rhymes to each other. - -Perhaps there was not much harm in it. When we grow to the handling of -our own brain unadorned vulgarity revolts us, as a rule, but there is -hardly a man, before his brain has ripened, who has not sniggered upon -occasion at unpleasant trivialities. It is no manner of use ignoring the -fact. Put the question to yourself, if you are a man, and remember, not -without gratitude for the present, what an unprofitable little beast you -were. - -They were children, these men-at-arms. They had the cruelty of -wolves--or children, the light-heartedness of children. Imagine what -Society would be if children of fourteen were as strong and powerful as -their elders. If you can conceive that, you can get a little nearer to -the men-at-arms. - -But as the grotesque little man mouthed and chattered, his teeth -flashing white in his purple-stained jaws, like some ape, the more -powerful brains at the high table had no excuse for their laughter. - -The hedge priest roared with delight, Fulke sniggered meaningly, and a -sardonic grin lit up the stern countenance of Geoffroi de la Bourne. -Lewin must be given credit for a finer attitude. He seemed insufferably -bored by the whole thing, and longing to be in bed. - -The night wore on, and they drank deep, till more than one head lay low. -Geoffroi filled his cup again and again, but each potation left him -clearer in brain, affecting him not at all. At last he rose to seek his -couch. Dom Anselm was snoring heavily, Lewin had already departed, and -Fulke was playing dice with the squire. - -"I have no mind to sleep for a while," Geoffroi said, "the night is -hot. Bring a torch," he said to a serf; and then turning to the -jongleur, "come with me, Sir Jester, to my bed-side, and relate to me -some merry tales till I fall upon sleep, for I am like to wake long this -night." - -Preceded by the flickering of the torch, and followed by the minstrel, -he left the hall. They descended the steps in red light and deepest -shadow, and came out into the courtyard which was very still. Every one -was asleep save one lean dog, who, hearing footsteps, padded up and -thrust his cold nose into Geoffroi's hand. He fondled the creature, -standing still for a moment, sending a keen eye round the big empty -space, as who should find some enemy lurking there. The two others -waited his pleasure. - -"Come, come," he said at length in curiously detached tones, extremely -and noticeably unlike his usual quick incisiveness, "we will get to -bed." - -He turned towards Outfangthef. They had taken some three paces towards -the tower, when a lightning flash of dazzling brilliancy leapt right -over the sky from pole to pole, and showed the whole scene as bright as -in the day. Geoffroi stopped suddenly, as did the others, expecting a -great peal of thunder. Suddenly the Baron began to shiver and bend. He -wheeled round tottering, and caught the minstrel by the shoulder. The -little man squeaked like a rat in the jaws of a dog. - -"Hist!" said Geoffroi, "What do you hear? What do you hear, man?" - -"Nothing, my lord," said the jongleur in deep amazement. - -"Listen, jongleur. What do you hear now?" said he. - -"My lord, I can hear nothing," answered the little man. - -"I have drunken too deep," said the Baron; "surely I am most devilishly -drunk, for I can hear, I can hear"--he leant in the manner of a man -listening--"I can hear now as I speak to you, voices as of a great -company of men praying to Our Lady--listen! their voices are praying -deeply. I think they must be monks." - -"Lord, look you to this," whispered the serf, terror-stricken. - -The dog, perhaps because he felt the three men were going in fear, or -perhaps from some deeper and more hidden reason which men do not yet -understand, crouched low on the ground and hid his head between his -paws, whining. - -"They are praying to the Blessed Virgin," said Geoffroi. "Can you hear -nothing--those deep voices?" - -"My lord," said the jongleur with more confidence, "the night is late, -and I have known many sounds appear like human voices in the night. A -cow loweth or a beetle boometh in the orchard flowers." - -"What it may be I do not know," answered he, "but I know that it is no -ox a-lowing or fly upon the wing. I am not mocked. There is something -wrong with the night." - -"The more reason, Sir Geoffroi, that I should divert you with tales and -jests. These fearful nights of strange lights in the sky and noises from -the fen lands need some light business to fill the mind. To bed, my -lord!" - -"Come then," said Geoffroi. "God shield us, it is very hot," and as he -turned, the sweat stood in great drops upon his brow. - -At the exact moment the little party entered the door of Outfangthef, -the serfs, far down in the fen, rose from their knees, and began to -steal swiftly and noiselessly up the hill. - -The Baron's sleeping chamber was an octagonal stone room with a groined -roof. A faldestol, the great-grandfather of our own armchair, spread -with cushions, stood by a tall candlestick. The bed boasted curtains and -a roof, though its occupant lay upon nothing more luxurious than straw. -On a low table near the faldestol were some vessels of glass and silver. -Arms hung upon the walls, and a litter of shavings on the floor showed -the Baron had been carving at some time during the day. On the perch by -the bed head sat Geoffroi's favourite hawk, now sunk in motionless and -sinister sleep. - -Taken as a whole, the apartment was extremely comfortable and even -luxurious in its appearance. To reconstruct it nowadays would cost the -modern æsthete an enormous sum of money. - -The serf knelt at the threshold and delivered the torch to the jongleur, -who lit the candle from it. Then Geoffroi shut the door, and, removing -his tunic and short cloak, flung himself on the bed. - -"Sit there," he said to the man, pointing to the faldestol. "There is -wine upon the table if you are thirsty." Then he added with a change of -manner, "you are well found in faëry tales and sic like. What means the -noise I have heard to-night?" - -"They say, my lord, that souls that cannot rest may be heard singing and -wailing in the fen, calling on each other in reproach." - -"The pot upbraiding the kettle for the soot on't! Well, well, that sweet -morat is bad for a man, I think. Better stick to wine. The honey makes -the brain mad." - -"There is poison in many flowers," said the jongleur, "and what likes a -bee's belly well enough may be bad for a man. It was the drink in you, -my lord, for I heard no sound." - -"It does not matter much. It is done and over. For the minute I was -accoyed. Tell me a story." - -"The night before the great fight of Senlac," said the jongleur, "is -told of as a most wonderful strange night. The minstrel, Taillefer, went -a-wandering round the camp fires, cheering the hearts of the soldiers -with songs, by the order of Duke William himself. The Duke had made -order that but little wine was to be given to the troops, and that they -were to ride into battle shriven and fasting. So he sent Taillefer to -cheer them with songs. The minstrel wandered from fire to fire over the -hill till he was weary and would sleep. He came, as he went, to the old -fort of the Haestingas, and there, under a ruined wall, he laid him -down. - -"Now my lord, Sir Taillefer was a very evil man. By the rood, but he was -an evil man! Whatever deviltry a could lay his mind to, that did he, and -he was in great favour with the Duke. - -"Now two days before the battle the Norman army had come sailing from -Saint Valeri, and had landed on the sands of England at Bulverhithe, -near Pevensey, or Anderida, as some will have it. No Saxon came to -oppose the landing, for the fighting men were all at the northern war on -Derwent banks. In the village, Taillefer came upon a farmhouse, where -the farmer was away at the war, for all the houses were empty of men. -There did he find and ill-use a beautiful Saxon girl, who did resist him -with many tears. He was a gay fellow, with ever a song in's mouth, but -for all that, his dwelling that night was besprent with tears and -wailing. - -"Now, as Taillefer lay a-sleeping in the old fort, there came to him and -stood by his side a long, thin man, with yellow hair and a cleft lip. -'What are you?' said Taillefer. 'Look well at me,' said the man, 'for I -am the father of Githa, whom you used with violence. To-morrow morn we -shall meet again. You will be singing your last song.' - -"Now Taillefer was a brave man, and loved a fight, so with that he got -him his axe and cleft the man from head to toe. But the blow went -through the air as if no one was there, and the axe, falling upon a -rock, was splintered into pieces and Taillefer a top of it, sprawling -face down, and, they say, bawling most lustily. Two soldiers found him, -and he said he was drunk to them, though he was no more drunk than my -crowth. - -"On the morrow, at nine of the clock, the bugles rang out mots of war, -and the Normans were about advancing. Taillefer, in great inward fear, -for he knew that he would die that day, prayed a boon from the Duke, -that he might strike the first blow of the fight. He did not want to -live long with the fear upon him. The Duke said aye to his question, so -a-got on his destrier, and went riding out of the lines singing gaily, -though 'twas said his face was very pale. He couched his lance at a -Saxon, and pierced him through. Then a tall, thin man, with yellow hair -and s cleft lip, came swiftly at him with a sword, and thrust it into -his belly before he could recover the lance. 'It is you, then,' said -Taillefer, and died in great torment." - -His voice sank into silence, and he lifted the wine-cup for refreshment. - -"It is a strange story," said Geoffroi, "and a pitiful to-do about a -theow girl. I do not believe that story." - -"I spun it as 'twas told to me, my lord," said the teller humbly. - -The big man moved among the crackling straw and crossed himself, and we -who have no great crime upon our conscience need not be careful to -enquire into his thoughts. - -"I will sleep now," he said after a pause. - -The minstrel rose to go, bowing a farewell. - -"No," said Geoffroi; "stay there, make your bed in that faldestol -to-night. I do not care to be alone. And, mark well! that if you hear -any untoward noise, or should you hear a sound of men's voices praying, -rouse me at once." - -He turned his face towards the wall, and before long his deep breathing -showed that sleep had come to him. - -The candle began to burn very low and to flicker. The jongleur saw -enormous purple shadows leap at each other across the room, and play, -fantastic, about the bed. He rose and peered out of a narrow unglazed -window in the thickness of the wall. The hot air from the room passed by -his cheeks as it made its way outside. There was no lightning now, and -the sky was beginning to be full of a colourless and clear light, which -showed that dawn was about to begin. Far, far away in some distant -steading, the jongleur heard the crowing of a cock. - -As he watched, the daylight began to flow and flood out of the East, and -close to the window he heard a thin, reedy chirp from a starling just -half awake. - -He turned round towards the room, thinking he heard a stir. He saw the -elderly man on the bed risen up upon his elbow. His right hand pointed -towards the opposite wall, at a space over the table. With a horrid fear -thumping in his heart and sanding his throat, the minstrel saw that -Geoffroi's eyes were open in an extremity of terror, and his nostrils -were caught up and drawn like a man in a fit. - -"My lord! my lord!" he quavered at him. - -There was no sign that Geoffroi heard him, except for a quivering of his -pointing, rigid finger. The minstrel took up a vessel of glass from the -table, and flung it on the floor. - -The crash roused the Baron. His arm dropped and his face relaxed, and, -with a little groan, he fell face down in a swoon. The minstrel hopped -about the room in an agony of indecision. Then he took the jug of wine, -the only liquid he could find, and, turning the Baron on his back, he -flung it in his face. - -Geoffroi sat up with a sudden shout, all dripping crimson. He held out -his red-stained hand. "What is this? What is this?" he cried in a high, -unnatural voice. "This is blood on my hand!" - -"No, my lord, it is wine," said the jongleur; "you fell into a deep -swoon, and it was thus I roused you." - -"Did you see him?" said Geoffroi. "Oh, did you see him by the wall? -Christ shield us all! It was Pierce, a soldier of mine. His throat was -cut and all bloody, and he made mouths like a man whose throat is slit -in war." - -"My lord, you are disordered," said the jongleur. "You ate pork at -supper, a wonderful bad thing for the belly at night." - -Geoffroi said never a word, but fell trembling upon his knees. - - - - - CHAPTER V - - The three trees of Monkshood Glade. - - -How fresh the morning air was in the wood! A million yellow spears -flashed through the thick leaves and stabbed the undergrowth with gold. -A delicious smell of leaves and forest beasts scented the cool breezes, -and birds of all colours sang hymns to the sun. - -An early summer morning in a great wood! In all life there is nothing so -mysteriously delightful. Where the leaves of the oaks and elms and -beeches were so thick that they turned the spaces below into fragrant -purple dusk, what soft bright-eyed creatures might lie hid! In the hot -open glades brilliant little snakes lay shining, and green-bronze -lizards, like toy dragons, slept in armour. The fat singing bees that -shouldered their way through the bracken wore broad gold bands round -their fur, and had thin vibrating wings of pearl. They were like jewels -with voices. - -Upon a piece of smooth grass sward, nibbled quite short by rabbits, -which sloped down to a brook of brown and amber water, sat Lewin, the -minter. His fine clear-cut face harmonised with all the beauty around, -and he drank in the air as if it had been wine. There was a soft look in -his eyes as of a man dreaming of lovely things. His face is worth a -little scrutiny. The glorious masses of dark-red hair gave it an -aureola, the long straight nose showed enormous force of character, but -the curve of the lips was delicate and refined, and seemed to oppose a -weakness. There was something dreamy, treacherous, and artistic in his -countenance. - -For an hour Lewin had come into the wood to forget his scheming and -ambitions and to be happy in the sunlight. He plucked blades of grass -idly and threw them into the brook. Once he looked up, feeling that -something was watching him, and saw mild eyes regarding him from a -thicket. It was a young fawn which had come to drink in the brook, and -saw him with gentle surprise. He gave a hunting halloa, and immediately -the wood all round was alive with noise and flying forms. Part of a -herd of deer had been closing round his resting-place, and were leaping -away in wild terror at his shout. - -The forest became silent again, until he heard feet crackling on the -leaves and twigs, and looking up saw a radiant vision approaching him. A -tall, dark girl, lithe as a willow, was coming through the wood. - -Lewin sprang up from the little lawn and went down the path to meet her, -holding out his hands. - -"Ah, Gundruda!" he said, "I have waited your coming. How fair you are -this beautiful morning!" - -"Go away," she said, with a flash of pearls. "That is what you say to -every girl." - -"Of course, Gundruda mine. I love all women; my heart is as large as an -abbey." - -"Then your fine speeches lose all their value, minter. But I have a -message." - -He dropped his banter at once. "Yes! yes!" he said eagerly. - -"My lord goeth after a boar this afternoon with Sir Fulke, and my Lady -Alice will be by the well in the orchard when they have gone." - -"Good," said he, "there will I be also. Are Richard and Brian going -hunting?" - -"No; they will be hard at work with all the theows and men-at-arms -fortifying the castle. Oh, Lewin, there is such a to-do! Last night as -ever was, came a messenger to say Roger Bigot is coming to Hilgay to -kill us all, and Christ help us! that is what I say." - -A shrill note of alarm had come into her voice, for she had seen war -before, and knew something of the unbridled cruelty that walked with -conquerors. At that he put his arm round her waist and drew her close to -him. They were a fine pair as they stood side by side in the wood. Lewin -captured one pretty hand in his--a little, white, firm hand that curled -up comfortably in his clasp. Then he kissed her on her soft cheeks. - -"How beautiful you are," he said in a soft, dreamy voice, deep and rich. -He strained her to him. "Oh, how strange and beautiful you are, -Gundruda. I would that for ever you were in my arms. There is nothing -like you in the world, Gundruda. You are worth kingdoms. Oh, you -beautiful girl!" - -She abandoned herself to his caresses, with closed eyes and quick -shuddering breaths of pleasure. Suddenly the mellow notes of a horn in -all their proud sweetness came floating through the wood, and this -amorous business came to a sudden end. - -Geoffroi was starting out to the hunt. - -The two people in the wood went back to the castle by devious ways. They -found that Lord Geoffroi with a few attendants had already left the -castle and entered the forest. - -The castle-works were humming with activity. The weapon smiths were -forging and fitting arrow heads, and making quarels and bolts. The -carpenters were building hoards, or wooden pent houses, which should be -run out on the top of the curtains. The crenelets, which grinned between -the roof and the machicolade at the top of Outfangthef, were cleared of -all obstructions. A trébuchet for slinging stones--invented in Flanders, -and very effective at short range--was being fitted together on the roof -of the Barbican. Hammers were tapping, metal rang on metal, the saws -groaned, and a great din of preparation pervaded everything. - -In one corner of the bailey a man was cutting lead into strips so that -it could be more easily made molten and poured upon besiegers. In -another a group were hoisting pitch barrels on to the walls with a -pulley and tackle. - -In and out of the great gateway rough carts were rattling every moment, -full of apples and wheat from the farmhouses round. - -A row of patient oxen were stabled in a pen, hastily knocked up with -beams of fir, in one corner of the bailey. In the field by the castle -side, the swine shrieked horribly as a serf killed them relentlessly, -and in the kitchens the women boiled, dried, and salted before glowing -wood fires. - -Long before dawn, scouts on swift horses had been posting along the -Norwich road, and messages had been sent to all the villeins proper to -fulfil their pledge of service. - -Tongues wagged unceasing. - -"Come ye here, cripples, and give a hand to this beam." - -"Have you gotten your money safe, minter? The bastard son a letcheth -after coined monies." - -"Aye, and after more things than coined monies. Gundruda, beauty, Roger -hath a fat Turkman privy to him, and going always in his train. He will -marry you to the black man!" - -"By the rood, then, I'd as soon wed him as you!" - -"Roger taketh with him always a crucet hûs, my son." - -"And what is that, then, Father Anselm?" - -"Know you not the crucet hûs? fight lustily, then, or you may know him -too well. The crucet hûs, that is a chest which is short and narrow and -shallow. Roger putteth men therein, and putteth sharp stones upon him so -that all his limbs be brake thereby. My Lord Bigot loveth it. Also he -useth the 'Lâo and grim.' 'Tis a neck bond, my lad, of which two or -three men had enough to bear one! It is so made that it is fastened to a -beam. And Roger putteth a sharp iron round about the man's throat and -his neck, so that he cannot in any direction sit or lie or sleep, but -must bear all that iron." - -"God's teeth! Father! you have a merry way of comfort." - -"Truth is stern, Huber; fight then lustily, and get you shriven -to-morrow." - -"That will I, Father." - -"And you, John and Denys, and Robert, all you soldiers. Come you to me -ere this fight, and pay Holy Church her due fee, and have safety for -your souls. An if you die then you will be saved men, and among the -merry angels and my Lords the Saints, as good as they in heaven. An you -go not to battle with hearts purged of sin, the divell will have every -mother's son of you. Alas, how miserable and rueful a time will be then! -And you who are whilom in shining armour-mail, with wine to drink, and -girls to court for your pleasure, will lie in a portion of fire but -seven foot long." - -Thus, Anselm, the hedge priest, passing from group to group in beery -exhortation. - -Who knows how it affected them? - -The heavenly sun still looks into the lowest valleys. The unclean hands -of that false priest, unfaithful minister that he was, may have given -the mass to a sick soul with great spiritual comfort. The bestial old -man may have absolved dark men, penitent of their sins, because they -themselves earnestly believed in his power. - -As he sat in the chapel during that day, the mysterious powers conferred -on him from Saint Peter himself, in unbroken succession, may, indeed, -have flowed through him, giving grace. - -Lewin lounged about the courtyard listening to his exhortations with -amusement, yet not without wonder at the strange psychic force which -moved the minds of these rough men. The crafty, sensual sentimentalist, -of course, had no illusions about the abstract, yet the idea always -fascinated him when it came. It was very grand and sonorous, he thought, -this bondage to mystery, this ritual of the unseen. So lonely a man was -he, immured in the impregnable fortress of his own brain, for there was -no mental equal for him at Hilgay, that for mere mind-food he gave -himself over to wild fancies. Our Lord upon the cross was more beautiful -to him than to many devout believers, and he would have told you that he -could hear the going of God in the wind. Sometimes he half-wondered if -it were not true that Christ died. - -He went into his mint, deserted now, and sat him down upon a bench in -his little room. The sunshine cut its living way through the dust of the -silent empty place. A whip lay upon the floor, where it had been thrown -by an overseer of the theows who worked in the mint. There were flies -upon it. He kicked the thing aside with disgust; it was a reminder of -the stern terrible age in which he lived, and in which he felt so out of -place. Depression began to flow over him in silent waves, until he -remembered that he was to meet Lady Alice in the afternoon. That turned -the current of his idle, discontented thoughts towards a more palpable -thing. His secret wooing of the Norman lady who was so proud and -stately was very dear to him, and the romance of it pleased him even -more than the mere material joys he hoped some day to gain from it. -Proud as she was, womanlike she at least deigned to listen to him, and -his crafty brain schemed darkly to take opportunity as it came, and make -her his own by treachery. He went out again among the busy workmen, and -began to direct some smiths who were rivetting a suit of brass armour, -engraved with a curious pattern of beetles and snakes in arabesque, -which required delicate handling. - -The weapon smiths were grumbling because they were short of hands for -the heavier parts of their labour. Five or six of the most reliable -serfs could not be found anywhere. Some one had seen them going into the -forest, and it was supposed that they were acting as beaters for -Geoffroi. Every one grumbled at the Baron. It was thought that this was -no time for amusements. A boar would keep, herons would last till the -world's end, deer would get them young every year till the world -stopped. Every hour Roger Bigot came slowly nearer, and the men of -Hilgay wanted the comfort of a master mind to direct and reassure them -at a time like this. - -The two squires fussed and raved, and stormed till the sweat stood in -great drops upon them, but they could not get half the work out of the -men that Geoffroi, or even Fulke, were able to. They had no personality -and were ineffective, lacking that most potent and most powerful of -human things. But every one did his best, nevertheless, and by -"noon-meat" work had distinctly advanced, and already the castle began -to wear something of an aspect of war. - -It is extraordinary how a building or a place can be transformed in our -minds by a few outward touches, combined with an attitude of -expectation. If one has waited for a wedding in an almost empty church, -the coming ceremony has an actual power of destroying the somewhat -funereal aspect of the place. A single vase of flowers upon the altar -seems swollen to a whole tree of bloom, the footsteps of a melancholy -old man unlocking the rusty door, or spreading the priest's robes for -him, is magnified into the beating of many feet. A crowd is created, -expectant of a bride. - -In a country lane on a hot summer afternoon, on Sunday, we say that a -"Sabbath peace" is over all the land. The wind in the trees seems -whispering litanies, and the soft voices of the wood-pigeons sound like -psalms, the woods are at orisons, and the fields at prayer. As evening -comes gently on, the feeling becomes intensified, though there is -nothing but the chance lin-lan-lone of a distant bell to help it. The -evening is not really more peaceful and gracious on the day of rest. The -rooks wing home with mellow voices indeed, and the plover calls sweetly -down the wind for his mate, but these are ordinary sounds. You may hear -them on week days. The peace is in our own hearts, subjective and holy, -informed by our own thoughts. - -In the very air of the castle there was a tremulous expectation of war. -Lady Alice, in her chamber, far away from the tumult, knew it. Little -Gertrude, in the orchard, felt in her blood that the day was not -ordinary; the very dogs sought wistfully to understand the excitement -that pervaded everything. - -At noon-meat, the jongleur, who had remained in the castle, blear-eyed -and silent, got very drunk indeed. A madness of excitement got hold of -him, and he sang war songs in a strident unnatural voice. The stern -choruses rang out in the sunshine, with a pitiful whining of the crowth. -All the afternoon the men hummed fierce catches as they went about their -work. The day was cloudless and very hot. About five o'clock, when the -sun's rays began to strike the ground slantingly, and the world was full -of the curious relative sadness that comes with evening, the toilers -knocked off for a rest. The pantler brought out horns of Welsh ale, and -they sat round the well discussing the great impending event, the -strength of the defences, the number of the enemy, the chances of the -fight. The jongleur was lying insensible by the well-side, and a merry -fool was bedabbling his shameless old face with pitch from a bucket, -when the attention of every one in the castle was suddenly arrested by -the distant but quite unmistakable sound of a horn. - -A deep silence fell upon them all. Then they heard it again, no hunting -mot or tuneful call of peace, but a long, keen, threatening note of -alarm! - -The thundering of a horse's feet growing ever nearer and nearer throbbed -in the air. The sound seemed a great way off. Some one shouted some -quick orders. The pins were pulled from the portcullis chains, so that -upon releasing a handle it would fall at once. That was all they could -do for the moment. They heard that the horseman was coming on at a most -furious gallop. The sound came from the great main drive of the forest. -Quick conjectures flew about among them all. - -"Godis head! surely Roger is ten days away." - -"So the scouts have said. He moveth very slowly. Oswald saw it with his -own eyën." - -"We shall know before one should tell to twenty, listen!" - -The news-bringer, whoever he might be, was now close at hand, and with -startling effect he sent before him another keen vibratory note of his -invisible horn. It seemed to come right up to the very castle gate, and -to break in metallic sound at the feet of those standing near. - -In a moment more they saw him turn out from among the interlacing forest -trees, and come furiously down the turf towards them. - -"It's Kenulf, the forester," shouted two or three voices at once. -"Surely some one rides after him." - -The rider was now close upon them, and vainly trying to pull in his -horse. The animal was maddened by the goring of his spurs--long single -spikes in the fashion of that time--and would not stop. So, with a -shrill shout of warning and an incredible echoing and thunder of noise, -he galloped over the drawbridge, under the vaulted archway of the gate -tower, and only pulled up when he was in the bailey itself, and -confronted with the great rock of the keep. - -For a moment he could not speak in his exhaustion, but by his white face -and haunted eyes they saw that he had some terrible news. - -There was a horn of beer propped up against the draw-well, which some -one had set down at the distant noises of the forester's coming. Brian -de Burgh picked it up and gave it to the gasping fellow. Then he -stammered out his news, striking them cold with amazement. - -"My Lord Geoffroi is dead, gentlemen," said he. "He has been murdered. I -came upon him standing by the three trees in Monkshood. He had an arrow -right through his mouth, nailed to a tree was he, and the grass all -sprent with him. Gentlemen, I came into the glade half-an-hour after I -had seen my lord well and alive. He rode fiercely ahead of us after the -boar, towards Monkshood. My lord loves to ride alone, and Sir Fulke -followed but slowly, and set a peregryn at a heron on the way. But I -pressed on faster, so that an Lord Geoffroi killed the boar, and when he -had made the first cuts, I should do the rest. God help us all, and