diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 4282-8.txt | 7980 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 4282-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 158280 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 4282-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 160937 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 4282-h/4282-h.htm | 10414 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 4282.txt | 7980 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 4282.zip | bin | 0 -> 158245 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/drodr10.txt | 8389 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/drodr10.zip | bin | 0 -> 157815 bytes |
11 files changed, 34779 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4282-8.txt b/4282-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a5d7e85 --- /dev/null +++ b/4282-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7980 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Don Rodriguez, by +Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, Dunsany + +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: Don Rodriguez + Chronicles of Shadow Valley + +Author: Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, Dunsany + +Posting Date: July 23, 2009 [EBook #4282] +Release Date: July, 2003 +First Posted: December 30, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DON RODRIGUEZ *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +DON RODRIGUEZ + +CHRONICLES OF SHADOW VALLEY + + +By + +LORD DUNSANY + + + +To WILLIAM BEEBE + + + + + +CHRONOLOGY + +After long and patient research I am still unable to give to the reader +of these Chronicles the exact date of the times that they tell of. Were +it merely a matter of history there could be no doubts about the +period; but where magic is concerned, to however slight an extent, +there must always be some element of mystery, arising partly out of +ignorance and partly from the compulsion of those oaths by which magic +protects its precincts from the tiptoe of curiosity. + +Moreover, magic, even in small quantities, appears to affect time, much +as acids affect some metals, curiously changing its substance, until +dates seem to melt into a mercurial form that renders them elusive even +to the eye of the most watchful historian. + +It is the magic appearing in Chronicles III and IV that has gravely +affected the date, so that all I can tell the reader with certainty of +the period is that it fell in the later years of the Golden Age in +Spain. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +THE FIRST CHRONICLE + HOW HE MET AND SAID FAREWELL TO MINE HOST OF THE DRAGON AND KNIGHT + +THE SECOND CHRONICLE + HOW HE HIRED A MEMORABLE SERVANT + +THE THIRD CHRONICLE + HOW HE CAME TO THE HOUSE OF WONDER + +THE FOURTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE CAME TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE SUN + +THE FIFTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE RODE IN THE TWILIGHT AND SAW SERAFINA + +THE SIXTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE SANG TO HIS MANDOLIN AND WHAT CAME OF HIS SINGING + +THE SEVENTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE CAME TO SHADOW VALLEY + +THE EIGHTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE TRAVELLED FAR + +THE NINTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE WON A CASTLE IN SPAIN + +THE TENTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE CAME BACK TO LOWLIGHT + +THE ELEVENTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE TURNED TO GARDENING AND HIS SWORD RESTED + +THE TWELFTH CHRONICLE + THE BUILDING OF CASTLE RODRIGUEZ AND THE ENDING OF THESE CHRONICLES + + + + + +DON RODRIGUEZ + + + + + +THE FIRST CHRONICLE + +HOW HE MET AND SAID FAREWELL TO MINE HOST OF THE DRAGON AND KNIGHT + + +Being convinced that his end was nearly come, and having lived long on +earth (and all those years in Spain, in the golden time), the Lord of +the Valleys of Arguento Harez, whose heights see not Valladolid, called +for his eldest son. And so he addressed him when he was come to his +chamber, dim with its strange red hangings and august with the +splendour of Spain: "O eldest son of mine, your younger brother being +dull and clever, on whom those traits that women love have not been +bestowed by God; and know my eldest son that here on earth, and for +ought I know Hereafter, but certainly here on earth, these women be the +arbiters of all things; and how this be so God knoweth only, for they +are vain and variable, yet it is surely so: your younger brother then +not having been given those ways that women prize, and God knows why +they prize them for they are vain ways that I have in my mind and that +won me the Valleys of Arguento Harez, from whose heights Angelico swore +he saw Valladolid once, and that won me moreover also ... but that is +long ago and is all gone now ... ah well, well ... what was I saying?" +And being reminded of his discourse, the old lord continued, saying, +"For himself he will win nothing, and therefore I will leave him these +my valleys, for not unlikely it was for some sin of mine that his +spirit was visited with dullness, as Holy Writ sets forth, the sins of +the fathers being visited on the children; and thus I make him amends. +But to you I leave my long, most flexible, ancient Castilian blade, +which infidels dreaded if old songs be true. Merry and lithe it is, and +its true temper singeth when it meets another blade as two friends sing +when met after many years. It is most subtle, nimble and exultant; and +what it will not win for you in the wars, that shall be won for you by +your mandolin, for you have a way with it that goes well with the old +airs of Spain. And choose, my son, rather a moonlight night when you +sing under those curved balconies that I knew, ah me, so well; for +there is much advantage in the moon. In the first place maidens see in +the light of the moon, especially in the Spring, more romance than you +might credit, for it adds for them a mystery to the darkness which the +night has not when it is merely black. And if any statue should gleam +on the grass near by, or if the magnolia be in blossom, or even the +nightingale singing, or if anything be beautiful in the night, in any +of these things also there is advantage; for a maiden will attribute to +her lover all manner of things that are not his at all, but are only +outpourings from the hand of God. There is this advantage also in the +moon, that, if interrupters come, the moonlight is better suited to the +play of a blade than the mere darkness of night; indeed but the merry +play of my sword in the moonlight was often a joy to see, it so +flashed, so danced, so sparkled. In the moonlight also one makes no +unworthy stroke, but hath scope for those fair passes that Sevastiani +taught, which were long ago the wonder of Madrid." + +The old lord paused, and breathed for a little space, as it were +gathering breath for his last words to his son. He breathed +deliberately, then spoke again. "I leave you," he said, "well content +that you have the two accomplishments, my son, that are most needful in +a Christian man, skill with the sword and a way with the mandolin. +There be other arts indeed among the heathen, for the world is wide and +hath full many customs, but these two alone are needful." And then with +that grand manner that they had at that time in Spain, although his +strength was failing, he gave to his eldest son his Castilian sword. He +lay back then in the huge, carved, canopied bed; his eyes closed, the +red silk curtains rustled, and there was no sound of his breathing. But +the old lord's spirit, whatever journey it purposed, lingered yet in +its ancient habitation, and his voice came again, but feebly now and +rambling; he muttered awhile of gardens, such gardens no doubt as the +hidalgos guarded in that fertile region of sunshine in the proudest +period of Spain; he would have known no others. So for awhile his +memory seemed to stray, half blind among those perfumed earthly +wonders; perhaps among these memories his spirit halted, and tarried +those last few moments, mistaking those Spanish gardens, remembered by +moonlight in Spring, for the other end of his journey, the glades of +Paradise. However it be, it tarried. These rambling memories ceased and +silence fell again, with scarcely the sound of breathing. Then +gathering up his strength for the last time and looking at his son, +"The sword to the wars," he said. "The mandolin to the balconies." With +that he fell back dead. + +Now there were no wars at that time so far as was known in Spain, but +that old lord's eldest son, regarding those last words of his father as +a commandment, determined then and there in that dim, vast chamber to +gird his legacy to him and seek for the wars, wherever the wars might +be, so soon as the obsequies of the sepulture were ended. And of those +obsequies I tell not here, for they are fully told in the Black Books +of Spain, and the deeds of that old lord's youth are told in the Golden +Stories. The Book of Maidens mentions him, and again we read of him in +Gardens of Spain. I take my leave of him, happy, I trust, in Paradise, +for he had himself the accomplishments that he held needful in a +Christian, skill with the sword and a way with the mandolin; and if +there be some harder, better way to salvation than to follow that which +we believe to be good, then are we all damned. So he was buried, and +his eldest son fared forth with his legacy dangling from his girdle in +its long, straight, lovely scabbard, blue velvet, with emeralds on it, +fared forth on foot along a road of Spain. And though the road turned +left and right and sometimes nearly ceased, as though to let the small +wild flowers grow, out of sheer good will such as some roads never +have; though it ran west and east and sometimes south, yet in the main +it ran northward, though wandered is a better word than ran, and the +Lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez who owned no valleys, or anything +but a sword, kept company with it looking for the wars. Upon his back +he had slung his mandolin. Now the time of the year was Spring, not +Spring as we know it in England, for it was but early March, but it was +the time when Spring coming up out of Africa, or unknown lands to the +south, first touches Spain, and multitudes of anemones come forth at +her feet. + +Thence she comes north to our islands, no less wonderful in our woods +than in Andalusian valleys, fresh as a new song, fabulous as a rune, +but a little pale through travel, so that our flowers do not quite +flare forth with all the myriad blaze of the flowers of Spain. + +And all the way as he went the young man looked at the flame of those +southern flowers, flashing on either side of him all the way, as though +the rainbow had been broken in Heaven and its fragments fallen on +Spain. All the way as he went he gazed at those flowers, the first +anemones of the year; and long after, whenever he sang to old airs of +Spain, he thought of Spain as it appeared that day in all the wonder of +Spring; the memory lent a beauty to his voice and a wistfulness to his +eyes that accorded not ill with the theme of the songs he sang, and +were more than once to melt proud hearts deemed cold. And so gazing he +came to a town that stood on a hill, before he was yet tired, though he +had done nigh twenty of those flowery miles of Spain; and since it was +evening and the light was fading away, he went to an inn and drew his +sword in the twilight and knocked with the hilt of it on the oaken +door. The name of it was the Inn of the Dragon and Knight. A light was +lit in one of the upper windows, the darkness seemed to deepen at that +moment, a step was heard coming heavily down a stairway; and having +named the inn to you, gentle reader, it is time for me to name the +young man also, the landless lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez, as +the step comes slowly down the inner stairway, as the gloaming darkens +over the first house in which he has ever sought shelter so far from +his father's valleys, as he stands upon the threshold of romance. He +was named Rodriguez Trinidad Fernandez, Concepcion Henrique Maria; but +we shall briefly name him Rodriguez in this story; you and I, reader, +will know whom we mean; there is no need therefore to give him his full +names, unless I do it here and there to remind you. + +The steps came thumping on down the inner stairway, different windows +took the light of the candle, and none other shone in the house; it was +clear that it was moving with the steps all down that echoing stairway. +The sound of the steps ceased to reverberate upon the wood, and now +they slowly moved over stone flags; Rodriguez now heard breathing, one +breath with every step, and at length the sound of bolts and chains +undone and the breathing now very close. The door was opened swiftly; a +man with mean eyes, and expression devoted to evil, stood watching him +for an instant; then the door slammed to again, the bolts were heard +going back again to their places, the steps and the breathing moved +away over the stone floor, and the inner stairway began again to echo. + +"If the wars are here," said Rodriguez to himself and his sword, "good, +and I sleep under the stars." And he listened in the street for the +sound of war and, hearing none, continued his discourse. "But if I have +not come as yet to the wars I sleep beneath a roof." + +For the second time therefore he drew his sword, and began to strike +methodically at the door, noting the grain in the wood and hitting +where it was softest. Scarcely had he got a good strip of the oak to +look like coming away, when the steps once more descended the wooden +stair and came lumbering over the stones; both the steps and the +breathing were quicker, for mine host of the Dragon and Knight was +hurrying to save his door. + +When he heard the sound of the bolts and chains again Rodriguez ceased +to beat upon the door: once more it opened swiftly, and he saw mine +host before him, eyeing him with those bad eyes; of too much girth, you +might have said, to be nimble, yet somehow suggesting to the swift +intuition of youth, as Rodriguez looked at him standing upon his +door-step, the spirit and shape of a spider, who despite her ungainly +build is agile enough in her way. + +Mine host said nothing; and Rodriguez, who seldom concerned himself +with the past, holding that the future is all we can order the scheme +of (and maybe even here he was wrong), made no mention of bolts or door +and merely demanded a bed for himself for the night. + +Mine host rubbed his chin; he had neither beard nor moustache but wore +hideous whiskers; he rubbed it thoughtfully and looked at Rodriguez. +Yes, he said, he could have a bed for the night. No more words he said, +but turned and led the way; while Rodriguez, who could sing to the +mandolin, wasted none of his words on this discourteous object. They +ascended the short oak stairway down which mine host had come, the +great timbers of which were gnawed by a myriad rats, and they went by +passages with the light of one candle into the interior of the inn, +which went back farther from the street than the young man had +supposed; indeed he perceived when they came to the great corridor at +the end of which was his appointed chamber, that here was no ordinary +inn, as it had appeared from outside, but that it penetrated into the +fastness of some great family of former times which had fallen on evil +days. The vast size of it, the noble design where the rats had spared +the carving, what the moths had left of the tapestries, all testified +to that; and, as for the evil days, they hung about the place, evident +even by the light of one candle guttering with every draught that blew +from the haunts of the rats, an inseparable heirloom for all who +disturbed those corridors. + +And so they came to the chamber. + +Mine host entered, bowed without grace in the doorway, and extended his +left hand, pointing into the room. The draughts that blew from the +rat-holes in the wainscot, or the mere action of entering, beat down +the flame of the squat, guttering candle so that the chamber remained +dim for a moment, in spite of the candle, as would naturally be the +case. Yet the impression made upon Rodriguez was as of some old +darkness that had been long undisturbed and that yielded reluctantly to +that candle's intrusion, a darkness that properly became the place and +was a part of it and had long been so, in the face of which the candle +appeared an ephemeral thing devoid of grace or dignity or tradition. +And indeed there was room for darkness in that chamber, for the walls +went up and up into such an altitude that you could scarcely see the +ceiling, at which mine host's eyes glanced, and Rodriguez followed his +look. + +He accepted his accommodation with a nod; as indeed he would have +accepted any room in that inn, for the young are swift judges of +character, and one who had accepted such a host was unlikely to find +fault with rats or the profusion of giant cobwebs, dark with the dust +of years, that added so much to the dimness of that sinister inn. They +turned now and went back, in the wake of that guttering candle, till +they came again to the humbler part of the building. Here mine host, +pushing open a door of blackened oak, indicated his dining-chamber. +There a long table stood, and on it parts of the head and hams of a +boar; and at the far end of the table a plump and sturdy man was seated +in shirt-sleeves feasting himself on the boar's meat. He leaped up at +once from his chair as soon as his master entered, for he was the +servant at the Dragon and Knight; mine host may have said much to him +with a flash of his eyes, but he said no more with his tongue than the +one word, "Dog": he then bowed himself out, leaving Rodriguez to take +the only chair and to be waited upon by its recent possessor. The +boar's meat was cold and gnarled, another piece of meat stood on a +plate on a shelf and a loaf of bread near by, but the rats had had most +of the bread: Rodriguez demanded what the meat was. "Unicorn's tongue," +said the servant, and Rodriguez bade him set the dish before him, and +he set to well content, though I fear the unicorn's tongue was only +horse: it was a credulous age, as all ages are. At the same time he +pointed to a three-legged stool that he perceived in a corner of the +room, then to the table, then to the boar's meat, and lastly at the +servant, who perceived that he was permitted to return to his feast, to +which he ran with alacrity. "Your name?" said Rodriguez as soon as both +were eating. "Morano," replied the servant, though it must not be +supposed that when answering Rodriguez he spoke as curtly as this; I +merely give the reader the gist of his answer, for he added Spanish +words that correspond in our depraved and decadent language of to-day +to such words as "top dog," "nut" and "boss," so that his speech had a +certain grace about it in that far-away time in Spain. + +I have said that Rodriguez seldom concerned himself with the past, but +considered chiefly the future: it was of the future that he was +thinking now as he asked Morano this question: + +"Why did my worthy and entirely excellent host shut his door in my +face?" + +"Did he so?" said Morano. + +"He then bolted it and found it necessary to put the chains back, +doubtless for some good reason." + +"Yes," said Morano thoughtfully, and looking at Rodriguez, "and so he +might. He must have liked you." + +Verily Rodriguez was just the young man to send out with a sword and a +mandolin into the wide world, for he had much shrewd sense. He never +pressed a point, but when something had been said that might mean much +he preferred to store it, as it were, in his mind and pass on to other +things, somewhat as one might kill game and pass on and kill more and +bring it all home, while a savage would cook the first kill where it +fell and eat it on the spot. Pardon me, reader, but at Morano's remark +you may perhaps have exclaimed, "That is not the way to treat one you +like." Not so did Rodriguez. His attention passed on to notice Morano's +rings which he wore in great profusion upon his little fingers; they +were gold and of exquisite work and had once held precious stones, as +large gaps testified; in these days they would have been priceless, but +in an age when workers only worked at arts that they understood, and +then worked for the joy of it, before the word artistic became +ridiculous, exquisite work went without saying; and as the rings were +slender they were of little value. Rodriguez made no comment upon the +rings; it was enough for him to have noticed them. He merely noted that +they were not ladies' rings, for no lady's ring would have fitted on to +any one of those fingers: the rings therefore of gallants: and not +given to Morano by their owners, for whoever wore precious stone needed +a ring to wear it in, and rings did not wear out like hose, which a +gallant might give to a servant. Nor, thought he, had Morano stolen +them, for whoever stole them would keep them whole, or part with them +whole and get a better price. Besides Morano had an honest face, or a +face at least that seemed honest in such an inn: and while these +thoughts were passing through his mind Morano spoke again: "Good hams," +said Morano. He had already eaten one and was starting upon the next. +Perhaps he spoke out of gratitude for the honour and physical advantage +of being permitted to sit there and eat those hams, perhaps +tentatively, to find out whether he might consume the second, perhaps +merely to start a conversation, being attracted by the honest looks of +Rodriguez. + +"You are hungry," said Rodriguez. + +"Praise God I am always hungry," answered Morano. "If I were not hungry +I should starve." + +"Is it so?" said Rodriguez. + +"You see," said Morano, "the manner of it is this: my master gives me +no food, and it is only when I am hungry that I dare to rob him by +breaking in, as you saw me, upon his viands; were I not hungry I should +not dare to do so, and so ..." He made a sad and expressive movement +with both his hands suggestive of autumn leaves blown hence to die. + +"He gives you no food?" said Rodriguez. + +"It is the way of many men with their dog," said Morano. "They give him +no food," and then he rubbed his hands cheerfully, "and yet the dog +does not die." + +"And he gives you no wages?" said Rodriguez. + +"Just these rings." + +Now Rodriguez had himself a ring upon his finger (as a gallant should), +a slender piece of gold with four tiny angels holding a sapphire, and +for a moment he pictured the sapphire passing into the hands of mine +host and the ring of gold and the four small angels being flung to +Morano; the thought darkened his gaiety for no longer than one of those +fleecy clouds in Spring shadows the fields of Spain. + +Morano was also looking at the ring; he had followed the young man's +glance. + +"Master," he said, "do you draw your sword of a night?" + +"And you?" said Rodriguez. + +"I have no sword," said Morano. "I am but as dog's meat that needs no +guarding, but you whose meat is rare like the flesh of the unicorn need +a sword to guard your meat. The unicorn has his horn always, and even +then he sometimes sleeps." + +"It is bad, you think, to sleep," Rodriguez said. + +"For some it is very bad, master. They say they never take the unicorn +waking. For me I am but dog's meat: when I have eaten hams I curl up +and sleep; but then you see, master, I know I shall wake in the +morning." + +"Ah," said Rodriguez, "the morning's a pleasant time," and he leaned +back comfortably in his chair. Morano took one shrewd look at him, and +was soon asleep upon his three-legged stool. + +The door opened after a while and mine host appeared. "It is late," he +said. Rodriguez smiled acquiescently and mine host withdrew, and +presently leaving Morano whom his master's voice had waked, to curl up +on the floor in a corner, Rodriguez took the candle that lit the room +and passed once more through the passages of the inn and down the great +corridor of the fastness of the family that had fallen on evil days, +and so came to his chamber. I will not waste a multitude of words over +that chamber; if you have no picture of it in your mind already, my +reader, you are reading an unskilled writer, and if in that picture it +appear a wholesome room, tidy and well kept up, if it appear a place in +which a stranger might sleep without some faint foreboding of disaster, +then I am wasting your time, and will waste no more of it with bits of +"descriptive writing" about that dim, high room, whose blackness +towered before Rodriguez in the night. He entered and shut the door, as +many had done before him; but for all his youth he took some wiser +precautions than had they, perhaps, who closed that door before. For +first he drew his sword; then for some while he stood quite still near +the door and listened to the rats; then he looked round the chamber and +perceived only one door; then he looked at the heavy oak furniture, +carved by some artist, gnawed by rats, and all blackened by time; then +swiftly opened the door of the largest cupboard and thrust his sword in +to see who might be inside, but the carved satyr's heads at the top of +the cupboard eyed him silently and nothing moved. Then he noted that +though there was no bolt on the door the furniture might be placed +across to make what in the wars is called a barricado, but the wiser +thought came at once that this was too easily done, and that if the +danger that the dim room seemed gloomily to forebode were to come from +a door so readily barricadoed, then those must have been simple +gallants who parted so easily with the rings that adorned Morano's two +little fingers. No, it was something more subtle than any attack +through that door that brought his regular wages to Morano. Rodriguez +looked at the window, which let in the light of a moon that was getting +low, for the curtains had years ago been eaten up by the moths; but the +window was barred with iron bars that were not yet rusted away, and +looked out, thus guarded, over a sheer wall that even in the moonlight +fell into blackness. Rodriguez then looked round for some hidden door, +the sword all the while in his hand, and very soon he knew that room +fairly well, but not its secret, nor why those unknown gallants had +given up their rings. + +It is much to know of an unknown danger that it really is unknown. Many +have met their deaths through looking for danger from one particular +direction, whereas had they perceived that they were ignorant of its +direction they would have been wise in their ignorance. Rodriguez had +the great discretion to understand clearly that he did not know the +direction from which danger would come. He accepted this as his only +discovery about that portentous room which seemed to beckon to him with +every shadow and to sigh over him with every mournful draught, and to +whisper to him unintelligible warnings with every rustle of tattered +silk that hung about his bed. And as soon as he discovered that this +was his only knowledge he began at once to make his preparations: he +was a right young man for the wars. He divested himself of his shoes +and doublet and the light cloak that hung from his shoulder and cast +the clothes on a chair. Over the back of the chair he slung his girdle +and the scabbard hanging therefrom and placed his plumed hat so that +none could see that his Castilian blade was not in its resting-place. +And when the sombre chamber had the appearance of one having undressed +in it before retiring Rodriguez turned his attention to the bed, which +he noticed to be of great depth and softness. That something not unlike +blood had been spilt on the floor excited no wonder in Rodriguez; that +vast chamber was evidently, as I have said, in the fortress of some +great family, against one of whose walls the humble inn had once leaned +for protection; the great family were gone: how they were gone +Rodriguez did not know, but it excited no wonder in him to see blood on +the boards: besides, two gallants may have disagreed; or one who loved +not dumb animals might have been killing rats. Blood did not disturb +him; but what amazed him, and would have surprised anyone who stood in +that ruinous room, was that there were clean new sheets on the bed. Had +you seen the state of the furniture and the floor, O my reader, and the +vastness of the old cobwebs and the black dust that they held, the dead +spiders and huge dead flies, and the living generation of spiders +descending and ascending through the gloom, I say that you also would +have been surprised at the sight of those nice clean sheets. Rodriguez +noted the fact and continued his preparations. He took the bolster from +underneath the pillow and laid it down the middle of the bed and put +the sheets back over it; then he stood back and looked at it, much as a +sculptor might stand back from his marble, then he returned to it and +bent it a little in the middle, and after that he placed his mandolin +on the pillow and nearly covered it with the sheet, but not quite, for +a little of the curved dark-brown wood remained still to be seen. It +looked wonderfully now like a sleeper in the bed, but Rodriguez was not +satisfied with his work until he had placed his kerchief and one of his +shoes where a shoulder ought to be; then he stood back once more and +eyed it with satisfaction. Next he considered the light. He looked at +the light of the moon and remembered his father's advice, as the young +often do, but considered that this was not the occasion for it, and +decided to leave the light of his candle instead, so that anyone who +might be familiar with the moonlight in that shadowy chamber should +find instead a less sinister light. He therefore dragged a table to the +bedside, placed the candle upon it, and opened a treasured book that he +bore in his doublet, and laid it on the bed near by, between the candle +and his mandolin-headed sleeper; the name of the book was Notes in a +Cathedral and dealt with the confessions of a young girl, which the +author claimed to have jotted down, while concealed behind a pillow +near the Confessional, every Sunday for the entire period of Lent. +Lastly he pulled a sheet a little loose from the bed, until a corner of +it lay on the floor; then he lay down on the boards, still keeping his +sword in his hand, and by means of the sheet and some silk that hung +from the bed, he concealed himself sufficient for his purpose, which +was to see before he should be seen by any intruder that might enter +that chamber. + +And if Rodriguez appear to have been unduly suspicious, it should be +borne in mind not only that those empty rings needed much explanation, +but that every house suggests to the stranger something; and that +whereas one house seems to promise a welcome in front of cosy fires, +another good fare, another joyous wine, this inn seemed to promise +murder; or so the young man's intuition said, and the young are wise to +trust to their intuitions. + +The reader will know, if he be one of us, who have been to the wars and +slept in curious ways, that it is hard to sleep when sober upon a +floor; it is not like the earth, or snow, or a feather bed; even rock +can be more accommodating; it is hard, unyielding and level, all night +unmistakable floor. Yet Rodriguez took no risk of falling asleep, so he +said over to himself in his mind as much as he remembered of his +treasured book, Notes in a Cathedral, which he always read to himself +before going to rest and now so sadly missed. It told how a lady who +had listened to a lover longer than her soul's safety could warrant, as +he played languorous music in the moonlight and sang soft by her low +balcony, and how she being truly penitent, had gathered many roses, the +emblems of love (as surely, she said at confession, all the world +knows), and when her lover came again by moonlight had cast them all +from her from the balcony, showing that she had renounced love; and her +lover had entirely misunderstood her. It told how she often tried to +show him this again, and all the misunderstandings are sweetly set +forth and with true Christian penitence. Sometimes some little matter +escaped Rodriguez's memory and then he longed to rise up and look at +his dear book, yet he lay still where he was: and all the while he +listened to the rats, and the rats went on gnawing and running +regularly, scared by nothing new; Rodriguez trusted as much to their +myriad ears as to his own two. The great spiders descended out of such +heights that you could not see whence they came, and ascended again +into blackness; it was a chamber of prodigious height. Sometimes the +shadow of a descending spider that had come close to the candle assumed +a frightening size, but Rodriguez gave little thought to it; it was of +murder he was thinking, not of shadows; still, in its way it was +ominous, and reminded Rodriguez horribly of his host; but what of an +omen, again, in a chamber full of omens. The place itself was ominous; +spiders could scarce make it more so. The spider itself was big enough, +he thought, to be impaled on his Castilian blade; indeed, he would have +done it but that he thought it wiser to stay where he was and watch. +And then the spider found the candle too hot and climbed in a hurry all +the way to the ceiling, and his horrible shadow grew less and dwindled +away. + +It was not that the rats were frightened: whatever it was that happened +happened too quietly for that, but the volume of the sound of their +running had suddenly increased: it was not like fear among them, for +the running was no swifter, and it did not fade away; it was as though +the sound of rats running, which had not been heard before, was +suddenly heard now. Rodriguez looked at the door, the door was shut. A +young Englishman would long ago have been afraid that he was making a +fuss over nothing and would have gone to sleep in the bed, and not seen +what Rodriguez saw. He might have thought that hearing more rats all at +once was merely a fancy, and that everything was all right. Rodriguez +saw a rope coming slowly down from the ceiling, he quickly determined +whether it was a rope or only the shadow of some huge spider's thread, +and then he watched it and saw it come down right over his bed and stop +within a few feet of it. Rodriguez looked up cautiously to see who had +sent him that strange addition to the portents that troubled the +chamber, but the ceiling was too high and dim for him to perceive +anything but the rope coming down out of the darkness. Yet he surmised +that the ceiling must have softly opened, without any sound at all, at +the moment that he heard the greater number of rats. He waited then to +see what the rope would do; and at first it hung as still as the great +festoons dead spiders had made in the corners; then as he watched it it +began to sway. He looked up into the dimness then to see who was +swaying the rope; and for a long time, as it seemed to him lying +gripping his Castilian sword on the floor he saw nothing clearly. And +then he saw mine host coming down the rope, hand over hand quite +nimbly, as though he lived by this business. In his right hand he held +a poniard of exceptional length, yet he managed to clutch the rope and +hold the poniard all the time with the same hand. + +If there had been something hideous about the shadow of the spider that +came down from that height the shadow of mine host was indeed demoniac. +He too was like a spider, with his body at no time slender all bunched +up on the rope, and his shadow was six times his size: you could turn +from the spider's shadow to the spider and see that it was for the most +part a fancy of the candle half crazed by the draughts, but to turn +from mine host's shadow to himself and to see his wicked eyes was to +say that the candle's wildest fears were true. So he climbed down his +rope holding his poniard upward. But when he came within perhaps ten +feet of the bed he pointed it downward and began to sway about. It will +be readily seen that by swaying his rope at a height mine host could +drop on any part of the bed. Rodriguez as he watched him saw him +scrutinise closely and continue to sway on his rope. He feared that +mine host was ill satisfied with the look of the mandolin and that he +would climb away again, well warned of his guest's astuteness, into the +heights of the ceiling to devise some fearfuller scheme; but he was +only looking for the shoulder. And then mine host dropped; poniard +first, he went down with all his weight behind it and drove it through +the bolster below where the shoulder should be, just where we slant our +arms across our bodies, when we lie asleep on our sides, leaving the +ribs exposed: and the soft bed received him. And the moment that mine +host let go of his rope Rodriguez leaped to his feet. He saw Rodriguez, +indeed their eyes met as he dropped through the air, but what could +mine host do? He was already committed to his stroke, and his poniard +was already deep in the mattress when the good Castilian blade passed +through his ribs. + + + + +THE SECOND CHRONICLE + +HOW HE HIRED A MEMORABLE SERVANT + + +When Rodriguez woke, the birds were singing gloriously. The sun was up +and the air was sparkling over Spain. The gloom had left his high +chamber, and much of the menace had gone from it that overnight had +seemed to bode in the corners. It had not become suddenly tidy; it was +still more suitable for spiders than men, it still mourned and brooded +over the great family that it had nursed and that evil days had so +obviously overtaken; but it no longer had the air of finger to lips, no +longer seemed to share a secret with you, and that secret Murder. The +rats still ran round the wainscot, but the song of the birds and the +jolly, dazzling sunshine were so much larger than the sombre room that +the young man's thoughts escaped from it and ran free to the fields. It +may have been only his fancy but the world seemed somehow brighter for +the demise of mine host of the Dragon and Knight, whose body still lay +hunched up on the foot of his bed. Rodriguez jumped up and went to the +high, barred window and looked out of it at the morning: far below him +a little town with red roofs lay; the smoke came up from the chimneys +toward him slowly, and spread out flat and did not reach so high. +Between him and the roofs swallows were sailing. + +He found water for washing in a cracked pitcher of earthenware and as +he dressed he looked up at the ceiling and admired mine host's device, +for there was an open hole that had come noiselessly, without any +sounds of bolts or lifting of trap-doors, but seemed to have opened out +all round on perfectly oiled grooves, to fit that well-to-do body, and +down from the middle of it from some higher beam hung the rope down +which mine host had made his last journey. + +Before taking leave of his host Rodriguez looked at his poniard, which +was a good two feet in length, not counting the hilt, and was surprised +to find it an excellent blade. It bore a design on the steel +representing a town, which Rodriguez recognised for the towers of +Toledo; and had held moreover a jewel at the end of the hilt, but the +little gold socket was empty. Rodriguez therefore perceived that the +poniard was that of a gallant, and surmised that mine host had begun +his trade with a butcher's knife, but having come by the poniard had +found it to be handier for his business. Rodriguez being now fully +dressed, girt his own blade about him, and putting the poniard under +his cloak, for he thought to find a use for it at the wars, set his +plumed hat upon him and jauntily stepped from the chamber. By the light +of day he saw clearly at what point the passages of the inn had dared +to make their intrusion on the corridors of the fortress, for he walked +for four paces between walls of huge grey rocks which had never been +plastered and were clearly a breach in the fortress, though whether the +breach were made by one of the evil days that had come upon the family +in their fastness, and whether men had poured through it with torches +and swords, or whether the gap had been cut in later years for mine +host of the Dragon and Knight, and he had gone quietly through it +rubbing his hands, nothing remained to show Rodriguez now. + +When he came to the dining-chamber he found Morano astir. Morano looked +up from his overwhelming task of tidying the Inn of the Dragon and +Knight and then went on with his pretended work, for he felt a little +ashamed of the knowledge he had concerning the ways of that inn, which +was more than an honest man should know about such a place. + +"Good morning, Morano," said Rodriguez blithely. + +"Good morning," answered the servant of the Dragon and Knight. + +"I am looking for the wars. Would you like a new master, Morano?" + +"Indeed," said Morano, "a good master is better to some men's minds +than a bad one. Yet, you see seņor, my bad master has me bound never to +leave him, by oaths that I do not properly understand the meaning of, +and that might blast me in any world were I to forswear them. He hath +bound me by San Sathanas, with many others. I do not like the sound of +that San Sathanas. And so you see, seņor, my bad master suits me better +than perhaps to be whithered in this world by a levin-stroke, and in +the next world who knows?" + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "there is a dead spider on my bed." + +"A dead spider, master?" said Morano, with as much concern in his voice +as though no spider had ever sullied that chamber before. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez, "I shall require you to keep my bed tidy on our +way to the wars." + +"Master," said Morano, "no spider shall come near it, living or dead." + +And so our company of one going northward through Spain looking for +romance became a company of two. + +"Master," said Morano, "as I do not see him whom I serve, and his ways +are early ways, I fear some evil has overtaken him, whereby we shall be +suspect, for none other dwells here: and he is under special protection +of the Garda Civil; it would be well therefore to start for the wars +right early." + +"The guard protect mine host then." Rodriguez said with as much +surprise in his tones as he ever permitted himself. + +"Master," Morano said, "it could not be otherwise. For so many gallants +have entered the door of this inn and supped in this chamber and never +been seen again, and so many suspicious things have been found here, +such as blood, that it became necessary for him to pay the guard well, +and so they protect him." And Morano hastily slung over his shoulder by +leather straps an iron pot and a frying-pan and took his broad felt hat +from a peg on the wall. + +Rodriguez' eyes looked so curiously at the great cooking utensils +dangling there from the straps that Morano perceived his young master +did not fully understand these preparations: he therefore instructed +him thus: "Master, there be two things necessary in the wars, strategy +and cooking. Now the first of these comes in use when the captains +speak of their achievements and the historians write of the wars. +Strategy is a learned thing, master, and the wars may not be told of +without it, but while the war rageth and men be camped upon the +foughten field then is the time for cooking; for many a man that fights +the wars, if he hath not his food, were well content to let the enemy +live, but feed him and at once he becometh proud at heart and cannot +a-bear the sight of the enemy walking among his tents but must needs +slay him outright. Aye, master, the cooking for the wars; and when the +wars are over you who are learned shall study strategy." + +And Rodriguez perceived that there was wisdom in the world that was not +taught in the College of San Josephus, near to his father's valleys, +where he had learned in his youth the ways of books. + +"Morano," he said, "let us now leave mine host to entertain la Garda." + +And at the mention of the guard hurry came on Morano, he closed his +lips upon his store of wisdom, and together they left the Inn of the +Dragon and Knight. And when Rodriguez saw shut behind him that dark +door of oak that he had so persistently entered, and through which he +had come again to the light of the sun by many precautions and some +luck, he felt gratitude to Morano. For had it not been for Morano's +sinister hints, and above all his remark that mine host would have +driven him thence because he liked him, the evil look of the sombre +chamber alone might not have been enough to persuade him to the +precautions that cut short the dreadful business of that inn. And with +his gratitude was a feeling not unlike remorse, for he felt that he had +deprived this poor man of a part of his regular wages, which would have +been his own gold ring and the setting that held the sapphire, had all +gone well with the business. So he slipped the ring from his finger and +gave it to Morano, sapphire and all. + +Morano's expressions of gratitude were in keeping with that flowery +period in Spain, and might appear ridiculous were I to expose them to +the eyes of an age in which one in Morano's place on such an occasion +would have merely said, "Damned good of you old nut, not half," and let +the matter drop. + +I merely record therefore that Morano was grateful and so expressed +himself; while Rodriguez, in addition to the pleasant glow in the mind +that comes from a generous action, had another feeling that gives all +of us pleasure, or comfort at least (until it grows monotonous), a +feeling of increased safety; for while he had the ring upon his finger +and Morano went unpaid the thought could not help occurring, even to a +generous mind, that one of these windy nights Morano might come for his +wages. + +"Master," said Morano looking at the sapphire now on his own little +finger near the top joint, the only stone amongst his row of rings, +"you must surely have great wealth." + +"Yes," said Rodriguez slapping the scabbard that held his Castilian +blade. And when he saw that Morano's eyes were staring at the little +emeralds that were dotted along the velvet of the scabbard he explained +that it was the sword that was his wealth: + +"For in the wars," he said, "are all things to be won, and nothing is +unobtainable to the sword. For parchment and custom govern all the +possessions of man, as they taught me in the College of San Josephus. +Yet the sword is at first the founder and discoverer of all +possessions; and this my father told me before he gave me this sword, +which hath already acquired in the old time fair castles with many a +tower." + +"And those that dwelt in the castles, master, before the sword came?" +said Morano. + +"They died and went dismally to Hell," said Rodriguez, "as the old +songs say." + +They walked on then in silence. Morano, with his low forehead and +greater girth of body than of brain to the superficial observer, was +not incapable of thought. However slow his thoughts may have come, +Morano was pondering surely. Suddenly the puckers on his little +forehead cleared and he brightly looked at Rodriguez as they went on +side by side. + +"Master," Morano said, "when you choose a castle in the wars, let it +above all things be one of those that is easy to be defended; for +castles are easily got, as the old songs tell, and in the heat of +combat positions are quickly stormed, and no more ado; but, when wars +are over, then is the time for ease and languorous days and the +imperilling of the soul, though not beyond the point where our good +fathers may save it." + +"Nay, Morano," Rodriguez said, "no man, as they taught me well in the +College of San Josephus, should ever imperil his soul." + +"But, master," Morano said, "a man imperils his body in the wars yet +hopes by dexterity and his sword to draw it safely thence: so a man of +courage and high heart may surely imperil his soul and still hope to +bring it at the last to salvation." + +"Not so," said Rodriguez, and gave his mind to pondering upon the exact +teaching he had received on this very point, but could not clearly +remember. + +So they walked in silence, Rodriguez thinking still of this spiritual +problem, Morano turning, though with infinite slowness, to another +thought upon a lower plane. + +And after a while Rodriguez' eyes turned again to the flowers, and he +felt his meditation, as youth will, and looking abroad he saw the +wonder of Spring calling forth the beauty of Spain, and he lifted up +his head and his heart rejoiced with the anemones, as hearts at his age +do: but Morano clung to his thought. + +It was long before Rodriguez' fanciful thoughts came back from among +the flowers, for among those delicate earliest blooms of Spring his +youthful visions felt they were with familiars; so they tarried, +neglecting the dusty road and poor gross Morano. But when his fancies +left the flowers at last and looked again at Morano, Rodriguez +perceived that his servant was all troubled with thought: so he left +Morano in silence for his thought to come to maturity, for he had +formed a liking already for the judgments of Morano's simple mind. + +They walked in silence for the space of an hour, and at last Morano +spoke. It was then noon. "Master," he said, "at this hour it is the +custom of la Garda to enter the Inn of the Dragon and to dine at the +expense of mine host." + +"A merry custom," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "if they find him in less than his usual health +they will get their dinners for themselves in the larder and dine and +afterwards sleep. But after that; master, after that, should anything +inauspicious have befallen mine host, they will seek out and ask many +questions concerning all travellers, too many for our liking." + +"We are many good miles from the Inn of the Dragon and Knight," said +Rodriguez. + +"Master, when they have eaten and slept and asked questions they will +follow on horses," said Morano. + +"We can hide," said Rodriguez, and he looked round over the plain, very +full of flowers, but empty and bare under the blue sky of any place in +which a man might hide to escape from pursuers on horse back. He +perceived then that he had no plan. + +"Master," said Morano, "there is no hiding like disguises." + +Once more Rodriguez looked round him over the plain, seeing no houses, +no men; and his opinion of Morano's judgment sank when he said +disguises. But then Morano unfolded to him that plan which up to that +day had never been tried before, so far as records tell, in all the +straits in which fugitive men have been; and which seems from my +researches in verse and prose never to have been attempted since. + +The plan was this, astute as Morano, and simple as his naive mind. The +clothing for which Rodriguez searched the plain vainly was ready to +hand. No disguise was effective against la Garda, they had too many +suspicions, their skill was to discover disguises. But in the moment of +la Garda's triumph, when they had found out the disguise, when success +had lulled the suspicions for which they were infamous, then was the +time to trick la Garda. Rodriguez wondered; but the slow mind of Morano +was sure, and now he came to the point, the fruit of his hour's +thinking. Rodriguez should disguise himself as Morano. When la Garda +discovered that he was not the man he appeared to be, a study to which +they devoted their lives, their suspicions would rest and there would +be an end of it. And Morano should disguise himself as Rodriguez. + +It was a new idea. Had Rodriguez been twice his age he would have +discarded it at once; for age is guided by precedent which, when +pursued, is a dangerous guide indeed. Even as it was he was critical, +for the novelty of the thing coming thus from his gross servant +surprised him as much as though Morano had uttered poetry of his own +when he sang, as he sometimes did, certain merry lascivious songs of +Spain that any one of the last few centuries knew as well as any of the +others. + +And would not la Garda find out that he was himself, Rodriguez asked, +as quickly as they found out he was not Morano. + +"That," said Morano, "is not the way of la Garda. For once let la Garda +come by a suspicion, such as that you, master, are but Morano, and they +will cling to it even to the last, and not abandon it until they needs +must, and then throw it away as it were in disgust and ride hence at +once, for they like not tarrying long near one who has seen them +mistaken." + +"They will soon then come by another suspicion," said Rodriguez. + +"Not so, master," answered Morano, "for those that are as suspicious as +la Garda change their suspicions but slowly. A suspicion is an old song +to them." + +"Then," said Rodriguez, "I shall be hard set ever to show that I am not +you if they ever suspect I am." + +"It will be hard, master," Morano answered; "but we shall do it, for we +shall have truth upon our side." + +"How shall we disguise ourselves?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "when you came to our town none knew you and all +marked your clothes. As for me my fat body is better known than my +clothes, yet am I not too well known by la Garda, for, being an honest +man, whenever la Garda came I used to hide." + +"You did well," said Rodriguez. + +"Certainly I did well," said Morano, "for had they seen me they might, +on account of certain matters, have taken me to prison, and prison is +no place for an honest man." + +"Let us disguise ourselves," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," answered Morano, "the brain is greater than the stomach, and +now more than at any time we need the counsel of the brain; let us +therefore appease the clamours of the stomach that it be silent." + +And he drew out from amongst his clothing a piece of sacking in which +was a mass of bacon and some lard, and unslung his huge frying-pan. +Rodriguez had entirely forgotten the need of food, but now the memory +of it had rushed upon him like a flood over a barrier, as soon as he +saw the bacon. And when they had collected enough of tiny inflammable +things, for it was a treeless plain, and Morano had made a fire, and +the odour of the bacon became perceptible, this memory was hugely +intensified. + +"Let us eat while they eat, master," said Morano, "and plan while they +sleep, and disguise ourselves while they pursue." + +And this they did: for after they had eaten they dug up earth and +gathered leaves with which to fill the gaps in Morano's garments when +they should hang on Rodriguez, they plucked a geranium with whose dye +they deepened Rodriguez' complexion, and with the sap from the stalk of +a weed Morano toned to a pallor the ruddy brown of his tough cheeks. +Then they changed clothes altogether, which made Morano gasp: and after +that nothing remained but to cut off the delicate black moustachios of +Rodriguez and to stick them to the face of Morano with the juice of +another flower that he knew where to find. Rodriguez sighed when he saw +them go. He had pictured ecstatic glances cast some day at those +moustachios, glances from under long eyelashes twinkling at evening +from balconies; and looking at them where they were now, he felt that +this was impossible. + +For one moment Morano raised his head with an air, as it were preening +himself, when the new moustachios had stuck; but as soon as he saw, or +felt, his master's sorrow at their loss he immediately hung his head, +showing nothing but shame for the loss he had caused his master, or for +the impropriety of those delicate growths that so ill become his jowl. +And now they took the road again, Rodriguez with the great frying-pan +and cooking-pot; no longer together, but not too far apart for la Garda +to take them both at once, and to make the doubly false charge that +should so confound their errand. And Morano wore that old triumphant +sword, and carried the mandolin that was ever young. + +They had not gone far when it was as Morano had said; for, looking +back, as they often did, to the spot where their road touched the +sky-line, they saw la Garda spurring, seven of them in their +unmistakable looped hats, very clear against the sky which a moment ago +seemed so fair. + +When the seven saw the two they did not spare the dust; and first they +came to Morano. + +"You," they said, "are Rodriguez Trinidad Fernandez, Concepcion +Henrique Maria, a Lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez." + +"No, masters," said Morano. + +Oh but denials were lost upon la Garda. + +Denials inflamed their suspicions as no other evidence could. Many a +man had they seen with his throat in the hands of the public garrotter; +and all had begun with denials who ended thus. They looked at the +mandolin, at the gay cloak, at the emeralds in the scabbard, for +wherever emeralds go there is evidence to identify them, until the +nature of man changes or the price of emeralds. They spoke hastily +among themselves. + +"Without doubt," said one of them, "you are whom we said." And they +arrested Morano. + +Then they spurred on to Rodriguez. "You are," they said, "as no man +doubts, one Morano, servant at the Inn of the Dragon and Knight, whose +good master is, as we allege, dead." + +"Masters," answered Rodriguez, "I am but a poor traveller, and no +servant at any inn." + +Now la Garda, as I have indicated, will hear all things except denials; +and thus to receive two within the space of two moments infuriated them +so fiercely that they were incapable of forming any other theory that +day except the one they held. + +There are many men like this; they can form a plausible theory and +grasp its logical points, but take it away from them and destroy it +utterly before their eyes, and they will not so easily lash their tired +brains at once to build another theory in place of the one that is +ruined. + +"As the saints live," they said, "you are Morano." And they arrested +Rodriguez too. + +Now when they began to turn back by the way they had come Rodriguez +began to fear overmuch identification, so he assured la Garda that in +the next village ahead of them were those who would answer all +questions concerning him, as well as being the possessors of the finest +vintage of wine in the kingdom of Spain. + +Now it may be that the mention of this wine soothed the anger caused in +the men of la Garda by two denials, or it may be that curiosity guided +them, at any rate they took the road that led away from last night's +sinister shelter, Rodriguez and five of la Garda. Two of them stayed +behind with Morano, undecided as yet which way to take, though looking +wistfully the way that that wine was said to be; and Rodriguez left +Morano to his own devices, in which he trusted profoundly. + +Now Rodriguez knew not the name of the next village that they would +come to nor the names of any of the dwellers in it. + +Yet he had a plan. As he went by the side of one of the horses he +questioned the rider. + +"Can Morano write?" he said. La Garda laughed. + +"Can Morano talk Latin?" he said. La Garda crossed themselves, all five +men. And after some while of riding, and hard walking for Rodriguez, to +whom they allowed a hand on a stirrup leather, there came in sight the +tops of the brown roofs of a village over a fold of the plain. "Is this +your village?" said one of his captors. + +"Surely," answered Rodriguez. + +"What is its name?" said one. + +"It has many names," said Rodriguez. + +And then another one of them recognised it from the shape of its roofs. +"It is Saint Judas-not-Iscariot," he said. + +"Aye, so strangers call it," said Rodriguez. + +And where the road turned round that fold of the plain, lolling a +little to its left in the idle Spanish air, they came upon the village +all in view. I do not know how to describe this village to you, my +reader, for the words that mean to you what it was are all the wrong +words to use. "Antique," "old-world," "quaint," seem words with which +to tell of it. Yet it had no antiquity denied to the other villages; it +had been brought to birth like them by the passing of time, and was +nursed like them in the lap of plains or valleys of Spain. Nor was it +quainter than any of its neighbours, though it was like itself alone, +as they had their characters also; and, though no village in the world +was like it, it differed only from the next as sister differs from +sister. To those that dwelt in it, it was wholly apart from all the +world of man. + +Most of its tall white houses with green doors were gathered about the +market-place, in which were pigeons and smells and declining sunlight, +as Rodriguez and his escort came towards it, and from round a corner at +the back of it the short, repeated song of one who would sell a +commodity went up piercingly. + +This was all very long ago. Time has wrecked that village now. +Centuries have flowed over it, some stormily, some smoothly, but so +many that, of the village Rodriguez saw, there can be now no more than +wreckage. For all I know a village of that name may stand on that same +plain, but the Saint Judas-not-Iscariot that Rodriguez knew is gone +like youth. + +Queerly tiled, sheltered by small dense trees, and standing a little +apart, Rodriguez recognised the house of the Priest. He recognised it +by a certain air it had. Thither he pointed and la Garda rode. Again he +spoke to them. "Can Morano speak Latin?" he said. + +"God forbid!" said la Garda. + +They dismounted and opened a gate that was gilded all over, in a low +wall of round boulders. They went up a narrow path between thick ilices +and came to the green door. They pulled a bell whose handle was a +symbol carved in copper, one of the Priest's mysteries. The bell boomed +through the house, a tiny musical boom, and the Priest opened the door; +and Rodriguez addressed him in Latin. And the Priest answered him. + +At first la Garda had not realised what had happened. And then the +Priest beckoned and they all entered his house, for Rodriguez had asked +him for ink. Into a room they came where a silver ink-pot was, and the +grey plume of the goose. Picture no such ink-pot, my reader, as they +sell to-day in shops, the silver no thicker than paper, and perhaps a +pattern all over it guaranteed artistic. It was molten silver well +wrought, and hollowed for ink. And in the hollow there was the magical +fluid, the stuff that rules the world and hinders time; that in which +flows the will of a king, to establish his laws for ever; that which +gives valleys unto new possessors; that whereby towers are held by +their lawful owners; that which, used grimly by the King's judge, is +death; that which, when poets play, is mirth for ever and ever. + +No wonder la Garda looked at it in awe, no wonder they crossed +themselves again: and then Rodriguez wrote. In the silence that +followed the jaws of la Garda dropped, while the old Priest slightly +smiled, for he somewhat divined the situation already; and, being the +people's friend, he loved not la Garda more than he was bound by the +rules of his duty to man. + +Then one of la Garda spoke, bringing back his confidence with a +bluster. "Morano has sold his soul to Satan," he said, "in exchange for +Satan's aid, and Satan has taught his tongue Latin and guides his +fingers in the affairs of the pen." And so said all la Garda, rejoicing +at finding an explanation where a moment ago there was none, as all men +at such times do: little it matters what the explanation be: does a man +in Sahara, who finds water suddenly, inquire with precision what its +qualities are? + +And then the Priest said a word and made a sign, against which Satan +himself can only prevail with difficulty, and in presence of which his +spells can never endure. And after this Rodriguez wrote again. Then +were la Garda silent. + +And at length the leader said, and he called on them all to testify, +that he had made no charge whatever against this traveller; moreover, +they had escorted him on his way out of respect for him, because the +roads were dangerous, and must now depart because they had higher +duties. So la Garda departed, looking before them with stern, +preoccupied faces and urging their horses on, as men who go on an +errand of great urgency. And Rodriguez, having thanked them for their +protection upon the road, turned back into the house and the two sat +down together, and Rodriguez told his rescuer the story of the +hospitality of the Inn of the Dragon and Knight. + +Not as confession he told it, but as a pleasant tale, for he looked on +the swift demise of la Garda's friend, in the night, in the spidery +room, as a fair blessing for Spain, a thing most suited to the sweet +days of Spring. The spiritual man rejoiced to hear such a tale, as do +all men of peace to hear talk of violent deeds in which they may not +share. And when the tale was ended he reproved Rodriguez exceedingly, +explaining to him the nature of the sin of blood, and telling him that +absolution could be come by now, though hardly, but how on some future +occasion there might be none to be had. And Rodriguez listened with all +the gravity of expression that youth knows well how to wear while its +thoughts are nimbly dancing far away in fair fields of adventure or +love. + +And darkness came down and lamps were carried in: and the reverend +father asked Rodriguez in what other affairs of violence his sword had +unhappily been. And Rodriguez knew well the history of that sword, +having gathered all that concerned it out of spoken legend or song. And +although the reverend man frowned minatorily whenever he heard of its +passings through the ribs of the faithful, and nodded as though his +head gave benediction when he heard of the destruction of God's most +vile enemy the infidel, and though he gasped a little through his lips +when he heard of certain tarryings of that sword, in scented gardens, +while Christian knights should sleep and their swords hang on the wall, +though sometimes even a little he raised his hands, yet he leaned +forward always, listening well, and picturing clearly as though his +gleaming eyes could see them, each doleful tale of violence or sin. And +so night came, and began to wear away, and neither knew how late the +hour was. And then as Rodriguez spoke of an evening in a garden, of +which some old song told well, a night in early summer under the +evening star, and that sword there as always; as he told of his +grandfather as poets had loved to tell, going among the scents of the +huge flowers, familiar with the dark garden as the moths that drifted +by him; as he spoke of a sigh heard faintly, as he spoke of danger +near, whether to body or soul; as the reverend father was about to +raise both his hands; there came a thunder of knockings upon the locked +green door. + + + + +THE THIRD CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME TO THE HOUSE OF WONDER + + +It was the gross Morano. Here he had tracked Rodriguez, for where la +Garda goes is always known, and rumour of it remains long behind them, +like the scent of a fox. He told no tale of his escape more than a dog +does who comes home some hours late; a dog comes back to his master, +that is all, panting a little perhaps; someone perhaps had caught him +and he escaped and came home, a thing too natural to attempt to speak +of by any of the signs that a dog knows. + +Part of Morano's method seems to have resembled Rodriguez', for just as +Rodriguez spoke Latin, so Morano fell back upon his own natural speech, +that he as it were unbridled and allowed to run free, the coarseness of +which had at first astounded, and then delighted, la Garda. + +"And did they not suspect that you were yourself?" said Rodriguez. + +"No, master," Morano answered, "for I said that I was the brother of +the King of Aragon." + +"The King of Aragon!" Rodriguez said, going to the length of showing +surprise. "Yes, indeed, master." said Morano, "and they recognised me." + +"Recognised you!" exclaimed the Priest. + +"Indeed so," said Morano, "for they said that they were themselves the +Kings of Aragon; and so, father, they recognised me for their brother." + +"That you should not have said," the Priest told Morano. + +"Reverend father," replied Morano, "as Heaven shines, I believed that +what I said was true." And Morano sighed deeply. "And now," he said, "I +know it is true no more." + +Whether he sighed for the loss of his belief in that exalted +relationship, or whether for the loss of that state of mind in which +such beliefs come easily, there was nothing in his sigh to show. They +questioned him further, but he said no more: he was here, there was no +more to say: he was here and la Garda was gone. + +And then the reverend man brought for them a great supper, even at that +late hour, for many an hour had slipped softly by as he heard the sins +of the sword; and wine he set out, too, of a certain golden vintage, +long lost--I fear--my reader: but this he gave not to Morano lest he +should be once more, what the reverend father feared to entertain, that +dread hidalgo, the King of Aragon's brother. And after that, the stars +having then gone far on their ways, the old Priest rose and offered a +bed to Rodriguez; and even as he eyed Morano, wondering where to put +him, and was about to speak, for he had no other bed, Morano went to a +corner of the room and curled up and lay down. And by the time his host +had walked over to him and spoken, asking anxiously if he needed +nothing more, he was almost already asleep, and muttered in answer, +after having been spoken to twice, no more than "Straw, reverend +father, straw." + +An armful of this the good man brought him, and then showed Rodriguez +to his room; and they can scarcely have reached it before Morano was +back in Aragon again, walking on golden shoes (which were sometimes +wings), proud among lesser princes. + +As precaution for the night Rodriguez took one more glance at his +host's kind face; and then, with sword out of reach and an unlocked +door, he slept till the songs of birds out of the deeps of the ilices +made sleep any longer impossible. + +The third morning of Rodriguez' wandering blazed over Spain like brass; +flowers and grass and sky were twinkling all together. + +When Rodriguez greeted his host Morano was long astir, having awakened +with dawn, for the simpler and humbler the creature the nearer it is +akin to the earth and the sun. The forces that woke the birds and +opened the flowers stirred the gross lump of Morano, ending his sleep +as they ended the nightingale's song. + +They breakfasted hurriedly and Rodriguez rose to depart, feeling that +he had taken hospitality that had not been offered. But against his +departure was the barrier of all the politeness of Spain. The house was +his, said his host, and even the small grove of ilices. + +If I told you half of the things that the reverend man said, you would +say: "This writer is affected. I do not like all this flowery mush." I +think it safer, my reader, not to tell you any of it. Let us suppose +that he merely said, "Quite all right," and that when Rodriguez thanked +him on one knee he answered, "Not at all;" and that so Rodriguez and +Morano left. If here it miss some flash of the fair form of Truth it is +the fault of the age I write for. + +The road again, dust again, birds and the blaze of leaves, these were +the background of my wanderers, until the eye had gone as far as the +eye can roam, and there were the tips of some far pale-blue mountains +that now came into view. + +They were still in each other's clothes; but the village was not behind +them very far when Morano explained, for he knew the ways of la Garda, +that having arrested two men upon this road, they would now arrest two +men each on all the other roads, in order to show the impartiality of +the Law, which constantly needs to be exhibited; and that therefore all +men were safe on the road they were on for a long while to come. + +Now there seemed to Rodriguez to be much good sense in what Morano had +said; and so indeed there was for they had good laws in Spain, and they +differed little, though so long ago, from our own excellent system. +Therefore they changed once more, giving back to each other everything +but, alas, those delicate black moustachios; and these to Rodriguez +seemed gone for ever, for the growth of new ones seemed so far ahead to +the long days of youth that his hopes could scarce reach to them. + +When Morano found himself once more in those clothes that had been with +him night and day for so many years he seemed to expand; I mean no +metaphor here; he grew visibly fatter. + +"Ah," said Morano after a huge breath, "last night I dreamed, in your +illustrious clothes, that I was in lofty station. And now, master, I am +comfortable." + +"Which were best, think you," said Rodriguez, "if you could have but +one, a lofty place or comfort?" Even in those days such a question was +trite, but Rodriguez uttered it only thinking to dip in the store of +Morano's simple wisdom, as one may throw a mere worm to catch a worthy +fish. But in this he was disappointed; for Morano made no neat +comparison nor even gave an opinion, saying only, "Master, while I have +comfort how shall I judge the case of any who have not?" And no more +would he say. His new found comfort, lost for a day and night, seemed +so to have soothed his body that it closed the gates of the mind, as +too much luxury may, even with poets. + +And now Rodriguez thought of his quest again, and the two of them +pushed on briskly to find the wars. + +For an hour they walked in silence an empty road. And then they came +upon a row of donkeys; piled high with the bark of the cork-tree, that +men were bringing slowly from far woods. Some of the men were singing +as they went. They passed slow in the sunshine. + +"Oh, master," said Morano when they were gone, "I like not that +lascivious loitering." + +"Why, Morano?" said Rodriguez. "It was not God that made hurry." + +"Master," answered Morano, "I know well who made hurry. And may he not +overtake my soul at the last. Yet it is bad for our fortunes that these +men should loiter thus. You want your castle, master; and I, I want not +always to wander roads, with la Garda perhaps behind and no certain +place to curl up and sleep in front. I look for a heap of straw in the +cellar of your great castle." + +"Yes, yes, you shall have it," his master said, "but how do these folks +hinder you?" For Morano was scowling at them over his shoulder in a way +that was somehow spoiling the gladness of Spring. + +"The air is full of their singing," Morano said. "It is as though their +souls were already flying to Hell, and cawing hoarse with sin all the +way as they go. And they loiter, and they linger..." Oh, but Morano was +angry. + +"But," said Rodriguez, "how does their lingering harm you?" + +"Where are the wars, master? Where are the wars?" blurted Morano, his +round face turning redder. "The donkeys would be dead, the men would be +running, there would be shouts, cries, and confusion, if the wars were +anywhere near. There would be all things but this." + +The men strolled on singing and so passed slow into distance. Morano +was right, though I know not how he knew. + +And now the men and the donkeys were nearly out of sight, but had not +yet at all emerged from the wrath of Morano. "Lascivious knaves," +muttered that disappointed man. And whenever he faintly heard dim +snatches of their far song that a breeze here, and another there, +brought over the plain as it ran on the errands of Spring, he cursed +their sins under his breath. Though it seemed not so much their sins +that moved his wrath as the leisure they had for committing them. + +"Peace, peace, Morano," said Rodriguez. + +"It is that," said Morano, "that is troubling me." + +"What?" + +"This same peace." + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "I had when young to study the affairs of +men; and this is put into books, and so they make history. Now I +learned that there is no thing in which men have taken delight, that is +ever put away from them; for it seems that time, which altereth every +custom, hath altered none of our likings: and in every chapter they +taught me there were these wars to be found." + +"Master, the times are altered," said Morano sadly. "It is not now as +in old days." + +And this was not the wisdom of Morano, for anger had clouded his +judgment. And a faint song came yet from the donkey-drivers, wavering +over the flowers. + +"Master," Morano said, "there are men like those vile sin-mongers, who +have taken delight in peace. It may be that peace has been brought upon +the world by one of these lousy likings." + +"The delight of peace," said Rodriguez, "is in its contrast to war. If +war were banished this delight were gone. And man lost none of his +delights in any chapter I read." + +The word and the meaning of CONTRAST were such as is understood by +reflective minds, the product of education. Morano felt rather than +reflected; and the word CONTRAST meant nothing to him. This ended their +conversation. And the songs of the donkey-drivers, light though they +were, being too heavy to be carried farther by the idle air of Spring, +Morano ceased cursing their sins. + +And now the mountains rose up taller, seeming to stretch themselves and +raise their heads. In a while they seemed to be peering over the plain. +They that were as pale ghosts, far off, dim like Fate, in the early +part of the morning, now appeared darker, more furrowed, more sinister, +more careworn; more immediately concerned with the affairs of Earth, +and so more menacing to earthly things. + +Still they went on and still the mountains grew. And noon came, when +Spain sleeps. + +And now the plain was altering, as though cool winds from the mountains +brought other growths to birth, so that they met with bushes straggling +wild; free, careless and mysterious, as they do, where there is none to +teach great Nature how to be tidy. + +The wanderers chose a clump of these that were gathered near the way, +like gypsies camped awhile midway on a wonderful journey, who at dawn +will rise and go, leaving but a bare trace of their resting and no +guess of their destiny; so fairy-like, so free, so phantasmal those +dark shrubs seemed. + +Morano lay down on the very edge of the shade of one, and Rodriguez lay +fair in the midst of the shade of another, whereby anyone passing that +way would have known which was the older traveller. Morano, according +to his custom, was asleep almost immediately; but Rodriguez, with +wonder and speculation each toying with novelty and pulling it +different ways between them, stayed awhile wakeful. Then he too slept, +and a bird thought it safe to return to an azalea of its own; which it +lately fled from troubled by the arrival of these two. + +And Rodriguez the last to sleep was the first awake, for the shade of +the shrub left him, and he awoke in the blaze of the sun to see Morano +still sheltered, well in the middle now of the shadow he chose. The +gross sleep of Morano I will not describe to you, reader. I have chosen +a pleasant tale for you in a happy land, in the fairest time of year, +in a golden age: I have youth to show you and an ancient sword, birds, +flowers and sunlight, in a plain unharmed by any dream of commerce: why +should I show you the sleep of that inelegant man whose bulk lay +cumbering the earth like a low, unseemly mountain? + +Rodriguez overtook the shade he had lost and lay there resting until +Morano awoke, driven all at once from sleep by a dream or by mere +choking. Then from the intricacies of his clothing, which to him after +those two days was what home is to some far wanderer, Morano drew out +once more a lump of bacon. Then came the fry-pan and then a fire: it +was the Wanderers' Mess. That mess-room has stood in many lands and has +only one roof. We are proud of that roof, all we who belong to that +Mess. We boast of it when we show it to our friends when it is all set +out at night. It has Aldebaran in it, the Bear and Orion, and at the +other end the Southern Cross. Yes we are proud of our roof when it is +at its best. + +What am I saying? I should be talking of bacon. Yes, but there is a way +of cooking it in our Mess that I want to tell you and cannot. I've +tasted bacon there that isn't the same as what you get at the Ritz. And +I want to tell you how that bacon tastes; and I can't so I talk about +stars. But perhaps you are one of us, reader, and then you will +understand. Only why the hell don't we get back there again where the +Evening Star swings low on the wall of the Mess? + +When they rose from table, when they got up from the earth, and the +frying-pan was slung on Morano's back, adding grease to the mere +surface of his coat whose texture could hold no more, they pushed on +briskly for they saw no sign of houses, unless what Rodriguez saw now +dimly above a ravine were indeed a house in the mountains. + +They had walked from eight till noon without any loitering. They must +have done fifteen miles since the mountains were pale blue. And now, +every mile they went, on the most awful of the dark ridges the object +Rodriguez saw seemed more and more like a house. Yet neither then, nor +as they drew still nearer, nor when they saw it close, nor looking back +on it after years, did it somehow seem quite right. And Morano +sometimes crossed himself as he looked at it, and said nothing. + +Rodriguez, as they walked ceaselessly through the afternoon, seeing his +servant show some sign of weariness, which comes not to youth, pointed +out the house looking nearer than it really was on the mountain, and +told him that he should find there straw, and they would sup and stay +the night. Afterwards, when the strange appearance of the house, +varying with different angles, filled him with curious forebodings, +Rodriguez would make no admission to his servant, but held to the plan +he had announced, and so approached the queer roofs, neglecting the +friendly stars. + +Through the afternoon the two travellers pushed on mostly in silence, +for the glances that house seemed to give him from the edge of its +perilous ridge, had driven the mirth from Rodriguez and had even +checked the garrulity on the lips of the tougher Morano, if garrulity +can be ascribed to him whose words seldom welled up unless some simple +philosophy troubled his deeps. The house seemed indeed to glance at +him, for as their road wound on, the house showed different aspects, +different walls and edges of walls, and different curious roofs; all +these walls seemed to peer at him. One after another they peered, new +ones glided imperceptibly into sight as though to say, We see too. + +The mountains were not before them but a little to the right of their +path, until new ones appeared ahead of them like giants arising from +sleep, and then their path seemed blocked as though by a mighty wall +against which its feeble wanderings went in vain. In the end it turned +a bit to its right and went straight for a dark mountain, where a wild +track seemed to come down out of the rocks to meet it, and upon this +track looked down that sinister house. Had you been there, my reader, +you would have said, any of us had said, Why not choose some other +house? There were no other houses. He who dwelt on the edge of the +ravine that ran into that dark mountain was wholly without neighbours. + +And evening came, and still they were far from the mountain. + +The sun set on their left. But it was in the eastern sky that the +greater splendour was; for the low rays streaming across lit up some +stormy clouds that were brooding behind the mountain and turned their +gloomy forms to an astounding purple. + +And after this their road began to rise toward the ridges. The +mountains darkened and the sinister house was about to merge with +their shadows, when he who dwelt there lit candles. + +The act astonished the wayfarers. All through half the day they had +seen the house, until it seemed part of the mountains; evil it seemed +like their ridges, that were black and bleak and forbidding, and +strange it seemed with a strangeness that moved no fears they could +name, yet it seemed inactive as night. + +Now lights appeared showing that someone moved. Window after window +showed to the bare dark mountain its gleaming yellow glare; there in +the night the house forsook the dark rocks that seemed kin to it, by +glowing as they could never glow, by doing what the beasts that haunted +them could not do: this was the lair of man. Here was the light of +flame but the rocks remained dark and cold as the wind of night that +went over them, he who dwelt now with the lights had forsaken the +rocks, his neighbours. + +And, when all were lit, one light high in a tower shone green. These +lights appearing out of the mountain thus seemed to speak to Rodriguez +and to tell him nothing. And Morano wondered, as he seldom troubled to +do. + +They pushed on up the steepening path. + +"Like you the looks of it?" said Rodriguez once. + +"Aye, master," answered Morano, "so there be straw." + +"You see nothing strange there, then?" Rodriguez said. + +"Master," Morano said, "there be saints for all requirements." + +Any fears he had felt about that house before, now as he neared it were +gone; it was time to put away fears and face the event; thus worked +Morano's philosophy. And he turned his thoughts to the achievements +upon earth of a certain Saint who met Satan, and showed to the +sovereign of Hell a discourtesy alien to the ways of the Church. + +It was dark now, and the yellow lights got larger as they drew nearer +the windows, till they saw large shadows obscurely passing from room to +room. The ascent was steep now and the pathway stopped. No track of any +kind approached the house. It stood on a precipice-edge as though one +of the rocks of the mountain: they climbed over rocks to reach it. The +windows flickered and blinked at them. + +Nothing invited them there in the look of that house, but they were now +in such a forbidding waste that shelter had to be found; they were all +among edges of rock as black as the night and hard as the material of +which Cosmos was formed, at first upon Chaos' brink. The sound of their +climbing ran noisily up the mountain but no sound came from the house: +only the shadows moved more swiftly across a room, passed into other +rooms and came hurrying back. Sometimes the shadows stayed and seemed +to peer; and when the travellers stood and watched to see what they +were they would disappear and there were no shadows at all, and the +rooms were filled instead with their wondering speculation. Then they +pushed on over rocks that seemed never trodden by man, so sharp were +they and slanting, all piled together: it seemed the last waste, to +which all shapeless rocks had been thrown. + +Morano and these black rocks seemed shaped by a different scheme; +indeed the rocks had never been shaped at all, they were just raw +pieces of Chaos. Morano climbed over their edges with moans and +discomfort. Rodriguez heard him behind him and knew by his moans when +he came to the top of each sharp rock. + +The rocks became savager, huger, even more sharp and more angular. They +were there in the dark in multitudes. Over these Rodriguez staggered, +and Morano clambered and tumbled; and so they came, breathing hard, to +the lonely house. + +In the wall that their hands had reached there was no door, so they +felt along it till they came to the corner, and beyond the corner was +the front wall of the house. In it was the front door. But so nearly +did this door open upon the abyss that the bats that fled from their +coming, from where they hung above the door of oak, had little more to +do than fall from their crannies, slanting ever so slightly, to find +themselves safe from man in the velvet darkness, that lay between +cliffs so lonely they were almost strangers to Echo. And here they +floated upon errands far from our knowledge; while the travellers +coming along the rocky ledge between destruction and shelter, knocked +on the oaken door. + +The sound of their knocking boomed huge and slow through the house as +though they had struck the door of the very mountain. And no one came. +And then Rodriguez saw dimly in the darkness the great handle of a +bell, carved like a dragon running down the wall: he pulled it and a +cry of pain arose from the basement of the house. + +Even Morano wondered. It was like a terrible spirit in distress. It was +long before Rodriguez dare touch the handle again. Could it have been +the bell? He felt the iron handle and the iron chain that went up from +it. How could it have been the bell! The bell had not sounded: he had +not pulled hard enough: that scream was fortuitous. The night on that +rocky ledge had jangled his nerves. He pulled again and more firmly. +The answering scream was more terrible. Rodriguez could doubt no +longer, as he sprang back from the bell-handle, that with the chain he +had pulled he inflicted some unknown agony. + +The scream had awakened slow steps that now came towards the +travellers, down corridors, as it sounded, of stone. And then chains +fell on stone and the door of oak was opened by some one older than +what man hopes to come to, with small, peaked lips as those of some +woodland thing. + +"Seņores," the old one said, "the Professor welcomes you." + +They stood and stared at his age, and Morano blurted uncouthly what +both of them felt. "You are old, grandfather," he said. + +"Ah, Seņores," the old man sighed, "the Professor does not allow me to +be young. I have been here years and years but he never allowed it. I +have served him well but it is still the same. I say to him, 'Master, I +have served you long ...' but he interrupts me for he will have none of +youth. Young servants go among the villages, he says. And so, and so..." + +"You do not think your master can give you youth!" said Rodriguez. + +The old man knew that he had talked too much, voicing that grievance +again of which even the rocks were weary. "Yes," he said briefly, and +bowed and led the way into the house. In one of the corridors running +out of the hall down which he was leading silently, Rodriguez overtook +that old man and questioned him to his face. + +"Who is this professor?" he said. + +By the light of a torch that spluttered in an iron clamp on the wall +Rodriguez questioned him with these words, and Morano with his +wondering, wistful eyes. The old man halted and turned half round, and +lifted his head and answered. "In the University of Saragossa," he said +with pride, "he holds the Chair of Magic." + +Even the names of Oxford or Cambridge, Harvard or Yale or Princeton, +move some respect, and even yet in these unlearned days. What wonder +then that the name of Saragossa heard on that lonely mountain awoke in +Rodriguez some emotion of reverence and even awed Morano. As for the +Chair of Magic, it was of all the royal endowments of that illustrious +University the most honoured and dreaded. + +"At Saragossa!" Rodriguez muttered. + +"At Saragossa," the old man affirmed. + +Between that ancient citadel of learning and this most savage mountain +appeared a gulf scarce to be bridged by thought. + +"The Professor rests in his mountain," the old man said, "because of a +conjunction of the stars unfavourable to study, and his class have gone +to