Our -Lady too! I did come into the glade half a mile away from where the -three trees stand. My eyën go far and they are very keen. There was a -man, I could see, standing still, but as I blew a call he went swiftly -into the underwood. Then came I to the trees and saw my lord standing -dead. Sir Fulke and the train came up soon after, and they are bringing -It home. Make you ready. Cwaeth he to me, that you were to make proper -mourning, to light the torches and say the Mass, and have many lights -upon the holy table. And so my lord shall the quicker find rest. Haste! -haste! for soon they will be near, and there is scant of time withouten -great haste. Take me to my lady, for I would tell her." - -"No," said a girl, who was standing by, very hastily, "I will prepare -her first," and with that Gundruda, with a face full of wonder, slipped -away to the postern which led to the orchard. - -So this was how the first tidings of Hyla's vengeance came to the -castle. - - * * * * * - -Now the killing of Geoffroi de la Bourne happened in this way. - -As one might imagine, there was no sleep for the serfs on the night -before the attempt. From the time when they had stolen up the hill after -the murder of Pierce to the coming of dawn was but short. They spent it -round the dead fire among the noises of the night. - -A great exultation was born in the heart of each man. Hyla showed them -his blood-stained hands, with vulgar merriment at the sight, rejoicing -in the deed. They were all animated with the lust of slaughter. Wild -hopes began to slide in and out of their minds. One could hardly expect -anything fine--in externals--from these rough boorish men. Although -their purpose was noble, and the feelings that animated them had much -that owed its existence to a love for their fellows, a protest of -essential human nature against oppression and foul wrongs, yet their -talk was coarse and brutal about it all. This must be chronicled in -order to present a proper explanation of them, but if it is understood -it will be forgiven. No doubt the canons of romance would call for -another kind of picture. The men would keep vigil, full of lofty -thoughts, high words, and prayers to God. They would have spoken of -themselves as Christ's ministers of wrath; the romancer would have -prettily compared them to King David with his Heaven-ordered mission of -vengeance. And yet King David, for example, mutilated the Philistines in -a fearfully brutal way--it is for any one to read--and how much more -would not these poor fellows be likely to shock and offend our nice -sensibilities. No doubt it was horrible of Hyla to call up a sleeping -puppy and make it lick Pierce's blood from his hands, but this story is -written to make Hyla explicit, and Hyla was not refined. - -Early in the morning the conspirators took a meal together before -setting out to play their various parts in this tragedy. Harl was -already far away with the women. Gurth was to go down to the river and -take the swiftest punt away from the landing-place and hide in the reeds -upon the other side. A whistle would summon him when Hyla and Cerdic -came down to the water ready for flight. Gurth was to sink the other -punts, to make pursuit impossible for a time. - -Cerdic, Richard, and a third man called Aescwig were to lie in the wood -to turn the boar, as well as they were able, towards the glade of -Monkshood. They were lean, wiry men, swift of foot, and knew that they -could do this. Cerdic had a swift dog concealed, for it was unlawed, -which he used for poaching. It would help them. Hyla himself would lurk -in the glade with his knife, waiting in the hope of his enemy. - -After the first meal they slunk off to their posts with little outward -emotion and but few words of parting. The clear cold light of the -morning chilled them, and robbed the occasion of much of its excitement. -But for all that went they doggedly towards their work. - -For a certain distance Hyla went in company with the three beaters, but -at a point they stopped, and he proceeded onwards alone. - -When he had got far on upon his way to Monkshood he lay down deep in the -fern to rest, and watched the sky between the delicate lace of the -leaves. - -He saw a tiny wine-coloured spider swinging from branch to branch like a -drop of blood on a silver cord, the sunlight so irradiated it. The wild -bees were already hard at work filling their bags of ebony and gold with -the sweet juices of flowers. The honeysuckle swung its trumpets round -the brown pillar of an oak, like censers of amber and ivory, shedding -delicate incense on the air. The breezes carried the rich scents to and -fro from tree to tree. Hyla felt weary now that the hour was so close at -hand. He was not excited, nor did he even feel the slightest tremor of -fear. He was simply indifferent and tired. He wanted to sleep for ever -in this silent, sunlit place. - -He was wearing Pierce's dagger round his waist, and he took it out to -see if it was sharp enough. The stains of blood still held to it in -films of brown and purple, but its point was needle-like, and the edge -bitter keen. He put it down by his side upon a great fern tuft over -which countless ants were hurrying. It fell among the ants as a streak -of lightning falls among a crowd of men. Then, like some uncouth spirit -of the wood, some faun, one might have fancied, he fell into a long, -dreamless sleep. - -He was awakened suddenly, when the sun was already at its height, by the -sweet fanfaronade of distant horns. He glided away towards Monkshood -swiftly and silently, a brown thing stealing through the undergrowth -upon his malign errand. At last he came to the place he sought. - -Monkshood Glade was a long narrow drive, carpeted with fine turf and -surrounded with a thick wall of trees. In shape it was like the aisle of -a cathedral. At the far end of the place it opened out into a half -circle, like a lady chapel, and, to carry out the simile, where the -altar should have been three great trees were standing in a triangle. -The trunks of the trees grew within a hand's breadth of each other and -formed a deep recess, with no entry save the one at the base of the -triangle. Inside this place it was quite dark and cool. - -Hyla crept into the undergrowth at the side of the glade, about twenty -yards from the entrance to this little tree-cave, and lay waiting, -crouching on his belly. - -For an hour or two--it seemed ages to him--nothing happened whatever. -The business of the wood went on all round, but there was no sound of -human life. The waiting made him restive and uneasy. He began to -remember how many the chances were that Geoffroi would not come that -way. He began to see on how slender a possibility his hopes rested, and -to wonder at himself and his companions for having trusted so great an -issue to such a chance. - -Then, quite suddenly, his heart leapt up and began to beat furiously, -till the sound of its throbbing seemed to be surely filling all the -wood. Peering out of the scrub he saw far down the glade a grey speck -moving rapidly in his direction. It grew larger every moment as he -watched, and next he saw that it was followed by a second and larger -object, which almost immediately resolved itself into a man on horseback -riding hard. In two minutes the boar and its pursuer were close upon -him. He saw the boar galloping, with blood and foam round its tusks, and -heard its harsh grunting. He could see its eyes as bright as live coals. -Geoffroi was thundering twenty yards behind. Suddenly he saw the Baron -taking aim at his quarry with a short, thick bow. He guided his horse, -still in full career, a little to one side, by the pressure of his -knees. It was a wonderful piece of horsemanship. He saw a quick movement -of Geoffroi's arm, and, though the arrow sped too quickly for him to -trace its course, the great boar with a hoarse squeal stumbled upon its -fore-legs. It rose, staggered round in a circle, for the great forest -beasts die hard, and then with a final squeal rolled over upon its side, -with its hoofs stark and stiff in the air. - -This took place between Hyla and the trees. - -Geoffroi reined in his horse and, throwing his bow upon the ground, -dismounted and ran towards the boar. He drew his hunting knife as he -went. - -As silently as a snake Hyla crept out of the undergrowth. Geoffroi's -back was towards him and he was leaning over the boar with his knife. -Hyla picked up the bow. The horse, heaving from its exertions, regarded -him with mild eyes devoid of curiosity. Hyla took a barbed hunting shaft -from the little quiver at the saddle side. He fitted it carefully to the -bow. Suddenly the Baron stood up and was about to turn round when Hyla -drew the bow-string to his shoulder, English fashion, and shot the -arrow. It struck Geoffroi in the muscles of the left shoulder and went -deep into him. - -With a horrid yell of agony he spun round towards his unseen foe. Hyla -had rapidly fitted another arrow to the bow and stood confronting him. -For a moment the two men stood regarding each other. Then very slowly -Geoffroi began to retreat backwards towards the trees. Hyla kept the -arrow pointed at his heart. - -"That was for Elgifu," he said. - -Geoffroi reached the three trees, and went backwards into the recess. -His eye rolled round desperately. Then he made a last effort. "Put that -down," he roared with terrible authority. But the time had gone by when -he could make Hyla cower. - -"This is for Frija," said Hyla, and an arrow quivered in Geoffroi's -mouth and passed through his head, transfixing him to the tree trunk -behind. - -A sudden impulse flooded the Serf's brain, quick, vivid, and uplifting: -the tears started into his eyes though he knew not why. - -Once more the bow-string twanged as a third arrow sank silently into the -corpse. "For FREEDOM!" he whispered fearfully, wondering at himself. - -Hyla stood watching the frightful sight with calm contemplation. The -Baron dead and bloody was nothing. He began to feel a positive contempt -for the man he had feared so long. - -As he stood with a smile distorting his face, a horn rang out down the -glade, and he saw that a horseman was riding hard towards him. Making -the sign of the cross, he slipped into cover and began to fly swiftly -through the wood. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - Per varios casus, per tot discrimena rerum, tendimus in LATIUM sedes - ubi fata quietas ostendunt. - - -There is always and forever a haven we can win. In all the chances and -turmoils of this life, howeversomuch we are tossed upon the seas of -circumstance, somewhere, without doubt, there is peace. - -For the intellect distracted and pierced through by every fresh morsel -of knowledge, for the brain tired out by the senses, for the body full -of the sickness, let us say, of a great town, somewhere the Fates have a -quiet resting place. There is peace waiting. Let Alecto, Megaera and -Tisiphone shriek and wail ever so loudly, they shall not break it. - -Tendimus in Latium--we are all going towards Latium. For some of us it -is the blessed peace of the grave, and others are to find it in this -life. Somewhere there is peace! - -Hyla felt an utter weariness of life and all its appeals as he fled -through the forest. The hot wan wine of revenge that had been his blood -was now cool and stagnant. That stern old devil-hearted man that he had -made into a filthy corpse had passed away out of knowledge as if he had -never been. The brain of the serf was all empty of sensation, save for -that great weariness. His body was full of the mere instinct of -self-preservation. The legs on which he ran, the arms which pushed aside -the forest branches, the furtive eyes which sought for foes, all acted -independently of his brain. Nature itself working in him bade him fly. -For himself, had he thought about it, he would hardly have cared, even -though he had been captured. But none the less was his fleeing swift and -sure. - -He twisted his tortuous way through the thick hazel shoots, which struck -him in the face as he buffeted them, and his bare arms and legs were -scarred and pricked in a thousand places with thorns from the trailing -undergrowth. - -When he had beat back to the other end of Monkshood, walking parallel to -the glade, he heard voices close to him and the noise of a company of -people entering the ride at the far end of the glade. By the three -sinister trees, he heard the keen notes of a horn blowing in eager -summons. Suddenly a new and terrible fear came to him. The dogs, which -were whining all round, would most surely smell him in a moment. He -could hear their excited movements on every side. He realised that he -should have made a much greater detour, and that he had, in fact, -stumbled into the very middle of his enemies. - -He could see no way out of his perilous position, and felt that he was -certain of immediate discovery. But the Fates, which were providing a -short peace for him, willed that his capture was not yet to be. The -urgent note of Kenulph's horn, half a mile away, attracted the dogs, and -they gave tongue, and, dashing out of the cover, spread up the drive in -a long line. Fulke, who was within ten yards of the hidden murderer, -cheered them on. - -"I can see figures," shouted a huntsman, "one, two horses. They must be -my lord and Kenulph, and Sir Boar is dead. Come along, Sir Fulke, we are -not very far behind after all!" - -With that the whole company pressed out into the ride and thundered -away, and Hyla was left solitary. The narrowness of the escape -heartened him into fresh endeavour, and once more he began his swift -career through the wood. After another mile of hard going, he sat for a -moment. 'Twas then that he heard a low sibilant noise, like the hiss of -a snake. He started up, looking round him on every side. He heard the -sound again, and it seemed to come from the sky above. - -He looked up into the depths of a beech tree above him, and presently -there appeared a lean brown leg among the leaves. A body followed, and -Cerdic dropped on to the turf. - -"Well?" said Cerdic, "God be with you! What have you done?" - -"Killed him," said Hyla with a curious pride, though he tried hard to -appear unconscious of his great merit. "He's dead, sure enough. I well -think he is in hell now--he and Pierce in the same fire." - -"The Saints have watched thee with kind eyën that you did it, Hyla. In -hell is my lord, and there a will lie, for Saint Peter that hath the key -is not so scant of wit as to let him go. Let us thank Our Lady that did -strengthen your arm." - -"Yes, let us thank her," said Hyla. "I gave him two arrows, 'one for -Elgifu,' I said, and 'this one for Frija,' I said. That was how I did -it. So that he might be sure for what he died, you wist. Yes, that was -just how I did it." - -He had a curious shame which prevented a reference to the third shaft. -He was not sure if Cerdic would have understood that arrow of FREEDOM. -He hardly realised it himself. - -"By Godis rood, you have done well, my friend. But pray, pray that you -may be clean, and that Our Lady may wesshe you of blood guilt." - -They knelt down, and became straightway enveloped in a mystery that was -not of this world. The dead man in the tree-cave could not stir Hyla as -this sudden invoking of God's mother, for he was certain that she was -close by in the wood, listening. - -Cerdic made prayer, because he was a man of quick wit and glib of -tongue. - -"O Lady of Heaven," said he, "we call upon you in our souls' need, and I -will plainly tell you why. And that is this: Hyla has killed our Lord -Geoffroi, for he did take his girls. And Lord Geoffroi has sorely -oppressed us and beaten us, and so, dead is he. And we pray you that we -be made clean of the killing in Godis sight. And if it may be so, we ask -that you will say to the heavenly gateward that he should ne'er let our -Lord Geoffroi therein. For Saint Peter knoweth not how bad a man he was. -And we would that you wilt say by word that he be cast down with Judas -and with all the devils into hell, Amen." And then in a quick aside to -Hyla, "'Amen' fool, I did not hear you say it." - -With that Hyla said "Amen" very lustily, and they both rose from their -knees. "I am gride that I said no 'Amen,'" said Hyla, "but I was -listening to the prayer. It was a wonderful good prayer, Cerdic." - -"Yes," said the other, "I can pray more than a little when it so comes -to me. Had I but some Latin to pray in I doubt nothing that I would get -my own bocland back before I die. But come, we are far from safety yet. -It gets late, we must go swiftly." - -They met with no mishap, and saw no man till they were on the very -outskirts of the wood, and not more than a couple of hundred yards from -the stoke itself. They were about thirty yards from the main entrance to -the wood, a road which was beaten hard with the coming and going of men -and horses. - -There they stopped for a consultation. Was it better, they asked each -other, to gather some kindling wood and go boldly through the village as -if upon the ordinary business of the day, or, on the other hand, to make -a wide half circle, and reach the river a mile away from the -landing-stage? - -It was quite certain that as yet no news of the Baron's death had -reached the castle. There could be no doubt of that. They might walk -openly through the village with no suspicion. Yet, at the same time, -they might very probably be met by a man-at-arms or one of the minor -officials of the castle, and ordered to some work within its gates. It -was a difficult question to decide upon hurriedly, and yet it must be -settled soon. Every moment wasted in council meant--so they took it--a -chance less for freedom. As they discussed the issue in an agony of -indecision they both found that terror was flowing over them in waves. -Cerdic's throat contracted and was pulled back again into a dry -tightness. He cleared his throat at every sentence, as who should be -about the nervous effort of a public speech. - -As for Hyla, his stomach became as though it were full of water, and his -bowels were full of an aching which was fearfully exciting and which at -the same time, strangely enough, had an acute physical pleasure in it. - -Their indecision was stopped by an event which left only one method of -flight open to them. - -As they tossed the chance back and forward to one another, debated upon -it and weighed it, they heard the noise of a horseman passing by _ventre -à terre_. As he passed he sounded his horn. They wormed their way to the -road as they heard him coming, and saw that it was the forester Kenulph. -His face was ashen grey and set rigid with excitement, and then both -simultaneously saw that he was bearing the news to the castle. - -He passed them like rain blown by the wind, and turning the corner was -lost to their sight. - -"This makes our way clear algates," said Cerdic. "Sith Kenulph rides to -castle hall, we must be bold. It will take while a man might tell -hundreds for them to take the news. He will hold all the castle in -thrall. They will be forslackt for half-an-hour. He is there by now, all -clad with loam and full of his news. Come out into the village and go -down to river bank. We go to clear the brook mouth. It's all mucky and -begins to kill the fish. Remember, that is what we go to do." - -"I obey your heasts, Sir Cerdic," Hyla answered him with a smile. "Come, -come upon the way. I think it matters not much one way or the other, but -we may win our sanctuary by hardiment. Algates, we are ywrocken."[3] - -"Yes, that are we, and revenge is sweet. No more will he ill-use our -girls, or burn us on the green. Surely he has a deep debt to pay." - -While they had been speaking they had been gathering great armfuls of -fallen twigs and branches, and soon they went slowly down the ride with -these. The frowning gates of the castle came into their view, but -Kenulph had already entered them, and the very guards had left the -gates. They passed by to the right, and came on to the green. One or two -women were busy washing linen at the doors of the houses, but save for -them no one was about. - -They passed the long walls of the castle, skirting the moat, by which a -smooth path ran, till they came to the fields. There they were stopped -for a few minutes. One Selred, a serf who tended swine, came out of the -field where his charges dwelt. He was a half-witted creature, but little -removed from the swine themselves. He carried a spear head, broken off a -foot down the shaft, and this had been sharpened on a hone of hard wood -for a weapon with which to kill the swine. He pointed to the row of dead -animals which lay stark and unclean on one side of the field. - - [3] Revenged. - -"Nearly fifty," said he, "have I killed this day for siege vittaille, to -their very great dreriment. Holy Maid! never did you hear such -squealing." - -They shook him off after a time, but with difficulty. He was infinitely -proud of his achievement. "I do love pig's flesh," he gibbered after -them as they fled down the hill. - -From the castle there now came the shrill notes of a tucket, and then -the castle bell began to toll furiously, and a confused noise of -shouting floated down the hill. When they hurried to the landing-stage -they found that the boats had been duly scuttled. Here and there a -gunwale projected out of the water, and on the stones lay the windac of -a cross-bow with which holes had been made in the boats. - -Hyla gave a long, low whistle, and waited for Gurth to glide out of the -reeds bordering the great fen. There was no reply, and the two fugitives -looked at each other in alarm. Then Cerdic whistled rather louder, but -still the welcome sight of the boat did not come to them. - -"Something has happened to the mome," Cerdic said, "I am sure that he -would not forslowe us like this if a were safe." - -"What shall we do?" asked Hyla. - -"I do not know," said Cerdic, his courage oozing out of him every -moment. Their position was certainly sufficiently perilous. There was, -as yet, nothing to connect them with the crime, but half-an-hour might -alter everything. It was, moreover, quite certain that, in a search, one -party at least would be sent down to the river. - -They stood there gazing at each other in great alarm. - -"I have a great fear that we are lost," Hyla said. - -"Indeed, I believe so," answered the other, with strained, terrified -eyes. - -Both of them felt that they were hard in the very grip of unkind -circumstance. They shook like river-side willows when the wind blows. - -Now as they stood together communing as to what they should do, and with -a great sinking of heart, it chanced that their faces were turned -towards the river, away from the castle. They looked most eagerly -towards the reeds upon the other side. - -The river ran sluggishly like oil, and there was no breaking up of its -surface. Here and there some dancing water-flies made a tiny ripple, but -that was all. - -Suddenly a great fish leapt out of the middle water high into the air. A -flash of silver, a glimpse of white belly, and with a loud report it was -gone. Sullen circles widened out and broadened towards them. Then they -saw at the very place where the bream had disappeared the still surface -of the water was violently agitated. They watched in amazement. A great -black object heaved slowly up into view, full six feet long. It was the -body of Pierce, the man-at-arms, all swollen by water. The face was -puffed into an enormous grotesque, and the open eyes seemed cognisant of -them. - -The faces of the two serfs became ashen white, and they looked at each -other in terrible fear. - -"Christ, what a visnomie!" said Cerdic. - -"God shows us that we are to die. My lord will be ywrocken" said Hyla. - -"See how it seems alive." - -"Yes, that does it. I can see the hole in's neck. The fishes have been -at it." - -"Oh, courage, courage! Our Lady never means us to die, whistle for Gurth -once more. Perchance he is nearer now, perchance he is nearer, and, not -knowing we are here, cometh not." - -"I cannot sound a note, my breath is hot and my lips are very dry. -Whistle you for me." - -Just then a noise of shouting behind their backs made them both wheel -round swiftly. Half-way down the hill a group of men-at-arms were -running towards them. - -Cerdic gave a great wail of despair. - -One of the soldiers dropped upon his knee, and a long arrow came past -them singing like a great wasp. It ricochetted over the water into the -reeds beyond. The soldiers were now a hundred and fifty yards away, -shouting fiercely as they came on. - -Hyla turned a last hopeless glance to the river. Just as he did so a -long nose shot out of the reeds, and the punt they had waited for glided -swiftly towards them. - -"Hallo, hallo!" Cerdic yelled in an agony of excitement. "Quick, quick, -else we die!" - -There was a sudden jar as the prow of the punt collided with the -masonry. The two serfs leapt into it. Gurth took the long pole and -plunged it deep into the water. The muscles grew rigid on his bare back -and stood out upon his arms as he bent for one mighty stroke. The -soldiers were only twenty yards away. With an incredible slowness, so it -seemed to the fugitives, the arms of the punter began to lengthen as the -boat moved. In another second the propelling impulse gathered force and -speed, and just as the first man arrived upon the landing-stage it -glided rapidly over the water. There was a thud as it struck the -floating body, and a horrid liquid bubbling, and then in another second -they entered the passage and the reeds hid them from view. Gurth sank -down, deadly sick, upon the floor of the punt, and the pole, held by one -hand only, dragged among the rushes with a sound like a sickle in corn. - -The three men crouched in the bottom of the boat, listening to the angry -clamour on the opposite shore. An arrow or two passed over their heads, -and one fell from a height into the very prow of the boat, but none of -them were touched. There was not an ounce of courage among them. They -had no strength to go on. - -The castle bell away on the hill-top still rang loudly, and the shrill -metallic notes of the tuckets called and answered to each other all -round. - -As they lay in the reeds not thirty yards from their pursuers, these -noises of alarm filled them with fear. A voice rang out from the excited -babble across the river and flung an echoing and malignant threat at -them. - -Although they could see nothing, the whole scene was painted for them -with noise. They heard the voices sink into a quick murmur of -conversation, and then hurried footsteps sped up the hill with messages -for the castle. - -Still they stayed trembling in the punt and made no effort to escape. -All the weight of the terrible traditions that overhung their class was -upon them. The great effort they had made, their incredible boldness, -now left them with little more spirit, in spite of their good fortune, -than whipped dogs. The moment was enough, for the moment they were safe -from capture, and the voices of the soldiers--how terribly near!--did -not stir them to action. - -It was only when their peril became imminent that they were roused from -their apathy. Sounds of activity floated over to them. A voice was -giving directions, and then there was a shout of "Now," followed by a -harsh, grating noise. The serfs realised that the soldiers had been able -to drag one of the sunken punts on to the landing-stage. Almost -immediately a noise of hammering was heard. They were repairing the -boat. - -At that shrill, ominous sound Cerdic rose from the bottom of the punt -trembling with excitement. "Men," he said in a deep startled voice, "we -have been here too long, and death is like to come our way. Oh, faint -hearts that we have been, and the Saints with us so long, and the Holy -Maid helping us! Come, silent now! take poles and let us get away. I -know the fens better than those divells." - -So confident was his voice and so burning with excitement, that in one -moment it lashed their cowardice away. Hyla sprung towards the stern -pole and Gurth lifted the other, then, with hardly a movement save a few -tiny splashes, the boat glided slowly away into the heart of the fen. -The voices of the soldiers became fainter and more faint till they could -hear them no more. - -The ringing blows of the hammer pursued them a little further, until in -a few minutes those also died away, and they were alone in the fen. - -All round them the great reeds rose and whispered, enormous bulrushes -with furry heads like young water-rats nodded towards them as they raced -for their life down those dark mysterious waterways. Deeper and deeper -into the heart of the great fen sped the boat. Gurth and Hyla worked -with the precision of machines. There was a wonderfully stimulating -effect in the rhythm of the action. The water became a deep shining -black, showing incalculable depths below. In order to propel the boat at -all they had to skirt the very fringe of the morass, for there only -could the poles find bottom. At each heave and lift, under which the -punt kicked forward like some living thing, the poles came up clotted -and smeared with stinking black mud, undisturbed before for hundreds of -years. Sometimes, at a deeper push, the mud was a greyish white and -studded with tiny shells, tokens which the great grey sea had left -behind to tell that once it had dominion there. - -All wild nature fled before their racing approach. A hundred yards -ahead, even in those tortuous ways, fat unclean birds of the fen rose -heavily and clanged away over the marshes. As the throb of the poles -came near them, the fish shouldered each other in flight. Every now and -again they rushed over a still, wicked pool teeming with fish, and the -rush of their passage made white-bellied fish leap out of the water in -terror. Once they saw a great black vole, as large as a rabbit, swimming -in the middle of the water. He heard them coming, and turned a wet -smooth head to look; then with a twinkle of his eyes he dived and -disappeared. - -Gradually the speed of the boat slackened as the two men grew tired. The -excitement of the day began to tell on them, and they felt in their arms -how weary they were. Cerdic, who perhaps by virtue of his years or -personal magnetism seemed to be indubitably their leader, saw it in -their faces. He saw that not only were they physically worn out, but -that energy was going from their brains also. - -"Stop you," said this shrewd person. "We are far from them now. It is -time for rest and belly food." Nothing loth, they put down the punt -poles, and pushed the nose of the boat into a little bay of reeds, out -of the main water. - -"Food?" said Hyla, "with all my heart, I did not know you had any. Where -is it pight?" - -Cerdic gave a little superior grin. He took up a skin wallet which lay -by his side and produced the materials for a feast. Six great green -eggs, stolen from a sitting duck which had belonged to the ill-fated -Pierce, were the staple food. Boiled hard and eaten with black bread and -some scraps of cold meat, they were a banquet to the fugitives. For -drink they had nothing but marsh water, which they sucked up through a -hollow reed. It was blackish and rather stagnant, but it refreshed them -mightily. - -"And how far have you got now, do you think?" said Gurth. - -"Near half way," answered Cerdic, "but it has been easy going, and we -shall not get such free water now. It is a back way to Icomb that we -have come by up till now. Whybeare there was a broad passage, a great -stretch of water, but that was in King William's time, when boats -brought corn from Edmundsbury. Now the monks have corn-land of their -own, and corn comes from Norwich also. The passage is all grown with -weed and reeds, and no man may go up it in any vessel." - -"Where must we go, then?" Hyla asked him. - -"Nor'wards for some miles, taking any way we can that is open. Then we -shall come to the lake of Wilfrith, and beyond that is the Abbey." - -"What is Wilfrith lake, and who was he?" said Hyla. "I have been upon -its water, but I do not know why it is called that. Also, it has a bad -name, and they say spirits are seen upon it." - -Cerdic crossed himself at that. - -"Wilfrith was once Prior of Icomb," he said, "a good priest, and much -loved by God. Upon a day he was walking by the lake side, when he was -seized by lawless men and robbed of his gold cross, and left bound to a -tree in the forest, near the monastery. It was evening, and he could see -the robbers getting into their boats to cross the lake. So he prayed to -God. 'Lord,' he cried, 'I have not loved Thee enough. Deliver me from my -need, and with Thy help I will so correct and frame my life that -henceforth I may serve Thee better.' As he prayed, and when the thieves -were about half way over the lake, there came a great black hand up out -of the water and seized the boat and dragged it into the depths. At the -same time his bonds fell from him, and he became free." - -"A black hand," said Hyla uneasily, "that would be a fearful thing to -meet with." - -"We shall not do so," said Cerdic, "for I believe that the Great Ones -are helping us to-day. Who knows that they are not with us now? We have -killed Lord Geoffroi for his cruelty and sins, for all he was a lord. Do -you think Lord Christ would have let him be killed if he had not wished -it? Not he. He's no fool. I tell you," he said, cracking the shell of -his second egg, and with great sincerity in his voice, "I tell you that -like as not Sir Gabriel or Lord Abdiel, or one of the angels is flying -over the boat with his sword in's hand and his tucket on his shoulder." - -They all looked up to see if the angel was there, but only a little wind -rustled the tops of the rushes, though the sky above was beginning to be -painted with evening. - -They prattled there a little longer, willing that their rest should be -complete. - -Now, at eventide, all the fishes began to rise at the flies, and the -waters became like stained-glass, and peace was over all that wild -scene. - -The voices of the serfs insensibly dropped, and made low murmurs, no -louder than the sounds of the cockchafers and long-mailed water-flies -that now boomed and danced over the fen. - -The moon was slowly rising when they put out again on the last stage of -their journey, punting with less haste, but making good going, -nevertheless. They were in excellent spirits. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - "Introibo ad altare Dei." - - -"Surely," said a monk of Bec, "God has made the evening beautiful and -full of lights, so that we may think on Him at that time, and as we -watch the very gates of heaven in the sky, pray to our Father that we -may some day be there also." - -It was a holy and wonderful evening-time, as the boat glided on through -the vast shining solitudes. The heavenly influence stole into the souls -of the three serfs, and purged them of all fear and sorrow. Imagine the -enormous change in their lives. A curtain seemed to have fallen over all -that they had known. The noise of the horrible castle, the sharp orders, -the lash of the whip, the foetid terrors of the stoke, had all -vanished as if they had never been. Before them might lie a wonderful -life, possible happiness, freedom. At any rate, for the moment they were -free, and the sky shone like the very pavements of heaven. - -All three of them noticed the beautiful sunset with surprise, as if it -were a thing that had never been before their eyes till now. - -Day by day, as their work at Hilgay was drawing to a close, the sky had -been as beautiful as this. The sky had been all gold and red, and copper -green and great purple clouds had passed over it like a march of kings. -But they had never seen it until now. Freedom had come to them and -whispered in their ears. She had passed her hands over their eyes, and -they began to know, with a sort of wonder, that the world was beautiful. -Nor was this all of the gracious message. Everything was altered. Hyla, -it will be remembered, had a face of little outward intelligence. He -had, in fact, the face of a serf. But the latent possibilities of it had -been made fine realities within the last few hours. What he had done, -his own independent action, woke up the God in him, as it were. His -voice was not so slipshod. Round his mouth were two fine lines of -decision, his lips did not seem so full, his eyes were alert and -conscious. - -Gurth was a sunny-haired, nut-brown youth, straight as a willow wand, -and of a careless, happy disposition. But he had been cowed by the stern -and cruel subjection under which he had lived. One could see the change -in him also. He flung his arms about as he punted, with the graceful -movements of a free man who felt his limbs his own. Little smiles -rippled round his lips, he looked like a young man thinking of a girl. - -It is obviously most difficult for us to project ourselves with any -certainty into the mood of these three men. The whole conditions of our -lives are so absolutely different. But we can at any rate imagine for -ourselves, with some kindness of spirit, how joyous these tremulous -beginnings of freedom must have been! The modern talk of "freedom," the -boasting of nations that enjoy it, does not mean very much to us. The -thing is a part of our lives, we do not know how much it is. But who -shall estimate the mysterious splendour that irradiated the hearts of -those three poor outcasts? - -The long supple poles went swishing into the water and the boat leapt -forward. They rose trailing out of the water, and the drops fell from -them in cascades of jewels, green, crimson, and pearl. Every now and -again the turnings of the passage brought them to a stretch of water -which went due west. Then they glided up a sheet of pure vivid crimson, -and at the end the fiery half-globe of the sun. - -Just as the sun was dipping away they rested again for half-an-hour, and -when they went on it was dark. At last, when the night was all velvet -black and full of mysterious voices, they turned a corner, and suddenly -the punt poles could find no bottom, though they went on with the -impetus of the last stroke. - -A greater silence suddenly enveloped them, they saw no reeds round them, -the horizon seemed indefinite. - -"This is Wilfrith Lake," said Cerdic, "and we are near home." - -Now an unforeseen difficulty presented itself. The lake was far too deep -to punt in, and they had no oars. For the next hour their progress would -be slow. Cerdic came to the rescue. With his knife he cut a foot of wood -from each punt pole, with infinite labour; then he fashioned the tough -wood into four stout pegs. Gurth drilled two holes in the gunwales of -the punt, with the dagger which had been taken from Pierce. Then they -hammered the pegs into the holes and made rough rowlocks. There were no -seats in the punt, and the thin poles did not catch the water very well, -but by standing with their faces towards the bow they were able to make -slow but steady progress. - -It was a little unnerving. They could not be sure of their direction -except in a very general way. It was chilly on this great lake, and very -lonely. Hyla, and Gurth also, began to think of the great black hand. -Who knew what lay beneath those sombre waters? - -Never before in their lives had they spent such an exciting day. Hardy -as they were, inured to all the chances and changes of a rough day, they -began to be rather afraid, and their nerves throbbed uncomfortably. -Indeed, it is little to be wondered at. They were men and not machines -of steel. Once a great moth, which had strayed far out over the waters, -flapped into Hyla's face with an unpleasant warmness and beating of -wings. He gave a little involuntary cry of alarm, which was echoed with -a quick gasp from the other two. - -"What is that?" said Cerdic. - -"Only a buterfleoge," Hyla answered him. "For the moment I was fearful, -but it was nothing, and as light as a leaf on a linden tree." - -The other two crossed themselves without answering, and strained their -eyes out into the dark. - -"Hist!" said Gurth suddenly. "Listen! Cannot you hear anything? Wailing -voices like spirits in pain!" They shipped the poles and bent out over -the boat listening intently. - -Something strange was occurring some half a mile away, judging from the -sound. A long musical wail came over the water at regular intervals, and -it was answered by the sound of many voices. - -As they watched and listened in terror, they saw a tiny speck of light -on a level with the water, which appeared to be moving towards them. The -voices grew louder, and then with a gasp of relief the fugitives heard -the tones of men singing. - -"They are the fathers from Icomb," said Hyla; "they are looking for us, -and have come out in their boats." - -In the still night a deep voice chanted a verse of the sixty-ninth -psalm. The sonorous words of comfort rolled towards them: - -"_Deus in adjutiorum meum intende: Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina._" - -Then came the antiphon in a great volume of sound: "_Confundantur et -revereantur: qui quaerunt animam meam._" - -The single voice complained out into the night: "_Avertantur retorsum, -et erubescant; qui volunt mihi mala._" - -The many voices replied in thunderous appeal: "_Avertantur statim -erubescentur: qui dicunt mihi, euge, euge!_" - -Then the cantor sang with singular and penetrating sweetness: -"_Exsultent et laetantur in te omnes qui quaerunt te: et dicant semper, -magnificetur Dominus, qui diligunt salutare tuum._" - -And the poor monks answered him of their estate: "_Ego vero egenus et -pauper sum. Deus adjuva me!_" - -The boat of the fathers was now quite close to the serfs. The lantern in -the bows sent out long wavering streaks of light into the dark, and the -many voices were full, and clear, and strong. - -"Ahoy! ahoy!" shouted Cerdic in tremulous salutation. - -The singing stopped suddenly, save for the cantor, who quavered on for a -word or two of the _Gloria_. "What are you?" came over the water. - -"Hyla of Hilgay, with Cerdic and Gurth." - -There was a full-voiced shout of welcome, and the great boat came -alongside with a swirl of oars. - -The lantern showed many dark figures, some of them wearing the tonsure, -and rows of pale faces gazed at the three serfs with eager interest. - -A tall man in the bows of the boat, with a thin, sharp face peered at -them. "We expected you," he said simply, "and we prayed that you might -come, Benedicite! What news bring you? What is done? Christ be with you! -Have you struck the tyrant and avenged the blood of the saints whom he -slew?" - -"Father," said Hyla, "I did kill the divell, sure enough. With two -arrows--'One for Frija,' I said, and 'this for Elgifu.' I have blood -guilt upon me." - -The man in the bows lifted his right hand and stretched out two fingers -and a thumb. They saw he was a priest. Then he said the _Confiteor_: - -"_Misereatur tui omnipotens Deus, et dimissis peccatis tuis, perducat te -ad vitam aeternam._" - -And every man in the boat answered "Amen." - -Then the priest changed his tone, and became brisk and business-like. - -"You have lost your oars, fools," he said. "Or, perhaps, you brought -none. Should'st have remembered the lake. Take a stern rope and we'll -tow ye home like knights. Now then, brethren, ye have heard the news, -God in His mercy hath sent power to these poor men and aided their arm, -so that they have slain the burner of His priests and ravisher of poor -maids. God has answered our prayers. Sing we to Him then a song of -thanksgiving. Sing up every man-jack of you, for God has wonderfully -dealt with these poor men." - -And then with a sudden crash of sound they began to sing the greatest of -all hymns, the _Te Deum_. - -"_Te Deum Laudamus: te Dominum confitemur_," pulsed and rang through the -night in glad appeal. So fervent and joyous was the song, the monks sang -it so merrily, and withal it was to such a good and jocund tune, that -Hyla was overcome entirely. He knelt in the swiftly-moving punt sobbing -like a little child. Once he raised his face to heaven, and behold, -there was a bright white moon silvering all the sky! - -Very soon they came to the opposite shore of the lake, indeed, before -the final "_In te Domine_." - -The shore sloped gradually down to the lake's edge in a smooth sweep of -grass sward which met the water without any break. A few yards up the -slope high trees fringed a road which led to the Abbey on the hill-top. -Icomb was, in fact, a low island about half a mile square. Its highest -point was hardly out of the fen mists. Round about in the county, the -place was always spoken of as an Abbey, though it was, as a matter of -fact, no more than a Priory, and of no great importance at that. - -Icomb was a new offshoot from Saint Bernard's famous Abbey of Clairvaux. -Very little was as yet known of the Cistercians, and the monks of Icomb -were regarded as mysterious and not altogether desirable people by the -great religious houses at Ely and Medhampstede. - -It was part of the Cistercian rule that the founders of an abbey should -choose some lonely, dismal place for their home. The idea was not -entirely that of the eremite, for the Cistercians were improvers as -well as colonists. - -Icomb was the most lonely place in all the Eastern counties that the -monks could have chosen for their retreat from the perils and unrests of -this world. The low, tree-crowned island hill, surrounded by vast -waters, protected by savage swamps, hidden in the very heart of the fen, -was ideal for their purpose. - -In that time not even churches were safe from lawless bandits like -Geoffroi de la Bourne or Roger Bigot. Although men like these were -belted knights of noble family, and still kept up much of the ceremonial -of their position, they were little more than robbers, and instances -abound of their sacrilege. - -But as yet none of them had troubled Icomb. The place was very -inaccessible; it was excellently protected by Nature, the defences were -very strong, and the garrison a fine one. - -The lay-brothers or _fratres conversi_ were lusty and used to arms. Many -of them had borne a pike in battle before entering into the peace of the -Church. Then there were a goodly number of serfs and fenmen employed on -the daily business of the Priory, who would all fight to the death if it -were attacked. - -No better sanctuary could be found for fugitives. Richard Espec, the -prior of Icomb, was always ready to extend the hand of welcome to the -oppressed. The time was so black and evil, such a horrible cloud of -violence hung over England, that he felt it his bounden duty to make his -house a refuge. - -The Priory, like all Cistercian monasteries, was surrounded by a strong -wall for defence. The buildings, though large and well built, were of a -studied plainness. No glorious tower rose into the sky, but little -ornament relieved the bareness of the walls. By the rules of that order -only one tower, a centralone, was permitted, and that, so it was -ordained, must be very low. All unnecessary pinnacles and turrets were -absolutely prohibited. In the chapel the triforium was omitted, and the -windows were of plain glass with no colour. The crosses on the altars -were of simple wood, and the candlesticks of beaten iron. Lewin would -have been absolutely disgusted with Icomb. - -The buildings consisted of the chapel, a chapter-house adjoining, -connected with the church by a sacristy and a cell, the refectory and -monks' dormitories, and the calefactorium, or day-room. Here the monks -met in the daytime to gossip and to grease their sandals. In winter it -was warmed by flues set in the pavement. The centre of the block of -buildings was occupied by the cloisters and a grass plot. - -The two boats were hauled up the slope, and the party went singing up -the hill in the moonlight. The dark trees which lined the road nodded -and whispered at their passing, as the holy song went rolling away among -the leaves. The three serfs felt wonderfully safe and happy. The dark -depths of the thicket had no suggestion of a lurking enemy, the moon -shone full and white over the road, and above, the tall buildings of the -Priory waited for them. The hand of God seemed leading them, and His -presence was very near. - -They came to the gateway and the priest beat upon it with his -walking-stick. In a moment it swung open, and they heard the porter say -"Deo gratias," thanking Heaven that it had afforded him the chance of -giving hospitality. Then, according to use, he fell upon his knees with -a loud "Benedicite." - -The priest who had met them went at once in search of the prior. In a -minute or two he returned, saying that the prior was praying in the -chapel, but that he would see them in the sacristy when he rose. - -They were shown into a low, vaulted room with oak chests all round, and -lit by a horn lantern. A half-drawn curtain separated it from the -church, and through a vista of pillars they could see the high altar -gleaming with lights, and a bowed figure on the steps before it. The -rest of the great place was in deep shadow. - -They sat down upon one of the chests and waited. A profound silence -enveloped them, the wonderful and holy silence of a great church at -night. A faint, sweet smell of spices pervaded the gloom. - -Suddenly they realised that they were tired to death. All three leant -back against the wall in motionless fatigue and let the silence steal -into their very blood. They ceased to think or conjecture, and let all -their souls be filled with that great, fragrant peace. - -At last they heard some one coughing in the church, waking shrill -echoes, and in a moment the sound of approaching footsteps. Richard -Espec came in at the door. He was a short, enormously fat man, with a -shrewd, benevolent face. He wore a white scapular and a hooded cowl, -and on his breast gleamed the gold cross of Wilfrith. He blessed them as -he entered, and they fell on their knees before him. He turned and drew -the curtain over the door, shutting out the view of the church, and then -sitting down upon a chest, regarded them with a penetrating though -kindly glance. - -"Ye are tired, my men," he said. "I can see it in your faces. Sit down -again. Now I know from Harl, your friend, and Gruach, the wife of Hyla, -what business you went out to do. Which of you is Hyla?" - -"I am Hyla, father." - -"Well?" - -"Father," said poor Hyla, trembling exceedingly, "I have killed Lord -Geoffroi." - -The prior gave a slight start, and said nothing for a minute or two. At -last he spoke. - -"I may be wrong, Hyla, but I wist not. I do tell you here that I believe -our Heavenly Father has guided your arm, and that you were appointed an -instrument of His hand. Therefore, to-morrow you shall confess to one of -the brethren and receive absolution for your act, if indeed you need it. -And you shall be with your friends, servants to the monastery, well -treated. Outside the walls live many of our fishermen and farm hands, -and you and your wife and daughters shall be given a hut there. And I -charge you three that you live well and wisely with us. Remember, ye -come from Satan his camp, and from among evil men, and that we were not -as they. But I well think you will be good and live for Christ. Not in -fear of God's anger, but in pleasure and joy at His love and kindly -_régime_, so that at last ye may join the faithful who have scand to -heaven before you. I will pray for you, my sons, very often. Now I will -call Brother Eoppa, our hospitaller, and he will give you food and a -nipperkin of wine. But before you go to your rest I ask you to pray with -me." - -He knelt down, panting a little with the exertion, and said the Lord's -Prayer in Latin. Then he opened a door which led into the cloisters. -Outside the door the light of the sacristy lantern showed a thin sheet -of copper hanging from an iron bracket. The prior struck this with his -clenched fist, and a brother came running in answer. He committed the -serfs to him with a kind smile, and then went back into the great, -silent church. - -The four went down the North Walk together, and turned into the western -cloister. A door leading out of this led them into the hospitium, where -the lay-brother, who had charge of guests, presently joined them. - -"Hungry?" said he, "I think well you must be that. Brother Maurice is -broiling fish for ye, and that is a dish that Saint Peter himself loved. -It would be waiting now, but that kitchen fire was very low. Here is -wine, a nipperkin for each of you." - -Presently they heard footsteps echoing in the cloister. - -"I can smell your fish in the slype," said the hospitaller. "It's here. -Fall to, and bless God who gives ye a fat meal." - -He left them alone to eat, meeting another lay-brother in the cloister -and going with him into the kitchen. - -"Dull fellows, I call them," said he. - -"Yes. They do not look very sensefull." - -"Poor men, they have been evilly used, no doubt. They have rid the world -of as bloody a devil as ever cumbered it. I mind well what he did to the -hedge priest in Hilgay fen," and they fell talking of Geoffroi and his -iniquities with bated breath. - -Hyla, Cerdic, and Gurth made a great meal. - -"It's wonderful well cooked," said Gurth. - -"And good corn-bread," said Cerdic. - -"Never did I drink such wine before," said Hyla, and without further -words, they fell asleep upon three straw mattresses placed for them -against the wall. The tolling of the bell in the centralone, calling the -monks to the night-offices, did not disturb them. Nor were they assailed -by any dreams. "Nature's dear nurse," tended them well at the close of -that eventful night. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - "And after that, the Abbot with his couent - Han sped hem for to burien him ful faste." - - -They buried Geoffroi de la Bourne, the day after his murder, in a pit -dug in the castle chapel, under the flags. The bell tolled, the tapers -burnt, the pillars of the place were bound round with black. Upon the -altar was a purple cloth. Dom Anselm got him a new black cope for the -occasion, and was sober as may be. After the coffin had been lowered, -and the holy water sprinkled upon it, all the company knelt at a Mass -said for the repose of that dark soul. - -"Do Thou, we beseech Thee, O Lord, deliver the soul of Thy servant from -every bond of guilt." Anselm went down to the grave-side from the -altar-steps, while page-boys, acolytes for the time, carried the cross -and the holy water. - -It was not a very impressive ceremony. I do not think that the little -chapel made it appear sordid and tawdry. It was not the lack of -furniture for ritual. Some more subtle force was at work. God would not -be present at that funeral, one might almost say. - -After the service was over and the Mass was said, Fulke summoned Lewin -and Anselm to him in his own chamber. The squires were not there, for -the preparations for the siege were being pushed on rapidly, and they -were directing them. - -The three men sat round a small, massive table drinking beer. "Well," -said Fulke, "it is most certain that it was this theow Hyla. Everything -points to that. As far as we have found, he was the chief instrument in -the plot. For, look you, it was to him, so that boy said before he died, -that the others looked. He seemed to be the leader. By grace of Heaven -all the rogues shall die a very speedy death, but for him I will have -especial care." - -"The thing is to catch him," said Dom Anselm, "and I wist no easy job. -Are you going to pull down Icomb Priory?" - -"I would do that, and burn every monk to cinders if I had time and men -enough." - -"That is impossible," said Lewin. "I have been there to buy missals for -barter from their scriptors. My lord, it's in the middle of a lake, up a -steep hill, and with a great moat and twin outer walls. We could never -come by Icomb." - -"Also," said Anselm, "we have but a week at the most before we are -within these four walls with no outgoing for many a day. The Bastard -will be here in a week." - -"What's to do?" Fulke asked gloomily. - -Lewin contemplatively drained a fresh rummer of beer. "This is all I can -think of," said he. "These serfs have fled to Icomb, and, no doubt, have -been taken in very gladly by the monks. We are not loved in these parts, -Lord Fulke. But Richard Espec is not going to keep them in great ease -with wine and heydegwyes. They will work for their bread. Outside the -monastery walls there is a village for the servants, on the edge of the -corn-lands. Now see, lord. A man may go begging to Icomb, may he not? -For the night he will sleep in the hospitium. After that, if he wanteth -work, and will sign and deliver seisin to be a man of Icomb for three -years, I doubt nothing but the monks will have him gladly. They do ever -on that plan. He will live in the village. Well, then, that night let -there be a swift boat moored to the island, and let the first man come -to it and tell those therein where this devil Hyla lies. The rest is -very easy. A man can be bound up and thrown into the boat in -half-an-hour, and then we will have him here." - -"Ventail and Visor!" said Fulke, "that is good, Lewin, we will have him -safe as a rat. But I have another thought too. I had forgotten. The -man's daughter Elgifu is still in the castle. It is not fitting that she -should live." - -"'Tis but a girl," said Lewin, the sentimentalist. - -Fulke snarled at him. "Girl or no girl, she shall die, and die heavily. -By the rood! I will avenge my father's murder so that men may talk of -it." - -His narrow face was lit up with spite, and he brought his hand down upon -the table with a great blow. - -"Perhaps you are right, my lord," said Lewin; "it is as well that she -should be killed. I only thought that she is a very pretty girl." - -"There are plenty more, minter." - -He went to the door and opened it, shouting down the stairs. A -man-at-arms came clattering up to him, making a great noise in the -narrow stone stairway. He ordered that the girl should be brought to -him, and presently she stood in front of them white and trembling, for -she saw their purpose in their eyes. - -"You are going to be hanged, girl," said Fulke, "and first you shall -be well whipped in the castle yard. What of that? Do you like that? -Hey?" - -She burst into pitiful pleadings and tremulous appeals. Her voice rang -in agony through the room. "I cannot die, lord," she said. "Oh, lord, -kill me not. My lord, my lord! my dear lord! For love of the Saints! I -cannot bear it!" - -The brute watched her with a sneer, and then turned to the man-at-arms. -"Tie her up to the draw-well, strip her naked, and give her fifty -stripes. Then hang her, naked, on the tree outside the castle gate." - -The man lifted her up in his arms, a light burden, and bore her -shrieking and struggling away. - -Fulke leant back against the wall with a satisfied smile. Dom Anselm had -composed his features to an expression of stern justice, Lewin was white -and sick. Human life went for very little in those days, but he did not -like this torture of girls. - -Gundruda, the pretty waiting maid, who watched the execution with great -complaisance, told him afterwards that the poor girl was dead, or at -least quite insensible to pain, long before the whipping was over. -"Little fool to stay here when she might have gone with the other," -concluded Gundruda. - -"Fool indeed," said he, "I cannot forget it--I am not well, Gundruda, -pretty one." She put her arms round him, and they strolled away -together. - -So Elgifu paid bitterly for her folly, and went to a rest which was -denied her in this world. - -In the early afternoon one of the men-at-arms, dressed as a peasant, set -out for Icomb by water. - -Lewin stayed with Gundruda a little while, trying to find comfort in her -smiles and forgetfulness in her bright laughing eyes. - -But the minter could find very little satisfaction