their homes for many weeks." He bowed again and led on along that +corridor of dismal stone. The others followed, and still as Rodriguez +went that famous name Saragossa echoed within his mind. + +And then they came to a door set deep in the stone, and their guide +opened it and they went in; and there was the Professor in a mystical +hat and a robe of dim purple, seated with his back to them at a table, +studying the ways of the stars. "Welcome, Don Rodriguez," said the +Professor before he turned round; and then he rose, and with small +steps backwards and sideways and many bows, he displayed all those +formulae of politeness that Saragossa knew in the golden age and which +her professors loved to execute. In later years they became more +elaborate still, and afterwards were lost. + +Rodriguez replied rather by instinct than knowledge; he came of a house +whose bows had never missed graceful ease and which had in some +generations been a joy to the Court of Spain. Morano followed behind +him; but his servile presence intruded upon that elaborate ceremony, +and the Professor held up his hand, and Morano was held in mid stride +as though the air had gripped him. There he stood motionless, having +never felt magic before. And when the Professor had welcomed Rodriguez +in a manner worthy of the dignity of the Chair that he held at +Saragossa, he made an easy gesture and Morano was free again. + +"Master," said Morano to the Professor, as soon as he found he could +move, "master, it looks like magic." Picture to yourself some yokel +shown into the library of a professor of Greek at Oxford, taking down +from a shelf one of the books of the Odyssey, and saying to the +Professor, "It looks like Greek"! + +Rodriguez felt grieved by Morano's boorish ignorance. Neither he nor +his host answered him. + +The Professor explained that he followed the mysteries dimly, owing to +a certain aspect of Orion, and that therefore his class were gone to +their homes and were hunting; and so he studied alone under +unfavourable auspices. And once more he welcomed Rodriguez to his roof, +and would command straw to be laid down for the man that Rodriguez had +brought from the Inn of the Dragon and Knight; for he, the Professor, +saw all things, though certain stars would hide everything. + +And when Rodriguez had appropriately uttered his thanks, he added with +all humility and delicate choice of phrase a petition that he might be +shown some mere rudiment of the studies for which that illustrious +chair in Saragossa was famous. The Professor bowed again and, in +accepting the well-rounded compliments that Rodriguez paid to the +honoured post he occupied, he introduced himself by name. He had been +once, he said, the Count of the Mountain, but when his astral studies +had made him eminent and he had mastered the ways of the planet nearest +the sun he took the title Magister Mercurii, and by this had long been +known; but had now forsaken this title, great as it was, for a more +glorious nomenclature, and was called in the Arabic language the Slave +of Orion. When Rodriguez heard this he bowed very low. + +And now the Professor asked Rodriguez in which of the activities of +life his interest lay; for the Chair of Magic at Saragossa, he said, +was concerned with them all. + +"In war," said Rodriguez. + +And Morano unostentatiously rubbed his hands; for here was one, he +thought, who would soon put his master on the right way, and matters +would come to a head and they would find the wars. But far from +concerning himself with the wars of that age, the Slave of Orion +explained that as events came nearer they became grosser or more +material, and that their grossness did not leave them until they were +some while passed away; so that to one whose studies were with +aetherial things, near events were opaque and dim. He had a window, he +explained, through which Rodriguez should see clearly the ancient wars, +while another window beside it looked on all wars of the future except +those which were planned already or were coming soon to earth, and +which were either invisible or seen dim as through mist. + +Rodriguez said that to be privileged to see so classical an example of +magic would be to him both a delight and honour. Yet, as is the way of +youth, he more desired to have a sight of the wars than he cared for +all the learning of the Professor. + +And to him who held the Chair of Magic at Saragossa it was a precious +thing that his windows could be made to show these marvels, while the +guest to whom he was about to display these two gems of his learning +was thinking of little but what he should see through the windows, and +not at all of what spells, what midnight oil, what incantations, what +witchcrafts, what lonely hours among bats, had gone to the +gratification of his young curiosity. It is usually thus. + +The Professor rose: his cloak floated out from him as he left the +chamber, and Rodriguez following where he guided saw, by the torchlight +in the corridors, upon the dim purple border signs that, to his +untutored ignorance of magic, were no more than hints of the affairs of +the Zodiac. And if these signs were obscure it were better they were +obscurer, for they dealt with powers that man needs not to possess, who +has the whole earth to regulate and control; why then should he seek to +govern the course of any star? + +And Morano followed behind them, hoping to be allowed to get a sight of +the wars. + +They came to a room where two round windows were; each of them larger +than the very largest plate, and of very thick glass indeed, and of a +wonderful blue. The blue was like the blue of the Mediterranean at +evening, when lights are in it both of ships and of sunset, and lights +of harbours being lit one by one, and the light of Venus perhaps and +about two other stars, so deeply did it stare and so twinkled, near its +edges, with lights that were strange to that room, and so triumphed +with its clear beauty over the night outside. No, it was more magical +than the Mediterranean at evening, even though the peaks of the +Esterels be purple and their bases melting in gold and the blue sea +lying below them smiling at early stars: these windows were more +mysterious than that; it was a more triumphant blue; it was like the +Mediterranean seen with the eyes of Shelley, on a happy day in his +youth, or like the sea round Western islands of fable seen by the fancy +of Keats. They were no windows for any need of ours, unless our dreams +be needs, unless our cries for the moon be urged by the same Necessity +as makes us cry for bread. They were clearly concerned only with magic +or poetry; though the Professor claimed that poetry was but a branch of +his subject; and it was so regarded at Saragossa, where it was taught +by the name of theoretical magic, while by the name of practical magic +they taught dooms, brews, hauntings, and spells. + +The Professor stood before the left-hand window and pointed to its +deep-blue centre. "Through this," he said, "we see the wars that were." + +Rodriguez looked into the deep-blue centre where the great bulge of the +glass came out towards him; it was near to the edges where the glass +seemed thinner that the little strange lights were dancing; Morano +dared to tiptoe a little nearer. Rodriguez looked and saw no night +outside. Just below and near to the window was white mist, and the dim +lines and smoke of what may have been recent wars; but farther away on +a plain of strangely vast dimensions he saw old wars that were. War +after war he saw. Battles that long ago had passed into history and had +been for many ages skilled, glorious and pleasant encounters he saw +even now tumbling before him in their savage confusion and dirt. He saw +a leader, long glorious in histories he had read, looking round +puzzled, to see what was happening, and in a very famous fight that he +had planned very well. He saw retreats that History called routs, and +routs that he had seen History calling retreats. He saw men winning +victories without knowing they had won. Never had man pried before so +shamelessly upon History, or found her such a liar. With his eyes on +the great blue glass Rodriguez forgot the room, forgot time, forgot his +host and poor excited Morano, as he watched those famous fights. + +And now my reader wishes to know what he saw and how it was that he was +able to see it. + +As regards the second, my reader will readily understand that the +secrets of magic are very carefully guarded, and any smatterings of it +that I may ever have come by I possess, for what they are worth, +subjects to oaths and penalties at which even bad men shudder. My +reader will be satisfied that even those intimate bonds between reader +and writer are of no use to him here. I say him as though I had only +male readers, but if my reader be a lady I leave the situation +confidently to her intuition. As for the things he saw, of all of these +I am at full liberty to write, and yet, my reader, they would differ +from History's version: never a battle that Rodriguez saw on all the +plain that swept away from that circular window, but History wrote +differently. And now, my reader, the situation is this: who am I? +History was a goddess among the Greeks, or is at least a distinguished +personage, perhaps with a well-earned knighthood, and certainly with +widespread recognition amongst the Right Kind of People. I have none of +these things. Whom, then, would you believe? + +Yet I would lay my story confidently before you, my reader, trusting in +the justice of my case and in your judicial discernment, but for one +other thing. What will the Goddess Clio say, or the well-deserving +knight, if I offend History? She has stated her case, Sir Bartimeus has +written it, and then so late in the day I come with a different story, +a truer but different story. What will they do? Reader, the future is +dark, uncertain and long; I dare not trust myself to it if I offend +History. Clio and Sir Bartimeus will make hay of my reputation; an +innuendo here, a foolish fact there, they know how to do it, and not a +soul will suspect the goddess of personal malice or the great historian +of pique. Rodriguez gazed then through the deep blue window, forgetful +of all around, on battles that had not all the elegance or neatness of +which our histories so tidily tell. And as he gazed upon a merry +encounter between two men on the fringe of an ancient fight he felt a +touch on his shoulder and then almost a tug, and turning round beheld +the room he was in. How long he had been absent from it in thought he +did not know, but the Professor was still standing with folded arms +where he had left him, probably well satisfied with the wonder that his +most secret art had awakened in his guest. It was Morano who touched +his shoulder, unable to hold back any longer his impatience to see the +wars; his eyes as Rodriguez turned round were gazing at his master with +dog-like wistfulness. + +The absurd eagerness of Morano, his uncouth touch on his shoulder, +seemed only pathetic to Rodriguez. He looked at the Professor's face, +the nose like a hawk's beak, the small eyes deep down beside it, dark +of hue and dreadfully bright, the silent lips. He stood there uttering +no actual prohibition, concerning which Rodriguez's eyes had sought; +so, stepping aside from his window, Rodriguez beckoned Morano, who at +once ran forward delighted to see those ancient wars. + +A slight look of scorn showed faint upon the Professor's face such as +you may see anywhere when a master-craftsman perceives the gaze of the +ignorant turned towards his particular subject. But he said no word, +and soon speech would have been difficult, for the loud clamour of +Morano filled the room: he had seen the wars and his ecstasies were +ungoverned. As soon as he saw those fights he looked for the Infidels, +for his religious mind most loved to see the Infidel slain. And if my +reader discern or suppose some gulf between religion and the recent +business of the Inn of the Dragon and Knight, Morano, if driven to +admit any connection between murder and his daily bread, would have +said, "All the more need then for God's mercy through the intercession +of His most blessed Saints." But these words had never passed Morano's +lips, for shrewd as he was in enquiry into any matter that he desired +to know, his shrewdness was no less in avoiding enquiry where there +might be something that he desired not to know, such as the origin of +his wages as servant of the Inn of the Dragon and Knight, those +delicate gold rings with settings empty of jewels. + +Morano soon recognized the Infidel by his dress, and after that no +other wars concerned him. He slapped his thigh, he shouted +encouragement, he howled vile words of abuse, partly because he +believed that this foul abuse was rightly the due of the Infidel, and +partly because he believed it delighted God. + +Rodriguez stood and watched, pleased at the huge joy of the simple man. +The Slave of Orion stood watching in silence too, but who knows if he +felt pleasure or any other emotion? Perhaps his mind was simply like +ours; perhaps, as has been claimed by learned men of the best-informed +period, that mind had some control upon the comet, even when farthest +out from the paths we know. Morano turned round for a moment to +Rodriguez: + +"Good wars, master, good wars," he said with a vast zest, and at once +his head was back again at that calm blue window. In that flash of the +head Rodriguez had seen his eyes, blue, round and bulging; the round +man was like a boy who in some shop window has seen, unexpected, huge +forbidden sweets. Clearly, in the war he watched things were going well +for the Cross, for such cries came from Morano as "A pretty stroke," +"There now, the dirty Infidel," "Now see God's power shown," "Spare him +not, good knight; spare him not," and many more, till, uttered faster +and faster, they merged into mere clamorous rejoicing. + +But the battles beyond the blue window seemed to move fast, and now a +change was passing across Morano's rejoicings. It was not that he swore +more for the cause of the Cross, but brief, impatient, meaningless +oaths slipped from him now; he was becoming irritable; a puzzled look, +so far as Rodriguez could see, was settling down on his features. For a +while he was silent except for the little, meaningless oaths. Then he +turned round from the glass, his hands stretched out, his face full of +urgent appeal. + +"Masters," he said, "God's enemy wins!" + +In answer to Morano's pitiful look Rodriguez' hand went to his +sword-hilt; the Slave of Orion merely smiled with his lips; Morano +stood there with his hands still stretched out, his face still all +appeal, and something more for there was reproach in his eyes that men +could tarry while the Cross was in danger and the Infidel lived. He did +not know that it was all finished and over hundreds of years ago, a +page of history upon which many pages were turned, and which lay as +unalterable as the fate of some warm swift creature of early Eocene +days over whose fossil today the strata lie long and silent. + +"But can nothing be done, master?" he said when Rodriguez told him +this. And when Rodriguez failed him here, he turned away from the +window. To him the Infidel were game, but to see them defeating +Christian knights violated the deeps of his feelings. + +Morano sulky excited little more notice from his host and his master +who had watched his rejoicings, and they seem to have forgotten this +humble champion of Christendom. The Professor slightly bowed to +Rodriguez and extended a graceful hand. He pointed to the other window. + +Reader, your friend shows you his collection of stamps, his fossils, +his poems, or his luggage labels. One of them interests you, you look +at it awhile, you are ready to go away: then your friend shows you +another. This also must be seen; for your friend's collection is a +precious thing; it is that point upon huge Earth on which his spirit +has lit, on which it rests, on which it shelters even (who knows from +what storms?). To slight it were to weaken such hold as his spirit has, +in its allotted time, upon this sphere. It were like breaking the twig +of a plant upon which a butterfly rests, and on some stormy day and +late in the year. + +Rodriguez felt all this dimly, but no less surely; and went to the +other window. + +Below the window were those wars that were soon coming to Spain, hooded +in mist and invisible. In the centre of the window swam as profound a +blue, dwindling to paler splendour at the edge, the wandering lights +were as lovely, as in the other window just to the left; but in the +view from the right-hand window how sombre a difference. A bare yard +separated the two. Through the window to the left was colour, courtesy, +splendour; there was Death at least disguising himself, well cloaked, +taking mincing steps, bowing, wearing a plume in his hat and a decent +mask. In the right-hand window all the colours were fading, war after +war they grew dimmer; and as the colours paled Death's sole purpose +showed clearer. Through the beautiful left-hand window were killings to +be seen, and less mercy than History supposes, yet some of the fighters +were merciful, and mercy was sometimes a part of Death's courtly pose, +which went with the cloak and the plume. But in the other window +through that deep, beautiful blue Rodriguez saw Man make a new ally, an +ally who was only cruel and strong and had no purpose but killing, who +had no pretences or pose, no mask and no manner, but was only the slave +of Death and had no care but for his business. He saw it grow bigger +and stronger. Heart it had none, but he saw its cold steel core +scheming methodical plans and dreaming always destruction. Before it +faded men and their fields and their houses. Rodriguez saw the machine. + +Many a proud invention of ours that Rodriguez saw raging on that +ruinous plain he might have anticipated, but not for all Spain would he +have done so: it was for the sake of Spain that he was silent about +much that he saw through that window. As he looked from war to war he +saw almost the same men fighting, men with always the same attitude to +the moment and with similar dim conception of larger, vaguer things; +grandson differed imperceptibly from grandfather; he saw them fight +sometimes mercifully, sometimes murderously, but in all the wars beyond +that twinkling window he saw the machine spare nothing. + +Then he looked farther, for the wars that were farthest from him in +time were farther away from the window. He looked farther and saw the +ruins of Peronne. He saw them all alone with their doom at night, all +drenched in white moonlight, sheltering huge darkness in their stricken +hollows. Down the white street, past darkness after darkness as he went +by the gaping rooms that the moon left mourning alone, Rodriguez saw a +captain going back to the wars in that far-future time, who turned his +head a moment as he passed, looking Rodriguez in the face, and so went +on through the ruins to find a floor on which to lie down for the +night. When he was gone the street was all alone with disaster, and +moonlight pouring down, and the black gloom in the houses. + +Rodriguez lifted his eyes and glanced from city to city, to Albert, +Bapaume, and Arras, his gaze moved over a plain with its harvest of +desolation lying forlorn and ungathered, lit by the flashing clouds and +the moon and peering rockets. He turned from the window and wept. + +The deep round window glowed with serene blue glory. It seemed a +foolish thing to weep by that beautiful glass. Morano tried to comfort +him. That calm, deep blue, he felt, and those little lights, surely, +could hurt no one. + +What had Rodriguez seen? Morano asked. But that Rodriguez would not +answer, and told no man ever after what he had seen through that window. + +The Professor stood silent still: he had no comfort to offer; indeed +his magical wisdom had found none for the world. + +You wonder perhaps why the Professor did not give long ago to the world +some of these marvels that are the pride of our age. Reader, let us put +aside my tale for a moment to answer this. For all the darkness of his +sinister art there may well have been some good in the Slave of Orion; +and any good there was, and mere particle even, would surely have +spared the world many of those inventions that our age has not spared +it. Blame not the age, it is now too late to stop; it is in the grip of +inventions now, and has to go on; we cannot stop content with +mustard-gas; it is the age of Progress, and our motto is Onwards. And +if there was no good in this magical man, then may it not have been he +who in due course, long after he himself was safe from life, caused our +inventions to be so deadly divulged? Some evil spirit has done it, then +why not he? + +He stood there silent: let us return to our story. + +Perhaps the efforts of poor clumsy Morano to comfort him cheered +Rodriguez and sent him back to the window, perhaps he turned from them +to find comfort of his own; but, however he came by it, he had a hope +that this was a passing curse that had come on the world, whose welfare +he cared for whether he lived or died, and that looking a little +farther into the future he would see Mother Earth smiling and her +children happy again. So he looked through the deep-blue luminous +window once more, beyond the battles we know. From this he turned back +shuddering. + +Again he saw the Professor smile with his lips, though whether at his +own weakness, or whether with cynical mirth at the fate of the world, +Rodriguez could not say. + + + + +THE FOURTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE SUN + + +The Professor said that in curiosity alone had been found the seeds of +all that is needful for our damnation. Nevertheless, he said, if +Rodriguez cared to see more of his mighty art the mysteries of +Saragossa were all at his guest's disposal. + +Rodriguez, sad and horrified though he was, forgot none of his +courtesy. He thanked the Professor and praised the art of Saragossa, +but his faith in man and his hope for the world having been newly +disappointed, he cared little enough for the things we should care to +see or for any of the amusements that are usually dear to youth. + +"I shall be happy to see anything, seņor," he said to the Slave of +Orion, "that is further from our poor Earth, and to study therein and +admire your famous art." + +The Professor bowed. He drew small curtains over the windows, matching +his cloak. Morano sought a glimpse through the right-hand window before +the curtains covered it. Rodriguez held him back. Enough had been seen +already, he thought, through that window for the peace of mind of the +world: but he said no word to Morano. He held him by the arm, and the +Professor covered the windows. When the little mauve curtains were +drawn it seemed to Rodriguez that the windows behind them disappeared +and were there no more; but this he only guessed from uncertain +indications. + +Then the Professor drew forth his wand and went to his cupboard of +wonder. Thence he brought condiments, oils, and dews of amazement. +These he poured into a vessel that was in the midst of the room, a bowl +of agate standing alone on a table. He lit it and it all welled up in +flame, a low broad flame of the colour of pale emerald. Over this he +waved his wand, which was of exceeding blackness. Morano watched as +children watch the dancer, who goes from village to village when spring +is come, with some new dance out of Asia or some new song.[Footnote: He +doesn't, but why shouldn't he?] Rodriguez sat and waited. The Professor +explained that to leave this Earth alive, or even dead, was prohibited +to our bodies, unless to a very few, whose names were hidden. Yet the +spirits of men could by incantation be liberated, and being liberated, +could be directed on journeys by such minds as had that power passed +down to them from of old. Such journeys, he said, were by no means +confined by the hills of Earth. "The Saints," exclaimed Morano, "guard +us utterly!" But Rodriguez smiled a little. His faith was given to the +Saints of Heaven. He wondered at their wonders, he admired their +miracles, he had little faith to spare for other marvels; in fact he +did not believe the Slave of Orion. + +"Do you desire such a journey?" said the Professor. + +"It will delight me," answered Rodriguez, "to see this example of your +art." + +"And you?" he said to Morano. + +The question seemed to alarm the placid Morano, but "I follow my +master," he said. + +At once the Professor stretched out his ebony wand, calling the green +flame higher. Then he put out his hands over the flame, without the +wand, moving them slowly with constantly tremulous fingers. And all at +once they heard him begin to speak. His deep voice flowed musically +while he scarcely seemed to be speaking but seemed only to be concerned +with moving his hands. It came soft, as though blown faint from +fabulous valleys, illimitably far from the land of Spain. It seemed +full not so much of magic as mere sleep, either sleep in an unknown +country of alien men, or sleep in a land dreamed sleeping a long while +since. As the travellers heard it they thought of things far away, of +mythical journeys and their own earliest years. + +They did not know what he said or what language he used. At first +Rodriguez thought Moorish, then he deemed it some secret language come +down from magicians of old, while Morano merely wondered; and then they +were lulled by the rhythm of those strange words, and so enquired no +more. Rodriguez pictured some sad wandering angel, upon some +mountain-peak of African lands, resting a moment and talking to the +solitudes, telling the lonely valley the mysteries of his home. While +lulled though Morano was he gave up his alertness uneasily. All the +while the green flame flooded upwards: all the while the tremulous +fingers made curious shadows. The shadow seemed to run to Rodriguez and +beckon him thence: even Morano felt them calling. Rodriguez closed his +eyes. The voice and the Moorish spells made now a more haunting melody: +they were now like a golden organ on undiscoverable mountains. Fear +came on Morano at the thought: who had power to speak like this? He +grasped Rodriguez by the wrist. "Master!" he said, but at that moment +on one of those golden spells the spirit of Rodriguez drifted away from +his body, and out of the greenish light of the curious room; unhampered +by weight, or fatigue, or pain, or sleep; and it rose above the rocks +and over the mountain, an unencumbered spirit: and the spirit of Morano +followed. + +The mountain dwindled at once; the Earth swept out all round them and +grew larger, and larger still, and then began to dwindle. They saw then +that they were launched upon some astounding journey. Does my reader +wonder they saw when they had no eyes? They saw as they had never seen +before, with sight beyond what they had ever thought to be possible. +Our eyes gather in light, and with the little rays of light that they +bring us we gather a few images of things as we suppose them to be. +Pardon me, reader, if I call them things as we suppose them to be; call +them by all means Things As They Really Are, if you wish. These images +then, this tiny little brainful that we gather from the immensities, +are all brought in by our eyesight upside-down, and the brain corrects +them again; and so, and so we know something. An oculist will tell you +how it all works. He may admit it is all a little clumsy, or for the +dignity of his profession he may say it is not at all. But be this as +it may, our eyes are but barriers between us and the immensities. All +our five senses that grope a little here and touch a little there, and +seize, and compare notes, and get a little knowledge sometimes, they +are only barriers between us and what there is to know. Rodriguez and +Morano were outside these barriers. They saw without the imperfections +of eyesight; they heard on that journey what would have deafened ears; +they went through our atmosphere unburned by speed, and were unchilled +in the bleak of the outer spaces. Thus freed of the imperfections of +the body they sped, no less upon a terrible journey, whose direction as +yet Rodriguez only began to fear. + +They had seen the stars pale rapidly and then the flash of dawn. The +Sun rushed up and at once began to grow larger. Earth, with her curved +sides still diminishing violently, was soon a small round garden in +blue and filmy space, in which mountains were planted. And still the +Sun was growing wider and wider. And now Rodriguez, though he knew +nothing of Sun or planets, perceived the obvious truth of their +terrible journey: they were heading straight for the Sun. But the +spirit of Morano was merely astounded; yet, being free of the body he +suffered none of those inconveniences that perturbation may bring to +us: spirits do not gasp, or palpitate, or weaken, or sicken. + +The dwindling Earth seemed now no more than the size of some unmapped +island seen from a mountain-top, an island a hundred yards or so +across, looking like a big table. + +Speed is comparative: compared to sound, their pace was beyond +comparison; nor could any modern projectile attain any velocity +comparable to it; even the speed of explosion was slow to it. And yet +for spirits they were moving slowly, who being independent of all +material things, travel with such velocities as that, for instance, of +thought. But they were controlled by one still dwelling on Earth, who +used material things, and the material that the Professor was using to +hurl them upon their journey was light, the adaptation of which to this +purpose he had learned at Saragossa. At the pace of light they were +travelling towards the Sun. + +They crossed the path of Venus, far from where Venus then was, so that +she scarcely seemed larger to them; Earth was but little bigger than +the Evening Star, looking dim in that monstrous daylight. + +Crossing the path of Mercury, Mercury appeared huger than our Moon, an +object weirdly unnatural; and they saw ahead of them the terrific glare +in which Mercury basks, from a Sun whose withering orb had more than +doubled its width since they came from the hills of Earth. And after +this the Sun grew terribly larger, filling the centre of the sky, and +spreading and spreading and spreading. It was now that they saw what +would have dazzled eyes, would have burned up flesh and would have +shrivelled every protection that our scientists' ingenuity could have +devised even today. To speak of time there is meaningless. There is +nothing in the empty space between the Sun and Mercury with which time +is at all concerned. Far less is there meaning in time wherever the +spirits of men are under stress. A few minutes' bombardment in a +trench, a few hours in a battle, a few weeks' travelling in a trackless +country; these minutes, these hours, these weeks can never be few. + +Rodriguez and Morano had been travelling about six or seven minutes, +but it seems idle to say so. + +And then the Sun began to fill the whole sky in front of them. And in +another minute, if minutes had any meaning, they were heading for a +boundless region of flame that, left and right, was everywhere, and now +towered above them, and went below them into a flaming abyss. + +And now Morano spoke to Rodriguez. He thought towards him, and +Rodriguez was aware of his thinking: it is thus that spirits +communicate. + +"Master," he said, "when it was all spring in Spain, years ago when I +was thin and young, twenty years gone at least; and the butterflies +were come, and song was everywhere; there came a maid bare-footed over +a stream, walking through flowers, and all to pluck the anemones." How +fair she seemed even now, how bright that far spring day. Morano told +Rodriguez not with his blundering lips: they were closed and resting +deeply millions of miles away: he told him as spirits tell. And in that +clear communication Rodriguez saw all that shone in Morano's memory, +the grace of the young girl's ankles, the thrill of Spring, the +anemones larger and brighter than anemones ever were, the hawks still +in clear sky; earth happy and heaven blue, and the dreams of youth +between. You would not have said, had you seen Morano's coarse fat +body, asleep in a chair in the Professor's room, that his spirit +treasured such delicate, nymph-like, pastoral memories as now shone +clear to Rodriguez. No words the blunt man had ever been able to utter +had ever hinted that he sometimes thought like a dream of pictures by +Watteau. And now in that awful space before the power of the terrible +Sun, spirit communed with spirit, and Rodriguez saw the beauty of that +far day, framed all about the beauty of one young girl, just as it had +been for years in Morano's memory. How shall I tell with words what +spirit sang wordless to spirit? We poets may compete with each other in +words; but when spirits give up the purest gold of their store, that +has shone far down the road of their earthly journey, cheering tired +hearts and guiding mortal feet, our words shall barely interpret. + +Love, coming long ago over flowers in Spain, found Morano; words did +not tell the story, words cannot tell it; as a lake reflects a cloud in +the blue of heaven, so Rodriguez understood and felt and knew this +memory out of the days of Morano's youth. "And so, master," said +Morano, "I sinned, and would indeed repent, and yet even now at this +last dread hour I cannot abjure that day; and this is indeed Hell, as +the good father said." + +Rodriguez tried to comfort Morano with such knowledge as he had of +astronomy, if knowledge it could be called. Indeed, if he had known +anything he would have perplexed Morano more, and his little pieces of +ignorance were well adapted for comfort. But Morano had given up hope, +having long been taught to expect this very fire: his spirit was no +wiser than it had been on Earth, it was merely freed of the +imperfections of the five senses and so had observation and expression +beyond those of any artist the world has known. This was the natural +result of being freed of the body; but he was not suddenly wiser; and +so, as he moved towards this boundless flame, he expected every moment +to see Satan charge out to meet him: and having no hope for the future +he turned to the past and fondled the memory of that one spring day. +His was a backsliding, unrepentant spirit. + +As that monstrous sea of flame grew ruthlessly larger Rodriguez felt no +fear, for spirits have no fear of material things: but Morano feared. +He feared as spirits fear spiritual things; he thought he neared the +home of vast spirits of evil and that the arena of conflict was +eternity. He feared with a fear too great to be borne by bodies. +Perhaps the fat body that slept on a chair on earth was troubled in +dreams by some echo of that fear that gripped the spirit so sorely. And +it may be from such far fears that all our nightmares come. + +When they had travelled nearly ten minutes from Earth and were about to +pass into the midst of the flame, that magician who controlled their +journey halted them suddenly in Space, among the upper mountain-peaks +of the Sun. There they hovered as the clouds hover that leave their +companions and drift among crags of the Alps: below them those awful +mountains heaved and thundered. All Atlas, and Teneriffe, and lonely +Kenia might have lain amongst them unnoticed. As often as the +earthquake rocked their bases it loosened from near their summits wild +avalanches of gold that swept down their flaming slopes with +unthinkable tumult. As they watched, new mountains rode past them, +crowned with their frightful flames; for, whether man knew it or not, +the Sun was rotating, but the force of its gravity that swung the +planets had no grip upon spirits, who were held by the power of that +tremendous spell that the Professor had learned one midnight at +Saragossa from one of that dread line who have their secrets from a +source that we do not know in a distant age. + +There is always something tremendous in the form of great mountains; +but these swept by, not only huger than anything Earth knows, but +troubled by horrible commotions, as though overtaken in flight by some +ceaseless calamity. + +Rodriguez and Morano, as they looked at them, forgetting the gardens of +Earth, forgetting Spring and Summer and the sweet beneficence of +sunshine, felt that the purpose of Creation was evil! So shocking a +thought may well astound us here, where green hills slope to lawns or +peer at a peaceful sea; but there among the flames of those dreadful +peaks the Sun seemed not the giver of joy and colour and life, but only +a catastrophe huger than everlasting war, a centre of hideous violence +and ruin and anger and terror. There came by mountains of copper +burning everlasting, hurling up to unthinkable heights their mass of +emerald flame. And mountains of iron raged by and mountains of salt, +quaking and thundering and clothed with their colours, the iron always +scarlet and the salt blue. And sometimes there came by pinnacles a +thousand miles high that from base to summit were fire, mountains of +pure flame that had no other substance. And these explosive mountains, +born of thunder and earthquake, hurling down avalanches the size of our +continents, and drawing upward out of the deeps of the Sun new material +for splendour and horror, this roaring waste, this extravagant +destruction, were necessary for every tint that our butterflies wear on +their wings. Without those flaming ranges of mountains of iron they +would have no red to show; even the poppy could have no red for her +petals: without the flames that were blasting the mountains of salt +there could be no answering blue in any wing, or one blue flower for +all the bees of Earth: without the nightmare light of those frightful +canyons of copper that awed the two spirits watching their ceaseless +ruin, the very leaves of the woods we love would be without their green +with which to welcome Spring; for from the flames of the various metals +and wonders that for ever blaze in the Sun, our sunshine gets all its +colours that it conveys to us almost unseen, and thence the wise little +insects and patient flowers softly draw the gay tints that they glory +in; there is nowhere else to get them. + +And yet to Rodriguez and Morano all that they saw seemed wholly and +hideously evil. + +How long they may have watched there they tried to guess afterwards, +but as they looked on those terrific scenes they had no way to separate +days from minutes: nothing about them seemed to escape destruction, and +time itself seemed no calmer than were those shuddering mountains. + +Then the thundering ranges passed; and afterwards there came a gleaming +mountain, one huge and lonely peak, seemingly all of gold. Had our +whole world been set beside it and shaped as it was shaped, that golden +mountain would yet have towered above it: it would have taken our moon +as well to reach that flashing peak. It rode on toward them in its +golden majesty, higher than all the flames, save now and then when some +wild gas seemed to flee from the dread earthquakes of the Sun, and was +overtaken in the height by fire, even above that mountain. + +As that mass of gold that was higher than all the world drew near to +Rodriguez and Morano they felt its unearthly menace; and though it +could not overcome their spirits they knew there was a hideous terror +about it. It was in its awful scale that its terror lurked for any +creature of our planet. Though they could not quake or tremble they +felt that terror. The mountain dwarfed Earth. + +Man knows his littleness, his own mountains remind him; many countries +are small, and some nations: but the dreams of Man make up for our +faults and failings, for the brevity of our lives, for the narrowness +of our scope; they leap over boundaries and are away and away. But this +great mountain belittled the world and all: who gazed on it knew all +his dreams to be puny. Before this mountain Man seemed a trivial thing, +and Earth, and all the dreams Man had of himself and his home. + +The golden mass drew opposite those two watchers and seemed to +challenge with its towering head the pettiness of the tiny world they +knew. And then the whole gleaming mountain gave one shudder and fell +into the awful plains of the Sun. Straight down before Rodriguez and +Morano it slipped roaring, till the golden peak was gone, and the +molten plain closed over it; and only ripples remained, the size of +Europe, as when a tumbling river strikes the rocks of its bed and on +its surface heaving circles widen and disappear. And then, as though +this horror left nothing more to be shown, they felt the Professor +beckon to them from Earth. + +Over the plains of the Sun a storm was sweeping in gusts of howling +flame as they felt the Professor's spell drawing them home. For the +magnitude of that storm there are no words in use among us; its +velocity, if expressed in figures, would have no meaning; its heat was +immeasurable. Suffice it to say that if such a tempest could have swept +over Earth for a second, both the poles would have boiled. The +travellers left it galloping over that plain, rippled from underneath +by the restless earthquake and whipped into flaming foam by the force +of the storm. The Sun already was receding from them, already growing +smaller. Soon the storm seemed but a cloud of light sweeping over the +empty plain, like a murderous mourner rushing swiftly away from the +grave of that mighty mountain. + +And now the Professor's spell gripped them in earnest: rapidly the Sun +grew smaller. As swiftly as he had sent them upon that journey he was +now drawing them home. They overtook thunders that they had heard +already, and passed them, and came again to the silent spaces which the +thunders of the Sun are unable to cross, so that even Mercury is +undisturbed by them. + +I have said that spirits neither fade nor weary. But a great sadness +was on them; they felt as men feel who come whole away from periods of +peril. They had seen cataclysms too vast for our imagination, and a +mournfulness and a satiety were upon them. They could have gazed at one +flower for days and needed no other experience, as a wounded man may be +happy staring at the flame of a candle. + +Crossing the paths of Mercury and Venus, they saw that these planets +had not appreciably moved, and Rodriguez, who knew that planets wander +in the night, guessed thereby that they had not been absent from Earth +for many hours. + +They rejoiced to see the Sun diminishing steadily. Only for a moment as +they started their journey had they seen that solar storm rushing over +the plains of the Sun; but now it appeared to hang halted in its mid +anger, as though blasting one region eternally. + +Moving on with the pace of light, they saw Earth, soon after crossing +the path of Venus, beginning to grow larger than a star. Never had home +appeared more welcome to wanderers, who see their house far off, +returning home. + +And as Earth grew larger, and they began to see forms that seemed like +seas and mountains, they looked for their own country, but could not +find it: for, travelling straight from the Sun, they approached that +part of the world that was then turned towards it, and were heading +straight for China, while Spain lay still in darkness. + +But when they came near Earth and its mountains were clear, then the +Professor drew them across the world, into the darkness and over Spain; +so that those two spirits ended their marvellous journey much as the +snipe ends his, a drop out of heaven and a swoop low over marshes. So +they came home, while Earth seemed calling to them with all her voices; +with memories, sights and scents, and little sounds; calling anxiously, +as though they had been too long away and must be home soon. They heard +a cock crow on the edge of the night; they heard more little sounds +than words can say; only the organ can hint at them. It was Earth +calling. For, talk as we may of our dreams that transcend this sphere, +or our hopes that build beyond it, Mother Earth has yet a mighty hold +upon us; and her myriad sounds were blending in one cry now, knowing +that it was late and that these two children of hers were nearly lost. +For our spirits that sometimes cross the path of the angels, and on +rare evenings hear a word of their talk, and have brief equality with +the Powers of Light, have the duty also of moving fingers and toes, +which freeze if our proud spirits forget their task for too long. + +And just as Earth was despairing they reached the Professor's mountain +and entered the room in which their bodies were. + +Blue and cold and ugly looked the body of Morano, but for all its +pallor there was beauty in the young face of Rodriguez. + +The Professor stood before them as he had stood when their spirits +left, with the table between him and the bodies, and the bowl on the +table which held the green flame, now low and flickering desperately, +which the Professor watched as it leaped and failed, with an air of +anxiety that seemed to pinch his thin features. + +With an impatience strange to him he waved a swift hand towards each of +the two bodies where they sat stiff, illumined by the last of the green +light; and at those rapid gestures the travellers returned to their +habitations. + +They seemed to be just awakening out of deep sleep. Again they saw the +Professor standing before them. But they saw him only with blinking +eyes, they saw him only as eyes can see, guessing at his mind from the +lines of his face, at his thoughts from the movements of his hands, +guessing as men guess, blindly: only a moment before they had known him +utterly. Now they were dazed and forgetting: slow blood began to creep +again to their toes and to come again to its place under fingernails: +it came with intense pain: they forgot their spirits. Then all the woes +of Earth crowded their minds at once, so that they wished to weep, as +infants weep. + +The Professor gave this mood time to change, as change it presently +did. For the warm blood came back and lit their cheeks, and a tingling +succeeded the pain in their fingers and toes, and a mild warmth +succeeded the tingling: their thoughts came back to the things of every +day, to mundane things and the affairs of the body. Therein they +rejoiced, and Morano no less than Rodriguez; though it was a coarse and +common body that Morano's spirit inhabited. And when the Professor saw +that the first sorrow of Earth, which all spirits feel when they land +here, had passed away, and that they were feeling again the joy of +mundane things, only then did he speak. + +"Seņor," he said, "beyond the path of Mars run many worlds that I would +have you know. The greatest of these is Jupiter, towards whom all that +follow my most sacred art show reverent affection. The smallest are +those that sometimes strike our world, flaming all green upon November +nights, and are even as small as apples." He spoke of our world with a +certain air and a pride, as though, through virtue of his transcendent +art, the world were only his. "The world that we name Argola," he said, +"is far smaller than Spain and, being invisible from Earth, is only +known to the few who have spoken to spirits whose wanderings have +surpassed the path of Mars. Nearly half of Argola you shall find +covered with forests, which though very dense are no deeper than moss, +and the elephants in them are not larger than beetles. You shall see +many wonders of smallness in this world of Argola, which I desire in +especial to show you, since it is the orb with which we who study the +Art are most familiar, of all the worlds that the vulgar have not +known. It is indeed the prize of our traffic in those things that far +transcend the laws that have forbidden them." + +And as he said this the green flame in the bowl before him died, and he +moved towards his cupboard of wonder. Rodriguez hastily thanked the +Professor for his great courtesy in laying bare before him secrets that +the centuries hid, and then he referred to his own great unworthiness, +to the lateness of the hour, to the fatigue of the Professor, and to +the importance to Learning of adequate rest to refresh his illustrious +mind. And all that he said the Professor parried with bows, and drew +enchantments from his cupboard of wonder to replenish the bowl on the +table. And Rodriguez saw that he was in the clutch of a collector, one +who having devoted all his days to a hobby will exhibit his treasures +to the uttermost, and that the stars that magic knows were no less to +the Professor than all the whatnots that a man collects and insists on +showing to whomsoever enters his house. He feared some terrible +journey, perhaps some bare escape; for though no material thing can +quite encompass a spirit, he knew not what wanderers he might not meet +in lonely spaces beyond the path of Mars. So when his last polite +remonstrance failed, being turned aside with a pleasant phrase and a +smile from the grim lips, and looking at Morano he saw that he shared +his fears, then he determined to show whatever resistance were needed +to keep himself and Morano in this old world that we know, or that +youth at least believes that it knows. + +He watched the Professor return with his packets of wonder; dust from a +fallen star, phials of tears of lost lovers, poison and gold out of +elf-land, and all manner of things. But the moment that he put them +into the bowl Rodriguez' hand flew to his sword-hilt. He heaved up his +elbow, but no sword came forth, for it lay magnetised to its scabbard +by the grip of a current of magic. When Rodriguez saw this he knew not +what to do. + +The Professor went on pouring into the bowl. He added an odour +distilled out of dream-roses, three drops from the gall-bladder of a +fabulous beast, and a little dust that had been man. More too he added, +so that my reader might wonder were I to tell him all; yet it is not so +easy to free our spirits from the gross grip of our bodies. Wonder not +then, my reader, if the Professor exerted strange powers. And all the +while Morano was picking at a nail that fastened on the handle to his +frying-pan. + +And just as the last few mysteries were shaken into the bowl,--and +there were two among them of which even Asia is ignorant,--just as the +dews were blended with the powers in a grey-green sinister harmony, +Morano untwisted his nail and got the handle loose. + +The Professor kindled the mixture in the bowl; again green flame arose, +again that voice of his began to call to their spirits, and its beauty +and the power of its spell were as of some fallen angel. The spirit of +Rodriguez was nearly passing helplessly forth again on some frightful +journey, when Morano losed his scabbard and sword from its girdle and +tied the handle of his frying-pan across it a little below the hilt +with a piece of string. Across the table the Professor intoned his +spell, across a narrow table, but it seemed to come from the far side +of the twilight, a twilight red and golden in long layers, of an +evening wonderfully long ago. It seemed to take its music out of the +lights that it flowed through and to call Rodriguez from immediately +far away, with a call which it were sacrilege to refuse, and anguish +even, and hard toil such as there was no strength to do. And then +Morano held up the sword in its scabbard with the handle of the +frying-pan tied across. Rodriguez, disturbed by a stammer in the spell, +looked up and saw the Professor staring at the sword where Morano held +it up before his face in the green light of the flame from the bowl. He +did not seem like a fallen angel now. His spell had stopped. He seemed +like a professor who had forgotten the theme of his lecture, while the +class waits. For Morano was holding up the sign of the cross. + +"You have betrayed me!" shouted the Slave of Orion: the green flame +died, and he strode out of the room, his purple cloak floating behind +him. + +"Master," Morano said, "it was always good against magic." + +The sword was loose in the scabbard as Rodriguez took it back; there +was no longer a current of magic gripping the steel. + +A little uneasily Rodriguez thanked Morano: he was not sure if Morano +had behaved as a guest's servant should. But when he thought of the +Professor's terrible spells, which had driven them to the awful crags +of the sun, and might send them who knows where to hob-nob with who +knows what, his second thoughts perceived that Morano was right to cut +short those arts that the Slave of Orion loved, even by so extreme a +step: and he praised Morano as his ready shrewdness deserved. + +"We were very nearly too late back from that outing, master," remarked +Morano. + +"How know you that?" said Rodriguez. + +"This old body knew," said Morano. "Those heart-thumpings, this +warmness, and all the things that make a fat body comfortable, they +were stopping, master, they were spoiling, they were getting cold and +strange: I go no more errands for that seņor." + +A certain diffidence about criticising his host even now; and a very +practical vein that ran through his nature, now showing itself in +anxiety for a bed at so late an hour, led Rodriguez to change the +subject. He wanted that aged butler, yet dare not ring the bell; for he +feared lest with all the bells there might be in use that frightful +practice that he had met by the outer door, a chain connected with some +hideous hook that gave anguish to something in the basement whenever +one touched the handle, so that the menials of that grim Professor were +shrilly summoned by screams. And therefore Rodriguez sought counsel of +Morano, who straightway volunteered to find the butler's quarters, by a +certain sense that he had of the fitness of things: and forth he went, +but would not leave the room without the scabbard and the handle of the +frying-pan lashed to it, which he bore high before him in both his +hands as though he were leading some austere procession. And even so he +returned with that aged man the butler, who led them down dim corridors +of stone; but, though he showed the way, Morano would go in front, +still holding up that scabbard and handle before him, while Rodriguez +held the bare sword. And so they came to a room lit by the flare of one +candle, which their guide told them the Professor had prepared for his +guest. In the vastness of it was a great bed. Shadows and a whir as of +wings passed out of the door as they entered. "Bats," said the ancient +guide. But Morano believed he had routed powers of evil with the handle +of his frying-pan and his master's scabbard. Who could say what they +were in such a house, where bats and evil spirits sheltered perennially +from the brooms of the just? Then that ancient man with the lips of +some woodland thing departed, and Rodriguez went to the great bed. On a +pile of straw that had been cast into the room Morano lay down across +the door, setting the scabbard upright in a rat-hole near his head, +while Rodriguez lay down with the bare sword in his hand. There was +only one door in the room, and this Morano guarded. Windows there were, +but they were shuttered with raw oak of enormous thickness. He had +already enquired with his sword behind the velvet curtains. He felt +secure in the bulk of Morano across the only door, at least from +creatures of this world: and Morano feared no longer either spirit or +spell, believing that he had vanquished the Professor with his symbol, +and all such allies as he may have had here or elsewhere. But not thus +easily do we overcome the powers of evil. + +A step was heard such as man walks with at the close of his later +years, coming along the corridor of stone; and they knew it for the +Professor's butler returning. The latch of the door trembled and +lifted, and the great oak door bumped slowly against Morano, who arose +grumbling, and the old man appeared. + +"The Professor," he said, while Morano watched him grudgingly, "returns +with all his household to Saragossa at once, to resume those studies +for which his name resounds, a certain conjunction of the stars having +come favourably." + +Even Morano doubted that so suddenly the courses of the stars, which he +deemed to be gradual, should have altered from antagonism towards the +Professor's art into a favourable aspect. Rodriguez sleepily +acknowledged the news and settled himself to sleep, still sword in +hand, when the servitor repeated with as much emphasis as his aged +voice could utter, "With all his household, seņor." + +"Yes," muttered Rodriguez. "Farewell." + +And repeating again, "He takes his household with him," the old man +shuffled back from the room and hesitatingly closed the door. Before +the sound of his slow footsteps had failed to reach the room Morano was +asleep under his cross. Rodriguez still watched for a while the shadows +leaping and shuddering away from the candle, riding over the ceiling, +striding hugely along the walls, towards him and from him, as draughts +swayed the ruddy flame; then, gripping his sword still firmer in his +hand, as though that could avail against magic, he fell into the sleep +of tired men. + +No sound disturbed Rodriguez or Morano till both awoke in late morning +upon the rocks of the mountain. The sun had climbed over the crags and +now shone on their faces. Rodriguez was still lying with his sword +gripped in his hand, but the cross had fallen by Morano and now lay on +the rocks beside him with the handle of the frying-pan still tied in +its place by string. A young, wild, woodland squirrel gambolled near, +though there were no woods for it anywhere within sight: it leaped and +played as though rejoicing in youth, with such merriment as though +youth had but come to it newly or been lost and restored again. + +All over the mountain they looked but there was no house, nor any sign +of dwelling of man or spirit. + + + + +THE FIFTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE RODE IN THE TWILIGHT AND SAW SERAFINA + + +Rodriguez, who loved philosophy, turned his mind at once to the journey +that lay before him, deciding which was the north; for he knew that it +was by the north that he must leave Spain, which he still desired to +leave since there were no wars in that country. + +Morano knew not clearly what philosophy was, yet he wasted no thoughts +upon the night that was gone; and, fitting up his frying-pan +immediately, he brought out what was left of his bacon and began to +look for material to make a fire. The bacon lay waiting in the +frying-pan for some while before this material was gathered, for +nothing grew on the mountain but a heath; and of that there were few +bushes, scattered here and there. + +Rodriguez, far from ruminating upon the events of the previous night, +realised as he watched these preparations that he was enormously +hungry. And when Morano had kindled a fire and the smell of cooking +arose, he who had held the chair of magic at Saragossa was banished +from both their minds, although upon this very spot they had spent so +strange a night; but where bacon is, and there be hungry men, the +things of yesterday are often forgotten. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "we must walk far to-day." + +"Indeed, master," said Morano, "we must push on to these wars; for you +have no castle, master, no lands, no fortune ..." + +"Come," said Rodriguez. + +Morano slung his frying-pan behind him: they had eaten up the last of +his bacon: he stood up, and they were ready for the journey. The smoke +from their meagre fire went thinly into the air, the small grey clouds +of it went slowly up: nothing beside remained to bid them farewell, or +for them to thank for their strange night's hospitality. They climbed +till they reached the rugged crest of the mountain; thence they saw a +wide plain and the morning: the day was waiting for them. + +The northern slope of the mountain was wholly different from that black +congregation of angry rocks through which they had climbed by night to +the House of Wonder. + +The slope that now lay before them was smooth and grassy, flowing +before them far, a gentle slope that was soon to lend speed to +Rodriguez' feet, adding nimbleness even to youth. Soon, too, it was to +lift onward the dull weight of Morano as he followed his master towards +unknown wars, youth going before him like a spirit and the good slope +helping behind. But before they gave themselves to that waiting journey +they stood a moment and looked at the shining plain that lay before +them like an open page, on which was the whole chronicle of that day's +wayfaring. There was the road they should travel by, there were the +streams it crossed and narrow woods they might rest in, and dim on the +farthest edge was the place they must spend that night. It was all, as +it were written, upon the plain they watched, but in a writing not +intended for them, and, clear although it be, never to be interpreted +by one of our race. Thus they saw clear, from a height, the road they +would go by, but not one of all the events to which it would lead them. + +"Master," said Morano, "shall we have more adventures to-day?" + +"I trust so," said Rodriguez. "We have far to go, and it will be dull +journeying without them." + +Morano turned his eyes from his master's face and looked back to the +plain. "There, master," he said, "where our road runs through a wood, +will our adventure be there, think you? Or there, perhaps," and he +waved his hand widely farther. + +"No," said Rodriguez, "we pass that in bright daylight." + +"Is that not good for adventure?" said Morano. + +"The romances teach," said Rodriguez, "that twilight or night are +better. The shade of deep woods is favourable, but there are no such +woods on this plain. When we come to evening we shall doubtless meet +some adventure, far over there." And he pointed to the grey rim of the +plain where it started climbing towards hills. + +"These are good days," said Morano. He forgot how short a time ago he +had said regretfully that these days were not as the old days. But our +race, speaking generally, is rarely satisfied with the present, and +Morano's cheerfulness had not come from his having risen suddenly +superior to this everyday trouble of ours; it came from his having +shifted his gaze to the future. Two things are highly tolerable to us, +and even alluring, the past and the future. It was only with the +present that Morano was ever dissatisfied. + +When Morano said that the days were good Rodriguez set out to find +them, or at least that one that for some while now lay waiting for them +on the plain. He strode down the slope at once and, endowing nature +with his own impatience, he felt that he heard the morning call to him +wistfully. Morano followed. + +For an hour these refugees escaping from peace went down the slope; and +in that hour they did five swift miles, miles that seemed to run by +them as they walked, and so they came lightly to the level plain. And +in the next hour they did four miles more. Words were few, either +because Morano brooded mainly upon one thought, the theme of which was +his lack of bacon, or because he kept his breath to follow his master +who, with youth and the morning, was coming out of the hills at a pace +not tuned to Morano's forty years or so. And at the end of these nine +miles Morano perceived a house, a little way from the road, on the +left, upon rising ground. A mile or so ahead they saw the narrow wood +that they had viewed in the morning from the mountain running across +the plain. They saw now by the lie of the ground that it probably +followed a stream, a pleasant place in which to take the rest demanded +by Spain at noon. It was just an hour to noon; so Rodriguez, keeping +the road, told Morano to join him where it entered the wood when he had +acquired his bacon. And then as they parted a thought occurred to +Rodriguez, which was that bacon cost money. It was purely an +afterthought, an accidental fancy, such as inspirations are, for he had +never had to buy bacon. So he gave Morano a fifth part of his money, a +large gold coin the size of one of our five-shilling pieces, engraved +of course upon one side with the glories and honours of that golden +period of Spain, and upon the other with the head of the lord the King. +It was only by chance he had brought any at all; he was not what our +newspapers will call, if they ever care to notice him, a level-headed +business man. At the sight of the gold piece Morano bowed, for he felt +this gift of gold to be an occasion; but he trusted more for the +purchase of the bacon to some few small silver coins of his own that he +kept among lumps of lard and pieces of string. + +And so they parted for a while, Rodriguez looking for some great +shadowy oak with moss under it near a stream, Morano in quest of bacon. + +When Rodriguez entered the wood he found his oak, but it was not such +an oak as he cared to rest beneath during the heat of the day, nor +would you have done so, my reader, even though you have been to the +wars and seen many a pretty mess; for four of la Garda were by it and +were arranging to hang a man from the best of the branches. + +"La Garda again," said Rodriguez nearly aloud. + +His eye drooped, his look was listless, he gazed at other things; while +a glance that you had not noticed, flashed slantingly at la Garda, +satisfied Rodriguez that all four were strangers: then he walked +straight towards them merrily. The man they proposed to hang was a +stranger too. He appeared at first to be as stout as Morano, and he was +nearly half a foot taller, but his stoutness turned out to be sheer +muscle. The broad man was clothed in old brown leather and had blue +eyes. + +Now there was something about the poise of Rodriguez' young head which +gave him an air not unlike that which the King himself sometimes wore +when he went courting. It suited his noble sword and his merry plume. +When la Garda saw him they were all politeness at once, and invited him +to see the hanging, for which Rodriguez thanked them with amplest +courtesy. + +"It is not a bull-fight," said the chief of la Garda almost +apologetically. But Rodriguez waved aside his deprecations and declared +himself charmed at the prospect of a hanging. + +Bear with me, reader, while I champion a bad cause and seek to palliate +what is inexcusable. As we travel about the world on our way through +life we meet and pass here and there, in peace or in war, other men, +fellow-travellers: and sometimes there is no more than time for a +glance, eye to eye. And in that glance you see the sort of man: and +chiefly there are two sorts. The one sort always brooding, always +planning; mean, silent men, collecting properties and money; keeping +the law on their side, keeping everything on their side; except women +and heaven, and the late, leisurely judgment of simple people: and the +others merry folk, whose eyes twinkle, whose money flies, who will +sooner laugh than plan, who seem to inherit rightfully the happiness +that the others plot for, and fail to come by with all their schemes. +In the man who was to provide the entertainment Rodriguez recognised +the second kind. + +Now even though the law had caught a saint that had strayed too far +outside the boundary of Heaven, and desired to hang him, Rodriguez knew +that it was his duty to help the law while help was needed, and to +applaud after the thing was done. The law to Rodriguez was the most +sacred thing man had made, if indeed it were not divine; but since the +privilege that two days ago had afforded him of studying it more +closely, it appeared to him the blindest, silliest thing with which he +had had to do since the kittens were drowned that his cat Tabitharina +had had at Arguento Harez. + +It was in this deplorable state of mind that Rodriguez' glance fell on +the merry eyes and the solemn predicament of the man in the leather +coat, standing pinioned under a long branch of the oak-tree: and he +determined from that moment to disappoint la Garda and, I fear also, my +reader, perhaps to disappoint you, of the hanging that they at least +had promised themselves. + +"Think you," said Rodriguez, "that for so stout a knave this branch of +yours suffices?" + +Now it was an excellent branch. But it was not so much Rodriguez' words +as the anxious way in which he looked at the branch that aroused the +anxieties of la Garda: and soon they were looking about to find a +better tree; and when four men start doing this in a wood time quickly +passes. Meanwhile Morano drew near, and Rodriguez went to meet him. + +"Master," said Morano, all out of breath, "they had no bacon. But I got +these two bottles of wine. It is strong wine, which is a rare deluder +of the senses, which will need to be deluded if we are to go hungry." + +Rodriguez was about to cut short Morano's chatter when he thought of a +use for the wine, and was silent a moment. And as he pondered Morano +looked up and saw la Garda and at the same time perceived the +situation, for he had as quick an eye for a bad business as any man. + +"No one with the horses," was his comment; for they were tethered a +little apart. But Rodriguez' mind had already explored a surer method +than the one that Morano seemed to be contemplating. This method he +told Morano. And now, from little tugs that they were giving to the +doubled rope that hung over the branch of the oak-tree, it was clear +enough that the men of the law were returning to their confidence in +that very sufficient branch. + +They looked up with questions ripe to drop from their lips when they +saw Rodriguez returning with Morano. But before one of them spoke +Morano flung to them from far off a little piece of his wisdom: for +cast a truth into an occasion and it will always trouble the waters, +usually stirring up contradiction, but always bringing something to the +surface. + +"Seņores," he said, "no man can enjoy a hanging with a dry throat." + +Thus he turned their attention a while from the business in hand, +changing their thoughts from the stout neck of the prisoner to their +own throats, wondering were they dry; and you do not wonder long about +this in the south without finding that what you feared is true. And +then he let them see the two great bottles, all full of wine, for the +invention of the false bottom that gives to our champagne-bottles the +place they rightly hold among famous deceptions had not as yet been +discovered. + +"It is true," said la Garda. And Rodriguez made Morano put one of the +bottles away in a piece of a sack that he carried: and when la Garda +saw one of the two bottles disappear it somehow decided them to have +the other, though how this came to be so there is no saying; and thus +the hanging was postponed again. + +Now the drink was a yellow wine, sweet and heavy and stronger than our +port; only our whisky could out-triumph it, but there in the warm south +it answered its purpose. Rodriguez beckoned Morano up and offered the +bottle to one of la Garda; but scarcely had he put it to his lips when +Rodriguez bade him stop, saying that he had had his share. And he did +the same with the next man. + +Now there be few things indeed which la Garda resent more than meagre +hospitality in the matter of drink, and with all their wits striving to +cope with this vicious defect in Rodriguez, as they rightly or wrongly +regarded it, how should they have any to spare for obvious precautions? +As the third man drank, Rodriguez turned to speak to Morano; and the +representative of the law took such advantage of an opportunity that he +feared to be fleeting, that when Rodriguez turned round again the +bottle was just half empty. Rodriguez had timed it very nicely. + +Next Rodriguez put the bottle to his lips and held it there a little +time, while the fourth man of the law, who was guarding the prisoner, +watched Rodriguez wistfully, and afterwards Morano, who took the bottle +next. Yet neither Rodriguez nor Morano drank. + +"You can finish the bottle," said Rodriguez to this anxious watcher, +who came forward eagerly though full of doubts, which changed to warm +feelings of exuberant gratitude when he found how much remained. Thus +he obtained not much less than two tumblerfuls of wine that, as I have +said, was stronger than port; and noon was nearing and it was spring in +Spain. And then he returned to guard his prisoner under the oak-tree +and lay down there on the moss, remembering that it was his duty to +keep awake. And afterwards with one hand he took hold of a rope that +bound the prisoner's ankles, so that he might still guard his prisoner +even though he should fall asleep. + +Now two of the men had had little more than the full of a sherry glass +each. To these Morano made signs that there was another bottle, and, +coming round behind his master, he covertly uncorked it and gave them +their heart's desire; and a little was left over for the man who drank +third on the first occasion. And presently the spirits of all four of +la Garda grew haughty and forgot their humble bodies, and would fain +have gone forth to dwell with the sons of light, while their bodies lay +on the moss and the sun grew warmer and warmer, shining dappled in +amongst the small green leaves. All seemed still but for the winged +insects flashing through shafts of the sunlight out of the gloom of the +trees and disappearing again like infinitesimal meteors. But our +concern is with the thoughts of man, of which deeds are but the +shadows: wherever these are active it is wrong to say all is still; for +whether they cast their shadows, which are actions, or whether they +remain a force not visibly stirring matter, they are the source of the +tales we write and the lives we lead; it is they that gave History her +material and they that bade her work it up into books. + +And thoughts were very active about that oak-tree. For while the +thoughts of la Garda arose like dawn, and disappeared into mists, their +prisoner was silently living through the sunny days of his life, which +are at no time quite lost to us, and which flash vivid and bright and +near when memory touches them, herself awakened by the nearness of +death. He lived again days far from the day that had brought him where +he stood. He drew from those days (that is to say) that delight, that +essence of hours, that something which we call life. The sun, the wind, +the rough sand, the splash of the sea, on the star-fish, and all the +things that it feels during its span, are stored in something like its +memory, and are what we call its life: it is the same with all of us. +Life is feeling. The prisoner from the store of his memory was taking +all he had. His head was lifted, he was gazing northwards, far further +than his eyes could see, to shining spaces in great woods; and there +his threatened being walked in youth, with steps such as spirits take, +over immortal flowers, which were dim and faint but unfading because +they lived on in memory. In memory he walked with some who were now far +from his footsteps. And, seen through the gloaming of that perilous +day, how bright did those far days appear! Did they not seem sunnier +than they really were? No, reader; for all the radiance that glittered +so late in his mind was drawn from those very days; it was their own +brightness that was shining now: we are not done with the days that +were as soon as their sunsets have faded, but a light remains from them +and grows fairer and fairer, like an afterglow lingering among +tremendous peaks above immeasurable slopes of snow. + +The prisoner had scarcely noticed Rodriguez or his servant, any more +than he noticed his captors; for there come an intensity to those who +walk near death that makes them a little alien from other men, life +flaring up in them at the last into so grand a flame that the lives of +the others seem a little cold and dim where they dwell remote from that +sunset that we call mortality. So he looked silently at the days that +were as they came dancing back again to him from where they had long +lain lost in chasms of time, to which they had slipped over dark edges +of years. Smiling they came, but all wistfully anxious, as though their +errand were paramount and their span short: he saw them cluster about +him, running now, bringing their tiny gifts, and scarcely heard the +heavy sigh of his guard as Rodriguez gagged him and Morano tied him up. + +Had Rodriguez now released the prisoner they could have been three to +three, in the event of things going wrong with the sleep of la Garda; +but, since in the same time they could gag and bind another, the odds +would be the same at two to two, and Rodriguez preferred this to the +slight uncertainties that would be connected with the entry of another +partner. They accordingly gagged the next man and bound his wrists and +ankles. And that Spanish wine held good with the other two and bound +them far down among the deeps of dreams: and so it should, for it was +of a vine that grew in the vales of Spain and had ripened in one of the +years of the golden age. + +They bound one as easily as they had bound the other two; and the last +Rodriguez watched while Morano cut the ropes off the prisoner, for he +had run out of bits of twine and all other improvisations. With these +ropes he ran back to his master, and they tied up the last prisoner but +did not gag him. + +"Shall we gag him, master, like the rest?" said Morano. + +"No," said Rodriguez. "He has nothing to say." + +And though this remark turned out to be strictly untrue, it well enough +answered its purpose. + +And then they saw standing before them the man they had freed. And he +bowed to Rodriguez like one that had never bowed before. I do not mean +that he bowed with awkwardness, like imitative men unused to +politeness, but he bowed as the oak bows to the woodman; he stood +straight, looking Rodriguez in the eyes, then he bowed as though he had +let his spirit break, which allowed him to bow to never a man before. +Thus, if my pen has been able dimly to tell of it, thus bowed the man +in the old leathern jacket. And Rodriguez bowed to him in answer with +the elegance that they that had dwelt at Arguento Harez had slowly +drawn from the ages. + +"Seņor, your name," said the stranger. + +"Lord of Arguento Harez," said Rodriguez. + +"Seņor," he said, "being a busy man, I have seldom time to pray. And +the blessed Saints, being more busy than I, I think seldom hear my +prayers: yet your name shall go up to them. I will often tell it them +quietly in the forest, and not on their holy days when bells are +ringing and loud prayers fill Heaven. It may be ..." + +"Seņor," Rodriguez said, "I profoundly thank you." + +Even in these days, when bullets are often thicker than prayers, we are +not quite thankless for the prayers of others: in those days they were +what "closing quotations" are on the Stock Exchange, ink in Fleet +Street, machinery in the Midlands; common but valued; and Rodriguez' +thanks were sincere. + +And now that the curses of the ungagged one of la Garda were growing +monotonous, Rodriguez turned to Morano. + +"Ungag the rest," he said, "and let them talk to each other." + +"Master," Morano muttered, feeling that there was enough noise already +for a small wood, but he went and did as he was ordered. And Rodriguez +was justified of his humane decision, for the pent thoughts of all +three found expression together and, all four now talking at once, +mitigated any bitterness there may have been in those solitary curses. +And now Rodriguez could talk undisturbed. + +"Whither?" said the stranger. + +"To the wars," said Rodriguez, "if wars there be." + +"Aye," said the stranger, "there be always wars somewhere. By which +road go you?" + +"North," said Rodriguez, and he pointed. The stranger turned his eyes +to the way Rodriguez pointed. + +"That brings you to the forest," he said, "unless you go far around, as +many do." + +"What forest?" said Rodriguez. + +"The great forest named Shadow Valley," said the stranger. + +"How far?" said Rodriguez. + +"Forty miles," said the stranger. + +Rodriguez looked at la Garda and then at their horses, and thought. He +must be far from la Garda by nightfall. + +"It is not easy to pass through Shadow Valley," said the stranger. + +"Is it not?" said Rodriguez. + +"Have you a gold great piece?" the stranger said. + +Rodriguez held out one of his remaining four: the stranger took it. And +then he began to rub it on a stone, and continued to rub while +Rodriguez watched in silence, until the image of the lord the King was +gone and the face of the coin was scratchy and shiny and flat. And then +he produced from a pocket or pouch in his jacket a graving tool with a +round wooden handle, which he took in the palm of his hand, and the +edge of the steel came out between his forefinger and thumb: and with +this he cut at the coin. And Morano rejoined them from his merciful +mission and stood and wondered at the cutting. And while he cut they +talked. + +They did not ask him how he came to be chosen for hanging, because in +every country there are about a hundred individualists, varying to +perhaps half a hundred in poor ages. They go their hundred ways, or +their half-dozen ways; and there is a hundred and first way, or a +seventh way, which is the way that is cut for the rest: and if some of +the rest catch one of the hundred, or one of the six, they naturally +hang him, if they have a rope, and if hanging is the custom of the +country, for different countries use different methods. And you saw by +this man's eyes that he was one of the hundred. Rodriguez therefore +only sought to know how he came to be caught. + +"La Garda found you, seņor?" he said. + +"As you see," said the stranger. "I came too far from my home." + +"You were travelling?" said Rodriguez. + +"Shopping," he said. + +At this word Morano's interest awakened wide. "Seņor," he said, "what +is the right price for a bottle of this wine that la Garda drink?" + +"I know not," said the man in the brown jacket; "they give me these +things." + +"Where is your home, seņor?" Rodriguez asked. + +"It is Shadow Valley," he said. + +One never saw Rodriguez fail to understand anything: if he could not +clear a situation up he did not struggle with it. Morano rubbed his +chin: he had heard of Shadow Valley only dimly, for all the travellers +he had known out of the north had gone round it. Rodriguez and Morano +bent their heads and watched a design that was growing out of the gold. +And as the design grew under the hand of the strange worker he began to +talk of the horses. He spoke as though his plans had been clearly +established by edict, and as though no others could be. + +"When I have gone with two horses," he said, "ride hard with the other +two till you reach the village named Lowlight, and take them to the +forge of Fernandez the smith, where one will shoe them who is not +Fernandez." + +And he waved his hand northwards. There was only one road. Then all his +attention fell back again to his work on the gold coin; and when those +blue eyes were turned away there seemed nothing left to question. And +now Rodriguez saw the design was a crown, a plain gold circlet with oak +leaves rising up from it. And this woodland emblem stood up out of the +gold, for the worker had hollowed the coin away all around it, and was +sloping it up to the edge. Little was said by the watchers in the +wonder of seeing the work, for no craft is very far from the line +beyond which is magic, and the man in the leather coat was clearly a +craftsman: and he said nothing for he worked at a craft. And when the +arboreal crown was finished, and its edges were straight and sharp, an +hour had passed since he began near noon. Then he drilled a hole near +the rim and, drawing a thin green ribbon from his pocket, he passed it +through the hole and, rising, he suddenly hung it round Rodriguez' neck. + +"Wear it thus," he said, "while you go through Shadow Valley." + +As he said this he stepped back among the trees, and Rodriguez followed +to thank him. Not finding him behind the tree where he thought to find +him, he walked round several others, and Morano joined his search; but +the stranger had vanished. When they returned again to the little +clearing they heard sounds of movement in the wood, and a little way +off where the four horses had grazed there were now only two, which +were standing there with their heads up. + +"We must ride, Morano," said Rodriguez. + +"Ride, master?" said Morano dolefully. + +"If we walk away," said Rodriguez, "they will walk after us." + +"They" meant la Garda. It was unnecessary for him to tell Morano what I +thus tell the reader, for in the wood it was hard to hear anyone else, +while to think of anyone else was out of the question. + +"What shall I do to them, master?" said Morano. + +They were now standing close to their captives and this simple question +calmed the four men's curses, all of a sudden, like shutting the door +on a storm. + +"Leave them," Rodriguez said. And la Garda's spirits rose and they +cursed again. + +"Ah. To die in the wood," said Morano. "No," said Rodriguez; and he +walked towards the horses. And something in that "No" sounding almost +contemptuous, Morano's feelings were hurt, and he blurted out to his +master "But how can they get away to get their food? It is good knots +that I tie, master." + +"Morano," Rodriguez said, "I remember ten ways in the books of romance +whereby bound men untie themselves; and doubtless one or two more I +have read and forgot; and there may be other ways in the books that I +have not read, besides any way that there be of which no books tell. +And in addition to these ways, one of them may draw a comrade's sword +with his teeth and thus ..." + +"Shall I pull out their teeth?" said Morano. + +"Ride," said Rodriguez, for they were now come to the horses. And +sorrowfully Morano looked at the horse that was to be his, as a man +might look at a small, uncomfortable boat that is to carry him far upon +a stormy day. And then Rodriguez helped him into the saddle. + +"Can you stay there?" Rodriguez said. "We have far to go." + +"Master," Morano answered, "these hands can hold till evening." + +And then Rodriguez mounted, leaving Morano gripping the high front of +the saddle with his large brown hands. But as soon as the horses +started he got a grip with his heels as well, and later on with his +knees. Rodriguez led the way on to the straggling road and was soon +galloping northwards, while Morano's heels kept his horse up close to +his master's. Morano rode as though trained in the same school that +some while later taught Macaulay's equestrian, who rode with "loose +rein and bloody spur." Yet the miles went swiftly by as they galloped +on soft white dust, which lifted and settled, some of it, back on the +lazy road, while some of it was breathed by Morano. The gold coin on +the green silk ribbon flapped up and down as Rodriguez rode, till he +stuffed it inside his clothing and remembered no more about it. Once +they saw before them the man they had snatched from the noose: he was +going hard and leading a loose horse. And then where the road bent +round a low hill he galloped out of sight and they saw him no more. He +had the loose horse to change on to as soon as the other was tired: +they had no prospect of overtaking him. And so he passed out of their +minds as their host had done who went away with his household to +Saragossa. + +At first Rodriguez' mandolin, that was always slung on his back, bumped +up and down uncomfortably; but he eased it by altering the strap: small +things like this bring contentment. And then he settled down to ride. +But no contentment came near Morano nor did he look for it. On the +first day of his wanderings he had worn his master's clothes, which has +been an experience standing somewhat where toothache does, which is +somewhere about half-way between discomfort and agony. On the second +day he had climbed at the end of a weary journey over those sharp rocks +whose shape was adapted so ill to his body. On the third day he was +riding. He did not look for comfort. But he met discomfort with an easy +resignation that almost defeated the intention of Satan who sends it, +unless--as is very likely--it be from Heaven. And in spite of all +discomforts he gaily followed Rodriguez. In a thousand days at the Inn +of the Dragon and Knight no two were so different to Morano that one +stood out from the other, or any from the rest. It was all as though +one day were repeated again and again; and at some point in this +monotonous repetition, like a milestone shaped as the rest on a +perfectly featureless road, life would end and the meaningless +repetition stop: and looking back on it there would only be one day to +see, or, if he could not look back, it would be all gone for nothing. +And then, into that one day that he was living on in the gloaming of +that grim inn, Rodriguez had appeared, and Morano had known him for one +of those wandering lights that sometimes make sudden day among the +stars. He knew--no, he felt--that by following him, yesterday today and +tomorrow would be three separate possessions in memory. Morano gladly +gave up that one dull day he was living for the new strange days +through which Rodriguez was sure to lead him. Gladly he left it: if +this be not true how then has a man with a dream led thousands to +follow his fancy, from the Crusades to whatever gay madness be the +fashion when this is read? As they galloped the scent of the flowers +rushed into Rodriguez' nostrils, while Morano mainly breathed the dust +from the hooves of his master's horse. But the quest was favoured the +more by the scent of the flowers inspiring its leader's fancies. So +Morano gained even from this. + +In the first hour they shortened by fifteen miles the length of their +rambling quest. In the next hour they did five miles; and in the third +hour ten. After this they rode slowly. The sun was setting. Morano +regarded the sunset with delight, for it seemed to promise jovially the +end of his sufferings, which except for brief periods when they went on +foot, to rest--as Rodriguez said--the horses, had been continuous and +even increasing since they started. Rodriguez, perhaps a little weary +too, drew from the sunset a more sombre feeling, as sensitive minds do: +he responded to its farewell, he felt its beauty, and as little winds +turned cool and the shine of blades of grass faded, making all the +plain dimmer, he heard, or believed he heard, further off than he could +see, sounds on the plain beyond ridges, in hollows, behind clumps of +bushes; as though small creatures all unknown to his learning played +instruments cut from reeds upon unmapped streams. In this hour, among +these fancies, Rodriguez saw clear on a hill the white walls of the +village of Lowlight. And now they began to notice that a great round +moon was shining. The sunset grew dimmer and the moonlight stole in +softly, as a cat might walk through great doors on her silent feet into +a throne-room just as the king had gone: and they entered the village +slowly in the perfect moment of twilight. + +The round horizon was brimming with a pale but magical colour, welling +up to the tips of trees and the battlements of white towers. Earth +seemed a mysterious cup overfull of this pigment of wonder. Clouds +wandering low, straying far from their azure fields, were