with the girl. Her -beauty and sprightly allurements had no appeal for him just then. There -was no thrill even in her kisses. So after a while he left her, for a -sudden longing to be alone came over him. The idea was strong in him to -get as far away from the world as possible. By many steps he mounted to -the top of Outfangthef. As he emerged into the light, after the dusk of -the stairs, it began to be evening. - -Down below, over all the castle works, men were busy at the defences, -clustering on the walls like a swarm of flies. Presently, one by one, -torches flared out, so that work might still go on when it was dark. - -Lewin leaned over the parapet and surveyed the dusky world, full of -trouble and despair. A great truth came to him. He realised that he had -been born too soon, and was not made for that age of blood and steel. -The solitary isolation of the tower top intensified the loneliness of -his own soul. - -Surveying life and its possibilities for him, he could see nothing but -misery in it. As the unseen nightwinds began to fly round him and -whisper, he took a resolve. When this siege began and Lord Roger -attacked Hilgay, he would arm and go out to death, seeking it in some -brave adventure. He would give up, he thought, his treason plot with -Anselm. There was nothing else that he could do, there was no -enjoyment--every man he knew was the same, the same, ever-lastingly the -same. Life was dull. He laughed a bitter, despairing laugh, and went -down to the castle again. - -There was a great carouse that evening at Hilgay, for the works were -nearly done, and a spy had brought word that the forces of Lord Roger -were not as strong as earlier reports had led them to believe. - -While the candles burnt all night by the grave in the chapel, all the -castle garrison, with the exception of the sentries, got most gloriously -drunk. Lewin was no exception. - -It is a relief to turn from the contemplation of that sordid, evil place -to the quiet of the Priory in the lake. Yet it must be remembered that -Hilgay is an exact type of hundreds of other strongholds existing in -England at that time. The incalculable wickedness of the space of years, -when the secluded historian wrote that "Christ and all His angels seemed -asleep," is very difficult to imagine. - -In truth, it was a bestial, malignant, inhuman time. We are not grateful -enough for the blessings of to-day. Imagine, if you please, what these -people were. - -There is no need to outrage our nice tastes by revolting detail. Realism -can be pushed too far. But, for the sake of a clear understanding, take -Baron Fulke of Hilgay, and listen to a few personal details. - -The beast was a very well-bred man. That is to say, he was of the -aristocracy, a peer with a great record of birth. We have seen that he -stripped his mistress naked, and had her killed by rough scoundrels in -his pay. He never had a qualm. So much for his character, which was as -much like the legendary devil as may be. But about the man as a -personality. - -Supposing that we could draw a parallel between that time and our own -time. Fulke would correspond to half a dozen young gentlemen we all -know, considered from the point of view of social status. A boy we meet -at a dance, or a dinner, who is a member of a great family, for example. - -Fulke, unpleasant as it is to say it, _hardly ever washed_. Brutally, in -a modern police court, he would be considered as a verminous person. In -the time of King Stephen, no one--and we can make no exception for the -saints of God themselves--had ever heard of a pocket handkerchief. The -world was malodorous! A dog-kennel would hardly have suffered any one of -our heroes and heroines, That is one reason why it is so difficult for -the veracious historian to present his characters as they really were. -It is hard to explain them, people are too accustomed to Romance. - -There is hardly anything in our steam age so delightful as "Romance." -The romance of the early Middle Ages has a quality of glamour which will -hold our attention and have our hearts for ever. We always look for, and -desire refinements of fact in life. Human nature demands some sort of an -ideal. Our friends of the fens can hardly be called romantic, but they -are human. - -While all these cut-throats were rioting in the keep, Richard Espec, the -prior of Icomb, was sitting in his cell working. - -A candle in an iron holder stood on the table by him, and threw a none -too brilliant light upon a mass of documents. "Contrepaynes" of leaves, -pages of accounts, and letters from brother churchmen. - -At the moment, the prior was checking the accounts of the oil mill, -which was a source of revenue to the house. - -There came a knock at the door with a "Benedicite," the prior bid the -knocker enter. The new-comer was the sub-prior, John Croxton, Richard -Espec's great friend and counsellor. - -"Sit down," said the prior, "and tell me the news--is there any news? I -am very weary of figuring, and I feel sad at heart. Richard Cublery has -paid no rent for a year and a half, since he fell to drinking heavily -with John Tichkill." - -"We can survive that," said the sub-prior. - -"Yes, yes; I am not accoyed at that, brother, but the letters and -tidings from the outside world oppress me. The various and manifold -illegalities and imposts which never cease or fail on the wretched -people, and the burnings and murders lie heavy on my heart. Oh, our Lord -has some wise purpose, I do not doubt, but it is all very dark to mortal -eyes." - -"I have read," said the sub-prior, "somewhat of history in my time. But -never in Latin times, nor can I hear of it of the Greeks, was there such -a spirit of devilish wickedness abroad over a land." - -"The lords of this country seem to me to be the daemons of hell in -mortal dress. Mind you what Robert Belesme did? His godchild was hostage -to him for its father, and the father did in some trifling way offend -him. Robert tore out the poor little creature's eyes with his nails. -William of Malmesbury hath writ it in his book, and, please God, the -world will never forget it." - -"The king has got to him all the worst rogues from over the seas. -William of Ypres, Hervé of Léon, and Alan of Duran, there are three -pretty gentlemen! The king is no king. There are in England, so to -speak, as many kings, or rather tyrants, as lords of castles." - -"Well, one of them is gone," said Richard Espec, "and I trust God will -forgive him, though I feel that it is not likely. He was one of the -worst ones, was Geoffroi de la Bourne." - -"That was he. For myself, I cannot even understand how a man can be as -bad as that. A sinner, yes, and a bad one, but from our point of view, -you and I, can you see yourself, even if you were not a monk, doing any -of these things?" - -"Without doubt, brother. Only an old man like I can really know how foul -and black a thing the human heart is. Every one is a potential Geoffroi, -save but for the grace of God, given for sweet Christ's sake." - -"Yes, father," said the younger man, folding his arms meekly. The -candles on the tables began to gutter towards their end, and throw -monstrous shadows upon the faces and over the forms of the two monks. -They were talking in low tones, and the little stone room was very -silent. The dying candle-flames filled it with rich, velvety shadows, -and dancing yellow lights. - -"Hyla and his friends have been given the large hut that Swegn had -before he died. I saw the meeting between him and his womenfolk. They -hardly looked to see him again." - -"I do not care much to have so many women about," said Richard, with the -true monkish distrust of the other sex. "Nevertheless, the men can not -be easily kept without their wives. And of this Hyla--what do you think -of him?" - -"He seems a very strong nature for a serf. Singularly contained within -himself, and, I think, proud of his revenge." - -"That must not be, then. We must not let him be that. I well think that -he has been chosen by God as His instrument, and for that I rejoice. But -the man must not get proud. He is a serf, and a serf he will be always. -It is in his blood, and it is right that it should be so. I am no -upholder of any destruction of order. It is our duty to treat our slaves -well, and that we do; but they remain our slaves. Tell the brother who -directs the serfs that this Hyla should be well looked to, that he lie -in his true place." - -The prior concluded with considerable vehemence. No one was more -theoretically conservative than he, and although, in this time of -anarchy, he approved of Hyla's deed, yet it certainly shocked his -instinctive respect for _les convenances_. It would have been difficult -to find a better creature than the fat prior of Icomb, a man more truly -charitable, or of a more pious life. But, had the course of this story -been different, and had Hyla lived his life at the monastery, he could -never have risen in the social scale. If the prior had discovered the -force of the man, his potentialities as a social force, he would have -sternly repressed them. Hyla's duty was to work, and be fed for his -work. The Catholic Church, with its vast hierarchy, its huge social -machinery, crushed all progress in the direction of freedom. No doubt, -Richard Espec, worthy gentleman though he was, would have been -considerably surprised if he had been told that he would be as Hyla, -and no more, in heaven. We hear too much about the humility of the -priesthood in the early Middle Ages. Of course, the great political -churchmen, such as Henry of Winchester or Thurston of York, were petty -kings, with ceremonial courts and armies. People knelt as they passed, -because they were princes as well as priests. But there is a delusion -that the ordinary monk or priest was, in effect, a perfect radical, -holding doctrines of equality, at any rate, as far as he himself was -concerned. Nothing of the sort was possible in the face of the one -crushing social fact of serfdom. Richard Espec would have washed Hyla's -feet with pleasure--there was precedent, and it was a formal act of -humiliation. At the same time, he would not have made his bed in Hyla's -hut or sat with him at meat. - -The sub-prior received his superior's remarks with due reverence, and -the talk glided into other channels. While they sat there came footsteps -running down the cloister, and then a beating at the door. A young monk -entered, breathless, and knelt before the prior. - -"News, father," said he, and craved permission to tell it. "Father," -said the young man, and tears streamed down his cheeks, "our good -friend, Sir John Leyntwarden, is dead, and among the martyrs. Sir John -was saying Mass at the wayside altar of Saint Alban, the protomartyr -whom God loves. Sir John doth ever say a wayside Mass in the early -mornings, and calls down a blessing upon the Norwich road thereby. Now -the boy Louis Seéz was helping Sir John to serve the Mass, and his tale -is this--Sir John had just divided the Host, and allowed the particle to -fall into the chalice. Indeed, he was saying the _Haec commixtio_. -Suddenly they heard a loud laugh, and so harsh was it in the holy -stillness that verily Satan might have had just such a laugh. Father, -thinking that it was indeed some daemon come out of the wood, Sir John -started and turned round. There he saw five gentlemen on horseback and -in armour. They had ridden up very quietly over the turf. Down the road, -a mile away, Sir John saw a great company moving. He saw spears, and the -sun on armour and waggons. He knew then that this was some great lord's -war train, and that the gentlemen who were watching him had ridden on -before." - -The young monk stopped a moment for lack of breath and labouring under -great agitation. The other two gazed intently at him in great -excitement. Sir John Leyntwarden, the priest of Hawle, was their very -good friend, and a holy man. The news was horrible. - -"Calm, brother," said the prior, "say an _Ave_ and pray a moment, peace -will come to you then." - -The curious remedy served its turn wonderfully well--wherefore let no -man smile at Richard Espec--and the young monk resumed his narrative. - -"Then said Sir John to the gentlemen, 'Sirs, the _Agnus Dei_ is not yet, -and there is time for you to kneel and take our Lord's Body with us. -_Vere dignum et justum est aequum et salutare._ Then the leader of the -party, a powerful, great man, laughed again. Louis says it was verily -like a devil mocking, for it was very bitter, mirthless, and cold. This -lord said, 'We take no Mass, but, by hell, we will have these thy -vessels. They are too good for a hedge priest.' Then he did turn to a -lady who sat by upon a white horse, very dark, and with white teeth -which laughed. 'What Kateryn?' said he. 'They will make thee a -drinking-cup and a plate until I can give thee better from the cellars -of Hilgay.' Then Louis knew who it was. That was my Lord Roger Bigot -with Kateryn Larose, his concubine, and the war train was on its way to -Hilgay Tower to overthrow Fulke de la Bourne. - -"Sir John held up the cross at his girdle and dared them that they -should come nearer to the Body of Christ. The harlot in the saddle -kissed her fingers to him, and the whole company laughed. Then, with no -more ado, they took him and bound him. In the melley little Louis -slipped away, and the grievous things which happened he saw from a tree -hard by. They emptied the chalice and pyx upon the ground. 'Look,' said -Lord Roger, 'there is your God, Sir Priest, and thus I treat Him.' With -that a-stamped upon the Host, and all the company laughed at that awful -crime." - -Richard Espec and John Croxton burst into loud cries of pity and horror -at this point. Tears rained down the prior's face as he heard how these -evil men had entreated the Body and Blood. - -"Louis thought to see heaven open and Abdiel drop from the morning sky, -like fire, to kill them. But God made no sign. - -"Then Sir John, lying bound upon the ground, began to pray in a loud -voice that God would terribly punish these men. He called upon them the -curse of all the Saints, and he said to Roger Bigot that for this deed -he should lie for ever in hell. There was something strange about his -voice, or perhaps they were frightened at the curses. Roger ground his -mailed heel into Sir John's face till it was no face and he was silent. -Then for near half-an-hour they did torture him with terrible tortures, -and with one unspeakable. You know, father, in what manner the saints -have suffered that have fallen into the hands of Robert, or Roger, or -Geoffroi. Sir John could not abear it, and he screamed loudly till his -voice rang through all the wood. So died dear Sir John in the fresh -morning." - -Richard Espec made the sign of the cross, and said solemnly, "_Posuisti, -Domine, super caput ejus, coronam de lapide pretioso. Alleluia_." Then -he said, "Go and summon all the brethren to the chapter-house, for I -have somewhat to say to them." And being left alone he fell upon his -knees in prayer. - -The great bell in the centralone began to toll loudly. - -This dreadful news touched the prior very nearly. Dom Leyntwarden, the -vicar of Hawle-in-the-wood, a tiny hamlet now deserted, was an intimate -and close friend of his. The murdered priest was a shrewd adviser upon -business affairs, and would often come over to the monastery and be its -guest for a few days, to help in any worldly business that might be -afoot. He was endeared to the whole Priory. It was a terrible instance -of the times in which they lived. The good priest saying Mass at the -little wayside altar by the wood in the fresh morning air. The sneering, -relentless fiends in mail, and the smiling girl upon her palfrey. In one -short hour their friend had passed from them in agony, from the real -presence of God into the real presence of God made manifest to his eyes. - -The prior was resolved to address the assembled brethren in the -chapter-house, not one being absent. - -We are enabled to see how all this bore upon the fortunes of Hyla. - -Sir John Leyntwarden was martyred by Roger Bigot on his way to attack -Hilgay. - -Sir John was a friend of the monks with whom Hyla had taken refuge. On -the occasion of the news the prior summoned a chapter of the brethren, -and all the men living in the monastery village on the hill who were not -serfs. - -The village was practically empty and free to the hands of a long boat -of armed men, which, under cover of the dark, was now moving swiftly -over the lake. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - "Justorum Animae in Manu dei sunt, et non Tanget Illos Tormentum - Malitiae: Visi sunt Oculis Insipientium Mori, Illi Autem sunt in - Pace." - - -The chapter-house at Icomb was a low, vaulted chamber divided into three -compartments by rows of pillars bearing arches. A stone seat ran all -round it for the monks, and the prior's seat was opposite the entrance. -Two arches on each side of the doorway--there was no actual -door--allowed the deliberations to be heard outside in the cloister. -This was according to the invariable Cistercian plan. No one, save the -monks themselves, could actually sit in the chapter-house, but -others--in this case, the head men of the village--could stand in the -cloister, and so become fully cognisant of the proceedings within. - -The brothers filed through the dark cloisters towards the red doorways -which showed that the chapter-house was lit within. The big bell in the -centralone kept tolling unceasingly. One by one the brothers entered and -seated themselves upon the stone bench. Two of the _fratres conversi_ -stood by the prior's throne with torches. A sudden murmur of talk hummed -through the place. The night was exceedingly hot. - -A glance round at the seated figures would hardly have prepossessed the -modern spectator. One and all, young and old, were as frowsy and -unsavoury a lot as ever poisoned the air of a warm summer's night. The -white, emaciated faces smeared with dirt, the matted beards, and -glowing, excited eyes, all combined to produce a singularly unpleasant -picture. - -Yet as the torchlight revealed one distressing detail after another it -also played upon a congregation of as holy men as could have been found -anywhere in that century. Not for them the licence and luxury of some of -the great monasteries, where the monks pursued the deer or set their -falcons at feathered game with no less ardour than they followed a -petticoat through a wood. Not for them chased cups of pimentum and morat -while the tables groaned under fish, flesh and fowl. It is a pity, no -doubt, that they were not nice according to our ideas, but we can well -forget that if we remember that they were indeed very holy men. - -Presently the prior came in and took his seat upon the stone throne -after he had said a short Latin prayer. The farmers and other villagers -pressed to the archways of the opening, and, rising to his feet, Richard -Espec spake in this wise: - -"Brethren, this is a perilous time; and such a scourge was never heard -since Christ's passion. You hear how good men suffer the death. -Brethren, this is undoubted for the offences of England. Ye read, as -long as the children of Israel kept the commandments of God, so long -their enemies had no power over them, but God took vengeance of their -enemies. We have erred, I wist, in our own lives, and God has sent this -upon us. For when the Jews broke God's commandments then they were -subdued by their enemies, and so be we. Therefore let us be sorry for -our offences. Undoubted He will take vengeance of our enemies; I mean -those blood-stained lords that causeth so many good men to suffer thus. -Alas! it is a piteous case that so much Christian blood should be shed. -Therefore, good brethren, for the reverence of God, every one of you -devoutly pray, and say this psalm, 'O God, the heathen are come into -Thine inheritance; Thy holy temple have they defiled, and made Jerusalem -a heap of stones. The dead bodies of Thy servants have they given to be -meat to the fowls of the air, and the flesh of Thy saints unto the -beasts of the field. Their blood have they shed like water on every side -of Jerusalem, and there was no man to bury them. We are become an open -scorn to our enemies, a very scorn and derision to them that are round -about us. Oh, remember not our old sins, but have mercy upon us, and -that soon, for we are come to great misery. Help us, O God of our -salvation, for the glory of Thy name. Oh, be merciful unto our sins for -Thy name's sake. Wherefore do the heathen say, Where is now their God?' -Ye shall say this psalm," continued the prior, "every Friday, after the -Litany, prostrate, when ye lie upon the high altar, and undoubtedly God -will cease this extreme scourge." - -Then he went on to tell them of the martyrdom of Dom John, and what a -good and holy man he was. "Even now, my dear brethren," said he, "I know -him to be a saint in heaven. _He has seen God_, and talked with His -Holiness, Saint Peter. Our Lady has smiled upon him. In the golden -streets he has walked with gladness. I think that perhaps he is here -with us now, our dear brother, that he sees us, and is full of love -towards us all." - -As his voice dropped towards the close, full of emotion, there was loud -applause. As in very early Christian times, the brethren saluted the -oration with a beating of hands. - -And with that noise we must leave the hooded figures sitting among the -shadows. - -The curtain of this short chronicle must fall upon them for ever, in a -red light, with black shadows, with the noise of a clapping of hands. - -Their lives were framed in stone, and swords were about them. They were -very ignorant, very prejudiced, superstitious and dirty--a big -indictment! Nevertheless, it is certain that their influence upon the -time was good and pure. It is the fashion to rail at monasteries of all -periods. Many blockheads can never get over the mere _fact_ of the -Dissolution! In a spirit of curiosity I examined half-a-dozen histories -of the baser type--the sort of histories that are still given to -fourth-form boys and quite grown-up girls. One and all, if they -mentioned the monasteries in the reign of King Stephen at any length, -either openly condemned them or damned them with faint praise. I take -this opportunity of correcting messires, the historians, upon a point of -FACT. It is odd that the hopelessly incompetent clergyman-schoolmaster -should so invariably turn historian to-day. His monumental and appalling -ignorance of the times and peoples he treats of--ignorance unillumined -with a single ray of insight--is displayed on every line of his -lucubrations. Nothing, apparently, would lead him to read and dig and -sift for himself so that he might know just a little of what he writes -about. Let me, at any rate, assure him, that while, as is natural, there -were plenty of bad monks in the reign of Stephen, as a whole, the -monasteries were very praiseworthy institutions, and had a beneficent -influence upon the country. In short, my little priory at Icomb, is a -perfectly fair and typical example of its class. - -While the monks were in the chapter-house, and afterwards attending a -special service in the chapel, a long boat glided rapidly over the lake. -It was a dark, thunderous night, and nothing betrayed the quiet passage -of the craft, save the dusky glitter of the water as the oars rose and -sank. Now and again some low orders in Norman-French regulated the pace -or altered the direction of the boat. - -When the voyagers were about half-way across the mere, as near as they -could judge, they heard the sudden tolling of the great bell of the -Priory. The sullen, angry notes came across the water, out of the dark, -in waves of booming sound. There was a muttered order, and the oars -stopped in their swing. The boat rushed on for thirty yards or so, -gradually losing its momentum, until at length it became stationary. - -"What does that betoken, Huber?" asked a voice. - -"I do not know," replied the man-at-arms. "Pardieu, I cannot tell." - -"Do you think they know that we are near?" - -"Not unless they have found out that Heraud has come with a certain -purpose. Perchance Hyla saw him and recognised him." - -"Not he. Heraud shaved his face and cropped his hair, and the minter -drew lines upon his face, and painted the poor divell's visage all over -with some hell brew. I seed them at it. His own mother would never have -thought him made of her blood." - -"Then, by Godis teeth! what does the bell mean?" - -"Oh, the old women are making prayers or saying Mass." - -"Pagan! Mass is not at this hour, nor would they ring the great bell in -that way." - -"Then the prior has given up his vows, and is about to wed the Lady -Abbess of Denton, and the monks are ringing for joy that one of them -should at length prove himself a man." A chuckle went through the boat -at this none too excellent a joke. - -"Like enough," Huber said, "but whatever it may mean we must keep our -tryst with Heraud. It was to be a church's length from the main landing -where the monks keep their boats. A church's length to the left." - -"It will not be easy to find, the night is very thick. We must go very -slow." - -"Yes," said Huber "we must go with great care. Come forward! Are you -ready? Allery!" - -The boat glided slowly on again towards the direction of the island. -Presently a deeper blackness loomed up in front of them, and they saw -that they were close to land. The smell of land, of herbage and flowers, -came to them, and hot as it had been upon the lake, it seemed hotter now -that they were come to shore. - -As the nose of the boat brushed the outgrowing reeds, hissing at the -contact, the bell on the hill above stopped suddenly. A great silence -enveloped them as they waited. - -Huber gave a long, low whistle, but there was no answer. He repeated it -at intervals of about a minute. - -They were getting restive, wondering what might have happened, when -Huber changed his tactics. He began to whistle very softly and -sweetly--the scamp had a pipe like any bird--the lilt of a love-song. It -was a plaintive air which rose and fell delicately in the night. Most of -them knew it, for it was a popular song among the soldiers of that day, -and had been made by a strolling minstrel one evening in the Picard camp -at Gournay, and thence spread all over Northern Europe by the -mercenaries. - -The men-at-arms began to nod to its rhythm and beat quiet time to it. -Then one fellow began to whistle a bass under his breath, and another -and another took up the air very quietly, till the boat was like a cage -of fairy singing birds. They were so amused by their occupation, and, -indeed, they were producing a very pretty concert, that they quite -forgot their purpose for the moment, and abandoned themselves one and -all to the music. It recalled many merry memories of Tilliers and -Falaise, of Mortain and Arques, and of the orchards of their Norman -home. - -They were beginning the whole thing all over again--so much did it -please them--when they became aware of another and more distant -augmentation to their concert. They stopped, and the silvery whistle -from the bank still shivered out a note or two before it stopped. In a -moment more they heard splashing, and a dark figure pushed aside the -reeds and waded out to them. - -"It is all safe," said the new-comer. "The murderer is here sure enough. -He does not know who I am, and I am in a hut close to his." - -"Bon," said Huber, "I am glad to see you. Lord Fulke will be very -pleased. We feared something was wrong when we heard the bell." - -"Depardieux! and well you might. I did not think of that. But natheless, -that bell means good fortune for our little plan, my friends. All the -monks and all the villeins from the village have gone inside to service -in the chapel. Only the theows are alone, and it will be an easy matter -to take the man without interference if we are quick." - -"How far is it from here?" - -"As a bird flies, about two furlongs. But it will be longer for us, for -we must make a detour to keep away from the walls. We shall come on the -village from behind. There is a big midden ditch, but I have a plank to -cross it." - -"We'll give Sir Hyla a dip in it as we pass." - -"'Twould be a fitting mitra." - -Then with no more words, led by Heraud, they left the boat and stole -silently up the hill in the dark. - -An archer remained in the boat to guard it and to help them to find it -again. - -Hyla retired into his hut about half-past eight. He had been working all -day, cleaning out pig-styes and carting the manure to the ditch which -ran north of the village, and which served as a slight defence, and also -as a storing place for fertilizing material to spread upon the fields. A -strange occupation, perhaps, for a man who had but lately done a deed -of such moment, and who was more than half a hero! But he had been set -to this work purposely by the monks, who knew human nature, and thought -it best for the man. The monks were the only psychologists in the -twelfth century. - -With some men this would have been wise, no doubt, but to Hyla's credit -it should be said that he thought very little about himself. His rather -heavy, sullen manner may easily have conveyed a false impression as to -his own estimate of himself, but he was humble enough in reality. - -In fact, Hyla was too humble, and more so than befitted his strong -nature. He cleaned the filth from the styes with never a thought that he -might be better or more profitably employed. And in this fact we have -another vivid expression of the psychology of serfdom. - -The only certain way in which it is possible to get at the inner meaning -of a period in history, is by the comparison of the attitude of an -individual brain towards his time, and the attitude of a general type of -brain. The individual with the point of view must, of course, be a known -quantity. - -Historians, I am certain, have not yet entirely realised this simple