dipped in it. +The towers of Lowlight turned slowly rose in that light, and glowed +together with the infinite gloaming, so that for this brief hour the +things of man were wed with the things of eternity. It was into this +wide, pale flame of aetherial rose that the moon came stealing like a +magician on tip-toe, to enchant the tips of the trees, low clouds and +the towers of Lowlight. A blue light from beyond our world touched the +pink that is Earth's at evening: and what was strange and a matter for +hushed voices, marvellous but yet of our earth, became at that touch +unearthly. All in a moment it was, and Rodriguez gasped to see it. Even +Morano's eyes grew round with the coming of wonder, or with some dim +feeling that an unnoticed moment had made all things strange and new. + +For some moments the spell of moonlight on sunlight hovered: the air +was brimming and quivering with it: magic touched earth. For some +moments, some thirty beats of a heron's wing, had the angels sung to +men, had their songs gone earthward into that rosy glow, gliding past +layers of faintly tinted cloud, like moths at dusk towards a +briar-rose; in those few moments men would have known their language. +Rodriguez reined in his horse in the heavy silence and waited. For what +he waited he knew not: some unearthly answer perhaps to his questioning +thoughts that had wandered far from earth, though no words came to him +with which to ask their question and he did not know what question they +would ask. He was all vibrating with the human longing: I know not what +it is, but perhaps philosophers know. He sat there waiting while a late +bird sailed homeward, sat while Morano wondered. And nothing spake from +anywhere. + +And now a dog began to notice the moon: now a child cried suddenly that +had been dragged back from the street, where it had wandered at +bedtime: an old dog rose from where it had lain in the sun and feebly +yet confidently scratched at a door: a cat peered round a corner: a man +spoke: Rodriguez knew there would be no answer now. + +Rodriguez hit his horse, the tired animal went forward, and he and +Morano rode slowly up the street. + +Dona Serafina of the Valley of Dawnlight had left the heat of the room +that looked on the fields, and into which the sun had all day been +streaming, and had gone at sunset to sit in the balcony that looked +along the street. Often she would do this at sunset; but she rather +dreamed as she sat there than watched the street, for all that it had +to show she knew without glancing. Evening after evening as soon as +winter was over the neighbour would come from next door and stretch +himself and yawn and sit on a chair by his doorway, and the neighbour +from opposite would saunter across the way to him, and they would talk +with eagerness of the sale of cattle, and sometimes, but more coldly, +of the affairs of kings. She knew, but cared not to know, just when the +two old men would begin their talk. She knew who owned every dog that +stretched itself in the dust until chilly winds blew in the dusk and +they rose up dissatisfied. She knew the affairs of that street like an +old, old lesson taught drearily, and her thoughts went far away to +vales of an imagination where they met with many another maiden fancy, +and they all danced there together through the long twilight in Spring. +And then her mother would come and warn her that the evening grew cold, +and Serafina would turn from the mystery of evening into the house and +the candle-light. This was so evening after evening all through spring +and summer for two long years of her youth. And then, this evening, +just as the two old neighbours began to discuss whether or not the +subjugation of the entire world by Spain would be for its benefit, just +as one of the dogs in the road was rising slowly to shake itself, +neighbours and dogs all raised their heads to look, and there was +Rodriguez riding down the street and Morano coming behind him. When +Serafina saw this she brought her eyes back from dreams, for she +dreamed not so deeply but that the cloak and plume of Rodriguez found +some place upon the boundaries of her day-dream. When she saw the way +he sat his horse and how he carried his head she let her eyes flash for +a little moment along the street from her balcony. And if some critical +reader ask how she did it I answer, "My good sir, I can't tell you, +because I don't know," or "My dear lady, what a question to ask!" And +where she learned to do it I cannot think, but nothing was easier. And +then she smiled to think that she had done the very thing that her +mother had warned her there was danger in doing. + +"Serafina," her mother said in that moment at the large window, "the +evening grows cold. It might be dangerous to stay there longer." And +Serafina entered the house, as she had done at the coming of dusk on +many an evening. + +Rodriguez missed as much of that flash of her eyes, shot from below the +darkness of her hair, as youth in its first glory and freedom misses. +For at the point on the road called life at which Rodriguez was then, +one is high on a crag above the promontories of watchmen, lower only +than the peaks of the prophets, from which to see such things. Yet it +did not need youth to notice Serafina. Beggars had blessed her for the +poise of her head. + +She turned that head a little as she went between the windows, till +Rodriguez gazing up to her saw the fair shape of her neck: and almost +in that moment the last of the daylight died. The windows shut; and +Rodriguez rode on with Morano to find the forge that was kept by +Fernandez the smith. And presently they came to the village forge, a +cottage with huge, high roof whose beams were safe from sparks; and its +fire was glowing redly into the moonlight through the wide door made +for horses, although there seemed no work to be done, and a man with a +swart moustache was piling more logs on. Over the door was burned on +oak in ungainly great letters-- + +"FERNANDEZ" + +"For whom do you seek, seņor?" he said to Rodriguez, who had halted +before him with his horse's nose inside the doorway sniffing. + +"I look," he said, "for him who is not Fernandez." + +"I am he," said the man by the fire. + +Rodriguez questioned no further but dismounted, and bade Morano lead +the horses in. And then he saw in the dark at the back of the forge the +other two horses that he had seen in the wood. And they were shod as he +had never seen horses shod before. For the front pair of shoes were +joined by a chain riveted stoutly to each, and the hind pair also; and +both horses were shod alike. The method was equally new to Morano. And +now the man with the swart moustache picked up another bunch of +horseshoes hanging in pairs on chains. And Rodriguez was not far out +when he guessed that whenever la Garda overtook their horses they would +find that Fernandez was far away making holiday, while he who shod them +now would be gone upon other business. And all this work seemed to +Rodriguez not to be his affair. + +"Farewell," he said to the smith that was not Fernandez; and with a pat +for his horse he left it, having obtained a promise of oats. And so +Rodriguez and Morano went on foot again, Morano elated in spite of +fatigue and pain, rejoicing to feel the earth once more, flat under the +soles of his feet; Rodriguez a little humbled. + + + + +THE SIXTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE SANG TO HIS MANDOLIN AND WHAT CAME OF HIS SINGING + + +They walked back slowly in silence up the street down which they had +ridden. Earth darkened, the moon grew brighter: and Rodriguez gazing at +the pale golden disk began to wonder who dwelt in the lunar valleys; +and what message, if folk were there, they had for our peoples; and in +what language such message could ever be, and how it could fare across +that limpid remoteness that wafted light on to the coasts of Earth and +lapped in silence on the lunar shores. And as he wondered he thought of +his mandolin. + +"Morano," he said, "buy bacon." + +Morano's eyes brightened: they were forty-five miles from the hills on +which he had last tasted bacon. He selected his house with a glance, +and then he was gone. And Rodriguez reflected too late that he had +forgotten to tell Morano where he should find him, and this with night +coming on in a strange village. Scarcely, Rodriguez reflected, he knew +where he was going himself. Yet if old tunes lurking in its hollows, +echoing though imperceptibly from long-faded evenings, gave the +mandolin any knowledge of human affairs that other inanimate things +cannot possess, the mandolin knew. + +Let us in fancy call up the shade of Morano from that far generation. +Let us ask him where Rodriguez is going. Those blue eyes, dim with the +distance over which our fancy has called them, look in our eyes with +wonder. + +"I do not know," he says, "where Don Rodriguez is going. My master did +not tell me." + +Did he notice nothing as they rode by that balcony? + +"Nothing," Morano answers, "except my master riding." + +We may let Morano's shade drift hence again, for we shall discover +nothing: nor is this an age to which to call back spirits. + +Rodriguez strolled slowly on the deep dust of that street as though +wondering all the while where he should go; and soon he and his +mandolin were below that very balcony whereon he had seen the white +neck of Serafina gleam with the last of the daylight. And now the +spells of the moon charmed Earth with their full power. + +The balcony was empty. How should it have been otherwise? And yet +Rodriguez grieved. For between the vision that had drawn his footsteps +and that bare balcony below shuttered windows was the difference +between a haven, sought over leagues of sea, and sheer, uncharted +cliff. It brought a wistfulness into the music he played, and a +melancholy that was all new to Rodriguez, yet often and often before +had that mandolin sent up through evening against unheeding Space that +cry that man cannot utter; for the spirit of man needs a mandolin as a +comrade to face the verdict of the chilly stars as he needs a bulldog +for more mundane things. + +Soon out of the depth of that stout old mandolin, in which so many +human sorrows had spun tunes out of themselves, as the spiders spin +misty grey webs, till it was all haunted with music, soon the old cry +went up to the stars again, a thread of supplication spun of the matter +which else were distilled in tears, beseeching it knew not what. And, +but that Fate is deaf, all that man asks in music had been granted then. + +What sorrows had Rodriguez known in his life that he made so sad a +melody? I know not. It was the mandolin. When the mandolin was made it +knew at once all the sorrows of man, and all the old unnamed longings +that none defines. It knew them as the dog knows the alliance that its +forefathers made with man. A mandolin weeps the tears that its master +cannot shed, or utters the prayers that are deeper than its master's +lips can draw, as a dog will fight for his master with teeth that are +longer than man's. And if the moonlight streamed on untroubled, and +though Fate was deaf, yet beauty of those fresh strains going starward +from under his fingers touched at least the heart of Rodriguez and +gilded his dreams and gave to his thoughts a mournful autumnal glory, +until he sang all newly as he never had sung before, with limpid voice +along the edge of tears, a love-song old as the woods of his father's +valleys at whose edge he had heard it once drift through the evening. +And as he played and sang with his young soul in the music he fancied +(and why not, if they care aught for our souls in Heaven?) he fancied +the angles putting their hands each one on a star and leaning out of +Heaven through the constellations to listen. + +"A vile song, seņor, and a vile tune with it," said a voice quite close. + +However much the words hurt his pride in his mandolin Rodriguez +recognised in the voice the hidalgo's accent and knew that it was an +equal that now approached him in the moonlight round a corner of the +house with the balcony; and he knew that the request he courteously +made would be as courteously granted. + +"Seņor," he said, "I pray you to permit me to lean my mandolin against +the wall securely before we speak of my song." + +"Most surely, seņor," the stranger replied, "for there is no fault with +the mandolin." + +"Seņor," Rodriguez said, "I thank you profoundly." And he bowed to the +gallant, whom he now perceived to be young, a youth tall and lithe like +himself, one whom we might have chosen for these chronicles had we not +found Rodriguez. + +Then Rodriguez stepped back a short way and placed his kerchief on the +ground; and upon this he put his mandolin and leaned it against the +wall. When the mandolin was safe from dust or accident he approached +the stranger and drew his sword. + +"Seņor," he said, "we will now discuss music." + +"Right gladly, seņor," said the young man, who now drew his sword also. +There were no clouds; the moon was full; the evening promised well. + +Scarcely had the flash of thin rapiers crossing each other by moonlight +begun to gleam in the street when Morano appeared beside them and stood +there watching. He had bought his bacon and gone straight to the house +with the balcony. For though he knew no Latin he had not missed the +silent greeting that had welcomed his master to that village, or failed +to interpret the gist of the words that Rodriguez' dumb glance would +have said. He stood there watching while each combatant stood his +ground. + +And Rodriguez remembered all those passes and feints that he had had +from his father, and which Sevastiani, a master of arms in Madrid, had +taught in his father's youth: and some were famous and some were little +known. And all these passes, as he tried them one by one, his unknown +antagonist parried. And for a moment Rodriguez feared that Morano would +see those passes in which he trusted foiled by that unknown sword, and +then he reflected that Morano knew nothing of the craft of the rapier, +and with more content at that thought he parried thrusts that were +strange to him. But something told Morano that in this fight the +stranger was master and that along that pale-blue, moonlit, unknown +sword lurked a sure death for Rodriguez. He moved from his place of +vantage and was soon lost in large shadows; while the rapiers played +and blade rippled on blade with a sound as though Death were gently +sharpening his scythe in the dark. And now Rodriguez was giving ground, +now his antagonist pressed him; thrusts that he believed invincible had +failed; now he parried wearily and had at once to parry again; the +unknown pressed on, was upon him, was scattering his weakening parries; +drew back his rapier for a deadlier pass, learned in a secret school, +in a hut on mountains he knew, and practised surely; and fell in a heap +upon Rodriguez' feet, struck full on the back of the head by Morano's +frying-pan. + +"Most vile knave," shouted Rodriguez as he saw Morano before him with +his frying-pan in his hand, and with something of the stupid expression +that you see on the face of a dog that has done some foolish thing +which it thinks will delight its master. + +"Master! I am your servant," said Morano. + +"Vile, miserable knave," replied Rodriguez. + +"Master," Morano said plaintively, "shall I see to your comforts, your +food, and not to your life?" + +"Silence," thundered Rodriguez as he stooped anxiously to his +antagonist, who was not unconscious but only very giddy and who now +rose to his feet with the help of Rodriguez. + +"Alas, seņor," said Rodriguez, "the foul knave is my servant. He shall +be flogged. He shall be flayed. His vile flesh shall be cut off him. +Does the hurt pain you, seņor? Sit and rest while I beat the knave, and +then we will continue our meeting." + +And he ran to his kerchief on which rested his mandolin and laid it +upon the dust for the stranger. + +"No, no," said he. "My head clears again. It is nothing." + +"But rest, seņor, rest," said Rodriguez. "It is always well to rest +before an encounter. Rest while I punish the knave." + +And he led him to where the kerchief lay on the ground. "Let me see the +hurt, seņor," he continued. And the stranger removed his plumed hat as +Rodriguez compelled him to sit down. He straightened out the hat as he +sat, and the hurt was shown to be of no great consequence. + +"The blessed Saints be praised," Rodriguez said. "It need not stop our +encounter. But rest awhile, seņor." + +"Indeed, it is nothing," he answered. + +"But the indignity is immeasurable," sighed Rodriguez. "Would you care, +seņor, when you are well rested to give the chastisement yourself?" + +"As far as that goes," said the stranger, "I can chastise him now." + +"If you are fully recovered, seņor," Rodriguez said, "my own sword is +at your disposal to beat him sore with the flat of it, or how you will. +Thus no dishonour shall touch your sword from the skin of so vile a +knave." + +The stranger smiled: the idea appealed to him. + +"You make a noble amend, seņor," he said as he bowed over Rodriguez' +proffered sword. + +Morano had not moved far, but stood near, wondering. "What should a +servant do if not work for his master?" he wondered. And how work for +him when dead? And dead, as it seemed to Morano, through his own fault +if he allowed any man to kill him when he perceived him about to do so. +He stood there puzzled. And suddenly he saw the stranger coming angrily +towards him in the clear moonlight with a sword. Morano was frightened. + +As the hidalgo came up to him he stretched out his left hand to seize +Morano by the shoulder. Up went the frying-pan, the stranger parried, +but against a stroke that no school taught or knew, and for the second +time he went down in the dust with a reeling head. Rodriguez turned +toward Morano and said to him ... No, realism is all very well, and I +know that my duty as author is to tell all that happened, and I could +win mighty praise as a bold, unconventional writer; at the same time, +some young lady will be reading all this next year in some far country, +or in twenty years in England, and I would sooner she should not read +what Rodriguez said. I do not, I trust, disappoint her. But the gist of +it was that he should leave that place now and depart from his service +for ever. And hearing those words Morano turned mournfully away and was +at once lost in the darkness. While Rodriguez ran once more to help his +fallen antagonist. "Seņor, seņor," he said with an emotion that some +wearing centuries and a cold climate have taught us not to show, and +beyond those words he could find no more to say. + +"Giddy, only giddy," said the stranger. + +A tear fell on his forehead as Rodriguez helped him to his feet. + +"Seņor," Rodriguez said fervently, "we will finish our encounter come +what may. The knave is gone and ..." + +"But I am somewhat giddy," said the other. + +"I will take off one of my shoes," said Rodriguez, "leaving the other +on. It will equalise our unsteadiness, and you shall not be +disappointed in our encounter. Come," he added kindly. + +"I cannot see so clearly as before," the young hidalgo murmured. + +"I will bandage my right eye also," said Rodriguez, "and if this cannot +equalise it ..." + +"It is a most fair offer," said the young man. + +"I could not bear that you should be disappointed of your encounter," +Rodriguez said, "by this spirit of Hell that has got itself clothed in +fat and dares to usurp the dignity of man." + +"It is a right fair offer," the young man said again. + +"Rest yourself, seņor," said Rodriguez, "while I take off my shoe," and +he indicated his kerchief which was still on the ground. + +The stranger sat down a little wearily, and Rodriguez sitting upon the +dust took off his left shoe. And now he began to think a little +wistfully of the face that had shone from that balcony, where all was +dark now in black shadow unlit by the moon. The emptiness of the +balcony and its darkness oppressed him; for he could scarcely hope to +survive an encounter with that swordsman, whose skill he now recognised +as being of a different class from his own, a class of which he knew +nothing. All his own feints and passes were known, while those of his +antagonist had been strange and new, and he might well have even +others. The stranger's giddiness did not alter the situation, for +Rodriguez knew that his handicap was fair and even generous. He +believed he was near his grave, and could see no spark of light to +banish that dark belief; yet more chances than we can see often guard +us on such occasions. The absence of Serafina saddened him like a +sorrowful sunset. + +Rodriguez rose and limped with his one shoe off to the stranger, who +was sitting upon his kerchief. + +"I will bandage my right eye now, seņor," he said. + +The young man rose and shook the dust from the kerchief and gave it to +Rodriguez with a renewed expression of his gratitude at the fairness of +the strange handicap. When Rodriguez had bandaged his eye the stranger +returned his sword to him, which he had held in his hand since his +effort to beat Morano, and drawing his own stepped back a few paces +from him. Rodriguez took one hopeless look at the balcony, saw it as +empty and as black as ever, then he faced his antagonist, waiting. + +"Bandage one eye, indeed!" muttered Morano as he stepped up behind the +stranger and knocked him down for the third time with a blow over the +head from his frying-pan. + +The young hidalgo dropped silently. + +Rodriguez uttered one scream of anger and rushed at Morano with his +sword. Morano had already started to run; and, knowing well that he was +running for his life, he kept for awhile the start that he had of the +rapier. Rodriguez knew that no plump man of over forty could last +against his lithe speed long. He saw Morano clearly before him, then +lost sight of him for a moment and ran confidently on pursuing. He ran +on and on. And at last he recognised that Morano had slipped into the +darkness, which lies always so near to the moonlight, and was not in +front of him at all. So he returned to his fallen antagonist and found +him breathing heavily where he fell, scarcely conscious. The third +stroke of the frying-pan had done its work surely. Rodriguez' fury died +down, only because it is difficult to feel two emotions at once: it +died down as pity took its place, though every now and then it would +suddenly flare and fall again. He returned his sword and lifted the +young hidalgo and carried him to the door of the house under which they +had fought. + +With one fist he beat on the door without putting the hurt man down, +and continued to hit it until steps were heard, and bolts began to +grumble, as though disturbed too early from their rusty sleep in stone +sockets. + +The door of the house with the balcony was opened by a servant who, +when he saw who it was that Rodriguez carried, fled into the house in +alarm, as one who runs with bad news. He carried one candle and, when +he had disappeared with the steaming flame, Rodriguez found himself in +a long hall lit by the moonlight only, which was looking in through the +small contorted panes of the upper part of a high window. Alone with +echoes and shadows Rodriguez carried the hurt man through the hall, who +was muttering now as he came back to consciousness. And, as he went, +there came to Rodriguez thoughts between wonder and hope, for he had +had no thought at all when he beat on the door except to get shelter +and help for the hurt man. At the end of the hall they came to an open +door that led into a chamber partly shining with moonlight. + +"In there," said the man that he carried. + +Rodriguez carried him in and laid him on a long couch at the end of the +room. Large pictures of men in the blackness, out of the moon's rays, +frowned at Rodriguez mysteriously. He could not see their faces in the +darkness, but he somehow knew they frowned. Two portraits that were +clear in the moonlight eyed him with absolute apathy. So cold a welcome +from that house's past generations boded no good to him from those that +dwelt there today. Rodriguez knew that in carrying the hurt man there +he helped at a Christian deed; and yet there was no putting the merits +of the case against the omens that crowded the chamber, lurking along +the edge of moonlight and darkness, disappearing and reappearing till +the gloom was heavy with portent. The omens knew. In a weak voice and +few words the hurt man thanked him, but the apathetic faces seemed to +say What of that? And the frowning faces that he could not see still +filled the darkness with anger. + +And then from the end of the chamber, dressed in white, and all shining +with moonlight, came Serafina. + +Rodriguez in awed silence watched her come. He saw her pass through the +moonlight and grow dimmer, and glide to the moonlight again that +streamed through another window. A great dim golden circle appeared at +the far end of the chamber whence she had come, as the servant returned +with his candle and held it high to give light for Dona Serafina. But +that one flame seemed to make the darkness only blacker; and for any +cheerfulness it brought to the gloom it had better never have +challenged those masses of darkness at all in that high chamber among +the brooding portraits it seemed trivial, ephemeral, modern, ill able +to cope with the power of ancient things, dead days and forgotten +voices, which make their home in the darkness because the days that +have usurped them have stolen the light of the sun. + +And there the man stood holding his candle high, and the rays of the +moon became more magical still beside that little mundane, flickering +thing. And Serafina was moving through the moonlight as though its rays +were her sisters, which she met noiselessly and brightly upon some +island, as it seemed to Rodriguez, beyond the coasts of Earth, so +quietly and so brightly did her slender figure move and so aloof from +him appeared her eyes. And there came on Rodriguez that feeling that +some deride and that others explain away, the feeling of which romance +is mainly made and which is the aim and goal of all the earth. And his +love for Serafina seemed to him not only to be an event in his life but +to have some part in veiled and shadowy destinies and to have the +blessing of most distant days: grey beards seemed to look out of graves +in forgotten places to wag approval: hands seemed to beckon to him out +of far-future times, where faces were smiling quietly: and, dreaming on +further still, this vast approval that gave benediction to his heart's +youthful fancy seemed to widen and widen like the gold of a summer's +evening or, the humming of bees in summer in endless rows of limes, +until it became a part of the story of man. Spring days of his earliest +memory seemed to have their part in it, as well as wonderful evenings +of days that were yet to be, till his love for Serafina was one with +the fate of earth; and, wandering far on their courses, he knew that +the stars blessed it. But Serafina went up to the man on the couch with +no look for Rodriguez. + +With no look for Rodriguez she bent over the stricken hidalgo. He +raised himself a little on one elbow. "It is nothing," he said, +"Serafina." + +Still she bent over him. He laid his head down again, but now with open +and undimmed eyes. She put her hand to his forehead, she spoke in a low +voice to him; she lavished upon him sympathy for which Rodriguez would +have offered his head to swords; and all, thought Rodriguez for three +blows from a knave's frying-pan: and his anger against Morano flared up +again fiercely. Then there came another thought to him out of the +shadows, where Serafina was standing all white, a figure of solace. Who +was this man who so mysteriously blended with the other unknown things +that haunted the gloom of that chamber? Why had he fought him at night? +What was he to Serafina? Thoughts crowded up to him from the interior +of the darkness, sombre and foreboding as the shadows that nursed them. +He stood there never daring to speak to Serafina; looking for +permission to speak, such as a glance might give. And no glance came. + +And now, as though soothed by her beauty, the hurt man closed his eyes. +Serafina stood beside him anxious and silent, gleaming in that dim +place. The servant at the far end of the chamber still held his one +candle high, as though some light of earth were needed against the +fantastic moon, which if unopposed would give everything over to magic. +Rodriguez stood there, scarcely breathing. All was silent. And then +through the door by which Serafina had come, past that lonely, golden, +moon-defying candle, all down the long room across moonlight and +blackness, came the lady of the house, Serafina's mother. She came, as +Serafina came, straight toward the man on the couch, giving no look to +Rodriguez, walking something as Serafina walked, with the same poise, +the same dignity, though the years had carried away from her the grace +Serafina had: so that, though you saw that they were mother and +daughter, the elder lady called to mind the lovely things of earth, +large gardens at evening, statues dim in the dusk, summer and +whatsoever binds us to earthly things; but Serafina turned Rodriguez' +thoughts to the twilight in which he first saw her, and he pictured her +native place as far from here, in mellow fields near the moon, wherein +she had walked on twilight outlasting any we know, with all delicate +things of our fancy, too fair for the rugged earth. + +As the lady approached the couch upon which the young man was lying, +and still no look was turned towards Rodriguez, his young dreams fled +as butterflies sailing high in the heat of June that are suddenly +plunged in night by a total eclipse of the sun. He had never spoken to +Serafina, or seen before her mother, and they did not know his name; he +knew that he, Rodriguez, had no claim to a welcome. But his dreams had +flocked so much about Serafina's face, basking so much in her beauty, +that they now fell back dying; and when a man's dreams die what +remains, if he lingers awhile behind them? + +Rodriguez suddenly felt that his left shoe was off and his right eye +still bandaged, things that he had not noticed while his only thought +was for the man he carried to shelter, but torturing his consciousness +now that he thought of himself. He opened his lips to explain; but +before words came to him, looking at the face of Serafina's mother, +standing now by the couch, he felt that, not knowing how, he had +somehow wronged the Penates of this house, or whatever was hid in the +dimness of that long chamber, by carrying in this young man there to +rest from his hurt. + +Rodriguez' depression arose from these causes, but having arisen, it +grew of its own might: he had had nothing to eat since morning, and in +the favouring atmosphere of hunger his depression grew gigantic. He +opened his lips once more to say farewell, was oppressed by all manner +of thoughts that held him dumb, and turned away in silence and left the +house. Outside he recovered his mandolin and his shoe. He was tired +with the weariness of defeated dreams that slept in his spirit +exhausted, rather than with any fatigue his young muscles had from the +journey. He needed sleep; he looked at the shuttered houses; then at +the soft dust of the road in which dogs lay during the daylight. But +the dust was near to his mood, so he lay down where he had fought the +unknown hidalgo. A light wind wandered the street like a visitor come +to the village out of a friendly valley, but Rodriguez' four days on +the roads had made him familiar with all wandering things, and the +breeze on his forehead troubled him not at all: before it had wearied +of wandering in the night Rodriguez had fallen asleep. Just by the edge +of sleep, upon which side he knew not, he heard the window of the +balcony creak, and looked up wide awake all in a moment. But nothing +stirred in the darkness of the balcony and the window was fast shut. So +whatever sound came from the window came not from its opening but +shutting: for a while he wondered; and then his tired thoughts rested, +and that was sleep. + +A light rain woke Rodriguez, drizzling upon his face; the first light +rain that had fallen in a romantic tale. Storms there had been, lashing +oaks to terrific shapes seen at night by flashes of lightning, through +which villains rode abroad or heroes sought shelter at midnight; +hurricanes there had been, flapping huge cloaks, fierce hail and +copious snow; but until now no drizzle. It was morning; dawn was old; +and pale and grey and unhappy. + +The balcony above him, still empty, scarcely even held romance now. +Rain dripped from it sadly. Its cheerless bareness seemed worse than +the most sinister shadows of night. + +And then Rodriguez saw a rose lying on the ground beside him. And for +all the dreams, fancies, and hopes that leaped up in Rodriguez' mind, +rising and falling and fading, one thing alone he knew and all the rest +was mystery: the rose had lain there before the rain had fallen. +Beneath the rose was white dust, while all around it the dust was +turning grey with rain. + +Rodriguez tried to guess how long the rain had fallen. The rose may +have lain beside him all night long. But the shadows of mystery receded +no farther than this one fact that the rose was there before the rain +began. No sign of any kind came from the house. + +Rodriguez put the rose safe under his coat, wrapped in the kerchief +that had guarded the mandolin, to carry it far from Lowlight, through +places familiar with roses and places strange to them; but it remained +for him a thing of mystery until a day far from then. + +Sadly he left the house in the sad rain, marching away alone to look +for his wars. + + + + +THE SEVENTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME TO SHADOW VALLEY + + +Rodriguez still believed it to be the duty of any Christian man to kill +Morano. Yet, more than comfort, more than dryness, he missed Morano's +cheerful chatter, and his philosophy into which all occasions so easily +slipped. Upon his first day's journey all was new; the very anemones +kept him company; but now he made the discovery that lonely roads are +long. + +When he had suggested food or rest Morano had fallen in with his +wishes; when he had suggested winning a castle in vague wars Morano had +agreed with him. Now he had dismissed Morano and had driven him away at +the rapier's point. There was no one now either to cook his food or to +believe in the schemes his ambition made. There was no one now to speak +of the wars as the natural end of the journey. Alone in the rain the +wars seemed far away and castles hard to come by. The unromantic rain +in which no dreams thrive fell on and on. + +The village of Lowlight was some way behind him, as he went with +mournful thoughts through the drizzling rain, when he caught the smell +of bacon. He looked for a house but the plain was bare except for small +bushes. He looked up wind, which was blowing from the west, whence came +the unmistakable smell of bacon: and there was a small fire smoking +greyly against a bush; and the fat figure crouching beside it, although +the face was averted, was clearly none but Morano. And when Rodriguez +saw that he was tenderly holding the infamous frying-pan, the very +weapon that had done the accursed deed, then he almost felt righteous +anger; but that frying-pan held other memories too, and Rodriguez felt +less fury than what he thought he felt. As for killing Morano, +Rodriguez believed, or thought he believed, that he was too far from +the road for it to be possible to overtake him to mete out his just +punishment. As for the bacon, Rodriguez scorned it and marched on down +the road. Now one side of the frying-pan was very hot, for it was +tilted a little and the lard had run sideways. By tilting it back again +slowly Morano could make the fat run back bit by bit over the heated +metal, and whenever it did so it sizzled. He now picked up the +frying-pan and one log that was burning well and walked parallel with +Rodriguez. He was up-wind of him, and whenever the bacon-fat sizzled +Rodriguez caught the smell of it. A small matter to inspire thoughts; +but Rodriguez had eaten nothing since the morning before, and ideas +surged through his head; and though they began with moral indignation +they adapted themselves more and more to hunger, until there came the +idea that since his money had bought the bacon the food was rightfully +his, and he had every right to eat it wherever he found it. So much can +slaves sometimes control the master, and the body rule the brain. + +So Rodriguez suddenly turned and strode up to Morano. "My bacon," he +said. + +"Master," Morano said, for it was beginning to cool, "let me make +another small fire." + +"Knave, call me not master," said Rodriguez. + +Morano, who knew when speech was good, was silent now, and blew on the +smouldering end of the log he carried and gathered a handful of twigs +and shook the rain off them; and soon had a small fire again, warming +the bacon. He had nothing to say which bacon could not say better. And +when Rodriguez had finished up the bacon he carefully reconsidered the +case of Morano, and there were points in it which he had not thought of +before. He reflected that for the execution of knaves a suitable person +was provided. He should perhaps give Morano up to la Garda. His next +thought was where to find la Garda. And easily enough another thought +followed that one, which was that although on foot and still some way +behind four of la Garda were trying to find him. Rodriguez' mind, which +was looking at life from the point of view of a judge, changed somewhat +at this thought. He reflected next that, for the prevention of crime, +to make Morano see the true nature of his enormity so that he should +never commit it again might after all be as good as killing him. So +what we call his better nature, his calmer judgment, decided him now to +talk to Morano and not to kill him: but Morano, looking back upon this +merciful change, always attributed it to fried bacon. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez' better nature, "to offend the laws of +Chivalry is to have against you the swords of all true men." + +"Master," Morano said, "that were dreadful odds." + +"And rightly," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "I will keep those laws henceforth. I may cook +bacon for you when you are hungry, I may brush the dust from your +cloak, I may see to your comforts. This Chivalry forbids none of that. +But when I see anyone trying to kill you, master; why, kill you he +must, and welcome." + +"Not always," said Rodriguez somewhat curtly, for it struck him that +Morano spoke somehow too lightly of sacred things. + +"Not always?" asked Morano. + +"No," said Rodriguez. + +"Master, I implore you tell me," said Morano, "when they may kill you +and when they may not, so that I may never offend again." + +Rodriguez cast a swift glance at him but found his face so full of +puzzled anxiety that he condescended to do what Morano had asked, and +began to explain to him the rudiments of the laws of Chivalry. + +"In the wars," he said, "you may defend me whoever assails me, or if +robbers or any common persons attack me, but if I arrange a meeting +with a gentleman, and any knave basely interferes, then is he damned +hereafter as well as accursed now; for, the laws of Chivalry being +founded on true religion, the penalty for their breach is by no means +confined to this world." + +"Master," replied Morano thoughtfully, "if I be not damned already I +will avoid those fires of Hell; and none shall kill you that you have +not chosen to kill you, and those that you choose shall kill you +whenever you have a mind." + +Rodriguez opened his lips to correct Morano but reflected that, though +in his crude and base-born way, he had correctly interpreted the law so +far as his mind was able. + +So he briefly said "Yes," and rose and returned to the road, giving +Morano no order to follow him; and this was the last concession he made +to the needs of Chivalry on account of the sin of Morano. Morano +gathered up the frying-pan and followed Rodriguez, and when they came +to the road he walked behind him in silence. + +For three or four miles they walked thus, Morano knowing that he +followed on sufferance and calling no attention to himself with his +garrulous tongue. But at the end of an hour the rain lifted; and with +the coming out of the sun Morano talked again. + +"Master," he said, "the next man that you choose to kill you, let him +be one too base-born to know the tricks of the rapier, too ignorant to +do aught but wish you well, some poor fat fool over forty who shall be +too heavy to elude your rapier's point and too elderly for it to matter +when you kill him at your Chivalry, the best of life being gone already +at forty-five." + +"There is timber here," said Rodriguez. "We will have some more bacon +while you dry my cloak over a fire." + +Thus he acknowledged Morano again for his servant but never +acknowledged that in Morano's words he had understood any poor sketch +of Morano's self, or that the words went to his heart. + +"Timber, Master?" said Morano, though it did not need Rodriguez to +point out the great oaks that now began to stand beside their journey, +but he saw that the other matter was well and thus he left well alone. + +Rodriguez waved an arm towards the great trees. "Yes, indeed," said +Morano, and began to polish up the frying-pan as he walked. + +Rodriguez, who missed little, caught a glimpse of tears in Morano's +eyes, for all that his head was turned downward over the frying-pan; +yet he said nothing, for he knew that forgiveness was all that Morano +needed, and that he had now given him: and it was much to give, +reflected Rodriguez, for so great a crime, and dismissed the matter +from his mind. + +And now their road dipped downhill, and they passed a huge oak and then +another. More and more often now they met these solitary giants, till +their view began to be obscured by them. The road dwindled till it was +no better than a track, the earth beside it was wild and rocky; +Rodriguez wondered to what manner of land he was coming. But +continually the branches of some tree obscured his view and the only +indication he had of it was from the road he trod, which seemed to tell +him that men came here seldom. Beyond every huge tree that they passed +as they went downhill Rodriguez hoped to get a better view, but always +there stood another to close the vista. It was some while before he +realised that he had entered a forest. They were come to Shadow Valley. + +The grandeur of this place, penetrated by shafts of sunlight, coloured +by flashes of floating butterflies, filled by the chaunt of birds +rising over the long hum of insects, lifted the fallen spirits of +Rodriguez as he walked on through the morning. + +He still would not have exchanged his rose for the whole forest; but in +the mighty solemnity of the forest his mourning for the lady that he +feared he had lost no longer seemed the only solemn thing: indeed, the +sombre forest seemed well attuned to his mood; and what complaint have +we against Fate wherever this is so. His mood was one of tragic loss, +the defeat of an enterprise that his hopes had undertaken, to seize +victory on the apex of the world, to walk all his days only just +outside the edge of Paradise, for no less than that his hopes and his +first love promised each other; and then he walked despairing in small +rain. In this mood Fate had led him to solemn old oaks standing huge +among shadows; and the grandeur of their grey grip on the earth that +had been theirs for centuries was akin to the grandeur of the high +hopes he had had, and his despair was somehow soothed by the shadows. +And then the impudent birds seemed to say "Hope again." + +They walked for miles into the forest and lit a fire before noon, for +Rodriguez had left Lowlight very early. And by it Morano cooked bacon +again and dried his master's cloak. They ate the bacon and sat by the +fire till all their clothes were dry, and when the flames from the +great logs fell and only embers glowed they sat there still, with hands +spread to the warmth of the embers; for to those who wander a fire is +food and rest and comfort. Only as the embers turned grey did they +throw earth over their fire and continue their journey. Their road grew +smaller and the forest denser. + +They had walked some miles from the place where they lit their fire, +when a somewhat unmistakable sound made Rodriguez look ahead of him. An +arrow had struck a birch tree on the right side, ten or twelve paces in +front of him; and as he looked up another struck it from the opposite +side just level with the first; the two were sticking in it ten feet or +so from the ground. Rodriguez drew his sword. But when a third arrow +went over his head from behind and struck the birch tree, whut! just +between the other two, he perceived, as duller minds could have done, +that it was a hint, and he returned his sword and stood still. Morano +questioned his master with his eyes, which were asking what was to be +done next. But Rodriguez shrugged his shoulders: there was no fighting +with an invisible foe that could shoot like that. That much Morano +knew, but he did not know that there might not be some law of Chivalry +that would demand that Rodriguez should wave his sword in the air or +thrust at the birch tree until someone shot him. When there seemed to +be no such rule Morano was well content. And presently men came quietly +on to the road from different parts of the wood. They were dressed in +brown leather and wore leaf-green hats, and round each one's neck hung +a disk of engraved copper. They came up to the travellers carrying +bows, and the leader said to Rodriguez: + +"Seņor, all travellers here bring tribute to the King of Shadow +Valley," at the mention of whom all touched hats and bowed their heads. +"What do you bring us?" + +Rodriguez thought of no answer; but after a moment he said, for the +sake of loyalty: "I know one king only." + +"There is only one king in Shadow Valley," said the bowman. + +"He brings a tribute of emeralds," said another, looking at Rodriguez' +scabbard. And then they searched him and others search Morano. There +were eight or nine of them, all in their leaf-green hats, with ribbons +round their necks of the same colour to hold the copper disks. They +took a gold coin from Morano and grey greasy pieces of silver. One of +them took his frying-pan; but he looked so pitifully at them as he said +simply, "I starve," that the frying-pan was restored to him. + +They unbuckled Rodriguez' belt and took from him sword and scabbard and +three gold pieces from his purse. Next they found the gold piece that +was hanging round his neck, still stuffed inside his clothes where he +had put it when he was riding. Having examined it they put it back +inside his clothes, while the leader rebuckled his sword-belt about his +waist and returned him his three gold-pieces. + +Others returned his money to Morano. "Master," said the leader, bowing +to Rodriguez, his green hat in hand, "under our King, the forest is +yours." + +Morano was pleased to hear this respect paid to his master, but +Rodriguez was so surprised that he who was never curt without reason +found no more to say than "Why?" + +"Because we are your servants," said the other. + +"Who are you?" asked Rodriguez. + +"We are the green bowmen, master," he said, "who hold this forest +against all men for our King." + +"And who is he?" said Rodriguez. + +And the bowman answered: "The King of Shadow Valley," at which the +others all touched hats and bowed heads again. And Rodriguez seeing +that the mystery would grow no clearer for any information to be had +from them said: "Conduct me to your king." + +"That, master, we cannot do," said the chief of the bowmen. "There be +many trees in this forest, and behind any one of them he holds his +court. When he needs us there is his clear horn. But when men need him +who knows which shadow is his of all that lie in the forest?" Whether +or not there was anything interesting in the mystery, to Rodriguez it +was merely annoying; and finding it grew no clearer he turned his +attention to shelter for the night, to which all travellers give a +thought at least once, between noon and sunset. + +"Is there any house on this road, seņor," he said, "in which we could +rest the night?" + +"Ten miles from here," said he, "and not far from the road you take is +the best house we have in the forest. It is yours, master, for as long +as you honour it." + +"Come then," said Rodriguez, "and I thank you, seņor." + +So they all started together, Rodriguez with the leader going in front +and Morano following with all the bowmen. And soon the bowmen were +singing songs of the forest, hunting songs, songs of the winter; and +songs of the long summer evenings, songs of love. Cheered by this +merriment, the miles slipped by. + +And Rodriguez gathered from the songs they sang something of what they +were and of how they lived in the forest, living amongst the woodland +creatures till these men's ways were almost as their ways; killing what +they needed for food but protecting the woodland things against all +others; straying out amongst the villages in summer evenings, and +always welcome; and owning no allegiance but to the King of the Shadow +Valley. + +And the leader told Rodriguez that his name was Miguel Threegeese, +given him on account of an exploit in his youth when he lay one night +with his bow by one of the great pools in the forest, where the geese +come in winter. He said the forest was a hundred miles long, lying +mostly along a great valley, which they were crossing. And once they +had owned allegiance to kings of Spain, but now to none but the King of +the Shadow Valley, for the King of Spain's men had once tried to cut +some of the forest down, and the forest was sacred. + +Behind him the men sang on of woodland things, and of cottage gardens +in the villages: with singing and laughter they came to their journey's +end. A cottage as though built by peasants with boundless material +stood in the forest. It was a thatched cottage built in the peasant's +way but of enormous size. The leader entered first and whispered to +those within, who rose and bowed to Rodriguez as he entered, twenty +more bowmen who had been sitting at a table. One does not speak of the +banqueting-hall of a cottage, but such it appeared, for it occupied +more than half of the cottage and was as large as the banqueting-hall +of any castle. It was made of great beams of oak, and high at either +end just under the thatch were windows with their little square panes +of bulging bluish glass, which at that time was rare in Spain. A table +of oak ran down the length of it, cut from a single tree, polished and +dark from the hands of many men that had sat at it. Boar spears hung on +the wall, great antlers and boar's tusks and, carved in the oak of the +wall and again on a high, dark chair that stood at the end of the long +table empty, a crown with oak leaves that Rodriguez recognised. It was +the same as the one that was cut on his gold coin, which he had given +no further thought to, riding to Lowlight, and which the face of +Serafina had driven from his mind altogether. "But," he said, and then +was silent, thinking to learn more by watching than by talking. And his +companions of the road came in and all sat down on the benches beside +the ample table, and a brew was brought, a kind of pale mead, that they +called forest water. And all drank; and, sitting at the table, watching +them more closely than he could as he walked in the forest, Rodriguez +saw by the sunlight that streamed in low through one window that on the +copper disks they wore round their necks on green ribbon the design was +again the same. It was much smaller than his on the gold coin but the +same strange leafy crown. "Wear it as you go through Shadow Valley," he +now seemed to remember the man saying to him who put it round his neck. +But why? Clearly because it was the badge of this band of men. And this +other man was one of them. + +His eyes strayed back to the great design on the wall. "The crown of +the forest," said Miguel as he saw his eyes wondering at it, "as you +doubtless know, seņor." + +Why should he know? Of course because he bore the design himself. "Who +wears it?" said Rodriguez. + +"The King of Shadow Valley." + +Morano was without curiosity; he did not question good drink; he sat at +the table with a cup of horn in his hand, as happy as though he had +come to his master's castle, though that had not yet been won. + +The sun sank under the oaks, filling the hall with a ruddy glow, +turning the boar spears scarlet and reddening the red faces of the +merry men of the bow. + +A dozen of the men went out; to relieve the guard in the forest, Miguel +explained. And Rodriguez learned that he had come through a line of +sentries without ever seeing one. Presently a dozen others came in from +their posts and unslung their bows and laid them on pegs on the wall +and sat down at the table. Whereat there were whispered words and they +all rose and bowed to Rodriguez. And Rodriguez had caught the words "A +prince of the forest." What did it mean? + +Soon the long hall grew dim, and his love for the light drew Rodriguez +out to watch the sunset. And there was the sun under indescribable +clouds, turning huge and yellow among the trunks of the trees and +casting glory munificently down glades. It set, and the western sky +became blood-red and lilac: from the other end of the sky the moon +peeped out of night. A hush came and a chill, and a glory of colour, +and a dying away of light; and in the hush the mystery of the great +oaks became magical. A blackbird blew a tune less of this earth than of +fairy-land. + +Rodriguez wished that he could have had a less ambition than to win a +castle in the wars, for in those glades and among those oaks he felt +that happiness might be found under roofs of thatch. But having come by +his ambition he would not desert it. + +Now rushlights were lit in the great cottage and the window of the long +room glowed yellow. A fountain fell in the stillness that he had not +heard before. An early nightingale tuned a tentative note. "The forest +is fair, is it not?" said Miguel. + +Rodriguez had no words to say. To turn into words the beauty that was +now shining in his thoughts, reflected from the evening there, was no +easier than for wood to reflect all that is seen in the mirror. + +"You love the forest," he said at last. + +"Master," said Miguel, "it is the only land in which we should live our +days. There are cities and roads but man is not meant for them. I know +not, master, what God intends about us; but in cities we are against +the intention at every step, while here, why, we drift along with it." + +"I, too, would live here always," said Rodriguez. + +"The house is yours," said Miguel. And Rodriguez answered: "I go +tomorrow to the wars." + +They turned round then and walked slowly back to the cottage, and +entered the candlelight and the loud talk of many men out of the hush +of the twilight. But they passed from the room at once by a door on the +left, and came thus to a large bedroom, the only other room in the +cottage. + +"Your room, master," said Miguel Threegeese. + +It was not so big as the hall where the bowmen sat, but it was a goodly +room. The bed was made of carved wood, for there were craftsmen in the +forest, and a hunt went all the way round it with dogs and deer. Four +great posts held a canopy over it: they were four young birch-trees +seemingly still wearing their bright bark, but this had been painted on +their bare timber by some woodland artist. The chairs had not the +beauty of the great ages of furniture, but they had a dignity that the +age of commerce has not dreamed of. Each one was carved out of a single +block of wood: there was no join in them anywhere. One of them lasts to +this day. + +The skins of deer covered the long walls. There were great basins and +jugs of earthenware. All was forest-made. The very shadows whispering +among themselves in corners spoke of the forest. The room was rude; but +being without ornament, except for the work of simple craftsmen, it had +nothing there to offend the sense of right of anyone entering its door, +by any jarring conflict with the purposes and traditions of the land in +which it stood. All the woodland spirits might have entered there, and +slept--if spirits sleep--in the great bed, and left at dawn unoffended. +In fact that age had not yet learned vulgarity. + +When Miguel Threegeese left Morano entered. + +"Master," he said, "they are making a banquet for you." + +"Good," said Rodriguez. "We will eat it." And he waited to hear what +Morano had come to say, for he could see that it was more than this. + +"Master," said Morano, "I have been talking with the bowman. And they +will give you whatever you ask. They are good people, master, and they +will give you all things, whatever you asked of them." + +Rodriguez would not show to his servant that it all still puzzled him. + +"They are very amiable men," he said. + +"Master," said Morano, coming to the point, "that Garda, they will have +walked after us. They must be now in Lowlight. They have all to-night +to get new shoes on their horses. And to-morrow, master, to-morrow, if +we be still on foot..." + +Rodriguez was thinking. Morano seemed to him to be talking sense. + +"You would like another ride?" he said to Morano. + +"Master," he answered, "riding is horrible. But the public garrotter, +he is a bad thing too." And he meditatively stroked the bristles under +his chin. + +"They would give us horses?" said Rodriguez. + +"Anything, master, I am sure of it. They are good people." + +"They'll have news of the road by which they left Lowlight," said +Rodriguez reflectively. "They say la Garda dare not enter the forest," +Morano continued, "but thirty miles from here the forest ends. They +could ride round while we go through." + +"They would give us horses?" said Rodriguez again. + +"Surely," said Morano. + +And then Rodriguez asked where they cooked the banquet, since he saw +that there were only two rooms in the great cottage and his inquiring +eye saw no preparations for cooking about the fireplace of either. And +Morano pointed through a window at the back of the room to another +cottage among the trees, fifty paces away. A red glow streamed from its +windows, growing strong in the darkening forest. + +"That is their kitchen, master," he said. "The whole house is kitchen." +His eyes looked eagerly at it, for, though he loved bacon, he welcomed +the many signs of a dinner of boundless variety. + +As he and his master returned to the long hall great plates of polished +wood were being laid on the table. They gave Rodriguez a place on the +right of the great chair that had the crown of the forest carved on the +back. + +"Whose chair is that?" said Rodriguez. + +"The King of Shadow Valley," they said. + +"He is not here then," said Rodriguez. + +"Who knows?" said a bowman. + +"It is his chair," said another; "his place is ready. None knows the +ways of the King of Shadow Valley." + +"He comes sometimes at this hour," said a third, "as the boar comes to +Heather Pool at sunset. But not always. None knows his ways." + +"If they caught the King," said another, "the forest would perish. None +loves it as he, none knows its ways as he, no other could so defend it." + +"Alas," said Miguel, "some day when he be not here they will enter the +forest." All knew whom he meant by they. "And the goodly trees will +go." He spoke as a man foretelling the end of the world; and, as men to +whom no less was announced, the others listened to him. They all loved +Shadow Valley. + +In this man's time, so they told Rodriguez, none entered the forest to +hurt it, no tree was cut except by his command, and venturous men +claiming rights from others than him seldom laid axe long to tree +before he stood near, stepping noiselessly from among shadows of trees +as though he were one of their spirits coming for vengeance on man. + +All this they told Rodriguez, but nothing definite they told of their +king, where he was yesterday, where he might be now; and any questions +he asked of such things seemed to offend a law of the forest. + +And then the dishes were carried in, to Morano's great delight: with +wide blue eyes he watched the produce of that mighty estate coming in +through the doorway cooked. Boars' heads, woodcock, herons, plates full +of fishes, all manner of small eggs, a roe-deer and some rabbits, were +carried in by procession. And the men set to with their ivory-handled +knives, each handle being the whole tusk of a boar. And with their +eating came merriment and tales of past huntings and talk of the forest +and stories of the King of Shadow Valley. + +And always they spoke of him not only with respect but also with the +discretion, Rodriguez thought, of men that spoke of one who might be +behind them at that moment, and one who tolerated no trifling with his +authority. Then they sang songs again, such as Rodriguez had heard on +the road, and their merry lives passed clearly before his mind again, +for we live in our songs as no men live in histories. And again +Rodriguez lamented his hard ambition and his long, vague journey, +turning away twice from happiness; once in the village of Lowlight +where happiness deserted him, and here in the goodly forest where he +jilted happiness. How well could he and Morano live as two of this +band, he thought; leaving all cares in cities: for there dwelt cares in +cities even then. Then he put the thought away. And as the evening wore +away with merry talk and with song, Rodriguez turned to Miguel and told +him how it was with la Garda and broached the matter of horses. And +while the others sang Miguel spoke sadly to him. "Master," he said, "la +Garda shall never take you in Shadow Valley, yet if you must leave us +to make your fortune in the wars, though your fortune waits you here, +there be many horses in the forest, and you and your servant shall have +the best." + +"Tomorrow morning, seņor?" said Rodriguez. + +"Even so," said Miguel. + +"And how shall I send them to you again?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master, they are yours," said Miguel. + +But this Rodriguez would not have, for as yet he only guessed what +claim at all he had upon Shadow Valley, his speculations being far more +concerned with the identity of the hidalgo that he had fought the night +before, how he concerned Serafina, who had owned the rose that he +carried: in fact his mind was busy with such studies as were proper to +his age. And at last they decided between them on the house of a +lowland smith, who was the furthest man that the bowmen knew who was +secretly true to their king. At his house Rodriguez and Morano should +leave the horses. He dwelt sixty miles from the northern edge of the +forest, and would surely give Rodriguez fresh horses if he possessed +them, for he was a true man to the bowman. His name was Gonzalez and he +dwelt in a queer green house. + +They turned then to listen a moment to a hunting song that all the +bowmen were singing about the death of a boar. Its sheer merriment +constrained them. Then Miguel spoke again. "You should not leave the +forest," he said sadly. + +Rodriguez sighed: it was decided. Then Miguel told him of his road, +which ran north-eastward and would one day bring him out of Spain. He +told him how towns on the way, and the river Ebro, and with awe and +reverence he spoke of the mighty Pyrenees. And then Rodriguez rose, for +the start was to be at dawn, and walked quietly through the singing out +of the hall to the room where the great bed was. And soon he slept, and +his dreams joined in the endless hunt through Shadow Valley that was +carved all round the timbers of his bed. + +All too soon he heard voices, voices far off at first, to which he drew +nearer and nearer; thus he woke grudgingly out of the deeps of sleep. +It was Miguel and Morano calling him. + +When at length he reached the hall all the merriment of the evening was +gone from it but the sober beauty of the forest flooded in through both +windows with early sunlight and bird-song; so that it had not the sad +appearance of places in which we have rejoiced, when we revisit them +next day or next generation and find them all deserted by dance and +song. + +Rodriguez ate his breakfast while the bowmen waited with their bows all +strung by the door. When he was ready they all set off in the early +light through the forest. + +Rodriguez did not criticise his ambition; it sailed too high above his +logic for that; but he regretted it, as he went through the beauty of +the forest among these happy men. But we must all have an ambition, and +Rodriguez stuck to the one he had. He had another, but it was an +ambition with weak wings that could not come to hope. It depended upon +the first. If he could win a castle in the wars he felt that he might +even yet hope towards Lowlight. + +Little was said, and Rodriguez was all alone with his thoughts. In two +hours they met a bowman holding two horses. They had gone eight miles. + +"Farewell to the forest," said Miguel to Rodriguez. There was almost a +query in his voice. Would Rodriguez really leave them? it seemed to say. + +"Farewell," he answered. + +Morano too had looked sideways towards his master, seeming almost to +wonder what his answer would be: when it came he accepted it and walked +to the horses. Rodriguez mounted: willing hands helped up Morano. +"Farewell," said Miguel once more. And all the bowmen shouted +"Farewell." + +"Make my farewell," said Rodriguez, "to the King of Shadow Valley." + +A twig cracked in the forest. + +"Hark," said Miguel. "Maybe that was a boar." + +"I cannot wait to hunt," said Rodriguez, "for I have far to go." + +"Maybe," said Miguel, "it was the King's farewell to you." + +Rodriguez looked into the forest and saw nothing. + +"Farewell," he said again. The horses were fresh and he let his go. +Morano lumbered behind him. In two miles they came to the edge of the +forest and up a rocky hill, and so to the plains again, and one more +adventure lay behind them. Rodriguez turned round once on the high +ground and took a long look back on the green undulations of peace. The +forest slept there as though empty of men. + +Then they rode. In the first hour, easily cantering, they did ten +miles. Then they settled down to what those of our age and country and +occupation know as a hound-jog, which is seven miles an hour. And after +two hours they let the horses rest. It was the hour of the frying-pan. +Morano, having dismounted, stretched himself dolefully; then he brought +out all manner of meats. Rodriguez looked wonderingly at them. + +"For the wars, master," said Morano. To whatever wars they went, the +green bowmen seemed to have supplied an ample commissariat. + +They ate. And Rodriguez thought of the wars, for the thought of +Serafina made him sad, and his rejection of the life of the forest +saddened him too; so he sought to draw from the future the comfort that +he could not get from the past. + +They mounted again and rode again for three hours, till they saw very +far off on a hill a village that Miguel had told them was fifty miles +from the forest. + +"We rest the night there," said Rodriguez pointing, though it was yet +seven or eight miles away. + +"All the Saints be praised," said Morano. + +They dismounted then and went on foot, for the horses were weary. At +evening they rode slowly into the village. At an inn whose hospitable +looks were as cheerfully unlike the Inn of the Dragon and Knight as +possible, they demanded lodging for all four. They went first to the +stable, and when the horses had been handed over to the care of a groom +they returned to the inn, and mine host and Rodriguez had to help +Morano up the three steps to the door, for he had walked nine miles +that day and ridden fifty and he was too weary to climb the steps. + +And later Rodriguez sat down alone to his supper at a table well and +variously laden, for the doors of mine hosts' larder were opened wide +in his honour; but Rodriguez ate sparingly, as do weary men. + +And soon he sought his bed. And on the old echoing stairs as he and +mine host ascended they met Morano leaning against the wall. What shall +I say of Morano? Reader, your sympathy is all ready to go out to the +poor, weary man. He does not entirely deserve it, and shall not cheat +you of it. Reader, Morano was drunk. I tell you this sorry truth rather +than that the knave should have falsely come by your pity. And yet he +is dead now over three hundred years, having had his good time to the +full. Does he deserve your pity on that account? Or your envy? And to +whom or what would you give it? Well, anyhow, he deserved no pity for +being drunk. And yet he was thirsty, and too tired to eat, and sore in +need of refreshment, and had had no more cause to learn to shun good +wine than he had had to shun the smiles of princesses; and there the +good wine had been, sparkling beside him merrily. + +And now, why now, fatigued as he had been an hour or so ago (but time +had lost its tiresome, restless meaning), now he stood firm while all +things and all men staggered. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez as he passed that foolish figure, "we go sixty +miles to-morrow." + +"Sixty, master?" said Morano. "A hundred: two hundred." + +"It is best to rest now," said his master. + +"Two hundred, master, two hundred," Morano replied. + +And then Rodriguez left him, and heard him muttering his challenge to +distance still, "Two hundred, two hundred," till the old stairway +echoed with it. + +And so he came to his chamber, of which he remembered little, for sleep +lurked there and he was soon with dreams, faring further with them than +my pen can follow. + + + + +THE EIGHTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE TRAVELLED FAR + + +One blackbird on a twig near Rodriguez' window sang, then there were +fifty singing, and morning arose over Spain all golden and wonderful. + +Rodriguez descended and found mine host rubbing his hands by his good +table, with a look on his face that seemed to welcome the day and to +find good auguries concerning it. But Morano looked as one that, having +fallen from some far better place, is ill-content with earth and the +mundane way. + +He had scorned breakfast; but Rodriguez breakfasted. And soon the two +were bidding mine host farewell. They found their horses saddled, they +mounted at once, and rode off slowly in the early day. The horses were +tired and, slowly trotting and walking, and sometimes dismounting and +dragging the horses on, it was nearly two hours before they had done +ten miles and come to the house of the smith in a rocky village: the +street was cobbled and the houses were all of stone. + +The early sparkle had gone from the dew, but it was still morning, and +many a man but now sat down to his breakfast, as they arrived and beat +on the door. + +Gonzalez the smith opened it, a round and ruddy man past fifty, a +citizen following a reputable trade, but once, ah once, a bowman. + +"Seņor," said Rodriguez, "our horses are weary. We have been told you +will change them for us." + +"Who told you that?" said Gonzalez. + +"The green bowmen in Shadow Valley," the young man answered. + +As a meteor at night lights up with its greenish glare flowers and +blades of grass, twisting long shadows behind them, lights up lawns and +bushes and the deep places of woods, scattering quiet night for a +moment, so the unexpected answer of Rodriguez lit memories in the mind +of the smith all down the long years; and a twinkle and a sparkle of +those memories dancing in woods long forsaken flashed from his eyes. + +"The green bowmen, seņor," said Gonzalez. "Ah, Shadow Valley!" + +"We left it yesterday," said Rodriguez. + +When Gonzalez heard this he poured forth questions. "The forest, seņor; +how is it now with the forest? Do the boars still drink at Heather +Pool? Do the geese go still to Greatmarsh? They should have come early +this year. How is it with Larios, Raphael, Migada? Who shoots woodcock +now?" + +The questions flowed on past answering, past remembering: he had not +spoken of the forest for years. And Rodriguez answered as such +questions are always answered, saying that all was well, and giving +Gonzalez some little detail of some trifling affair of the forest, +which he treasured as small shells are treasured in inland places when +travellers bring them from the sea; but all that he heard of the forest +seemed to the smith like something gathered on a far shore of time. +Yes, he had been a bowman once. + +But he had no horses. One horse that drew a cart, but no horses for +riding at all. And Rodriguez thought of the immense miles lying between +him and the foreign land, keeping him back from his ambition; they all +pressed on his mind at once. The smith was sorry, but he could not make +horses. + +"Show him your coin, master," said Morano. + +"Ah, a small token," said Rodriguez, drawing it forth still on its +green ribbon under his clothing. "The bowman's badge, is it not?" + +Gonzalez looked at it, then looked at Rodriguez. + +"Master," he said, "you shall have your horses. Give me time: you shall +have them. Enter, master." And he bowed and widely opened the door. "If +you will breakfast in my house while I go to the neighbours you shall +have some horses, master." + +So they entered the house, and the smith with many bows gave the +travellers over to the care of his wife, who saw from her husband's +manner that these were persons of importance and as such she treated +them both, and as such entertained them to their second breakfast. And +this meant they ate heartily, as travellers can, who can go without a +breakfast or eat two; and those who dwell in cities can do neither. + +And while the plump dame did them honour they spoke no word of the +forest, for they knew not what place her husband's early years had in +her imagination. + +They had barely finished their meal when the sound of hooves on cobbles +was heard and Gonzalez beat on the door. They all went to the door and +found him there with two horses. The horses were saddled and bridled. +They fixed the stirrups to please them, then the travellers mounted at +once. Rodriguez made his grateful farewell to the wife of the smith: +then, turning to Gonzalez, he pointed to the two tired horses which had +waited all the while with their reins thrown over a hook on the wall. + +"Let the owner of these have them till his own come back," he said, and +added: "How far may I take these?" + +"They are good horses," said the smith. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez. + +"They could do fifty miles to-day," Gonzalez continued, "and to-morrow, +why, forty, or a little more." + +"And where will that bring me?" said Rodriguez, pointing to the +straight road which was going his way, north-eastward. + +"That," said Gonzalez, "that should bring you some ten or twenty miles +short of Saspe." + +"And where shall I leave the horses?" Rodriguez asked. + +"Master," Gonzalez said, "in any village where there be a smith, if you +say 'these are the horses of the smith Gonzalez, who will come for them +one day from here,' they will take them in for you, master." + +"But," and Gonzalez walked a little away from his wife, and the horses +walked and he went beside them, "north of here none knows the bowmen. +You will get no fresh horses, master. What will you do?" + +"Walk," said Rodriguez. + +Then they said farewell, and there was a look on the face of the smith +almost such as the sons of men might have worn in Genesis when angels +visited them briefly. + +They settled down into a steady trot and trotted thus for three hours. +Noon came, and still there was no rest for Morano, but only dust and +the monotonous sight of the road, on which his eyes were fixed: nearly +an hour more passed, and at last he saw his master halt and turn round +in his saddle. + +"Dinner," Rodriguez said. + +All Morano's weariness vanished: it was the hour of the frying-pan once +more. + +They had done more than twenty-one miles from the house of Gonzalez. +Nimbly enough, in his joy at feeling the ground again, Morano ran and +gathered sticks from the bushes. And soon he had a fire, and a thin +column of grey smoke going up from it that to him was always home. + +When the frying-pan warmed and lard sizzled, when the smell of bacon +mingled with the smoke, then Morano was where all wise men and all +unwise try to be, and where some of one or the other some times come +for awhile, by unthought paths and are gone again; for that smoky, +mixed odour was happiness. + +Not for long men and horses rested, for soon Rodriguez' ambition was +drawing him down the road again, of which he knew that there remained +to be travelled over two hundred miles in Spain, and how much beyond +that he knew not, nor greatly cared, for beyond the frontier of Spain +he believed there lay the dim, desired country of romance where roads +were long no more and no rain fell. They mounted again and pushed on +for this country. Not a village they saw but that Morano hoped that +here his affliction would end and that he would dismount and rest; and +always Rodriguez rode on and Morano followed, and with a barking of +dogs they were gone and the village rested behind them. For many an +hour their slow trot carried them on; and Morano, clutching the saddle +with worn arms, already was close to despair, when Rodriguez halted in +a little village at evening before an inn. They had done their fifty +miles from the house of Gonzalez, and even a little more. + +Morano rolled from his horse and beat on the small green door. Mine +host came out and eyed them, preening the point of his beard; and +Rodriguez sat his horse and looked at him. They had not the welcome +here that Gonzalez gave them; but there was a room to spare for +Rodriguez, and Morano was promised what he asked for, straw; and there +was shelter to be had for the horses. It was all the travellers needed. + +Children peered at the strangers, gossips peeped out of doors to gather +material concerning them, dogs noted their coming, the eyes of the +little village watched them curiously, but Rodriguez and Morano passed +into the house unheeding; and past those two tired men the mellow +evening glided by like a dream. Tired though Rodriguez was he noticed a +certain politeness in mine host while he waited at supper, which had +not been noticeable when he had first received him, and rightly put +this down to some talk of Morano's; but he did not guess that Morano +had opened wide blue eyes and, babbling to his host, had guilelessly +told him that his master a week ago had killed an uncivil inn-keeper. + +Scarcely were late birds home before Rodriguez sought his bed, and not +all of them were sleeping before he slept. + +Another morning shone, and appeared to Spain, and all at once Rodriguez +was wide awake. It was the eighth day of his wanderings. + +When he had breakfasted and paid his due in silver he and Morano +departed, leaving mine host upon his doorstep bowing with an almost +perplexed look on his shrewd face as he took the points of moustachios +and beard lightly in turn between finger and thumb: for we of our day +enter vague details about ourselves in the book downstairs when we stay +at inns, but it was mine host's custom to gather all that with his +sharp eyes. Whatever he gathered, Rodriguez and Morano were gone. + +But soon their pace dwindled, the trot slackening and falling to a +walk; soon Rodriguez learned what it is to travel with tired horses. To +Morano riding was merely riding, and the discomforts of that were so +great that he noticed no difference. But to Rodriguez, his continual +hitting and kicking his horse's sides, his dislike of doing it, the +uselessness of it when done, his ambition before and the tired beast +underneath, the body always some yards behind the beckoning spirit, +were as great vexation as a traveller knows. It came to dismounting and +walking miles on foot; even then the horses hung back. They halted an +hour over dinner while the horses grazed and rested, and they returned +to their road refreshed by the magic that was in the frying-pan, but +the horses were no fresher. + +When our bodies are slothful and lie heavy, never responding to the +spirit's bright promptings, then we know dullness: and the burden of it +is the graver for hearing our spirits call faintly, as the chains of a +buccaneer in some deep prison, who hears a snatch of his comrades' +singing as they ride free by the coast, would grow more unbearable than +ever before. But the weight of his tired horse seemed to hang heavier +on the fanciful hopes that Rodriguez' dreams had made. Farther than +ever seemed the Pyrenees, huger than ever their barrier, dimmer and +dimmer grew the lands of romance. + +If the hopes of Rodriguez were low, if his fancies were faint, what +material have I left with which to make a story with glitter enough to +hold my readers' eyes to the page: for know that mere dreams and idle +fancies, and all amorous, lyrical, unsubstantial things, are all that +we writers have of which to make a tale, as they are all that the Dim +Ones have to make the story of man. + +Sometimes riding, sometimes going on foot, with the thought of the +long, long miles always crowding upon Rodriguez, overwhelming his +hopes; till even the castle he was to win in the wars grew too pale for +his fancy to see, tired and without illusions, they came at last by +starlight to the glow of a smith's forge. He must have done forty-five +miles and he knew they were near Caspe. + +The smith was working late, and looked up when Rodriguez halted. Yes, +he knew Gonzalez, a master in the trade: there was a welcome for his +horses. + +But for the two human travellers there were excuses, even apologies, +but no spare beds. It was the same in the next three or four houses +that stood together by the road. And the fever of Rodriguez' ambition +drove him on, though Morano would have lain down and slept where they +stood, though he himself was weary. The smith had received his horses; +after that he cared not whether they gave him shelter or not, the +alternative being the road, and that bringing nearer his wars and the +castle he was to win. And that fancy that led his master Morano allowed +always to lead him too, though a few more miles and he would have +fallen asleep as he walked and dropped by the roadside and slept on. +Luckily they had gone barely two miles from the forge where the horses +rested, when they saw a high, dark house by the road and knocked on the +door and found shelter. It was an old woman who let them in, a farmer's +wife, and she had room for them and one mattress, but no bed. They were +too tired to eat and did not ask for food, but at once followed her up +the booming stairs of her house, which were all dark but for her +candle, and so came among huge minuetting shadows to the long loft at +the top. There was a mattress there which the old woman laid out for +Rodriguez, and a heap of hay for Morano. Just for a moment, as +Rodriguez climbed the last step of the stair and entered the loft where +the huge shadows twirled between the one candle's light and the +unbeaten darkness in corners, just for a moment romance seemed to +beckon to him; for a moment, in spite of his fatigue and dejection, in +spite of the possibility of his quest being crazy, for a moment he felt +that great shadows and echoing boards, the very cobwebs even that hung +from the black rafters, were all romantic things; he felt that his was +a glorious adventure and that all these things that filled the loft in +the night were such as should fitly attend on youth and glory. In a +moment that feeling was gone he knew not why it had come. And though he +remembered it till grey old age, when he came to know the causes of +many things, he never knew what romance might have to do with shadows +or echoes at night in an empty room, and only knew of such fancies that +they came from beyond his understanding, whether from wisdom or folly. + +Morano was first asleep, as enormous snores testified, almost before +the echoes had died away of the footsteps of the old woman descending +the stairs; but soon Rodriguez followed him into the region of dreams, +where fantastic ambitions can live with less of a struggle than in the +broad light of day: he dreamed he walked at night down a street of +castles strangely colossal in an awful starlight, with doors too vast +for any human need, whose battlements were far in the heights of night; +and chose, it being in time of war, the one that should be his; but the +gargoyles on it were angry and spoiled the dream. + +Dream followed dream with furious rapidity, as the dreams of tired men +do, racing each other, jostling and mingling and dancing, an +ill-assorted company: myriads went by, a wild, grey, cloudy multitude; +and with the last walked dawn. + +Rodriguez rose more relieved to quit so tumultuous a rest than +refreshed by having had it. + +He descended, leaving Morano to sleep on, and not till the old dame had +made a breakfast ready did he return to interrupt his snores. + +Even as he awoke upon his heap of hay Morano remained as true to his +master's fantastic quest as the camel is true to the pilgrimage to +Mecca. He awoke grumbling, as the camel grumbles at dawn when the packs +are put on him where he lies, but never did he doubt that they went to +victorious wars where his master would win a castle splendid with +towers. + +Breakfast cheered both the travellers. And then the old lady told +Rodriguez that Caspe was but a three hours' walk, and that cheered them +even more, for Caspe is on the Ebro, which seemed to mark for Rodriguez +a stage in his journey, being carried easily in his imagination, like +the Pyrenees. What road he would take when he reached Caspe he had not +planned. And soon Rodriguez expressed his gratitude, full of fervour, +with many a flowery phrase which lived long in the old dame's mind; and +the visit of those two travellers became one of the strange events of +that house and was chief of the memories that faintly haunted the +rafters of the loft for years. + +They did not reach Caspe in three hours, but went lazily, being weary; +for however long a man defies fatigue the hour comes when it claims +him. The knowledge that Caspe lay near with sure lodging for the night, +soothed Rodriguez' impatience. And as they loitered they talked, and +they decided that la Garda must now be too far behind to pursue any +longer. They came in four hours to the bank of the Ebro and there saw +Caspe near them; but they dined once more on the grass, sitting beside +the river, rather than enter the town at once, for there had grown in +both travellers a liking for the wanderers' green table of earth. + +It was a time to make plans. The country of romance was far away and +they were without horses. + +"Will you buy horses, master?" said Morano. + +"We might not get them over the Pyrenees," said Rodriguez, though he +had a better reason, which was that three gold pieces did not buy two +saddled horses. There were no more friends to hire from. Morano grew +thoughtful. He sat with his feet dangling over the bank of the Ebro. + +"Master," he said after a while, "this river goes our way. Let us come +by boat, master, and drift down to France at our ease." + +To get a river over a range of mountains is harder than to get horses. +Some such difficulty Rodriguez implied to him; but Morano, having come +slowly by an idea, parted not so easily with it. + +"It goes our way, master," he repeated, and pointed a finger at the +Ebro. + +At this moment a certain song that boatmen sing on that river, when the +current is with them and they have nothing to do but be idle and their +lazy thoughts run to lascivious things, came to the ears of Rodriguez +and Morano; and a man with a bright blue sash steered down the Ebro. He +had been fishing and was returning home. + +"Master," Morano said, "that knave shall row us there." + +Rodriguez seeing that the idea was fixed in Morano's mind determined +that events would move it sooner than argument, and so made no reply. + +"Shall I tell him, master?" asked Morano. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez, "if he can row us over the Pyrenees." + +This was the permission that Morano sought, and a hideous yell broke +from his throat hailing the boatman. The boatman looked up lazily, a +young man with strong brown arms, turning black moustaches towards +Morano. Again Morano hailed him and ran along the bank, while the boat +drifted down and the boatman steered in towards Morano. Somehow Morano +persuaded him to come in to see what he wanted; and in a creek he ran +his boat aground, and there he and Morano argued and bargained. But +Rodriguez remained where he was, wondering why it took so long to turn +his servant's mind from that curious fancy. At last Morano returned. + +"Well?