and -beautiful method. Properly understood, it is as mathematically exact as -any comparative method can possibly be. It is the way in which history -will be written in the future when the modern Headmaster-Historian will -no longer be allowed to write an "epoch" and dispose of the two first -editions entirely among the boys of his own school. - -Of its extreme fascination as a pursuit the cultured cannot speak too -highly. It combines the pleasures of the laboratory with the pleasures -of psychology, and never was Science so happily wedded to Art. - -Here is a trifling case in point. Friend Hyla--whose temperament we know -something of--felt no degradation in cleaning out the pig-stye, although -he had just done a great and noble thing. We know Hyla as a man very far -from perfect. We know him subject to the ordinary failings of mankind. -Why, then, was Hyla content? The answer supplies us with a luminous -exposition of serfdom as a social state, how stern a thing it was, how -bitter. Pages of rhetoric could give no better explanation of that hard -fact. - -So Hyla had been quite content, and as the sun was setting he sat down -outside his hut with his wife on one side and his daughter on the -other, as happy as a man could be. Bread and meat lay upon the ground by -his side. A cow's horn full of Welsh ale was stuck into the turf by him. -He was now working for kind masters who would not beat him or ill-treat -his womankind. His hut was weather-proof, his food was excellent, and -the peace of the holy life near by was stealing over him, and he was at -last at rest. The peace of it all was like a cup of cold water to a poor -man dying of thirst. - -He stroked his wife's hard gnarled hand, very glad to be so close to -her. He looked with unconscious admiration at the frank beauty of Frija -as she lay gracefully by his side. Only one grief assailed him now, and -that was the thought of Elgifu. He put it from him with a shudder. Yet, -he thought, they would hardly hurt her. He was a man of bitter -experience, and felt that she would be fairly safe in that wicked time. - -Before the little family retired to rest, Cerdic came to them to pray. -The ex-lawer of dogs had, it must be confessed, most of the instincts of -the street-corner preacher. He was never so happy as when he was making -an extempore prayer, and in his heart of hearts he felt sure that he -should have been a priest. Hyla regarded this accomplishment of his -friend's with unfeigned admiration. Cerdic's praying was his one great -pleasure. Both men were perfectly sincere about it. Cerdic and Hyla were -both quite certain that the Saints heard and remarked upon every word. -At the same time, in an age when music was a monopoly, literature a -thing for the fortunate few, and the theatre was not, these poor fellows -found their æsthetic excitement in family prayers. Indeed, if we come -to think of it, the Puritan classes in England to-day are much the same. -Indeed, as long as the saving grace of Sincerity is present, the plan -seems excellent. It will not fill the pockets of the theatrical manager, -but it will keep a good many fools out of mischief. - -So, with full bellies and in great peace of mind, Hyla and Cerdic prayed -to God, and fell upon sleep. - -Another hour of peaceful sleep remains for you, poor Hyla. Another -little hour, and then good-bye to sleep. Good-bye to wife and child and -comfort for ever and a day. A few short hours and you go to the -beginning of your great martyrdom. Your works shall live after you. - -But hush! the time is nearly gone, the sands are running very rapid in -the glass. Sleep has still a gift for you, lie undisturbed! - - - - - CHAPTER X - - "At the sight therefore, of this river, the Pilgrims were much - stunned; but the men that went with them said, 'You must go - through, or you cannot come at the gate.'" - - -Hyla slept ill after an hour or two. Tired nature gave him a physical -oblivion for a time, but when his exhaustion was worked off, he began to -toss uneasily and to dream. The events of the past days danced in a -confused jumble in his brain, and the dominant sensation was one of -gliding over water. - -Water and the vast lonely fen lands were vividly before him in a hundred -uneasy and fantastic ways. He awoke to find the hut hot and stifling -beyond all bearing. The deep breathing of his women folk was all the -immediate sound he heard, though an owl was sobbing intermittently in -the wood by the lake. - -How hot it was! The rich earthy smell, a fertile, luxuriant odour of -life, was terribly oppressive. There was an earthen jar of lake water at -the door of the hut, but when he groped a silent way to it, he found it -warm and full of the taste of weeds and tree roots. There was no comfort -in it. - -He stood looking out into the night. There was no moon, but it was -hardly dark. Now and then a ghostly sheet of summer lightning flickered -over the sky. Late as it was the air was full of flying insects. The -cockchafers boomed as they circled over the enclosure in their long, -swift flight. Great moths, with huge fat bodies, hung on the roofs of -the huts or flapped to the neighbouring trees. The heavy, lazy Goat -Moths, three years old, and nearly four inches from wing to wing. The -male Wood Leopard, more active than his great brother, the -sombre-coloured Noctuas, the evil-looking, long-bodied Hawk Moths, all -danced in the dusky air. - -Out in the fields the crickets sang like a thousand little bells, and -the atropus, a tiny insect from which bucolic superstition has evolved -the "death watch," ticked as it ran over the door posts. - -Glow-worms winked in pale gleams among the grass, and louder than any -other noise was the deep hum of the great Stag-beetle as he flew by. A -myriad night life pulsed round the waking man. The Goatsucker flew round -the borders of the wood catching the insects in his flight, and his -strange, jarring pipe thrilled all the heavy air; among the leaves and -undergrowth the Hedgepig, rested with his long day's sleep, rustled in -search of food, making his curious, low, gurgling sound, and rattling -his spines. - -In those far-off days wild life luxuriated and throve. Day and night -were full of strange sounds heard but rarely now. As Hyla stood wearily -by his hut, the Polecat was fishing for eels in the mud of the lake -shore. Old dog-foxes slunk through the woods in search of prey, while -their cubs frisked like kittens in the open spaces of the woods, playing -hide-and-seek, and engaging in a mimic warfare. The air was full of -Noctules and Natterers, great silent bats. - -In some dim way, Hyla was influenced by all this vitality around him. -Richard Espec in his place would have said, "In wisdom Thou hast made -them all, the earth is full of Thy riches. Thou openest Thy hand and -fillest all things living with plenteousness; they continue this day -according to Thine ordinance, for all things serve Thee. He spake the -word and they were made, He commanded, and they were created!" - -That would have been the logical expression of a good man who spent his -life in reconciling the concrete with the unseen. Hyla's attitude was -just the same, though he was not educated to elevate a thought into an -expression of thought. - -But, nevertheless, he felt the mystery of the night, and the live -creatures at work in it. - -The Spirit of God worked in him as it worked in wiser and more -considerable men. - -But it was rather lonely also. His great deed still had its influence of -terror upon him. A man who violently disturbs the society in which he -lives and moves, as Hyla had done, wants human companionship. It is ill -to know one is absolutely alone. - -He thought that he would seek Cerdic, if, perchance, he was in a mood -for talk, and not too drowsy. He went towards his friend's hut. In the -dim light, as he threaded his way across the stoke, he saw that many -other serfs had found their shelters too noisesome and hot for comfort. -They lay about in front of the huts in curious twisted attitudes, -breathing heavily with weariness and sleep. - -Cerdic had also chosen the air to lie in. He was stretched on a skin, -lying on his back, and in his hand was a half-eaten piece of black -bread, showing that sleep had caught him before he had finished his -supper. - -Hyla lent over him and whispered in his ear. It was interesting to see -how quickly and yet how silently the man awoke. With no sound of -astonishment or surprise, he sat up, with alert enquiring eyes, full -awake and ready for anything that might be toward. - -"Peace!" said Hyla, "there is nothing to trouble about. But I cannot -sleep, and feel very lonely, and want speech with a man. The air is full -of winged things, and the shaw yonder of beasts. I do not know why, I -want a man's voice." - -"You made your bede to-night?" said Cerdic. - -"Yes, I prayed, Cerdic, and you with me. But I feel ill at ease, and -sweating with the heat." - -"Yes, yes," said Cerdic, as one who was used to these fleeting -sicknesses of the brain, and as one who could prescribe a cure. "I wist -well how you feel, Hyla. 'Tis the night and the loneliness of it. -Onnethe can a man be alone at night unless he is busy upon something. -Come sit you down and talk." - -They reclined side by side upon the grass, but neither had much to say. -Hyla found something comforting in the companionship of Cerdic. - -"I keep minding _His_ face," said Hyla suddenly. - -"Then you are a fool, Hyla. But I wist that is only because 'tis -nighttime. You are not troubled in the day. You have had your wreak upon -your foe. Let it be, it is done, and Sir Priest hath absolved you from -sin, and eke me." - -He looked at Hyla with a smile, as who should say that the argument was -irresistible. - -"Cerdic," said Hyla, "I feel in truth something I cannot say. I am -absolved and stainless, I wist well, yet I am accoyed. I fear some evil, -and the night is strange. The air is thick with flies and such volatile, -and--I wist not. I wist not what I mean." - -"Hast eaten too heavily and art troubled by this new place. Shall I pray -for you a space?" - -His face lit up with eagerness as he said it. - -"Not now, Cerdic," said Hyla, "I am not for bede to-night. Come you -with me to lake-side; there will be air upon the water, perchance. I -cannot breathe here." - -"I have slept enough and will go with you, but these sick fancies are -not in your fashion. You have never been y-wone to them; and for my -part, Hyla, I put my trust in my lords the angels, and think that evil -thoughts come from devils of Belsabubbis line." - -Hyla crossed himself in silence. "Rest a moment," he said. "I will see -if Gruach wakes, and if she does, tell her I am going to the lake-side -for coolness, and that I cannot sleep." - -But when he got to the hut it was as silent as when he had left it, and -he heard the untroubled breathing of the women he loved. - -With a curious expression of tenderness for so outwardly unemotional a -man he made the sign of salvation in the gloom of the door, and with a -heart full of foreboding turned towards Cerdic. - -The lawer-of-dogs was not anxious to leave his sleep and wander through -the night. Far rather would he have lain sleeping till the sun and birds -of morning called him to work in a happy security he had never known -before. But there was a great loyalty in him, and a love for his friend -that was as sincere as it was unspoken. - -Moreover, he began to see of late new traits in Hyla. He found him -changed and less easily understood. Mental influences seemed at work in -him which raised him, or removed him, from the ordinary men Cerdic knew. -Cerdic only _felt_ this. He did not think it. Yet his unconscious -realisation of the fact made him defer to Hyla's moods and fall in with -his suggestion. - -He was a shrewd, gentle, fine-natured man. I should like to have clasped -his hand. - -He put a lean, brown paw on Hyla's broad shoulder, and together they -threw the plank over the evil-smelling ditch, malodorous and poisoning -the night, and strode out into the wood. - -They flitted noiselessly among the dark trees, silent amid the noble -aisles and avenues which sloped down to the lake. - -The air was certainly cooler as they left the stoke behind. - -They had gone some distance upon their way when they sat for a moment to -rest upon the bole of a fallen oak tree in a little open glade some ten -yards square. The clearing was fairly light, but a black wall of trees -encompassed it. There, such was the influence of the place and hour, -they fell talking of abstractions with as much right and probably as -luminous a point of view as their betters. - -"What think you, lad, Geoffroi be doing now?" said Hyla. - -"Burning in hellis fire," said Cerdic in a tone of absolute conviction. - -"Think you for ever?" said Hyla musingly. - -"Aye, Hyla, I pray Our Lady. The Saints would not have him in heaven, -and I wist St. Jesu also." - -"We might go to him," said Hyla. - -Cerdic gazed at him through the dark with genuine astonishment. - -"By Godis ore!" he said, "never shall we two roast for long. Prior hath -prayed with us and we are shriven. We have done no man harm. I am -certain, Hyla, that the Saints and Our Lady will take us in. An it only -be to carry water or dung fields, we shall be taken in." - -The absolute assurance in his tone told upon the other and comforted -him. - -"Art not accoyed to die?" he asked. - -"No wit. Natheless, I would live a little longer now we have won kind -masters. Yet would I die this night withouten fear. I would well like to -see the Blessed Lady and all her train. It will be a wonderful fine -sight, Hyla." - -As they sat thus, talking simply of that other life, which was so real -to them in their childlike, undisturbed faith, they did not hear the -moving of many feet through the underwood or the low whispers of a body -of men who were approaching the glade in which they sat. - -One loud word, a chance oath, would have startled them away and saved -them. Indeed, had they not been so intent upon high matters they must -have heard footsteps. Trained foresters as they were, creatures of the -fields, the woods, and the open heavens, no men were more quick to hear -the advance of any living thing or more prompt to avoid hostile comers. - -The first intimation that came to them was the sudden clank of a -steel-headed pike as it fell and rattled against a tree stump. They -leapt to their feet, but it was too late. The wood seemed peopled with -armed men. Their alarm came upon them so quickly that each tree all -round was transformed into a man-at-arms. Before they could turn to fly -the leaders of the band were up with them, and strong mailed arms -grasped them. - -Black-bearded faces peered into theirs, striving to see who they were in -that dim light. - -"Are ye prior's men?" said Huber, in a low, eager voice. - -Then with a sick fear the two serfs knew into whose hands they had -fallen. With an icy chill of despair, they realised that these were -Fulke's men, and that his vengeance was long-armed, and had come upon -them stealthily in the night. - -Then in that moment of anguish, they tasted all the bitterness of death. -The new, fair life that was opening before them so brightly vanished in -a flash. The old cruel voices of their masters were like heavy chains; a -black curtain fell desolately and finally over their lives. - -Suddenly one of the men who had been scrutinising them closely gave a -loud and joyous cry. "God's rood!" he shouted. "These be the two men -themselves a-coming to meet with us in t' wood! Mordieu, these be the -murderers!" - -The men-at-arms crowded round the captives with cries of savage joy. -"The Saints have done this," cried one man. Then, being above all things -soldiers, and alive to all the fortunes and chances which await men in a -hostile neighbourhood, they bound the serfs with thongs, and hurried -them swiftly down the hill to the boat. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - "Roweth on fast! who that is faint - In evil water may he be dreynt!" - They rowed hard and sung thereto - With hevelow and rumbeloo. - - -The boat glided through the reeds and hissed among the stalks as it -floated off into deep water. - -The man-at-arms who had been pushing it scrambled over the flat stern -drenched to his waist. - -Hyla and Cerdic lay bound where they had been flung at the bottom of the -boat as roughly and carelessly as sacks of meal. - -They moved slowly over the deep black waters. "The priests'll wake to -find the pies flown," said Huber, emphasising his remark with a lusty -kick upon the prostrate Cerdic. - -"What will they think?" asked some one. - -"I neither know eke care. Perchance it will be thought the divill has -took them to his own place." - -"Whence they will shortly go." - -"Not before they have tasted of hell in Hilgay," and the speaker went on -to enumerate with much spirit and vividness the several tortures to -which the captives would be subjected before Death was merciful. - -That these were no idle boasts to frighten them Cerdic and Hyla were -very well aware. They had seen with their own eyes how men were punished -for a far less offence than theirs. Nameless atrocities were committed -upon the serfs, and the mocking words of the soldier had a terrible -significance for them. The boat moved but very slowly. It was heavy, and -the men were all tired out. Moreover, the night was oppressively hot -even out upon the water. - -Most of the rowers stripped to the waist and flung their garments down -into the bottom of the boat. Hyla and Cerdic were covered with heavy, -evil-smelling garments, and almost suffocated. - -"I cannot breathe," whispered Hyla to Cerdic. - -"Hist, listen! Get thy head down lower. Yes, so. Feel you my hands and -the thong. There now; bite till I am free and can get at my dog-knife. -God be praised, they did not see it!" - -With a sudden leaping of his heart, forgetting the awful heat, Hyla -cautiously lowered his head and began to nibble at the thong with -strong, sharp teeth. - -He could hear the muffled notes of an old Norman-French ballad telling -of the nimbleness of Taillefer, as they sang to help the oars along. - - "L'un dit à l'altre ki co veit - Ke co esteit enchantement, - Ke cil fesait devant la gent," - -and so forth, the doggerel sounding very melodious as the blended voices -sent it out over the water. - -The singing was an aid to their work, for it took away the attention of -their guards. The greasy strap for a time resisted all his efforts. His -teeth slid over the slippery surface and could not pierce it. Once there -was a sharp crack, a twinge of pain, and a tooth broke in two. He was -dismayed for a moment, but soon found the accident helped him. - -The jagged edge of the broken bone soon made an incision in the leather, -and with considerable pain he severed it at last. - -The relief to Cerdic was extreme. They had tied his wrists so tightly -that the thongs had cut deep into the flesh. For a moment or two his -hands were quite lifeless and he could not move them. Then as the blood -came flowing back into the stiffened fingers, pricking as though it were -full of powdered glass, his mind also began to recover from its torpor -and fear. He became alert, and his thoughts moved rapidly. He reached -down cautiously for his knife and, inch by inch, withdrew it from the -sheath. The jerkins which covered him were so thickly spread that more -vigorous movements could hardly have been seen, but he trusted nothing -to chance. - -Soon Hyla's hands were free, and the thongs binding his ankles severed. -They began to whisper a plan of escape. - -Hyla was a good swimmer, and Cerdic a poor one, but death in the lake or -the deep fen pools was far better than death with all the hideousness -that would attend it at Hilgay Castle. The plan was this: When the men -rested for a morning meal, which, they calculated would be at sunrise, -they would make a sudden dash for freedom. By that time the lake would -have been traversed, and the boat slowly threading the mazy waterways -of the fen. It would go hard with them if they could not get away from -the heavily clad men-at-arms, all unused as they were to the country. - -Meanwhile the rowers had got three parts of the way over the water. The -sky was quite light now, with that cold grey-green which lasts for a few -minutes before the actual sunrise. - -"Sun will soon rise," said Heraud; "it's colder now, I will put on my -jerkin." - -"And I also," said several others, and the pile of clothes began to be -lifted from the serfs. - -It was a terribly anxious moment for them. If it was seen that bonds -were cut, then they must risk everything, and jump into the lake, for -they knew the boat could not have won the fen as yet. - -Once in the lake their chance was small, unless it might happen that -they were near the reeds which bordered it, and could swim to them and -be lost in the fen. The boat could go far more swiftly than they could -swim. In all probability there were cross-bows in it; they would be -hunted through the water like drowning puppies. - -One by one the rowers, chilled by their exertions, lifted the heavy -leather garments from the two men. Cerdic continued to push his knife -under him, and both men lay upon their stomachs, with their hands placed -in the position they would have occupied had the thongs remained uncut. - -Fortune was kind to them. When they at length lay bare to view, and the -cold air came gratefully to their sweating bodies, the soldiers saw -nothing. Heraud was the last man to take his coat, and he smote the back -of Hyla's head heavily with his clenched fist. - -The sudden pain and the foul words which accompanied the blow made the -prostrate man quiver with rage. For a moment an impulse to fly at the -throat of the man-at-arms, and risk everything in one wild exultation of -combat, shook him through and through. He quivered with hatred and -desire. But a low sibilant warning from Cerdic kept him fast, and with a -mighty effort he restrained his passion. - -Somewhat to the dismay of the serfs, the boat was stopped, and the -soldiers produced food and beer from a basket and began to make a meal. -Although they did not dare raise their heads to see, Cerdic and Hyla -could hear from the talk of the men above them that they were yet a -good half mile or more from the fen. The air began to grow a little -warmer, and the sky to be painted in long crimson and golden streaks -towards the East. Above their heads the heavy beating of great wings -told them that the huge wild fowl of the fen were clanging out over the -marshes for food. - -Suddenly one of the soldiers, who was in the article of raising an apple -to his mouth, began to snigger with amusement. The others followed the -direction of his extended finger with their glance. He was pointing at -Heraud. "Well, Joculator," snarled that worthy, "what be you a-mouthing -at me for?" - -"It's your face, Heraud," spluttered Huber. "By St Simoun, but I never -thought of it till now. Should'st have washed it off!" - -"Pardieu!" said Heraud "it be the minter's paint which I had forgot. A -mis-begotten wretch I must look and no lesing! I will to the water and -wash me like a Christian." - -The man presented a curious and laughable appearance. Lewin had -disguised him well, so that he might spy out where Hyla lay, but the -exertion of rowing had induced perspiration, and the dusky colouring -and painted eyebrows trickled down his hot, tired face in streaks. A -black stubble of newly sprouting beard and moustache added to the comic -effect. - -"Ne'er did I see such a figure of fun as thou art, comrade!" said Huber -in an ecstasy of mirth. - -"Then, by Godis rood, I will make me clean," said Heraud -good-humouredly. With that he got him to the boatside, and leaning over -the gunwale began to lave himself vigorously in the fresh water. - -In an earlier part of this book occurs a passage which is at some little -trouble to explain that these men-at-arms were little more than -ferocious unthinking children. The kneeling man presented a mark not -only for quips of tongue but for a rougher and more physical wit. With a -meaning wink at the others, John Pikeman withdrew a tholepin, about a -foot long, from its socket, and with that stick did give Heraud a most -sounding thwack upon the most exposed part of him. - -With a sudden yell the unlucky wretch, as might have been foreseen, -threw up his legs, and, with a loud gurgle, disappeared into the water. -Now to these men, water was a thing somewhat out of experience. Not one -in a hundred of them could swim; they were seldom put in the way of it, -and a lake or river presented far more terrors to them than any walled -town or field of battle. - -The fact induces a reflection. Courage is purely relative. All of us can -be brave in dangers we know, few of us but are not cowed in perils which -are new. Poor Heraud was a striking example of the sententious truth. He -rose choking, and his face was so white with fear, his eyes so pleading, -his strong arms beat the water in such agony, that every rough heart in -that boat was filled with anguish. - -With one accord they rushed to the side of the boat, and immediately the -inevitable happened. - -The gunwale sank lower and lower, the cruel lip of black water rose -hungrily to meet it, there was a sound like a man swallowing oil, a -swirl, a rush of black water creamed into foam at its edge, and with a -loud shout of dismay and terror the whole crew were struggling furiously -in the water. - -In a second the overturned boat had drifted yards away, and only the -slimy green bottom projected above the flood. - -Hyla and Cerdic, not being at the side of the boat, were not flung some -distance out by the force of its turning, but sank together directly -beneath it. - -They rose almost at once, and both received smart knocks on the head -from the timber. With little difficulty they dived and came up by the -boat side. Each put a hand upon the slippery curved timbers, only -obtaining a rest for the tips of the fingers, and, treading water, -looked towards the drowning crowd a few yards away. The water was lashed -into foam, as if some huge fish were disporting itself upon the surface. -Heads kept bobbing up like corks, and sinking with a gurgling noise. Now -and then a hand rose clutching the air in a death convulsion. - -Amid all the confusion and tumult the wicker basket, which had held -food, floated serenely, and the oars clustered round about it. - -Every second, with a long groan, some sturdy fellow would catch at an -oar end, the water pouring from his mouth and dripping from his cap. The -thin pole would tip up with a jerk, and he would sink gurgling and -coughing to his death. Meanwhile the sun came up the sky with one red -stride, and illumined all the waters. The day broke cool and glorious, -while these were dying. The day broke as it had done a thousand years -before, and will a thousand years after you and I have sunk from one -life and risen in another. Calm, glorious, unheeding, the sun rose over -the waters, smiling inscrutably on those who were to know its secret so -very soon. - -In a few moments it was nearly over. Three heads remained above the -water, as the serfs watched in fear. Huber swam round and round the -other two, shouting directions and advice. One was Heraud, the other -Jame, a cut-throat dog of no value. Both had but a few strokes, and -their strength was failing fast. - -The two heads sank lower and lower, the chins were submerged, the red -line of the lips for a moment rested in line with the water, and then, -with no sign or cry, they sank gently out of sight. Bubbles came up to -the surface from a ten-yard circle, burst, and disappeared, the last -sign that ten good fighting men were sinking asleep, deep down in the -mud below. - -As he saw his last two comrades go to their death, Huber gave a loud -despairing cry, wrung from his very heart. Then he started slowly and -laboriously, for his strength was fast failing, to swim to the boat. - -By this time Hyla and Cerdic were in a safer position. The long-armed -little man had made a great leap out of the water from Cerdic's -shoulders. He pushed his friend far down beneath the surface with the -force of his spring, but the slight resistance of Cerdic's body had -given him the necessary impetus, and his strong arms clutched the keel. -He was very soon astride it, and when Cerdic came spluttering up again -he too was easily assisted into comparative safety. - -Suddenly Huber saw the two seated there, and his white face became drawn -and furrowed with despair as he saw his last hope gone. - -"Hyla! Cerdic!" he called quaveringly, "ye two have beaten twelve brave -men, and me among 'em. Ye have Godis grace with you, curse you! and I am -done and over. Give you good-day." - -"You fool, Huber!" said Hyla in concern, "think you we are foes in this -pass? Wait, man, keep heart a little while!" He lifted his leg from the -other side of the keel and dived into the water, sending the boat -rocking away for yards as he did so. He made the exhausted archer place -two hands upon his shoulders, and in ten exhausting minutes the three -were perched upon the boat keel, the sole survivors of that ill-fated -crew. The sun began to be hot, and they saw they were near land by now. - -"I will just make a prayer," said Cerdic, with some apology. "It will do -no harm, and perhaps please Our Lady, who, I wist, has done this for -Hyla and me and Huber." - -With that he fell fervently to uncouth thanksgivings, while the sun came -rushing up and dried them all. - -Hyla and Huber glanced at each other in mute admiration of his -eloquence. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - "Through the gray willows danced the fretful gnat, - The grasshopper chirped idly from the tree, - In sleek and oily coat the water-rat, - Breasting the little ripples manfully - Made for the wild-duck's nest." - - -They won to land, with the aid of a floating oar. Hyla and Cerdic were -for getting back to Icomb and explaining what had befallen them to the -fathers, but Huber flatly refused to accompany them. He said it was his -duty to go back to Hilgay and say what had become of his comrades, and -how they had met their end. - -"But if you tell Lord Fulke how you have eaten and slept in -friendship--for we must rest and eat before we go--with those that did -kill his father, what then?" said Cerdic. - -"Lord Fulke would not dare harm me for that, even were I to tell him. I -am too well liked among the men. Natheless, I shall say nothing. I shall -say that I clomb on the boat, and won the shore, and so made my way -home. Look you to this. Can I give up the only life I know, and my -master, and eke my wife to serve the priests, or live hunted and outlaw -in the fens with you?" He argued it out with perfect fairness and good -sense, and, with a sinking of the heart, they saw that their ways must -indeed lie very far apart. - -Material considerations made the whole thing difficult. They were in an -unenviable position, and one of great danger, and their only means of -transport was the one boat. "There is only one way," said Cerdic, "and -that is this: we must row over the lake to the Priory first, and then -leave the boat with Huber to make his own way back over the lake and -through the fenways." - -The man-at-arms crossed himself with fervour. - -"Not I," he said. "I would not venture again upon that accursed lake for -my life. It is cursed. You have heard of the Great Black Hand? It is an -evil place, and has taken many of my good comrades. Leave you me here -and go your ways. I will try to get back through the fen." - -"Art no fenman, Huber, and canst scarcely swim. Also, that is the most -dangerous part of the fen, the miles between the river and this lake. -It's nought but pools, waterways, and bog. You could not go a mile." - -"Then I will stay here and rot. There is no mortal power that shall make -me upon that water more." - -There was such genuine superstitious terror in his face and voice that -they felt it useless to attempt persuasion, and they cast about in their -minds for some other solution of the difficulty. It was long in coming, -for in truth the problem was very difficult. At last it was solved, -poorly enough, but with a certain possibility of safety. - -The three men had landed but a few hundred yards from the opening of the -waterway which led to Hilgay, winding in devious routes among the fen. -To regain the monastery there were two ways--One, the obvious route, by -simply crossing the great lake, for the Abbey was almost exactly -opposite, and the other, most difficult and dangerous, to skirt the lake -side, where there was but little firm ground, and go right round it to -the Priory. - -Seeing no help for it, they decided on attempting that. Huber was to -have the big, heavy boat, and as best he could, make his way back to -Hilgay. It was a curious decision to have arrived at. By all possible -rights, Hyla and Cerdic should have kept the boat for their own use, and -let Huber shift as best he could. He was, or rather had been, an enemy; -they had not only treated him with singular kindness, but he owed his -very life to them. It is difficult to exactly gauge their motive. -Probably their long slavery had something of its influence with them. -Despite their new ideals and the stupendous upheaval of their lives, it -is certain that they could hardly avoid regarding Huber from the -standpoint of their serfdom. He had been one of their rulers, and there -still clung to him some savour of authority. Yet it was not all this -feeling that influenced them. Some nobler and deeper instinct of -self-denial and kindness had made them do this thing. - -In a closed locker, in the stern of the boat, they found some fishing -lines, and a flint for making fire. It was easy to get food, and they -spent the day resting and fishing. At length night fell softly over the -wanderers, and they fell asleep round the fire, while the other went -scraping among the reeds searching for fresh-water mussels, and the -night wind sent black ripples over all the pools and the great lake -beyond. - -They were early up, catching more fish for breakfast, and, rather -curiously for those times, they bathed in the fresh cold water, whereby -they were most heartily refreshed and put into good courage. Then came -the time of parting. It was fraught with a certain melancholy, for they -had seemed very close together in their common danger. - -"I doubt we shall ever clap eyes on you again, Huber," Hyla said. -"Cerdic and I are not likely to trouble Hilgay again, unless indeed my -lord catch us again, and I think there is but little fear of that." - -"No, friend Hyla," said the man-at-arms; "we must say a long good-bye -this morn." - -"You will get back in a day," said Cerdic, "though boat be heavy and the -way not easy. What tale will you tell Lord Fulke?" - -"Just truth, Cerdic, though indeed I shall not tell all the truth. I -shall tell how my good comrades died, and how I did win to land with you -two, and left you by the mere. I shall tell Lord Fulke that I could not -over-come you, for that you were two to my one, and eke armed. That you -saved me from the water I must not say, though well I should like to do -so. They would think that I was in league with you, and had failed in my -duty, if I said anything to your credit." - -"Without doubt," said Hyla. - -"You are right, Huber. But I do not look to see Hilgay again." - -"And I pray that you never may, friend, for your end would be a very -terrible and bloody one. And now hear me. You have taken me to your -hearts that did come to use you shamefully. My life is your gift, and I -will save pennies that prayer may be made for you by some priest that -you be kept from harm, and win quiet and safety. Moreover, never will I -do ill to any serf again, for your sakes. For you are good and true men, -and have my love. Often I shall remember you and the lake and all that -has come about, when I am far away. And give me your hand and say -farewell, and Lord Christ have you safe." - -They said the saddest of all human words, "farewell," and turning he -left them. The big boat moved slowly away among the reeds until it was -hidden from their sight. Once they thought they heard his voice in a -distant shout of farewell, and they called loudly in answer, but there -was no response but the lapping of the water on the reeds. - -"A true man," said Hyla sadly. - -"I think so," said Cerdic, "and there are many like him also. We have -never known them, or they us, but chance has changed that for once. -Nevertheless I am not sorry he has gone. We are of one kind and he of -another, and best apart. Let us set out round the lake; we have a long -task before us, and I fear dangerous." - -They gathered up their fishing lines and the remaining fish, which they -had cooked for their journey, and set out upon it. - -They were full of hope and courage, resolute to surmount the perils and -difficulties which were before them, and yet, all innocent of fate, one -was going to a sudden death and the other was moving towards an -adventure which would end in death and torture also. - -It is surely a very good and wise ordering of affairs, that we do not -often have a warning of what shall shortly befall us. Only rarely do we -feel the cold air from the wings of Death beat upon our doomed faces. -Now and then, indeed, we get a glimpse of those unseen principalities -and powers by whom we are for ever surrounded. Women in child-birth -have, so it is said, seen an angel bearing them the new soul they are -going to give to the world, as God's messenger came to Our Lady of old -time. - -More often the black angel, who is to take us from one life to another, -presses upon a man's brain that he may know his near translation. -Visions are given to men who have lived as men should live, and have -beaten down Satan under their feet. - -A wise and awful hand moves the curtain aside for them. And it is -sometimes so with a great sinner. When that arch scoundrel Geoffroi was -close upon his end, he also had a solemn warning. Fear came to him in -the night and whispered, as you have heard, that he was doomed. - -But these two children were given no sign. It was not for them; they -could not have understood it. God is a psychologist, and He watched -these two simple ones very tenderly. - -A mile of heavy going lay behind them. Over the quaking fen bright with -evil-looking flowers, as beautiful and treacherous as some pale sensual -woman of the East, they plodded their weary and complacent way. - -Lean, brown, old Cerdic was to die. Radiance was waiting for this poor -man, as the sun--how dull beside that greater radiance which was so soon -to illuminate him!--clomb up the sky. - -They crossed various ditches and water-ways, leaping some and wading -breast-high through others, covered with floating scum and weeds. Once -or twice a wide pool of black water alive with fish brought them to a -check, and they had to swim over it or make a long detour. After about -three hours their journey became more easy. There was not so much water -about, and the ground, which was covered with fresh, vividly green grass -in wide patches, was much firmer. - -Cerdic went on in front with a willow-pole, probing the ground to see if -it was safe for them to venture on, a most necessary precaution in that -land of bog and morass. - -They were passing a clump of reeds when, with a quick scurry, a large -hare ran out almost under their feet. Something had happened to one of -its forelegs, for it limped badly, and scrambled along at no great rate. - -A hare's leg is a wonderfully fragile piece of mechanism, despite its -enormous power. Often when the animal is leaping it over-balances -itself in mid air, and coming down heavily breaks the thin bone. This -is what had happened to the creature that startled them from the reeds. - -The quick eye of the old lawer-of-dogs saw at once that the animal was -injured and could not go very fast. Here was a chance of food which -would be very welcome. With a shout to Hyla he went leaping after it. -His lean, brown legs spread over the ground, hardly seeming to touch it -as he ran. He soon came up with the hare, but just as he was stooping to -grasp it the creature doubled, and was off in a new direction. Hyla saw -Cerdic pick himself up, stumble, recover, and flash away on the new -track. In a minute a tall hedge of reeds, which seemed as if they might -fringe a pool, hid him from view. - -Hyla plodded slowly on, wondering if Cerdic would catch the hare, and -thinking with a pleasant stomachic anticipation what a very excellent -meal they might have if that were so. In about five minutes he came up -to the reeds, and just as he approached them his heart gave a great leap -of fear. Cerdic was calling him, but in a voice such as he had never -heard him use before, it was so changed and terrible. Half shout, half -whine, and wholly unnerving. He plunged through the cover, the wet -splashing up round his feet in little jets as he did so, and then he -came across his friend. - -Six or more yards away there was a stretch of what at first glance -appeared to be pleasant meadow land, so bright was the grass and so -studded with flowers. In the centre of the space, which might measure -twenty square yards, Cerdic stood engulfed to the waist, and rapidly -sinking deeper. He made superhuman efforts to extricate himself. His -arms beat upon the sward, and his hands clutched terribly at the tufts -of grass and marsh flowers. His face, under all its tan, became a dark -purple, as the terrible pressure on his body increased, and he began to -bleed violently from the nose, and to vomit. Hyla went cautiously -towards him, but every step he took became more dangerous, and he was -forced to stand still in an agony of helplessness. Even in his own -comparative security he could feel the soft caressing ground sucking -eagerly at his feet. - -He watched in horror. Slowly now, though with horrible distinctness, the -body of his friend was going from him. The green grass lay round his -arm-pits, and his arms were extended upon it at right angles like the -arms of a man crucified. His fingers kept jumping up and down as if he -were playing upon some instrument. - -Then there came a gleam of hope. The motion ceased, and the head and -upper part of the shoulders remained motionless. - -"Have you touched bottom, Cerdic?" Hyla called in a queer high-pitched -voice that startled himself. - -"No, Hyla," came in thick, difficult reply, "and I die. I am going away -from you, and must say farewell. I have loved you very well, and now -good-bye. I am not afraid. Good-bye. I will pray to God as I die. Do you -also pray, and farewell, farewell!" - -He closed his staring eyes, and very gradually the sucking motion -recommenced. - -Hyla stared stupidly at this slow torture, unable to move or think. - -It was soon over now, and the body sank very quickly away, and left the -survivor gazing without thought at the spot where nothing marked a -grave. - -As he watched, a hare with a broken leg began to hobble across the vivid -greenness. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - "A most composed invincible man, in difficulty and distress - knowing no discouragement, in danger and menace laughing at the - whisper of fear." - - -There is a wonderful steadfast courage about men of Hyla's breed. Even -though the object they pursue has lost its value, they go on in a dogged -relentless "following up" from which nothing can turn them. - -For two hours or more he mourned and thought of old times, gazing in a -kind of strange wonder at the silent carpet of grass. The shrewd -weatherworn face, the twinkling eager eyes, the nasal drawl which so -glibly offered up petitions to heaven, all came back to him with a -singular vividness. He was surprised to find how actual and clear his -friend's personality was to him. It almost frightened him. He glanced -round him once or twice uneasily. Cerdic seemed so real and near, an -unseen partner in the silence. - -When one has heard bells tolling for a long time, and suddenly they -stop, the brain is still conscious of the regular lin-lan-lone. - -While this psychic influence eddied round him, and the kindly old face, -ploughed deep with toil and sorrow, was still a veritable possession of -his brain, there was a certain comfort. - -As it began to fade, as day from the sky, his loneliness came upon him -like death. The real agony of his loss began, and it tortured him until -he could feel no more. Pain is its own anodyne in the end. - -The cordage of his brave heart was so racked and strained by all he had -endured that its capacity for sensation was over. So he mourned Cerdic -dead no longer, his heart was dead. - -But we know nothing of this poor brother, if not that in him was a sound -piece of manhood, hardened, tempered, and strong. His soul was sweet and -healthy, his rough-built body proud of blood and powerful. He must go on -and fear nothing. Once more he must rise from his fall and try fortune -with a stout sad heart, proving his own Godhead and the glory of his -will, over which Fate could have no lordship. - -In this only, as the poet sang, are men akin to gods, and in all life -there is no glory like the "glory of going on." - -Then did Hyla, the invincible, rise from the ground to breast -circumstance--_per varios casus_--to seek his Latium once more. - -He fell to eating cold roast fish. - -When he set out again, he had to make a long detour. The sounding pole -still remained to him, and he probed every step as he slowly skirted the -treacherous green. It was characteristic of him that as he left the -fatal spot where the dead Cerdic lay deep down in the mud he never -looked round or gazed sadly at the place. He had no thought of -sentimental leave-taking, no little poetic luxury of grief moved him. It -were an action for a slighter brain than this. - -It began to be late afternoon, as Hyla made a slow and difficult -progress. He had got round the swamp, and pushed on over the fen. -Sometimes he waded through stagnant pools fringed with rushes and -covered with brilliant copper-coloured water plants. Once, pushing his -pole before him, he swam over a wide black pond in which the sun was -mirrored all blood red. Often he broke his way through forests of reeds -which spiked up far above his head. Everywhere before him the creatures -of the fen ran trembling. - -Sometimes the firmer ground he came to was as brilliant as old carpets -from the house of an Eastern king. The yellow broom moss was maturing, -and bright chestnut-coloured capsules curved among it. The wild thyme -crisped under his feet. The fairy down of the cotton grass floated round -them. - -Little tufts of pale sea-lavender nestled among the long leaves of the -marsh zostera, plump, rank, and full of moisture. The fox-tail grass and -the cat's-tail grass flourished everywhere. - -We of to-day can have but a faint idea of that wonderful and luxuriant -carpet over which he trod. The fair yellow corn now stands straight and -tall over those solitudes. The broad dyke cut deep in the brown peat now -straightly cleaves the fen, still beautiful and rich in life, but -changed for ever from its ancient magic. - -By night the lone sprites of the marsh with their ghostly lamps flit -disconsolate, for the hand of man has come and tamed that teeming -wilderness which was once so strange and alien from Man. Man was not -wanted there in those old days, and the cruel swamps claimed a -life-sacrifice as the price of their invasion. - -Hyla's hard brown feet were all stained by the living carpet on which -they walked. His advancing tread broke down the great vivid crimson -balls of the _agaricus fungus_, and split its fat milk-white stem into -creamy flakes. The crimson poison painted his instep, and the bright -orange chanterelle mingled its harmless juice with that of its deadly -cousin. His ankles were powdered with the dull pink-white of the hydnum, -that strong mushroom on which they say the hedgehog feeds greedily at -midnight, the tiny fruit of the "witches' butter" crumbled at his touch. - -Over all, the fierce dragon-fly swung its mailed body, the Geoffroi of -the fen insects. - -The light and shadow sweeping over the wheat in its ordered planting are -beautiful, but Hyla saw what we can never see in England more, saw with -his steadfast, regardless eyes more natural beauties than we can ever -see again. - -In every clump of reeds that fringed the pool, he came suddenly upon -some old pike basking in the sun, like a mitred bishop in his green and -gold. The green water flags trembled as he sunk away. - -The herons paddled in the shallow pools, and tossed the little silver -fish from them to each other, the cold-eyed hawk dropped like a shooting -star, and fought the stoat for his new-killed prey. - -The shadows lengthened and lay in patches over the wild world of water. -The blue mists began to rise from a hundred pools, and the bats to -flicker through them. The sunlight faded rapidly away, the world became -greyish ochre colour, then grey, a soft cobweb grey, through which fell -the hooting of an owl, and the last call of a plover. - -Resolute, though wearied and faint, firm in resolve, though with a -bitter loneliness at his heart, Hyla plunged on through the twilight. -For some little time the ground had been much firmer and a little raised -above the level of the fen, but as day was dying, he found he had -entered upon a long and gradual slope, and that once more it behoved him -to walk with infinite care. - -Old rotting tree-trunks cropped up here and there, relics of some vast, -ancient forest, which, mingling with rotting vegetation of all kinds, -sent up a smell of decay in his nostrils. At every step he sank up to -the knees, and brown water, the colour of brandy, splashed up to his -waist. - -He seemed to have arrived at a more desolate evil part of the fens than -before. The approaching night made his progress more and more difficult. -It was here that the night herons had their nests and breeding-places, -inaccessible to men. The ground was bespattered with their excrements, -and with feathers, broken egg-shells, old nests, and half-eaten fish -covered with yellow flies. - -Then as he ploughed on he saw a sight at which even his stout heart -failed him. His long struggle seemed suddenly all in vain. Right before -him was a wide creek or arm of the lake, two hundred yards from reeds to -reedy shore, entirely barring the way. Too far for him to swim, all -dead-weary as he was, mysterious and ugly in the faint light, it gave -him over utterly to despair. - -It began to be cold, and the chilly marish-vapour crept into his bones -and turned the marrow of them to ice. - -He sat on a mound formed by a great log and the _débris_ of a mass of -decayed roots, the whole damp and cold as a fish's belly, and covered -with living fungi and slimy moss. His feet were buried in the brown -water. - -It was now too dark to move in any direction with safety, and until day -should break again he must remain where he was. He had no more food of -any kind, and was absolutely exhausted. So he moaned a little prayer, -more from habit than from any comfort in the act, and stretching himself -over the damp moss fell into a fitful sleep. He dreamed he was back at -the Priory, and heard in his dreaming the distant sound of the monks -singing prayers. - -It was a picture of his own life, this sorry end to all his day's -endeavour. It fore-shadowed his career, so rapidly darkening down into -death. His life-path, trod with such bitterness, growing ever more -devious and painful, while the _ignes fatui_ of Hope danced round its -closing miles! - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - "So, some time, when the last of all our evenings - Crowneth memorially the last of all our days, - Not loth to take his poppies, man goes down and says: - '_Sufficient for the day were the day's evil things_.'" - - -Free will, warring with fate, produces Tragedy, so it is said. To-day, -we have lost much of the significance of the old "[Greek: tragôdia]." -When the priest poets Tyrtæus and Æschylus clamorously exalted--held -high that all might see--the Godhead of men who fight and do, it was not -so much the tragedy itself, but the circumstances that made it which -inspired men's hearts. - -"Free will warring with Fate"--it was the clash of that fine battle, -which those old Greeks found significant and uplifting. - -For a moment let us look into this so seeming-piteous a one of ours, on -which soon the iron curtain is resonantly to fall. - -It is a hard, stern story this of our poor serf. The rebel lifted his -hand against an established force. For that he perished in bitter -agony. But, going so soon to his death, he shows us a Man in spite of -all his woes. And we can be uplifted in contemplating that. It is Hyla's -message to us no less than to his scarred brethren on the castle hill. - -The Lord of Hilgay could maim and kill his body, but the Manhood in him -was a flame unquenchable, and burnt a mark upon his age. The clash of -his battle rings through centuries. - -His doings sowed a seed, and we ourselves sit to-day in that great -blood-nourished tree of Freedom which sprang therefrom. - - * * * * * - -The stars that night were singularly bright and vivid. The sky was -powdered with a dust of light, among which the greater stars burned like -lamps. - -Below that glorious canopy Hyla lay in an uneasy sleep. Every now and -then he awoke, chilled to the bone. Though the stars were all so clear -and bright they seemed very remote from this world and all its business, -as he looked up with staring, miserable eyes. Hyla believed, as little -children in Spain are taught to this day, that the stars were but -chinks, holes, and gaps in the floor of heaven itself. He thought their -bright white light but an overflow of the great white radiance of God's -Home. - -That comforted him but little as he lay cold and hungry in the swamp. -Indeed it was easier to pray in the day-time, when even a hint of heaven -was absent. The enormous radiance was so remote in its splendour. It -accentuated his forlorn and forgotten state. - -He was lying but a few yards from the edge of the broad pool which -barred his progress, and as the hours wore on and the stars paled, the -blackness of the water became grey and tremulous. - -It was nearing dawn, though the sun had not yet risen, when he thought -he saw a red flicker in the mist which lay over the lagoon. It was too -ruddy and full-coloured for a marsh light, and his hopes leapt up, half -doubting, at the sight. In a moment or two, the light became plainer, -and he knew he was not deceived. The thing was real. It advanced towards -him, and seemed like a torch. - -He sent a husky shout out over the water. Whether the light betokened -advance of friend or foe he did not know or care. - -No answer came to his call, but he saw the red light become stationary -immediately, and cease to flicker. - -He shouted again louder than before, standing up on the rotting log, and -filling his lungs with air. An answering voice came out of the mist at -this, and the light moved again. - -And now the grey waste began to tremble with light. The sun was rising, -and at the first hint of his approach, the mists began to sway and -dissolve. - -Coming straight towards the bank, Hyla saw a fen punt urged by a tall, -thin man dressed in skins like a serf. He used the long pole with skill, -and seemed thoroughly at home in the management of his boat. - -About six yards from the shore, he dug his pole deep down and checked -the motion of the punt. Hyla waded down among the mud as far as was -safe, and hailed him. "For the love of God, sir," he said, "take me from -this swamp." - -The stranger regarded him fixedly for a moment, without answering. Then -he spoke in a slow, deliberate, but resonant voice. - -"Who are you? How have you come here in this waste? I thought no man -could come where you are." - -"I am starving for food," said Hyla, "and like to die in the marsh an -you do not take me in your boat. I am of Icomb, thrall to the Prior Sir -Richard. The Lord of Hilgay's men took me and another who lies dead in -the swamp. They were upon the big lake when the boat upset, and all were -drowned save one. He has got him back to the castle, and I am journeying -to Icomb, if perchance I may come there safely." - -"You tell of strange things," said the tall man, "and I will presently -ask you more of them. Now hearken. I am not one of those who give, -taking nothing in return. I will take you safe back to the Fathers, and -feed you with food. But for three days you must labour for me in work -that waits to be done in my field. I need a man's arm." - -"For a week. If by that you will save me from this." - -"So be it," said the tall man with great promptness. "You shall work for -a week, and then I will take you to Icomb." - -With that he loosened the dripping pole, drove it again into the water, -and the nose of the punt glided up to Hyla. - -He clambered carefully on board, and sat dripping. - -"I have no food here," said the man, "for I live hard by, and did but -come out to look at some lines I set down overnight, but we shall soon -be there." - -As he spoke he was poling vigorously, and they were already half way -over the pool. - -As they neared the opposite shore, Hyla saw the reeds grew to a great -height above them, forming a thick screen with apparently an unbroken -face. But he knew that suddenly they would come upon an opening which -would be quite imperceptible to the ordinary eye, and so it proved. - -With a sure hand the stranger sent the bows at a break but a yard wide -in the reeds. The punt went hissing through the narrow passage, pushing -the reeds aside for a moment, only that they should spring back again -after its passage. A few yards through the thick growth brought them -into a circular pool or basin. This also was surrounded with reeds which -towered up into the air. It was very small in diameter, and floating on -its placid black water was like being at the bottom of a jar. - -The place was full of the earliest sunlights and busy with the newly -awakened life of the fen. - -But what arrested the serf's immediate attention was a curious structure -at the far side of the pool. It resembled nothing so much as a small -house-boat. A wooden hut had been built upon a floating platform of -timber, and the whole was moored to a stout pile which projected some -three feet from the water. - -A fire smouldered on the deck in front of the hut, and a cooking pot -hung over it by a chain. - -"This is my home," said the man, pointing towards the raft. "Where I go -I take my house with me, and ask no man's leave. I have lived on this -pool for near two years now." - -They landed on the raft. - -"Now you shall fill your belly, Sir Wanderer," said the man, "and then I -will hear more of you. Here is a mess of hare, marsh quail, and herbs. -It's fit for a lord eke a thrall, for I see you wear a thrall's collar. -Here is a wooden bowl, fill it, and so thyself." - -He came out of the cabin with two rough wooden bowls, which he dipped -and filled in the cauldron. - -Then for a space, while the sun rode up the sky, there was no sound -heard but the feeding of hungry men. - -Hyla began to feel the blood moving in him once more, and the strength -of manhood returning. The sun shone on his chilled limbs and warmed -them, the night was over. - -At the finish of the meal the tall man turned on him suddenly and -without preparation. "How should Hyla of the long arms, thrall of -Geoffroi de la Bourne, be making his way to Richard Espec? Has the devil -then made friends with Holy Church? Is Geoffroi about to profess for a -monk?" - -Hyla stared at him stupidly with open mouth, and swift fear began to -knock at his heart. - -"I doubt me there is something strange here," said the tall man, with a -sudden bark of anger. "There is something black here, my good rogue. I -pray you throw a little light upon this. If ever I saw a man with fear -writ upon him you are that man, Hyla. I beg leave to think there are -others of you not far away! There are more from Hilgay about us in the -fen." - -Hyla glanced hurriedly round the quiet little pool. "Where? where?" he -said in a tone of unmistakable terror. "Have you seen them, then? Are -they in wait to take me?" - -The other looked at him with a long searching glance for near a minute. - -"We two be at a tangle," he said at length. "You are in flight, then, -from the Hilgay men?" - -"For my life," said Hyla. - -"Then you and I are in one boat, Hyla, as it is said. I doubted that you -had come against me just now. So they are after you? Have you been -killing game in the forest or stealing corn?" - -"It was game," said Hyla quickly; "big game," he added in an uneasy -afterward. - -There was silence for a minute. The long, lean man seemed turning over -something in his mind. - -"So you got to Icomb for sanctuary," he said slowly. "And Geoffroi sent -his men after you. It is a long way through the fen to go after one -thrall. And also they say Lord Roger Bigot is going to Hilgay with a -great host. It is unlike Geoffroi de la Bourne to waste men hunting for -a serf at such a time. He is growing old and foolish." - -Hyla glanced at him quickly. He knew by the man's mocking tone that he -was disbelieved. Hyla was but a poor liar. - -"Then you know Lord Geoffroi?" he said, stumbling woefully over the -words. - -"I know him," said the man slowly. "I am well acquainted with that lord, -though it is eight years since we have met." Suddenly his voice rose, -though he seemed to be trying to control it. "God curse him!" he cried -in a hoarse scream; "will the devil never go to his own place!" - -Hyla started eagerly. The man's passion was so extreme, his curse was so -real and full of bitter hatred that an avowal trembled on his lips. - -The other gave him the cue for it. - -"Come, man," he said briskly, resuming his ordinary voice; "you are -keeping something. Tell out straight to one who knows you and Gruach -also--does that surprise you? There are no friends of the house of -Bourne here. What is it, what hast done?" - -"Killed him," said Hyla shortly. - -"Splendeur dex!" said the man in a fierce whisper. His face worked, his -eyes became prominent, he trembled all over with excitement, like a -hunting dog scenting a quarry while in the leash. - -Then he burst out into a torrent of questions in French, the foreign -words tumbling over each other in his eagerness. - -Hyla knew nothing of what he said, for he had no French. Seeing his -look of astonishment, the man recovered himself. "I forgot for a -moment," he said, "who you were. Now thank God for this news! So, you -have killed him! At last! At last! How and why? Say quickly." - -Hyla told him in a few words all the story. - -"And who are you, then?" he said, when he had done. - -"I call myself Lisolé to the few that I meet in the fen. But agone I had -another name. Come and see." - -He took Hyla by the arm and led him into the cabin. It was a comfortable -little shelter. A couch of skins ran down one side, and above it were -shelves covered with pots, pans, tools, and fishing gear. A long -yew-bow stood in one corner among a few spears. An arbalist lay upon a -wooden chest. Light came into the place through a window covered with -oiled sheep-skin stretched upon a sliding frame. In one corner was an -iron fire-pan for use in winter, and a hollow shaft of wood above it -went through the roof in a kind of chimney. - -The place was a palace to Hyla's notions. No serf had such a home. The -cabin was crowded with possessions. Unconsciously Hyla began to speak -with deference to this owner of so much. - -"See here," said the man. At the end of the cabin was a broad shelf -painted in red, with a touch of gilding. A thick candle of fat with a -small wick, which gave a tiny glimmer of light, was burning in an iron -stand. In the wall behind, was a little doorless cupboard, or alcove, in -which was a small box of dark wood, heavily bound round with iron bands. -At the back of the alcove a cap of parti-coloured red and yellow was -nailed to the wall. - -The man who called himself Lisolé lifted the box from the alcove -carefully, and as he did so the edge touched a bell on the end of the -pointed cap. It tinkled musically. - -Hyla crossed himself, for the place he saw was a shrine, and the -iron-bound coffer held the relic of some saint. - -"On this day," said the man, "I will show you what no other eyes than -mine have seen for eight long, lonely years. I doubt nothing but that it -is God His guidance that has brought you here to this place. For to you -more than all other men this sight is due." - -So saying, he fumbled in his coat, and pulled therefrom a key, which -hung round his neck upon a cord of twisted gut. - -He opened the box and drew several objects from it. One was a great lock -of nut-brown hair, full three feet long, as soft and fine as spun silk. -Another was a ring of gold, in which a red stone shone darkly in the -candle-light. There were one or two pieces of embroidered work, half the -design being uncompleted, and there was a Christ of silver on a cross of -dark wood. - -"They were Isoult's," said the man in a hushed voice. - -"Isoult la Guérisseur?" said Hyla. - -"Isoult, the Healer." - -"Then you who are called Lisolé----?" - -"Was once Lerailleur, whose jesting died eight years ago. It was buried -in Her grave." - -"God and Our Lady give her peace," said Hyla, crossing himself. "See you -this scar on my arm? A shaft went through it in the big wood. Henry -Montdefeu was hunting with Lord Geoffroi. I was beating in the -undergrowth, and a chance shaft came my way. La Guérisseur bound it up -with a mess of hot crushed leaves and a linen strip. In a week I was -whole. That was near ten years ago." - -"You knew me not?" - -"Nor ever should have known hadst not told me. Your hair it is as white -as snow, your face has fallen in and full of lines, aye, and your voice -is not the voice that sang in the hall in those days." - -"Ah, now I am Lisolé. But thank God for this day. I can wait the end -quiet now. So you have killed him! Know you that I also tried? I was not -bold as you have been. I tried with poison, and then fled away by night. -I took the poppy seeds--_les pavois_--and brewed them, and put the juice -in his drink. But I heard of him not long after as well and strong, so I -knew it was not to be. I never knew how I failed." - -"I can tell you that," said Hyla, "it was common talk. Lord Geoffroi -went to his chamber in Outfangthef Tower drunken after dinner in the -hall. Dom Anselm led him there, and the priest was sober that night, or -'twould have been Geoffroi's last. On the table was his night-draught of -morat in which you had put the poison. Geoffroi drank a long pull, and -then fell on the bed and lay sleeping heavy among the straw. Dom Anselm, -being thirsty, did go to take a pull at the morat, but had scarce put -lip to it when the taste or smell told him what it was. Hast been a -chirurgeon, they do say, and knoweth simples as I the fen-lands. So he -ran for oil and salt, and poureth them into Geoffroi until he vomited -the poison. But for two days after that he was deadly sick and could -hold no food. I mind well they searched the forest lands for you and eke -the fen, but found not." - -"Aye, I fled too swiftly and too far for such as they. It takes wit to -be a fool, and they being not fools but men-at-arms had no cunning such -as mine. I built this house of mine with wood from Icomb, and have lived -upon the waters this many a year." - -"Ever alone and without speech of men?" - -"Not so. Sometimes I get me to Mass at Icomb, and I am well with the -monks. And sometimes they bring a sick brother to this place to touch -this hair and cross, and be cured. For know, Hyla, that my wife, a -healer in her life, still heals by favour of Saint Mary, being gone from -this sad world and with Lord Christ in heaven. The Fathers would have me -bring these relics to Icomb there to be enshrined, and I to profess -myself a monk. Often have they sent messengers to persuade me. But I -would not go while He was living, for I could not live God's life -hating him so. But now perchance I shall go. It will bear thinking of." - -They knelt down before the lock of hair and the crucifix and prayed -silently. - -It was a strange meeting. This man Lerailleur had been buffoon to -Geoffroi, and had come with him from Normandy. His wife, Isoult, was a -sweet simple dame, so fragrant and so pure that all the world loved her. -She was a strangely successful nurse and doctor, and knew much of herbs. -In those simple times her cures were thought miraculous, and she was -venerated. The jester, a grave and melancholy man when not -professionally employed, thought her a saint, and loved her dearly. Now -one winter night, Lord Geoffroi being, as was his wont, very drunk, set -out from his feasting in the hall to seek sleep in his bed-chamber. - -Isoult had been watching by the side of a woman--wife to one of the -men-at-arms--who was brought to bed in child-birth. She crossed the -courtyard to her own apartment, in front of Geoffroi de la Bourne. He, -being mad with drink, thought he saw some phantom, and drew his dagger. -With a shout he rushed upon the lady, and soon she lay bleeding her -sweet life away upon the frosty ground. - -They buried her with great pomp and few dry eyes, and Geoffroi paid for -many Masses, while Lerailleur bided his time. The rest we have heard. - -Hyla and Lisolé sat gravely together on the deck of the boat. The relics -were put away in their shrine. - -Neither said much for several hours, the thoughts of both were grave and -sad, and yet not wholly without comfort. - -They seemed to see God's hand in all this. There was something fearful -and yet sweet in their hearts. So Sintram felt when he had ridden -through the weird valley and heard Rolf singing psalms. - -The "midsummer hum"--in Norfolk they call the monotone of summer insect -life by that name--lulled and soothed them. There was peace in that deep -and secret hiding-place. - -In the afternoon they broiled some firm white fish and made another -meal. "Come and see my field," said Lisolé afterwards. - -They got into the small punt and followed a narrow way through the -reeds, going away from the wide stretch of water on the further shore -of which they had first met. At a shelving turfy shore they disembarked. - -Climbing up a bank they came suddenly upon three acres of ripening corn, -a strange and pastoral sight in that wilderness. Small dykes covered -with bright water-flowers ran through the field dividing it into small -squares. It was thoroughly drained, and a rich crop. - -"All my own work, Hyla," said the ex-jester, with no inconsiderable -pride in his voice. "I delved the ditches and got all the water out of -the land. Then I burnt dried reeds over it, and mixed the ashes with the -soil for a manure. Then I sowed my wheat, and it is bread, white bread, -all the year round for me. I flail and winnow, grind and bake, and no -man helps me. The monks would lend me a thrall to help, but I said no. I -am happier alone, La Guérisseur seems nearer then. I have other things -to show you, but not here. Let us go back to home first. To-day is a -holiday, and you also need rest." - -When the moon rose and the big fishes were leaping out of the water with -resonant echoing splashes in the dusk, they were still sitting on the -deck of the boat in calm contemplation. - -They spoke but little, revolving memories. Now and then the jester made -some remark reminiscent of old dead days, and Hyla capped it with -another. - -About ten o'clock, or perhaps a little later, a long, low whistle came -over the water to them, in waves of tremulous sound. Lisolé jumped up -and loosened the painter of the punt. "It's one of the monks," he said; -"now and again they come to me at night time." - -Hyla waited as the punt shot off into the alternation of silver light -and velvet shadow. Before long he heard voices coming near, and the -splash of the pole. It was a monk from Icomb, a ruddy, black-eyed, -thick-set man. His coracle was towed behind the punt. - -He greeted the serf with a "benedicite," and told him that Lisolé had -given him the outlines of his story. - -"Anon, my son," said he, "you shall go back with me to peace. We -thought, indeed, that you had left us with the thrall Cerdic, and we -were not pleased. Your wife and daughter have been in a rare way, so -they tell me." - -For long hours, as Hyla fell asleep covered with a skin upon the deck, -he heard the low voices of the monk and his host in the cabin. It was a -soothing monotone in the night silence. - -In the morning Lisolé came to him and woke him. "The father and I have -talked the night through," he said, "and soon I leave my home for Icomb. -'Twill be better so. We will start anon. It is hard parting, even with -this small dwelling, but it is Godys will, I do not doubt." - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - "Though you be in a place of safety, do not, on that account, - think yourself secure."--SAINT BERNARD. - - -Brother Felix, the monk who had come to them from Icomb, bade them rest -another day before setting out over the lake. - -"Ye have had a shrewd shog, Lisolé, in the news that Hyla brought, and -he also has gone hardly of late. Let us rest a day and eat well, and -talk withal. There is a bottle of clary that the Prior sent. It is good -to rest here." - -His merry black eyes regarded them with an eminent satisfaction at his -proposal. It was his holiday, this trip from the Priory, and he had no -mind to curtail it. - -There was yet a quaint strain of melancholy humour about the ex-fool. -The joy had gone, the wit lingered. His sojourn alone among the waters -had mellowed it, added a new virtue to the essential sadness of the -jester. - -And Felix was no ordinary man. He had been an epicure in such things -once. What the time could give of culture was his. He had been a writer -of MS., a lay scriptor in the house of the Bishop at Rouen; he had -illuminated missals in London, was a good Latinist, and, even in that -time, had a little Greek. A day with Lisolé was a most pleasant variant -to a life which he lived with real endeavour, but which was sometimes at -war with his mental needs. - -So they sat out on deck, among all the medley of the jester's rough -household goods, on deck in the sunshine, while the monk and the -prospective novice ranged over their experiences. - -Hyla had never heard such talk before. Indeed, it is not too much to say -that through all the years of his life he had never, until this day, -been present at a _conversation_. Nearly all the words the serf had -heard, almost all the words he himself had spoken, were about things -which people could touch and see. - -He and his friends, Cerdic notably, had touched on the unseen things of -religion--"principalities and powers" who dominated the future--in their -own uncouth way. But conversation about the abstract things of this -earthly life he had rarely heard before. - -For the first hour the novelty of it almost stunned him. He listened -without thought, drinking it all in with an eagerness which defied -consideration. It was his first and last social experience! - -"Wilt not be so lonely in the cloister, friend," said Felix. - -"Say you so?" answered the jester. "Yet to be alone is a powerful good -thing. I have but hardly felt lack of humans this many a year. Many -sorry poor ghosts of friends, gone to death back-along, come to me at -night-time." - -"And she, that saint that was thy wife, comes she to thee, Lisolé?" - -"Betimes she comes, and ever with healing to my brain; but it is not the -wife who slept by my side." - -"More Saint and less Woman! Is that truth?" - -Lisolé nodded sadly. The big monk stretched himself out at length so -that the hot sun rays should fall on every part of him. - -"I have no more to do with women," he said; "but in those other days I -liked a woman to be a very woman, and not too good. Else, look you, -wherein lieth the pleasure? It is because of the difference. Never -cared I for a silent woman. If you would make a pair of good shoon, take -the tongue of a woman for the sole thereof. It will not wear away. Full -many a worthless girl has enslaved me--me whom no enemy ever did. Yet -knowing all and seeing all, yet loved I all of them. And now--quantum -mutatus ab illo!" - -He sighed, a reminiscent sigh. "They took from me all I had," he -continued, "and being poor and in distress I turned my thoughts -Godwards." - -"Women, priests, and pullets have never enough," said Lisolé with a -sudden and quaint return of his professional manner. "They are past all -understanding, save only the saints. Truly I have found a woman to be -both apple and serpent in one. A woman, she is like to a fair table -spread with goodly meats that one sees with different eyes before and -after the feast." - -"But hast feasted, brother, natheless? Forget not that." - -"Art right, and it was well said. One should take bitter and sweet -together. Yet, friend, I do not doubt but that when the Lord Jesus fed -the concourse out of His charity and miracle, there were some at that -feast who told one another the bread was stale and the fish too long out -o' water! Men are so made. It is so in this life." - -"Aye, and thou doest well in leaving this world for the Church's peace. -Now thy enemy is dead and thy hate with him thou shalt find peace, even -as I have done. For in what a pass is England! Peace being altogether -overthrown love is cooled; all the land is moist with weeping, and all -friendship and quietness is disappeared. All seek consolation and quiet. -Almost all the nobles spend their time in contriving evil; the mad -esquires delight in malice. These cruel butchers despise doctrine, and -the holy preachers have no effect. These men will not be amended by -force of sermons, nor do they take any account of the lives of men. They -all plunder together like robbers." - -His voice rose in indignation, and both Hyla and the jester raised their -heads in bitter acquiescence. - -It was so true of that dark time. Each one there was a waif of life, a -somewhat piteous jetsam from the dark tides which had almost -overwhelmed them. The Anglo-Norman song was very true-- - - "_Boidie ad seignurie, pes est mise suz pé._" - - ("The fraud of the rulers prevails, peace is trodden underfoot.") - -Lisolé began to sing the air under his breath. The monk stopped him. -"Not so," he said. "I was wrong to speak of these things to-day. They -have passed us by. And this is my holiday, and I would not have it a sad -one withal. We have no cause for sadness, we three. Let us eat, for our -better enjoyment. Sun hath clomb half-way upon his journey, and I am -hungry." - -He bustled about, helping them to prepare the meal. - -"Wine, fish, and eke wheaten-cakes," he cried merrily. "Do not we read -in the Gospels that it was Christ His fare?" - -Hyla noticed that a curious change had taken place in his host's face. -The strained, brooding look in his eyes had disappeared. Already it was -calmer, happier. - -The monk, full of meat and once more basking in the heat, began to chat -on all trivial subjects. He made little, aimless, lazy jests; -contentment was exhaled from him. - -The sun seemed to draw out the latent humour on the jester's -countenance. He capped one remark by another; on the eve of taking the -Vows, the clown flickered up in him, as though to rattle the bells once -more in a last farewell. - -Felix had thrown off his habit, and his massive neck and chest, covered -with black hair, lay open to the genial warmth. His black hair and eyes, -his ruddy cheeks, were in fine colour contrast; he was a study in black -and crimson. He lay at length, his head pillowed on a catskin rug, and -looked up at Lisolé, who leaned his length against the side of the -cabin. - -The jester had a thin metal rod in his hand, part of his cooking -apparatus, his poker in fact, and all unconsciously he began to use it -to emphasise his remarks--the fools bâton of his happier days. Now that -the pressure on his brain, the dead-weight of hate, had been removed, a -kind of reflex action took place. He became a little like his former -self. - -"Old Fenward," said the monk, "thou art changing as the worm to the -winged fly! Thy wit fattens and mars with sorrow! On this day of -deliverance make some sport for us; show thy old tricks, as Seigneur -David leapt before the Lord. There is no sin in mirth--out of -cloister," he added with a sudden afterthought, as a quick vision of -Richard Espec crossed his mind. - -Hyla sat at the edge of the little deck and looked on, wondering, his -hard brown feet just touched the water. His face had sunk once more into -its old passive unemotional aspect. A gaudy marsh fly, in its livery of -black and yellow, had settled upon his hand, but he made no movement to -brush it away. - -The trio were beautifully grouped against the background of vivid green -reeds, surrounded by the still brown water. To any one coming suddenly -upon the quaint old boat lying among the white and yellow -water-flowers, and its strange distinctive crew, the picture would have -remained for long as an unforgettable mental possession. - -The accidents of time, place, and colour, had so beautifully blended -into a perfectly proportioned whole that it seemed more of design than -chance. - -Lisolé smiled down at the big man. "My jesting days are long gone by," -he said. "But, messires, I will try my hand for you this noon if -perchance it has not lost all cunning. Once I had knowledge of the art -of legerdemain, by which the hands, moving very swiftly and with -concealed motions, do so trick and deceive the eye that he knows not -what a-hath seen." - -With a gurgle of satisfaction, Brother Felix sat up and propped himself -against the cabin. Hyla drew nearer, with attentive eyes. - -Lisolé left them for a moment and went inside the cabin. He came out -with several articles in his hands, which he put beside him on the deck. - -He showed them his bare hands, and then suddenly stretching out his -right arm he caught at the empty air, and, behold! there came into his -hand, how they could not tell, a little rod of black wood a foot in -length or more. - -A swift change came into his voice. It sank a full tone and became very -solemn. His face was very grave. Hyla watched him with wide eyes and -parted lips. - -He turned to the serf, "Now, Hyla," said he, "art about to witness art -magic, but none of Satan's, so be brave. Take you this little wand of -enchaunted ebon-wood and say what dost make of it." - -Very timidly, and with a half withdrawal, Hyla's great brown paw took -the toy. He examined it, smelt it like a dog, and then with some relief -gave it back to the owner. - -"'Tis but a little stick of wood," he said. - -"Natheless, a stick of good magic, thrall, for 'twas of this wood that -the coffin of Mahound was built." - -Hyla crossed himself reverently. He was surprised to see the monk was -smiling easily. "The holy man has known these things of old," thought -he, with a humble recognition of his own limitations and ignorance. "He -seemeth nothing accoyed." - -Lisolé cleared a space on the deck in front of him, and laid the wand -upon it. Then he stretched out his hand over it, as though in -invocation. "_By the Garden of Alamoot where thou grew_," he cried, -"_and by the virtue of the blood of Count Raymond of Tripoli, whose -blood fell on thee as he died in that garden, I command thee to do my -will, little black stick_." - -He took a little pipe of reed from his belt, and, stopping one end with -his finger, blew softly through it. - -A mellow flute-like note quivered through the air. Hardly pausing for -breath, the jester continued the monotonous cooing sound for several -minutes. - -Hyla watched the wand with fascinated eyes. Suddenly it began to tremble -slightly and to roll this way and that. The pipe changed its notes and -broke into the lilt of a simple dance. Simultaneously with the change -the little stick rose up on its end and inclined itself gravely to each -of them in turn. Then it began to hop up and down, retreating and -advancing, in time to the music. - -Hyla's tongue clave to the roof of his mouth. His lips were hot and dry, -his throat seemed as if he had been eating salt. - -A horrid fear began to rise within him, such strange fear as he had -never known, as he watched the devilish little stick--how human it -was!--in its fantastic dance. He did not see that both Felix and Lisolé -were regarding him with the most intense amusement. The monk was -grinning from ear to ear, and his hands were pressed to his sides in the -effort to control a paroxysm of internal laughter. - -Suddenly the music stopped. The stick ceased all movement, standing -upright upon its end. Then--horror!--very slowly, but with great -deliberation, it began to hop towards Hyla. Nearer and nearer it came, -in little jumps of an inch or so. The tan of the serf's face turned a -dusky cream colour, he put out both hands to ward off the evil thing. - -But it hopped on relentlessly. - -It came within a foot or two, and Hyla's terror welled up within him so -fiercely that he gave a loud cry, stepped back, and with an echoing -splash disappeared into the water over the boat side. - -He rose almost immediately, spluttering and gasping, the shock depriving -him of his senses. - -Peals of laughter, echoing uncontrollable peals, saluted him. Felix -thundered out his joy, the jester's thin voice shrieked in merriment. - -Hyla trod water, staring at them in amazement. - -"Come aboard, man! Come aboard!" cried the monk at length. "'Twas naught -but a jest, a jougleur's trick, oh slayer of Lords!" His laughter -forbade speech once more. - -They helped the poor fellow on deck once more, and reassured him. But it -was long before he began to like his company again. He remembered the -shrine inside the cabin, the sudden appearance of the jester's torch -through the mists of night, and longed most devoutly to be back at work -on the good brown fields. - -Till evening fell and supper-time was at hand, Lisolé entertained them. -Never had he been more skilful and more full of humour than on this, his -"farewell appearance," as he would have called it nowadays. - -In his hands a wild duck's egg came, went, and changed, until Hyla's arm -was tired with crossing himself. Water poured into an earthen jar -changed into chopped straw in a single moment. Never were such wonders -before on earth. - -But as day went, so gaiety went with it. And before rest the monk said -prayers at the lighted shrine of Isoult the Healer. He prayed for a safe -passage over the waters on the morrow, and that the healing virtues of -the relics before them might grow stronger and more powerful as they -reposed before the Host in Church. - -Then they all said the Lord's Prayer together, and so to sleep. - -But Hyla's rest was fitful and disturbed. Strange broken dreams flitted -through it. Often during the night he lay awake and heard the heavy -snoring of his companions. The sound brought little sense of -companionship with it. He was alone with his thoughts and the night. - - * * * * * - -In the early morning they set forth gravely, as befitted the solemn -business they were about. - -The precious coffer was laid reverently upon a bed of reeds in the punt, -and, as the air was very still, the thick candle was lighted and placed -before it. It was a very feeble, dusty, yellow gleam in the sunshine. - -They set slowly out, down the brown channel among the rushes. The birds -were singing. - -The monk blessed the boat and the holy relics, and Lisolé took a last -long look at his floating home ere they turned a corner and it passed -from view. - -He was very silent now that he had left everything. His thoughts were -sad, for he was but human. That little refuge had been Home. He had been -alone with the memory of Isoult there. They forged up the creek towards -the lake, and his eyes fell upon the iron-bound box. - -Then his face brightened. He set it towards the Island of Icomb, and -made the sign of the cross. Nor did he look back any more. - -About half-way over the lake they rested, and ate some bread and broiled -fish. Till then Hyla's strong arms had rowed them, and now Lisolé -prepared to relieve him. - -They were busy with the victuals in the bottom of the boat when a shout -floated over the water, sudden and startling. They had thought no one -near. - -Looking up they saw a large boat manned by many oars, but two hundred -yards away. It was strange they had not heard the rattle in the -rowlocks. - -A man in a shirt of chain mail stood upright in the bows, and a levelled -cross-bow threatened them. - -They gazed stupidly at the advancing terror. In forty seconds the boat -was lying motionless beside them. Hyla saw many cruel, exulting, -well-known faces. The monk began Latin prayers. Lisolé grasped the -iron-bound box. - -Suddenly Hyla became aware that a harsh voice was speaking. "We have no -quarrel with you, Sir Monk, nor with your boatman. Natheless, unless you -wish death, you will give that serf Hyla up to us without trouble. We -are in luck to-day. We but thought to find the bodies of dead friends." - -The rapid pattering Latin went on unceasingly, Hyla was lifted from the -punt by strong, eager arms. A push sent the smaller vessel gliding -away, he saw the distance opening out between--the ripples sparkled in -the sun. - -The wail of a farewell floated towards him, and then some one struck him -a heavy blow upon the head, and everything flashed away. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - "In that same conflict (woe is me!) befell, - This fatall chaunce, this dolefull accident - Whose heavy tidings now I have to tell. - First all the captives which they here had hent - Were by them slaine by generall consent." - - -Dom Anselm was strolling about the courtyard of the castle at Hilgay. - -His hands were behind his back, and his head was thrust forward and -slowly oscillated from side to side. - -It was about eleven o'clock in the morning, and he was pretending to -take an intelligent interest in the activity all round. He regarded four -great bundles of newly made arrows tied up with rope in the manner of a -connoisseur. He even took one out from its bundle, felt the point, and -held it on a level with his eye to make sure that the shaft was -perfectly straight and true. - -Then he went to a heap of raw hides and felt their texture. This done he -stood before a mangonel, which was being hoisted up upon the walls by a -windlass, and surveyed it with an affectation of the engineer and a -flavour of the expert at home. But he did it very badly, and the whole -proceeding was an obvious effort. After that, feeling that he had done -his duty, he went to the draw-well in the centre of the courtyard, and, -sitting on the ground on the shady side--for it was a structure of -masonry some four feet high, like all Norman walls--composed himself to -sleep. The creature felt out of place. Upon first news of the coming -attack he was hard at work shriving blackguards, and allowing each one -to believe that should an arrow of the enemy put a swift end to his -sinful life, the saints and angels would meet them at the jasper gates -of heaven with trumpets and acclamations. The fools believed him; it -flattered them to hear of these fine things provided for an unpleasant -contingency, and no one was more important than Sir Anselm. Then came -the ceremonial importance of the funeral and the votive Mass. That kept -him well in the public eye for a little time. But this and that done, he -found time hang very heavy upon his hands. - -All round him activity was being pushed to its furthest limit, and in -all that hive he was the only drone. The squires passed him with a jest, -the waiting maids threw a quip at him. Lewin alone was friendly, but the -minter had but little time to spare. That quick brain and alert eye for -the main chances in life were very valuable at Hilgay, and Lewin was in -constant request. The man suggested, advised, and directed operations -which were the wonder of all who saw them. - -But he said nothing of the crack in the orchard wall. - -The precious couple were quite resolved upon the treachery which they -had plotted in the fen. In truth Fulke was a bestial young fool, and -offered no inducement to his followers to be faithful. Roger Bigot was a -bigger man in the world, and reputed to be very fair with all his -people. Lewin certainly would gain by the change. As for Dom Anselm, he -knew perfectly that Roger would never need a priest, for--a strange fact -even in those dreadful days--he was an open scoffer. At the same time, -the scoundrel was rather tired of the business. Among men-at-arms it was -not lucrative, though their superstition enjoined a certain amount of -respect for him. He knew a little about the rude medicine of that time, -had some skill in simples, and he would, he thought, join Roger as a -chirurgeon provided that all went well. - -So he and Lewin laid their plans together. - -Dom Anselm slept on the cool side of the wall, all undisturbed by the -noise around. The appearance of the courtyard had quite altered by this -time. Sloping scaffolds of wood, connected by plank galleries, ran up to -the walls and made it possible to instantly concentrate a large force of -men upon any given point which should be attacked. - -The fantastic arms of the mangonels and trebuchets, and other slinging -instruments rose grimly above the battlements. A great crane upon the -top of a tower, slung up piles of rocks and barrels of Greek fire with -steady industry. Shields of wood, covered with damp hide and pierced -with loopholes, frowned on the top of the battlements towards the -outside world. - -Great heaps of a sort of hand grenade, made of wicker work and full of a -foul concoction of sulphur and pitch, were arranged at intervals, and -iron braziers, standing on tripod legs, were dotted here and there, so -that the soldiers could at once obtain a light for a pitch barrel or -grenade. - -A large copper gong with a wooden club to beat it was being fitted to a -stand of ash-wood. The harsh reverberations of this horrid instrument -could be heard above the din of any fight, and made a better signal than -trumpets. - -Amid all the metallic noises, the dishonoured priest slept sweetly. He -was roused by two startling events. - -The first was this. With a great clatter a soldier rode into the -courtyard. His horse was foam-flecked, his furniture and arms all -powdered grey with dust. He swore with horrid oaths that he had one -great overpowering desire, and that not to be denied. It was beer he -said that he wanted, and would have before he spoke a single word. He -bellowed for beer. When they brought it him, in a crowd, for he was a -scout with news from the Norwich road, he gurgled his content and -shouted his news. - -Lord Roger had pressed on with great speed, and was now close at hand. -Probably as evening fell that day, certainly during that night, his -force would camp round the walls. They took him away to Fulke's chamber, -where that worthy, who had been up all night, was snatching a little -sleep. They thronged round him clamouring for more news. - -Dom Anselm once more sat him down in the cool shade of the draw-well, -this time with a feeble pretence at reading in his dirty drink-stained -little breviary. It was curious to see how early habit reasserted itself -in this way. - -Then the second startling event occurred. - -There came a burst of distant cheering, an explosion of fierce cries at -the gates, and a little mob of men-at-arms rushed into the bailey, -followed by half a dozen sentinels with pikes in their hands. - -In the middle of the crowd a man stood bound, dressed in a leathern -jacket, and the soldiers were beating him over the head with the shafts -of their pikes. His face ran with blood and there was an awful stare of -horror in his eyes. - -So Hyla came back to Hilgay. - -At the gate of the castle they had halted him, with many oaths, and -turned his head towards a tree, from one of whose branches hung the -naked swollen corpse of Elgifu. - -Dom Anselm lurched up from the side of the well and shouldered his way -through the press. Here again was his dramatic opportunity. Face to -face with the prisoner, he stopped short and spat venomously into his -face. With that, Dom Anselm also passes out of the story. - -They held Hyla and buffeted him, while the soldiers from all parts of -the castle works ran towards the courtyard. - -They came running down the slanting bridges leading from the walls, and -their feet made a noise like thunder on the echoing boards. The cooks -came out of the kitchens, the serfs from the stables, until there was a -great bawling, shouting crowd, struggling and fighting to get a look at -the captive. - -None were louder in their menace than the serfs. - -Some zealous soul, inspired by uncontrollable excitement, feeling the -curious need of personal action that often comes to an excitable nature -labouring under a sudden nerve stress, got him to the chamber at the -foot of Outfangthef and fell to pulling lustily at the castle bell. - -Suddenly, with the swiftness of a mechanical trick, a deep stillness of -voice and gesture fell upon the tumult. It was as though some wizard had -made his spell and turned them all to stone. Every eye turned towards -Outfangthef and a lane opened among the people. Fulke was seen coming -down the steps, and behind him was his sister, the Lady Alice de la -Bourne. - -The lady stayed on her coign at the head of the stairway, palpitating, -and he came slowly down towards the prisoner. In a second they were face -to face. - -Twice Fulke put his hand to the pommel of his dagger, and twice he let -it fall away. He said nothing, but his sinister eyes looked steadily at -Hyla till the serf dropped his head before the gaze of his victim's son, -so hard, bitter, and cruel it was. - -At last Fulke turned to the soldiers: "Take him to the guard-room," he -said, "and keep him in safety there until I send you word. As for the -rest of you, get you back to work, for there is not a moment to lose. -Let the portcullis fall and heave the drawbridge up, keep station all of -you. I promise you a merry sight with that"--he pointed to Hyla--"ere -long. He will cry meculpee with his heart's black blood." - -He saw the two squires and Lewin among the crowd, and nodded that they -should come to him. Then, turning, he went with them into the tower, to -his own room again. - -To be frank, there was very little drama in that meeting. One might have -expected drama, Romance would certainly require it, but Fulke was not -the nature to rise to the occasion. He lacked temperament. He would have -better pleased his men if he had made more display. Indeed, as they -separated into little groups and discussed the incident, Dom Anselm was -discovered as the hero of the moment. Holy Church had distinctly scored. - -When the Baron reached his room he proceeded to discuss the method of -Hyla's execution with his friends. - -He wanted, he said, to make a very public thing of it, indeed he was -quite determined to hang him from the very top of Outfangthef. At the -same time that was far too easy a death. - -They turned their four evil brains to the question of torture, a grim -conclave, and, curiously enough, it was the keenest and most refined -intelligence which invented the worst atrocities. Lewin proposed things -more horrible than Fulke could ever have thought of. They applauded him -for his very serviceable knowledge of anatomy. The pain of Hyla, it was -eventually settled, was to last till he could bear no more, and he -should hang from the Tower at the end. With that decision made they fell -drinking, for Hyla was not to suffer until after the mid-day meal. - -The two men chosen to inflict the torture were two swarthy foreign -scoundrels from Mirebeau, men who knew no earthly scruple. About two in -the afternoon a little procession started to the guard-house. - -Lewin's interest in the proceedings was already over. He did not join -them. He had suggested various tortures, it was a mental exercise which -amused him, but that was all. Nothing would have induced him to watch -his own horrible brutalities being inflicted on the victim. - -He threaded his way among the pens of lowing cattle and the litter of -war material to a tower in the forework, and presently, as the long -afternoon waned lazily away, his quick eyes caught sight of a clump of -spears, a mile away, on the edge of the wood. - -By half the night was over, Hilgay was invested. All round the walls -camp-fires glowed in the dark, and snatches of song in chorus could be -heard, or a trumpet blaring orders. Now and again the guards upon the -battlements would hear the thunder of a horse's hoofs, as some officer -or galloper went _ventre à terre_ down the village street, and a few -random arrows went singing after him. - -Every one anxiously awaited the day. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - "So when this corruptible shall have put on in corruption, and - this mortal shall have put on immortality; then shall be brought - to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in - victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy - victory?" - - -Huber, the man-at-arms, went slowly round the battlements as the sun -rose. He was in full panoply of war time. A steel cap was on his head, -and he wore a supple coat of leathern thongs laced together, and made -stronger by thin plates of steel at the shoulder and upper part of the -arms. - -He had a long shield on his left arm, a cavalry shield notched at the -top for a lance. He was inspecting the defences, and he carried this -great shield to protect himself from any chance shaft from the enemy, -for he made a conspicuous mark every now and again against the sky line. - -The two squires followed him, well content to learn of such a veteran. -He was pure soldier; nothing escaped him. He saw that each archer, with -his huge painted long-bow, had his bracer and shooting glove ready. He -found three sharp-shooters had only one small piece of wax among them, -and sent for more, cursing them for improvident fools. - -When he came to an arbalestrier his eye brightened at the sight of the -weapon--by far the deadliest of that day, despite the praisers of the -English yew--which he loved. He tested the strong double cords with the -moulinet, inspected the squat thick quarrels which lay in large leather -quivers, hung to the masonry by pegs, and saw that each steel-lined -groove was clean and shining. - -The man's eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he went his rounds. "Look -you, sir," he said to Brian de Burgh, "we are well set up in this -fortalice. Never a thing is lacking! Nary castle from here to London is -so well found." He pointed to a pile of brassarts, the arm-guards used -by the archers, which lay by a trough full of long steel-headed arrows, -with bristles of goose and pigeon feathers. - -"This is a powerful good creature in attack," he continued, pointing to -a heap of lime. "A little water and a dipper to fling the mess with, -and a-burneth out a man's eyes within the hour." - -A serf came clambering up the wooden scaffolds which led to the walls. -He carried seven or eight long ash wands. At the end of each hung a long -pennon of linen. He gave them to Huber. - -"What are these, Huber?" said young Richard Ferville, as the soldier -took them. - -"It is a plan I saw at Arques," he answered, "Tête Rouge was head bowyer -there. _Ma foi_, and he could shoot you a good shoot! At Arques, sir, as -you may know, strong winds blow from the sea on one side, though 'tis -miles inland, and on the other the wind cometh down the valley from -Envermeau. Now but a little breeze will send an arrow from the mark. A -man who can shoot a good shoot from tower or wall must ever watch the -wind. Now Tête-Rouge was a ship-man once, and watched wind in the manner -of use. But he could not train his men to judge a quarter-wind as he was -able. So he raised pennons like these. 'Tis but a ribbon and every -breeze moveth it, so the long-bow-men may shoot the straighter." - -As he spoke the archers were fixing the thin poles in staples, which -had been prepared for them. - -"Holà!" cried Brian de Burgh, "the bastard's flag goes up." Even as he -spoke a distant flourish of tuckets came down the morning wind. They -leant out over the crenelets and strained their eyes down the hill, -fenwards. - -A flag hung from a tall pole, which stood before a white pavilion. - -"A banneret!" said Huber. "The bastard has grown in roods and perches of -late. Can you read it for me, Master Richard?" - -The squire made a funnel of his hands and gazed at the flag. "A moline -cross, if I see aright," he said, "but it does not matter. Roger's flag -eke his coat-armour, are what he has a mind to use, not what he useth by -any right of birth." - -"Can'st see what they are doing out by the carts--by the edge of the -orchard?" - -"Yes, sir. They be working on the mantelets, and anon they will wheel -them up to protect those who would raise a palisade on the moat's edge. -But come, Master Richard, we must be on the rounds. Much must be looked -to. Now look you, Sir Brian, in a siege the hoards are your defender's -chief stand-by. Now we are going into each one, for it is in those -defences that we must trust in time of attack. When your hoards are -breached, then your castle is like to fall." - -He spoke with the technical assurance of a veteran--a sergeant-major -respectfully imparting his own riper knowledge to a brace of subalterns. - -The "hoards" were wooden structures, little pent-house forts, run out -from the curtains, standing on great beams which fitted into holes in -the masonry. From behind the breastwork of thick wood the archers could -shoot with a freedom--this way and that--which was denied them by the -long oblique openings in the wall itself. They commanded all points. - -The group walked out along the narrow gangway, which stretched out over -the black moat below, and entered the temporary fort of wood. It was -built for the accommodation of four or five men, sharpshooters, who were -practically safe from everything but heavy artillery fire from mangonel -and catapult. - -They surveyed the scene before them in silence. The morning had risen -clear, calm, and hot. For weeks the morning had been just as this was, -and they had strolled along the battlements to catch the cool air and -sharpen an early appetite. But on those other days the meadows beyond -the moat, which ran to the forest edge, had been silent and empty, save -for herds of swine and red peaceful cattle. Now, but two hundred yards -away, scarce more than that it seemed in the clear keen air of dawn, -were the tents, the dying fires, the litter and stir, of a great hostile -camp. - -The lines of men, horses, and carts, stretched away right and left in a -long curve, till Outfangthef hid them on one side, and the gateway -towers, with their pointed roofs, upon the other. - -They could hear the trumpets, the hammers of the carpenters, a confused -shouting of orders, and the hum of active men, as the besiegers began to -prepare the manifold engines of attack, which--perhaps before night -fell--would be creeping slowly towards the walls of Hilgay. - -That great low shed which lay upon the ground like a monstrous tortoise, -would presently creep slowly towards them, foot by foot, until it -reached the edge of the moat, and the men beneath it would build their -great fence of logs and empty carts of rubbish into the sullen waters. - -They could see men upon the sloping roofs, gradually sloping from a -central ridge, men like great flies, nailing tanned hides over the -beams. The sound of tapping hammers reached them from the work which -should be protective of Greek fire and burning tar from above. - -And against the light green of the meadow-lands, and the darker olive of -the thick forest trees, the many colours of pennons, the glint of -sunlight upon arms, gave the animation of the scene an added quality of -picturesqueness. How "decorative" it all was! how vivid and complete a -picture! And yet how stern and sinister in meaning. - - "BELLA PREMUNT HOSTILIA, - DA ROBUR, FER AUXILIUM." - -The soldiers were silent as they leaned out over the pent-house. Huber -crossed himself, for the chapel bell began to toll down below in the -fortress. - -The squires left the works and descended to the bailey. Huber remained -on the wall. From where he stood he could see all over the castle. Such -of the garrison as were not on guard or employed in active preparation -straggled slowly over the grass towards the chapel door. Some of the -serfs followed, the man-at-arms could easily distinguish their -characteristic dress. - -He turned curiously pale beneath his bronze. Then his eyes turned -towards the noble tower Outfangthef, and presently fixed themselves on a -low iron door, between two buttresses, which was nearly below the level -of the yard, and must be reached by a few old mildewed steps. - -His eyes remained fixed upon the archway of the door, and his face -became full of a great gloom and horror. - -The sentinels passed and re-passed him as he stared down below with set -pale features. At length he turned and entered one of the hoards. The -angle of the side hid him from view of the men upon the walls. - -There Huber knelt down and prayed for the serf who had saved his life on -Wilfrith Mere, and now lay deep down behind that iron door. - -The strong man beat his breast and bowed his head. As he prayed, with -unwonted tears in his eyes, he heard the distant silver tinkle that -meant the elevation of The Host. He bowed still lower with his hands -crossed upon his breast. - -For to this rugged and lonely worshipper also, the message was coming -that all men are brothers. - -"_Suscipe, sancte Pater,--hanc immaculatam Hostiam_," that was what -Anselm was saying down there in the chapel; and He who heard the one -offering would not despise the other, a broken and a contrite heart. - -And so farewell to Huber. - - * * * * * - -In a dark place, under the ground, full of filth and rats, Hyla lay -dying in the crucet hûs. It is not necessary to say how they had used -him. - -He was not unconscious, though now and again the brain would fly from -the poor maimed body, but the swoon never lasted long. - -In the long and awful night, in that black tomb, with no noise but the -pattering of the rats, what did he think of? - -I think there were two great emotions in his heart. He prayed very -earnestly to God, that he might die and be at peace, and he cried a -great deal that he could not say goodbye to Gruach. The unmarried -cannot know how bitterly a man wants his wife in trouble. Hyla kept -sobbing and moaning her name all night. - -The second day, though he never knew a day had gone down there, they had -but little time to torture him, and after half an hour of unbearable -agony he was left alone in silence. No one but an enormously strong man -could have lived for half as long. - -Still in his brain there was no thought of martyrdom, and none of the -exaltation that it might have given. Although he prayed, and believed -indeed, that God heard him, his imaginative faculties were not now acute -enough to help him to any ghostly comfort. Continually he whimpered for -Gruach, until at length he sank into a last stupor. - -At last, at the end of the afternoon, his two torturers came and unbound -the maimed thing they had made. - -"It is the end now, Hyla," said one of them, "very soon and it will be -over. They are all a-waiting, and my Lord Roger Bigot of Norwich has -given us an hour's truce, while we kill you, you dog!" - -They untied the thongs, and lifted him from the cruel stones. One of -them gave him a horn of wine, so that he might have a little strength. -It revived him somewhat, and they half led, half carried him up the -stairs. Up and on they went, on that last terrible journey, until the -lantern, which was carried by a soldier in front of them, began to pale -before rich lights of sunset, which poured in at the loop-holes in the -stairway wall. - -They were climbing up Outfangthef. - -The fresh airs of evening played about them. After the stench of the -_oubliette_, it was like heaven to Hyla. - -They passed up and up, among the chirping birds, until a little -ill-fitting wooden door, through the chinks of which the light poured -like water, showed their labour was at an end. The serf's spirits rose -enormously. At last! At last! Death was at hand. At this moment of -supreme excitement, he nerved himself to be a man. The occasion altered -his whole demeanour. Almost by a miracle his submissive attitude dropped -from him. His dull eyes flashed, his broken body became almost straight. -The heavy, vacuous expression fled from his face never to return, and -his nostrils curved in disdain, and with pride at this thing he had -done. - -It was better to be hanged on a tower like this than on the tree at the -castle gate, he thought as the little door opened. - -They came out upon the platform in the full blaze of the setting sun. -Far, far below, the smiling woods lay happily, and the rooks called to -each other round the tree-tops. The river wound its way into the fen -like a silver ribbon. Peace and sweetness lay over all the land. - -Hyla turned his weary head and took one last look at this beautiful -sunset England. - -A great cheering came from below as the execution party came out on the -battlements, a fierce roar of execration. - -While they were fitting his neck with the rope, Hyla looked down. The -castle was spread below him like a map, very vivid in the bright light. -Hundreds of tiny white faces were turned towards him. Outside the walls -he saw a great camp with tents and huts, among which fires were just -being lit to cook the evening meal. - -At last, on the edge of the coping they let him kneel down for prayer. -Lord Fulke had not yet sounded the signal, down in the court-yard, when -they should swing him out. - -He did not pray, but looked out over the lovely countryside with keen -brave eyes. Freedom was very, very near. FREEDOM at last! The soldiers -could not understand his rapt face, it frightened them. As he gazed, his -eye fell on a round tower at the far end of the defences. Down the side -of the tower a man was descending by means of a rope. Although at this -distance he appeared quite small, something in the dress or perhaps in -the colour of the hair proclaimed it to be Lewin. The executioners saw -him also. - -"God!" said one of them. "There goes our minter to Roger. The black -hound!" - -He bent over the edge of the abyss and shouted frantically to the crowd -below, but he could convey no meaning to them. The little moving figure -on the wall had disappeared by now, but a group of men standing at the -moat-side showed that he was expected. - -Hyla saw all this with little interest. He was perfectly calm, and all -his pain had left him. Already he was at peace. - -A keen blast from a trumpet sounded in the courtyard below, and came -snarling up to them. - -There was a sudden movement, and then the two hosts of the besiegers and -besieged saw a black swinging figure sharply outlined against the ruddy -evening sky. - -Justice had been done. But may we not suppose that the death notes of -that earthly horn swelled and grew in the poor serf's ears, pulsing -louder and more gloriously triumphant, until he knew them for the silver -trumpets of the Heralds of Heaven coming to welcome him? - - Deo Gratias. - - - THE END - - * * * * * - - - Letters of a Business - Woman to Her Niece - - BY CAROLINE A. HULING - - _Editor of The BOOKSELLER and Latest Literature_ - - - These letters were published serially in an - Eastern Magazine, attracting considerable - attention and adding materially to its circulation. - They embody suggestions in the - preparation for business life, getting and - keeping a position, ethics, dress, conduct, - the investment of savings and the management - of a business, getting and giving - credit and other important matters of which - young women are generally ignorant. There - is nothing of this nature on the market, - and a large sale is anticipated for the book. - Miss Huling has utilized the experiences - of twenty years in business life, in these - letters which are designed to be helpful to - younger women. - - Handsomely bound in cloth, and neatly - boxed for presentation purposes, - 12mo. in size, $1.00 net. - - - R. F. FENNO & CO., - 18 East 17th Street New York - - * * * * * - - - 12 Mo. Cloth. $1.00 NINTH EDITION. - - - Paths _to_ Power - - _By_ FLOYD B. WILSON - - _CONTENTS_ - - - One's Atmosphere - Growth - A Psychic Law in Student Work - Unfoldment - Power: How to Attain It - Harmony - The Assertion of the I - The Tree of Knowledge--of Good and Evil - Conditions - Faith - Back of Vibrations - Wasted Energy - Something About Genius - Shakespeare: How He Told His Secret in the "Dream" and the "Tempest" - - - R. F. FENNO & COMPANY - 18 East Seventeenth St.:: New York - - * * * * * - - - 12mo, cloth, gilt top, $1.25. - - _Man Limitless_ - - By FLOYD B. WILSON - - AUTHOR OF - "PATHS TO POWER," &C., &C. - - CONTENTS - - - Man, Limitless - Love - The Christ Principle Through Intuition - Work - Control of Memory - Suggestion - Must Age Enfeeble? - Pathway to Achievement - Children of the Gods - Shakespeare's Ariel - Spirit Aid in Man's Unfoldment - - - R. F. FENNO & COMPANY - - NEW YORK - - * * * * * - - - A Sealed Book - - _By ALICE LIVINGSTONE_ - - _12mo. cloth, 8 full-page illustrations. Price $1.50_ - - - The story positively bristles with incident.--_The Academy._ - - Miss Alice Livingstone shows a fertile imagination and remarkable - ingenious constructive gift.--_The Gazette._ - - A powerful story of crime and cruelty is Alice Livingstone's latest - novel "A Sealed Book," which is one of the most striking tales of the - year. The volume abounds with thrilling situations. It grips the - interest and keeps it up until the end.--_The Journal._ - - We can thoroughly recommend "A Sealed Book".--_The Graphic._ - - This novel has what is called in theatrical posters "a strong - heart interest".--_The Leader._ - - To read this novel is a pleasure, indeed. It is full of exciting - incidents, and is powerfully written. Narrative succeeds narrative in - such a way that the authoress retains hold of her reader until the last - page is reached. "A Sealed Book" takes a front position in this season's - fiction.--_Courier._ - - Cleverly written, strong in plot and in character drawing. It is endowed - with a measure of originality in construction and treatment that should - win for it a wide public. The author, it seems to us, has put her best - work into this story.--_The Mail._ - - It is an excellent tale of its kind--highly exciting.--_The Globe._ - - Deeply interesting.--_Post._ - - Crowded with incidents, crammed full of varying scenes.--_The - Sportsman._ - - Exceptionally powerful. One never tires of a single page.--_Courier._ - - - R. F. Fenno & Company _18 East 17th St._ - _NEW YORK_ - - * * * * * - - - Transcriber's Note: The oe ligature has been expanded. The - punctuation and spelling is as was printed, with the exception - of histor which is now history, one case of where which is now - were, gentleman is now gentlemen, be is now he, someting is now - something, climbling is now climbing, and seemes is now seems. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Serf, by Guy Thorne - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SERF *** - -***** This file should be named 41829-8.txt or 41829-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/8/2/41829/ - -Produced by Mark C. 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