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "he will row us to the Pyrenees." + +"The Pyrenees!" said Rodriguez. "The Ebro runs into the sea." For they +had taught him this at the college of San Josephus. + +"He will row us there," said Morano, "for a gold piece a day, rowing +five hours each day." + +Now between them they had but four gold pieces; but that did not make +the Ebro run northward. It seemed that the Ebro, after going their way, +as Morano had said, for twenty or thirty miles, was joined by the river +Segre, and that where the Ebro left them, turning eastwards, the course +of the Segre took them on their way: but it would be rowing against the +current. + +"How far is it?" said Rodriguez. + +"A hundred miles, he says," answered Morano. "He knows it well." + +Rodriguez calculated swiftly. First he added thirty miles; for he knew +that his countrymen took a cheerful view of distance, seldom allowing +any distance to oppress them under its true name at the out set of a +journey; then he guessed that the boatman might row five miles an hour +for the first thirty miles with the stream of the Ebro, and he hoped +that he might row three against the Segre until they came near the +mountains, where the current might grow too strong. + +"Morano," he said, "we shall have to row too." + +"Row, master?" said Morano. + +"We can pay him for four days," said Rodriguez. "If we all row we may +go far on our way." + +"It is better than riding," replied Morano with entire resignation. + +And so they walked to the creek and Rodriguez greeted the boatman, +whose name was Perez; and they entered the boat and he rowed them down +to Caspe. And, in the house of Perez, Rodriguez slept that night in a +large dim room, untidy with diverse wares: they slept on heaps of +things that pertained to the river and fishing. Yet it was late before +Rodriguez slept, for in sight of his mind came glimpses at last of the +end of his journey; and, when he slept at last, he saw the Pyrenees. +Through the long night their mighty heads rejected him, staring +immeasurably beyond him in silence, and then in happier dreams they +beckoned him for a moment. Till at last a bird that had entered the +city of Caspe sang clear and it was dawn. With that first light +Rodriguez arose and awoke Morano. Together they left that long haven of +lumber and found Perez already stirring. They ate hastily and all went +down to the boat, the unknown that waits at the end of all strange +journeys quickening their steps as they went through the early light. + +Perez rowed first and the others took their turns and so they went all +the morning down the broad flood of the Ebro, and came in the afternoon +to its meeting place with the Segre. And there they landed and +stretched their limbs on shore and lit a fire and feasted, before they +faced the current that would be henceforth against them. Then they +rowed on. + +When they landed by starlight and unrolled a sheet of canvas that Perez +had put in the boat, and found what a bad time starlight is for +pitching a tent, Rodriguez and Morano had rowed for four hours each and +Perez had rowed for five. They carried no timber in the boat but used +the oars for tent-poles and cut tent-pegs with a small hatchet that +Perez had brought. + +They stumbled on rocks, tore the canvas on bushes, lost the same thing +over and over again; in fact they were learning the craft of wandering. +Yet at last their tent was up and a good fire comforting them outside, +and Morano had cooked the food and they had supped and talked, and +after that they slept. And over them sleeping the starlight faded away, +and in the greyness that none of them dreamed was dawn five clear notes +were heard so shrill in the night that Rodriguez half waking wondered +what bird of the darkness called, and learned from the answering chorus +that it was day. + +He woke Morano who rose in that chilly hour and, striking sparks among +last night's embers, soon had a fire: they hastily made a meal and +wrapped up their tent and soon they were going onward against the tide +of the Segre. And that day Morano rowed more skilfully; and Rodriguez +unwrapped his mandolin and played, reclining in the boat while he +rested from rowing. And the mandolin told them all, what the words of +none could say, that they fared to adventure in the land of Romance, to +the overthrow of dullness and the sameness of all drear schemes and the +conquest of discontent in the spirit of man; and perhaps it sang of a +time that has not yet come, or the mandolin lied. + +That evening three wiser men made their camp before starlight. They +were now far up the Segre. + +For thirteen hours next day they toiled at the oars or lay languid. And +while Rodriguez rested he played on his mandolin. The Segre slipped by +them. + +They seemed like no men on their way to war, but seemed to loiter as +the bright river loitered, which slid seaward in careless ease and was +wholly freed from time. + +On this day they heard men speak of the Pyrenees, two men and a woman +walking by the river; their voices came to the boat across the water, +and they spoke of the Pyrenees. And on the next day they heard men +speak of war. War that some farmers had fled from on the other side of +the mountain. When Rodriguez heard these chance words his dreams came +nearer till they almost touched the edges of reality. + +It was the last day of Perez' rowing. He rowed well although they +neared the cradle of the Segre and he struggled against them in his +youth. Grey peaks began to peer that had nursed that river. Grey faces +of stone began to look over green hills. They were the Pyrenees. + +When Rodriguez saw at last the Pyrenees he drew a breath and was unable +to speak. Soon they were gone again below the hills: they had but +peered for a moment to see who troubled the Segre. + +And the sun set and still they did not camp, but Perez rowed on into +the starlight. That day he rowed six hours. + +They pitched their tent as well as they could in the darkness; and, +breathing a clear new air all crisp from the Pyrenees, they slept +outside the threshold of adventure. + +Rodriguez awoke cold. Once more he heard the first blackbird who sings +clear at the edge of night all alone in the greyness, the nightingale's +only rival; a rival like some unknown in the midst of a crowd who for a +moment leads some well-loved song, in notes more liquid than a +master-singer's; and all the crowd joins in and his voice is lost, and +no one learns his name. At once a host of birds answered him out of dim +bushes, whose shapes had barely as yet emerged from night. And in this +chorus Perez awoke, and even Morano. + +They all three breakfasted together, and then the wanderers said +good-bye to Perez. And soon he was gone with his bright blue sash, +drifting homewards with the Segre, well paid yet singing a little sadly +as he drifted; for he had been one of a quest, and now he left it at +the edge of adventure, near solemn mountains and, beyond them, +romantic, near-unknown lands. So Perez left and Rodriguez and Morano +turned again to the road, all the more lightly because they had not +done a full day's march for so long, and now a great one unrolled its +leagues before them. + +The heads of the mountains showed themselves again. They tramped as in +the early days of their quest. And as they went the mountains, +unveiling themselves slowly, dropping film after film of distance that +hid their mighty forms, gradually revealed to the wanderers the +magnificence of their beauty. Till at evening Rodriguez and Morano +stood on a low hill, looking at that tremendous range, which lifted far +above the fields of Earth, as though its mountains were no earthly +things but sat with Fate and watched us and did not care. + +Rodriguez and Morano stood and gazed in silence. They had come twenty +miles since morning, they were tired and hungry, but the mountains held +them: they stood there looking neither for rest nor food. Beyond them, +sheltering under the low hills, they saw a little village. Smoke +straggled up from it high into the evening: beyond the village woods +sloped away upwards. But far above smoke or woods the bare peaks +brooded. Rodriguez gazed on their austere solemnity, wondering what +secret they guarded there for so long, guessing what message they held +and hid from man; until he learned that the mystery they guarded among +them was of things that he knew not and could never know. + +Tinkle-ting said the bells of a church, invisible among the houses of +that far village. Tinkle-ting said the crescent of hills that sheltered +it. And after a while, speaking out of their grim and enormous silences +with all the gravity of their hundred ages, Tinkle-ting said the +mountains. With this trivial message Echo returned from among the homes +of the mighty, where she had run with the small bell's tiny cry to +trouble their crowned aloofness. + +Rodriguez and Morano pressed on, and the mountains cloaked themselves +as they went, in air of many colours; till the stars came out and the +lights of the village gleamed. In darkness, with surprise in the tones +of the barking dogs, the two wanderers came to the village where so few +ever came, for it lay at the end of Spain, cut off by those mighty +rocks, and they knew not much of what lands lay beyond. + +They beat on a door below a hanging board, on which was written "The +Inn of the World's End": a wandering scholar had written it and had +been well paid for his work, for in those days writing was rare. The +door was opened for them by the host of the inn, and they entered a +room in which men who had supped were sitting at a table. They were all +of them men from the Spanish side of the mountains, farmers come into +the village on the affairs of Mother Earth; next day they would be back +at their farms again; and of the land the other side of the mountains +that was so near now they knew nothing, so that it still remained for +the wanderers a thing of mystery wherein romance could dwell: and +because they knew nothing of that land the men at the inn treasured all +the more the rumours that sometimes came from it, and of these they +talked, and mine host listened eagerly, to whom all tales were brought +soon or late; and most he loved to hear tales from beyond the mountains. + +Rodriguez and Morano sat still and listened, and the talk was all of +war. It was faint and vague like fable, but rumour clearly said War, +and the other side of the mountains. It may be that no man has a crazy +ambition without at moments suspecting it; but prove it by the +touchstone of fact and he becomes at once as a woman whose invalid son, +after years of seclusion indoors, wins unexpectedly some athletic +prize. When Rodriguez heard all this talk of wars quite near he thought +of his castle as already won; his thoughts went further even, floating +through Lowlight in the glowing evening, and drifting up and down past +Serafina's house below the balcony where she sat for ever. + +Some said the Duke would never attack the Prince because the Duke's +aunt was a princess from the Troubadour's country. Another said that +there would surely be war. Others said that there was war already, and +too late for man to stop it. All said it would soon be over. + +And one man said that it was the last war that would come, because +gunpowder made fighting impossible. It could smite a man down, he said, +at two hundred paces, and a man be slain not knowing whom he fought. +Some loved fighting and some loved peace, he said, but gunpowder suited +none. + +"I like not the sound of that gunpowder, master," said Morano to +Rodriguez. + +"Nobody likes it," said the man at the table. "It is the end of war." +And some sighed and some were glad. But Rodriguez determined to push on +before the last war was over. + +Next morning Rodriguez paid the last of his silver pieces and set off +with Morano before any but mine host were astir. There was nothing but +the mountains in front of them. + +They climbed all the morning and they came to the fir woods. There they +lit a good fire and Morano brought out his frying-pan. Over the meal +they took stock of their provisions and found that, for all the store +Morano had brought from the forest, they had now only food for three +days; and they were quite without money. Money in those uplifted wastes +seemed trivial, but the dwindling food told Rodriguez that he must +press on; for man came among those rocky monsters supplied with all his +needs, or perished unnoticed before their stony faces. All the +afternoon they passed through the fir woods, and as shadows began to +grow long they passed the last tree. The village and all the fields +about it and the road by which they had come were all spread out below +them like little trivial things dimly remembered from very long ago by +one whose memory weakens. Distance had dwarfed them, and the cold +regard of those mighty peaks ignored them. And then a shadow fell on +the village, then tiny lights shone out. It was night down there. Still +the two wanderers climbed on in the daylight. With their faces to the +rocks they scarce saw night climb up behind them. But when Rodriguez +looked up at the sky to see how much light was left, and met the calm +gaze of the evening star, he saw that Night and the peaks were met +together, and understood all at once how puny an intruder is man. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "we must rest here for the night." + +Morano looked round him with an air of discontent, not with his +master's words but with the rocks' angular hardness. There was scarce a +plant of any kind near them now. They were near the snow, which had +flushed like a wild rose at sunset but was now all grey. Grey cliffs +seemed to be gazing sheer at eternity; and here was man, the creature +of a moment, who had strayed in the cold all homeless among his +betters. There was no welcome for them there: whatever feeling great +mountains evoke, THAT feeling was clear in Rodriguez and Morano. They +were all amongst those that have other aims, other ends, and know +naught of man. A bitter chill from the snow and from starry space drove +this thought home. + +They walked on looking for a better place, as men will, but found none. +And at last they lay down on the cold earth under a rock that seemed to +give shelter from the wind, and there sought sleep; but cold came +instead, and sleep kept far from the tremendous presences of the peaks +of the Pyrenees that gazed on things far from here. + +An ageing moon arose, and Rodriguez touched Morano and rose up; and the +two went slowly on, tired though they were. Picture the two tiny +figures, bent, shivering and weary, walking with clumsy sticks cut in +the wood, amongst the scorn of those tremendous peaks, which the moon +showed all too clearly. + +They got little warmth from walking, they were too weary to run; and +after a while they halted and burned their sticks, and got a little +warmth for some moments from their fire, which burned feebly and +strangely in those inhuman solitudes. + +Then they went on again and their track grew steeper. They rested again +for fatigue, and rose and climbed again because of the cold; and all +the while the peaks stared over them to spaces far beyond the thought +of man. + +Long before Spain knew anything of dawn a monster high in heaven smiled +at the sun, a peak out-towering all its aged children. It greeted the +sun as though this lonely thing, that scorned the race of man since +ever it came, had met a mighty equal out in Space. The vast peak +glowed, and the rest of its grey race took up the greeting leisurely +one by one. Still it was night in all Spanish houses. + +Rodriguez and Morano were warmed by that cold peak's glow, though no +warmth came from it at all; but the sight of it cheered them and their +pulses rallied, and so they grew warmer in that bitter hour. + +And then dawn came, and showed them that they were near the top of the +pass. They had come to the snow that gleams there everlastingly. + +There was no material for a fire but they ate cold meats, and went +wearily on. They passed through that awful assemblage of peaks. By noon +they were walking upon level ground. + +In the afternoon Rodriguez, tired with the journey and with the heat of +the sun, decided that it was possible to sleep, and, wrapping his cloak +around him, he lay down, doing what Morano would have done, by +instinct. Morano was asleep at once and Rodriguez soon after. They +awoke with the cold at sunset. + +Refreshed amazingly they ate some food and started their walk again to +keep themselves warm for the night. They were still on level ground and +set out with a good stride in their relief at being done with climbing. +Later they slowed down and wandered just to keep warm. And some time in +the starlight they felt their path dip, and knew that they were going +downward now to the land of Rodriguez' dreams. + +When the peaks glowed again, first meeting day in her earliest +dancing-grounds of filmy air, they stood now behind the wanderers. +Below them still in darkness lay the land of their dream, but hitherto +it had always faded at dawn. Now hills put up their heads one by one +through films of mist; woods showed, then hedges, and afterwards +fields, greyly at first and then, in the cold hard light of morning, +becoming more and more real. The sight of the land so long sought, at +moments believed by Morano not to exist on earth, perhaps to have faded +away when fables died, swept their fatigue from the wanderers, and they +stepped out helped by the slope of the Pyrenees and cheered by the +rising sun. They came at last to things that welcome man, little shrubs +flowering, and--at noon--to the edge of a fir wood. They entered the +wood and lit a merry fire, and heard birds singing, at which they both +rejoiced, for the great peaks had said nothing. + +They ate the food that Morano cooked, and drew warmth and cheer from +the fire, and then they slept a little: and, rising from sleep, they +pushed on through the wood, downward and downward toward the land of +their dreams, to see if it was true. + +They passed the wood and came to curious paths, and little hills, and +heath, and rocky places, and wandering vales that twisted all awry. +They passed through them all with the slope of the mountain behind +them. When level rays from the sunset mellowed the fields of France the +wanderers were walking still, but the peaks were far behind them, +austerely gazing on the remotest things, forgetting the footsteps of +man. And walking on past soft fields in the evening, all tilted a +little about the mountain's feet, they had scarcely welcomed the sight +of the evening star, when they saw before them the mild glow of a +window and knew they were come again to the earth that is mother to +man. In their cold savagery the inhuman mountains decked themselves out +like gods with colours they took from the sunset; then darkened, all +those peaks, in brooding conclave and disappeared in the night. And the +hushed night heard the tiny rap of Morano's hands on the door of the +house that had the glowing window. + + + + +THE NINTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE WON A CASTLE IN SPAIN + + +The woman that came to the door had on her face a look that pleased +Morano. + +"Are you soldiers?" she said. And her scared look portended war. + +"My master is a traveller looking for the wars," said Morano. "Are the +wars near?" + +"Oh, no, not near," said the woman; "not near." + +And something in the anxious way she said "not near" pleased Morano +also. + +"We shall find those wars, master," he said. + +And then they both questioned her. It seemed the wars were but twenty +miles away. "But they will move northward," she said. "Surely they will +move farther off?" + +Before the next night was passed Rodriguez' dream might come true! + +And then the man came to the door anxious at hearing strange voices; +and Morano questioned him too, but he understood never a word. He was a +French farmer that had married a Spanish girl, out of the wonderful +land beyond the mountains: but whether he understood her or not he +never understood Spanish. But both Rodriguez and the farmer's wife knew +the two languages, and he had no difficulty in asking for lodging for +the night; and she looked wistfully at him going to the wars, for in +those days wars were small and not every man went. The night went by +with dreams that were all on the verge of waking, which passed like +ghosts along the edge of night almost touched by the light of day. It +was Rodriguez whom these dreams visited. The farmer and his wife +wondered awhile and then slept; Morano slept with all his wonted +lethargy; but Rodriguez with his long quest now on the eve of +fulfilment slept a tumultuous sleep. Sometimes his dreams raced over +the Pyrenees, running south as far as Lowlight; and sometimes they +rushed forward and clung like bats to the towers of the great castle +that he should win in the war. And always he lay so near the edge of +sleep that he never distinguished quite between thought and dream. + +Dawn came and he put by all the dreams but the one that guided him +always, and went and woke Morano. They ate hurriedly and left the +house, and again the farmer's wife looked curiously at Rodriguez, as +though there were something strange in a man that went to wars: for +those days were not as these days. They followed the direction that had +been given them, and never had the two men walked so fast. By the end +of four hours they had done sixteen miles. They halted then, and Morano +drew out his frying-pan with a haughty flourish, and cooked in the +grand manner, every movement he made was a triumphant gesture; for they +had passed refugees! War was now obviously close: they had but to take +the way that the refugees were not taking. The dream was true: Morano +saw himself walking slowly in splendid dress along the tapestried +corridors of his master's castle. He would have slept after eating and +would have dreamed more of this, but Rodriguez commanded him to put the +things together: so what remained of the food disappeared again in a +sack, the frying-pan was slung over his shoulders, and Morano stood +ready again for the road. + +They passed more refugees: their haste was unmistakable, and told more +than their lips could have told had they tarried to speak: the wars +were near now, and the wanderers went leisurely. + +As they strolled through the twilight they came over the brow of a +hill, a little fold of the earth disturbed eras ago by the awful +rushing up of the Pyrenees; and they saw the evening darkening over the +fields below them and a white mist rising only just clear of the grass, +and two level rows of tents greyish-white like the mist, with a few +more tents scattered near them. The tents had come up that evening with +the mist, for there were men still hammering pegs. They were lighting +fires now as evening settled in. Two hundred paces or so separated each +row. It was two armies facing each other. + +The gloaming faded: mist and the tents grew greyer: camp-fires blinked +out of the dimness and grew redder and redder, and candles began to be +lit beside the tents till all were glowing pale golden: Rodriguez and +Morano stood there wondering awhile as they looked on the beautiful +aura that surrounds the horrors of war. + +They came by starlight to that tented field, by twinkling starlight to +the place of Rodriguez' dream. + +"For which side will you fight, master?" said Morano in his ear. + +"For the right," said Rodriguez and strode on towards the nearest +tents, never doubting that he would be guided, though not trying to +comprehend how this could be. + +They met with an officer going among his tents. "Where do you go?" he +shouted. + +"Seņor," Rodriguez said, "I come with my mandolin to sing songs to you." + +And at this the officer called out and others came from their tents; +and Rodriguez repeated his offer to them not without confidence, for he +knew that he had a way with the mandolin. And they said that they +fought a battle on the morrow and could not listen to song: they heaped +scorn on singing for they said they must needs prepare for the fight: +and all of them looked with scorn on the mandolin. So Rodriguez bowed +low to them with doffed hat and left them; and Morano bowed also, +seeing his master bow; and the men of that camp returned to their +preparations. A short walk brought Rodriguez and his servant to the +other camp, over a flat field convenient for battle. He went up to a +large tent well lit, the door being open towards him; and, having +explained his errand to a sentry that stood outside, he entered and saw +three persons of quality that were sitting at a table. To them he bowed +low in the tent door, saying: "Seņors, I am come to sing songs to you, +playing the while upon my mandolin." + +And they welcomed him gladly, saying: "We fight tomorrow and will +gladly cheer our hearts with the sound of song and strengthen our men +thereby." + +And so Rodriguez sang among the tents, standing by a great fire to +which they led him; and men came from the tents and into the circle of +light, and in the darkness outside it were more than Rodriguez saw. And +he sang to the circle of men and the vague glimmer of faces. Songs of +their homes he sang them, not in their language, but songs that were +made by old poets about the homes of their infancy, in valleys under +far mountains remote from the Pyrenees. And in the song the yearnings +of dead poets lived again, all streaming homeward like swallows when +the last of the storms is gone: and those yearnings echoed in the +hearts that beat in the night around the campfire, and they saw their +own homes. And then he began to touch his mandolin; and he played them +the tunes that draw men from their homes and that march them away to +war. The tunes flowed up from the firelight: the mandolin knew. And the +men heard the mandolin saying what they would say. + +In the late night he ended, and a hush came down on the camp while the +music floated away, going up from the dark ring of men and the fire-lit +faces, touching perhaps the knees of the Pyrenees and drifting thence +wherever echoes go. And the sparks of the camp-fire went straight +upwards as they had done for hours, and the men that sat around it saw +them go: for long they had not seen the sparks stream upwards, for +their thoughts were far away with the mandolin. And all at once they +cheered. And Rodriguez bowed to the one whose tent he had entered, and +sought permission to fight for them in the morning. + +With good grace this was accorded him, and while he bowed and well +expressed his thanks he felt Morano touching his elbow. And as soon as +he had gone aside with Morano that fat man's words bubbled over and +were said. + +"Master, fight not for these men," he exclaimed, "for they listen to +song till midnight while the others prepare for battle. The others will +win the fight, master, and where will your castle be?" + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "there seems to be truth in that. Yet must we +fight for the right. For how would it be if those that have denied song +should win and thrive? The arm of every good man must be against them. +They have denied song, Morano! We must fight against them, you and I, +while we can lay sword to head." + +"Yes, indeed, master," said Morano. "But how shall you come by your +castle?" + +"As for that," said Rodriguez, "it must some day be won, yet not by +denying song. These have given a welcome to song, and the others have +driven it forth. And what would life be if those that deny song are to +be permitted to thrive unmolested by all good men?" + +"I know not, master," said Morano, "but I would have that castle." + +"Enough," said Rodriguez. "We must fight for the right." + +And so Rodriguez remained true to those that had heard him sing. And +they gave him a casque and breast-plate, proof, they said, against any +sword, and offered a sword that they said would surely cleave any +breast-plate. For they fought not in battle with the nimble rapier. But +Rodriguez did not forsake that famous exultant sword whose deeds he +knew from many an ancient song; which he had brought so far to give it +its old rich drink of blood. He believed it the bright key of the +castle he was to win. + +And they gave Rodriguez a good bed on the ground in the tent of the +three leaders, the tent to which he first came; for they honoured him +for the gift of song that he had, and because he was a stranger, and +because he had asked permission to fight for them in their battle. And +Rodriguez took one look by the light of a lantern at the rose he had +carried from Lowlight, then slept a sleep through whose dreams loomed +up the towers of castles. + +Dawn came and he slept on still; but by seven all the camp was loudly +astir, for they had promised the enemy to begin the battle at eight. +Rodriguez breakfasted lightly; for, now that the day of his dreams was +come at last and all his hopes depended on the day, an anxiety for many +things oppressed him. It was as though his castle, rosy and fair in +dreams, chilled with its huge cold rocks all the air near it: it was as +though Rodriguez touched it at last with his hands and felt a dankness +of which he had never dreamed. + +Then it came to the hour of eight and his anxieties passed. + +The army was now drawn up before its tents in line, but the enemy was +not yet ready and so they had to wait. + +When the signal at length was given and the cannoniers fired their +pieces, and the musketoons were shot off, many men fell. Now Rodriguez, +with Morano, was placed on the right, and either through a slight +difference in numbers or because of an unevenness in the array of +battle they a little overlapped the enemy's left. When a few men fell +wounded there by the discharge of the musketoons this overlapping was +even more pronounced. + +Now the leaders of that fair army scorned all unknightly devices, and +would never have descended to any vile ruse de guerre. The reproach can +therefore never be made against them that they ever intended to +outflank their enemy. Yet, when both armies advanced after the +discharge of the musketoons and the merry noise of the cannon, this +occurred as the result of chance, which no leader can be held +accountable for; so that those that speak of treachery in this battle, +and deliberate outflanking, lie. + +Now Rodriguez as he advanced with his sword, when the musketoons were +empty, had already chosen his adversary. For he had carefully watched +those opposite to him, before any smoke should obscure them, and had +selected the one who from the splendour of his dress might be expected +to possess the finest castle. Certainly this adversary outshone those +amongst whom he stood, and gave fair promise of owning goodly +possessions, for he wore a fine green cloak over a dress of lilac, and +his helm and cuirass had a look of crafty workmanship. Towards him +Rodriguez marched. + +Then began fighting foot to foot, and there was a pretty laying on of +swords. And had there been a poet there that day then the story of +their fight had come down to you, my reader, all that way from the +Pyrenees, down all those hundreds of years, and this tale of mine had +been useless, the lame repetition in prose of songs that your nurses +had sung to you. But they fought unseen by those that see for the Muses. + +Rodriguez advanced upon his chosen adversary and, having briefly bowed, +they engaged at once. And Rodriguez belaboured his helm till dints +appeared, and beat it with swift strokes yet till the dints were +cracks, and beat the cracks till hair began to appear: and all the +while his adversary's strokes grew weaker and wilder, until he tottered +to earth and Rodriguez had won. Swift then as cats, while Morano kept +off others, Rodriguez leaped to his throat, and, holding up the +stiletto that he had long ago taken as his legacy from the host of the +Dragon and Knight, he demanded the fallen man's castle as ransom for +his life. + +"My castle, seņor?" said his prisoner weakly. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez impatiently. + +"Yes, seņor," said his adversary and closed his eyes for awhile. + +"Does he surrender his castle, master?" asked Morano. + +"Yes, indeed," said Rodriguez. They looked at each other: all at last +was well. + +The battle was rolling away from them and was now well within the +enemy's tents. + +History says of that day that the good men won. And, sitting, a Muse +upon her mythical mountain, her decision must needs be one from which +we may not appeal: and yet I wonder if she is ever bribed. Certainly +the shrewd sense of Morano erred for once; for those for whom he had +predicted victory, because they prepared so ostentatiously upon the +field, were defeated; while the others, having made their preparations +long before, were able to cheer themselves with song before the battle +and to win it when it came. + +And so Rodriguez was left undisturbed in possession of his prisoner and +with the promise of his castle as a ransom. The battle was swiftly +over, as must needs be where little armies meet so close. The enemy's +camp was occupied, his army routed, and within an hour of beginning the +battle the last of the fighting ceased. + +The army returned to its tents to rejoice and to make a banquet, +bringing with them captives and horses and other spoils of war. And +Rodriguez had honour among them because he had fought on the right and +so was one of those that had broken the enemy's left, from which +direction victory had come. And they would have feasted him and done +him honour, both for his work with the sword and for his songs to the +mandolin; and they would have marched away soon to their own country +and would have taken him with them and advanced him to honour there. +But Rodriguez would not stay with them for he had his castle at last, +and must needs march off at once with his captive and Morano to see the +fulfilment of his dream. And therefore he thanked the leaders of that +host with many a courtesy and many a well-bent bow, and explained to +them how it was about his castle, and felicitated them on the victory +of their good cause, and so wished them farewell. And they said +farewell sorrowfully: but when they saw he would go, they gave him +horses for himself and Morano, and another for his captive; and they +heaped them with sacks of provender and blankets and all things that +could give him comfort upon a journey: all this they brought him out of +their spoils of war, and they would give him no less that the most that +the horses could carry. And then Rodriguez turned to his captive again, +who now stood on his feet. + +"Seņor," he said, "pray tell us all of your castle wherewith you ransom +your life." + +"Seņor," he answered, "I have a castle in Spain." + +"Master," broke in Morano, his eyes lighting up with delight, "there +are no castles like the Spanish ones." + +They got to horse then, all three; the captive on a horse of far poorer +build than the other two and well-laden with sacks, for Rodriguez took +no chance of his castle cantering, as it were, away from him on four +hooves through the dust. + +And when they heard that his journey was by way of the Pyrenees four +knights of that army swore they would ride with him as far as the +frontier of Spain, to bear him company and bring him fuel in the lonely +cold of the mountains. They all set off and the merry army cheered. He +left them making ready for their banquet, and never knew the cause for +which he had fought. + +They came by evening again to the house to which Rodriguez had come two +nights before, when he had slept there with his castle yet to win. They +all halted before it, and the man and the woman came to the door +terrified. "The wars!" they said. + +"The wars," said one of the riders, "are over, and the just cause has +won." + +"The Saints be praised!" said the woman. "But will there be no more +fighting?" + +"Never again," said the horseman, "for men are sick of gunpowder." + +"The Saints be thanked," she said. + +"Say not that," said the horseman, "for Satan invented gunpowder." + +And she was silent; but, had none been there, she had secretly thanked +Satan. + +They demanded the food and shelter that armed men have the right to +demand. + +In the morning they were gone. They became a memory, which lingered +like a vision, made partly of sunset and partly of the splendour of +their cloaks, and so went down the years that those two folk had, a +thing of romance, magnificence and fear. And now the slope of the +mountain began to lift against them, and they rode slowly towards those +unearthly peaks that had deserted the level fields before ever man came +to them, and that sat there now familiar with stars and dawn with the +air of never having known of man. And as they rode they talked. And +Rodriguez talked with the four knights that rode with him, and they +told tales of war and told of the ways of fighting of many men: and +Morano rode behind them beside the captive and questioned him all the +morning about his castle in Spain. And at first the captive answered +his questions slowly, as if he were weary, or as though he were long +from home and remembered its features dimly; but memory soon returned +and he answered clearly, telling of such a castle as Morano had not +dreamed; and the eyes of the fat man bulged as he rode beside him, +growing rounder and rounder as they rode. + +They came by sunset to that wood of firs in which Rodriguez had rested. +In the midst of the wood they halted and tethered their horses to +trees; they tied blankets to branches and made an encampment; and in +the midst of it they made a fire, at first, with pine-needles and the +dead lower twigs and then with great logs. And there they feasted +together, all seven, around the fire. And when the feast was over and +the great logs burning well, and red sparks went up slowly towards the +silver stars, Morano turned to the prisoner seated beside him and "Tell +the seņors," he said, "of my master's castle." + +And in the silence, that was rather lulled than broken by the +whispering wind from the snow that sighed through the wood, the captive +slowly lifted up his head and spoke in his queer accent. + +"Seņors, in Aragon, across the Ebro, are many goodly towers." And as he +spoke they all leaned forward to listen, dark faces bright with +firelight. "On the Ebro's southern bank stands," he went on, "my home." + +He told of strange rocks rising from the Ebro; of buttresses built +among them in unremembered times; of the great towers lifting up in +multitudes from the buttresses; and of the mighty wall, windowless +until it came to incredible heights, where the windows shone all safe +from any ladder of war. + +At first they felt in his story his pride in his lost home, and +wondered, when he told of the height of his towers, how much he added +in pride. And then the force of that story gripped them all and they +doubted never a battlement, but each man's fancy saw between firelight +and starlight every tower clear in the air. And at great height upon +those marvellous towers the turrets of arches were; queer carvings +grinned down from above inaccessible windows; and the towers gathered +in light from the lonely air where nothing stood but they, and flashed +it far over Aragon; and the Ebro floated by them always new, always +amazed by their beauty. + +He spoke to the six listeners on the lonely mountain, slowly, +remembering mournfully; and never a story that Romance has known and +told of castles in Spain has held men more than he held his listeners, +while the sparks flew up toward the peaks of the Pyrenees and did not +reach to them but failed in the night, giving place to the white stars. + +And when he faltered through sorrow, or memory weakening, Morano +always, watching with glittering eyes, would touch his arm, sitting +beside him, and ask some question, and the captive would answer the +question and so talk sadly on. + +He told of the upper terraces, where heliotrope and aloe and oleander +took sunlight far above their native earth: and though but rare winds +carried the butterflies there, such as came to those fragrant terraces +lingered for ever. + +And after a while he spoke on carelessly, and Morano's questions ended, +and none of the men in the firelight said a word; but he spoke on +uninterrupted, holding them as by a spell, with his eyes fixed far away +on black crags of the Pyrenees, telling of his great towers: almost it +might have seemed he was speaking of mountains. And when the fire was +only a deep red glow and white ash showed all round it, and he ceased +speaking, having told of a castle marvellous even amongst the towers of +Spain: all sitting round the embers felt sad with his sadness, for his +sad voice drifted into their very spirits as white mists enter houses, +and all were glad when Rodriguez said to him that one of his ten tall +towers the captive should keep and should live in it for ever. And the +sad man thanked him sadly and showed no joy. + +When the tale of the castle and those great towers was done, the wind +that blew from the snow touched all the hearers; they had seemed to be +away by the bank of the Ebro in the heat and light of Spain, and now +the vast night stripped them and the peaks seemed to close round on +them. They wrapped themselves in blankets and lay down in their +shelters. For a while they heard the wind waving branches and the thump +of a horse's hoof restless at night; then they all slept except one +that guarded the captive, and the captive himself who long lay thinking +and thinking. + +Dawn stole through the wood and waked none of the sleepers; the birds +all shouted at them, still they slept on; and then the captive's guard +wakened Morano and he stirred up the sparks of the fire and cooked, and +they breakfasted late. And soon they left the wood and faced the bleak +slope, all of them going on foot and leading their horses. + +And the track crawled on till it came to the scorn of the peaks, +winding over a shoulder of the Pyrenees, where the peaks gaze cold and +contemptuous away from the things of man. + +In the presence of those that bore them company Rodriguez and Morano +felt none of the deadly majesty of those peaks that regard so awfully +over the solitudes. They passed through them telling cheerfully of wars +the four knights had known: and descended and came by sunset to the +lower edge of the snow. They pushed on a little farther and then +camped; and with branches from the last camp that they had heaped on +their horses they made another great fire and, huddling round it in the +blankets that they had brought, found warmth even there so far from the +hearths of men. + +And dawn and the cold woke them all on that treeless slope by barely +warm embers. Morano cooked again and they ate in silence. And then the +four knights rose sadly and one bowed and told Rodriguez how they must +now go back to their own country. And grief seized on Rodriguez at his +words, seeing that he was to lose four old friends at once and perhaps +for ever, for when men have fought under the same banner in war they +become old friends on that morning. + +"Seņors," said Rodriguez, "we may never meet again!" + +And the other looked back to the peaks beyond which the far lands lay, +and made a gesture with his hands. + +"Seņor, at least," said Rodriguez, "let us camp once more together." + +And even Morano babbled a supplication. + +"Methinks, seņor," he answered, "we are already across the frontier, +and when we men of the sword cross frontiers misunderstandings arise, +so that it is our custom never to pass across them save when we push +the frontier with us, adding the lands over which we march to those of +our liege lord." + +"Seņors," said Rodriguez, "the whole mountain is the frontier. Come +with us one day further." But they would not stay. + +All the good things that could be carried they loaded on to the three +horses whose heads were turned towards Spain; then turned, all four, +and said farewell to the three. And long looked each in the face of +Rodriguez as he took his hand in fare well, for they had fought under +the same banner and, as wayfaring was in those days, it was not likely +that they would ever meet again. They turned and went with their horses +back towards the land they had fought for. + +Rodriguez and his captive and Morano went sadly down the mountain. They +came to the fir woods, and rested, and Morano cooked their dinner. And +after a while they were able to ride their horses. + +They came to the foot of the mountains, and rode on past the Inn of the +World's End. They camped in the open; and all night long Rodriguez or +Morano guarded the captive. + +For two days and part of the third they followed their old course, +catching sight again and again of the river Segre; and then they turned +further west ward to come to Aragon further up the Ebro. All the way +they avoided houses and camped in the open, for they kept their captive +to themselves: and they slept warm with their ample store of blankets. +And all the while the captive seemed morose or ill at ease, speaking +seldom and, when he did, in nervous jerks. + +Morano, as they rode, or by the camp fire at evening, still questioned +him now and then about his castle; and sometimes he almost seemed to +contradict himself, but in so vast a castle may have been many styles +of architecture, and it was difficult to trace a contradiction among +all those towers and turrets. His name was Don +Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle on-Ebro. + +One night while all three sat and gazed at the camp-fire as men will, +when the chilly stars are still and the merry flames are leaping, +Rodriguez, seeking to cheer his captive's mood, told him some of his +strange adventures. The captive listened with his sombre air. But when +Rodriguez told how they woke on the mountain after their journey to the +sun; and the sun was shining on their faces in the open, but the +magician and his whole house were gone; then there came another look +into Alvidar's eyes. And Rodriguez ended his tale and silence fell, +broken only by Morano saying across the fire, "It is true," and the +captive's thoughtful eyes gazed into the darkness. And then he also +spoke. + +"Seņor," he said, "near to my rose-pink castle which looks into the +Ebro dwells a magician also." + +"Is it so?" said Rodriguez. + +"Indeed so, seņor," said Don Alvidar. "He is my enemy but dwells in awe +of me, and so durst never molest me except by minor wonders." + +"How know you that he is a magician?" said Rodriguez. + +"By those wonders," answered his captive. "He afflicts small dogs and +my poultry. And he wears a thin, high hat: his beard is also +extraordinary." + +"Long?" said Morano. + +"Green," answered Don Alvidar. + +"Is he very near the castle?" said Rodriguez and Morano together. + +"Too near," said Don Alvidar. + +"Is his house wonderful?" Rodriguez asked. + +"It is a common house," was the answer. "A mean, long house of one +story. The walls are white and it is well thatched. The windows are +painted green; there are two doors in it and by one of them grows a +rose tree." + +"A rose tree?" exclaimed Rodriguez. + +"It seemed a rose tree," said Don Alvidar. + +"A captive lady chained to the wall perhaps, changed by magic," +suggested Morano. + +"Perhaps," said Don Alvidar. + +"A strange house for a magician," said Rodriguez, for it sounded like +any small farmhouse in Spain. + +"He much affects mortal ways," replied Don Alvidar. + +Little more was then said, the fire being low: and Rodriguez lay down +to sleep while Morano guarded the captive. + +And the day after that they came to Aragon, and in one day more they +were across the Ebro; and then they rode west for a day along its +southern bank looking all the while as they rode for Rodriguez' castle. +And more and more silent and aloof, as they rode, grew Don +Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle-on-Ebro. + +And just before sunset a cry broke from the captive. "He has taken it!" +he said. And he pointed to just such a house as he had described, a +jolly Spanish farmhouse with white walls and thatch and green shutters, +and a rose tree by one of the doors just as he had told. + +"The magician's house. But the castle is gone," he said. + +Rodriguez looked at his face and saw real alarm in it. He said nothing +but rode on in haste, a dim hope in his mind that explanations at the +white cottage might do something for his lost castle. + +And when the hooves were heard a woman came out of the cottage door by +the rose tree leading a small child by the hand. And the captive called +to the woman, "Maria, we are lost. And I gave my great castle with +rose-pink towers that stood just here as ransom to this seņor for my +life. But now, alas, I see that that magician who dwelt in the house +where you are now has taken it whither we know not." + +"Yes, Pedro," said the woman, "he took it yesterday." And she turned +blue eyes upon Rodriguez. + +And then Morano would be silent no longer. He had thought vaguely for +some days and intensely for the last few hundreds yards, and now he +blurted out the thoughts that boiled in him. + +"Master," he shouted, "he has sold his cattle and bought this raiment +of his, and that helmet that you opened up for him, and never had any +castle on the Ebro with any towers to it, and never knew any magician, +but lived in this house himself, and now your castle is gone, master, +and as for his life ..." + +"Be silent a moment, Morano," said Rodriguez, and he turned to the +woman whose eyes were on him still. + +"Was there a castle in this place?" he said. + +"Yes, seņor. I swear it," she said. "And my husband, though a poor man, +always spoke the truth." + +"She lies," said Morano, and Rodriguez silenced him with a gesture. + +"I will get neighbours who will swear it too," she said. + +"A lousy neighbourhood," said Morano. + +Again Rodriguez silenced him. And then the child spoke in a frightened +voice, holding up a small cross that it had been taught to revere. "I +swear it too," it said. + +Rodriguez heaved a sigh and turned away. "Master," Morano cried in +pained astonishment, "you will not believe their swearings." + +"The child swore by the cross," he answered. + +"But, master!" Morano exclaimed. + +But Rodriguez would say no more. And they rode away aimless in silence. + +Galloping hooves were heard and Pedro was there. He had come to give up +his horse. He gave its reins to the scowling Morano but Rodriguez said +never a word. Then he ran round and kissed Rodriguez' hand, who still +was silent, for his hopes were lost with the castle; but he nodded his +head and so parted for ever from the man whom his wife called Pedro, +who called himself Don Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle-on-Ebro. + + + + +THE TENTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME BACK TO LOWLIGHT + + +"Master," Morano said. But Rodriguez rode ahead and would not speak. + +They were riding vaguely southward. They had ample provisions on the +horse that Morano led, as well as blankets, which gave them comfort at +night. That night they both got the sleep they needed, now that there +was no captive to guard. All the next day they rode slowly in the April +weather by roads that wandered among tended fields; but a little way +off from the fields there shone low hills in the sunlight, so wild, so +free of man, that Rodriguez remembering them in later years, wondered +if their wild shrubs just hid the frontiers of fairyland. + +For two days they rode by the edge of unguessable regions. Had Pan +piped there no one had marvelled, nor though fauns had scurried past +sheltering clumps of azaleas. In the twilight no tiny queens had court +within rings of toadstools: yet almost, almost they appeared. + +And on the third day all at once they came to a road they knew. It was +the road by which they had ridden when Rodriguez still had his dream, +the way from Shadow Valley to the Ebro. And so they turned into the +road they knew, as wanderers always will; and, still without aim or +plan, they faced towards Shadow Valley. And in the evening of the day +that followed that, as they looked about for a camping-ground, there +came in sight the village on the hill which Rodriguez knew to be fifty +miles from the forest: it was the village in which they had rested the +first night after leaving Shadow Valley. They did not camp but went on +to the village and knocked at the door of the inn. Habit guides us all +at times, even kings are the slaves of it (though in their presence it +takes the prouder name of precedent); and here were two wanderers +without any plans at all; they were therefore defenceless in the grip +of habit and, seeing an inn they knew, they loitered up to it. Mine +host came again to the door. He cheerfully asked Rodriguez how he had +fared on his journey, but Rodriguez would say nothing. He asked for +lodging for himself and Morano and stabling for the horses: he ate and +slept and paid his due, and in the morning was gone. + +Whatever impulses guided Rodriguez as he rode and Morano followed, he +knew not what they were or even that there could be any. He followed +the road without hope and only travelled to change his camping-grounds. +And that night he was half-way between the village and Shadow Valley. + +Morano never spoke, for he saw that his master's disappointment was +still raw; but it pleased him to notice, as he had done all day, that +they were heading for the great forest. He cooked their evening meal in +their camp by the wayside and they both ate it in silence. For awhile +Rodriguez sat and gazed at the might-have-beens in the camp-fire: and +when these began to be hidden by white ash he went to his blankets and +slept. And Morano went quietly about the little camp, doing all that +needed to be done, with never a word. When the horses were seen to and +fed, when the knives were cleaned, when everything was ready for the +start next morning, Morano went to his blankets and slept too. And in +the morning again they wandered on. + +That evening they saw the low gold rays of the sun enchanting the tops +of a forest. It almost surprised Rodriguez, travelling without an aim, +to recognise Shadow Valley. They quickened their slow pace and, before +twilight faded, they were under the great oaks; but the last of the +twilight could not pierce the dimness of Shadow Valley, and it seemed +as if night had entered the forest with them. + +They chose a camping-ground as well as they could in the darkness and +Morano tied the horses to trees a little way off from the camp. Then he +returned to Rodriguez and tied a blanket to the windward side of two +trees to make a kind of bedroom for his master, for they had all the +blankets they needed. And when this was done he set the emblem and +banner of camps, anywhere all over the world in any time, for he +gathered sticks and branches and lit a camp-fire. The first red flames +went up and waved and proclaimed a camp: the light made a little +circle, shadows ran away to the forest, and the circle of light on the +ground and on the trees that stood round it became for that one night +home. + +They heard the horses stamp as they always did in the early part of the +night; and then Morano went to give them their fodder. Rodriguez sat +and gazed into the fire, his mind as full of thoughts as the fire was +full of pictures: one by one the pictures in the fire fell in; and all +his thoughts led nowhere. + +He heard Morano running back the thirty or forty yards he had gone from +the camp-fire "Master," Morano said, "the three horses are gone." + +"Gone?" said Rodriguez. There was little more to say; it was too dark +to track them and he knew that to find three horses in Shadow Valley +was a task that might take years. And after more thought than might +seem to have been needed he said; "We must go on foot." + +"Have we far to go, master?" said Morano, for the first time daring to +question him since they left the cottage in Spain. + +"I have nowhere to go," said Rodriguez. His head was downcast as he sat +by the fire: Morano stood and looked at him unhappily, full of a +sympathy that he found no words to express. A light wind slipped +through the branches and everything else was still. It was some while +before he lifted his head; and then he saw before him on the other side +of the fire, standing with folded arms, the man in the brown leather +jacket. + +"Nowhere to go!" said he. "Who needs go anywhere from Shadow Valley?" + +Rodriguez stared at him. "But I can't stay here!" he said. + +"There is no fairer forest known to man," said the other. "I know many +songs that prove it." + +Rodriguez made no answer but dropped his eyes, gazing with listless +glance once more at the ground. "Come, seņor," said the man in the +leather jacket. "None are unhappy in Shadow Valley." + +"Who are you?" said Rodriguez. Both he and Morano were gazing curiously +at the man whom they had saved three weeks ago from the noose. + +"Your friend," answered the stranger. + +"No friend can help me," said Rodriguez. + +"Seņor," said the stranger across the fire, still standing with folded +arms, "I remain under an obligation to no man. If you have an enemy or +love a lady, and if they dwell within a hundred miles, either shall be +before you within a week." + +Rodriguez shook his head, and silence fell by the camp-fire. And after +awhile Rodriguez, who was accustomed to dismiss a subject when it was +ended, saw the stranger's eyes on him yet, still waiting for him to say +more. And those clear blue eyes seemed to do more than wait, seemed +almost to command, till they overcame Rodriguez' will and he obeyed and +said, although he could feel each word struggling to stay unuttered, +"Seņor, I went to the wars to win a castle and a piece of land thereby; +and might perchance have wed and ended my wanderings, with those of my +servant here; but the wars are over and no castle is won." + +And the stranger saw by his face in the firelight, and knew from the +tones of his voice in the still night, the trouble that his words had +not expressed. + +"I remain under an obligation to no man," said the stranger. "Be at +this place in four weeks' time, and you shall have a castle as large as +any that men win by war, and a goodly park thereby." + +"Your castle, master!" said Morano delighted, whose only thought up to +then was as to who had got his horses. But Rodriguez only stared: and +the stranger said no more but turned on his heel. And then Rodriguez +awoke out of his silence and wonder. "But where?" he said. "What +castle?" + +"That you will see," said the stranger. + +"But, but how ..." said Rodriguez. What he meant was, "How can I +believe you?" but he did not put it in words. + +"My word was never broken," said the other. And that is a good boast to +make, for those of us who can make it; if we need boast at all. + +"Whose word?" said Rodriguez, looking him in the eyes. + +The smoke from the fire between them was thickening greyly as though +something had been cast on it. "The word," he said, "of the King of +Shadow Valley." + +Rodriguez gazing through the increasing smoke saw not to the other +side. He rose and walked round the fire, but the strange man was gone. + +Rodriguez came back to his place by the fire and sat long there in +silence. Morano was bubbling over to speak, but respected his master's +silence: for Rodriguez was gazing into the deeps of the fire seeing +pictures there that were brighter than any that he had known. They were +so clear now that they seemed almost true. He saw Serafina's face there +looking full at him. He watched it long until other pictures hid it, +visions that had no meaning for Rodriguez. And not till then he spoke. +And when he spoke his face was almost smiling. + +"Well, Morano," he said, "have we come by that castle at last?" + +"That man does not lie, master," he answered: and his eyes were +glittering with shrewd conviction. + +"What shall we do then?" said Rodriguez. + +"Let us go to some village, master," said Morano, "until the time he +said." + +"What village?" Rodriguez asked. + +"I know not, master," answered Morano, his face a puzzle of innocence +and wonder; and Rodriguez fell back into thought again. And the dancing +flames calmed down to a deep, quiet glow; and soon Rodriguez stepped +back a yard or two from the fire to where Morano had prepared his bed; +and, watching the fire still, and turning over thoughts that flashed +and changed as fast as the embers, he went to wonderful dreams that +were no more strange or elusive than that valley's wonderful king. + +When he spoke in the morning the camp-fire was newly lit and there was +a smell of bacon; and Morano, out of breath and puzzled, was calling to +him. + +"Master," he said, "I was mistaken about those horses." + +"Mistaken?" said Rodriguez. + +"They were just as I left them, master, all tied to the tree with my +knots." + +Rodriguez left it at that. Morano could make mistakes and the forest +was full of wonders: anything might happen. "We will ride," he said. + +Morano's breakfast was as good as ever; and, when he had packed up +those few belongings that make a dwelling-place of any chance spot in +the wilderness, they mounted the horses, which were surely there, and +rode away through sunlight and green leaves. They rode slow, for the +branches were low over the path, and whoever canters in a forest and +closes his eyes against a branch has to consider whether he will open +them to be whipped by the next branch or close them till he bumps his +head into a tree. And it suited Rodriguez to loiter, for he thought +thus to meet the King of Shadow Valley again or his green bowmen and +learn the answers to innumerable questions about his castle which were +wandering through his mind. + +They ate and slept at noon in the forest's glittering greenness. + +They passed afterwards by the old house in the wood, in which the +bowmen feasted, for they followed the track that they had taken before. +They knocked loud on the door as they passed but the house was empty. +They heard the sound of a multitude felling trees, but whenever they +approached the sound of chopping ceased. Again and again they left the +track and rode towards the sound of chopping, and every time the +chopping died away just as they drew close. They saw many a tree half +felled, but never a green bowman. And at last they left it as one of +the wonders of the forest and returned to the track lest they lose it, +for the track was more important to them than curiosity, and evening +had come and was filling the forest with dimness, and shadows stealing +across the track were beginning to hide it away. In the distance they +heard the invisible woodmen chopping. + +And then they camped again and lit their fire; and night came down and +the two wanderers slept. + +The nightingale sang until he woke the cuckoo: and the cuckoo filled +the leafy air so full of his two limpid notes that the dreams of +Rodriguez heard them and went away, back over their border to +dreamland. Rodriguez awoke Morano, who lit his fire: and soon they had +struck their camp and were riding on. + +By noon they saw that if they hurried on they could come to Lowlight by +nightfall. But this was not Rodriguez' plan, for he had planned to ride +into Lowlight, as he had done once before, at the hour when Serafina +sat in her balcony in the cool of the evening, as Spanish ladies in +those days sometimes did. So they tarried long by their resting-place +at noon and then rode slowly on. And when they camped that night they +were still in the forest. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez over the camp-fire, "tomorrow brings me to +Lowlight." + +"Aye, master," said Morano, "we shall be there tomorrow." + +"That seņor with whom I had a meeting there," said Rodriguez, "he ..." + +"He loves me not," said Morano. + +"He would surely kill you," replied Rodriguez. + +Morano looked sideways at his frying-pan. + +"It would therefore be better," continued Rodriguez, "that you should +stay in this camp while I give such greetings of ceremony in Lowlight +as courtesy demands." + +"I will stay, master," said Morano. + +Rodriguez was glad that this was settled, for he felt that to follow +his dreams of so many nights to that balconied house in Lowlight with +Morano would be no better than visiting a house accompanied by a dog +that had bitten one of the family. + +"I will stay," repeated Morano. "But, master ..." The fat man's eyes +were all supplication. + +"Yes?" said Rodriguez. + +"Leave me your mandolin," implored Morano. + +"My mandolin?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "that seņor who likes my fat body so ill he +would kill me, he ..." + +"Well?" said Rodriguez, for Morano was hesitating. + +"He likes your mandolin no better, master." + +Rodriguez resented a slight to his mandolin as much as a slight to his +sword, but he smiled as he looked at Morano's anxious face. + +"He would kill you for your mandolin," Morano went on eagerly, "as he +would kill me for my frying-pan." + +And at the mention of that frying-pan Rodriguez frowned, although it +had given him many a good meal since the night it offended in Lowlight. +And he would sooner have gone to the wars without a sword than under +the balcony of his heart's desire without a mandolin. + +So Rodriguez would hear no more of Morano's request; and soon he left +the fire and went to lie down; but Morano sighed and sat gazing on into +the embers unhappily; while thoughts plodded slow through his mind, +leading to nothing. Late that night he threw fresh logs on the +camp-fire, so that when they awoke there was still fire in the embers +And when they had eaten their breakfast Rodriguez said farewell to +Morano, saying that he had business in Lowlight that might keep him a +few days. But Morano said not farewell then, for he would follow his +master as far as the midday halt to cook his next meal. And when noon +came they were beyond the forest. + +Once more Morano cooked bacon. Then while Rodriguez slept Morano took +his cloak and did all that could be done by brushing and smoothing to +give back to it that air that it some time had, before it had flapped +upon so many winds and wrapped Rodriguez on such various beds, and met +the vicissitudes that make this story. + +For the plume he could do little. + +And his master awoke, late in the afternoon, and went to his horse and +gave Morano his orders. He was to go back with two of the horses to +their last camp in the forest and take with him all their kit except +one blanket and make himself comfortable there and wait till Rodriguez +came. + +And then Rodriguez rode slowly away, and Morano stood gazing mournfully +and warningly at the mandolin; and the warnings were not lost upon +Rodriguez, though he would never admit that he saw in Morano's staring +eyes any wise hint that he heeded. + +And Morano sighed, and went and untethered his horses; and soon he was +riding lonely back to the forest. And Rodriguez taking the other way +saw at once the towers of Lowlight. + +Does my reader think that he then set spurs to his horse, galloping +towards that house about whose balcony his dreams flew every night? No, +it was far from evening; far yet from the colour and calm in which the +light with never a whisper says farewell to Earth, but with a gesture +that the horizon hides takes silent leave of the fields on which she +has danced with joy; far yet from the hour that shone for Serafina like +a great halo round her and round her mother's house. + +We cannot believe that one hour more than another shone upon Serafina, +or that the dim end of the evening was only hers: but these are the +Chronicles of Rodriguez, who of all the things that befell him +treasured most his memory of Serafina in the twilight, and who held +that this hour was hers as much as her raiment and her balcony: such +therefore it is in these chronicles. + +And so he loitered, waiting for the slow sun to set: and when at last a +tint on the walls of Lowlight came with the magic of Earth's most faery +hour he rode in slowly not perhaps wholly unwitting, for all his +anxious thoughts of Serafina, that a little air of romance from the +Spring and the evening followed this lonely rider. + +From some way off he saw that balcony that had drawn him back from the +other side of the far Pyrenees. Sometimes he knew that it drew him and +mostly he knew it not; yet always that curved balcony brought him +nearer, ever since he turned from the field of the false Don Alvidar: +the balcony held him with invisible threads, such as those with which +Earth draws in the birds at evening. And there was Serafina in her +balcony. + +When Rodriguez saw Serafina sitting there in the twilight, just as he +had often dreamed, he looked no more but lowered his head to the +withered rose that he carried now in his hand, the rose that he had +found by that very balcony under another moon. And, gazing still at the +rose, he rode on under the balcony, and passed it, until his hoof-beats +were heard no more in Lowlight and he and his horse were one dim shape +between the night and the twilight. And still he held on. + +He knew not yet, but only guessed, who had thrown that rose from the +balcony on the night when he slept on the dust: he knew not who it was +that he fought on the same night, and dared not guess what that unknown +hidalgo might be to Serafina. He had no claim to more from that house, +which once gave him so cold a welcome, than thus to ride by it in +silence. And he knew as he rode that the cloak and the plume that he +wore scarce seemed the same as those that had floated by when more than +a month ago he had ridden past that balcony; and the withered rose that +he carried added one more note of autumn. And yet he hoped. + +And so he rode into twilight and was hid from the sight of the village, +a worn, pathetic figure, trusting vaguely to vague powers of good +fortune that govern all men, but that favour youth. + +And, sure enough, it was not yet wholly moonlight when cantering hooves +came down the road behind him. It was once more that young hidalgo. And +as soon as he drew rein beside Rodriguez both reached out merry hands +as though their former meeting had been some errand of joy. And as +Rodriguez looked him in the eyes, while the two men leaned over +clasping hands, in light still clear though faded, he could not doubt +Serafina was his sister. + +"Seņor," said his old enemy, "will you tarry with us, in our house a +few days, if your journey is not urgent?" + +Rodriguez gasped for joy; for the messenger from Lowlight, the +certainty that here was no rival, the summons to the house of his +dreams' pilgrimage, came all together: his hand still clasped the +stranger's. Yet he answered with the due ceremony that that age and +land demanded: then they turned and rode together towards Lowlight. And +first the young men told each other their names; and the stranger told +how he dwelt with his mother and sister in the house that Rodriguez +knew, and his name was Don Alderon of the Valley of Dawnlight. His +house had dwelt in that valley since times out of knowledge; but then +the Moors had come and his forbears had fled to Lowlight: the Moors +were gone now, for which Saint Michael and all fighting Saints be +praised; but there were certain difficulties about his right to the +Valley of Dawnlight. So they dwelt in Lowlight still. + +And Rodriguez told of the war that there was beyond the Pyrenees and +how the just cause had won, but little more than that he was able to +tell, for he knew scarce more of the cause for which he had fought than +History knows of it, who chooses her incidents and seems to forget so +much. And as they talked they came to the house with the balcony. A +waning moon cast light over it that was now no longer twilight; but was +the light of wild things of the woods, and birds of prey, and men in +mountains outlawed by the King, and magic, and mystery, and the quests +of love. Serafina had left her place: lights gleamed now in the +windows. And when the door was opened the hall seemed to Rodriguez so +much less hugely hollow, so much less full of ominous whispered echoes, +that his courage rose high as he went through it with Alderon, and they +entered the room together that they had entered together before. In the +long room beyond many candles he saw Dona Serafina and her mother +rising up to greet him. Neither the ceremonies of that age nor +Rodriguez' natural calm would have entirely concealed his emotion had +not his face been hidden as he bowed. They spoke to him; they asked him +of his travels; Rodriguez answered with effort. He saw by their manner +that Don Alderon must have explained much in his favour. He had this +time, to cheer him, a very different greeting; and yet he felt little +more at ease than when he had stood there late at night before, with +one eye bandaged and wearing only one shoe, suspected of he knew not +what brawling and violence. + +It was not until Dona Mirana, the mother of Serafina, asked him to play +to them on his mandolin that Rodriguez' ease returned. He bowed then +and brought round his mandolin, which had been slung behind him; and +knew a triumphant champion was by him now, one old in the ways of love +and wise in the sorrows of man, a slender but potent voice, +well-skilled to tell what there were not words to say; a voice +unhindered by language, unlimited even by thought, whose universal +meaning was heard and understood, sometimes perhaps by wandering +spirits of light, beaten far by some evil thought for their heavenly +courses and passing close along the coasts of Earth. + +And Rodriguez played no tune he had ever known, nor any airs that he +had heard men play in lanes in Andalusia; but he told of things that he +knew not, of sadnesses that he had scarcely felt and undreamed +exaltations. It was the hour of need, and the mandolin knew. + +And when all was told that the mandolin can tell of whatever is +wistfulest in the spirit of man, a mood of merriment entered its old +curved sides and there came from its hollows a measure such as they +dance to when laughter goes over the greens in Spain. Never a song sang +Rodriguez; the mandolin said all. + +And what message did Serafina receive from those notes that were +strange even to Rodriguez? Were they not stranger to her? I have said +that spirits blown far out of their course and nearing the mundane +coasts hear mortal music sometimes, and hearing understand. And if they +cannot understand those snatches of song, all about mortal things and +human needs, that are wafted rarely to them by chance passions, how +much more surely a young mortal heart, so near Rodriguez, heard what he +would say and understood the message however strange. + +When Dona Mirana and her daughter rose, exchanging their little +curtsies for the low bows of Rodriguez, and so retired for the night, +the long room seemed to Rodriguez now empty of threatening omens. The +great portraits that the moon had lit, and that had frowned at him in +the moonlight when he came here before, frowned at him now no longer. +The anger that he had known to lurk in the darkness on pictured faces +of dead generations had gone with the gloom that it haunted: they were +all passionless now in the quiet light of the candles. He looked again +at the portraits eye to eye, remembering looks they had given him in +the moonlight, and all looked back at him with ages of apathy; and he +knew that whatever glimmer of former selves there lurks about portraits +of the dead and gone was thinking only of their own past days in years +remote from Rodriguez. Whether their anger had flashed for a moment +over the ages on that night a month from now, or whether it was only +the moonlight, he never knew. Their spirits were back now surely +amongst their own days, whence they deigned not to look on the days +that make these chronicles. + +Not till then did Rodriguez admit, or even know, that he had not eaten +since his noonday meal. But now he admitted this to Don Alderon's +questions; and Don Alderon led him to another chamber and there regaled +him with all the hospitality for which that time was famous. And when +Rodriguez had eaten, Don Alderon sent for wine, and the butler brought +it in an olden flagon, dark wine of a precious vintage: and soon the +two young men were drinking together and talking of the wickedness of +the Moors. And while they talked the night grew late and chilly and +still, and the hour came when moths are fewer and young men think of +bed. Then Don Alderon showed his guest to an upper room, a long room +dim with red hangings, and carvings in walnut and oak, which the one +candle he carried barely lit but only set queer shadows scampering. And +here he left Rodriguez, who was soon in bed, with the great red +hangings round him. And awhile he wondered at the huge silence of the +house all round him, with never a murmur, never an echo, never a sigh; +for he missed the passing of winds, branches waving, the stirring of +small beasts, birds of prey calling, and the hundred sounds of the +night; but soon through the silence came sleep. + +He did not need to dream, for here in the home of Serafina he had come +to his dreams' end. + +Another day shone on another scene; for the sunlight that went in a +narrow stream of gold and silver between the huge red curtains had sent +away the shadows that had stalked overnight through the room, and had +scattered the eeriness that had lurked on the far side of furniture, +and all the dimness was gone that the long red room had harboured. And +for a while Rodriguez did not know where he was; and for a while, when +he remembered, he could not believe it true. He dressed with care, +almost with fear, and preened his small moustachios, which at last had +grown again just when he would have despaired. Then he descended, and +found that he had slept late, though the three of that ancient house +were seated yet at the table, and Serafina all dressed in white seemed +to Rodriguez to be shining in rivalry with the morning. Ah dreams and +fancies of youth! + + + + +THE ELEVENTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE TURNED TO GARDENING AND HIS SWORD RESTED + + +These were the days that Rodriguez always remembered; and, side by side +with them, there lodged in his memory, and went down with them into his +latter years, the days and nights when he went through the Pyrenees and +walked when he would have slept but had to walk or freeze: and by some +queer rule that guides us he treasured them both in his memory, these +happy days in this garden and the frozen nights on the peaks. + +For Serafina showed Rodriguez the garden that behind the house ran +narrow and long to the wild. There were rocks with heliotrope pouring +over them and flowers peeping behind them, and great azaleas all in +triumphant bloom, and ropes of flowering creepers coming down from +trees, and oleanders, and a plant named popularly Joy of the South, and +small paths went along it edged with shells brought from the far sea. + +There was only one street in the village, and you did not go far among +the great azaleas before you lost sight of the gables; and you did not +go far before the small paths ended with their shells from the distant +sea, and there was the mistress of all gardeners facing you, Mother +Nature nursing her children, the things of the wild. She too had +azaleas and oleanders, but they stood more solitary in their greater +garden than those that grew in the garden of Dona Mirana; and she too +had little paths, only they were without borders and without end. Yet +looking from the long and narrow garden at the back of that house in +Lowlight to the wider garden that sweeps round the world, and is fenced +by Space from the garden in Venus and by Space from the garden in Mars, +you scarce saw any difference or noticed where they met: the solitary +azaleas beyond were gathered together by distance, and from Lowlight to +the horizon seemed all one garden in bloom. And afterwards, all his +years, whenever Rodriguez heard the name of Spain, spoken by loyal men, +it was thus that he thought of it, as he saw it now. + +And here he used to walk with Serafina when she tended flowers in the +cool of the morning or went at evening to water favourite blooms. And +Rodriguez would bring with him his mandolin, and sometimes he touched +it lightly or even sang, as they rested on some carved seat at the +garden's end, looking out towards shadowy shrubs on the shining hill, +but mostly he heard her speak of the things she loved, of what moths +flew to their garden, and which birds sang, and how the flowers grew. +Serafina sat no longer in her balcony but, disguising idleness by other +names, they loitered along those paths that the seashells narrowed; yet +there was a grace in their loitering such as we have not in our dances +now. And evening stealing in from the wild places, from darkening +azaleas upon distant hills, still found them in the garden, found +Rodriguez singing in idleness undisguised, or anxiously helping in some +trivial task, tying up some tendril that had gone awry, helping some +magnolia that the wind had wounded. Almost unnoticed by him the +sunlight would disappear, and the coloured blaze of the sunset, and +then the gloaming; till the colours of all the flowers queerly changed +and they shone with that curious glow which they wear in the dusk. They +returned then to the house, the garden behind them with its dim hushed +air of a secret, before them the candlelight like a different land. And +after the evening meal Alderon and Rodriguez would sit late together +discussing the future of the world, Rodriguez holding that it was +intended that the earth should be ruled by Spain, and Alderon fearing +it would all go to the Moors. + +Days passed thus. + +And then one evening Rodriguez was in the garden with Serafina; the +flowers, dim and pale and more mysterious than ever, poured out their +scent towards the coming night, luring huge hawk-moths from the far +dusk that was gathering about the garden, to hover before each bloom on +myriad wingbeats too rapid for human eye: another inch and the fairies +had peeped out from behind azaleas, yet both of these late loiterers +felt fairies were surely there: it seemed to be Nature's own most +secret hour, upon which man trespasses if he venture forth from his +house: an owl from his hidden haunt flew nearer the garden and uttered +a clear call once to remind Rodriguez of this: and Rodriguez did not +heed, but walked in silence. + +He had played his mandolin. It had uttered to the solemn hush of the +understanding evening all it was able to tell; and after that cry, +grown piteous with so many human longings, for it was an old mandolin, +Rodriguez felt there was nothing left for his poor words to say. So he +went dumb and mournful. + +Serafina would have heard him had he spoken, for her thoughts vibrated +yet with the voice of the mandolin, which had come to her hearing as an +ambassador from Rodriguez, but he found no words to match with the +mandolin's high mood. His eyes said, and his sighs told, what the +mandolin had uttered; but his tongue was silent. + +And then Serafina said, as he walked all heavy with silence past a +curving slope of dimly glowing azaleas, "You like flowers, seņor?" + +"Seņorita, I adore them," he replied. + +"Indeed?" said Dona Serafina. + +"Indeed I do," said Rodriguez. + +"And yet," asked Dona Serafina, "was it not a somewhat withered or +altogether faded flower that you carried, unless I fancied wrong, when +you rode past our balcony?" + +"It was indeed faded," said Rodriguez, "for the rose was some weeks +old." + +"One who loved flowers, I thought," said Serafina, "would perhaps care +more for them fresh." + +Half-dumb though Rodriguez was his shrewdness did not desert him. To +have said that he had the rose from Serafina would have been to claim +as though proven what was yet no more than a hope. + +"Seņorita," he said, "I found the flower on holy ground." + +"I did not know," she said, "that you had travelled so far." + +"I found it here," he said, "under your balcony." + +"Perchance I let it fall," said she. "It was idle of me." + +"I guard it still," he said, and drew forth that worn brown rose. + +"It was idle of me," said Serafina. + +But then in that scented garden among the dim lights of late evening +the ghost of that rose introduced their spirits one to the other, so +that the listening flowers heard Rodriguez telling the story of his +heart, and, bending over the shell-bordered path, heard Serafina's +answer; and all they seemed to do was but to watch the evening, with +leaves uplifted in the hope of rain. + +Film after film of dusk dropped down from where twilight had been, like +an army of darkness slowly pitching their tents on ground that had been +lost to the children of light. Out of the wild lands all the owls flew +nearer: their long, clear cries and the huge hush between them warned +all those lands that this was not man's hour. And neither Rodriguez nor +Serafina heard them. + +In pale blue sky where none had thought to see it one smiling star +appeared. It was Venus watching lovers, as men of the crumbled +centuries had besought her to do, when they named her so long ago, +kneeling upon their hills with bended heads, and arms stretched out to +her sweet eternal scrutiny. Beneath her wandering rays as they danced +down to bless them Rodriguez and Serafina talked low in the sight of +the goddess, and their voices swayed through the flowers with whispers +and winds, not troubling the little wild creatures that steal out shy +in the dusk, and Nature forgave them for being abroad in that hour; +although, so near that a single azalea seemed to hide it, so near +seemed to beckon and whisper old Nature's eldest secret. + +When flowers glimmered and Venus smiled and all things else were dim, +they turned on one of those little paths hand in hand homeward. + +Dona Mirana glanced once at her daughter's eyes and said nothing. Don +Alderon renewed his talk with Rodriguez, giving reasons for his +apprehension of the conquest of the world by the Moors, which he had +thought of since last night; and Rodriguez agreed with all that Don +Alderon said, but understood little, being full of dreams that seemed +to dance on the further, side of the candlelight to a strange, new, +unheard tune that his heart was aware of. He gazed much at Serafina and +said little. + +He drank no wine that night with Don Alderon: what need had he of wine? +On wonderful journeys that my pen cannot follow, for all the swiftness +of the wing from which it came; on darting journeys outspeeding the +lithe swallow or that great wanderer the white-fronted goose, his young +thoughts raced by a myriad of golden evenings far down the future +years. And what of the days he saw? Did he see them truly? Enough that +he saw them in vision. Saw them as some lone shepherd on lifted downs +sees once go by with music a galleon out of the East, with windy sails, +and masts ablaze with pennants, and heroes in strange dress singing new +songs; and the galleon goes nameless by till the singing dies away. +What ship was it? Whither bound? Why there? Enough that he has seen it. +Thus do we glimpse the glory of rare days as we swing round the sun; +and youth is like some high headland from which to see. + +On the next day he spoke with Dona Mirano. There was little to say but +to observe the courtesies appropriate to this occasion, for Dona Mirana +and her daughter had spoken long together already; and of one thing he +could say little, and indeed was dumb when asked of it, and that was +the question of his home. And then he said that he had a castle; and +when Dona Mirana asked him where it was he said vaguely it was to the +North. He trusted the word of the King of Shadow Valley and so he spoke +of his castle as a man speaks the truth. And when she asked him of his +castle again, whether on rock or river or in leafy lands, he began to +describe how its ten towers stood, being builded of a rock that was +slightly pink, and how they glowed across a hundred fields, especially +at evening; and suddenly he ceased, perceiving all in a moment he was +speaking unwittingly in the words of Don Alvidar and describing to Dona +Mirana that rose-pink castle on Ebro. And Dona Mirana knew then that +there was some mystery about Rodriguez' home. + +She spoke kindly to Rodriguez, yet she neither gave her consent nor yet +withheld it, and he knew there was no immediate hope in her words. +Graceful as were his bows as he withdrew, he left with scarcely another +word to say. All day his castle hung over him like a cloud, not +nebulous and evanescent only, but brooding darkly, boding storms, such +as the orange blossoms dread. + +He walked again in the garden with Serafina, but Dona Mirana was never +far, and the glamour of the former evening, lit by one star, was driven +from the garden by his anxieties about that castle of which he could +not speak. Serafina asked him of his home. He would not parry her +question, and yet he could not tell her that all their future hung on +the promise of a man in an old leathern jacket calling himself a king. +So the mystery of his habitation deepened, spoiling the glamour of the +evening. He spoke, instead, of the forest, hoping she might know +something of that strange monarch to whom they dwelt so near; but she +glanced uneasily towards Shadow Valley and told him that none in +Lowlight went that way. Sorrow grew heavier round Rodriguez' heart at +this: believing in the promise of a man whose eyes he trusted he had +asked Serafina to marry him, and Serafina had said Yes; and now he +found she knew nothing of such a man, which seemed somehow to Rodriguez +to weaken his promise, and, worst of all, she feared the place where he +lived. He welcomed the approach of Dona Mirana, and all three returned +to the house. For the rest of that evening he spoke little; but he had +formed his project. + +When the two ladies retired Rodriguez, who had seemed tongue-tied for +many hours, turned to Don Alderon. His mother had told Don Alderon +nothing yet; for she was troubled by the mystery of Rodriguez' castle, +and would give him time to make it clear if he could; for there was +something about Rodriguez of which with many pages I have tried to +acquaint my reader but which was clear when first she saw him to Dona +Mirana. In fact she liked him at once, as I hope that perhaps by now my +reader may. He turned to Don Alderon, who was surprised to see the +vehemence with which his guest suddenly spoke after those hours of +silence, and Rodriguez told him the story of his love and the story of +both his castles, that which had vanished from the bank of the Ebro and +that which was promised him by the King of Shadow Valley. And often Don +Alderon interrupted. + +"Oh, Rodriguez," he said, "you are welcome to our ancient, unfortunate +house": and later he said, "I have met no man that had a prettier way +with the sword." + +But Rodriguez held on to the end, telling all he had to tell; and +especially that he was landless and penniless but for that one promise; +and as for the sword, he said, he was but as a child playing before the +sword of Don Alderon. And this Don Alderon said was in no wise so, +though there were a few cunning passes that he had learned, hoping that +the day might come for him to do God a service thereby by slaying some +of the Moors: and heartily he gave his consent and felicitation. But +this Rodriguez would not have: "Come with me," he said, "to the forest +to the place where I met this man, and if we find him not there we will +go to the house in which his bowmen feast and there have news of him, +and he shall show us the castle of his promise and, if it be such a +castle as you approve, then your consent shall be given, but if not ..." + +"Gladly indeed," said Don Alderon. "We will start tomorrow." + +And Rodriguez took his words literally, though his host had meant no +more than what we should call "one of these days," but Rodriguez was +being consumed with a great impatience. And so they arranged it, and +Don Alderon went to bed with a feeling, which is favourable to dreams, +that on the next day they went upon an adventure; for neither he nor +anyone in that village had entered Shadow Valley. + +Once more next morning Rodriguez walked with Serafina, with something +of the romance of the garden gone, for Dona Mirana walked there too; +and romance is like one of those sudden, wonderful colours that flash +for a moment out of a drop of dew; a passing shadow obscures them; and +ask another to see it, and the colour is not the same: move but a yard +and the ray of enchantment is gone. Dona Mirana saw the romance of that +garden, but she saw it from thirty years away; it was all different +what she saw, all changed from a certain day (for love was love in the +old days): and to Rodriguez and Serafina it seemed that she could not +see romance at all, and somehow that dimmed it. Almost their eyes +seemed to search amongst the azaleas for the romance of that other +evening. + +And then Rodriguez told Serafina that he was riding away with her +brother to see about the affairs of his castle, and that they would +return in a few days. Scarcely a hint he gave that those affairs might +not prosper, for he trusted the word of the King of Shadow Valley. His +confidence had returned: and soon, with swords at side and cloaks +floating brilliant on light winds of April, Rodriguez and Alderon rode +away together. + +Soon in the distance they saw Shadow Valley. And then Rodriguez +bethought him of Morano and of the foul wrong he committed against Don +Alderon with his frying-pan, and how he was there in the camp to which +he was bringing his friend. And so he said: "That vile knave Morano +still lives and insists on serving me." + +"If he be near," said Don Alderon, "I pray you to disarm him of his +frying-pan for the sake of my honour, which does not suffer me to be +stricken with culinary weapons, but only with the sword, the lance, or +even bolts of cannon or arquebuss ..." He was thinking of yet more +weapons when Rodriguez put spurs to his horse. "He is near," he said; +"I will ride on and disarm him." + +So Rodriguez came cantering into the forest while Don Alderon ambled a +mile or so behind him. + +And there he found his old camp and saw Morano, sitting upon the ground +by a small fire. Morano sprang up at once with joy in his eyes, his +face wreathed with questions, which he did not put into words for he +did not pry openly into his master's affairs. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "give me your frying-pan." + +"My frying-pan?" said Morano. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez. And when he held in his hand that blackened, +greasy utensil he told Morano, "That seņor you met in Lowlight rides +with me." + +The cheerfulness faded out of Morano's face as light fades at sunset. +"Master," he said, "he will surely slay me now." + +"He will not slay you," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," Morano said, "he hopes for my fat carcase as much as men hope +for the unicorn, when they wear their bright green coats and hunt him +with dogs in Spring." I know not what legend Morano stored in his mind, +nor how much of it was true. "And when he finds me without my +frying-pan he will surely slay me." + +"That seņor," said Rodriguez emphatically, "must not be hit with the +frying-pan." + +"That is a hard rule, master," said Morano. + +And Rodriguez was indignant, when he heard that, that anyone should +thus blaspheme against an obvious law of chivalry: while Morano's only +thought was upon the injustice of giving up the sweets of life for the +sake of a frying-pan. Thus they were at cross-purposes. And for some +while they stood silent, while Rodriguez hung the reins of his horse +over the broken branch of a tree. And then Don Alderon rode into the +wood. + +All then that was most pathetic in Morano's sense of injustice looked +out of his eyes as he turned them upon his master. But Don Alderon +scarcely glanced at all at Morano, even when he handed to him the reins +of his horse as he walked on towards Rodriguez. + +And there in that leafy place they rested all through the evening, for +they had not started so early upon their journey as travellers should. +Eight days had gone since Rodriguez had left that small camp to ride to +Lowlight, and to the apex of his life towards which all his days had +ascended; and in that time Morano had collected good store of wood and, +in little ways unthought of by dwellers in cities, had made the place +like such homes as wanderers find. Don Alderon was charmed with their +roof of towering greenness, and with the choirs of those which +inhabited it and which were now all coming home to sing. And at some +moment in the twilight, neither Rodriguez nor Alderon noticed when, +Morano repossessed himself of his frying-pan, unbidden by Rodriguez, +but acting on a certain tacit permission that there seemed to be in the +twilight or in the mood of the two young men as they sat by the fire. +And soon he was cooking once more, at a fire of his own, with something +of the air that you see upon a Field Marshal's face who has lost his +baton and found it again. Have you ever noticed it, reader? + +And when the meal was ready Morano served it in silence, moving +unobtrusively in the gloom of the wood; for he knew that he was +forgiven, yet not so openly that he wished to insist on his presence or +even to imply his possession of the weapon that fried the bacon. So, +like a dryad he moved from tree to tree, and like any fabulous creature +was gone again. And the two young men supped well, and sat on and on, +watching the sparks go up on innumerable journeys from the fire at +which they sat, to be lost to sight in huge wastes of blackness and +stars, lost to sight utterly, lost like the spirit of man to the gaze +of our wonder when we try to follow its journey beyond the hearths that +we know. + +All the next day they rode on through the forest, till they came to the +black circle of the old fire of their next camp. And here Rodriguez +halted on account of the attraction that one of his old camps seems to +have for a wanderer. It drew his feet towards it, this blackened +circle, this hearth that for one night made one spot in the wilderness +home. Don Alderon did not care whether they tarried or hurried; he +loved his journey through this leafy land; the cool night-breeze +slipping round the tree-trunks was new to him, and new was the +comradeship of the abundant stars; the quest itself was a joy to him; +with his fancy he built Rodriguez' mysterious castle no less +magnificently than did Don Alvidar. Sometimes they talked of the +castle, each of the young men picturing it as he saw it; but in the +warmth of the camp-fire after Morano slept they talked of more than +these chronicles can tell. + +In the morning they pressed on as fast as the forest's low boughs would +allow them. They passed somewhere near the great cottage in which the +bowmen feasted; but they held on, as they had decided after discussion +to do, for the last place in which Rodriguez had seen the King of +Shadow Valley, which was the place of his promise. And before any +dimness came even to the forest, or golden shafts down colonnades which +were before all cathedrals, they found the old camp that they sought, +which still had a clear flavour of magic for Morano on account of the +moth-like coming and going of his three horses after he had tied them +to that tree. And here they looked for the King of Shadow Valley; and +then Rodriguez called him; and then all three of them called him, +shouting "King of Shadow Valley" all together. No answer came: the +woods were without echo: nothing stirred but fallen leaves. But before +those miles of silence could depress them Rodriguez hit upon a simple +plan, which was that he and Alderon should search all round, far from +the track, while Morano stayed in the camp and shouted frequently, and +they would not go out of hearing of his voice: for Shadow Valley had a +reputation of being a bad forest for travellers to find their way +there; indeed, few ever attempted to. So they did as he said, he and +Alderon searching in different directions, while Morano remained in the +camp, lifting a large and melancholy voice. And though rumour said it +was hard to find the way when twenty yards from the track in Shadow +Valley, it did not say it was hard to find the green bowmen: and +Rodriguez, knowing that they guarded the forest as the shadows of trees +guard the coolness, was assured he would meet with some of them even +though he should miss their master. So he and Alderon searched till the +forest darkness came and only birds on high branches still had light; +and they never saw the King of Shadow Valley or any trace whatever of +any man. And Alderon first returned to the encampment; but Rodriguez +searched on into the night, searching and calling through the darkness, +and feeling, as every minute went by and every faint call of Morano, +that his castle was fading away, slipping past oak-tree and thorn-bush, +to take its place among the unpitying stars. And when he returned at +last from his useless search he found Morano standing by a good fire, +and the sight of it a little cheered Rodriguez, and the sight of the +firelight on Morano's face, and the homely comfort of the camp, for +everything is comparative. + +And over their supper Rodriguez and Alderon agreed that they had come +to a part of the forest too remote from the home of the King of Shadow +Valley, and decided to go the next day to the house of the green +bowmen: and before he slept Rodriguez felt once more that all was well +with his castle. + +Yet when the next day came they searched again, for Rodriguez +remembered how it was to this very place that the King of Shadow Valley +had bidden him come in four weeks, and though this period was not yet +accomplished, he felt, and Alderon fully agreed, they had waited long +enough: so they searched all the morning, and then fulfilled their +decision of overnight by riding for the great cottage Rodriguez knew. +All the way they met no one. And Rodriguez' gaiety came back as they +rode, for he and Don Alderon recognised more and more clearly that the +bowmen's great cottage was the place they should have gone at first. + +In early evening they were just at their journey's end; but barely had +they left the track that they had ridden the day before, barely taken +the smaller path that led after a few hundred yards to the cottage when +they found themselves stopped by huge chains that hung from tree to +tree. High into the trees went the chains above their heads where they +sat their horses, and a chain ran every six inches down to the very +ground: the road was well blocked. + +Rodriguez and Alderon hastily consulted; then, leaving the horses with +Morano, they followed the chains through dense forest to find a place +where they could get the horses through. Finding the chains go on and +on and on, and as evening was drawing in, the two friends divided, +Alderon going back and Rodriguez on, agreeing to meet again on the path +where Morano was. + +It was darkening when they met there, Rodriguez having found nothing +but that iron barrier going on from trunk to trunk, and Alderon having +found a great gateway of iron; but it was shut. Through the silent +shadows stealing abroad at evening the three men crashed their way on +foot, leading their horses, towards this gate; but their way was slow +and difficult for no path at all led up to it. It was dark when they +reached it and they saw the high gate in the night, a black barrier +among the trees where no one would wish to come, and in forest that +seemed to these three to be nearly impenetrable. And what astonished +Rodriguez most of all was that the chains had not been across the path +when he had feasted with the green bowmen. + +They stood there gazing, all three, at the dark locked gate, and then +they saw two shields that met in the midst of it, and Rodriguez mounted +his horse and stretched up to feel what device there was on the beaten +iron; and both the shields were blank. + +There they camped as well as men can when darkness has fallen before +they reach their camping-ground; and Morano lit a great fire before the +gate, and the smooth blank shields touching shoulders there up above +them shone on Rodriguez and Alderon in the firelight. For a while they +wondered at that strange gate that stood there dividing the wilderness; +and then sleep came. + +As soon as they woke they called loudly, but no one guarded that gate, +no step but theirs stirred in the forest. Then, leaving Morano in the +camp with its great gate that led nowhere, the two young men climbed up +by branches and chains, and were soon on the other side of the gate and +pressing on through the silence of the forest to find the cottage in +which Rodriguez had slept. And almost at once the green bowmen +appeared, ten of them with their bows, in front of Rodriguez and +Alderon. "Stop," said the ten green bowmen. When the bowmen said that, +there was nothing else to do. + +"What do you seek?" said the bowmen. + +"The King of Shadow Valley," answered Rodriguez. + +"He is not here," they said. + +"Where is he?" asked Rodriguez. + +"He is nowhere," said one, "when he does not wish to be seen." + +"Then show me the castle that he promised me," said Rodriguez. + +"We know nothing of any castle," said one of the bowmen, and they all +shook their heads. + +"No castle?" said Rodriguez. + +"No," they said. + +"Has the King of Shadow Valley no castle?" he asked, beginning now to +despair. + +"We know of none," they said. "He lives in the forest." + +Before Rodriguez quite despaired he asked each one if they knew not of +any castle of which their King was possessed; and each of them said +that there was no castle in all Shadow Valley. The ten still stood in +front of them with their bows: and Rodriguez turned away then indeed in +despair, and walked slowly back to the camp, and Alderon walked behind +him. In silence they reached their camp by the great gate that led +nowhere, and there Rodriguez sat down on a log beside the dwindling +fire, gazing at the grey ashes and thinking of his dead hopes. He had +not the heart to speak to Alderon, and the silence was unbroken by +Morano who, for all his loquacity, knew when his words were not +welcome. Don Alderon tried to break that melancholy silence, saying +that these ten bowmen did not know the whole world; but he could not +cheer Rodriguez. For, sitting there in dejection on his log, thinking +of all the assurance with which he had often spoken of his castle, +there was one more thing to trouble him than Don Alderon knew. And this +was that when the bowmen had appeared he had hung once more round his +neck that golden badge that was worked for him by the King of Shadow +Valley; and they must have seen it, and they had paid no heed to it +whatever: its magic was wholly departed. And one thing troubled him +that Rodriguez did not know, a very potent factor in human sorrow: he +had left in the morning so eagerly that he had had no breakfast, and +this he entirely forgot and knew not how much of his dejection came +from this cause, thinking that the loss of his castle was of itself +enough. + +So with downcast head he sat empty and hopeless, and the little camp +was silent. + +In this mournful atmosphere while no one spoke, and no one seemed to +watch, stood, when at last Rodriguez raised his head, with folded arms +before the gate to nowhere, the King of Shadow Valley. His face was +surly, as though the face of a ghost, called from important work among +asteroids needing his care, by the trivial legerdemain of some foolish +novice. Rodriguez, looking into those angry eyes, wholly forgot it was +he that had a grievance. The silence continued. And then the King of +Shadow Valley spoke. + +"When have I broken my word?" he said. + +Rodriguez did not know. The man was still looking at him, still +standing there with folded arms before the great gate, confronting him, +demanding some kind of answer: and Rodriguez had nothing to say. + +"I came because you promised me the castle," he said at last. + +"I did not bid you come here," the man with the folded arms answered. + +"I went where you bade me," said Rodriguez, "and you were not there." + +"In four weeks, I said," answered the King angrily. + +And then Alderon spoke. "Have you any castle for my friend?" he said. + +"No," said the King of Shadow Valley. + +"You promised him one," said Don Alderon. + +The King of Shadow Valley raised with his left hand a horn that hung +below his elbow by a green cord round his body. He made no answer to +Don Alderon, but put the horn against his lips and blew. They watched +him all three in silence, till the silence was broken by many men +moving swiftly through covert, and the green bowmen appeared. + +When seven or eight were there he turned and looked at them. "When have +I broken my word?" he said to his men. + +And they all answered him, "Never!" + +More broke into sight through the bushes. + +"Ask them" he said. And Rodriguez did not speak. + +"Ask them," he said again, "when I have broken my word." + +Still Rodriguez and Alderon said nothing. And the bowmen answered them. +"He has never broken his word," every bowman said. + +"You promised me a castle," said Rodriguez, seeing that man's fierce +eyes upon him still. + +"Then do as I bid you," answered the King of Shadow Valley; and he +turned round and touched the lock of the gates with some key that he +had. The gates moved open and the King went through. + +Don Alderon ran forward after him, and caught up with him as he strode +away, and spoke to him, and the King answered. Rodriguez did not hear +what they said, and never afterwards knew. These words he heard only, +from the King of Shadow Valley as he and Don Alderon parted: ".... and +therefore, seņor, it were better for some holy man to do his blessed +work before we come." And the King of Shadow Valley passed into the +deeps of the wood. + +As the great gates were slowly swinging to, Don Alderon came back +thoughtfully. The gates clanged, clicked, and were shut again. The King +of Shadow Valley and all his bowmen were gone. + +Don Alderon went to his horse, and Rodriguez and Morano did the same, +drawn by the act of the only man of the three that seemed to have made +up his mind. Don Alderon led his horse back toward the path, and +Rodriguez followed with his. When they came to the path they mounted in +silence; and presently Morano followed them, with his blankets rolled +up in front of him on his horse and his frying-pan slung behind him. + +"Which way?" said Rodriguez. + +"Home," said Don Alderon. + +"But I cannot go to your home," said Rodriguez. + +"Come," said Don Alderon, as one whose plans were made. Rodriguez +without a home, without plans, without hope, went with Don Alderon as +thistledown goes with the warm wind. They rode through the forest till +it grew all so dim that only a faint tinge of greenness lay on the dark +leaves: above were patches of bluish sky like broken pieces of steel. +And a star or two were out when they left the forest. And cantering on +they came to Lowlight when the Milky Way appeared. + +And there were Dona Mirana and Serafina in the hall to greet them as +they entered the door. + +"What news?" they asked. + +But Rodriguez hung back; he had no news to give. It was Don Alderon +that went forward, speaking cheerily to Serafina, and afterwards to his +mother, with whom he spoke long and anxiously, pointing toward the +forest sometimes, almost, as Rodriguez thought, in fear. + +And a little later, when the ladies had retired, Don Alderon told +Rodriguez over the wine, with which he had tried to cheer his forlorn +companion, that it was arranged that he should marry Serafina. And when +Rodriguez lamented that this was impossible he replied that the King of +Shadow Valley wished it. And when Rodriguez heard this his astonishment +equalled his happiness, for he marvelled that Don Alderon should not +only believe that strange man's unsupported promise, but that he should +even obey him as though he held him in awe. + +And on the next day Rodriguez spoke with Dona Mirana as they walked in +the glory of the garden. And Dona Mirana gave him her consent as Don +Alderon had done: and when Rodriguez spoke humbly of postponement she +glanced uneasily towards Shadow Valley, as though she too feared the +strange man who ruled over the forest which she had never entered. + +And so it was that Rodriguez walked with his lady, with the sweet +Serafina in that garden again. And walking there they forgot the need +of house or land, forgot Shadow Valley with its hopes and its doubts, +and all the anxieties of the thoughts that we take for the morrow: and +when evening came and the birds sang in azaleas, and the shadows grew +solemn and long, and winds blew cool from the blazing bed of the Sun, +into the garden now all strange and still, they forgot our Earth and, +beyond the mundane coasts, drifted on dreams of their own into aureate +regions of twilight, to wander in lands wherein lovers walk briefly and +only once. + + + + +THE TWELFTH CHRONICLE + +THE BUILDING OF CASTLE RODRIGUEZ AND THE ENDING OF THESE CHRONICLES + + +When the King of Shadow Valley met Rodriguez, for the first time in the +forest, and gave him his promise and left him by his camp-fire, he went +back some way towards the bowmen's cottage and blew his horn; and his +hundred bowmen were about him almost at once. To these he gave their +orders and they went back, whence they had come, into the forest's +darkness. But he went to the bowmen's cottage and paced before it, a +dark and lonely figure of the night; and wherever he paced the ground +he marked it with small sticks. And next morning the hundred bowmen +came with axes as soon as the earliest light had entered the forest, +and each of them chose out one of the giant trees that stood before the +cottage, and attacked it. All day they swung their axes against the +forest's elders, of which nearly a hundred were fallen when evening +came. And the stoutest of these, great trunks that were four feet +through, were dragged by horses to the bowmen's cottage and laid by the +little sticks that the King of Shadow Valley had put overnight in the +ground. The bowmen's cottage and the kitchen that was in the wood +behind it, and a few trees that still stood, were now all enclosed by +four lines of fallen trees which made a large rectangle on the ground +with a small square at each of its corners. And craftsmen came, and +smoothed and hollowed the inner sides of the four rows of trees, +working far into the night. So was the first day's work accomplished +and so was built the first layer of the walls of Castle Rodriguez. + +On the next day the bowmen again felled a hundred trees; the top of the +first layer was cut flat by carpenters; at evening the second layer was +hoisted up after their under sides had been flattened to fit the layer +below them; quantities more were cast in to make the floor when they +had been gradually smoothed and fitted: at the end of the second day a +man could not see over the walls of Castle Rodriguez. And on the third +day more craftsmen arrived, men from distant villages at the forest's +edge, whence the King of Shadow Valley had summoned them; and they +carved the walls as they grew. And a hundred trees fell that day, and +the castle was another layer higher. And all the while a park was +growing in the forest, as they felled the great trees; but the greatest +trees of all the bowmen spared, oaks that had stood there for ages and +ages of men; they left them to grip the earth for a while longer, for a +few more human generations. + +On the fourth day the two windows at the back of the bowmen's cottage +began to darken, and that evening Castle Rodriguez was fifteen feet +high. And still the hundred bowmen hewed at the forest, bringing +sunlight bright on to grass that was shadowed by oaks for ages. And at +the end of the fifth day they began to roof the lower rooms and make +their second floor: and still the castle grew a layer a day, though the +second storey they built with thinner trees that were only three feet +through, which were more easily carried to their place by the pulleys. +And now they began to heap up rocks in a mass of mortar against the +wall on the outside, till a steep slope guarded the whole of the lower +part of the castle against fire from any attacker if war should come +that way, in any of the centuries that were yet to be: and the deep +windows they guarded with bars of iron. + +The shape of the castle showed itself clearly now, rising on each side +of the bowmen's cottage and behind it, with a tower at each of its +corners. To the left of the old cottage the main doorway opened to the +great hall, in which a pile of a few huge oaks was being transformed +into a massive stair. Three figures of strange men held up this ceiling +with their heads and uplifted hands, when the castle was finished; but +as yet the carvers had only begun their work, so that only here and +there an eye peeped out, or a smile flickered, to give any expression +to the curious faces of these fabulous creatures of the wood, which +were slowly taking their shape out of three trees whose roots were +still in the earth below the floor. In an upper storey one of these +trees became a tall cupboard; and the shelves and the sides and the +back and the top of it were all one piece of oak. + +All the interior of the castle was of wood, hollowed into alcoves and +polished, or carved into figures leaning out from the walls. So vast +were the timbers that the walls, at a glance, seemed almost one piece +of wood. And the centuries that were coming to Spain darkened the walls +as they came, through autumnal shades until they were all black, as +though they all mourned in secret for lost generations; but they have +not yet crumbled. + +The fireplaces they made with great square red tiles, which they also +put in the chimneys amongst rude masses of mortar: and these great dark +holes remained always mysterious to those that looked for mystery in +the family that whiled away the ages in that castle. And by every +fireplace two queer carved creatures stood upholding the mantlepiece, +with mystery in their faces and curious limbs, uniting the hearth with +fable and with tales told in the wood. Years after the men that carved +them were all dust the shadows of these creatures would come out and +dance in the room, on wintry nights when all the lamps were gone and +flames stole out and flickered above the smouldering logs. + +In the second storey one great saloon ran all the length of the castle. +In it was a long table with eight legs that had carvings of roses +rambling along its edges: the table and its legs were all of one piece +with the floor. They would never have hollowed the great trunk in time +had they not used fire. The second storey was barely complete on the +day that Rodriguez and Don Alderon and Morano came to the chains that +guarded the park. And the King of Shadow Valley would not permit his +gift to be seen in anything less than its full magnificence, and had +commanded that no man in the world might enter to see the work of his +bowmen and craftsmen until it should frown at all comers a castle +formidable as any in Spain. + +And then they heaped up the mortar and rock to the top of the second +storey, but above that they let the timbers show, except where they +filled in plaster between the curving trunks: and the ages blackened +the timber in amongst the white plaster; but not a storm that blew in +all the years that came, nor the moss of so many Springs, ever rotted +away those beams that the forest had given and on which the bowmen had +laboured so long ago. But the castle weathered the ages and reached our +days, worn, battered even, by its journey through the long and +sometimes troubled years, but splendid with the traffic that it had +with history in many gorgeous periods. Here Valdar the Excellent came +once in his youth. And Charles the Magnificent stayed a night in this +castle when on a pilgrimage to a holy place of the South. + +It was here that Peter the Arrogant in his cups gave Africa, one Spring +night, to his sister's son. What grandeurs this castle has seen! What +chronicles could be writ of it! But not these chronicles, for they draw +near their close, and they have yet to tell how the castle was built. +Others shall tell what banners flew from all four of its towers, adding +a splendour to the wind, and for what cause they flew. I have yet to +tell of their building. + +The second storey was roofed, and Castle Rodriguez still rose one layer +day by day, with a hauling at pulleys and the work of a hundred men: +and all the while the park swept farther into the forest. + +And the trees that grew up through the building were worked by the +craftsmen in every chamber into which they grew: and a great branch of +the hugest of them made a little crooked stair in an upper storey. On +the floors they laid down skins of beasts that the bowmen slew in the +forest; and on the walls there hung all manner of leather, tooled and +dyed as they had the art to do in that far-away period in Spain. + +When the third storey was finished they roofed the castle over, laying +upon the huge rafters red tiles that they made of clay. But the towers +were not yet finished. + +At this time the King of Shadow Valley sent a runner into Lowlight to +shoot a blunt arrow with a message tied to it into Don Alderon's +garden, near to the door, at evening. + +And they went on building the towers above the height of the roof And +near the top of them they made homes for archers, little turrets that +leaned like swallows' nests out from each tower, high places where they +could see and shoot and not be seen from below. And little narrow +passages wound away behind perched battlements of stone, by which +archers could slip from place to place, and shoot from here or from +there and never be known. So were built in that distant age the towers +of Castle Rodriguez. + +And one day four weeks from the felling of the first oak, the period of +his promise being accomplished, the King of Shadow Valley blew his +horn. And standing by what had been the bowmen's cottage, now all shut +in by sheer walls of Castle Rodriguez, he gathered his bowmen to him. +And when they were all about him he gave them their orders. They were +to go by stealth to the village of Lowlight, and were to be by daylight +before the house of Don Alderon; and, whether wed or unwed, whether she +fled or folk defended the house, to bring Dona Serafina of the Valley +of Dawnlight to be the chatelaine of Castle Rodriguez. + +For this purpose he bade them take with them a chariot that he thought +magnificent, though the mighty timbers that gave grandeur to Castle +Rodriguez had a cumbrous look in the heavy vehicle that was to the +bowmen's eyes the triumphal car of the forest. So they took their bows +and obeyed, leaving the craftsmen at their work in the castle, which +was now quite roofed over, towers and all. They went through the forest +by little paths that they knew, going swiftly and warily in the +bowmen's way: and just before nightfall they were at the forest's edge, +though they went no farther from it than its shadows go in the evening. +And there they rested under the oak trees for the early part of the +night except those whose art it was to gather news for their king; and +three of those went into Lowlight and mixed with the villagers there. + +When white mists moved over the fields near dawn and wavered ghostly +about Lowlight, the green bowman moved with them. And just out of +hearing of the village, behind wild shrubs that hid them, the bowmen +that were coming from the forest met the three that had spent the night +in taverns of Lowlight. And the three told the hundred of the great +wedding that there was to be in the Church of the Renunciation that +morning in Lowlight: and of the preparations that were made, and how +holy men had come from far on mules, and had slept the night in the +village, and the Bishop of Toledo himself would bless the bridegroom's +sword. The bowmen therefore retired a little way and, moving through +the mists, came forward to points whence they could watch the church, +well concealed on the wild plain, which here and there gave up a field +to man but was mostly the playground of wild creatures whose ways were +the bowmen's ways. And here they waited. + +This was the wedding of Rodriguez and Serafina, of which gossips often +spoke at their doors in summer evenings, old women mumbling of fair +weddings that each had seen; and they had been children when they saw +this wedding; they were those that threw small handfuls of anemones on +the path before the porch. They told the tale of it till they could +tell no more. It is the account of the last two or three of them, old, +old women, that came at last to these chronicles, so that their tongues +may wag as it were a little longer through these pages although they +have been for so many centuries dead. And this is all that books are +able to do. + +First there was bell-ringing and many voices, and then the voices +hushed, and there came the procession of eight divines of Murcia, whose +vestments were strange to Lowlight. Then there came a priest from the +South, near the border of Andalusia, who overnight had sanctified the +ring. (It was he who had entertained Rodriguez when he first escaped +from la Garda, and Rodriguez had sent for him now.) Each note of the +bells came clear through the hush as they entered the church. And then +with suitable attendants the bishop strode by and they saw quite close +the blessed cope of Toledo. And the bridegroom followed him in, wearing +his sword, and Don Alderon went with him. And then the voices rose +again in the street: the bells rang on: they all saw Dona Mirana. The +little bunches of bright anemones grew sticky in their hands: the bells +seemed louder: cheering rose in the street and came all down it nearer. +Then Dona Serafina walked past them with all her maids: and that is +what the gossips chiefly remembered, telling how she smiled at them, +and praising her dress, through those distant summer evenings. Then +there was music in the church. And afterwards the forest-people had +come. And the people screamed, for none knew what they would do. But +they bowed so low to the bride and bridegroom, and showed their great +hunting bows so willingly to all who wished to see, that the people +lost their alarm and only feared lest the Bishop of Toledo should blast +the merry bowmen with one of his curses. + +And presently the bride and bridegroom entered the chariot, and the +people cheered; and there were farewells and the casting of flowers; +and the bishop blessed three of their bows; and a fat man sat beside +the driver with folded arms, wearing bright on his face a look of +foolish contentment; and the bowmen and bride and bridegroom all went +away to the forest. + +Four huge white horses drew that bridal chariot, the bowmen ran beside +it, and soon it was lost to sight of the girls that watched it from +Lowlight; but their memories held it close till their eyes could no +longer see to knit and they could only sit by their porches in fine +weather and talk of the days that were. + +So came Rodriguez and his bride to the forest; he silent, perplexed, +wondering always to what home and what future he brought her; she +knowing less than he and trusting more. And on the untended road that +the bowmen shared with stags and with rare, very venturous travellers, +the wheels of the woodland chariot sank so deep in the sandy earth that +the escort of bowmen needed seldom to run any more; and he who sat by +the driver climbed down and walked silent for once, perhaps awed by the +occasion, though he was none other than Morano. Serafina was delighted +with the forest, but between Rodriguez and its beautiful grandeur his +anxieties crowded thickly. He leaned over once from the chariot and +asked one of the bowmen again about that castle; but the bowman only +bowed and answered with a proverb of Spain, not easily carried so far +from its own soil to thrive in our language, but signifying that the +morrow showeth all things. He was silent then, for he knew that there +was no way to a direct answer through those proverbs, and after a while +perhaps there came to him some of Serafina's trustfulness. By evening +they came to a wide avenue leading to great gates. + +Rodriguez did not know the avenue, he knew no paths so wide in Shadow +Valley; but he knew those gates. They were the gates of iron that led +nowhere. But now an avenue went from them upon the other side, and +opened widely into a park dotted with clumps of trees. And the two +great iron shields, they too had changed with the changes that had +bewitched the forest, for their surfaces that had glowed so +unmistakably blank, side by side in the firelight, not many nights +before, blazoned now the armorial bearings of Rodriguez upon the one +and those of the house of Dawnlight upon the other. Through the opened +gates they entered the young park that seemed to wonder at its own +ancient trees, where wild deer drifted away from them like shadows +through the evening: for the bowmen had driven in deer for miles +through the forest. They passed a pool where water-lilies lay in +languid beauty for hundreds of summers, but as yet no flower peeped +into the water, for the pond was all hallowed newly. + +A clump of trees stood right ahead of their way; they passed round it; +and Castle Rodriguez came all at once into view. Serafina gasped +joyously. Rodriguez saw its towers, its turrets for archers, its +guarded windows deep in the mass of stone, its solemn row of +battlements, but he did not believe what he saw. He did not believe +that here at last was his castle, that here was his dream fulfilled and +his journey done. He expected to wake suddenly in the cold in some +lonely camp, he expected the Ebro to unfold its coils in the North and +to come and sweep it away. It was but another strayed hope, he thought, +taking the form of dream. But Castle Rodriguez still stood frowning +there, and none of its towers vanished, or changed as things change in +dreams; but the servants of the King of Shadow Valley opened the great +door, and Serafina and Rodriguez entered, and all the hundred bowmen +disappeared. + +Here we will leave them, and let these Chronicles end. For whoever +would tell more of Castle Rodriguez must wield one of those ponderous +pens that hangs on the study wall in the house of historians. Great +days in the story of Spain shone on those iron-barred windows, and +things were said in its banqueting chamber and planned in its inner +rooms that sometimes turned that story this way or that, as rocks turn +a young river. And as a traveller meets a mighty river at one of its +bends, and passes on his path, while the river sweeps on to its estuary +and the sea, so I leave the triumphs and troubles of that story which I +touched for one moment by the door of Castle Rodriguez. + +My concern is but with Rodriguez and Serafina and to tell that they +lived here in happiness; and to tell that the humble Morano found his +happiness too. For he became the magnificent steward of Castle +Rodriguez, the majordomo, and upon august occasions he wore as much red +plush as he had ever seen in his dreams, when he saw this very event, +sleeping by dying camp-fires. And he slept not upon straw but upon good +heaps of wolf-skins. But pining a little in the second year of his +somewhat lonely splendour, he married one of the maidens of the forest, +the child of a bowman that hunted boars with their king. And all the +green bowmen came and built him a house by the gates of the park, +whence he walked solemnly on proper occasions to wait upon his master. +Morano, good, faithful man, come forward for but a moment out of the +Golden Age and bow across all those centuries to the reader: say one +farewell to him in your Spanish tongue, though the sound of it be no +louder than the sound of shadows moving, and so back to the dim +splendour of the past, for the Seņor or Seņora shall hear your name no +more. + +For years Rodriguez lived a chieftain of the forest, owning the +overlordship of the King of Shadow Valley, whom he and Serafina would +entertain with all the magnificence of which their castle was capable +on such occasions as he appeared before the iron gates. They seldom saw +him. Sometimes they heard his horn as he went by. They heard his bowmen +follow. And all would pass and perhaps they would see none. But upon +occasions he came. He came to the christening of the eldest son of +Rodriguez and Serafina, for whom he was godfather. He came again to see +the boy shoot for the first time with a bow. And later he came to give +little presents, small treasures of the forest, to Rodriguez' +daughters; who treated him always, not as sole lord of that forest that +travellers dreaded, but as a friend of their very own that they had +found for themselves. He had his favourites among them and none quite +knew which they were. + +And one day he came in his old age to give Rodriguez a message. And he +spoke long and tenderly of the forest as though all its glades were +sacred. + +And soon after that day he died, and was buried with the mourning of +all his men in the deeps of Shadow Valley, where only Rodriguez and the +bowmen knew. And Rodriguez became, as the old king had commanded, the +ruler of Shadow Valley and all its faithful men. With them he hunted +and defended the forest, holding all its ways to be sacred, as the old +king had taught. It is told how Rodriguez ruled the forest well. + +And later he made a treaty with the Spanish King acknowledging him sole +Lord of Spain, including Shadow Valley, saving that certain right +should pertain to the foresters and should be theirs for ever. And +these rights are written on parchment and sealed with the seal of +Spain; and none may harm the forest without the bowmen's leave. + +Rodriguez was made Duke of Shadow Valley and a Magnifico of the first +degree; though little he went with other hidalgos to Court, but lived +with his family in Shadow Valley, travelling seldom beyond the +splendour of the forest farther than Lowlight. + +Thus he saw the glory of autumn turning the woods to fairyland: and +when the stags were roaring and winter coming on he would take a +boar-spear down from the wall and go hunting through the forest, whose +twigs were black and slender and still against the bright menace of +winter. Spring found him viewing the fields that his men had sown, +along the forest's edge, and finding in the chaunt of the myriad birds +a stirring of memories, a beckoning towards past days. In summer he +would see his boys and girls at play, running through shafts of +sunlight that made leaves and grass like pale emeralds. He gave his +days to the forest and the four seasons. Thus he dwelt amidst +splendours such as History has never seen in any visit of hers to the +courts of men. + +Of him and Serafina it has been written and sung that they lived +happily ever after; and though they are now so many centuries dead, may +they have in the memories of such of my readers as will let them linger +there, that afterglow of life that remembrance gives, which is all that +there is on earth for those that walked it once and that walk the paths +of their old haunts no more. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Don Rodriguez, by +Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, Dunsany + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DON RODRIGUEZ *** + +***** This file should be named 4282-8.txt or 4282-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/8/4282/ + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/4282-8.zip b/4282-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a73c187 --- /dev/null +++ b/4282-8.zip diff --git a/4282-h.zip b/4282-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..50674ee --- /dev/null +++ b/4282-h.zip diff --git a/4282-h/4282-h.htm b/4282-h/4282-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9b41cb7 --- /dev/null +++ b/4282-h/4282-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10414 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<HTML> +<HEAD> + +<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> + +<TITLE> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of Don Rodriguez, by Lord Dunsany +</TITLE> + +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {text-indent: 0%; + font-size: small ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.transnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</STYLE> + +</HEAD> + +<BODY> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Don Rodriguez, by +Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, Dunsany + +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: Don Rodriguez + Chronicles of Shadow Valley + +Author: Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, Dunsany + +Posting Date: July 23, 2009 [EBook #4282] +Release Date: July, 2003 +First Posted: December 30, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DON RODRIGUEZ *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +DON RODRIGUEZ +</H1> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CHRONICLES OF SHADOW VALLEY +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +By +</H3> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +LORD DUNSANY +</H2> + +<BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +To WILLIAM BEEBE +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHRONOLOGY +</H3> + +<P> +After long and patient research I am still unable to give to the reader +of these Chronicles the exact date of the times that they tell of. Were +it merely a matter of history there could be no doubts about the +period; but where magic is concerned, to however slight an extent, +there must always be some element of mystery, arising partly out of +ignorance and partly from the compulsion of those oaths by which magic +protects its precincts from the tiptoe of curiosity. +</P> + +<P> +Moreover, magic, even in small quantities, appears to affect time, much +as acids affect some metals, curiously changing its substance, until +dates seem to melt into a mercurial form that renders them elusive even +to the eye of the most watchful historian. +</P> + +<P> +It is the magic appearing in Chronicles III and IV that has gravely +affected the date, so that all I can tell the reader with certainty of +the period is that it fell in the later years of the Golden Age in +Spain. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<H4> +THE FIRST CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap01">HOW HE MET AND SAID FAREWELL TO MINE HOST OF THE DRAGON AND KNIGHT</A><BR> +<BR> +THE SECOND CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap02">HOW HE HIRED A MEMORABLE SERVANT</A><BR> +<BR> +THE THIRD CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap03">HOW HE CAME TO THE HOUSE OF WONDER</A><BR> +<BR> +THE FOURTH CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap04">HOW HE CAME TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE SUN</A><BR> +<BR> +THE FIFTH CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap05">HOW HE RODE IN THE TWILIGHT AND SAW SERAFINA</A><BR> +<BR> +THE SIXTH CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap06">HOW HE SANG TO HIS MANDOLIN AND WHAT CAME OF HIS SINGING</A><BR> +<BR> +THE SEVENTH CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap07">HOW HE CAME TO SHADOW VALLEY</A><BR> +<BR> +THE EIGHTH CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap08">HOW HE TRAVELLED FAR</A><BR> +<BR> +THE NINTH CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap09">HOW HE WON A CASTLE IN SPAIN</A><BR> +<BR> +THE TENTH CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap10">HOW HE CAME BACK TO LOWLIGHT</A><BR> +<BR> +THE ELEVENTH CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap11">HOW HE TURNED TO GARDENING AND HIS SWORD RESTED</A><BR> +<BR> +THE TWELFTH CHRONICLE<BR> + <A HREF="#chap12">THE BUILDING OF CASTLE RODRIGUEZ AND THE ENDING OF THESE CHRONICLES</A><BR> +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +DON RODRIGUEZ +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FIRST CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW HE MET AND SAID FAREWELL TO MINE HOST OF THE DRAGON AND KNIGHT +</H3> + +<P> +Being convinced that his end was nearly come, and having lived long on +earth (and all those years in Spain, in the golden time), the Lord of +the Valleys of Arguento Harez, whose heights see not Valladolid, called +for his eldest son. And so he addressed him when he was come to his +chamber, dim with its strange red hangings and august with the +splendour of Spain: "O eldest son of mine, your younger brother being +dull and clever, on whom those traits that women love have not been +bestowed by God; and know my eldest son that here on earth, and for +ought I know Hereafter, but certainly here on earth, these women be the +arbiters of all things; and how this be so God knoweth only, for they +are vain and variable, yet it is surely so: your younger brother then +not having been given those ways that women prize, and God knows why +they prize them for they are vain ways that I have in my mind and that +won me the Valleys of Arguento Harez, from whose heights Angelico swore +he saw Valladolid once, and that won me moreover also ... but that is +long ago and is all gone now ... ah well, well ... what was I saying?" +And being reminded of his discourse, the old lord continued, saying, +"For himself he will win nothing, and therefore I will leave him these +my valleys, for not unlikely it was for some sin of mine that his +spirit was visited with dullness, as Holy Writ sets forth, the sins of +the fathers being visited on the children; and thus I make him amends. +But to you I leave my long, most flexible, ancient Castilian blade, +which infidels dreaded if old songs be true. Merry and lithe it is, and +its true temper singeth when it meets another blade as two friends sing +when met after many years. It is most subtle, nimble and exultant; and +what it will not win for you in the wars, that shall be won for you by +your mandolin, for you have a way with it that goes well with the old +airs of Spain. And choose, my son, rather a moonlight night when you +sing under those curved balconies that I knew, ah me, so well; for +there is much advantage in the moon. In the first place maidens see in +the light of the moon, especially in the Spring, more romance than you +might credit, for it adds for them a mystery to the darkness which the +night has not when it is merely black. And if any statue should gleam +on the grass near by, or if the magnolia be in blossom, or even the +nightingale singing, or if anything be beautiful in the night, in any +of these things also there is advantage; for a maiden will attribute to +her lover all manner of things that are not his at all, but are only +outpourings from the hand of God. There is this advantage also in the +moon, that, if interrupters come, the moonlight is better suited to the +play of a blade than the mere darkness of night; indeed but the merry +play of my sword in the moonlight was often a joy to see, it so +flashed, so danced, so sparkled. In the moonlight also one makes no +unworthy stroke, but hath scope for those fair passes that Sevastiani +taught, which were long ago the wonder of Madrid." +</P> + +<P> +The old lord paused, and breathed for a little space, as it were +gathering breath for his last words to his son. He breathed +deliberately, then spoke again. "I leave you," he said, "well content +that you have the two accomplishments, my son, that are most needful in +a Christian man, skill with the sword and a way with the mandolin. +There be other arts indeed among the heathen, for the world is wide and +hath full many customs, but these two alone are needful." And then with +that grand manner that they had at that time in Spain, although his +strength was failing, he gave to his eldest son his Castilian sword. He +lay back then in the huge, carved, canopied bed; his eyes closed, the +red silk curtains rustled, and there was no sound of his breathing. But +the old lord's spirit, whatever journey it purposed, lingered yet in +its ancient habitation, and his voice came again, but feebly now and +rambling; he muttered awhile of gardens, such gardens no doubt as the +hidalgos guarded in that fertile region of sunshine in the proudest +period of Spain; he would have known no others. So for awhile his +memory seemed to stray, half blind among those perfumed earthly +wonders; perhaps among these memories his spirit halted, and tarried +those last few moments, mistaking those Spanish gardens, remembered by +moonlight in Spring, for the other end of his journey, the glades of +Paradise. However it be, it tarried. These rambling memories ceased and +silence fell again, with scarcely the sound of breathing. Then +gathering up his strength for the last time and looking at his son, +"The sword to the wars," he said. "The mandolin to the balconies." With +that he fell back dead. +</P> + +<P> +Now there were no wars at that time so far as was known in Spain, but +that old lord's eldest son, regarding those last words of his father as +a commandment, determined then and there in that dim, vast chamber to +gird his legacy to him and seek for the wars, wherever the wars might +be, so soon as the obsequies of the sepulture were ended. And of those +obsequies I tell not here, for they are fully told in the Black Books +of Spain, and the deeds of that old lord's youth are told in the Golden +Stories. The Book of Maidens mentions him, and again we read of him in +Gardens of Spain. I take my leave of him, happy, I trust, in Paradise, +for he had himself the accomplishments that he held needful in a +Christian, skill with the sword and a way with the mandolin; and if +there be some harder, better way to salvation than to follow that which +we believe to be good, then are we all damned. So he was buried, and +his eldest son fared forth with his legacy dangling from his girdle in +its long, straight, lovely scabbard, blue velvet, with emeralds on it, +fared forth on foot along a road of Spain. And though the road turned +left and right and sometimes nearly ceased, as though to let the small +wild flowers grow, out of sheer good will such as some roads never +have; though it ran west and east and sometimes south, yet in the main +it ran northward, though wandered is a better word than ran, and the +Lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez who owned no valleys, or anything +but a sword, kept company with it looking for the wars. Upon his back +he had slung his mandolin. Now the time of the year was Spring, not +Spring as we know it in England, for it was but early March, but it was +the time when Spring coming up out of Africa, or unknown lands to the +south, first touches Spain, and multitudes of anemones come forth at +her feet. +</P> + +<P> +Thence she comes north to our islands, no less wonderful in our woods +than in Andalusian valleys, fresh as a new song, fabulous as a rune, +but a little pale through travel, so that our flowers do not quite +flare forth with all the myriad blaze of the flowers of Spain. +</P> + +<P> +And all the way as he went the young man looked at the flame of those +southern flowers, flashing on either side of him all the way, as though +the rainbow had been broken in Heaven and its fragments fallen on +Spain. All the way as he went he gazed at those flowers, the first +anemones of the year; and long after, whenever he sang to old airs of +Spain, he thought of Spain as it appeared that day in all the wonder of +Spring; the memory lent a beauty to his voice and a wistfulness to his +eyes that accorded not ill with the theme of the songs he sang, and +were more than once to melt proud hearts deemed cold. And so gazing he +came to a town that stood on a hill, before he was yet tired, though he +had done nigh twenty of those flowery miles of Spain; and since it was +evening and the light was fading away, he went to an inn and drew his +sword in the twilight and knocked with the hilt of it on the oaken +door. The name of it was the Inn of the Dragon and Knight. A light was +lit in one of the upper windows, the darkness seemed to deepen at that +moment, a step was heard coming heavily down a stairway; and having +named the inn to you, gentle reader, it is time for me to name the +young man also, the landless lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez, as +the step comes slowly down the inner stairway, as the gloaming darkens +over the first house in which he has ever sought shelter so far from +his father's valleys, as he stands upon the threshold of romance. He +was named Rodriguez Trinidad Fernandez, Concepcion Henrique Maria; but +we shall briefly name him Rodriguez in this story; you and I, reader, +will know whom we mean; there is no need therefore to give him his full +names, unless I do it here and there to remind you. +</P> + +<P> +The steps came thumping on down the inner stairway, different windows +took the light of the candle, and none other shone in the house; it was +clear that it was moving with the steps all down that echoing stairway. +The sound of the steps ceased to reverberate upon the wood, and now +they slowly moved over stone flags; Rodriguez now heard breathing, one +breath with every step, and at length the sound of bolts and chains +undone and the breathing now very close. The door was opened swiftly; a +man with mean eyes, and expression devoted to evil, stood watching him +for an instant; then the door slammed to again, the bolts were heard +going back again to their places, the steps and the breathing moved +away over the stone floor, and the inner stairway began again to echo. +</P> + +<P> +"If the wars are here," said Rodriguez to himself and his sword, "good, +and I sleep under the stars." And he listened in the street for the +sound of war and, hearing none, continued his discourse. "But if I have +not come as yet to the wars I sleep beneath a roof." +</P> + +<P> +For the second time therefore he drew his sword, and began to strike +methodically at the door, noting the grain in the wood and hitting +where it was softest. Scarcely had he got a good strip of the oak to +look like coming away, when the steps once more descended the wooden +stair and came lumbering over the stones; both the steps and the +breathing were quicker, for mine host of the Dragon and Knight was +hurrying to save his door. +</P> + +<P> +When he heard the sound of the bolts and chains again Rodriguez ceased +to beat upon the door: once more it opened swiftly, and he saw mine +host before him, eyeing him with those bad eyes; of too much girth, you +might have said, to be nimble, yet somehow suggesting to the swift +intuition of youth, as Rodriguez looked at him standing upon his +door-step, the spirit and shape of a spider, who despite her ungainly +build is agile enough in her way. +</P> + +<P> +Mine host said nothing; and Rodriguez, who seldom concerned himself +with the past, holding that the future is all we can order the scheme +of (and maybe even here he was wrong), made no mention of bolts or door +and merely demanded a bed for himself for the night. +</P> + +<P> +Mine host rubbed his chin; he had neither beard nor moustache but wore +hideous whiskers; he rubbed it thoughtfully and looked at Rodriguez. +Yes, he said, he could have a bed for the night. No more words he said, +but turned and led the way; while Rodriguez, who could sing to the +mandolin, wasted none of his words on this discourteous object. They +ascended the short oak stairway down which mine host had come, the +great timbers of which were gnawed by a myriad rats, and they went by +passages with the light of one candle into the interior of the inn, +which went back farther from the street than the young man had +supposed; indeed he perceived when they came to the great corridor at +the end of which was his appointed chamber, that here was no ordinary +inn, as it had appeared from outside, but that it penetrated into the +fastness of some great family of former times which had fallen on evil +days. The vast size of it, the noble design where the rats had spared +the carving, what the moths had left of the tapestries, all testified +to that; and, as for the evil days, they hung about the place, evident +even by the light of one candle guttering with every draught that blew +from the haunts of the rats, an inseparable heirloom for all who +disturbed those corridors. +</P> + +<P> +And so they came to the chamber. +</P> + +<P> +Mine host entered, bowed without grace in the doorway, and extended his +left hand, pointing into the room. The draughts that blew from the +rat-holes in the wainscot, or the mere action of entering, beat down +the flame of the squat, guttering candle so that the chamber remained +dim for a moment, in spite of the candle, as would naturally be the +case. Yet the impression made upon Rodriguez was as of some old +darkness that had been long undisturbed and that yielded reluctantly to +that candle's intrusion, a darkness that properly became the place and +was a part of it and had long been so, in the face of which the candle +appeared an ephemeral thing devoid of grace or dignity or tradition. +And indeed there was room for darkness in that chamber, for the walls +went up and up into such an altitude that you could scarcely see the +ceiling, at which mine host's eyes glanced, and Rodriguez followed his +look. +</P> + +<P> +He accepted his accommodation with a nod; as indeed he would have +accepted any room in that inn, for the young are swift judges of +character, and one who had accepted such a host was unlikely to find +fault with rats or the profusion of giant cobwebs, dark with the dust +of years, that added so much to the dimness of that sinister inn. They +turned now and went back, in the wake of that guttering candle, till +they came again to the humbler part of the building. Here mine host, +pushing open a door of blackened oak, indicated his dining-chamber. +There a long table stood, and on it parts of the head and hams of a +boar; and at the far end of the table a plump and sturdy man was seated +in shirt-sleeves feasting himself on the boar's meat. He leaped up at +once from his chair as soon as his master entered, for he was the +servant at the Dragon and Knight; mine host may have said much to him +with a flash of his eyes, but he said no more with his tongue than the +one word, "Dog": he then bowed himself out, leaving Rodriguez to take +the only chair and to be waited upon by its recent possessor. The +boar's meat was cold and gnarled, another piece of meat stood on a +plate on a shelf and a loaf of bread near by, but the rats had had most +of the bread: Rodriguez demanded what the meat was. "Unicorn's tongue," +said the servant, and Rodriguez bade him set the dish before him, and +he set to well content, though I fear the unicorn's tongue was only +horse: it was a credulous age, as all ages are. At the same time he +pointed to a three-legged stool that he perceived in a corner of the +room, then to the table, then to the boar's meat, and lastly at the +servant, who perceived that he was permitted to return to his feast, to +which he ran with alacrity. "Your name?" said Rodriguez as soon as both +were eating. "Morano," replied the servant, though it must not be +supposed that when answering Rodriguez he spoke as curtly as this; I +merely give the reader the gist of his answer, for he added Spanish +words that correspond in our depraved and decadent language of to-day +to such words as "top dog," "nut" and "boss," so that his speech had a +certain grace about it in that far-away time in Spain. +</P> + +<P> +I have said that Rodriguez seldom concerned himself with the past, but +considered chiefly the future: it was of the future that he was +thinking now as he asked Morano this question: +</P> + +<P> +"Why did my worthy and entirely excellent host shut his door in my +face?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did he so?" said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"He then bolted it and found it necessary to put the chains back, +doubtless for some good reason." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Morano thoughtfully, and looking at Rodriguez, "and so he +might. He must have liked you." +</P> + +<P> +Verily Rodriguez was just the young man to send out with a sword and a +mandolin into the wide world, for he had much shrewd sense. He never +pressed a point, but when something had been said that might mean much +he preferred to store it, as it were, in his mind and pass on to other +things, somewhat as one might kill game and pass on and kill more and +bring it all home, while a savage would cook the first kill where it +fell and eat it on the spot. Pardon me, reader, but at Morano's remark +you may perhaps have exclaimed, "That is not the way to treat one you +like." Not so did Rodriguez. His attention passed on to notice Morano's +rings which he wore in great profusion upon his little fingers; they +were gold and of exquisite work and had once held precious stones, as +large gaps testified; in these days they would have been priceless, but +in an age when workers only worked at arts that they understood, and +then worked for the joy of it, before the word artistic became +ridiculous, exquisite work went without saying; and as the rings were +slender they were of little value. Rodriguez made no comment upon the +rings; it was enough for him to have noticed them. He merely noted that +they were not ladies' rings, for no lady's ring would have fitted on to +any one of those fingers: the rings therefore of gallants: and not +given to Morano by their owners, for whoever wore precious stone needed +a ring to wear it in, and rings did not wear out like hose, which a +gallant might give to a servant. Nor, thought he, had Morano stolen +them, for whoever stole them would keep them whole, or part with them +whole and get a better price. Besides Morano had an honest face, or a +face at least that seemed honest in such an inn: and while these +thoughts were passing through his mind Morano spoke again: "Good hams," +said Morano. He had already eaten one and was starting upon the next. +Perhaps he spoke out of gratitude for the honour and physical advantage +of being permitted to sit there and eat those hams, perhaps +tentatively, to find out whether he might consume the second, perhaps +merely to start a conversation, being attracted by the honest looks of +Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"You are hungry," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Praise God I am always hungry," answered Morano. "If I were not hungry +I should starve." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it so?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"You see," said Morano, "the manner of it is this: my master gives me +no food, and it is only when I am hungry that I dare to rob him by +breaking in, as you saw me, upon his viands; were I not hungry I should +not dare to do so, and so ..." He made a sad and expressive movement +with both his hands suggestive of autumn leaves blown hence to die. +</P> + +<P> +"He gives you no food?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"It is the way of many men with their dog," said Morano. "They give him +no food," and then he rubbed his hands cheerfully, "and yet the dog +does not die." +</P> + +<P> +"And he gives you no wages?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Just these rings." +</P> + +<P> +Now Rodriguez had himself a ring upon his finger (as a gallant should), +a slender piece of gold with four tiny angels holding a sapphire, and +for a moment he pictured the sapphire passing into the hands of mine +host and the ring of gold and the four small angels being flung to +Morano; the thought darkened his gaiety for no longer than one of those +fleecy clouds in Spring shadows the fields of Spain. +</P> + +<P> +Morano was also looking at the ring; he had followed the young man's +glance. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," he said, "do you draw your sword of a night?" +</P> + +<P> +"And you?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"I have no sword," said Morano. "I am but as dog's meat that needs no +guarding, but you whose meat is rare like the flesh of the unicorn need +a sword to guard your meat. The unicorn has his horn always, and even +then he sometimes sleeps." +</P> + +<P> +"It is bad, you think, to sleep," Rodriguez said. +</P> + +<P> +"For some it is very bad, master. They say they never take the unicorn +waking. For me I am but dog's meat: when I have eaten hams I curl up +and sleep; but then you see, master, I know I shall wake in the +morning." +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," said Rodriguez, "the morning's a pleasant time," and he leaned +back comfortably in his chair. Morano took one shrewd look at him, and +was soon asleep upon his three-legged stool. +</P> + +<P> +The door opened after a while and mine host appeared. "It is late," he +said. Rodriguez smiled acquiescently and mine host withdrew, and +presently leaving Morano whom his master's voice had waked, to curl up +on the floor in a corner, Rodriguez took the candle that lit the room +and passed once more through the passages of the inn and down the great +corridor of the fastness of the family that had fallen on evil days, +and so came to his chamber. I will not waste a multitude of words over +that chamber; if you have no picture of it in your mind already, my +reader, you are reading an unskilled writer, and if in that picture it +appear a wholesome room, tidy and well kept up, if it appear a place in +which a stranger might sleep without some faint foreboding of disaster, +then I am wasting your time, and will waste no more of it with bits of +"descriptive writing" about that dim, high room, whose blackness +towered before Rodriguez in the night. He entered and shut the door, as +many had done before him; but for all his youth he took some wiser +precautions than had they, perhaps, who closed that door before. For +first he drew his sword; then for some while he stood quite still near +the door and listened to the rats; then he looked round the chamber and +perceived only one door; then he looked at the heavy oak furniture, +carved by some artist, gnawed by rats, and all blackened by time; then +swiftly opened the door of the largest cupboard and thrust his sword in +to see who might be inside, but the carved satyr's heads at the top of +the cupboard eyed him silently and nothing moved. Then he noted that +though there was no bolt on the door the furniture might be placed +across to make what in the wars is called a barricado, but the wiser +thought came at once that this was too easily done, and that if the +danger that the dim room seemed gloomily to forebode were to come from +a door so readily barricadoed, then those must have been simple +gallants who parted so easily with the rings that adorned Morano's two +little fingers. No, it was something more subtle than any attack +through that door that brought his regular wages to Morano. Rodriguez +looked at the window, which let in the light of a moon that was getting +low, for the curtains had years ago been eaten up by the moths; but the +window was barred with iron bars that were not yet rusted away, and +looked out, thus guarded, over a sheer wall that even in the moonlight +fell into blackness. Rodriguez then looked round for some hidden door, +the sword all the while in his hand, and very soon he knew that room +fairly well, but not its secret, nor why those unknown gallants had +given up their rings. +</P> + +<P> +It is much to know of an unknown danger that it really is unknown. Many +have met their deaths through looking for danger from one particular +direction, whereas had they perceived that they were ignorant of its +direction they would have been wise in their ignorance. Rodriguez had +the great discretion to understand clearly that he did not know the +direction from which danger would come. He accepted this as his only +discovery about that portentous room which seemed to beckon to him with +every shadow and to sigh over him with every mournful draught, and to +whisper to him unintelligible warnings with every rustle of tattered +silk that hung about his bed. And as soon as he discovered that this +was his only knowledge he began at once to make his preparations: he +was a right young man for the wars. He divested himself of his shoes +and doublet and the light cloak that hung from his shoulder and cast +the clothes on a chair. Over the back of the chair he slung his girdle +and the scabbard hanging therefrom and placed his plumed hat so that +none could see that his Castilian blade was not in its resting-place. +And when the sombre chamber had the appearance of one having undressed +in it before retiring Rodriguez turned his attention to the bed, which +he noticed to be of great depth and softness. That something not unlike +blood had been spilt on the floor excited no wonder in Rodriguez; that +vast chamber was evidently, as I have said, in the fortress of some +great family, against one of whose walls the humble inn had once leaned +for protection; the great family were gone: how they were gone +Rodriguez did not know, but it excited no wonder in him to see blood on +the boards: besides, two gallants may have disagreed; or one who loved +not dumb animals might have been killing rats. Blood did not disturb +him; but what amazed him, and would have surprised anyone who stood in +that ruinous room, was that there were clean new sheets on the bed. Had +you seen the state of the furniture and the floor, O my reader, and the +vastness of the old cobwebs and the black dust that they held, the dead +spiders and huge dead flies, and the living generation of spiders +descending and ascending through the gloom, I say that you also would +have been surprised at the sight of those nice clean sheets. Rodriguez +noted the fact and continued his preparations. He took the bolster from +underneath the pillow and laid it down the middle of the bed and put +the sheets back over it; then he stood back and looked at it, much as a +sculptor might stand back from his marble, then he returned to it and +bent it a little in the middle, and after that he placed his mandolin +on the pillow and nearly covered it with the sheet, but not quite, for +a little of the curved dark-brown wood remained still to be seen. It +looked wonderfully now like a sleeper in the bed, but Rodriguez was not +satisfied with his work until he had placed his kerchief and one of his +shoes where a shoulder ought to be; then he stood back once more and +eyed it with satisfaction. Next he considered the light. He looked at +the light of the moon and remembered his father's advice, as the young +often do, but considered that this was not the occasion for it, and +decided to leave the light of his candle instead, so that anyone who +might be familiar with the moonlight in that shadowy chamber should +find instead a less sinister light. He therefore dragged a table to the +bedside, placed the candle upon it, and opened a treasured book that he +bore in his doublet, and laid it on the bed near by, between the candle +and his mandolin-headed sleeper; the name of the book was Notes in a +Cathedral and dealt with the confessions of a young girl, which the +author claimed to have jotted down, while concealed behind a pillow +near the Confessional, every Sunday for the entire period of Lent. +Lastly he pulled a sheet a little loose from the bed, until a corner of +it lay on the floor; then he lay down on the boards, still keeping his +sword in his hand, and by means of the sheet and some silk that hung +from the bed, he concealed himself sufficient for his purpose, which +was to see before he should be seen by any intruder that might enter +that chamber. +</P> + +<P> +And if Rodriguez appear to have been unduly suspicious, it should be +borne in mind not only that those empty rings needed much explanation, +but that every house suggests to the stranger something; and that +whereas one house seems to promise a welcome in front of cosy fires, +another good fare, another joyous wine, this inn seemed to promise +murder; or so the young man's intuition said, and the young are wise to +trust to their intuitions. +</P> + +<P> +The reader will know, if he be one of us, who have been to the wars and +slept in curious ways, that it is hard to sleep when sober upon a +floor; it is not like the earth, or snow, or a feather bed; even rock +can be more accommodating; it is hard, unyielding and level, all night +unmistakable floor. Yet Rodriguez took no risk of falling asleep, so he +said over to himself in his mind as much as he remembered of his +treasured book, Notes in a Cathedral, which he always read to himself +before going to rest and now so sadly missed. It told how a lady who +had listened to a lover longer than her soul's safety could warrant, as +he played languorous music in the moonlight and sang soft by her low +balcony, and how she being truly penitent, had gathered many roses, the +emblems of love (as surely, she said at confession, all the world +knows), and when her lover came again by moonlight had cast them all +from her from the balcony, showing that she had renounced love; and her +lover had entirely misunderstood her. It told how she often tried to +show him this again, and all the misunderstandings are sweetly set +forth and with true Christian penitence. Sometimes some little matter +escaped Rodriguez's memory and then he longed to rise up and look at +his dear book, yet he lay still where he was: and all the while he +listened to the rats, and the rats went on gnawing and running +regularly, scared by nothing new; Rodriguez trusted as much to their +myriad ears as to his own two. The great spiders descended out of such +heights that you could not see whence they came, and ascended again +into blackness; it was a chamber of prodigious height. Sometimes the +shadow of a descending spider that had come close to the candle assumed +a frightening size, but Rodriguez gave little thought to it; it was of +murder he was thinking, not of shadows; still, in its way it was +ominous, and reminded Rodriguez horribly of his host; but what of an +omen, again, in a chamber full of omens. The place itself was ominous; +spiders could scarce make it more so. The spider itself was big enough, +he thought, to be impaled on his Castilian blade; indeed, he would have +done it but that he thought it wiser to stay where he was and watch. +And then the spider found the candle too hot and climbed in a hurry all +the way to the ceiling, and his horrible shadow grew less and dwindled +away. +</P> + +<P> +It was not that the rats were frightened: whatever it was that happened +happened too quietly for that, but the volume of the sound of their +running had suddenly increased: it was not like fear among them, for +the running was no swifter, and it did not fade away; it was as though +the sound of rats running, which had not been heard before, was +suddenly heard now. Rodriguez looked at the door, the door was shut. A +young Englishman would long ago have been afraid that he was making a +fuss over nothing and would have gone to sleep in the bed, and not seen +what Rodriguez saw. He might have thought that hearing more rats all at +once was merely a fancy, and that everything was all right. Rodriguez +saw a rope coming slowly down from the ceiling, he quickly determined +whether it was a rope or only the shadow of some huge spider's thread, +and then he watched it and saw it come down right over his bed and stop +within a few feet of it. Rodriguez looked up cautiously to see who had +sent him that strange addition to the portents that troubled the +chamber, but the ceiling was too high and dim for him to perceive +anything but the rope coming down out of the darkness. Yet he surmised +that the ceiling must have softly opened, without any sound at all, at +the moment that he heard the greater number of rats. He waited then to +see what the rope would do; and at first it hung as still as the great +festoons dead spiders had made in the corners; then as he watched it it +began to sway. He looked up into the dimness then to see who was +swaying the rope; and for a long time, as it seemed to him lying +gripping his Castilian sword on the floor he saw nothing clearly. And +then he saw mine host coming down the rope, hand over hand quite +nimbly, as though he lived by this business. In his right hand he held +a poniard of exceptional length, yet he managed to clutch the rope and +hold the poniard all the time with the same hand. +</P> + +<P> +If there had been something hideous about the shadow of the spider that +came down from that height the shadow of mine host was indeed demoniac. +He too was like a spider, with his body at no time slender all bunched +up on the rope, and his shadow was six times his size: you could turn +from the spider's shadow to the spider and see that it was for the most +part a fancy of the candle half crazed by the draughts, but to turn +from mine host's shadow to himself and to see his wicked eyes was to +say that the candle's wildest fears were true. So he climbed down his +rope holding his poniard upward. But when he came within perhaps ten +feet of the bed he pointed it downward and began to sway about. It will +be readily seen that by swaying his rope at a height mine host could +drop on any part of the bed. Rodriguez as he watched him saw him +scrutinise closely and continue to sway on his rope. He feared that +mine host was ill satisfied with the look of the mandolin and that he +would climb away again, well warned of his guest's astuteness, into the +heights of the ceiling to devise some fearfuller scheme; but he was +only looking for the shoulder. And then mine host dropped; poniard +first, he went down with all his weight behind it and drove it through +the bolster below where the shoulder should be, just where we slant our +arms across our bodies, when we lie asleep on our sides, leaving the +ribs exposed: and the soft bed received him. And the moment that mine +host let go of his rope Rodriguez leaped to his feet. He saw Rodriguez, +indeed their eyes met as he dropped through the air, but what could +mine host do? He was already committed to his stroke, and his poniard +was already deep in the mattress when the good Castilian blade passed +through his ribs. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SECOND CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW HE HIRED A MEMORABLE SERVANT +</H3> + +<P> +When Rodriguez woke, the birds were singing gloriously. The sun was up +and the air was sparkling over Spain. The gloom had left his high +chamber, and much of the menace had gone from it that overnight had +seemed to bode in the corners. It had not become suddenly tidy; it was +still more suitable for spiders than men, it still mourned and brooded +over the great family that it had nursed and that evil days had so +obviously overtaken; but it no longer had the air of finger to lips, no +longer seemed to share a secret with you, and that secret Murder. The +rats still ran round the wainscot, but the song of the birds and the +jolly, dazzling sunshine were so much larger than the sombre room that +the young man's thoughts escaped from it and ran free to the fields. It +may have been only his fancy but the world seemed somehow brighter for +the demise of mine host of the Dragon and Knight, whose body still lay +hunched up on the foot of his bed. Rodriguez jumped up and went to the +high, barred window and looked out of it at the morning: far below him +a little town with red roofs lay; the smoke came up from the chimneys +toward him slowly, and spread out flat and did not reach so high. +Between him and the roofs swallows were sailing. +</P> + +<P> +He found water for washing in a cracked pitcher of earthenware and as +he dressed he looked up at the ceiling and admired mine host's device, +for there was an open hole that had come noiselessly, without any +sounds of bolts or lifting of trap-doors, but seemed to have opened out +all round on perfectly oiled grooves, to fit that well-to-do body, and +down from the middle of it from some higher beam hung the rope down +which mine host had made his last journey. +</P> + +<P> +Before taking leave of his host Rodriguez looked at his poniard, which +was a good two feet in length, not counting the hilt, and was surprised +to find it an excellent blade. It bore a design on the steel +representing a town, which Rodriguez recognised for the towers of +Toledo; and had held moreover a jewel at the end of the hilt, but the +little gold socket was empty. Rodriguez therefore perceived that the +poniard was that of a gallant, and surmised that mine host had begun +his trade with a butcher's knife, but having come by the poniard had +found it to be handier for his business. Rodriguez being now fully +dressed, girt his own blade about him, and putting the poniard under +his cloak, for he thought to find a use for it at the wars, set his +plumed hat upon him and jauntily stepped from the chamber. By the light +of day he saw clearly at what point the passages of the inn had dared +to make their intrusion on the corridors of the fortress, for he walked +for four paces between walls of huge grey rocks which had never been +plastered and were clearly a breach in the fortress, though whether the +breach were made by one of the evil days that had come upon the family +in their fastness, and whether men had poured through it with torches +and swords, or whether the gap had been cut in later years for mine +host of the Dragon and Knight, and he had gone quietly through it +rubbing his hands, nothing remained to show Rodriguez now. +</P> + +<P> +When he came to the dining-chamber he found Morano astir. Morano looked +up from his overwhelming task of tidying the Inn of the Dragon and +Knight and then went on with his pretended work, for he felt a little +ashamed of the knowledge he had concerning the ways of that inn, which +was more than an honest man should know about such a place. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning, Morano," said Rodriguez blithely. +</P> + +<P> +"Good morning," answered the servant of the Dragon and Knight. +</P> + +<P> +"I am looking for the wars. Would you like a new master, Morano?" +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed," said Morano, "a good master is better to some men's minds +than a bad one. Yet, you see seņor, my bad master has me bound never to +leave him, by oaths that I do not properly understand the meaning of, +and that might blast me in any world were I to forswear them. He hath +bound me by San Sathanas, with many others. I do not like the sound of +that San Sathanas. And so you see, seņor, my bad master suits me better +than perhaps to be whithered in this world by a levin-stroke, and in +the next world who knows?" +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "there is a dead spider on my bed." +</P> + +<P> +"A dead spider, master?" said Morano, with as much concern in his voice +as though no spider had ever sullied that chamber before. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Rodriguez, "I shall require you to keep my bed tidy on our +way to the wars." +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, "no spider shall come near it, living or dead." +</P> + +<P> +And so our company of one going northward through Spain looking for +romance became a company of two. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, "as I do not see him whom I serve, and his ways +are early ways, I fear some evil has overtaken him, whereby we shall be +suspect, for none other dwells here: and he is under special protection +of the Garda Civil; it would be well therefore to start for the wars +right early." +</P> + +<P> +"The guard protect mine host then." Rodriguez said with as much +surprise in his tones as he ever permitted himself. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano said, "it could not be otherwise. For so many gallants +have entered the door of this inn and supped in this chamber and never +been seen again, and so many suspicious things have been found here, +such as blood, that it became necessary for him to pay the guard well, +and so they protect him." And Morano hastily slung over his shoulder by +leather straps an iron pot and a frying-pan and took his broad felt hat +from a peg on the wall. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez' eyes looked so curiously at the great cooking utensils +dangling there from the straps that Morano perceived his young master +did not fully understand these preparations: he therefore instructed +him thus: "Master, there be two things necessary in the wars, strategy +and cooking. Now the first of these comes in use when the captains +speak of their achievements and the historians write of the wars. +Strategy is a learned thing, master, and the wars may not be told of +without it, but while the war rageth and men be camped upon the +foughten field then is the time for cooking; for many a man that fights +the wars, if he hath not his food, were well content to let the enemy +live, but feed him and at once he becometh proud at heart and cannot +a-bear the sight of the enemy walking among his tents but must needs +slay him outright. Aye, master, the cooking for the wars; and when the +wars are over you who are learned shall study strategy." +</P> + +<P> +And Rodriguez perceived that there was wisdom in the world that was not +taught in the College of San Josephus, near to his father's valleys, +where he had learned in his youth the ways of books. +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," he said, "let us now leave mine host to entertain la Garda." +</P> + +<P> +And at the mention of the guard hurry came on Morano, he closed his +lips upon his store of wisdom, and together they left the Inn of the +Dragon and Knight. And when Rodriguez saw shut behind him that dark +door of oak that he had so persistently entered, and through which he +had come again to the light of the sun by many precautions and some +luck, he felt gratitude to Morano. For had it not been for Morano's +sinister hints, and above all his remark that mine host would have +driven him thence because he liked him, the evil look of the sombre +chamber alone might not have been enough to persuade him to the +precautions that cut short the dreadful business of that inn. And with +his gratitude was a feeling not unlike remorse, for he felt that he had +deprived this poor man of a part of his regular wages, which would have +been his own gold ring and the setting that held the sapphire, had all +gone well with the business. So he slipped the ring from his finger and +gave it to Morano, sapphire and all. +</P> + +<P> +Morano's expressions of gratitude were in keeping with that flowery +period in Spain, and might appear ridiculous were I to expose them to +the eyes of an age in which one in Morano's place on such an occasion +would have merely said, "Damned good of you old nut, not half," and let +the matter drop. +</P> + +<P> +I merely record therefore that Morano was grateful and so expressed +himself; while Rodriguez, in addition to the pleasant glow in the mind +that comes from a generous action, had another feeling that gives all +of us pleasure, or comfort at least (until it grows monotonous), a +feeling of increased safety; for while he had the ring upon his finger +and Morano went unpaid the thought could not help occurring, even to a +generous mind, that one of these windy nights Morano might come for his +wages. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano looking at the sapphire now on his own little +finger near the top joint, the only stone amongst his row of rings, +"you must surely have great wealth." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Rodriguez slapping the scabbard that held his Castilian +blade. And when he saw that Morano's eyes were staring at the little +emeralds that were dotted along the velvet of the scabbard he explained +that it was the sword that was his wealth: +</P> + +<P> +"For in the wars," he said, "are all things to be won, and nothing is +unobtainable to the sword. For parchment and custom govern all the +possessions of man, as they taught me in the College of San Josephus. +Yet the sword is at first the founder and discoverer of all +possessions; and this my father told me before he gave me this sword, +which hath already acquired in the old time fair castles with many a +tower." +</P> + +<P> +"And those that dwelt in the castles, master, before the sword came?" +said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"They died and went dismally to Hell," said Rodriguez, "as the old +songs say." +</P> + +<P> +They walked on then in silence. Morano, with his low forehead and +greater girth of body than of brain to the superficial observer, was +not incapable of thought. However slow his thoughts may have come, +Morano was pondering surely. Suddenly the puckers on his little +forehead cleared and he brightly looked at Rodriguez as they went on +side by side. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano said, "when you choose a castle in the wars, let it +above all things be one of those that is easy to be defended; for +castles are easily got, as the old songs tell, and in the heat of +combat positions are quickly stormed, and no more ado; but, when wars +are over, then is the time for ease and languorous days and the +imperilling of the soul, though not beyond the point where our good +fathers may save it." +</P> + +<P> +"Nay, Morano," Rodriguez said, "no man, as they taught me well in the +College of San Josephus, should ever imperil his soul." +</P> + +<P> +"But, master," Morano said, "a man imperils his body in the wars yet +hopes by dexterity and his sword to draw it safely thence: so a man of +courage and high heart may surely imperil his soul and still hope to +bring it at the last to salvation." +</P> + +<P> +"Not so," said Rodriguez, and gave his mind to pondering upon the exact +teaching he had received on this very point, but could not clearly +remember. +</P> + +<P> +So they walked in silence, Rodriguez thinking still of this spiritual +problem, Morano turning, though with infinite slowness, to another +thought upon a lower plane. +</P> + +<P> +And after a while Rodriguez' eyes turned again to the flowers, and he +felt his meditation, as youth will, and looking abroad he saw the +wonder of Spring calling forth the beauty of Spain, and he lifted up +his head and his heart rejoiced with the anemones, as hearts at his age +do: but Morano clung to his thought. +</P> + +<P> +It was long before Rodriguez' fanciful thoughts came back from among +the flowers, for among those delicate earliest blooms of Spring his +youthful visions felt they were with familiars; so they tarried, +neglecting the dusty road and poor gross Morano. But when his fancies +left the flowers at last and looked again at Morano, Rodriguez +perceived that his servant was all troubled with thought: so he left +Morano in silence for his thought to come to maturity, for he had +formed a liking already for the judgments of Morano's simple mind. +</P> + +<P> +They walked in silence for the space of an hour, and at last Morano +spoke. It was then noon. "Master," he said, "at this hour it is the +custom of la Garda to enter the Inn of the Dragon and to dine at the +expense of mine host." +</P> + +<P> +"A merry custom," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, "if they find him in less than his usual health +they will get their dinners for themselves in the larder and dine and +afterwards sleep. But after that; master, after that, should anything +inauspicious have befallen mine host, they will seek out and ask many +questions concerning all travellers, too many for our liking." +</P> + +<P> +"We are many good miles from the Inn of the Dragon and Knight," said +Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master, when they have eaten and slept and asked questions they will +follow on horses," said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"We can hide," said Rodriguez, and he looked round over the plain, very +full of flowers, but empty and bare under the blue sky of any place in +which a man might hide to escape from pursuers on horse back. He +perceived then that he had no plan. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, "there is no hiding like disguises." +</P> + +<P> +Once more Rodriguez looked round him over the plain, seeing no houses, +no men; and his opinion of Morano's judgment sank when he said +disguises. But then Morano unfolded to him that plan which up to that +day had never been tried before, so far as records tell, in all the +straits in which fugitive men have been; and which seems from my +researches in verse and prose never to have been attempted since. +</P> + +<P> +The plan was this, astute as Morano, and simple as his naive mind. The +clothing for which Rodriguez searched the plain vainly was ready to +hand. No disguise was effective against la Garda, they had too many +suspicions, their skill was to discover disguises. But in the moment of +la Garda's triumph, when they had found out the disguise, when success +had lulled the suspicions for which they were infamous, then was the +time to trick la Garda. Rodriguez wondered; but the slow mind of Morano +was sure, and now he came to the point, the fruit of his hour's +thinking. Rodriguez should disguise himself as Morano. When la Garda +discovered that he was not the man he appeared to be, a study to which +they devoted their lives, their suspicions would rest and there would +be an end of it. And Morano should disguise himself as Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +It was a new idea. Had Rodriguez been twice his age he would have +discarded it at once; for age is guided by precedent which, when +pursued, is a dangerous guide indeed. Even as it was he was critical, +for the novelty of the thing coming thus from his gross servant +surprised him as much as though Morano had uttered poetry of his own +when he sang, as he sometimes did, certain merry lascivious songs of +Spain that any one of the last few centuries knew as well as any of the +others. +</P> + +<P> +And would not la Garda find out that he was himself, Rodriguez asked, +as quickly as they found out he was not Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"That," said Morano, "is not the way of la Garda. For once let la Garda +come by a suspicion, such as that you, master, are but Morano, and they +will cling to it even to the last, and not abandon it until they needs +must, and then throw it away as it were in disgust and ride hence at +once, for they like not tarrying long near one who has seen them +mistaken." +</P> + +<P> +"They will soon then come by another suspicion," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Not so, master," answered Morano, "for those that are as suspicious as +la Garda change their suspicions but slowly. A suspicion is an old song +to them." +</P> + +<P> +"Then," said Rodriguez, "I shall be hard set ever to show that I am not +you if they ever suspect I am." +</P> + +<P> +"It will be hard, master," Morano answered; "but we shall do it, for we +shall have truth upon our side." +</P> + +<P> +"How shall we disguise ourselves?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, "when you came to our town none knew you and all +marked your clothes. As for me my fat body is better known than my +clothes, yet am I not too well known by la Garda, for, being an honest +man, whenever la Garda came I used to hide." +</P> + +<P> +"You did well," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Certainly I did well," said Morano, "for had they seen me they might, +on account of certain matters, have taken me to prison, and prison is +no place for an honest man." +</P> + +<P> +"Let us disguise ourselves," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," answered Morano, "the brain is greater than the stomach, and +now more than at any time we need the counsel of the brain; let us +therefore appease the clamours of the stomach that it be silent." +</P> + +<P> +And he drew out from amongst his clothing a piece of sacking in which +was a mass of bacon and some lard, and unslung his huge frying-pan. +Rodriguez had entirely forgotten the need of food, but now the memory +of it had rushed upon him like a flood over a barrier, as soon as he +saw the bacon. And when they had collected enough of tiny inflammable +things, for it was a treeless plain, and Morano had made a fire, and +the odour of the bacon became perceptible, this memory was hugely +intensified. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us eat while they eat, master," said Morano, "and plan while they +sleep, and disguise ourselves while they pursue." +</P> + +<P> +And this they did: for after they had eaten they dug up earth and +gathered leaves with which to fill the gaps in Morano's garments when +they should hang on Rodriguez, they plucked a geranium with whose dye +they deepened Rodriguez' complexion, and with the sap from the stalk of +a weed Morano toned to a pallor the ruddy brown of his tough cheeks. +Then they changed clothes altogether, which made Morano gasp: and after +that nothing remained but to cut off the delicate black moustachios of +Rodriguez and to stick them to the face of Morano with the juice of +another flower that he knew where to find. Rodriguez sighed when he saw +them go. He had pictured ecstatic glances cast some day at those +moustachios, glances from under long eyelashes twinkling at evening +from balconies; and looking at them where they were now, he felt that +this was impossible. +</P> + +<P> +For one moment Morano raised his head with an air, as it were preening +himself, when the new moustachios had stuck; but as soon as he saw, or +felt, his master's sorrow at their loss he immediately hung his head, +showing nothing but shame for the loss he had caused his master, or for +the impropriety of those delicate growths that so ill become his jowl. +And now they took the road again, Rodriguez with the great frying-pan +and cooking-pot; no longer together, but not too far apart for la Garda +to take them both at once, and to make the doubly false charge that +should so confound their errand. And Morano wore that old triumphant +sword, and carried the mandolin that was ever young. +</P> + +<P> +They had not gone far when it was as Morano had said; for, looking +back, as they often did, to the spot where their road touched the +sky-line, they saw la Garda spurring, seven of them in their +unmistakable looped hats, very clear against the sky which a moment ago +seemed so fair. +</P> + +<P> +When the seven saw the two they did not spare the dust; and first they +came to Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"You," they said, "are Rodriguez Trinidad Fernandez, Concepcion +Henrique Maria, a Lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez." +</P> + +<P> +"No, masters," said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +Oh but denials were lost upon la Garda. +</P> + +<P> +Denials inflamed their suspicions as no other evidence could. Many a +man had they seen with his throat in the hands of the public garrotter; +and all had begun with denials who ended thus. They looked at the +mandolin, at the gay cloak, at the emeralds in the scabbard, for +wherever emeralds go there is evidence to identify them, until the +nature of man changes or the price of emeralds. They spoke hastily +among themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"Without doubt," said one of them, "you are whom we said." And they +arrested Morano. +</P> + +<P> +Then they spurred on to Rodriguez. "You are," they said, "as no man +doubts, one Morano, servant at the Inn of the Dragon and Knight, whose +good master is, as we allege, dead." +</P> + +<P> +"Masters," answered Rodriguez, "I am but a poor traveller, and no +servant at any inn." +</P> + +<P> +Now la Garda, as I have indicated, will hear all things except denials; +and thus to receive two within the space of two moments infuriated them +so fiercely that they were incapable of forming any other theory that +day except the one they held. +</P> + +<P> +There are many men like this; they can form a plausible theory and +grasp its logical points, but take it away from them and destroy it +utterly before their eyes, and they will not so easily lash their tired +brains at once to build another theory in place of the one that is +ruined. +</P> + +<P> +"As the saints live," they said, "you are Morano." And they arrested +Rodriguez too. +</P> + +<P> +Now when they began to turn back by the way they had come Rodriguez +began to fear overmuch identification, so he assured la Garda that in +the next village ahead of them were those who would answer all +questions concerning him, as well as being the possessors of the finest +vintage of wine in the kingdom of Spain. +</P> + +<P> +Now it may be that the mention of this wine soothed the anger caused in +the men of la Garda by two denials, or it may be that curiosity guided +them, at any rate they took the road that led away from last night's +sinister shelter, Rodriguez and five of la Garda. Two of them stayed +behind with Morano, undecided as yet which way to take, though looking +wistfully the way that that wine was said to be; and Rodriguez left +Morano to his own devices, in which he trusted profoundly. +</P> + +<P> +Now Rodriguez knew not the name of the next village that they would +come to nor the names of any of the dwellers in it. +</P> + +<P> +Yet he had a plan. As he went by the side of one of the horses he +questioned the rider. +</P> + +<P> +"Can Morano write?" he said. La Garda laughed. +</P> + +<P> +"Can Morano talk Latin?" he said. La Garda crossed themselves, all five +men. And after some while of riding, and hard walking for Rodriguez, to +whom they allowed a hand on a stirrup leather, there came in sight the +tops of the brown roofs of a village over a fold of the plain. "Is this +your village?" said one of his captors. +</P> + +<P> +"Surely," answered Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"What is its name?" said one. +</P> + +<P> +"It has many names," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +And then another one of them recognised it from the shape of its roofs. +"It is Saint Judas-not-Iscariot," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, so strangers call it," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +And where the road turned round that fold of the plain, lolling a +little to its left in the idle Spanish air, they came upon the village +all in view. I do not know how to describe this village to you, my +reader, for the words that mean to you what it was are all the wrong +words to use. "Antique," "old-world," "quaint," seem words with which +to tell of it. Yet it had no antiquity denied to the other villages; it +had been brought to birth like them by the passing of time, and was +nursed like them in the lap of plains or valleys of Spain. Nor was it +quainter than any of its neighbours, though it was like itself alone, +as they had their characters also; and, though no village in the world +was like it, it differed only from the next as sister differs from +sister. To those that dwelt in it, it was wholly apart from all the +world of man. +</P> + +<P> +Most of its tall white houses with green doors were gathered about the +market-place, in which were pigeons and smells and declining sunlight, +as Rodriguez and his escort came towards it, and from round a corner at +the back of it the short, repeated song of one who would sell a +commodity went up piercingly. +</P> + +<P> +This was all very long ago. Time has wrecked that village now. +Centuries have flowed over it, some stormily, some smoothly, but so +many that, of the village Rodriguez saw, there can be now no more than +wreckage. For all I know a village of that name may stand on that same +plain, but the Saint Judas-not-Iscariot that Rodriguez knew is gone +like youth. +</P> + +<P> +Queerly tiled, sheltered by small dense trees, and standing a little +apart, Rodriguez recognised the house of the Priest. He recognised it +by a certain air it had. Thither he pointed and la Garda rode. Again he +spoke to them. "Can Morano speak Latin?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"God forbid!" said la Garda. +</P> + +<P> +They dismounted and opened a gate that was gilded all over, in a low +wall of round boulders. They went up a narrow path between thick ilices +and came to the green door. They pulled a bell whose handle was a +symbol carved in copper, one of the Priest's mysteries. The bell boomed +through the house, a tiny musical boom, and the Priest opened the door; +and Rodriguez addressed him in Latin. And the Priest answered him. +</P> + +<P> +At first la Garda had not realised what had happened. And then the +Priest beckoned and they all entered his house, for Rodriguez had asked +him for ink. Into a room they came where a silver ink-pot was, and the +grey plume of the goose. Picture no such ink-pot, my reader, as they +sell to-day in shops, the silver no thicker than paper, and perhaps a +pattern all over it guaranteed artistic. It was molten silver well +wrought, and hollowed for ink. And in the hollow there was the magical +fluid, the stuff that rules the world and hinders time; that in which +flows the will of a king, to establish his laws for ever; that which +gives valleys unto new possessors; that whereby towers are held by +their lawful owners; that which, used grimly by the King's judge, is +death; that which, when poets play, is mirth for ever and ever. +</P> + +<P> +No wonder la Garda looked at it in awe, no wonder they crossed +themselves again: and then Rodriguez wrote. In the silence that +followed the jaws of la Garda dropped, while the old Priest slightly +smiled, for he somewhat divined the situation already; and, being the +people's friend, he loved not la Garda more than he was bound by the +rules of his duty to man. +</P> + +<P> +Then one of la Garda spoke, bringing back his confidence with a +bluster. "Morano has sold his soul to Satan," he said, "in exchange for +Satan's aid, and Satan has taught his tongue Latin and guides his +fingers in the affairs of the pen." And so said all la Garda, rejoicing +at finding an explanation where a moment ago there was none, as all men +at such times do: little it matters what the explanation be: does a man +in Sahara, who finds water suddenly, inquire with precision what its +qualities are? +</P> + +<P> +And then the Priest said a word and made a sign, against which Satan +himself can only prevail with difficulty, and in presence of which his +spells can never endure. And after this Rodriguez wrote again. Then +were la Garda silent. +</P> + +<P> +And at length the leader said, and he called on them all to testify, +that he had made no charge whatever against this traveller; moreover, +they had escorted him on his way out of respect for him, because the +roads were dangerous, and must now depart because they had higher +duties. So la Garda departed, looking before them with stern, +preoccupied faces and urging their horses on, as men who go on an +errand of great urgency. And Rodriguez, having thanked them for their +protection upon the road, turned back into the house and the two sat +down together, and Rodriguez told his rescuer the story of the +hospitality of the Inn of the Dragon and Knight. +</P> + +<P> +Not as confession he told it, but as a pleasant tale, for he looked on +the swift demise of la Garda's friend, in the night, in the spidery +room, as a fair blessing for Spain, a thing most suited to the sweet +days of Spring. The spiritual man rejoiced to hear such a tale, as do +all men of peace to hear talk of violent deeds in which they may not +share. And when the tale was ended he reproved Rodriguez exceedingly, +explaining to him the nature of the sin of blood, and telling him that +absolution could be come by now, though hardly, but how on some future +occasion there might be none to be had. And Rodriguez listened with all +the gravity of expression that youth knows well how to wear while its +thoughts are nimbly dancing far away in fair fields of adventure or +love. +</P> + +<P> +And darkness came down and lamps were carried in: and the reverend +father asked Rodriguez in what other affairs of violence his sword had +unhappily been. And Rodriguez knew well the history of that sword, +having gathered all that concerned it out of spoken legend or song. And +although the reverend man frowned minatorily whenever he heard of its +passings through the ribs of the faithful, and nodded as though his +head gave benediction when he heard of the destruction of God's most +vile enemy the infidel, and though he gasped a little through his lips +when he heard of certain tarryings of that sword, in scented gardens, +while Christian knights should sleep and their swords hang on the wall, +though sometimes even a little he raised his hands, yet he leaned +forward always, listening well, and picturing clearly as though his +gleaming eyes could see them, each doleful tale of violence or sin. And +so night came, and began to wear away, and neither knew how late the +hour was. And then as Rodriguez spoke of an evening in a garden, of +which some old song told well, a night in early summer under the +evening star, and that sword there as always; as he told of his +grandfather as poets had loved to tell, going among the scents of the +huge flowers, familiar with the dark garden as the moths that drifted +by him; as he spoke of a sigh heard faintly, as he spoke of danger +near, whether to body or soul; as the reverend father was about to +raise both his hands; there came a thunder of knockings upon the locked +green door. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE THIRD CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW HE CAME TO THE HOUSE OF WONDER +</H3> + +<P> +It was the gross Morano. Here he had tracked Rodriguez, for where la +Garda goes is always known, and rumour of it remains long behind them, +like the scent of a fox. He told no tale of his escape more than a dog +does who comes home some hours late; a dog comes back to his master, +that is all, panting a little perhaps; someone perhaps had caught him +and he escaped and came home, a thing too natural to attempt to speak +of by any of the signs that a dog knows. +</P> + +<P> +Part of Morano's method seems to have resembled Rodriguez', for just as +Rodriguez spoke Latin, so Morano fell back upon his own natural speech, +that he as it were unbridled and allowed to run free, the coarseness of +which had at first astounded, and then delighted, la Garda. +</P> + +<P> +"And did they not suspect that you were yourself?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"No, master," Morano answered, "for I said that I was the brother of +the King of Aragon." +</P> + +<P> +"The King of Aragon!" Rodriguez said, going to the length of showing +surprise. "Yes, indeed, master." said Morano, "and they recognised me." +</P> + +<P> +"Recognised you!" exclaimed the Priest. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed so," said Morano, "for they said that they were themselves the +Kings of Aragon; and so, father, they recognised me for their brother." +</P> + +<P> +"That you should not have said," the Priest told Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Reverend father," replied Morano, "as Heaven shines, I believed that +what I said was true." And Morano sighed deeply. "And now," he said, "I +know it is true no more." +</P> + +<P> +Whether he sighed for the loss of his belief in that exalted +relationship, or whether for the loss of that state of mind in which +such beliefs come easily, there was nothing in his sigh to show. They +questioned him further, but he said no more: he was here, there was no +more to say: he was here and la Garda was gone. +</P> + +<P> +And then the reverend man brought for them a great supper, even at that +late hour, for many an hour had slipped softly by as he heard the sins +of the sword; and wine he set out, too, of a certain golden vintage, +long lost—I fear—my reader: but this he gave not to Morano lest he +should be once more, what the reverend father feared to entertain, that +dread hidalgo, the King of Aragon's brother. And after that, the stars +having then gone far on their ways, the old Priest rose and offered a +bed to Rodriguez; and even as he eyed Morano, wondering where to put +him, and was about to speak, for he had no other bed, Morano went to a +corner of the room and curled up and lay down. And by the time his host +had walked over to him and spoken, asking anxiously if he needed +nothing more, he was almost already asleep, and muttered in answer, +after having been spoken to twice, no more than "Straw, reverend +father, straw." +</P> + +<P> +An armful of this the good man brought him, and then showed Rodriguez +to his room; and they can scarcely have reached it before Morano was +back in Aragon again, walking on golden shoes (which were sometimes +wings), proud among lesser princes. +</P> + +<P> +As precaution for the night Rodriguez took one more glance at his +host's kind face; and then, with sword out of reach and an unlocked +door, he slept till the songs of birds out of the deeps of the ilices +made sleep any longer impossible. +</P> + +<P> +The third morning of Rodriguez' wandering blazed over Spain like brass; +flowers and grass and sky were twinkling all together. +</P> + +<P> +When Rodriguez greeted his host Morano was long astir, having awakened +with dawn, for the simpler and humbler the creature the nearer it is +akin to the earth and the sun. The forces that woke the birds and +opened the flowers stirred the gross lump of Morano, ending his sleep +as they ended the nightingale's song. +</P> + +<P> +They breakfasted hurriedly and Rodriguez rose to depart, feeling that +he had taken hospitality that had not been offered. But against his +departure was the barrier of all the politeness of Spain. The house was +his, said his host, and even the small grove of ilices. +</P> + +<P> +If I told you half of the things that the reverend man said, you would +say: "This writer is affected. I do not like all this flowery mush." I +think it safer, my reader, not to tell you any of it. Let us suppose +that he merely said, "Quite all right," and that when Rodriguez thanked +him on one knee he answered, "Not at all;" and that so Rodriguez and +Morano left. If here it miss some flash of the fair form of Truth it is +the fault of the age I write for. +</P> + +<P> +The road again, dust again, birds and the blaze of leaves, these were +the background of my wanderers, until the eye had gone as far as the +eye can roam, and there were the tips of some far pale-blue mountains +that now came into view. +</P> + +<P> +They were still in each other's clothes; but the village was not behind +them very far when Morano explained, for he knew the ways of la Garda, +that having arrested two men upon this road, they would now arrest two +men each on all the other roads, in order to show the impartiality of +the Law, which constantly needs to be exhibited; and that therefore all +men were safe on the road they were on for a long while to come. +</P> + +<P> +Now there seemed to Rodriguez to be much good sense in what Morano had +said; and so indeed there was for they had good laws in Spain, and they +differed little, though so long ago, from our own excellent system. +Therefore they changed once more, giving back to each other everything +but, alas, those delicate black moustachios; and these to Rodriguez +seemed gone for ever, for the growth of new ones seemed so far ahead to +the long days of youth that his hopes could scarce reach to them. +</P> + +<P> +When Morano found himself once more in those clothes that had been with +him night and day for so many years he seemed to expand; I mean no +metaphor here; he grew visibly fatter. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah," said Morano after a huge breath, "last night I dreamed, in your +illustrious clothes, that I was in lofty station. And now, master, I am +comfortable." +</P> + +<P> +"Which were best, think you," said Rodriguez, "if you could have but +one, a lofty place or comfort?" Even in those days such a question was +trite, but Rodriguez uttered it only thinking to dip in the store of +Morano's simple wisdom, as one may throw a mere worm to catch a worthy +fish. But in this he was disappointed; for Morano made no neat +comparison nor even gave an opinion, saying only, "Master, while I have +comfort how shall I judge the case of any who have not?" And no more +would he say. His new found comfort, lost for a day and night, seemed +so to have soothed his body that it closed the gates of the mind, as +too much luxury may, even with poets. +</P> + +<P> +And now Rodriguez thought of his quest again, and the two of them +pushed on briskly to find the wars. +</P> + +<P> +For an hour they walked in silence an empty road. And then they came +upon a row of donkeys; piled high with the bark of the cork-tree, that +men were bringing slowly from far woods. Some of the men were singing +as they went. They passed slow in the sunshine. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, master," said Morano when they were gone, "I like not that +lascivious loitering." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Morano?" said Rodriguez. "It was not God that made hurry." +</P> + +<P> +"Master," answered Morano, "I know well who made hurry. And may he not +overtake my soul at the last. Yet it is bad for our fortunes that these +men should loiter thus. You want your castle, master; and I, I want not +always to wander roads, with la Garda perhaps behind and no certain +place to curl up and sleep in front. I look for a heap of straw in the +cellar of your great castle." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, yes, you shall have it," his master said, "but how do these folks +hinder you?" For Morano was scowling at them over his shoulder in a way +that was somehow spoiling the gladness of Spring. +</P> + +<P> +"The air is full of their singing," Morano said. "It is as though their +souls were already flying to Hell, and cawing hoarse with sin all the +way as they go. And they loiter, and they linger..." Oh, but Morano was +angry. +</P> + +<P> +"But," said Rodriguez, "how does their lingering harm you?" +</P> + +<P> +"Where are the wars, master? Where are the wars?" blurted Morano, his +round face turning redder. "The donkeys would be dead, the men would be +running, there would be shouts, cries, and confusion, if the wars were +anywhere near. There would be all things but this." +</P> + +<P> +The men strolled on singing and so passed slow into distance. Morano +was right, though I know not how he knew. +</P> + +<P> +And now the men and the donkeys were nearly out of sight, but had not +yet at all emerged from the wrath of Morano. "Lascivious knaves," +muttered that disappointed man. And whenever he faintly heard dim +snatches of their far song that a breeze here, and another there, +brought over the plain as it ran on the errands of Spring, he cursed +their sins under his breath. Though it seemed not so much their sins +that moved his wrath as the leisure they had for committing them. +</P> + +<P> +"Peace, peace, Morano," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"It is that," said Morano, "that is troubling me." +</P> + +<P> +"What?" +</P> + +<P> +"This same peace." +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "I had when young to study the affairs of +men; and this is put into books, and so they make history. Now I +learned that there is no thing in which men have taken delight, that is +ever put away from them; for it seems that time, which altereth every +custom, hath altered none of our likings: and in every chapter they +taught me there were these wars to be found." +</P> + +<P> +"Master, the times are altered," said Morano sadly. "It is not now as +in old days." +</P> + +<P> +And this was not the wisdom of Morano, for anger had clouded his +judgment. And a faint song came yet from the donkey-drivers, wavering +over the flowers. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano said, "there are men like those vile sin-mongers, who +have taken delight in peace. It may be that peace has been brought upon +the world by one of these lousy likings." +</P> + +<P> +"The delight of peace," said Rodriguez, "is in its contrast to war. If +war were banished this delight were gone. And man lost none of his +delights in any chapter I read." +</P> + +<P> +The word and the meaning of CONTRAST were such as is understood by +reflective minds, the product of education. Morano felt rather than +reflected; and the word CONTRAST meant nothing to him. This ended their +conversation. And the songs of the donkey-drivers, light though they +were, being too heavy to be carried farther by the idle air of Spring, +Morano ceased cursing their sins. +</P> + +<P> +And now the mountains rose up taller, seeming to stretch themselves and +raise their heads. In a while they seemed to be peering over the plain. +They that were as pale ghosts, far off, dim like Fate, in the early +part of the morning, now appeared darker, more furrowed, more sinister, +more careworn; more immediately concerned with the affairs of Earth, +and so more menacing to earthly things. +</P> + +<P> +Still they went on and still the mountains grew. And noon came, when +Spain sleeps. +</P> + +<P> +And now the plain was altering, as though cool winds from the mountains +brought other growths to birth, so that they met with bushes straggling +wild; free, careless and mysterious, as they do, where there is none to +teach great Nature how to be tidy. +</P> + +<P> +The wanderers chose a clump of these that were gathered near the way, +like gypsies camped awhile midway on a wonderful journey, who at dawn +will rise and go, leaving but a bare trace of their resting and no +guess of their destiny; so fairy-like, so free, so phantasmal those +dark shrubs seemed. +</P> + +<P> +Morano lay down on the very edge of the shade of one, and Rodriguez lay +fair in the midst of the shade of another, whereby anyone passing that +way would have known which was the older traveller. Morano, according +to his custom, was asleep almost immediately; but Rodriguez, with +wonder and speculation each toying with novelty and pulling it +different ways between them, stayed awhile wakeful. Then he too slept, +and a bird thought it safe to return to an azalea of its own; which it +lately fled from troubled by the arrival of these two. +</P> + +<P> +And Rodriguez the last to sleep was the first awake, for the shade of +the shrub left him, and he awoke in the blaze of the sun to see Morano +still sheltered, well in the middle now of the shadow he chose. The +gross sleep of Morano I will not describe to you, reader. I have chosen +a pleasant tale for you in a happy land, in the fairest time of year, +in a golden age: I have youth to show you and an ancient sword, birds, +flowers and sunlight, in a plain unharmed by any dream of commerce: why +should I show you the sleep of that inelegant man whose bulk lay +cumbering the earth like a low, unseemly mountain? +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez overtook the shade he had lost and lay there resting until +Morano awoke, driven all at once from sleep by a dream or by mere +choking. Then from the intricacies of his clothing, which to him after +those two days was what home is to some far wanderer, Morano drew out +once more a lump of bacon. Then came the fry-pan and then a fire: it +was the Wanderers' Mess. That mess-room has stood in many lands and has +only one roof. We are proud of that roof, all we who belong to that +Mess. We boast of it when we show it to our friends when it is all set +out at night. It has Aldebaran in it, the Bear and Orion, and at the +other end the Southern Cross. Yes we are proud of our roof when it is +at its best. +</P> + +<P> +What am I saying? I should be talking of bacon. Yes, but there is a way +of cooking it in our Mess that I want to tell you and cannot. I've +tasted bacon there that isn't the same as what you get at the Ritz. And +I want to tell you how that bacon tastes; and I can't so I talk about +stars. But perhaps you are one of us, reader, and then you will +understand. Only why the hell don't we get back there again where the +Evening Star swings low on the wall of the Mess? +</P> + +<P> +When they rose from table, when they got up from the earth, and the +frying-pan was slung on Morano's back, adding grease to the mere +surface of his coat whose texture could hold no more, they pushed on +briskly for they saw no sign of houses, unless what Rodriguez saw now +dimly above a ravine were indeed a house in the mountains. +</P> + +<P> +They had walked from eight till noon without any loitering. They must +have done fifteen miles since the mountains were pale blue. And now, +every mile they went, on the most awful of the dark ridges the object +Rodriguez saw seemed more and more like a house. Yet neither then, nor +as they drew still nearer, nor when they saw it close, nor looking back +on it after years, did it somehow seem quite right. And Morano +sometimes crossed himself as he looked at it, and said nothing. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez, as they walked ceaselessly through the afternoon, seeing his +servant show some sign of weariness, which comes not to youth, pointed +out the house looking nearer than it really was on the mountain, and +told him that he should find there straw, and they would sup and stay +the night. Afterwards, when the strange appearance of the house, +varying with different angles, filled him with curious forebodings, +Rodriguez would make no admission to his servant, but held to the plan +he had announced, and so approached the queer roofs, neglecting the +friendly stars. +</P> + +<P> +Through the afternoon the two travellers pushed on mostly in silence, +for the glances that house seemed to give him from the edge of its +perilous ridge, had driven the mirth from Rodriguez and had even +checked the garrulity on the lips of the tougher Morano, if garrulity +can be ascribed to him whose words seldom welled up unless some simple +philosophy troubled his deeps. The house seemed indeed to glance at +him, for as their road wound on, the house showed different aspects, +different walls and edges of walls, and different curious roofs; all +these walls seemed to peer at him. One after another they peered, new +ones glided imperceptibly into sight as though to say, We see too. +</P> + +<P> +The mountains were not before them but a little to the right of their +path, until new ones appeared ahead of them like giants arising from +sleep, and then their path seemed blocked as though by a mighty wall +against which its feeble wanderings went in vain. In the end it turned +a bit to its right and went straight for a dark mountain, where a wild +track seemed to come down out of the rocks to meet it, and upon this +track looked down that sinister house. Had you been there, my reader, +you would have said, any of us had said, Why not choose some other +house? There were no other houses. He who dwelt on the edge of the +ravine that ran into that dark mountain was wholly without neighbours. +</P> + +<P> +And evening came, and still they were far from the mountain. +</P> + +<P> +The sun set on their left. But it was in the eastern sky that the +greater splendour was; for the low rays streaming across lit up some +stormy clouds that were brooding behind the mountain and turned their +gloomy forms to an astounding purple. +</P> + +<P> +And after this their road began to rise toward the ridges. The +mountains darkened and the sinister house was about to merge with +their shadows, when he who dwelt there lit candles. +</P> + +<P> +The act astonished the wayfarers. All through half the day they had +seen the house, until it seemed part of the mountains; evil it seemed +like their ridges, that were black and bleak and forbidding, and +strange it seemed with a strangeness that moved no fears they could +name, yet it seemed inactive as night. +</P> + +<P> +Now lights appeared showing that someone moved. Window after window +showed to the bare dark mountain its gleaming yellow glare; there in +the night the house forsook the dark rocks that seemed kin to it, by +glowing as they could never glow, by doing what the beasts that haunted +them could not do: this was the lair of man. Here was the light of +flame but the rocks remained dark and cold as the wind of night that +went over them, he who dwelt now with the lights had forsaken the +rocks, his neighbours. +</P> + +<P> +And, when all were lit, one light high in a tower shone green. These +lights appearing out of the mountain thus seemed to speak to Rodriguez +and to tell him nothing. And Morano wondered, as he seldom troubled to +do. +</P> + +<P> +They pushed on up the steepening path. +</P> + +<P> +"Like you the looks of it?" said Rodriguez once. +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, master," answered Morano, "so there be straw." +</P> + +<P> +"You see nothing strange there, then?" Rodriguez said. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano said, "there be saints for all requirements." +</P> + +<P> +Any fears he had felt about that house before, now as he neared it were +gone; it was time to put away fears and face the event; thus worked +Morano's philosophy. And he turned his thoughts to the achievements +upon earth of a certain Saint who met Satan, and showed to the +sovereign of Hell a discourtesy alien to the ways of the Church. +</P> + +<P> +It was dark now, and the yellow lights got larger as they drew nearer +the windows, till they saw large shadows obscurely passing from room to +room. The ascent was steep now and the pathway stopped. No track of any +kind approached the house. It stood on a precipice-edge as though one +of the rocks of the mountain: they climbed over rocks to reach it. The +windows flickered and blinked at them. +</P> + +<P> +Nothing invited them there in the look of that house, but they were now +in such a forbidding waste that shelter had to be found; they were all +among edges of rock as black as the night and hard as the material of +which Cosmos was formed, at first upon Chaos' brink. The sound of their +climbing ran noisily up the mountain but no sound came from the house: +only the shadows moved more swiftly across a room, passed into other +rooms and came hurrying back. Sometimes the shadows stayed and seemed +to peer; and when the travellers stood and watched to see what they +were they would disappear and there were no shadows at all, and the +rooms were filled instead with their wondering speculation. Then they +pushed on over rocks that seemed never trodden by man, so sharp were +they and slanting, all piled together: it seemed the last waste, to +which all shapeless rocks had been thrown. +</P> + +<P> +Morano and these black rocks seemed shaped by a different scheme; +indeed the rocks had never been shaped at all, they were just raw +pieces of Chaos. Morano climbed over their edges with moans and +discomfort. Rodriguez heard him behind him and knew by his moans when +he came to the top of each sharp rock. +</P> + +<P> +The rocks became savager, huger, even more sharp and more angular. They +were there in the dark in multitudes. Over these Rodriguez staggered, +and Morano clambered and tumbled; and so they came, breathing hard, to +the lonely house. +</P> + +<P> +In the wall that their hands had reached there was no door, so they +felt along it till they came to the corner, and beyond the corner was +the front wall of the house. In it was the front door. But so nearly +did this door open upon the abyss that the bats that fled from their +coming, from where they hung above the door of oak, had little more to +do than fall from their crannies, slanting ever so slightly, to find +themselves safe from man in the velvet darkness, that lay between +cliffs so lonely they were almost strangers to Echo. And here they +floated upon errands far from our knowledge; while the travellers +coming along the rocky ledge between destruction and shelter, knocked +on the oaken door. +</P> + +<P> +The sound of their knocking boomed huge and slow through the house as +though they had struck the door of the very mountain. And no one came. +And then Rodriguez saw dimly in the darkness the great handle of a +bell, carved like a dragon running down the wall: he pulled it and a +cry of pain arose from the basement of the house. +</P> + +<P> +Even Morano wondered. It was like a terrible spirit in distress. It was +long before Rodriguez dare touch the handle again. Could it have been +the bell? He felt the iron handle and the iron chain that went up from +it. How could it have been the bell! The bell had not sounded: he had +not pulled hard enough: that scream was fortuitous. The night on that +rocky ledge had jangled his nerves. He pulled again and more firmly. +The answering scream was more terrible. Rodriguez could doubt no +longer, as he sprang back from the bell-handle, that with the chain he +had pulled he inflicted some unknown agony. +</P> + +<P> +The scream had awakened slow steps that now came towards the +travellers, down corridors, as it sounded, of stone. And then chains +fell on stone and the door of oak was opened by some one older than +what man hopes to come to, with small, peaked lips as those of some +woodland thing. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņores," the old one said, "the Professor welcomes you." +</P> + +<P> +They stood and stared at his age, and Morano blurted uncouthly what +both of them felt. "You are old, grandfather," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, Seņores," the old man sighed, "the Professor does not allow me to +be young. I have been here years and years but he never allowed it. I +have served him well but it is still the same. I say to him, 'Master, I +have served you long ...' but he interrupts me for he will have none of +youth. Young servants go among the villages, he says. And so, and so..." +</P> + +<P> +"You do not think your master can give you youth!" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +The old man knew that he had talked too much, voicing that grievance +again of which even the rocks were weary. "Yes," he said briefly, and +bowed and led the way into the house. In one of the corridors running +out of the hall down which he was leading silently, Rodriguez overtook +that old man and questioned him to his face. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is this professor?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +By the light of a torch that spluttered in an iron clamp on the wall +Rodriguez questioned him with these words, and Morano with his +wondering, wistful eyes. The old man halted and turned half round, and +lifted his head and answered. "In the University of Saragossa," he said +with pride, "he holds the Chair of Magic." +</P> + +<P> +Even the names of Oxford or Cambridge, Harvard or Yale or Princeton, +move some respect, and even yet in these unlearned days. What wonder +then that the name of Saragossa heard on that lonely mountain awoke in +Rodriguez some emotion of reverence and even awed Morano. As for the +Chair of Magic, it was of all the royal endowments of that illustrious +University the most honoured and dreaded. +</P> + +<P> +"At Saragossa!" Rodriguez muttered. +</P> + +<P> +"At Saragossa," the old man affirmed. +</P> + +<P> +Between that ancient citadel of learning and this most savage mountain +appeared a gulf scarce to be bridged by thought. +</P> + +<P> +"The Professor rests in his mountain," the old man said, "because of a +conjunction of the stars unfavourable to study, and his class have gone +to their homes for many weeks." He bowed again and led on along that +corridor of dismal stone. The others followed, and still as Rodriguez +went that famous name Saragossa echoed within his mind. +</P> + +<P> +And then they came to a door set deep in the stone, and their guide +opened it and they went in; and there was the Professor in a mystical +hat and a robe of dim purple, seated with his back to them at a table, +studying the ways of the stars. "Welcome, Don Rodriguez," said the +Professor before he turned round; and then he rose, and with small +steps backwards and sideways and many bows, he displayed all those +formulae of politeness that Saragossa knew in the golden age and which +her professors loved to execute. In later years they became more +elaborate still, and afterwards were lost. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez replied rather by instinct than knowledge; he came of a house +whose bows had never missed graceful ease and which had in some +generations been a joy to the Court of Spain. Morano followed behind +him; but his servile presence intruded upon that elaborate ceremony, +and the Professor held up his hand, and Morano was held in mid stride +as though the air had gripped him. There he stood motionless, having +never felt magic before. And when the Professor had welcomed Rodriguez +in a manner worthy of the dignity of the Chair that he held at +Saragossa, he made an easy gesture and Morano was free again. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano to the Professor, as soon as he found he could +move, "master, it looks like magic." Picture to yourself some yokel +shown into the library of a professor of Greek at Oxford, taking down +from a shelf one of the books of the Odyssey, and saying to the +Professor, "It looks like Greek"! +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez felt grieved by Morano's boorish ignorance. Neither he nor +his host answered him. +</P> + +<P> +The Professor explained that he followed the mysteries dimly, owing to +a certain aspect of Orion, and that therefore his class were gone to +their homes and were hunting; and so he studied alone under +unfavourable auspices. And once more he welcomed Rodriguez to his roof, +and would command straw to be laid down for the man that Rodriguez had +brought from the Inn of the Dragon and Knight; for he, the Professor, +saw all things, though certain stars would hide everything. +</P> + +<P> +And when Rodriguez had appropriately uttered his thanks, he added with +all humility and delicate choice of phrase a petition that he might be +shown some mere rudiment of the studies for which that illustrious +chair in Saragossa was famous. The Professor bowed again and, in +accepting the well-rounded compliments that Rodriguez paid to the +honoured post he occupied, he introduced himself by name. He had been +once, he said, the Count of the Mountain, but when his astral studies +had made him eminent and he had mastered the ways of the planet nearest +the sun he took the title Magister Mercurii, and by this had long been +known; but had now forsaken this title, great as it was, for a more +glorious nomenclature, and was called in the Arabic language the Slave +of Orion. When Rodriguez heard this he bowed very low. +</P> + +<P> +And now the Professor asked Rodriguez in which of the activities of +life his interest lay; for the Chair of Magic at Saragossa, he said, +was concerned with them all. +</P> + +<P> +"In war," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +And Morano unostentatiously rubbed his hands; for here was one, he +thought, who would soon put his master on the right way, and matters +would come to a head and they would find the wars. But far from +concerning himself with the wars of that age, the Slave of Orion +explained that as events came nearer they became grosser or more +material, and that their grossness did not leave them until they were +some while passed away; so that to one whose studies were with +aetherial things, near events were opaque and dim. He had a window, he +explained, through which Rodriguez should see clearly the ancient wars, +while another window beside it looked on all wars of the future except +those which were planned already or were coming soon to earth, and +which were either invisible or seen dim as through mist. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez said that to be privileged to see so classical an example of +magic would be to him both a delight and honour. Yet, as is the way of +youth, he more desired to have a sight of the wars than he cared for +all the learning of the Professor. +</P> + +<P> +And to him who held the Chair of Magic at Saragossa it was a precious +thing that his windows could be made to show these marvels, while the +guest to whom he was about to display these two gems of his learning +was thinking of little but what he should see through the windows, and +not at all of what spells, what midnight oil, what incantations, what +witchcrafts, what lonely hours among bats, had gone to the +gratification of his young curiosity. It is usually thus. +</P> + +<P> +The Professor rose: his cloak floated out from him as he left the +chamber, and Rodriguez following where he guided saw, by the torchlight +in the corridors, upon the dim purple border signs that, to his +untutored ignorance of magic, were no more than hints of the affairs of +the Zodiac. And if these signs were obscure it were better they were +obscurer, for they dealt with powers that man needs not to possess, who +has the whole earth to regulate and control; why then should he seek to +govern the course of any star? +</P> + +<P> +And Morano followed behind them, hoping to be allowed to get a sight of +the wars. +</P> + +<P> +They came to a room where two round windows were; each of them larger +than the very largest plate, and of very thick glass indeed, and of a +wonderful blue. The blue was like the blue of the Mediterranean at +evening, when lights are in it both of ships and of sunset, and lights +of harbours being lit one by one, and the light of Venus perhaps and +about two other stars, so deeply did it stare and so twinkled, near its +edges, with lights that were strange to that room, and so triumphed +with its clear beauty over the night outside. No, it was more magical +than the Mediterranean at evening, even though the peaks of the +Esterels be purple and their bases melting in gold and the blue sea +lying below them smiling at early stars: these windows were more +mysterious than that; it was a more triumphant blue; it was like the +Mediterranean seen with the eyes of Shelley, on a happy day in his +youth, or like the sea round Western islands of fable seen by the fancy +of Keats. They were no windows for any need of ours, unless our dreams +be needs, unless our cries for the moon be urged by the same Necessity +as makes us cry for bread. They were clearly concerned only with magic +or poetry; though the Professor claimed that poetry was but a branch of +his subject; and it was so regarded at Saragossa, where it was taught +by the name of theoretical magic, while by the name of practical magic +they taught dooms, brews, hauntings, and spells. +</P> + +<P> +The Professor stood before the left-hand window and pointed to its +deep-blue centre. "Through this," he said, "we see the wars that were." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez looked into the deep-blue centre where the great bulge of the +glass came out towards him; it was near to the edges where the glass +seemed thinner that the little strange lights were dancing; Morano +dared to tiptoe a little nearer. Rodriguez looked and saw no night +outside. Just below and near to the window was white mist, and the dim +lines and smoke of what may have been recent wars; but farther away on +a plain of strangely vast dimensions he saw old wars that were. War +after war he saw. Battles that long ago had passed into history and had +been for many ages skilled, glorious and pleasant encounters he saw +even now tumbling before him in their savage confusion and dirt. He saw +a leader, long glorious in histories he had read, looking round +puzzled, to see what was happening, and in a very famous fight that he +had planned very well. He saw retreats that History called routs, and +routs that he had seen History calling retreats. He saw men winning +victories without knowing they had won. Never had man pried before so +shamelessly upon History, or found her such a liar. With his eyes on +the great blue glass Rodriguez forgot the room, forgot time, forgot his +host and poor excited Morano, as he watched those famous fights. +</P> + +<P> +And now my reader wishes to know what he saw and how it was that he was +able to see it. +</P> + +<P> +As regards the second, my reader will readily understand that the +secrets of magic are very carefully guarded, and any smatterings of it +that I may ever have come by I possess, for what they are worth, +subjects to oaths and penalties at which even bad men shudder. My +reader will be satisfied that even those intimate bonds between reader +and writer are of no use to him here. I say him as though I had only +male readers, but if my reader be a lady I leave the situation +confidently to her intuition. As for the things he saw, of all of these +I am at full liberty to write, and yet, my reader, they would differ +from History's version: never a battle that Rodriguez saw on all the +plain that swept away from that circular window, but History wrote +differently. And now, my reader, the situation is this: who am I? +History was a goddess among the Greeks, or is at least a distinguished +personage, perhaps with a well-earned knighthood, and certainly with +widespread recognition amongst the Right Kind of People. I have none of +these things. Whom, then, would you believe? +</P> + +<P> +Yet I would lay my story confidently before you, my reader, trusting in +the justice of my case and in your judicial discernment, but for one +other thing. What will the Goddess Clio say, or the well-deserving +knight, if I offend History? She has stated her case, Sir Bartimeus has +written it, and then so late in the day I come with a different story, +a truer but different story. What will they do? Reader, the future is +dark, uncertain and long; I dare not trust myself to it if I offend +History. Clio and Sir Bartimeus will make hay of my reputation; an +innuendo here, a foolish fact there, they know how to do it, and not a +soul will suspect the goddess of personal malice or the great historian +of pique. Rodriguez gazed then through the deep blue window, forgetful +of all around, on battles that had not all the elegance or neatness of +which our histories so tidily tell. And as he gazed upon a merry +encounter between two men on the fringe of an ancient fight he felt a +touch on his shoulder and then almost a tug, and turning round beheld +the room he was in. How long he had been absent from it in thought he +did not know, but the Professor was still standing with folded arms +where he had left him, probably well satisfied with the wonder that his +most secret art had awakened in his guest. It was Morano who touched +his shoulder, unable to hold back any longer his impatience to see the +wars; his eyes as Rodriguez turned round were gazing at his master with +dog-like wistfulness. +</P> + +<P> +The absurd eagerness of Morano, his uncouth touch on his shoulder, +seemed only pathetic to Rodriguez. He looked at the Professor's face, +the nose like a hawk's beak, the small eyes deep down beside it, dark +of hue and dreadfully bright, the silent lips. He stood there uttering +no actual prohibition, concerning which Rodriguez's eyes had sought; +so, stepping aside from his window, Rodriguez beckoned Morano, who at +once ran forward delighted to see those ancient wars. +</P> + +<P> +A slight look of scorn showed faint upon the Professor's face such as +you may see anywhere when a master-craftsman perceives the gaze of the +ignorant turned towards his particular subject. But he said no word, +and soon speech would have been difficult, for the loud clamour of +Morano filled the room: he had seen the wars and his ecstasies were +ungoverned. As soon as he saw those fights he looked for the Infidels, +for his religious mind most loved to see the Infidel slain. And if my +reader discern or suppose some gulf between religion and the recent +business of the Inn of the Dragon and Knight, Morano, if driven to +admit any connection between murder and his daily bread, would have +said, "All the more need then for God's mercy through the intercession +of His most blessed Saints." But these words had never passed Morano's +lips, for shrewd as he was in enquiry into any matter that he desired +to know, his shrewdness was no less in avoiding enquiry where there +might be something that he desired not to know, such as the origin of +his wages as servant of the Inn of the Dragon and Knight, those +delicate gold rings with settings empty of jewels. +</P> + +<P> +Morano soon recognized the Infidel by his dress, and after that no +other wars concerned him. He slapped his thigh, he shouted +encouragement, he howled vile words of abuse, partly because he +believed that this foul abuse was rightly the due of the Infidel, and +partly because he believed it delighted God. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez stood and watched, pleased at the huge joy of the simple man. +The Slave of Orion stood watching in silence too, but who knows if he +felt pleasure or any other emotion? Perhaps his mind was simply like +ours; perhaps, as has been claimed by learned men of the best-informed +period, that mind had some control upon the comet, even when farthest +out from the paths we know. Morano turned round for a moment to +Rodriguez: +</P> + +<P> +"Good wars, master, good wars," he said with a vast zest, and at once +his head was back again at that calm blue window. In that flash of the +head Rodriguez had seen his eyes, blue, round and bulging; the round +man was like a boy who in some shop window has seen, unexpected, huge +forbidden sweets. Clearly, in the war he watched things were going well +for the Cross, for such cries came from Morano as "A pretty stroke," +"There now, the dirty Infidel," "Now see God's power shown," "Spare him +not, good knight; spare him not," and many more, till, uttered faster +and faster, they merged into mere clamorous rejoicing. +</P> + +<P> +But the battles beyond the blue window seemed to move fast, and now a +change was passing across Morano's rejoicings. It was not that he swore +more for the cause of the Cross, but brief, impatient, meaningless +oaths slipped from him now; he was becoming irritable; a puzzled look, +so far as Rodriguez could see, was settling down on his features. For a +while he was silent except for the little, meaningless oaths. Then he +turned round from the glass, his hands stretched out, his face full of +urgent appeal. +</P> + +<P> +"Masters," he said, "God's enemy wins!" +</P> + +<P> +In answer to Morano's pitiful look Rodriguez' hand went to his +sword-hilt; the Slave of Orion merely smiled with his lips; Morano +stood there with his hands still stretched out, his face still all +appeal, and something more for there was reproach in his eyes that men +could tarry while the Cross was in danger and the Infidel lived. He did +not know that it was all finished and over hundreds of years ago, a +page of history upon which many pages were turned, and which lay as +unalterable as the fate of some warm swift creature of early Eocene +days over whose fossil today the strata lie long and silent. +</P> + +<P> +"But can nothing be done, master?" he said when Rodriguez told him +this. And when Rodriguez failed him here, he turned away from the +window. To him the Infidel were game, but to see them defeating +Christian knights violated the deeps of his feelings. +</P> + +<P> +Morano sulky excited little more notice from his host and his master +who had watched his rejoicings, and they seem to have forgotten this +humble champion of Christendom. The Professor slightly bowed to +Rodriguez and extended a graceful hand. He pointed to the other window. +</P> + +<P> +Reader, your friend shows you his collection of stamps, his fossils, +his poems, or his luggage labels. One of them interests you, you look +at it awhile, you are ready to go away: then your friend shows you +another. This also must be seen; for your friend's collection is a +precious thing; it is that point upon huge Earth on which his spirit +has lit, on which it rests, on which it shelters even (who knows from +what storms?). To slight it were to weaken such hold as his spirit has, +in its allotted time, upon this sphere. It were like breaking the twig +of a plant upon which a butterfly rests, and on some stormy day and +late in the year. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez felt all this dimly, but no less surely; and went to the +other window. +</P> + +<P> +Below the window were those wars that were soon coming to Spain, hooded +in mist and invisible. In the centre of the window swam as profound a +blue, dwindling to paler splendour at the edge, the wandering lights +were as lovely, as in the other window just to the left; but in the +view from the right-hand window how sombre a difference. A bare yard +separated the two. Through the window to the left was colour, courtesy, +splendour; there was Death at least disguising himself, well cloaked, +taking mincing steps, bowing, wearing a plume in his hat and a decent +mask. In the right-hand window all the colours were fading, war after +war they grew dimmer; and as the colours paled Death's sole purpose +showed clearer. Through the beautiful left-hand window were killings to +be seen, and less mercy than History supposes, yet some of the fighters +were merciful, and mercy was sometimes a part of Death's courtly pose, +which went with the cloak and the plume. But in the other window +through that deep, beautiful blue Rodriguez saw Man make a new ally, an +ally who was only cruel and strong and had no purpose but killing, who +had no pretences or pose, no mask and no manner, but was only the slave +of Death and had no care but for his business. He saw it grow bigger +and stronger. Heart it had none, but he saw its cold steel core +scheming methodical plans and dreaming always destruction. Before it +faded men and their fields and their houses. Rodriguez saw the machine. +</P> + +<P> +Many a proud invention of ours that Rodriguez saw raging on that +ruinous plain he might have anticipated, but not for all Spain would he +have done so: it was for the sake of Spain that he was silent about +much that he saw through that window. As he looked from war to war he +saw almost the same men fighting, men with always the same attitude to +the moment and with similar dim conception of larger, vaguer things; +grandson differed imperceptibly from grandfather; he saw them fight +sometimes mercifully, sometimes murderously, but in all the wars beyond +that twinkling window he saw the machine spare nothing. +</P> + +<P> +Then he looked farther, for the wars that were farthest from him in +time were farther away from the window. He looked farther and saw the +ruins of Peronne. He saw them all alone with their doom at night, all +drenched in white moonlight, sheltering huge darkness in their stricken +hollows. Down the white street, past darkness after darkness as he went +by the gaping rooms that the moon left mourning alone, Rodriguez saw a +captain going back to the wars in that far-future time, who turned his +head a moment as he passed, looking Rodriguez in the face, and so went +on through the ruins to find a floor on which to lie down for the +night. When he was gone the street was all alone with disaster, and +moonlight pouring down, and the black gloom in the houses. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez lifted his eyes and glanced from city to city, to Albert, +Bapaume, and Arras, his gaze moved over a plain with its harvest of +desolation lying forlorn and ungathered, lit by the flashing clouds and +the moon and peering rockets. He turned from the window and wept. +</P> + +<P> +The deep round window glowed with serene blue glory. It seemed a +foolish thing to weep by that beautiful glass. Morano tried to comfort +him. That calm, deep blue, he felt, and those little lights, surely, +could hurt no one. +</P> + +<P> +What had Rodriguez seen? Morano asked. But that Rodriguez would not +answer, and told no man ever after what he had seen through that window. +</P> + +<P> +The Professor stood silent still: he had no comfort to offer; indeed +his magical wisdom had found none for the world. +</P> + +<P> +You wonder perhaps why the Professor did not give long ago to the world +some of these marvels that are the pride of our age. Reader, let us put +aside my tale for a moment to answer this. For all the darkness of his +sinister art there may well have been some good in the Slave of Orion; +and any good there was, and mere particle even, would surely have +spared the world many of those inventions that our age has not spared +it. Blame not the age, it is now too late to stop; it is in the grip of +inventions now, and has to go on; we cannot stop content with +mustard-gas; it is the age of Progress, and our motto is Onwards. And +if there was no good in this magical man, then may it not have been he +who in due course, long after he himself was safe from life, caused our +inventions to be so deadly divulged? Some evil spirit has done it, then +why not he? +</P> + +<P> +He stood there silent: let us return to our story. +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps the efforts of poor clumsy Morano to comfort him cheered +Rodriguez and sent him back to the window, perhaps he turned from them +to find comfort of his own; but, however he came by it, he had a hope +that this was a passing curse that had come on the world, whose welfare +he cared for whether he lived or died, and that looking a little +farther into the future he would see Mother Earth smiling and her +children happy again. So he looked through the deep-blue luminous +window once more, beyond the battles we know. From this he turned back +shuddering. +</P> + +<P> +Again he saw the Professor smile with his lips, though whether at his +own weakness, or whether with cynical mirth at the fate of the world, +Rodriguez could not say. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FOURTH CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW HE CAME TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE SUN +</H3> + +<P> +The Professor said that in curiosity alone had been found the seeds of +all that is needful for our damnation. Nevertheless, he said, if +Rodriguez cared to see more of his mighty art the mysteries of +Saragossa were all at his guest's disposal. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez, sad and horrified though he was, forgot none of his +courtesy. He thanked the Professor and praised the art of Saragossa, +but his faith in man and his hope for the world having been newly +disappointed, he cared little enough for the things we should care to +see or for any of the amusements that are usually dear to youth. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall be happy to see anything, seņor," he said to the Slave of +Orion, "that is further from our poor Earth, and to study therein and +admire your famous art." +</P> + +<P> +The Professor bowed. He drew small curtains over the windows, matching +his cloak. Morano sought a glimpse through the right-hand window before +the curtains covered it. Rodriguez held him back. Enough had been seen +already, he thought, through that window for the peace of mind of the +world: but he said no word to Morano. He held him by the arm, and the +Professor covered the windows. When the little mauve curtains were +drawn it seemed to Rodriguez that the windows behind them disappeared +and were there no more; but this he only guessed from uncertain +indications. +</P> + +<P> +Then the Professor drew forth his wand and went to his cupboard of +wonder. Thence he brought condiments, oils, and dews of amazement. +These he poured into a vessel that was in the midst of the room, a bowl +of agate standing alone on a table. He lit it and it all welled up in +flame, a low broad flame of the colour of pale emerald. Over this he +waved his wand, which was of exceeding blackness. Morano watched as +children watch the dancer, who goes from village to village when spring +is come, with some new dance out of Asia or some new song.[Footnote: He +doesn't, but why shouldn't he?] Rodriguez sat and waited. The Professor +explained that to leave this Earth alive, or even dead, was prohibited +to our bodies, unless to a very few, whose names were hidden. Yet the +spirits of men could by incantation be liberated, and being liberated, +could be directed on journeys by such minds as had that power passed +down to them from of old. Such journeys, he said, were by no means +confined by the hills of Earth. "The Saints," exclaimed Morano, "guard +us utterly!" But Rodriguez smiled a little. His faith was given to the +Saints of Heaven. He wondered at their wonders, he admired their +miracles, he had little faith to spare for other marvels; in fact he +did not believe the Slave of Orion. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you desire such a journey?" said the Professor. +</P> + +<P> +"It will delight me," answered Rodriguez, "to see this example of your +art." +</P> + +<P> +"And you?" he said to Morano. +</P> + +<P> +The question seemed to alarm the placid Morano, but "I follow my +master," he said. +</P> + +<P> +At once the Professor stretched out his ebony wand, calling the green +flame higher. Then he put out his hands over the flame, without the +wand, moving them slowly with constantly tremulous fingers. And all at +once they heard him begin to speak. His deep voice flowed musically +while he scarcely seemed to be speaking but seemed only to be concerned +with moving his hands. It came soft, as though blown faint from +fabulous valleys, illimitably far from the land of Spain. It seemed +full not so much of magic as mere sleep, either sleep in an unknown +country of alien men, or sleep in a land dreamed sleeping a long while +since. As the travellers heard it they thought of things far away, of +mythical journeys and their own earliest years. +</P> + +<P> +They did not know what he said or what language he used. At first +Rodriguez thought Moorish, then he deemed it some secret language come +down from magicians of old, while Morano merely wondered; and then they +were lulled by the rhythm of those strange words, and so enquired no +more. Rodriguez pictured some sad wandering angel, upon some +mountain-peak of African lands, resting a moment and talking to the +solitudes, telling the lonely valley the mysteries of his home. While +lulled though Morano was he gave up his alertness uneasily. All the +while the green flame flooded upwards: all the while the tremulous +fingers made curious shadows. The shadow seemed to run to Rodriguez and +beckon him thence: even Morano felt them calling. Rodriguez closed his +eyes. The voice and the Moorish spells made now a more haunting melody: +they were now like a golden organ on undiscoverable mountains. Fear +came on Morano at the thought: who had power to speak like this? He +grasped Rodriguez by the wrist. "Master!" he said, but at that moment +on one of those golden spells the spirit of Rodriguez drifted away from +his body, and out of the greenish light of the curious room; unhampered +by weight, or fatigue, or pain, or sleep; and it rose above the rocks +and over the mountain, an unencumbered spirit: and the spirit of Morano +followed. +</P> + +<P> +The mountain dwindled at once; the Earth swept out all round them and +grew larger, and larger still, and then began to dwindle. They saw then +that they were launched upon some astounding journey. Does my reader +wonder they saw when they had no eyes? They saw as they had never seen +before, with sight beyond what they had ever thought to be possible. +Our eyes gather in light, and with the little rays of light that they +bring us we gather a few images of things as we suppose them to be. +Pardon me, reader, if I call them things as we suppose them to be; call +them by all means Things As They Really Are, if you wish. These images +then, this tiny little brainful that we gather from the immensities, +are all brought in by our eyesight upside-down, and the brain corrects +them again; and so, and so we know something. An oculist will tell you +how it all works. He may admit it is all a little clumsy, or for the +dignity of his profession he may say it is not at all. But be this as +it may, our eyes are but barriers between us and the immensities. All +our five senses that grope a little here and touch a little there, and +seize, and compare notes, and get a little knowledge sometimes, they +are only barriers between us and what there is to know. Rodriguez and +Morano were outside these barriers. They saw without the imperfections +of eyesight; they heard on that journey what would have deafened ears; +they went through our atmosphere unburned by speed, and were unchilled +in the bleak of the outer spaces. Thus freed of the imperfections of +the body they sped, no less upon a terrible journey, whose direction as +yet Rodriguez only began to fear. +</P> + +<P> +They had seen the stars pale rapidly and then the flash of dawn. The +Sun rushed up and at once began to grow larger. Earth, with her curved +sides still diminishing violently, was soon a small round garden in +blue and filmy space, in which mountains were planted. And still the +Sun was growing wider and wider. And now Rodriguez, though he knew +nothing of Sun or planets, perceived the obvious truth of their +terrible journey: they were heading straight for the Sun. But the +spirit of Morano was merely astounded; yet, being free of the body he +suffered none of those inconveniences that perturbation may bring to +us: spirits do not gasp, or palpitate, or weaken, or sicken. +</P> + +<P> +The dwindling Earth seemed now no more than the size of some unmapped +island seen from a mountain-top, an island a hundred yards or so +across, looking like a big table. +</P> + +<P> +Speed is comparative: compared to sound, their pace was beyond +comparison; nor could any modern projectile attain any velocity +comparable to it; even the speed of explosion was slow to it. And yet +for spirits they were moving slowly, who being independent of all +material things, travel with such velocities as that, for instance, of +thought. But they were controlled by one still dwelling on Earth, who +used material things, and the material that the Professor was using to +hurl them upon their journey was light, the adaptation of which to this +purpose he had learned at Saragossa. At the pace of light they were +travelling towards the Sun. +</P> + +<P> +They crossed the path of Venus, far from where Venus then was, so that +she scarcely seemed larger to them; Earth was but little bigger than +the Evening Star, looking dim in that monstrous daylight. +</P> + +<P> +Crossing the path of Mercury, Mercury appeared huger than our Moon, an +object weirdly unnatural; and they saw ahead of them the terrific glare +in which Mercury basks, from a Sun whose withering orb had more than +doubled its width since they came from the hills of Earth. And after +this the Sun grew terribly larger, filling the centre of the sky, and +spreading and spreading and spreading. It was now that they saw what +would have dazzled eyes, would have burned up flesh and would have +shrivelled every protection that our scientists' ingenuity could have +devised even today. To speak of time there is meaningless. There is +nothing in the empty space between the Sun and Mercury with which time +is at all concerned. Far less is there meaning in time wherever the +spirits of men are under stress. A few minutes' bombardment in a +trench, a few hours in a battle, a few weeks' travelling in a trackless +country; these minutes, these hours, these weeks can never be few. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez and Morano had been travelling about six or seven minutes, +but it seems idle to say so. +</P> + +<P> +And then the Sun began to fill the whole sky in front of them. And in +another minute, if minutes had any meaning, they were heading for a +boundless region of flame that, left and right, was everywhere, and now +towered above them, and went below them into a flaming abyss. +</P> + +<P> +And now Morano spoke to Rodriguez. He thought towards him, and +Rodriguez was aware of his thinking: it is thus that spirits +communicate. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," he said, "when it was all spring in Spain, years ago when I +was thin and young, twenty years gone at least; and the butterflies +were come, and song was everywhere; there came a maid bare-footed over +a stream, walking through flowers, and all to pluck the anemones." How +fair she seemed even now, how bright that far spring day. Morano told +Rodriguez not with his blundering lips: they were closed and resting +deeply millions of miles away: he told him as spirits tell. And in that +clear communication Rodriguez saw all that shone in Morano's memory, +the grace of the young girl's ankles, the thrill of Spring, the +anemones larger and brighter than anemones ever were, the hawks still +in clear sky; earth happy and heaven blue, and the dreams of youth +between. You would not have said, had you seen Morano's coarse fat +body, asleep in a chair in the Professor's room, that his spirit +treasured such delicate, nymph-like, pastoral memories as now shone +clear to Rodriguez. No words the blunt man had ever been able to utter +had ever hinted that he sometimes thought like a dream of pictures by +Watteau. And now in that awful space before the power of the terrible +Sun, spirit communed with spirit, and Rodriguez saw the beauty of that +far day, framed all about the beauty of one young girl, just as it had +been for years in Morano's memory. How shall I tell with words what +spirit sang wordless to spirit? We poets may compete with each other in +words; but when spirits give up the purest gold of their store, that +has shone far down the road of their earthly journey, cheering tired +hearts and guiding mortal feet, our words shall barely interpret. +</P> + +<P> +Love, coming long ago over flowers in Spain, found Morano; words did +not tell the story, words cannot tell it; as a lake reflects a cloud in +the blue of heaven, so Rodriguez understood and felt and knew this +memory out of the days of Morano's youth. "And so, master," said +Morano, "I sinned, and would indeed repent, and yet even now at this +last dread hour I cannot abjure that day; and this is indeed Hell, as +the good father said." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez tried to comfort Morano with such knowledge as he had of +astronomy, if knowledge it could be called. Indeed, if he had known +anything he would have perplexed Morano more, and his little pieces of +ignorance were well adapted for comfort. But Morano had given up hope, +having long been taught to expect this very fire: his spirit was no +wiser than it had been on Earth, it was merely freed of the +imperfections of the five senses and so had observation and expression +beyond those of any artist the world has known. This was the natural +result of being freed of the body; but he was not suddenly wiser; and +so, as he moved towards this boundless flame, he expected every moment +to see Satan charge out to meet him: and having no hope for the future +he turned to the past and fondled the memory of that one spring day. +His was a backsliding, unrepentant spirit. +</P> + +<P> +As that monstrous sea of flame grew ruthlessly larger Rodriguez felt no +fear, for spirits have no fear of material things: but Morano feared. +He feared as spirits fear spiritual things; he thought he neared the +home of vast spirits of evil and that the arena of conflict was +eternity. He feared with a fear too great to be borne by bodies. +Perhaps the fat body that slept on a chair on earth was troubled in +dreams by some echo of that fear that gripped the spirit so sorely. And +it may be from such far fears that all our nightmares come. +</P> + +<P> +When they had travelled nearly ten minutes from Earth and were about to +pass into the midst of the flame, that magician who controlled their +journey halted them suddenly in Space, among the upper mountain-peaks +of the Sun. There they hovered as the clouds hover that leave their +companions and drift among crags of the Alps: below them those awful +mountains heaved and thundered. All Atlas, and Teneriffe, and lonely +Kenia might have lain amongst them unnoticed. As often as the +earthquake rocked their bases it loosened from near their summits wild +avalanches of gold that swept down their flaming slopes with +unthinkable tumult. As they watched, new mountains rode past them, +crowned with their frightful flames; for, whether man knew it or not, +the Sun was rotating, but the force of its gravity that swung the +planets had no grip upon spirits, who were held by the power of that +tremendous spell that the Professor had learned one midnight at +Saragossa from one of that dread line who have their secrets from a +source that we do not know in a distant age. +</P> + +<P> +There is always something tremendous in the form of great mountains; +but these swept by, not only huger than anything Earth knows, but +troubled by horrible commotions, as though overtaken in flight by some +ceaseless calamity. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez and Morano, as they looked at them, forgetting the gardens of +Earth, forgetting Spring and Summer and the sweet beneficence of +sunshine, felt that the purpose of Creation was evil! So shocking a +thought may well astound us here, where green hills slope to lawns or +peer at a peaceful sea; but there among the flames of those dreadful +peaks the Sun seemed not the giver of joy and colour and life, but only +a catastrophe huger than everlasting war, a centre of hideous violence +and ruin and anger and terror. There came by mountains of copper +burning everlasting, hurling up to unthinkable heights their mass of +emerald flame. And mountains of iron raged by and mountains of salt, +quaking and thundering and clothed with their colours, the iron always +scarlet and the salt blue. And sometimes there came by pinnacles a +thousand miles high that from base to summit were fire, mountains of +pure flame that had no other substance. And these explosive mountains, +born of thunder and earthquake, hurling down avalanches the size of our +continents, and drawing upward out of the deeps of the Sun new material +for splendour and horror, this roaring waste, this extravagant +destruction, were necessary for every tint that our butterflies wear on +their wings. Without those flaming ranges of mountains of iron they +would have no red to show; even the poppy could have no red for her +petals: without the flames that were blasting the mountains of salt +there could be no answering blue in any wing, or one blue flower for +all the bees of Earth: without the nightmare light of those frightful +canyons of copper that awed the two spirits watching their ceaseless +ruin, the very leaves of the woods we love would be without their green +with which to welcome Spring; for from the flames of the various metals +and wonders that for ever blaze in the Sun, our sunshine gets all its +colours that it conveys to us almost unseen, and thence the wise little +insects and patient flowers softly draw the gay tints that they glory +in; there is nowhere else to get them. +</P> + +<P> +And yet to Rodriguez and Morano all that they saw seemed wholly and +hideously evil. +</P> + +<P> +How long they may have watched there they tried to guess afterwards, +but as they looked on those terrific scenes they had no way to separate +days from minutes: nothing about them seemed to escape destruction, and +time itself seemed no calmer than were those shuddering mountains. +</P> + +<P> +Then the thundering ranges passed; and afterwards there came a gleaming +mountain, one huge and lonely peak, seemingly all of gold. Had our +whole world been set beside it and shaped as it was shaped, that golden +mountain would yet have towered above it: it would have taken our moon +as well to reach that flashing peak. It rode on toward them in its +golden majesty, higher than all the flames, save now and then when some +wild gas seemed to flee from the dread earthquakes of the Sun, and was +overtaken in the height by fire, even above that mountain. +</P> + +<P> +As that mass of gold that was higher than all the world drew near to +Rodriguez and Morano they felt its unearthly menace; and though it +could not overcome their spirits they knew there was a hideous terror +about it. It was in its awful scale that its terror lurked for any +creature of our planet. Though they could not quake or tremble they +felt that terror. The mountain dwarfed Earth. +</P> + +<P> +Man knows his littleness, his own mountains remind him; many countries +are small, and some nations: but the dreams of Man make up for our +faults and failings, for the brevity of our lives, for the narrowness +of our scope; they leap over boundaries and are away and away. But this +great mountain belittled the world and all: who gazed on it knew all +his dreams to be puny. Before this mountain Man seemed a trivial thing, +and Earth, and all the dreams Man had of himself and his home. +</P> + +<P> +The golden mass drew opposite those two watchers and seemed to +challenge with its towering head the pettiness of the tiny world they +knew. And then the whole gleaming mountain gave one shudder and fell +into the awful plains of the Sun. Straight down before Rodriguez and +Morano it slipped roaring, till the golden peak was gone, and the +molten plain closed over it; and only ripples remained, the size of +Europe, as when a tumbling river strikes the rocks of its bed and on +its surface heaving circles widen and disappear. And then, as though +this horror left nothing more to be shown, they felt the Professor +beckon to them from Earth. +</P> + +<P> +Over the plains of the Sun a storm was sweeping in gusts of howling +flame as they felt the Professor's spell drawing them home. For the +magnitude of that storm there are no words in use among us; its +velocity, if expressed in figures, would have no meaning; its heat was +immeasurable. Suffice it to say that if such a tempest could have swept +over Earth for a second, both the poles would have boiled. The +travellers left it galloping over that plain, rippled from underneath +by the restless earthquake and whipped into flaming foam by the force +of the storm. The Sun already was receding from them, already growing +smaller. Soon the storm seemed but a cloud of light sweeping over the +empty plain, like a murderous mourner rushing swiftly away from the +grave of that mighty mountain. +</P> + +<P> +And now the Professor's spell gripped them in earnest: rapidly the Sun +grew smaller. As swiftly as he had sent them upon that journey he was +now drawing them home. They overtook thunders that they had heard +already, and passed them, and came again to the silent spaces which the +thunders of the Sun are unable to cross, so that even Mercury is +undisturbed by them. +</P> + +<P> +I have said that spirits neither fade nor weary. But a great sadness +was on them; they felt as men feel who come whole away from periods of +peril. They had seen cataclysms too vast for our imagination, and a +mournfulness and a satiety were upon them. They could have gazed at one +flower for days and needed no other experience, as a wounded man may be +happy staring at the flame of a candle. +</P> + +<P> +Crossing the paths of Mercury and Venus, they saw that these planets +had not appreciably moved, and Rodriguez, who knew that planets wander +in the night, guessed thereby that they had not been absent from Earth +for many hours. +</P> + +<P> +They rejoiced to see the Sun diminishing steadily. Only for a moment as +they started their journey had they seen that solar storm rushing over +the plains of the Sun; but now it appeared to hang halted in its mid +anger, as though blasting one region eternally. +</P> + +<P> +Moving on with the pace of light, they saw Earth, soon after crossing +the path of Venus, beginning to grow larger than a star. Never had home +appeared more welcome to wanderers, who see their house far off, +returning home. +</P> + +<P> +And as Earth grew larger, and they began to see forms that seemed like +seas and mountains, they looked for their own country, but could not +find it: for, travelling straight from the Sun, they approached that +part of the world that was then turned towards it, and were heading +straight for China, while Spain lay still in darkness. +</P> + +<P> +But when they came near Earth and its mountains were clear, then the +Professor drew them across the world, into the darkness and over Spain; +so that those two spirits ended their marvellous journey much as the +snipe ends his, a drop out of heaven and a swoop low over marshes. So +they came home, while Earth seemed calling to them with all her voices; +with memories, sights and scents, and little sounds; calling anxiously, +as though they had been too long away and must be home soon. They heard +a cock crow on the edge of the night; they heard more little sounds +than words can say; only the organ can hint at them. It was Earth +calling. For, talk as we may of our dreams that transcend this sphere, +or our hopes that build beyond it, Mother Earth has yet a mighty hold +upon us; and her myriad sounds were blending in one cry now, knowing +that it was late and that these two children of hers were nearly lost. +For our spirits that sometimes cross the path of the angels, and on +rare evenings hear a word of their talk, and have brief equality with +the Powers of Light, have the duty also of moving fingers and toes, +which freeze if our proud spirits forget their task for too long. +</P> + +<P> +And just as Earth was despairing they reached the Professor's mountain +and entered the room in which their bodies were. +</P> + +<P> +Blue and cold and ugly looked the body of Morano, but for all its +pallor there was beauty in the young face of Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +The Professor stood before them as he had stood when their spirits +left, with the table between him and the bodies, and the bowl on the +table which held the green flame, now low and flickering desperately, +which the Professor watched as it leaped and failed, with an air of +anxiety that seemed to pinch his thin features. +</P> + +<P> +With an impatience strange to him he waved a swift hand towards each of +the two bodies where they sat stiff, illumined by the last of the green +light; and at those rapid gestures the travellers returned to their +habitations. +</P> + +<P> +They seemed to be just awakening out of deep sleep. Again they saw the +Professor standing before them. But they saw him only with blinking +eyes, they saw him only as eyes can see, guessing at his mind from the +lines of his face, at his thoughts from the movements of his hands, +guessing as men guess, blindly: only a moment before they had known him +utterly. Now they were dazed and forgetting: slow blood began to creep +again to their toes and to come again to its place under fingernails: +it came with intense pain: they forgot their spirits. Then all the woes +of Earth crowded their minds at once, so that they wished to weep, as +infants weep. +</P> + +<P> +The Professor gave this mood time to change, as change it presently +did. For the warm blood came back and lit their cheeks, and a tingling +succeeded the pain in their fingers and toes, and a mild warmth +succeeded the tingling: their thoughts came back to the things of every +day, to mundane things and the affairs of the body. Therein they +rejoiced, and Morano no less than Rodriguez; though it was a coarse and +common body that Morano's spirit inhabited. And when the Professor saw +that the first sorrow of Earth, which all spirits feel when they land +here, had passed away, and that they were feeling again the joy of +mundane things, only then did he speak. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," he said, "beyond the path of Mars run many worlds that I would +have you know. The greatest of these is Jupiter, towards whom all that +follow my most sacred art show reverent affection. The smallest are +those that sometimes strike our world, flaming all green upon November +nights, and are even as small as apples." He spoke of our world with a +certain air and a pride, as though, through virtue of his transcendent +art, the world were only his. "The world that we name Argola," he said, +"is far smaller than Spain and, being invisible from Earth, is only +known to the few who have spoken to spirits whose wanderings have +surpassed the path of Mars. Nearly half of Argola you shall find +covered with forests, which though very dense are no deeper than moss, +and the elephants in them are not larger than beetles. You shall see +many wonders of smallness in this world of Argola, which I desire in +especial to show you, since it is the orb with which we who study the +Art are most familiar, of all the worlds that the vulgar have not +known. It is indeed the prize of our traffic in those things that far +transcend the laws that have forbidden them." +</P> + +<P> +And as he said this the green flame in the bowl before him died, and he +moved towards his cupboard of wonder. Rodriguez hastily thanked the +Professor for his great courtesy in laying bare before him secrets that +the centuries hid, and then he referred to his own great unworthiness, +to the lateness of the hour, to the fatigue of the Professor, and to +the importance to Learning of adequate rest to refresh his illustrious +mind. And all that he said the Professor parried with bows, and drew +enchantments from his cupboard of wonder to replenish the bowl on the +table. And Rodriguez saw that he was in the clutch of a collector, one +who having devoted all his days to a hobby will exhibit his treasures +to the uttermost, and that the stars that magic knows were no less to +the Professor than all the whatnots that a man collects and insists on +showing to whomsoever enters his house. He feared some terrible +journey, perhaps some bare escape; for though no material thing can +quite encompass a spirit, he knew not what wanderers he might not meet +in lonely spaces beyond the path of Mars. So when his last polite +remonstrance failed, being turned aside with a pleasant phrase and a +smile from the grim lips, and looking at Morano he saw that he shared +his fears, then he determined to show whatever resistance were needed +to keep himself and Morano in this old world that we know, or that +youth at least believes that it knows. +</P> + +<P> +He watched the Professor return with his packets of wonder; dust from a +fallen star, phials of tears of lost lovers, poison and gold out of +elf-land, and all manner of things. But the moment that he put them +into the bowl Rodriguez' hand flew to his sword-hilt. He heaved up his +elbow, but no sword came forth, for it lay magnetised to its scabbard +by the grip of a current of magic. When Rodriguez saw this he knew not +what to do. +</P> + +<P> +The Professor went on pouring into the bowl. He added an odour +distilled out of dream-roses, three drops from the gall-bladder of a +fabulous beast, and a little dust that had been man. More too he added, +so that my reader might wonder were I to tell him all; yet it is not so +easy to free our spirits from the gross grip of our bodies. Wonder not +then, my reader, if the Professor exerted strange powers. And all the +while Morano was picking at a nail that fastened on the handle to his +frying-pan. +</P> + +<P> +And just as the last few mysteries were shaken into the bowl,—and +there were two among them of which even Asia is ignorant,—just as the +dews were blended with the powers in a grey-green sinister harmony, +Morano untwisted his nail and got the handle loose. +</P> + +<P> +The Professor kindled the mixture in the bowl; again green flame arose, +again that voice of his began to call to their spirits, and its beauty +and the power of its spell were as of some fallen angel. The spirit of +Rodriguez was nearly passing helplessly forth again on some frightful +journey, when Morano losed his scabbard and sword from its girdle and +tied the handle of his frying-pan across it a little below the hilt +with a piece of string. Across the table the Professor intoned his +spell, across a narrow table, but it seemed to come from the far side +of the twilight, a twilight red and golden in long layers, of an +evening wonderfully long ago. It seemed to take its music out of the +lights that it flowed through and to call Rodriguez from immediately +far away, with a call which it were sacrilege to refuse, and anguish +even, and hard toil such as there was no strength to do. And then +Morano held up the sword in its scabbard with the handle of the +frying-pan tied across. Rodriguez, disturbed by a stammer in the spell, +looked up and saw the Professor staring at the sword where Morano held +it up before his face in the green light of the flame from the bowl. He +did not seem like a fallen angel now. His spell had stopped. He seemed +like a professor who had forgotten the theme of his lecture, while the +class waits. For Morano was holding up the sign of the cross. +</P> + +<P> +"You have betrayed me!" shouted the Slave of Orion: the green flame +died, and he strode out of the room, his purple cloak floating behind +him. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano said, "it was always good against magic." +</P> + +<P> +The sword was loose in the scabbard as Rodriguez took it back; there +was no longer a current of magic gripping the steel. +</P> + +<P> +A little uneasily Rodriguez thanked Morano: he was not sure if Morano +had behaved as a guest's servant should. But when he thought of the +Professor's terrible spells, which had driven them to the awful crags +of the sun, and might send them who knows where to hob-nob with who +knows what, his second thoughts perceived that Morano was right to cut +short those arts that the Slave of Orion loved, even by so extreme a +step: and he praised Morano as his ready shrewdness deserved. +</P> + +<P> +"We were very nearly too late back from that outing, master," remarked +Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"How know you that?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"This old body knew," said Morano. "Those heart-thumpings, this +warmness, and all the things that make a fat body comfortable, they +were stopping, master, they were spoiling, they were getting cold and +strange: I go no more errands for that seņor." +</P> + +<P> +A certain diffidence about criticising his host even now; and a very +practical vein that ran through his nature, now showing itself in +anxiety for a bed at so late an hour, led Rodriguez to change the +subject. He wanted that aged butler, yet dare not ring the bell; for he +feared lest with all the bells there might be in use that frightful +practice that he had met by the outer door, a chain connected with some +hideous hook that gave anguish to something in the basement whenever +one touched the handle, so that the menials of that grim Professor were +shrilly summoned by screams. And therefore Rodriguez sought counsel of +Morano, who straightway volunteered to find the butler's quarters, by a +certain sense that he had of the fitness of things: and forth he went, +but would not leave the room without the scabbard and the handle of the +frying-pan lashed to it, which he bore high before him in both his +hands as though he were leading some austere procession. And even so he +returned with that aged man the butler, who led them down dim corridors +of stone; but, though he showed the way, Morano would go in front, +still holding up that scabbard and handle before him, while Rodriguez +held the bare sword. And so they came to a room lit by the flare of one +candle, which their guide told them the Professor had prepared for his +guest. In the vastness of it was a great bed. Shadows and a whir as of +wings passed out of the door as they entered. "Bats," said the ancient +guide. But Morano believed he had routed powers of evil with the handle +of his frying-pan and his master's scabbard. Who could say what they +were in such a house, where bats and evil spirits sheltered perennially +from the brooms of the just? Then that ancient man with the lips of +some woodland thing departed, and Rodriguez went to the great bed. On a +pile of straw that had been cast into the room Morano lay down across +the door, setting the scabbard upright in a rat-hole near his head, +while Rodriguez lay down with the bare sword in his hand. There was +only one door in the room, and this Morano guarded. Windows there were, +but they were shuttered with raw oak of enormous thickness. He had +already enquired with his sword behind the velvet curtains. He felt +secure in the bulk of Morano across the only door, at least from +creatures of this world: and Morano feared no longer either spirit or +spell, believing that he had vanquished the Professor with his symbol, +and all such allies as he may have had here or elsewhere. But not thus +easily do we overcome the powers of evil. +</P> + +<P> +A step was heard such as man walks with at the close of his later +years, coming along the corridor of stone; and they knew it for the +Professor's butler returning. The latch of the door trembled and +lifted, and the great oak door bumped slowly against Morano, who arose +grumbling, and the old man appeared. +</P> + +<P> +"The Professor," he said, while Morano watched him grudgingly, "returns +with all his household to Saragossa at once, to resume those studies +for which his name resounds, a certain conjunction of the stars having +come favourably." +</P> + +<P> +Even Morano doubted that so suddenly the courses of the stars, which he +deemed to be gradual, should have altered from antagonism towards the +Professor's art into a favourable aspect. Rodriguez sleepily +acknowledged the news and settled himself to sleep, still sword in +hand, when the servitor repeated with as much emphasis as his aged +voice could utter, "With all his household, seņor." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," muttered Rodriguez. "Farewell." +</P> + +<P> +And repeating again, "He takes his household with him," the old man +shuffled back from the room and hesitatingly closed the door. Before +the sound of his slow footsteps had failed to reach the room Morano was +asleep under his cross. Rodriguez still watched for a while the shadows +leaping and shuddering away from the candle, riding over the ceiling, +striding hugely along the walls, towards him and from him, as draughts +swayed the ruddy flame; then, gripping his sword still firmer in his +hand, as though that could avail against magic, he fell into the sleep +of tired men. +</P> + +<P> +No sound disturbed Rodriguez or Morano till both awoke in late morning +upon the rocks of the mountain. The sun had climbed over the crags and +now shone on their faces. Rodriguez was still lying with his sword +gripped in his hand, but the cross had fallen by Morano and now lay on +the rocks beside him with the handle of the frying-pan still tied in +its place by string. A young, wild, woodland squirrel gambolled near, +though there were no woods for it anywhere within sight: it leaped and +played as though rejoicing in youth, with such merriment as though +youth had but come to it newly or been lost and restored again. +</P> + +<P> +All over the mountain they looked but there was no house, nor any sign +of dwelling of man or spirit. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE FIFTH CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW HE RODE IN THE TWILIGHT AND SAW SERAFINA +</H3> + +<P> +Rodriguez, who loved philosophy, turned his mind at once to the journey +that lay before him, deciding which was the north; for he knew that it +was by the north that he must leave Spain, which he still desired to +leave since there were no wars in that country. +</P> + +<P> +Morano knew not clearly what philosophy was, yet he wasted no thoughts +upon the night that was gone; and, fitting up his frying-pan +immediately, he brought out what was left of his bacon and began to +look for material to make a fire. The bacon lay waiting in the +frying-pan for some while before this material was gathered, for +nothing grew on the mountain but a heath; and of that there were few +bushes, scattered here and there. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez, far from ruminating upon the events of the previous night, +realised as he watched these preparations that he was enormously +hungry. And when Morano had kindled a fire and the smell of cooking +arose, he who had held the chair of magic at Saragossa was banished +from both their minds, although upon this very spot they had spent so +strange a night; but where bacon is, and there be hungry men, the +things of yesterday are often forgotten. +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "we must walk far to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed, master," said Morano, "we must push on to these wars; for you +have no castle, master, no lands, no fortune ..." +</P> + +<P> +"Come," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +Morano slung his frying-pan behind him: they had eaten up the last of +his bacon: he stood up, and they were ready for the journey. The smoke +from their meagre fire went thinly into the air, the small grey clouds +of it went slowly up: nothing beside remained to bid them farewell, or +for them to thank for their strange night's hospitality. They climbed +till they reached the rugged crest of the mountain; thence they saw a +wide plain and the morning: the day was waiting for them. +</P> + +<P> +The northern slope of the mountain was wholly different from that black +congregation of angry rocks through which they had climbed by night to +the House of Wonder. +</P> + +<P> +The slope that now lay before them was smooth and grassy, flowing +before them far, a gentle slope that was soon to lend speed to +Rodriguez' feet, adding nimbleness even to youth. Soon, too, it was to +lift onward the dull weight of Morano as he followed his master towards +unknown wars, youth going before him like a spirit and the good slope +helping behind. But before they gave themselves to that waiting journey +they stood a moment and looked at the shining plain that lay before +them like an open page, on which was the whole chronicle of that day's +wayfaring. There was the road they should travel by, there were the +streams it crossed and narrow woods they might rest in, and dim on the +farthest edge was the place they must spend that night. It was all, as +it were written, upon the plain they watched, but in a writing not +intended for them, and, clear although it be, never to be interpreted +by one of our race. Thus they saw clear, from a height, the road they +would go by, but not one of all the events to which it would lead them. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, "shall we have more adventures to-day?" +</P> + +<P> +"I trust so," said Rodriguez. "We have far to go, and it will be dull +journeying without them." +</P> + +<P> +Morano turned his eyes from his master's face and looked back to the +plain. "There, master," he said, "where our road runs through a wood, +will our adventure be there, think you? Or there, perhaps," and he +waved his hand widely farther. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Rodriguez, "we pass that in bright daylight." +</P> + +<P> +"Is that not good for adventure?" said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"The romances teach," said Rodriguez, "that twilight or night are +better. The shade of deep woods is favourable, but there are no such +woods on this plain. When we come to evening we shall doubtless meet +some adventure, far over there." And he pointed to the grey rim of the +plain where it started climbing towards hills. +</P> + +<P> +"These are good days," said Morano. He forgot how short a time ago he +had said regretfully that these days were not as the old days. But our +race, speaking generally, is rarely satisfied with the present, and +Morano's cheerfulness had not come from his having risen suddenly +superior to this everyday trouble of ours; it came from his having +shifted his gaze to the future. Two things are highly tolerable to us, +and even alluring, the past and the future. It was only with the +present that Morano was ever dissatisfied. +</P> + +<P> +When Morano said that the days were good Rodriguez set out to find +them, or at least that one that for some while now lay waiting for them +on the plain. He strode down the slope at once and, endowing nature +with his own impatience, he felt that he heard the morning call to him +wistfully. Morano followed. +</P> + +<P> +For an hour these refugees escaping from peace went down the slope; and +in that hour they did five swift miles, miles that seemed to run by +them as they walked, and so they came lightly to the level plain. And +in the next hour they did four miles more. Words were few, either +because Morano brooded mainly upon one thought, the theme of which was +his lack of bacon, or because he kept his breath to follow his master +who, with youth and the morning, was coming out of the hills at a pace +not tuned to Morano's forty years or so. And at the end of these nine +miles Morano perceived a house, a little way from the road, on the +left, upon rising ground. A mile or so ahead they saw the narrow wood +that they had viewed in the morning from the mountain running across +the plain. They saw now by the lie of the ground that it probably +followed a stream, a pleasant place in which to take the rest demanded +by Spain at noon. It was just an hour to noon; so Rodriguez, keeping +the road, told Morano to join him where it entered the wood when he had +acquired his bacon. And then as they parted a thought occurred to +Rodriguez, which was that bacon cost money. It was purely an +afterthought, an accidental fancy, such as inspirations are, for he had +never had to buy bacon. So he gave Morano a fifth part of his money, a +large gold coin the size of one of our five-shilling pieces, engraved +of course upon one side with the glories and honours of that golden +period of Spain, and upon the other with the head of the lord the King. +It was only by chance he had brought any at all; he was not what our +newspapers will call, if they ever care to notice him, a level-headed +business man. At the sight of the gold piece Morano bowed, for he felt +this gift of gold to be an occasion; but he trusted more for the +purchase of the bacon to some few small silver coins of his own that he +kept among lumps of lard and pieces of string. +</P> + +<P> +And so they parted for a while, Rodriguez looking for some great +shadowy oak with moss under it near a stream, Morano in quest of bacon. +</P> + +<P> +When Rodriguez entered the wood he found his oak, but it was not such +an oak as he cared to rest beneath during the heat of the day, nor +would you have done so, my reader, even though you have been to the +wars and seen many a pretty mess; for four of la Garda were by it and +were arranging to hang a man from the best of the branches. +</P> + +<P> +"La Garda again," said Rodriguez nearly aloud. +</P> + +<P> +His eye drooped, his look was listless, he gazed at other things; while +a glance that you had not noticed, flashed slantingly at la Garda, +satisfied Rodriguez that all four were strangers: then he walked +straight towards them merrily. The man they proposed to hang was a +stranger too. He appeared at first to be as stout as Morano, and he was +nearly half a foot taller, but his stoutness turned out to be sheer +muscle. The broad man was clothed in old brown leather and had blue +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Now there was something about the poise of Rodriguez' young head which +gave him an air not unlike that which the King himself sometimes wore +when he went courting. It suited his noble sword and his merry plume. +When la Garda saw him they were all politeness at once, and invited him +to see the hanging, for which Rodriguez thanked them with amplest +courtesy. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not a bull-fight," said the chief of la Garda almost +apologetically. But Rodriguez waved aside his deprecations and declared +himself charmed at the prospect of a hanging. +</P> + +<P> +Bear with me, reader, while I champion a bad cause and seek to palliate +what is inexcusable. As we travel about the world on our way through +life we meet and pass here and there, in peace or in war, other men, +fellow-travellers: and sometimes there is no more than time for a +glance, eye to eye. And in that glance you see the sort of man: and +chiefly there are two sorts. The one sort always brooding, always +planning; mean, silent men, collecting properties and money; keeping +the law on their side, keeping everything on their side; except women +and heaven, and the late, leisurely judgment of simple people: and the +others merry folk, whose eyes twinkle, whose money flies, who will +sooner laugh than plan, who seem to inherit rightfully the happiness +that the others plot for, and fail to come by with all their schemes. +In the man who was to provide the entertainment Rodriguez recognised +the second kind. +</P> + +<P> +Now even though the law had caught a saint that had strayed too far +outside the boundary of Heaven, and desired to hang him, Rodriguez knew +that it was his duty to help the law while help was needed, and to +applaud after the thing was done. The law to Rodriguez was the most +sacred thing man had made, if indeed it were not divine; but since the +privilege that two days ago had afforded him of studying it more +closely, it appeared to him the blindest, silliest thing with which he +had had to do since the kittens were drowned that his cat Tabitharina +had had at Arguento Harez. +</P> + +<P> +It was in this deplorable state of mind that Rodriguez' glance fell on +the merry eyes and the solemn predicament of the man in the leather +coat, standing pinioned under a long branch of the oak-tree: and he +determined from that moment to disappoint la Garda and, I fear also, my +reader, perhaps to disappoint you, of the hanging that they at least +had promised themselves. +</P> + +<P> +"Think you," said Rodriguez, "that for so stout a knave this branch of +yours suffices?" +</P> + +<P> +Now it was an excellent branch. But it was not so much Rodriguez' words +as the anxious way in which he looked at the branch that aroused the +anxieties of la Garda: and soon they were looking about to find a +better tree; and when four men start doing this in a wood time quickly +passes. Meanwhile Morano drew near, and Rodriguez went to meet him. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, all out of breath, "they had no bacon. But I got +these two bottles of wine. It is strong wine, which is a rare deluder +of the senses, which will need to be deluded if we are to go hungry." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez was about to cut short Morano's chatter when he thought of a +use for the wine, and was silent a moment. And as he pondered Morano +looked up and saw la Garda and at the same time perceived the +situation, for he had as quick an eye for a bad business as any man. +</P> + +<P> +"No one with the horses," was his comment; for they were tethered a +little apart. But Rodriguez' mind had already explored a surer method +than the one that Morano seemed to be contemplating. This method he +told Morano. And now, from little tugs that they were giving to the +doubled rope that hung over the branch of the oak-tree, it was clear +enough that the men of the law were returning to their confidence in +that very sufficient branch. +</P> + +<P> +They looked up with questions ripe to drop from their lips when they +saw Rodriguez returning with Morano. But before one of them spoke +Morano flung to them from far off a little piece of his wisdom: for +cast a truth into an occasion and it will always trouble the waters, +usually stirring up contradiction, but always bringing something to the +surface. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņores," he said, "no man can enjoy a hanging with a dry throat." +</P> + +<P> +Thus he turned their attention a while from the business in hand, +changing their thoughts from the stout neck of the prisoner to their +own throats, wondering were they dry; and you do not wonder long about +this in the south without finding that what you feared is true. And +then he let them see the two great bottles, all full of wine, for the +invention of the false bottom that gives to our champagne-bottles the +place they rightly hold among famous deceptions had not as yet been +discovered. +</P> + +<P> +"It is true," said la Garda. And Rodriguez made Morano put one of the +bottles away in a piece of a sack that he carried: and when la Garda +saw one of the two bottles disappear it somehow decided them to have +the other, though how this came to be so there is no saying; and thus +the hanging was postponed again. +</P> + +<P> +Now the drink was a yellow wine, sweet and heavy and stronger than our +port; only our whisky could out-triumph it, but there in the warm south +it answered its purpose. Rodriguez beckoned Morano up and offered the +bottle to one of la Garda; but scarcely had he put it to his lips when +Rodriguez bade him stop, saying that he had had his share. And he did +the same with the next man. +</P> + +<P> +Now there be few things indeed which la Garda resent more than meagre +hospitality in the matter of drink, and with all their wits striving to +cope with this vicious defect in Rodriguez, as they rightly or wrongly +regarded it, how should they have any to spare for obvious precautions? +As the third man drank, Rodriguez turned to speak to Morano; and the +representative of the law took such advantage of an opportunity that he +feared to be fleeting, that when Rodriguez turned round again the +bottle was just half empty. Rodriguez had timed it very nicely. +</P> + +<P> +Next Rodriguez put the bottle to his lips and held it there a little +time, while the fourth man of the law, who was guarding the prisoner, +watched Rodriguez wistfully, and afterwards Morano, who took the bottle +next. Yet neither Rodriguez nor Morano drank. +</P> + +<P> +"You can finish the bottle," said Rodriguez to this anxious watcher, +who came forward eagerly though full of doubts, which changed to warm +feelings of exuberant gratitude when he found how much remained. Thus +he obtained not much less than two tumblerfuls of wine that, as I have +said, was stronger than port; and noon was nearing and it was spring in +Spain. And then he returned to guard his prisoner under the oak-tree +and lay down there on the moss, remembering that it was his duty to +keep awake. And afterwards with one hand he took hold of a rope that +bound the prisoner's ankles, so that he might still guard his prisoner +even though he should fall asleep. +</P> + +<P> +Now two of the men had had little more than the full of a sherry glass +each. To these Morano made signs that there was another bottle, and, +coming round behind his master, he covertly uncorked it and gave them +their heart's desire; and a little was left over for the man who drank +third on the first occasion. And presently the spirits of all four of +la Garda grew haughty and forgot their humble bodies, and would fain +have gone forth to dwell with the sons of light, while their bodies lay +on the moss and the sun grew warmer and warmer, shining dappled in +amongst the small green leaves. All seemed still but for the winged +insects flashing through shafts of the sunlight out of the gloom of the +trees and disappearing again like infinitesimal meteors. But our +concern is with the thoughts of man, of which deeds are but the +shadows: wherever these are active it is wrong to say all is still; for +whether they cast their shadows, which are actions, or whether they +remain a force not visibly stirring matter, they are the source of the +tales we write and the lives we lead; it is they that gave History her +material and they that bade her work it up into books. +</P> + +<P> +And thoughts were very active about that oak-tree. For while the +thoughts of la Garda arose like dawn, and disappeared into mists, their +prisoner was silently living through the sunny days of his life, which +are at no time quite lost to us, and which flash vivid and bright and +near when memory touches them, herself awakened by the nearness of +death. He lived again days far from the day that had brought him where +he stood. He drew from those days (that is to say) that delight, that +essence of hours, that something which we call life. The sun, the wind, +the rough sand, the splash of the sea, on the star-fish, and all the +things that it feels during its span, are stored in something like its +memory, and are what we call its life: it is the same with all of us. +Life is feeling. The prisoner from the store of his memory was taking +all he had. His head was lifted, he was gazing northwards, far further +than his eyes could see, to shining spaces in great woods; and there +his threatened being walked in youth, with steps such as spirits take, +over immortal flowers, which were dim and faint but unfading because +they lived on in memory. In memory he walked with some who were now far +from his footsteps. And, seen through the gloaming of that perilous +day, how bright did those far days appear! Did they not seem sunnier +than they really were? No, reader; for all the radiance that glittered +so late in his mind was drawn from those very days; it was their own +brightness that was shining now: we are not done with the days that +were as soon as their sunsets have faded, but a light remains from them +and grows fairer and fairer, like an afterglow lingering among +tremendous peaks above immeasurable slopes of snow. +</P> + +<P> +The prisoner had scarcely noticed Rodriguez or his servant, any more +than he noticed his captors; for there come an intensity to those who +walk near death that makes them a little alien from other men, life +flaring up in them at the last into so grand a flame that the lives of +the others seem a little cold and dim where they dwell remote from that +sunset that we call mortality. So he looked silently at the days that +were as they came dancing back again to him from where they had long +lain lost in chasms of time, to which they had slipped over dark edges +of years. Smiling they came, but all wistfully anxious, as though their +errand were paramount and their span short: he saw them cluster about +him, running now, bringing their tiny gifts, and scarcely heard the +heavy sigh of his guard as Rodriguez gagged him and Morano tied him up. +</P> + +<P> +Had Rodriguez now released the prisoner they could have been three to +three, in the event of things going wrong with the sleep of la Garda; +but, since in the same time they could gag and bind another, the odds +would be the same at two to two, and Rodriguez preferred this to the +slight uncertainties that would be connected with the entry of another +partner. They accordingly gagged the next man and bound his wrists and +ankles. And that Spanish wine held good with the other two and bound +them far down among the deeps of dreams: and so it should, for it was +of a vine that grew in the vales of Spain and had ripened in one of the +years of the golden age. +</P> + +<P> +They bound one as easily as they had bound the other two; and the last +Rodriguez watched while Morano cut the ropes off the prisoner, for he +had run out of bits of twine and all other improvisations. With these +ropes he ran back to his master, and they tied up the last prisoner but +did not gag him. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we gag him, master, like the rest?" said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Rodriguez. "He has nothing to say." +</P> + +<P> +And though this remark turned out to be strictly untrue, it well enough +answered its purpose. +</P> + +<P> +And then they saw standing before them the man they had freed. And he +bowed to Rodriguez like one that had never bowed before. I do not mean +that he bowed with awkwardness, like imitative men unused to +politeness, but he bowed as the oak bows to the woodman; he stood +straight, looking Rodriguez in the eyes, then he bowed as though he had +let his spirit break, which allowed him to bow to never a man before. +Thus, if my pen has been able dimly to tell of it, thus bowed the man +in the old leathern jacket. And Rodriguez bowed to him in answer with +the elegance that they that had dwelt at Arguento Harez had slowly +drawn from the ages. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor, your name," said the stranger. +</P> + +<P> +"Lord of Arguento Harez," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," he said, "being a busy man, I have seldom time to pray. And +the blessed Saints, being more busy than I, I think seldom hear my +prayers: yet your name shall go up to them. I will often tell it them +quietly in the forest, and not on their holy days when bells are +ringing and loud prayers fill Heaven. It may be ..." +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," Rodriguez said, "I profoundly thank you." +</P> + +<P> +Even in these days, when bullets are often thicker than prayers, we are +not quite thankless for the prayers of others: in those days they were +what "closing quotations" are on the Stock Exchange, ink in Fleet +Street, machinery in the Midlands; common but valued; and Rodriguez' +thanks were sincere. +</P> + +<P> +And now that the curses of the ungagged one of la Garda were growing +monotonous, Rodriguez turned to Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Ungag the rest," he said, "and let them talk to each other." +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano muttered, feeling that there was enough noise already +for a small wood, but he went and did as he was ordered. And Rodriguez +was justified of his humane decision, for the pent thoughts of all +three found expression together and, all four now talking at once, +mitigated any bitterness there may have been in those solitary curses. +And now Rodriguez could talk undisturbed. +</P> + +<P> +"Whither?" said the stranger. +</P> + +<P> +"To the wars," said Rodriguez, "if wars there be." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye," said the stranger, "there be always wars somewhere. By which +road go you?" +</P> + +<P> +"North," said Rodriguez, and he pointed. The stranger turned his eyes +to the way Rodriguez pointed. +</P> + +<P> +"That brings you to the forest," he said, "unless you go far around, as +many do." +</P> + +<P> +"What forest?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"The great forest named Shadow Valley," said the stranger. +</P> + +<P> +"How far?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Forty miles," said the stranger. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez looked at la Garda and then at their horses, and thought. He +must be far from la Garda by nightfall. +</P> + +<P> +"It is not easy to pass through Shadow Valley," said the stranger. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it not?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Have you a gold great piece?" the stranger said. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez held out one of his remaining four: the stranger took it. And +then he began to rub it on a stone, and continued to rub while +Rodriguez watched in silence, until the image of the lord the King was +gone and the face of the coin was scratchy and shiny and flat. And then +he produced from a pocket or pouch in his jacket a graving tool with a +round wooden handle, which he took in the palm of his hand, and the +edge of the steel came out between his forefinger and thumb: and with +this he cut at the coin. And Morano rejoined them from his merciful +mission and stood and wondered at the cutting. And while he cut they +talked. +</P> + +<P> +They did not ask him how he came to be chosen for hanging, because in +every country there are about a hundred individualists, varying to +perhaps half a hundred in poor ages. They go their hundred ways, or +their half-dozen ways; and there is a hundred and first way, or a +seventh way, which is the way that is cut for the rest: and if some of +the rest catch one of the hundred, or one of the six, they naturally +hang him, if they have a rope, and if hanging is the custom of the +country, for different countries use different methods. And you saw by +this man's eyes that he was one of the hundred. Rodriguez therefore +only sought to know how he came to be caught. +</P> + +<P> +"La Garda found you, seņor?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"As you see," said the stranger. "I came too far from my home." +</P> + +<P> +"You were travelling?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Shopping," he said. +</P> + +<P> +At this word Morano's interest awakened wide. "Seņor," he said, "what +is the right price for a bottle of this wine that la Garda drink?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know not," said the man in the brown jacket; "they give me these +things." +</P> + +<P> +"Where is your home, seņor?" Rodriguez asked. +</P> + +<P> +"It is Shadow Valley," he said. +</P> + +<P> +One never saw Rodriguez fail to understand anything: if he could not +clear a situation up he did not struggle with it. Morano rubbed his +chin: he had heard of Shadow Valley only dimly, for all the travellers +he had known out of the north had gone round it. Rodriguez and Morano +bent their heads and watched a design that was growing out of the gold. +And as the design grew under the hand of the strange worker he began to +talk of the horses. He spoke as though his plans had been clearly +established by edict, and as though no others could be. +</P> + +<P> +"When I have gone with two horses," he said, "ride hard with the other +two till you reach the village named Lowlight, and take them to the +forge of Fernandez the smith, where one will shoe them who is not +Fernandez." +</P> + +<P> +And he waved his hand northwards. There was only one road. Then all his +attention fell back again to his work on the gold coin; and when those +blue eyes were turned away there seemed nothing left to question. And +now Rodriguez saw the design was a crown, a plain gold circlet with oak +leaves rising up from it. And this woodland emblem stood up out of the +gold, for the worker had hollowed the coin away all around it, and was +sloping it up to the edge. Little was said by the watchers in the +wonder of seeing the work, for no craft is very far from the line +beyond which is magic, and the man in the leather coat was clearly a +craftsman: and he said nothing for he worked at a craft. And when the +arboreal crown was finished, and its edges were straight and sharp, an +hour had passed since he began near noon. Then he drilled a hole near +the rim and, drawing a thin green ribbon from his pocket, he passed it +through the hole and, rising, he suddenly hung it round Rodriguez' neck. +</P> + +<P> +"Wear it thus," he said, "while you go through Shadow Valley." +</P> + +<P> +As he said this he stepped back among the trees, and Rodriguez followed +to thank him. Not finding him behind the tree where he thought to find +him, he walked round several others, and Morano joined his search; but +the stranger had vanished. When they returned again to the little +clearing they heard sounds of movement in the wood, and a little way +off where the four horses had grazed there were now only two, which +were standing there with their heads up. +</P> + +<P> +"We must ride, Morano," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Ride, master?" said Morano dolefully. +</P> + +<P> +"If we walk away," said Rodriguez, "they will walk after us." +</P> + +<P> +"They" meant la Garda. It was unnecessary for him to tell Morano what I +thus tell the reader, for in the wood it was hard to hear anyone else, +while to think of anyone else was out of the question. +</P> + +<P> +"What shall I do to them, master?" said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +They were now standing close to their captives and this simple question +calmed the four men's curses, all of a sudden, like shutting the door +on a storm. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave them," Rodriguez said. And la Garda's spirits rose and they +cursed again. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah. To die in the wood," said Morano. "No," said Rodriguez; and he +walked towards the horses. And something in that "No" sounding almost +contemptuous, Morano's feelings were hurt, and he blurted out to his +master "But how can they get away to get their food? It is good knots +that I tie, master." +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," Rodriguez said, "I remember ten ways in the books of romance +whereby bound men untie themselves; and doubtless one or two more I +have read and forgot; and there may be other ways in the books that I +have not read, besides any way that there be of which no books tell. +And in addition to these ways, one of them may draw a comrade's sword +with his teeth and thus ..." +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I pull out their teeth?" said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Ride," said Rodriguez, for they were now come to the horses. And +sorrowfully Morano looked at the horse that was to be his, as a man +might look at a small, uncomfortable boat that is to carry him far upon +a stormy day. And then Rodriguez helped him into the saddle. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you stay there?" Rodriguez said. "We have far to go." +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano answered, "these hands can hold till evening." +</P> + +<P> +And then Rodriguez mounted, leaving Morano gripping the high front of +the saddle with his large brown hands. But as soon as the horses +started he got a grip with his heels as well, and later on with his +knees. Rodriguez led the way on to the straggling road and was soon +galloping northwards, while Morano's heels kept his horse up close to +his master's. Morano rode as though trained in the same school that +some while later taught Macaulay's equestrian, who rode with "loose +rein and bloody spur." Yet the miles went swiftly by as they galloped +on soft white dust, which lifted and settled, some of it, back on the +lazy road, while some of it was breathed by Morano. The gold coin on +the green silk ribbon flapped up and down as Rodriguez rode, till he +stuffed it inside his clothing and remembered no more about it. Once +they saw before them the man they had snatched from the noose: he was +going hard and leading a loose horse. And then where the road bent +round a low hill he galloped out of sight and they saw him no more. He +had the loose horse to change on to as soon as the other was tired: +they had no prospect of overtaking him. And so he passed out of their +minds as their host had done who went away with his household to +Saragossa. +</P> + +<P> +At first Rodriguez' mandolin, that was always slung on his back, bumped +up and down uncomfortably; but he eased it by altering the strap: small +things like this bring contentment. And then he settled down to ride. +But no contentment came near Morano nor did he look for it. On the +first day of his wanderings he had worn his master's clothes, which has +been an experience standing somewhat where toothache does, which is +somewhere about half-way between discomfort and agony. On the second +day he had climbed at the end of a weary journey over those sharp rocks +whose shape was adapted so ill to his body. On the third day he was +riding. He did not look for comfort. But he met discomfort with an easy +resignation that almost defeated the intention of Satan who sends it, +unless—as is very likely—it be from Heaven. And in spite of all +discomforts he gaily followed Rodriguez. In a thousand days at the Inn +of the Dragon and Knight no two were so different to Morano that one +stood out from the other, or any from the rest. It was all as though +one day were repeated again and again; and at some point in this +monotonous repetition, like a milestone shaped as the rest on a +perfectly featureless road, life would end and the meaningless +repetition stop: and looking back on it there would only be one day to +see, or, if he could not look back, it would be all gone for nothing. +And then, into that one day that he was living on in the gloaming of +that grim inn, Rodriguez had appeared, and Morano had known him for one +of those wandering lights that sometimes make sudden day among the +stars. He knew—no, he felt—that by following him, yesterday today and +tomorrow would be three separate possessions in memory. Morano gladly +gave up that one dull day he was living for the new strange days +through which Rodriguez was sure to lead him. Gladly he left it: if +this be not true how then has a man with a dream led thousands to +follow his fancy, from the Crusades to whatever gay madness be the +fashion when this is read? As they galloped the scent of the flowers +rushed into Rodriguez' nostrils, while Morano mainly breathed the dust +from the hooves of his master's horse. But the quest was favoured the +more by the scent of the flowers inspiring its leader's fancies. So +Morano gained even from this. +</P> + +<P> +In the first hour they shortened by fifteen miles the length of their +rambling quest. In the next hour they did five miles; and in the third +hour ten. After this they rode slowly. The sun was setting. Morano +regarded the sunset with delight, for it seemed to promise jovially the +end of his sufferings, which except for brief periods when they went on +foot, to rest—as Rodriguez said—the horses, had been continuous and +even increasing since they started. Rodriguez, perhaps a little weary +too, drew from the sunset a more sombre feeling, as sensitive minds do: +he responded to its farewell, he felt its beauty, and as little winds +turned cool and the shine of blades of grass faded, making all the +plain dimmer, he heard, or believed he heard, further off than he could +see, sounds on the plain beyond ridges, in hollows, behind clumps of +bushes; as though small creatures all unknown to his learning played +instruments cut from reeds upon unmapped streams. In this hour, among +these fancies, Rodriguez saw clear on a hill the white walls of the +village of Lowlight. And now they began to notice that a great round +moon was shining. The sunset grew dimmer and the moonlight stole in +softly, as a cat might walk through great doors on her silent feet into +a throne-room just as the king had gone: and they entered the village +slowly in the perfect moment of twilight. +</P> + +<P> +The round horizon was brimming with a pale but magical colour, welling +up to the tips of trees and the battlements of white towers. Earth +seemed a mysterious cup overfull of this pigment of wonder. Clouds +wandering low, straying far from their azure fields, were dipped in it. +The towers of Lowlight turned slowly rose in that light, and glowed +together with the infinite gloaming, so that for this brief hour the +things of man were wed with the things of eternity. It was into this +wide, pale flame of aetherial rose that the moon came stealing like a +magician on tip-toe, to enchant the tips of the trees, low clouds and +the towers of Lowlight. A blue light from beyond our world touched the +pink that is Earth's at evening: and what was strange and a matter for +hushed voices, marvellous but yet of our earth, became at that touch +unearthly. All in a moment it was, and Rodriguez gasped to see it. Even +Morano's eyes grew round with the coming of wonder, or with some dim +feeling that an unnoticed moment had made all things strange and new. +</P> + +<P> +For some moments the spell of moonlight on sunlight hovered: the air +was brimming and quivering with it: magic touched earth. For some +moments, some thirty beats of a heron's wing, had the angels sung to +men, had their songs gone earthward into that rosy glow, gliding past +layers of faintly tinted cloud, like moths at dusk towards a +briar-rose; in those few moments men would have known their language. +Rodriguez reined in his horse in the heavy silence and waited. For what +he waited he knew not: some unearthly answer perhaps to his questioning +thoughts that had wandered far from earth, though no words came to him +with which to ask their question and he did not know what question they +would ask. He was all vibrating with the human longing: I know not what +it is, but perhaps philosophers know. He sat there waiting while a late +bird sailed homeward, sat while Morano wondered. And nothing spake from +anywhere. +</P> + +<P> +And now a dog began to notice the moon: now a child cried suddenly that +had been dragged back from the street, where it had wandered at +bedtime: an old dog rose from where it had lain in the sun and feebly +yet confidently scratched at a door: a cat peered round a corner: a man +spoke: Rodriguez knew there would be no answer now. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez hit his horse, the tired animal went forward, and he and +Morano rode slowly up the street. +</P> + +<P> +Dona Serafina of the Valley of Dawnlight had left the heat of the room +that looked on the fields, and into which the sun had all day been +streaming, and had gone at sunset to sit in the balcony that looked +along the street. Often she would do this at sunset; but she rather +dreamed as she sat there than watched the street, for all that it had +to show she knew without glancing. Evening after evening as soon as +winter was over the neighbour would come from next door and stretch +himself and yawn and sit on a chair by his doorway, and the neighbour +from opposite would saunter across the way to him, and they would talk +with eagerness of the sale of cattle, and sometimes, but more coldly, +of the affairs of kings. She knew, but cared not to know, just when the +two old men would begin their talk. She knew who owned every dog that +stretched itself in the dust until chilly winds blew in the dusk and +they rose up dissatisfied. She knew the affairs of that street like an +old, old lesson taught drearily, and her thoughts went far away to +vales of an imagination where they met with many another maiden fancy, +and they all danced there together through the long twilight in Spring. +And then her mother would come and warn her that the evening grew cold, +and Serafina would turn from the mystery of evening into the house and +the candle-light. This was so evening after evening all through spring +and summer for two long years of her youth. And then, this evening, +just as the two old neighbours began to discuss whether or not the +subjugation of the entire world by Spain would be for its benefit, just +as one of the dogs in the road was rising slowly to shake itself, +neighbours and dogs all raised their heads to look, and there was +Rodriguez riding down the street and Morano coming behind him. When +Serafina saw this she brought her eyes back from dreams, for she +dreamed not so deeply but that the cloak and plume of Rodriguez found +some place upon the boundaries of her day-dream. When she saw the way +he sat his horse and how he carried his head she let her eyes flash for +a little moment along the street from her balcony. And if some critical +reader ask how she did it I answer, "My good sir, I can't tell you, +because I don't know," or "My dear lady, what a question to ask!" And +where she learned to do it I cannot think, but nothing was easier. And +then she smiled to think that she had done the very thing that her +mother had warned her there was danger in doing. +</P> + +<P> +"Serafina," her mother said in that moment at the large window, "the +evening grows cold. It might be dangerous to stay there longer." And +Serafina entered the house, as she had done at the coming of dusk on +many an evening. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez missed as much of that flash of her eyes, shot from below the +darkness of her hair, as youth in its first glory and freedom misses. +For at the point on the road called life at which Rodriguez was then, +one is high on a crag above the promontories of watchmen, lower only +than the peaks of the prophets, from which to see such things. Yet it +did not need youth to notice Serafina. Beggars had blessed her for the +poise of her head. +</P> + +<P> +She turned that head a little as she went between the windows, till +Rodriguez gazing up to her saw the fair shape of her neck: and almost +in that moment the last of the daylight died. The windows shut; and +Rodriguez rode on with Morano to find the forge that was kept by +Fernandez the smith. And presently they came to the village forge, a +cottage with huge, high roof whose beams were safe from sparks; and its +fire was glowing redly into the moonlight through the wide door made +for horses, although there seemed no work to be done, and a man with a +swart moustache was piling more logs on. Over the door was burned on +oak in ungainly great letters— +</P> + +<P> +"FERNANDEZ" +</P> + +<P> +"For whom do you seek, seņor?" he said to Rodriguez, who had halted +before him with his horse's nose inside the doorway sniffing. +</P> + +<P> +"I look," he said, "for him who is not Fernandez." +</P> + +<P> +"I am he," said the man by the fire. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez questioned no further but dismounted, and bade Morano lead +the horses in. And then he saw in the dark at the back of the forge the +other two horses that he had seen in the wood. And they were shod as he +had never seen horses shod before. For the front pair of shoes were +joined by a chain riveted stoutly to each, and the hind pair also; and +both horses were shod alike. The method was equally new to Morano. And +now the man with the swart moustache picked up another bunch of +horseshoes hanging in pairs on chains. And Rodriguez was not far out +when he guessed that whenever la Garda overtook their horses they would +find that Fernandez was far away making holiday, while he who shod them +now would be gone upon other business. And all this work seemed to +Rodriguez not to be his affair. +</P> + +<P> +"Farewell," he said to the smith that was not Fernandez; and with a pat +for his horse he left it, having obtained a promise of oats. And so +Rodriguez and Morano went on foot again, Morano elated in spite of +fatigue and pain, rejoicing to feel the earth once more, flat under the +soles of his feet; Rodriguez a little humbled. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SIXTH CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW HE SANG TO HIS MANDOLIN AND WHAT CAME OF HIS SINGING +</H3> + +<P> +They walked back slowly in silence up the street down which they had +ridden. Earth darkened, the moon grew brighter: and Rodriguez gazing at +the pale golden disk began to wonder who dwelt in the lunar valleys; +and what message, if folk were there, they had for our peoples; and in +what language such message could ever be, and how it could fare across +that limpid remoteness that wafted light on to the coasts of Earth and +lapped in silence on the lunar shores. And as he wondered he thought of +his mandolin. +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," he said, "buy bacon." +</P> + +<P> +Morano's eyes brightened: they were forty-five miles from the hills on +which he had last tasted bacon. He selected his house with a glance, +and then he was gone. And Rodriguez reflected too late that he had +forgotten to tell Morano where he should find him, and this with night +coming on in a strange village. Scarcely, Rodriguez reflected, he knew +where he was going himself. Yet if old tunes lurking in its hollows, +echoing though imperceptibly from long-faded evenings, gave the +mandolin any knowledge of human affairs that other inanimate things +cannot possess, the mandolin knew. +</P> + +<P> +Let us in fancy call up the shade of Morano from that far generation. +Let us ask him where Rodriguez is going. Those blue eyes, dim with the +distance over which our fancy has called them, look in our eyes with +wonder. +</P> + +<P> +"I do not know," he says, "where Don Rodriguez is going. My master did +not tell me." +</P> + +<P> +Did he notice nothing as they rode by that balcony? +</P> + +<P> +"Nothing," Morano answers, "except my master riding." +</P> + +<P> +We may let Morano's shade drift hence again, for we shall discover +nothing: nor is this an age to which to call back spirits. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez strolled slowly on the deep dust of that street as though +wondering all the while where he should go; and soon he and his +mandolin were below that very balcony whereon he had seen the white +neck of Serafina gleam with the last of the daylight. And now the +spells of the moon charmed Earth with their full power. +</P> + +<P> +The balcony was empty. How should it have been otherwise? And yet +Rodriguez grieved. For between the vision that had drawn his footsteps +and that bare balcony below shuttered windows was the difference +between a haven, sought over leagues of sea, and sheer, uncharted +cliff. It brought a wistfulness into the music he played, and a +melancholy that was all new to Rodriguez, yet often and often before +had that mandolin sent up through evening against unheeding Space that +cry that man cannot utter; for the spirit of man needs a mandolin as a +comrade to face the verdict of the chilly stars as he needs a bulldog +for more mundane things. +</P> + +<P> +Soon out of the depth of that stout old mandolin, in which so many +human sorrows had spun tunes out of themselves, as the spiders spin +misty grey webs, till it was all haunted with music, soon the old cry +went up to the stars again, a thread of supplication spun of the matter +which else were distilled in tears, beseeching it knew not what. And, +but that Fate is deaf, all that man asks in music had been granted then. +</P> + +<P> +What sorrows had Rodriguez known in his life that he made so sad a +melody? I know not. It was the mandolin. When the mandolin was made it +knew at once all the sorrows of man, and all the old unnamed longings +that none defines. It knew them as the dog knows the alliance that its +forefathers made with man. A mandolin weeps the tears that its master +cannot shed, or utters the prayers that are deeper than its master's +lips can draw, as a dog will fight for his master with teeth that are +longer than man's. And if the moonlight streamed on untroubled, and +though Fate was deaf, yet beauty of those fresh strains going starward +from under his fingers touched at least the heart of Rodriguez and +gilded his dreams and gave to his thoughts a mournful autumnal glory, +until he sang all newly as he never had sung before, with limpid voice +along the edge of tears, a love-song old as the woods of his father's +valleys at whose edge he had heard it once drift through the evening. +And as he played and sang with his young soul in the music he fancied +(and why not, if they care aught for our souls in Heaven?) he fancied +the angles putting their hands each one on a star and leaning out of +Heaven through the constellations to listen. +</P> + +<P> +"A vile song, seņor, and a vile tune with it," said a voice quite close. +</P> + +<P> +However much the words hurt his pride in his mandolin Rodriguez +recognised in the voice the hidalgo's accent and knew that it was an +equal that now approached him in the moonlight round a corner of the +house with the balcony; and he knew that the request he courteously +made would be as courteously granted. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," he said, "I pray you to permit me to lean my mandolin against +the wall securely before we speak of my song." +</P> + +<P> +"Most surely, seņor," the stranger replied, "for there is no fault with +the mandolin." +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," Rodriguez said, "I thank you profoundly." And he bowed to the +gallant, whom he now perceived to be young, a youth tall and lithe like +himself, one whom we might have chosen for these chronicles had we not +found Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +Then Rodriguez stepped back a short way and placed his kerchief on the +ground; and upon this he put his mandolin and leaned it against the +wall. When the mandolin was safe from dust or accident he approached +the stranger and drew his sword. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," he said, "we will now discuss music." +</P> + +<P> +"Right gladly, seņor," said the young man, who now drew his sword also. +There were no clouds; the moon was full; the evening promised well. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely had the flash of thin rapiers crossing each other by moonlight +begun to gleam in the street when Morano appeared beside them and stood +there watching. He had bought his bacon and gone straight to the house +with the balcony. For though he knew no Latin he had not missed the +silent greeting that had welcomed his master to that village, or failed +to interpret the gist of the words that Rodriguez' dumb glance would +have said. He stood there watching while each combatant stood his +ground. +</P> + +<P> +And Rodriguez remembered all those passes and feints that he had had +from his father, and which Sevastiani, a master of arms in Madrid, had +taught in his father's youth: and some were famous and some were little +known. And all these passes, as he tried them one by one, his unknown +antagonist parried. And for a moment Rodriguez feared that Morano would +see those passes in which he trusted foiled by that unknown sword, and +then he reflected that Morano knew nothing of the craft of the rapier, +and with more content at that thought he parried thrusts that were +strange to him. But something told Morano that in this fight the +stranger was master and that along that pale-blue, moonlit, unknown +sword lurked a sure death for Rodriguez. He moved from his place of +vantage and was soon lost in large shadows; while the rapiers played +and blade rippled on blade with a sound as though Death were gently +sharpening his scythe in the dark. And now Rodriguez was giving ground, +now his antagonist pressed him; thrusts that he believed invincible had +failed; now he parried wearily and had at once to parry again; the +unknown pressed on, was upon him, was scattering his weakening parries; +drew back his rapier for a deadlier pass, learned in a secret school, +in a hut on mountains he knew, and practised surely; and fell in a heap +upon Rodriguez' feet, struck full on the back of the head by Morano's +frying-pan. +</P> + +<P> +"Most vile knave," shouted Rodriguez as he saw Morano before him with +his frying-pan in his hand, and with something of the stupid expression +that you see on the face of a dog that has done some foolish thing +which it thinks will delight its master. +</P> + +<P> +"Master! I am your servant," said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Vile, miserable knave," replied Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano said plaintively, "shall I see to your comforts, your +food, and not to your life?" +</P> + +<P> +"Silence," thundered Rodriguez as he stooped anxiously to his +antagonist, who was not unconscious but only very giddy and who now +rose to his feet with the help of Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Alas, seņor," said Rodriguez, "the foul knave is my servant. He shall +be flogged. He shall be flayed. His vile flesh shall be cut off him. +Does the hurt pain you, seņor? Sit and rest while I beat the knave, and +then we will continue our meeting." +</P> + +<P> +And he ran to his kerchief on which rested his mandolin and laid it +upon the dust for the stranger. +</P> + +<P> +"No, no," said he. "My head clears again. It is nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"But rest, seņor, rest," said Rodriguez. "It is always well to rest +before an encounter. Rest while I punish the knave." +</P> + +<P> +And he led him to where the kerchief lay on the ground. "Let me see the +hurt, seņor," he continued. And the stranger removed his plumed hat as +Rodriguez compelled him to sit down. He straightened out the hat as he +sat, and the hurt was shown to be of no great consequence. +</P> + +<P> +"The blessed Saints be praised," Rodriguez said. "It need not stop our +encounter. But rest awhile, seņor." +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed, it is nothing," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"But the indignity is immeasurable," sighed Rodriguez. "Would you care, +seņor, when you are well rested to give the chastisement yourself?" +</P> + +<P> +"As far as that goes," said the stranger, "I can chastise him now." +</P> + +<P> +"If you are fully recovered, seņor," Rodriguez said, "my own sword is +at your disposal to beat him sore with the flat of it, or how you will. +Thus no dishonour shall touch your sword from the skin of so vile a +knave." +</P> + +<P> +The stranger smiled: the idea appealed to him. +</P> + +<P> +"You make a noble amend, seņor," he said as he bowed over Rodriguez' +proffered sword. +</P> + +<P> +Morano had not moved far, but stood near, wondering. "What should a +servant do if not work for his master?" he wondered. And how work for +him when dead? And dead, as it seemed to Morano, through his own fault +if he allowed any man to kill him when he perceived him about to do so. +He stood there puzzled. And suddenly he saw the stranger coming angrily +towards him in the clear moonlight with a sword. Morano was frightened. +</P> + +<P> +As the hidalgo came up to him he stretched out his left hand to seize +Morano by the shoulder. Up went the frying-pan, the stranger parried, +but against a stroke that no school taught or knew, and for the second +time he went down in the dust with a reeling head. Rodriguez turned +toward Morano and said to him ... No, realism is all very well, and I +know that my duty as author is to tell all that happened, and I could +win mighty praise as a bold, unconventional writer; at the same time, +some young lady will be reading all this next year in some far country, +or in twenty years in England, and I would sooner she should not read +what Rodriguez said. I do not, I trust, disappoint her. But the gist of +it was that he should leave that place now and depart from his service +for ever. And hearing those words Morano turned mournfully away and was +at once lost in the darkness. While Rodriguez ran once more to help his +fallen antagonist. "Seņor, seņor," he said with an emotion that some +wearing centuries and a cold climate have taught us not to show, and +beyond those words he could find no more to say. +</P> + +<P> +"Giddy, only giddy," said the stranger. +</P> + +<P> +A tear fell on his forehead as Rodriguez helped him to his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," Rodriguez said fervently, "we will finish our encounter come +what may. The knave is gone and ..." +</P> + +<P> +"But I am somewhat giddy," said the other. +</P> + +<P> +"I will take off one of my shoes," said Rodriguez, "leaving the other +on. It will equalise our unsteadiness, and you shall not be +disappointed in our encounter. Come," he added kindly. +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot see so clearly as before," the young hidalgo murmured. +</P> + +<P> +"I will bandage my right eye also," said Rodriguez, "and if this cannot +equalise it ..." +</P> + +<P> +"It is a most fair offer," said the young man. +</P> + +<P> +"I could not bear that you should be disappointed of your encounter," +Rodriguez said, "by this spirit of Hell that has got itself clothed in +fat and dares to usurp the dignity of man." +</P> + +<P> +"It is a right fair offer," the young man said again. +</P> + +<P> +"Rest yourself, seņor," said Rodriguez, "while I take off my shoe," and +he indicated his kerchief which was still on the ground. +</P> + +<P> +The stranger sat down a little wearily, and Rodriguez sitting upon the +dust took off his left shoe. And now he began to think a little +wistfully of the face that had shone from that balcony, where all was +dark now in black shadow unlit by the moon. The emptiness of the +balcony and its darkness oppressed him; for he could scarcely hope to +survive an encounter with that swordsman, whose skill he now recognised +as being of a different class from his own, a class of which he knew +nothing. All his own feints and passes were known, while those of his +antagonist had been strange and new, and he might well have even +others. The stranger's giddiness did not alter the situation, for +Rodriguez knew that his handicap was fair and even generous. He +believed he was near his grave, and could see no spark of light to +banish that dark belief; yet more chances than we can see often guard +us on such occasions. The absence of Serafina saddened him like a +sorrowful sunset. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez rose and limped with his one shoe off to the stranger, who +was sitting upon his kerchief. +</P> + +<P> +"I will bandage my right eye now, seņor," he said. +</P> + +<P> +The young man rose and shook the dust from the kerchief and gave it to +Rodriguez with a renewed expression of his gratitude at the fairness of +the strange handicap. When Rodriguez had bandaged his eye the stranger +returned his sword to him, which he had held in his hand since his +effort to beat Morano, and drawing his own stepped back a few paces +from him. Rodriguez took one hopeless look at the balcony, saw it as +empty and as black as ever, then he faced his antagonist, waiting. +</P> + +<P> +"Bandage one eye, indeed!" muttered Morano as he stepped up behind the +stranger and knocked him down for the third time with a blow over the +head from his frying-pan. +</P> + +<P> +The young hidalgo dropped silently. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez uttered one scream of anger and rushed at Morano with his +sword. Morano had already started to run; and, knowing well that he was +running for his life, he kept for awhile the start that he had of the +rapier. Rodriguez knew that no plump man of over forty could last +against his lithe speed long. He saw Morano clearly before him, then +lost sight of him for a moment and ran confidently on pursuing. He ran +on and on. And at last he recognised that Morano had slipped into the +darkness, which lies always so near to the moonlight, and was not in +front of him at all. So he returned to his fallen antagonist and found +him breathing heavily where he fell, scarcely conscious. The third +stroke of the frying-pan had done its work surely. Rodriguez' fury died +down, only because it is difficult to feel two emotions at once: it +died down as pity took its place, though every now and then it would +suddenly flare and fall again. He returned his sword and lifted the +young hidalgo and carried him to the door of the house under which they +had fought. +</P> + +<P> +With one fist he beat on the door without putting the hurt man down, +and continued to hit it until steps were heard, and bolts began to +grumble, as though disturbed too early from their rusty sleep in stone +sockets. +</P> + +<P> +The door of the house with the balcony was opened by a servant who, +when he saw who it was that Rodriguez carried, fled into the house in +alarm, as one who runs with bad news. He carried one candle and, when +he had disappeared with the steaming flame, Rodriguez found himself in +a long hall lit by the moonlight only, which was looking in through the +small contorted panes of the upper part of a high window. Alone with +echoes and shadows Rodriguez carried the hurt man through the hall, who +was muttering now as he came back to consciousness. And, as he went, +there came to Rodriguez thoughts between wonder and hope, for he had +had no thought at all when he beat on the door except to get shelter +and help for the hurt man. At the end of the hall they came to an open +door that led into a chamber partly shining with moonlight. +</P> + +<P> +"In there," said the man that he carried. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez carried him in and laid him on a long couch at the end of the +room. Large pictures of men in the blackness, out of the moon's rays, +frowned at Rodriguez mysteriously. He could not see their faces in the +darkness, but he somehow knew they frowned. Two portraits that were +clear in the moonlight eyed him with absolute apathy. So cold a welcome +from that house's past generations boded no good to him from those that +dwelt there today. Rodriguez knew that in carrying the hurt man there +he helped at a Christian deed; and yet there was no putting the merits +of the case against the omens that crowded the chamber, lurking along +the edge of moonlight and darkness, disappearing and reappearing till +the gloom was heavy with portent. The omens knew. In a weak voice and +few words the hurt man thanked him, but the apathetic faces seemed to +say What of that? And the frowning faces that he could not see still +filled the darkness with anger. +</P> + +<P> +And then from the end of the chamber, dressed in white, and all shining +with moonlight, came Serafina. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez in awed silence watched her come. He saw her pass through the +moonlight and grow dimmer, and glide to the moonlight again that +streamed through another window. A great dim golden circle appeared at +the far end of the chamber whence she had come, as the servant returned +with his candle and held it high to give light for Dona Serafina. But +that one flame seemed to make the darkness only blacker; and for any +cheerfulness it brought to the gloom it had better never have +challenged those masses of darkness at all in that high chamber among +the brooding portraits it seemed trivial, ephemeral, modern, ill able +to cope with the power of ancient things, dead days and forgotten +voices, which make their home in the darkness because the days that +have usurped them have stolen the light of the sun. +</P> + +<P> +And there the man stood holding his candle high, and the rays of the +moon became more magical still beside that little mundane, flickering +thing. And Serafina was moving through the moonlight as though its rays +were her sisters, which she met noiselessly and brightly upon some +island, as it seemed to Rodriguez, beyond the coasts of Earth, so +quietly and so brightly did her slender figure move and so aloof from +him appeared her eyes. And there came on Rodriguez that feeling that +some deride and that others explain away, the feeling of which romance +is mainly made and which is the aim and goal of all the earth. And his +love for Serafina seemed to him not only to be an event in his life but +to have some part in veiled and shadowy destinies and to have the +blessing of most distant days: grey beards seemed to look out of graves +in forgotten places to wag approval: hands seemed to beckon to him out +of far-future times, where faces were smiling quietly: and, dreaming on +further still, this vast approval that gave benediction to his heart's +youthful fancy seemed to widen and widen like the gold of a summer's +evening or, the humming of bees in summer in endless rows of limes, +until it became a part of the story of man. Spring days of his earliest +memory seemed to have their part in it, as well as wonderful evenings +of days that were yet to be, till his love for Serafina was one with +the fate of earth; and, wandering far on their courses, he knew that +the stars blessed it. But Serafina went up to the man on the couch with +no look for Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +With no look for Rodriguez she bent over the stricken hidalgo. He +raised himself a little on one elbow. "It is nothing," he said, +"Serafina." +</P> + +<P> +Still she bent over him. He laid his head down again, but now with open +and undimmed eyes. She put her hand to his forehead, she spoke in a low +voice to him; she lavished upon him sympathy for which Rodriguez would +have offered his head to swords; and all, thought Rodriguez for three +blows from a knave's frying-pan: and his anger against Morano flared up +again fiercely. Then there came another thought to him out of the +shadows, where Serafina was standing all white, a figure of solace. Who +was this man who so mysteriously blended with the other unknown things +that haunted the gloom of that chamber? Why had he fought him at night? +What was he to Serafina? Thoughts crowded up to him from the interior +of the darkness, sombre and foreboding as the shadows that nursed them. +He stood there never daring to speak to Serafina; looking for +permission to speak, such as a glance might give. And no glance came. +</P> + +<P> +And now, as though soothed by her beauty, the hurt man closed his eyes. +Serafina stood beside him anxious and silent, gleaming in that dim +place. The servant at the far end of the chamber still held his one +candle high, as though some light of earth were needed against the +fantastic moon, which if unopposed would give everything over to magic. +Rodriguez stood there, scarcely breathing. All was silent. And then +through the door by which Serafina had come, past that lonely, golden, +moon-defying candle, all down the long room across moonlight and +blackness, came the lady of the house, Serafina's mother. She came, as +Serafina came, straight toward the man on the couch, giving no look to +Rodriguez, walking something as Serafina walked, with the same poise, +the same dignity, though the years had carried away from her the grace +Serafina had: so that, though you saw that they were mother and +daughter, the elder lady called to mind the lovely things of earth, +large gardens at evening, statues dim in the dusk, summer and +whatsoever binds us to earthly things; but Serafina turned Rodriguez' +thoughts to the twilight in which he first saw her, and he pictured her +native place as far from here, in mellow fields near the moon, wherein +she had walked on twilight outlasting any we know, with all delicate +things of our fancy, too fair for the rugged earth. +</P> + +<P> +As the lady approached the couch upon which the young man was lying, +and still no look was turned towards Rodriguez, his young dreams fled +as butterflies sailing high in the heat of June that are suddenly +plunged in night by a total eclipse of the sun. He had never spoken to +Serafina, or seen before her mother, and they did not know his name; he +knew that he, Rodriguez, had no claim to a welcome. But his dreams had +flocked so much about Serafina's face, basking so much in her beauty, +that they now fell back dying; and when a man's dreams die what +remains, if he lingers awhile behind them? +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez suddenly felt that his left shoe was off and his right eye +still bandaged, things that he had not noticed while his only thought +was for the man he carried to shelter, but torturing his consciousness +now that he thought of himself. He opened his lips to explain; but +before words came to him, looking at the face of Serafina's mother, +standing now by the couch, he felt that, not knowing how, he had +somehow wronged the Penates of this house, or whatever was hid in the +dimness of that long chamber, by carrying in this young man there to +rest from his hurt. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez' depression arose from these causes, but having arisen, it +grew of its own might: he had had nothing to eat since morning, and in +the favouring atmosphere of hunger his depression grew gigantic. He +opened his lips once more to say farewell, was oppressed by all manner +of thoughts that held him dumb, and turned away in silence and left the +house. Outside he recovered his mandolin and his shoe. He was tired +with the weariness of defeated dreams that slept in his spirit +exhausted, rather than with any fatigue his young muscles had from the +journey. He needed sleep; he looked at the shuttered houses; then at +the soft dust of the road in which dogs lay during the daylight. But +the dust was near to his mood, so he lay down where he had fought the +unknown hidalgo. A light wind wandered the street like a visitor come +to the village out of a friendly valley, but Rodriguez' four days on +the roads had made him familiar with all wandering things, and the +breeze on his forehead troubled him not at all: before it had wearied +of wandering in the night Rodriguez had fallen asleep. Just by the edge +of sleep, upon which side he knew not, he heard the window of the +balcony creak, and looked up wide awake all in a moment. But nothing +stirred in the darkness of the balcony and the window was fast shut. So +whatever sound came from the window came not from its opening but +shutting: for a while he wondered; and then his tired thoughts rested, +and that was sleep. +</P> + +<P> +A light rain woke Rodriguez, drizzling upon his face; the first light +rain that had fallen in a romantic tale. Storms there had been, lashing +oaks to terrific shapes seen at night by flashes of lightning, through +which villains rode abroad or heroes sought shelter at midnight; +hurricanes there had been, flapping huge cloaks, fierce hail and +copious snow; but until now no drizzle. It was morning; dawn was old; +and pale and grey and unhappy. +</P> + +<P> +The balcony above him, still empty, scarcely even held romance now. +Rain dripped from it sadly. Its cheerless bareness seemed worse than +the most sinister shadows of night. +</P> + +<P> +And then Rodriguez saw a rose lying on the ground beside him. And for +all the dreams, fancies, and hopes that leaped up in Rodriguez' mind, +rising and falling and fading, one thing alone he knew and all the rest +was mystery: the rose had lain there before the rain had fallen. +Beneath the rose was white dust, while all around it the dust was +turning grey with rain. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez tried to guess how long the rain had fallen. The rose may +have lain beside him all night long. But the shadows of mystery receded +no farther than this one fact that the rose was there before the rain +began. No sign of any kind came from the house. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez put the rose safe under his coat, wrapped in the kerchief +that had guarded the mandolin, to carry it far from Lowlight, through +places familiar with roses and places strange to them; but it remained +for him a thing of mystery until a day far from then. +</P> + +<P> +Sadly he left the house in the sad rain, marching away alone to look +for his wars. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE SEVENTH CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW HE CAME TO SHADOW VALLEY +</H3> + +<P> +Rodriguez still believed it to be the duty of any Christian man to kill +Morano. Yet, more than comfort, more than dryness, he missed Morano's +cheerful chatter, and his philosophy into which all occasions so easily +slipped. Upon his first day's journey all was new; the very anemones +kept him company; but now he made the discovery that lonely roads are +long. +</P> + +<P> +When he had suggested food or rest Morano had fallen in with his +wishes; when he had suggested winning a castle in vague wars Morano had +agreed with him. Now he had dismissed Morano and had driven him away at +the rapier's point. There was no one now either to cook his food or to +believe in the schemes his ambition made. There was no one now to speak +of the wars as the natural end of the journey. Alone in the rain the +wars seemed far away and castles hard to come by. The unromantic rain +in which no dreams thrive fell on and on. +</P> + +<P> +The village of Lowlight was some way behind him, as he went with +mournful thoughts through the drizzling rain, when he caught the smell +of bacon. He looked for a house but the plain was bare except for small +bushes. He looked up wind, which was blowing from the west, whence came +the unmistakable smell of bacon: and there was a small fire smoking +greyly against a bush; and the fat figure crouching beside it, although +the face was averted, was clearly none but Morano. And when Rodriguez +saw that he was tenderly holding the infamous frying-pan, the very +weapon that had done the accursed deed, then he almost felt righteous +anger; but that frying-pan held other memories too, and Rodriguez felt +less fury than what he thought he felt. As for killing Morano, +Rodriguez believed, or thought he believed, that he was too far from +the road for it to be possible to overtake him to mete out his just +punishment. As for the bacon, Rodriguez scorned it and marched on down +the road. Now one side of the frying-pan was very hot, for it was +tilted a little and the lard had run sideways. By tilting it back again +slowly Morano could make the fat run back bit by bit over the heated +metal, and whenever it did so it sizzled. He now picked up the +frying-pan and one log that was burning well and walked parallel with +Rodriguez. He was up-wind of him, and whenever the bacon-fat sizzled +Rodriguez caught the smell of it. A small matter to inspire thoughts; +but Rodriguez had eaten nothing since the morning before, and ideas +surged through his head; and though they began with moral indignation +they adapted themselves more and more to hunger, until there came the +idea that since his money had bought the bacon the food was rightfully +his, and he had every right to eat it wherever he found it. So much can +slaves sometimes control the master, and the body rule the brain. +</P> + +<P> +So Rodriguez suddenly turned and strode up to Morano. "My bacon," he +said. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano said, for it was beginning to cool, "let me make +another small fire." +</P> + +<P> +"Knave, call me not master," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +Morano, who knew when speech was good, was silent now, and blew on the +smouldering end of the log he carried and gathered a handful of twigs +and shook the rain off them; and soon had a small fire again, warming +the bacon. He had nothing to say which bacon could not say better. And +when Rodriguez had finished up the bacon he carefully reconsidered the +case of Morano, and there were points in it which he had not thought of +before. He reflected that for the execution of knaves a suitable person +was provided. He should perhaps give Morano up to la Garda. His next +thought was where to find la Garda. And easily enough another thought +followed that one, which was that although on foot and still some way +behind four of la Garda were trying to find him. Rodriguez' mind, which +was looking at life from the point of view of a judge, changed somewhat +at this thought. He reflected next that, for the prevention of crime, +to make Morano see the true nature of his enormity so that he should +never commit it again might after all be as good as killing him. So +what we call his better nature, his calmer judgment, decided him now to +talk to Morano and not to kill him: but Morano, looking back upon this +merciful change, always attributed it to fried bacon. +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," said Rodriguez' better nature, "to offend the laws of +Chivalry is to have against you the swords of all true men." +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano said, "that were dreadful odds." +</P> + +<P> +"And rightly," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, "I will keep those laws henceforth. I may cook +bacon for you when you are hungry, I may brush the dust from your +cloak, I may see to your comforts. This Chivalry forbids none of that. +But when I see anyone trying to kill you, master; why, kill you he +must, and welcome." +</P> + +<P> +"Not always," said Rodriguez somewhat curtly, for it struck him that +Morano spoke somehow too lightly of sacred things. +</P> + +<P> +"Not always?" asked Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master, I implore you tell me," said Morano, "when they may kill you +and when they may not, so that I may never offend again." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez cast a swift glance at him but found his face so full of +puzzled anxiety that he condescended to do what Morano had asked, and +began to explain to him the rudiments of the laws of Chivalry. +</P> + +<P> +"In the wars," he said, "you may defend me whoever assails me, or if +robbers or any common persons attack me, but if I arrange a meeting +with a gentleman, and any knave basely interferes, then is he damned +hereafter as well as accursed now; for, the laws of Chivalry being +founded on true religion, the penalty for their breach is by no means +confined to this world." +</P> + +<P> +"Master," replied Morano thoughtfully, "if I be not damned already I +will avoid those fires of Hell; and none shall kill you that you have +not chosen to kill you, and those that you choose shall kill you +whenever you have a mind." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez opened his lips to correct Morano but reflected that, though +in his crude and base-born way, he had correctly interpreted the law so +far as his mind was able. +</P> + +<P> +So he briefly said "Yes," and rose and returned to the road, giving +Morano no order to follow him; and this was the last concession he made +to the needs of Chivalry on account of the sin of Morano. Morano +gathered up the frying-pan and followed Rodriguez, and when they came +to the road he walked behind him in silence. +</P> + +<P> +For three or four miles they walked thus, Morano knowing that he +followed on sufferance and calling no attention to himself with his +garrulous tongue. But at the end of an hour the rain lifted; and with +the coming out of the sun Morano talked again. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," he said, "the next man that you choose to kill you, let him +be one too base-born to know the tricks of the rapier, too ignorant to +do aught but wish you well, some poor fat fool over forty who shall be +too heavy to elude your rapier's point and too elderly for it to matter +when you kill him at your Chivalry, the best of life being gone already +at forty-five." +</P> + +<P> +"There is timber here," said Rodriguez. "We will have some more bacon +while you dry my cloak over a fire." +</P> + +<P> +Thus he acknowledged Morano again for his servant but never +acknowledged that in Morano's words he had understood any poor sketch +of Morano's self, or that the words went to his heart. +</P> + +<P> +"Timber, Master?" said Morano, though it did not need Rodriguez to +point out the great oaks that now began to stand beside their journey, +but he saw that the other matter was well and thus he left well alone. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez waved an arm towards the great trees. "Yes, indeed," said +Morano, and began to polish up the frying-pan as he walked. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez, who missed little, caught a glimpse of tears in Morano's +eyes, for all that his head was turned downward over the frying-pan; +yet he said nothing, for he knew that forgiveness was all that Morano +needed, and that he had now given him: and it was much to give, +reflected Rodriguez, for so great a crime, and dismissed the matter +from his mind. +</P> + +<P> +And now their road dipped downhill, and they passed a huge oak and then +another. More and more often now they met these solitary giants, till +their view began to be obscured by them. The road dwindled till it was +no better than a track, the earth beside it was wild and rocky; +Rodriguez wondered to what manner of land he was coming. But +continually the branches of some tree obscured his view and the only +indication he had of it was from the road he trod, which seemed to tell +him that men came here seldom. Beyond every huge tree that they passed +as they went downhill Rodriguez hoped to get a better view, but always +there stood another to close the vista. It was some while before he +realised that he had entered a forest. They were come to Shadow Valley. +</P> + +<P> +The grandeur of this place, penetrated by shafts of sunlight, coloured +by flashes of floating butterflies, filled by the chaunt of birds +rising over the long hum of insects, lifted the fallen spirits of +Rodriguez as he walked on through the morning. +</P> + +<P> +He still would not have exchanged his rose for the whole forest; but in +the mighty solemnity of the forest his mourning for the lady that he +feared he had lost no longer seemed the only solemn thing: indeed, the +sombre forest seemed well attuned to his mood; and what complaint have +we against Fate wherever this is so. His mood was one of tragic loss, +the defeat of an enterprise that his hopes had undertaken, to seize +victory on the apex of the world, to walk all his days only just +outside the edge of Paradise, for no less than that his hopes and his +first love promised each other; and then he walked despairing in small +rain. In this mood Fate had led him to solemn old oaks standing huge +among shadows; and the grandeur of their grey grip on the earth that +had been theirs for centuries was akin to the grandeur of the high +hopes he had had, and his despair was somehow soothed by the shadows. +And then the impudent birds seemed to say "Hope again." +</P> + +<P> +They walked for miles into the forest and lit a fire before noon, for +Rodriguez had left Lowlight very early. And by it Morano cooked bacon +again and dried his master's cloak. They ate the bacon and sat by the +fire till all their clothes were dry, and when the flames from the +great logs fell and only embers glowed they sat there still, with hands +spread to the warmth of the embers; for to those who wander a fire is +food and rest and comfort. Only as the embers turned grey did they +throw earth over their fire and continue their journey. Their road grew +smaller and the forest denser. +</P> + +<P> +They had walked some miles from the place where they lit their fire, +when a somewhat unmistakable sound made Rodriguez look ahead of him. An +arrow had struck a birch tree on the right side, ten or twelve paces in +front of him; and as he looked up another struck it from the opposite +side just level with the first; the two were sticking in it ten feet or +so from the ground. Rodriguez drew his sword. But when a third arrow +went over his head from behind and struck the birch tree, whut! just +between the other two, he perceived, as duller minds could have done, +that it was a hint, and he returned his sword and stood still. Morano +questioned his master with his eyes, which were asking what was to be +done next. But Rodriguez shrugged his shoulders: there was no fighting +with an invisible foe that could shoot like that. That much Morano +knew, but he did not know that there might not be some law of Chivalry +that would demand that Rodriguez should wave his sword in the air or +thrust at the birch tree until someone shot him. When there seemed to +be no such rule Morano was well content. And presently men came quietly +on to the road from different parts of the wood. They were dressed in +brown leather and wore leaf-green hats, and round each one's neck hung +a disk of engraved copper. They came up to the travellers carrying +bows, and the leader said to Rodriguez: +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor, all travellers here bring tribute to the King of Shadow +Valley," at the mention of whom all touched hats and bowed their heads. +"What do you bring us?" +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez thought of no answer; but after a moment he said, for the +sake of loyalty: "I know one king only." +</P> + +<P> +"There is only one king in Shadow Valley," said the bowman. +</P> + +<P> +"He brings a tribute of emeralds," said another, looking at Rodriguez' +scabbard. And then they searched him and others search Morano. There +were eight or nine of them, all in their leaf-green hats, with ribbons +round their necks of the same colour to hold the copper disks. They +took a gold coin from Morano and grey greasy pieces of silver. One of +them took his frying-pan; but he looked so pitifully at them as he said +simply, "I starve," that the frying-pan was restored to him. +</P> + +<P> +They unbuckled Rodriguez' belt and took from him sword and scabbard and +three gold pieces from his purse. Next they found the gold piece that +was hanging round his neck, still stuffed inside his clothes where he +had put it when he was riding. Having examined it they put it back +inside his clothes, while the leader rebuckled his sword-belt about his +waist and returned him his three gold-pieces. +</P> + +<P> +Others returned his money to Morano. "Master," said the leader, bowing +to Rodriguez, his green hat in hand, "under our King, the forest is +yours." +</P> + +<P> +Morano was pleased to hear this respect paid to his master, but +Rodriguez was so surprised that he who was never curt without reason +found no more to say than "Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because we are your servants," said the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" asked Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"We are the green bowmen, master," he said, "who hold this forest +against all men for our King." +</P> + +<P> +"And who is he?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +And the bowman answered: "The King of Shadow Valley," at which the +others all touched hats and bowed heads again. And Rodriguez seeing +that the mystery would grow no clearer for any information to be had +from them said: "Conduct me to your king." +</P> + +<P> +"That, master, we cannot do," said the chief of the bowmen. "There be +many trees in this forest, and behind any one of them he holds his +court. When he needs us there is his clear horn. But when men need him +who knows which shadow is his of all that lie in the forest?" Whether +or not there was anything interesting in the mystery, to Rodriguez it +was merely annoying; and finding it grew no clearer he turned his +attention to shelter for the night, to which all travellers give a +thought at least once, between noon and sunset. +</P> + +<P> +"Is there any house on this road, seņor," he said, "in which we could +rest the night?" +</P> + +<P> +"Ten miles from here," said he, "and not far from the road you take is +the best house we have in the forest. It is yours, master, for as long +as you honour it." +</P> + +<P> +"Come then," said Rodriguez, "and I thank you, seņor." +</P> + +<P> +So they all started together, Rodriguez with the leader going in front +and Morano following with all the bowmen. And soon the bowmen were +singing songs of the forest, hunting songs, songs of the winter; and +songs of the long summer evenings, songs of love. Cheered by this +merriment, the miles slipped by. +</P> + +<P> +And Rodriguez gathered from the songs they sang something of what they +were and of how they lived in the forest, living amongst the woodland +creatures till these men's ways were almost as their ways; killing what +they needed for food but protecting the woodland things against all +others; straying out amongst the villages in summer evenings, and +always welcome; and owning no allegiance but to the King of the Shadow +Valley. +</P> + +<P> +And the leader told Rodriguez that his name was Miguel Threegeese, +given him on account of an exploit in his youth when he lay one night +with his bow by one of the great pools in the forest, where the geese +come in winter. He said the forest was a hundred miles long, lying +mostly along a great valley, which they were crossing. And once they +had owned allegiance to kings of Spain, but now to none but the King of +the Shadow Valley, for the King of Spain's men had once tried to cut +some of the forest down, and the forest was sacred. +</P> + +<P> +Behind him the men sang on of woodland things, and of cottage gardens +in the villages: with singing and laughter they came to their journey's +end. A cottage as though built by peasants with boundless material +stood in the forest. It was a thatched cottage built in the peasant's +way but of enormous size. The leader entered first and whispered to +those within, who rose and bowed to Rodriguez as he entered, twenty +more bowmen who had been sitting at a table. One does not speak of the +banqueting-hall of a cottage, but such it appeared, for it occupied +more than half of the cottage and was as large as the banqueting-hall +of any castle. It was made of great beams of oak, and high at either +end just under the thatch were windows with their little square panes +of bulging bluish glass, which at that time was rare in Spain. A table +of oak ran down the length of it, cut from a single tree, polished and +dark from the hands of many men that had sat at it. Boar spears hung on +the wall, great antlers and boar's tusks and, carved in the oak of the +wall and again on a high, dark chair that stood at the end of the long +table empty, a crown with oak leaves that Rodriguez recognised. It was +the same as the one that was cut on his gold coin, which he had given +no further thought to, riding to Lowlight, and which the face of +Serafina had driven from his mind altogether. "But," he said, and then +was silent, thinking to learn more by watching than by talking. And his +companions of the road came in and all sat down on the benches beside +the ample table, and a brew was brought, a kind of pale mead, that they +called forest water. And all drank; and, sitting at the table, watching +them more closely than he could as he walked in the forest, Rodriguez +saw by the sunlight that streamed in low through one window that on the +copper disks they wore round their necks on green ribbon the design was +again the same. It was much smaller than his on the gold coin but the +same strange leafy crown. "Wear it as you go through Shadow Valley," he +now seemed to remember the man saying to him who put it round his neck. +But why? Clearly because it was the badge of this band of men. And this +other man was one of them. +</P> + +<P> +His eyes strayed back to the great design on the wall. "The crown of +the forest," said Miguel as he saw his eyes wondering at it, "as you +doubtless know, seņor." +</P> + +<P> +Why should he know? Of course because he bore the design himself. "Who +wears it?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"The King of Shadow Valley." +</P> + +<P> +Morano was without curiosity; he did not question good drink; he sat at +the table with a cup of horn in his hand, as happy as though he had +come to his master's castle, though that had not yet been won. +</P> + +<P> +The sun sank under the oaks, filling the hall with a ruddy glow, +turning the boar spears scarlet and reddening the red faces of the +merry men of the bow. +</P> + +<P> +A dozen of the men went out; to relieve the guard in the forest, Miguel +explained. And Rodriguez learned that he had come through a line of +sentries without ever seeing one. Presently a dozen others came in from +their posts and unslung their bows and laid them on pegs on the wall +and sat down at the table. Whereat there were whispered words and they +all rose and bowed to Rodriguez. And Rodriguez had caught the words "A +prince of the forest." What did it mean? +</P> + +<P> +Soon the long hall grew dim, and his love for the light drew Rodriguez +out to watch the sunset. And there was the sun under indescribable +clouds, turning huge and yellow among the trunks of the trees and +casting glory munificently down glades. It set, and the western sky +became blood-red and lilac: from the other end of the sky the moon +peeped out of night. A hush came and a chill, and a glory of colour, +and a dying away of light; and in the hush the mystery of the great +oaks became magical. A blackbird blew a tune less of this earth than of +fairy-land. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez wished that he could have had a less ambition than to win a +castle in the wars, for in those glades and among those oaks he felt +that happiness might be found under roofs of thatch. But having come by +his ambition he would not desert it. +</P> + +<P> +Now rushlights were lit in the great cottage and the window of the long +room glowed yellow. A fountain fell in the stillness that he had not +heard before. An early nightingale tuned a tentative note. "The forest +is fair, is it not?" said Miguel. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez had no words to say. To turn into words the beauty that was +now shining in his thoughts, reflected from the evening there, was no +easier than for wood to reflect all that is seen in the mirror. +</P> + +<P> +"You love the forest," he said at last. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Miguel, "it is the only land in which we should live our +days. There are cities and roads but man is not meant for them. I know +not, master, what God intends about us; but in cities we are against +the intention at every step, while here, why, we drift along with it." +</P> + +<P> +"I, too, would live here always," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"The house is yours," said Miguel. And Rodriguez answered: "I go +tomorrow to the wars." +</P> + +<P> +They turned round then and walked slowly back to the cottage, and +entered the candlelight and the loud talk of many men out of the hush +of the twilight. But they passed from the room at once by a door on the +left, and came thus to a large bedroom, the only other room in the +cottage. +</P> + +<P> +"Your room, master," said Miguel Threegeese. +</P> + +<P> +It was not so big as the hall where the bowmen sat, but it was a goodly +room. The bed was made of carved wood, for there were craftsmen in the +forest, and a hunt went all the way round it with dogs and deer. Four +great posts held a canopy over it: they were four young birch-trees +seemingly still wearing their bright bark, but this had been painted on +their bare timber by some woodland artist. The chairs had not the +beauty of the great ages of furniture, but they had a dignity that the +age of commerce has not dreamed of. Each one was carved out of a single +block of wood: there was no join in them anywhere. One of them lasts to +this day. +</P> + +<P> +The skins of deer covered the long walls. There were great basins and +jugs of earthenware. All was forest-made. The very shadows whispering +among themselves in corners spoke of the forest. The room was rude; but +being without ornament, except for the work of simple craftsmen, it had +nothing there to offend the sense of right of anyone entering its door, +by any jarring conflict with the purposes and traditions of the land in +which it stood. All the woodland spirits might have entered there, and +slept—if spirits sleep—in the great bed, and left at dawn unoffended. +In fact that age had not yet learned vulgarity. +</P> + +<P> +When Miguel Threegeese left Morano entered. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," he said, "they are making a banquet for you." +</P> + +<P> +"Good," said Rodriguez. "We will eat it." And he waited to hear what +Morano had come to say, for he could see that it was more than this. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, "I have been talking with the bowman. And they +will give you whatever you ask. They are good people, master, and they +will give you all things, whatever you asked of them." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez would not show to his servant that it all still puzzled him. +</P> + +<P> +"They are very amiable men," he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, coming to the point, "that Garda, they will have +walked after us. They must be now in Lowlight. They have all to-night +to get new shoes on their horses. And to-morrow, master, to-morrow, if +we be still on foot..." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez was thinking. Morano seemed to him to be talking sense. +</P> + +<P> +"You would like another ride?" he said to Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," he answered, "riding is horrible. But the public garrotter, +he is a bad thing too." And he meditatively stroked the bristles under +his chin. +</P> + +<P> +"They would give us horses?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Anything, master, I am sure of it. They are good people." +</P> + +<P> +"They'll have news of the road by which they left Lowlight," said +Rodriguez reflectively. "They say la Garda dare not enter the forest," +Morano continued, "but thirty miles from here the forest ends. They +could ride round while we go through." +</P> + +<P> +"They would give us horses?" said Rodriguez again. +</P> + +<P> +"Surely," said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +And then Rodriguez asked where they cooked the banquet, since he saw +that there were only two rooms in the great cottage and his inquiring +eye saw no preparations for cooking about the fireplace of either. And +Morano pointed through a window at the back of the room to another +cottage among the trees, fifty paces away. A red glow streamed from its +windows, growing strong in the darkening forest. +</P> + +<P> +"That is their kitchen, master," he said. "The whole house is kitchen." +His eyes looked eagerly at it, for, though he loved bacon, he welcomed +the many signs of a dinner of boundless variety. +</P> + +<P> +As he and his master returned to the long hall great plates of polished +wood were being laid on the table. They gave Rodriguez a place on the +right of the great chair that had the crown of the forest carved on the +back. +</P> + +<P> +"Whose chair is that?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"The King of Shadow Valley," they said. +</P> + +<P> +"He is not here then," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Who knows?" said a bowman. +</P> + +<P> +"It is his chair," said another; "his place is ready. None knows the +ways of the King of Shadow Valley." +</P> + +<P> +"He comes sometimes at this hour," said a third, "as the boar comes to +Heather Pool at sunset. But not always. None knows his ways." +</P> + +<P> +"If they caught the King," said another, "the forest would perish. None +loves it as he, none knows its ways as he, no other could so defend it." +</P> + +<P> +"Alas," said Miguel, "some day when he be not here they will enter the +forest." All knew whom he meant by they. "And the goodly trees will +go." He spoke as a man foretelling the end of the world; and, as men to +whom no less was announced, the others listened to him. They all loved +Shadow Valley. +</P> + +<P> +In this man's time, so they told Rodriguez, none entered the forest to +hurt it, no tree was cut except by his command, and venturous men +claiming rights from others than him seldom laid axe long to tree +before he stood near, stepping noiselessly from among shadows of trees +as though he were one of their spirits coming for vengeance on man. +</P> + +<P> +All this they told Rodriguez, but nothing definite they told of their +king, where he was yesterday, where he might be now; and any questions +he asked of such things seemed to offend a law of the forest. +</P> + +<P> +And then the dishes were carried in, to Morano's great delight: with +wide blue eyes he watched the produce of that mighty estate coming in +through the doorway cooked. Boars' heads, woodcock, herons, plates full +of fishes, all manner of small eggs, a roe-deer and some rabbits, were +carried in by procession. And the men set to with their ivory-handled +knives, each handle being the whole tusk of a boar. And with their +eating came merriment and tales of past huntings and talk of the forest +and stories of the King of Shadow Valley. +</P> + +<P> +And always they spoke of him not only with respect but also with the +discretion, Rodriguez thought, of men that spoke of one who might be +behind them at that moment, and one who tolerated no trifling with his +authority. Then they sang songs again, such as Rodriguez had heard on +the road, and their merry lives passed clearly before his mind again, +for we live in our songs as no men live in histories. And again +Rodriguez lamented his hard ambition and his long, vague journey, +turning away twice from happiness; once in the village of Lowlight +where happiness deserted him, and here in the goodly forest where he +jilted happiness. How well could he and Morano live as two of this +band, he thought; leaving all cares in cities: for there dwelt cares in +cities even then. Then he put the thought away. And as the evening wore +away with merry talk and with song, Rodriguez turned to Miguel and told +him how it was with la Garda and broached the matter of horses. And +while the others sang Miguel spoke sadly to him. "Master," he said, "la +Garda shall never take you in Shadow Valley, yet if you must leave us +to make your fortune in the wars, though your fortune waits you here, +there be many horses in the forest, and you and your servant shall have +the best." +</P> + +<P> +"Tomorrow morning, seņor?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Even so," said Miguel. +</P> + +<P> +"And how shall I send them to you again?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master, they are yours," said Miguel. +</P> + +<P> +But this Rodriguez would not have, for as yet he only guessed what +claim at all he had upon Shadow Valley, his speculations being far more +concerned with the identity of the hidalgo that he had fought the night +before, how he concerned Serafina, who had owned the rose that he +carried: in fact his mind was busy with such studies as were proper to +his age. And at last they decided between them on the house of a +lowland smith, who was the furthest man that the bowmen knew who was +secretly true to their king. At his house Rodriguez and Morano should +leave the horses. He dwelt sixty miles from the northern edge of the +forest, and would surely give Rodriguez fresh horses if he possessed +them, for he was a true man to the bowman. His name was Gonzalez and he +dwelt in a queer green house. +</P> + +<P> +They turned then to listen a moment to a hunting song that all the +bowmen were singing about the death of a boar. Its sheer merriment +constrained them. Then Miguel spoke again. "You should not leave the +forest," he said sadly. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez sighed: it was decided. Then Miguel told him of his road, +which ran north-eastward and would one day bring him out of Spain. He +told him how towns on the way, and the river Ebro, and with awe and +reverence he spoke of the mighty Pyrenees. And then Rodriguez rose, for +the start was to be at dawn, and walked quietly through the singing out +of the hall to the room where the great bed was. And soon he slept, and +his dreams joined in the endless hunt through Shadow Valley that was +carved all round the timbers of his bed. +</P> + +<P> +All too soon he heard voices, voices far off at first, to which he drew +nearer and nearer; thus he woke grudgingly out of the deeps of sleep. +It was Miguel and Morano calling him. +</P> + +<P> +When at length he reached the hall all the merriment of the evening was +gone from it but the sober beauty of the forest flooded in through both +windows with early sunlight and bird-song; so that it had not the sad +appearance of places in which we have rejoiced, when we revisit them +next day or next generation and find them all deserted by dance and +song. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez ate his breakfast while the bowmen waited with their bows all +strung by the door. When he was ready they all set off in the early +light through the forest. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez did not criticise his ambition; it sailed too high above his +logic for that; but he regretted it, as he went through the beauty of +the forest among these happy men. But we must all have an ambition, and +Rodriguez stuck to the one he had. He had another, but it was an +ambition with weak wings that could not come to hope. It depended upon +the first. If he could win a castle in the wars he felt that he might +even yet hope towards Lowlight. +</P> + +<P> +Little was said, and Rodriguez was all alone with his thoughts. In two +hours they met a bowman holding two horses. They had gone eight miles. +</P> + +<P> +"Farewell to the forest," said Miguel to Rodriguez. There was almost a +query in his voice. Would Rodriguez really leave them? it seemed to say. +</P> + +<P> +"Farewell," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +Morano too had looked sideways towards his master, seeming almost to +wonder what his answer would be: when it came he accepted it and walked +to the horses. Rodriguez mounted: willing hands helped up Morano. +"Farewell," said Miguel once more. And all the bowmen shouted +"Farewell." +</P> + +<P> +"Make my farewell," said Rodriguez, "to the King of Shadow Valley." +</P> + +<P> +A twig cracked in the forest. +</P> + +<P> +"Hark," said Miguel. "Maybe that was a boar." +</P> + +<P> +"I cannot wait to hunt," said Rodriguez, "for I have far to go." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe," said Miguel, "it was the King's farewell to you." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez looked into the forest and saw nothing. +</P> + +<P> +"Farewell," he said again. The horses were fresh and he let his go. +Morano lumbered behind him. In two miles they came to the edge of the +forest and up a rocky hill, and so to the plains again, and one more +adventure lay behind them. Rodriguez turned round once on the high +ground and took a long look back on the green undulations of peace. The +forest slept there as though empty of men. +</P> + +<P> +Then they rode. In the first hour, easily cantering, they did ten +miles. Then they settled down to what those of our age and country and +occupation know as a hound-jog, which is seven miles an hour. And after +two hours they let the horses rest. It was the hour of the frying-pan. +Morano, having dismounted, stretched himself dolefully; then he brought +out all manner of meats. Rodriguez looked wonderingly at them. +</P> + +<P> +"For the wars, master," said Morano. To whatever wars they went, the +green bowmen seemed to have supplied an ample commissariat. +</P> + +<P> +They ate. And Rodriguez thought of the wars, for the thought of +Serafina made him sad, and his rejection of the life of the forest +saddened him too; so he sought to draw from the future the comfort that +he could not get from the past. +</P> + +<P> +They mounted again and rode again for three hours, till they saw very +far off on a hill a village that Miguel had told them was fifty miles +from the forest. +</P> + +<P> +"We rest the night there," said Rodriguez pointing, though it was yet +seven or eight miles away. +</P> + +<P> +"All the Saints be praised," said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +They dismounted then and went on foot, for the horses were weary. At +evening they rode slowly into the village. At an inn whose hospitable +looks were as cheerfully unlike the Inn of the Dragon and Knight as +possible, they demanded lodging for all four. They went first to the +stable, and when the horses had been handed over to the care of a groom +they returned to the inn, and mine host and Rodriguez had to help +Morano up the three steps to the door, for he had walked nine miles +that day and ridden fifty and he was too weary to climb the steps. +</P> + +<P> +And later Rodriguez sat down alone to his supper at a table well and +variously laden, for the doors of mine hosts' larder were opened wide +in his honour; but Rodriguez ate sparingly, as do weary men. +</P> + +<P> +And soon he sought his bed. And on the old echoing stairs as he and +mine host ascended they met Morano leaning against the wall. What shall +I say of Morano? Reader, your sympathy is all ready to go out to the +poor, weary man. He does not entirely deserve it, and shall not cheat +you of it. Reader, Morano was drunk. I tell you this sorry truth rather +than that the knave should have falsely come by your pity. And yet he +is dead now over three hundred years, having had his good time to the +full. Does he deserve your pity on that account? Or your envy? And to +whom or what would you give it? Well, anyhow, he deserved no pity for +being drunk. And yet he was thirsty, and too tired to eat, and sore in +need of refreshment, and had had no more cause to learn to shun good +wine than he had had to shun the smiles of princesses; and there the +good wine had been, sparkling beside him merrily. +</P> + +<P> +And now, why now, fatigued as he had been an hour or so ago (but time +had lost its tiresome, restless meaning), now he stood firm while all +things and all men staggered. +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," said Rodriguez as he passed that foolish figure, "we go sixty +miles to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"Sixty, master?" said Morano. "A hundred: two hundred." +</P> + +<P> +"It is best to rest now," said his master. +</P> + +<P> +"Two hundred, master, two hundred," Morano replied. +</P> + +<P> +And then Rodriguez left him, and heard him muttering his challenge to +distance still, "Two hundred, two hundred," till the old stairway +echoed with it. +</P> + +<P> +And so he came to his chamber, of which he remembered little, for sleep +lurked there and he was soon with dreams, faring further with them than +my pen can follow. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE EIGHTH CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW HE TRAVELLED FAR +</H3> + +<P> +One blackbird on a twig near Rodriguez' window sang, then there were +fifty singing, and morning arose over Spain all golden and wonderful. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez descended and found mine host rubbing his hands by his good +table, with a look on his face that seemed to welcome the day and to +find good auguries concerning it. But Morano looked as one that, having +fallen from some far better place, is ill-content with earth and the +mundane way. +</P> + +<P> +He had scorned breakfast; but Rodriguez breakfasted. And soon the two +were bidding mine host farewell. They found their horses saddled, they +mounted at once, and rode off slowly in the early day. The horses were +tired and, slowly trotting and walking, and sometimes dismounting and +dragging the horses on, it was nearly two hours before they had done +ten miles and come to the house of the smith in a rocky village: the +street was cobbled and the houses were all of stone. +</P> + +<P> +The early sparkle had gone from the dew, but it was still morning, and +many a man but now sat down to his breakfast, as they arrived and beat +on the door. +</P> + +<P> +Gonzalez the smith opened it, a round and ruddy man past fifty, a +citizen following a reputable trade, but once, ah once, a bowman. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," said Rodriguez, "our horses are weary. We have been told you +will change them for us." +</P> + +<P> +"Who told you that?" said Gonzalez. +</P> + +<P> +"The green bowmen in Shadow Valley," the young man answered. +</P> + +<P> +As a meteor at night lights up with its greenish glare flowers and +blades of grass, twisting long shadows behind them, lights up lawns and +bushes and the deep places of woods, scattering quiet night for a +moment, so the unexpected answer of Rodriguez lit memories in the mind +of the smith all down the long years; and a twinkle and a sparkle of +those memories dancing in woods long forsaken flashed from his eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"The green bowmen, seņor," said Gonzalez. "Ah, Shadow Valley!" +</P> + +<P> +"We left it yesterday," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +When Gonzalez heard this he poured forth questions. "The forest, seņor; +how is it now with the forest? Do the boars still drink at Heather +Pool? Do the geese go still to Greatmarsh? They should have come early +this year. How is it with Larios, Raphael, Migada? Who shoots woodcock +now?" +</P> + +<P> +The questions flowed on past answering, past remembering: he had not +spoken of the forest for years. And Rodriguez answered as such +questions are always answered, saying that all was well, and giving +Gonzalez some little detail of some trifling affair of the forest, +which he treasured as small shells are treasured in inland places when +travellers bring them from the sea; but all that he heard of the forest +seemed to the smith like something gathered on a far shore of time. +Yes, he had been a bowman once. +</P> + +<P> +But he had no horses. One horse that drew a cart, but no horses for +riding at all. And Rodriguez thought of the immense miles lying between +him and the foreign land, keeping him back from his ambition; they all +pressed on his mind at once. The smith was sorry, but he could not make +horses. +</P> + +<P> +"Show him your coin, master," said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah, a small token," said Rodriguez, drawing it forth still on its +green ribbon under his clothing. "The bowman's badge, is it not?" +</P> + +<P> +Gonzalez looked at it, then looked at Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," he said, "you shall have your horses. Give me time: you shall +have them. Enter, master." And he bowed and widely opened the door. "If +you will breakfast in my house while I go to the neighbours you shall +have some horses, master." +</P> + +<P> +So they entered the house, and the smith with many bows gave the +travellers over to the care of his wife, who saw from her husband's +manner that these were persons of importance and as such she treated +them both, and as such entertained them to their second breakfast. And +this meant they ate heartily, as travellers can, who can go without a +breakfast or eat two; and those who dwell in cities can do neither. +</P> + +<P> +And while the plump dame did them honour they spoke no word of the +forest, for they knew not what place her husband's early years had in +her imagination. +</P> + +<P> +They had barely finished their meal when the sound of hooves on cobbles +was heard and Gonzalez beat on the door. They all went to the door and +found him there with two horses. The horses were saddled and bridled. +They fixed the stirrups to please them, then the travellers mounted at +once. Rodriguez made his grateful farewell to the wife of the smith: +then, turning to Gonzalez, he pointed to the two tired horses which had +waited all the while with their reins thrown over a hook on the wall. +</P> + +<P> +"Let the owner of these have them till his own come back," he said, and +added: "How far may I take these?" +</P> + +<P> +"They are good horses," said the smith. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"They could do fifty miles to-day," Gonzalez continued, "and to-morrow, +why, forty, or a little more." +</P> + +<P> +"And where will that bring me?" said Rodriguez, pointing to the +straight road which was going his way, north-eastward. +</P> + +<P> +"That," said Gonzalez, "that should bring you some ten or twenty miles +short of Saspe." +</P> + +<P> +"And where shall I leave the horses?" Rodriguez asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Gonzalez said, "in any village where there be a smith, if you +say 'these are the horses of the smith Gonzalez, who will come for them +one day from here,' they will take them in for you, master." +</P> + +<P> +"But," and Gonzalez walked a little away from his wife, and the horses +walked and he went beside them, "north of here none knows the bowmen. +You will get no fresh horses, master. What will you do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Walk," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +Then they said farewell, and there was a look on the face of the smith +almost such as the sons of men might have worn in Genesis when angels +visited them briefly. +</P> + +<P> +They settled down into a steady trot and trotted thus for three hours. +Noon came, and still there was no rest for Morano, but only dust and +the monotonous sight of the road, on which his eyes were fixed: nearly +an hour more passed, and at last he saw his master halt and turn round +in his saddle. +</P> + +<P> +"Dinner," Rodriguez said. +</P> + +<P> +All Morano's weariness vanished: it was the hour of the frying-pan once +more. +</P> + +<P> +They had done more than twenty-one miles from the house of Gonzalez. +Nimbly enough, in his joy at feeling the ground again, Morano ran and +gathered sticks from the bushes. And soon he had a fire, and a thin +column of grey smoke going up from it that to him was always home. +</P> + +<P> +When the frying-pan warmed and lard sizzled, when the smell of bacon +mingled with the smoke, then Morano was where all wise men and all +unwise try to be, and where some of one or the other some times come +for awhile, by unthought paths and are gone again; for that smoky, +mixed odour was happiness. +</P> + +<P> +Not for long men and horses rested, for soon Rodriguez' ambition was +drawing him down the road again, of which he knew that there remained +to be travelled over two hundred miles in Spain, and how much beyond +that he knew not, nor greatly cared, for beyond the frontier of Spain +he believed there lay the dim, desired country of romance where roads +were long no more and no rain fell. They mounted again and pushed on +for this country. Not a village they saw but that Morano hoped that +here his affliction would end and that he would dismount and rest; and +always Rodriguez rode on and Morano followed, and with a barking of +dogs they were gone and the village rested behind them. For many an +hour their slow trot carried them on; and Morano, clutching the saddle +with worn arms, already was close to despair, when Rodriguez halted in +a little village at evening before an inn. They had done their fifty +miles from the house of Gonzalez, and even a little more. +</P> + +<P> +Morano rolled from his horse and beat on the small green door. Mine +host came out and eyed them, preening the point of his beard; and +Rodriguez sat his horse and looked at him. They had not the welcome +here that Gonzalez gave them; but there was a room to spare for +Rodriguez, and Morano was promised what he asked for, straw; and there +was shelter to be had for the horses. It was all the travellers needed. +</P> + +<P> +Children peered at the strangers, gossips peeped out of doors to gather +material concerning them, dogs noted their coming, the eyes of the +little village watched them curiously, but Rodriguez and Morano passed +into the house unheeding; and past those two tired men the mellow +evening glided by like a dream. Tired though Rodriguez was he noticed a +certain politeness in mine host while he waited at supper, which had +not been noticeable when he had first received him, and rightly put +this down to some talk of Morano's; but he did not guess that Morano +had opened wide blue eyes and, babbling to his host, had guilelessly +told him that his master a week ago had killed an uncivil inn-keeper. +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely were late birds home before Rodriguez sought his bed, and not +all of them were sleeping before he slept. +</P> + +<P> +Another morning shone, and appeared to Spain, and all at once Rodriguez +was wide awake. It was the eighth day of his wanderings. +</P> + +<P> +When he had breakfasted and paid his due in silver he and Morano +departed, leaving mine host upon his doorstep bowing with an almost +perplexed look on his shrewd face as he took the points of moustachios +and beard lightly in turn between finger and thumb: for we of our day +enter vague details about ourselves in the book downstairs when we stay +at inns, but it was mine host's custom to gather all that with his +sharp eyes. Whatever he gathered, Rodriguez and Morano were gone. +</P> + +<P> +But soon their pace dwindled, the trot slackening and falling to a +walk; soon Rodriguez learned what it is to travel with tired horses. To +Morano riding was merely riding, and the discomforts of that were so +great that he noticed no difference. But to Rodriguez, his continual +hitting and kicking his horse's sides, his dislike of doing it, the +uselessness of it when done, his ambition before and the tired beast +underneath, the body always some yards behind the beckoning spirit, +were as great vexation as a traveller knows. It came to dismounting and +walking miles on foot; even then the horses hung back. They halted an +hour over dinner while the horses grazed and rested, and they returned +to their road refreshed by the magic that was in the frying-pan, but +the horses were no fresher. +</P> + +<P> +When our bodies are slothful and lie heavy, never responding to the +spirit's bright promptings, then we know dullness: and the burden of it +is the graver for hearing our spirits call faintly, as the chains of a +buccaneer in some deep prison, who hears a snatch of his comrades' +singing as they ride free by the coast, would grow more unbearable than +ever before. But the weight of his tired horse seemed to hang heavier +on the fanciful hopes that Rodriguez' dreams had made. Farther than +ever seemed the Pyrenees, huger than ever their barrier, dimmer and +dimmer grew the lands of romance. +</P> + +<P> +If the hopes of Rodriguez were low, if his fancies were faint, what +material have I left with which to make a story with glitter enough to +hold my readers' eyes to the page: for know that mere dreams and idle +fancies, and all amorous, lyrical, unsubstantial things, are all that +we writers have of which to make a tale, as they are all that the Dim +Ones have to make the story of man. +</P> + +<P> +Sometimes riding, sometimes going on foot, with the thought of the +long, long miles always crowding upon Rodriguez, overwhelming his +hopes; till even the castle he was to win in the wars grew too pale for +his fancy to see, tired and without illusions, they came at last by +starlight to the glow of a smith's forge. He must have done forty-five +miles and he knew they were near Caspe. +</P> + +<P> +The smith was working late, and looked up when Rodriguez halted. Yes, +he knew Gonzalez, a master in the trade: there was a welcome for his +horses. +</P> + +<P> +But for the two human travellers there were excuses, even apologies, +but no spare beds. It was the same in the next three or four houses +that stood together by the road. And the fever of Rodriguez' ambition +drove him on, though Morano would have lain down and slept where they +stood, though he himself was weary. The smith had received his horses; +after that he cared not whether they gave him shelter or not, the +alternative being the road, and that bringing nearer his wars and the +castle he was to win. And that fancy that led his master Morano allowed +always to lead him too, though a few more miles and he would have +fallen asleep as he walked and dropped by the roadside and slept on. +Luckily they had gone barely two miles from the forge where the horses +rested, when they saw a high, dark house by the road and knocked on the +door and found shelter. It was an old woman who let them in, a farmer's +wife, and she had room for them and one mattress, but no bed. They were +too tired to eat and did not ask for food, but at once followed her up +the booming stairs of her house, which were all dark but for her +candle, and so came among huge minuetting shadows to the long loft at +the top. There was a mattress there which the old woman laid out for +Rodriguez, and a heap of hay for Morano. Just for a moment, as +Rodriguez climbed the last step of the stair and entered the loft where +the huge shadows twirled between the one candle's light and the +unbeaten darkness in corners, just for a moment romance seemed to +beckon to him; for a moment, in spite of his fatigue and dejection, in +spite of the possibility of his quest being crazy, for a moment he felt +that great shadows and echoing boards, the very cobwebs even that hung +from the black rafters, were all romantic things; he felt that his was +a glorious adventure and that all these things that filled the loft in +the night were such as should fitly attend on youth and glory. In a +moment that feeling was gone he knew not why it had come. And though he +remembered it till grey old age, when he came to know the causes of +many things, he never knew what romance might have to do with shadows +or echoes at night in an empty room, and only knew of such fancies that +they came from beyond his understanding, whether from wisdom or folly. +</P> + +<P> +Morano was first asleep, as enormous snores testified, almost before +the echoes had died away of the footsteps of the old woman descending +the stairs; but soon Rodriguez followed him into the region of dreams, +where fantastic ambitions can live with less of a struggle than in the +broad light of day: he dreamed he walked at night down a street of +castles strangely colossal in an awful starlight, with doors too vast +for any human need, whose battlements were far in the heights of night; +and chose, it being in time of war, the one that should be his; but the +gargoyles on it were angry and spoiled the dream. +</P> + +<P> +Dream followed dream with furious rapidity, as the dreams of tired men +do, racing each other, jostling and mingling and dancing, an +ill-assorted company: myriads went by, a wild, grey, cloudy multitude; +and with the last walked dawn. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez rose more relieved to quit so tumultuous a rest than +refreshed by having had it. +</P> + +<P> +He descended, leaving Morano to sleep on, and not till the old dame had +made a breakfast ready did he return to interrupt his snores. +</P> + +<P> +Even as he awoke upon his heap of hay Morano remained as true to his +master's fantastic quest as the camel is true to the pilgrimage to +Mecca. He awoke grumbling, as the camel grumbles at dawn when the packs +are put on him where he lies, but never did he doubt that they went to +victorious wars where his master would win a castle splendid with +towers. +</P> + +<P> +Breakfast cheered both the travellers. And then the old lady told +Rodriguez that Caspe was but a three hours' walk, and that cheered them +even more, for Caspe is on the Ebro, which seemed to mark for Rodriguez +a stage in his journey, being carried easily in his imagination, like +the Pyrenees. What road he would take when he reached Caspe he had not +planned. And soon Rodriguez expressed his gratitude, full of fervour, +with many a flowery phrase which lived long in the old dame's mind; and +the visit of those two travellers became one of the strange events of +that house and was chief of the memories that faintly haunted the +rafters of the loft for years. +</P> + +<P> +They did not reach Caspe in three hours, but went lazily, being weary; +for however long a man defies fatigue the hour comes when it claims +him. The knowledge that Caspe lay near with sure lodging for the night, +soothed Rodriguez' impatience. And as they loitered they talked, and +they decided that la Garda must now be too far behind to pursue any +longer. They came in four hours to the bank of the Ebro and there saw +Caspe near them; but they dined once more on the grass, sitting beside +the river, rather than enter the town at once, for there had grown in +both travellers a liking for the wanderers' green table of earth. +</P> + +<P> +It was a time to make plans. The country of romance was far away and +they were without horses. +</P> + +<P> +"Will you buy horses, master?" said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"We might not get them over the Pyrenees," said Rodriguez, though he +had a better reason, which was that three gold pieces did not buy two +saddled horses. There were no more friends to hire from. Morano grew +thoughtful. He sat with his feet dangling over the bank of the Ebro. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," he said after a while, "this river goes our way. Let us come +by boat, master, and drift down to France at our ease." +</P> + +<P> +To get a river over a range of mountains is harder than to get horses. +Some such difficulty Rodriguez implied to him; but Morano, having come +slowly by an idea, parted not so easily with it. +</P> + +<P> +"It goes our way, master," he repeated, and pointed a finger at the +Ebro. +</P> + +<P> +At this moment a certain song that boatmen sing on that river, when the +current is with them and they have nothing to do but be idle and their +lazy thoughts run to lascivious things, came to the ears of Rodriguez +and Morano; and a man with a bright blue sash steered down the Ebro. He +had been fishing and was returning home. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano said, "that knave shall row us there." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez seeing that the idea was fixed in Morano's mind determined +that events would move it sooner than argument, and so made no reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall I tell him, master?" asked Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Rodriguez, "if he can row us over the Pyrenees." +</P> + +<P> +This was the permission that Morano sought, and a hideous yell broke +from his throat hailing the boatman. The boatman looked up lazily, a +young man with strong brown arms, turning black moustaches towards +Morano. Again Morano hailed him and ran along the bank, while the boat +drifted down and the boatman steered in towards Morano. Somehow Morano +persuaded him to come in to see what he wanted; and in a creek he ran +his boat aground, and there he and Morano argued and bargained. But +Rodriguez remained where he was, wondering why it took so long to turn +his servant's mind from that curious fancy. At last Morano returned. +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, "he will row us to the Pyrenees." +</P> + +<P> +"The Pyrenees!" said Rodriguez. "The Ebro runs into the sea." For they +had taught him this at the college of San Josephus. +</P> + +<P> +"He will row us there," said Morano, "for a gold piece a day, rowing +five hours each day." +</P> + +<P> +Now between them they had but four gold pieces; but that did not make +the Ebro run northward. It seemed that the Ebro, after going their way, +as Morano had said, for twenty or thirty miles, was joined by the river +Segre, and that where the Ebro left them, turning eastwards, the course +of the Segre took them on their way: but it would be rowing against the +current. +</P> + +<P> +"How far is it?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"A hundred miles, he says," answered Morano. "He knows it well." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez calculated swiftly. First he added thirty miles; for he knew +that his countrymen took a cheerful view of distance, seldom allowing +any distance to oppress them under its true name at the out set of a +journey; then he guessed that the boatman might row five miles an hour +for the first thirty miles with the stream of the Ebro, and he hoped +that he might row three against the Segre until they came near the +mountains, where the current might grow too strong. +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," he said, "we shall have to row too." +</P> + +<P> +"Row, master?" said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"We can pay him for four days," said Rodriguez. "If we all row we may +go far on our way." +</P> + +<P> +"It is better than riding," replied Morano with entire resignation. +</P> + +<P> +And so they walked to the creek and Rodriguez greeted the boatman, +whose name was Perez; and they entered the boat and he rowed them down +to Caspe. And, in the house of Perez, Rodriguez slept that night in a +large dim room, untidy with diverse wares: they slept on heaps of +things that pertained to the river and fishing. Yet it was late before +Rodriguez slept, for in sight of his mind came glimpses at last of the +end of his journey; and, when he slept at last, he saw the Pyrenees. +Through the long night their mighty heads rejected him, staring +immeasurably beyond him in silence, and then in happier dreams they +beckoned him for a moment. Till at last a bird that had entered the +city of Caspe sang clear and it was dawn. With that first light +Rodriguez arose and awoke Morano. Together they left that long haven of +lumber and found Perez already stirring. They ate hastily and all went +down to the boat, the unknown that waits at the end of all strange +journeys quickening their steps as they went through the early light. +</P> + +<P> +Perez rowed first and the others took their turns and so they went all +the morning down the broad flood of the Ebro, and came in the afternoon +to its meeting place with the Segre. And there they landed and +stretched their limbs on shore and lit a fire and feasted, before they +faced the current that would be henceforth against them. Then they +rowed on. +</P> + +<P> +When they landed by starlight and unrolled a sheet of canvas that Perez +had put in the boat, and found what a bad time starlight is for +pitching a tent, Rodriguez and Morano had rowed for four hours each and +Perez had rowed for five. They carried no timber in the boat but used +the oars for tent-poles and cut tent-pegs with a small hatchet that +Perez had brought. +</P> + +<P> +They stumbled on rocks, tore the canvas on bushes, lost the same thing +over and over again; in fact they were learning the craft of wandering. +Yet at last their tent was up and a good fire comforting them outside, +and Morano had cooked the food and they had supped and talked, and +after that they slept. And over them sleeping the starlight faded away, +and in the greyness that none of them dreamed was dawn five clear notes +were heard so shrill in the night that Rodriguez half waking wondered +what bird of the darkness called, and learned from the answering chorus +that it was day. +</P> + +<P> +He woke Morano who rose in that chilly hour and, striking sparks among +last night's embers, soon had a fire: they hastily made a meal and +wrapped up their tent and soon they were going onward against the tide +of the Segre. And that day Morano rowed more skilfully; and Rodriguez +unwrapped his mandolin and played, reclining in the boat while he +rested from rowing. And the mandolin told them all, what the words of +none could say, that they fared to adventure in the land of Romance, to +the overthrow of dullness and the sameness of all drear schemes and the +conquest of discontent in the spirit of man; and perhaps it sang of a +time that has not yet come, or the mandolin lied. +</P> + +<P> +That evening three wiser men made their camp before starlight. They +were now far up the Segre. +</P> + +<P> +For thirteen hours next day they toiled at the oars or lay languid. And +while Rodriguez rested he played on his mandolin. The Segre slipped by +them. +</P> + +<P> +They seemed like no men on their way to war, but seemed to loiter as +the bright river loitered, which slid seaward in careless ease and was +wholly freed from time. +</P> + +<P> +On this day they heard men speak of the Pyrenees, two men and a woman +walking by the river; their voices came to the boat across the water, +and they spoke of the Pyrenees. And on the next day they heard men +speak of war. War that some farmers had fled from on the other side of +the mountain. When Rodriguez heard these chance words his dreams came +nearer till they almost touched the edges of reality. +</P> + +<P> +It was the last day of Perez' rowing. He rowed well although they +neared the cradle of the Segre and he struggled against them in his +youth. Grey peaks began to peer that had nursed that river. Grey faces +of stone began to look over green hills. They were the Pyrenees. +</P> + +<P> +When Rodriguez saw at last the Pyrenees he drew a breath and was unable +to speak. Soon they were gone again below the hills: they had but +peered for a moment to see who troubled the Segre. +</P> + +<P> +And the sun set and still they did not camp, but Perez rowed on into +the starlight. That day he rowed six hours. +</P> + +<P> +They pitched their tent as well as they could in the darkness; and, +breathing a clear new air all crisp from the Pyrenees, they slept +outside the threshold of adventure. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez awoke cold. Once more he heard the first blackbird who sings +clear at the edge of night all alone in the greyness, the nightingale's +only rival; a rival like some unknown in the midst of a crowd who for a +moment leads some well-loved song, in notes more liquid than a +master-singer's; and all the crowd joins in and his voice is lost, and +no one learns his name. At once a host of birds answered him out of dim +bushes, whose shapes had barely as yet emerged from night. And in this +chorus Perez awoke, and even Morano. +</P> + +<P> +They all three breakfasted together, and then the wanderers said +good-bye to Perez. And soon he was gone with his bright blue sash, +drifting homewards with the Segre, well paid yet singing a little sadly +as he drifted; for he had been one of a quest, and now he left it at +the edge of adventure, near solemn mountains and, beyond them, +romantic, near-unknown lands. So Perez left and Rodriguez and Morano +turned again to the road, all the more lightly because they had not +done a full day's march for so long, and now a great one unrolled its +leagues before them. +</P> + +<P> +The heads of the mountains showed themselves again. They tramped as in +the early days of their quest. And as they went the mountains, +unveiling themselves slowly, dropping film after film of distance that +hid their mighty forms, gradually revealed to the wanderers the +magnificence of their beauty. Till at evening Rodriguez and Morano +stood on a low hill, looking at that tremendous range, which lifted far +above the fields of Earth, as though its mountains were no earthly +things but sat with Fate and watched us and did not care. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez and Morano stood and gazed in silence. They had come twenty +miles since morning, they were tired and hungry, but the mountains held +them: they stood there looking neither for rest nor food. Beyond them, +sheltering under the low hills, they saw a little village. Smoke +straggled up from it high into the evening: beyond the village woods +sloped away upwards. But far above smoke or woods the bare peaks +brooded. Rodriguez gazed on their austere solemnity, wondering what +secret they guarded there for so long, guessing what message they held +and hid from man; until he learned that the mystery they guarded among +them was of things that he knew not and could never know. +</P> + +<P> +Tinkle-ting said the bells of a church, invisible among the houses of +that far village. Tinkle-ting said the crescent of hills that sheltered +it. And after a while, speaking out of their grim and enormous silences +with all the gravity of their hundred ages, Tinkle-ting said the +mountains. With this trivial message Echo returned from among the homes +of the mighty, where she had run with the small bell's tiny cry to +trouble their crowned aloofness. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez and Morano pressed on, and the mountains cloaked themselves +as they went, in air of many colours; till the stars came out and the +lights of the village gleamed. In darkness, with surprise in the tones +of the barking dogs, the two wanderers came to the village where so few +ever came, for it lay at the end of Spain, cut off by those mighty +rocks, and they knew not much of what lands lay beyond. +</P> + +<P> +They beat on a door below a hanging board, on which was written "The +Inn of the World's End": a wandering scholar had written it and had +been well paid for his work, for in those days writing was rare. The +door was opened for them by the host of the inn, and they entered a +room in which men who had supped were sitting at a table. They were all +of them men from the Spanish side of the mountains, farmers come into +the village on the affairs of Mother Earth; next day they would be back +at their farms again; and of the land the other side of the mountains +that was so near now they knew nothing, so that it still remained for +the wanderers a thing of mystery wherein romance could dwell: and +because they knew nothing of that land the men at the inn treasured all +the more the rumours that sometimes came from it, and of these they +talked, and mine host listened eagerly, to whom all tales were brought +soon or late; and most he loved to hear tales from beyond the mountains. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez and Morano sat still and listened, and the talk was all of +war. It was faint and vague like fable, but rumour clearly said War, +and the other side of the mountains. It may be that no man has a crazy +ambition without at moments suspecting it; but prove it by the +touchstone of fact and he becomes at once as a woman whose invalid son, +after years of seclusion indoors, wins unexpectedly some athletic +prize. When Rodriguez heard all this talk of wars quite near he thought +of his castle as already won; his thoughts went further even, floating +through Lowlight in the glowing evening, and drifting up and down past +Serafina's house below the balcony where she sat for ever. +</P> + +<P> +Some said the Duke would never attack the Prince because the Duke's +aunt was a princess from the Troubadour's country. Another said that +there would surely be war. Others said that there was war already, and +too late for man to stop it. All said it would soon be over. +</P> + +<P> +And one man said that it was the last war that would come, because +gunpowder made fighting impossible. It could smite a man down, he said, +at two hundred paces, and a man be slain not knowing whom he fought. +Some loved fighting and some loved peace, he said, but gunpowder suited +none. +</P> + +<P> +"I like not the sound of that gunpowder, master," said Morano to +Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Nobody likes it," said the man at the table. "It is the end of war." +And some sighed and some were glad. But Rodriguez determined to push on +before the last war was over. +</P> + +<P> +Next morning Rodriguez paid the last of his silver pieces and set off +with Morano before any but mine host were astir. There was nothing but +the mountains in front of them. +</P> + +<P> +They climbed all the morning and they came to the fir woods. There they +lit a good fire and Morano brought out his frying-pan. Over the meal +they took stock of their provisions and found that, for all the store +Morano had brought from the forest, they had now only food for three +days; and they were quite without money. Money in those uplifted wastes +seemed trivial, but the dwindling food told Rodriguez that he must +press on; for man came among those rocky monsters supplied with all his +needs, or perished unnoticed before their stony faces. All the +afternoon they passed through the fir woods, and as shadows began to +grow long they passed the last tree. The village and all the fields +about it and the road by which they had come were all spread out below +them like little trivial things dimly remembered from very long ago by +one whose memory weakens. Distance had dwarfed them, and the cold +regard of those mighty peaks ignored them. And then a shadow fell on +the village, then tiny lights shone out. It was night down there. Still +the two wanderers climbed on in the daylight. With their faces to the +rocks they scarce saw night climb up behind them. But when Rodriguez +looked up at the sky to see how much light was left, and met the calm +gaze of the evening star, he saw that Night and the peaks were met +together, and understood all at once how puny an intruder is man. +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "we must rest here for the night." +</P> + +<P> +Morano looked round him with an air of discontent, not with his +master's words but with the rocks' angular hardness. There was scarce a +plant of any kind near them now. They were near the snow, which had +flushed like a wild rose at sunset but was now all grey. Grey cliffs +seemed to be gazing sheer at eternity; and here was man, the creature +of a moment, who had strayed in the cold all homeless among his +betters. There was no welcome for them there: whatever feeling great +mountains evoke, THAT feeling was clear in Rodriguez and Morano. They +were all amongst those that have other aims, other ends, and know +naught of man. A bitter chill from the snow and from starry space drove +this thought home. +</P> + +<P> +They walked on looking for a better place, as men will, but found none. +And at last they lay down on the cold earth under a rock that seemed to +give shelter from the wind, and there sought sleep; but cold came +instead, and sleep kept far from the tremendous presences of the peaks +of the Pyrenees that gazed on things far from here. +</P> + +<P> +An ageing moon arose, and Rodriguez touched Morano and rose up; and the +two went slowly on, tired though they were. Picture the two tiny +figures, bent, shivering and weary, walking with clumsy sticks cut in +the wood, amongst the scorn of those tremendous peaks, which the moon +showed all too clearly. +</P> + +<P> +They got little warmth from walking, they were too weary to run; and +after a while they halted and burned their sticks, and got a little +warmth for some moments from their fire, which burned feebly and +strangely in those inhuman solitudes. +</P> + +<P> +Then they went on again and their track grew steeper. They rested again +for fatigue, and rose and climbed again because of the cold; and all +the while the peaks stared over them to spaces far beyond the thought +of man. +</P> + +<P> +Long before Spain knew anything of dawn a monster high in heaven smiled +at the sun, a peak out-towering all its aged children. It greeted the +sun as though this lonely thing, that scorned the race of man since +ever it came, had met a mighty equal out in Space. The vast peak +glowed, and the rest of its grey race took up the greeting leisurely +one by one. Still it was night in all Spanish houses. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez and Morano were warmed by that cold peak's glow, though no +warmth came from it at all; but the sight of it cheered them and their +pulses rallied, and so they grew warmer in that bitter hour. +</P> + +<P> +And then dawn came, and showed them that they were near the top of the +pass. They had come to the snow that gleams there everlastingly. +</P> + +<P> +There was no material for a fire but they ate cold meats, and went +wearily on. They passed through that awful assemblage of peaks. By noon +they were walking upon level ground. +</P> + +<P> +In the afternoon Rodriguez, tired with the journey and with the heat of +the sun, decided that it was possible to sleep, and, wrapping his cloak +around him, he lay down, doing what Morano would have done, by +instinct. Morano was asleep at once and Rodriguez soon after. They +awoke with the cold at sunset. +</P> + +<P> +Refreshed amazingly they ate some food and started their walk again to +keep themselves warm for the night. They were still on level ground and +set out with a good stride in their relief at being done with climbing. +Later they slowed down and wandered just to keep warm. And some time in +the starlight they felt their path dip, and knew that they were going +downward now to the land of Rodriguez' dreams. +</P> + +<P> +When the peaks glowed again, first meeting day in her earliest +dancing-grounds of filmy air, they stood now behind the wanderers. +Below them still in darkness lay the land of their dream, but hitherto +it had always faded at dawn. Now hills put up their heads one by one +through films of mist; woods showed, then hedges, and afterwards +fields, greyly at first and then, in the cold hard light of morning, +becoming more and more real. The sight of the land so long sought, at +moments believed by Morano not to exist on earth, perhaps to have faded +away when fables died, swept their fatigue from the wanderers, and they +stepped out helped by the slope of the Pyrenees and cheered by the +rising sun. They came at last to things that welcome man, little shrubs +flowering, and—at noon—to the edge of a fir wood. They entered the +wood and lit a merry fire, and heard birds singing, at which they both +rejoiced, for the great peaks had said nothing. +</P> + +<P> +They ate the food that Morano cooked, and drew warmth and cheer from +the fire, and then they slept a little: and, rising from sleep, they +pushed on through the wood, downward and downward toward the land of +their dreams, to see if it was true. +</P> + +<P> +They passed the wood and came to curious paths, and little hills, and +heath, and rocky places, and wandering vales that twisted all awry. +They passed through them all with the slope of the mountain behind +them. When level rays from the sunset mellowed the fields of France the +wanderers were walking still, but the peaks were far behind them, +austerely gazing on the remotest things, forgetting the footsteps of +man. And walking on past soft fields in the evening, all tilted a +little about the mountain's feet, they had scarcely welcomed the sight +of the evening star, when they saw before them the mild glow of a +window and knew they were come again to the earth that is mother to +man. In their cold savagery the inhuman mountains decked themselves out +like gods with colours they took from the sunset; then darkened, all +those peaks, in brooding conclave and disappeared in the night. And the +hushed night heard the tiny rap of Morano's hands on the door of the +house that had the glowing window. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE NINTH CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW HE WON A CASTLE IN SPAIN +</H3> + +<P> +The woman that came to the door had on her face a look that pleased +Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you soldiers?" she said. And her scared look portended war. +</P> + +<P> +"My master is a traveller looking for the wars," said Morano. "Are the +wars near?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, no, not near," said the woman; "not near." +</P> + +<P> +And something in the anxious way she said "not near" pleased Morano +also. +</P> + +<P> +"We shall find those wars, master," he said. +</P> + +<P> +And then they both questioned her. It seemed the wars were but twenty +miles away. "But they will move northward," she said. "Surely they will +move farther off?" +</P> + +<P> +Before the next night was passed Rodriguez' dream might come true! +</P> + +<P> +And then the man came to the door anxious at hearing strange voices; +and Morano questioned him too, but he understood never a word. He was a +French farmer that had married a Spanish girl, out of the wonderful +land beyond the mountains: but whether he understood her or not he +never understood Spanish. But both Rodriguez and the farmer's wife knew +the two languages, and he had no difficulty in asking for lodging for +the night; and she looked wistfully at him going to the wars, for in +those days wars were small and not every man went. The night went by +with dreams that were all on the verge of waking, which passed like +ghosts along the edge of night almost touched by the light of day. It +was Rodriguez whom these dreams visited. The farmer and his wife +wondered awhile and then slept; Morano slept with all his wonted +lethargy; but Rodriguez with his long quest now on the eve of +fulfilment slept a tumultuous sleep. Sometimes his dreams raced over +the Pyrenees, running south as far as Lowlight; and sometimes they +rushed forward and clung like bats to the towers of the great castle +that he should win in the war. And always he lay so near the edge of +sleep that he never distinguished quite between thought and dream. +</P> + +<P> +Dawn came and he put by all the dreams but the one that guided him +always, and went and woke Morano. They ate hurriedly and left the +house, and again the farmer's wife looked curiously at Rodriguez, as +though there were something strange in a man that went to wars: for +those days were not as these days. They followed the direction that had +been given them, and never had the two men walked so fast. By the end +of four hours they had done sixteen miles. They halted then, and Morano +drew out his frying-pan with a haughty flourish, and cooked in the +grand manner, every movement he made was a triumphant gesture; for they +had passed refugees! War was now obviously close: they had but to take +the way that the refugees were not taking. The dream was true: Morano +saw himself walking slowly in splendid dress along the tapestried +corridors of his master's castle. He would have slept after eating and +would have dreamed more of this, but Rodriguez commanded him to put the +things together: so what remained of the food disappeared again in a +sack, the frying-pan was slung over his shoulders, and Morano stood +ready again for the road. +</P> + +<P> +They passed more refugees: their haste was unmistakable, and told more +than their lips could have told had they tarried to speak: the wars +were near now, and the wanderers went leisurely. +</P> + +<P> +As they strolled through the twilight they came over the brow of a +hill, a little fold of the earth disturbed eras ago by the awful +rushing up of the Pyrenees; and they saw the evening darkening over the +fields below them and a white mist rising only just clear of the grass, +and two level rows of tents greyish-white like the mist, with a few +more tents scattered near them. The tents had come up that evening with +the mist, for there were men still hammering pegs. They were lighting +fires now as evening settled in. Two hundred paces or so separated each +row. It was two armies facing each other. +</P> + +<P> +The gloaming faded: mist and the tents grew greyer: camp-fires blinked +out of the dimness and grew redder and redder, and candles began to be +lit beside the tents till all were glowing pale golden: Rodriguez and +Morano stood there wondering awhile as they looked on the beautiful +aura that surrounds the horrors of war. +</P> + +<P> +They came by starlight to that tented field, by twinkling starlight to +the place of Rodriguez' dream. +</P> + +<P> +"For which side will you fight, master?" said Morano in his ear. +</P> + +<P> +"For the right," said Rodriguez and strode on towards the nearest +tents, never doubting that he would be guided, though not trying to +comprehend how this could be. +</P> + +<P> +They met with an officer going among his tents. "Where do you go?" he +shouted. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," Rodriguez said, "I come with my mandolin to sing songs to you." +</P> + +<P> +And at this the officer called out and others came from their tents; +and Rodriguez repeated his offer to them not without confidence, for he +knew that he had a way with the mandolin. And they said that they +fought a battle on the morrow and could not listen to song: they heaped +scorn on singing for they said they must needs prepare for the fight: +and all of them looked with scorn on the mandolin. So Rodriguez bowed +low to them with doffed hat and left them; and Morano bowed also, +seeing his master bow; and the men of that camp returned to their +preparations. A short walk brought Rodriguez and his servant to the +other camp, over a flat field convenient for battle. He went up to a +large tent well lit, the door being open towards him; and, having +explained his errand to a sentry that stood outside, he entered and saw +three persons of quality that were sitting at a table. To them he bowed +low in the tent door, saying: "Seņors, I am come to sing songs to you, +playing the while upon my mandolin." +</P> + +<P> +And they welcomed him gladly, saying: "We fight tomorrow and will +gladly cheer our hearts with the sound of song and strengthen our men +thereby." +</P> + +<P> +And so Rodriguez sang among the tents, standing by a great fire to +which they led him; and men came from the tents and into the circle of +light, and in the darkness outside it were more than Rodriguez saw. And +he sang to the circle of men and the vague glimmer of faces. Songs of +their homes he sang them, not in their language, but songs that were +made by old poets about the homes of their infancy, in valleys under +far mountains remote from the Pyrenees. And in the song the yearnings +of dead poets lived again, all streaming homeward like swallows when +the last of the storms is gone: and those yearnings echoed in the +hearts that beat in the night around the campfire, and they saw their +own homes. And then he began to touch his mandolin; and he played them +the tunes that draw men from their homes and that march them away to +war. The tunes flowed up from the firelight: the mandolin knew. And the +men heard the mandolin saying what they would say. +</P> + +<P> +In the late night he ended, and a hush came down on the camp while the +music floated away, going up from the dark ring of men and the fire-lit +faces, touching perhaps the knees of the Pyrenees and drifting thence +wherever echoes go. And the sparks of the camp-fire went straight +upwards as they had done for hours, and the men that sat around it saw +them go: for long they had not seen the sparks stream upwards, for +their thoughts were far away with the mandolin. And all at once they +cheered. And Rodriguez bowed to the one whose tent he had entered, and +sought permission to fight for them in the morning. +</P> + +<P> +With good grace this was accorded him, and while he bowed and well +expressed his thanks he felt Morano touching his elbow. And as soon as +he had gone aside with Morano that fat man's words bubbled over and +were said. +</P> + +<P> +"Master, fight not for these men," he exclaimed, "for they listen to +song till midnight while the others prepare for battle. The others will +win the fight, master, and where will your castle be?" +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "there seems to be truth in that. Yet must we +fight for the right. For how would it be if those that have denied song +should win and thrive? The arm of every good man must be against them. +They have denied song, Morano! We must fight against them, you and I, +while we can lay sword to head." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, indeed, master," said Morano. "But how shall you come by your +castle?" +</P> + +<P> +"As for that," said Rodriguez, "it must some day be won, yet not by +denying song. These have given a welcome to song, and the others have +driven it forth. And what would life be if those that deny song are to +be permitted to thrive unmolested by all good men?" +</P> + +<P> +"I know not, master," said Morano, "but I would have that castle." +</P> + +<P> +"Enough," said Rodriguez. "We must fight for the right." +</P> + +<P> +And so Rodriguez remained true to those that had heard him sing. And +they gave him a casque and breast-plate, proof, they said, against any +sword, and offered a sword that they said would surely cleave any +breast-plate. For they fought not in battle with the nimble rapier. But +Rodriguez did not forsake that famous exultant sword whose deeds he +knew from many an ancient song; which he had brought so far to give it +its old rich drink of blood. He believed it the bright key of the +castle he was to win. +</P> + +<P> +And they gave Rodriguez a good bed on the ground in the tent of the +three leaders, the tent to which he first came; for they honoured him +for the gift of song that he had, and because he was a stranger, and +because he had asked permission to fight for them in their battle. And +Rodriguez took one look by the light of a lantern at the rose he had +carried from Lowlight, then slept a sleep through whose dreams loomed +up the towers of castles. +</P> + +<P> +Dawn came and he slept on still; but by seven all the camp was loudly +astir, for they had promised the enemy to begin the battle at eight. +Rodriguez breakfasted lightly; for, now that the day of his dreams was +come at last and all his hopes depended on the day, an anxiety for many +things oppressed him. It was as though his castle, rosy and fair in +dreams, chilled with its huge cold rocks all the air near it: it was as +though Rodriguez touched it at last with his hands and felt a dankness +of which he had never dreamed. +</P> + +<P> +Then it came to the hour of eight and his anxieties passed. +</P> + +<P> +The army was now drawn up before its tents in line, but the enemy was +not yet ready and so they had to wait. +</P> + +<P> +When the signal at length was given and the cannoniers fired their +pieces, and the musketoons were shot off, many men fell. Now Rodriguez, +with Morano, was placed on the right, and either through a slight +difference in numbers or because of an unevenness in the array of +battle they a little overlapped the enemy's left. When a few men fell +wounded there by the discharge of the musketoons this overlapping was +even more pronounced. +</P> + +<P> +Now the leaders of that fair army scorned all unknightly devices, and +would never have descended to any vile ruse de guerre. The reproach can +therefore never be made against them that they ever intended to +outflank their enemy. Yet, when both armies advanced after the +discharge of the musketoons and the merry noise of the cannon, this +occurred as the result of chance, which no leader can be held +accountable for; so that those that speak of treachery in this battle, +and deliberate outflanking, lie. +</P> + +<P> +Now Rodriguez as he advanced with his sword, when the musketoons were +empty, had already chosen his adversary. For he had carefully watched +those opposite to him, before any smoke should obscure them, and had +selected the one who from the splendour of his dress might be expected +to possess the finest castle. Certainly this adversary outshone those +amongst whom he stood, and gave fair promise of owning goodly +possessions, for he wore a fine green cloak over a dress of lilac, and +his helm and cuirass had a look of crafty workmanship. Towards him +Rodriguez marched. +</P> + +<P> +Then began fighting foot to foot, and there was a pretty laying on of +swords. And had there been a poet there that day then the story of +their fight had come down to you, my reader, all that way from the +Pyrenees, down all those hundreds of years, and this tale of mine had +been useless, the lame repetition in prose of songs that your nurses +had sung to you. But they fought unseen by those that see for the Muses. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez advanced upon his chosen adversary and, having briefly bowed, +they engaged at once. And Rodriguez belaboured his helm till dints +appeared, and beat it with swift strokes yet till the dints were +cracks, and beat the cracks till hair began to appear: and all the +while his adversary's strokes grew weaker and wilder, until he tottered +to earth and Rodriguez had won. Swift then as cats, while Morano kept +off others, Rodriguez leaped to his throat, and, holding up the +stiletto that he had long ago taken as his legacy from the host of the +Dragon and Knight, he demanded the fallen man's castle as ransom for +his life. +</P> + +<P> +"My castle, seņor?" said his prisoner weakly. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Rodriguez impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, seņor," said his adversary and closed his eyes for awhile. +</P> + +<P> +"Does he surrender his castle, master?" asked Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, indeed," said Rodriguez. They looked at each other: all at last +was well. +</P> + +<P> +The battle was rolling away from them and was now well within the +enemy's tents. +</P> + +<P> +History says of that day that the good men won. And, sitting, a Muse +upon her mythical mountain, her decision must needs be one from which +we may not appeal: and yet I wonder if she is ever bribed. Certainly +the shrewd sense of Morano erred for once; for those for whom he had +predicted victory, because they prepared so ostentatiously upon the +field, were defeated; while the others, having made their preparations +long before, were able to cheer themselves with song before the battle +and to win it when it came. +</P> + +<P> +And so Rodriguez was left undisturbed in possession of his prisoner and +with the promise of his castle as a ransom. The battle was swiftly +over, as must needs be where little armies meet so close. The enemy's +camp was occupied, his army routed, and within an hour of beginning the +battle the last of the fighting ceased. +</P> + +<P> +The army returned to its tents to rejoice and to make a banquet, +bringing with them captives and horses and other spoils of war. And +Rodriguez had honour among them because he had fought on the right and +so was one of those that had broken the enemy's left, from which +direction victory had come. And they would have feasted him and done +him honour, both for his work with the sword and for his songs to the +mandolin; and they would have marched away soon to their own country +and would have taken him with them and advanced him to honour there. +But Rodriguez would not stay with them for he had his castle at last, +and must needs march off at once with his captive and Morano to see the +fulfilment of his dream. And therefore he thanked the leaders of that +host with many a courtesy and many a well-bent bow, and explained to +them how it was about his castle, and felicitated them on the victory +of their good cause, and so wished them farewell. And they said +farewell sorrowfully: but when they saw he would go, they gave him +horses for himself and Morano, and another for his captive; and they +heaped them with sacks of provender and blankets and all things that +could give him comfort upon a journey: all this they brought him out of +their spoils of war, and they would give him no less that the most that +the horses could carry. And then Rodriguez turned to his captive again, +who now stood on his feet. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," he said, "pray tell us all of your castle wherewith you ransom +your life." +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," he answered, "I have a castle in Spain." +</P> + +<P> +"Master," broke in Morano, his eyes lighting up with delight, "there +are no castles like the Spanish ones." +</P> + +<P> +They got to horse then, all three; the captive on a horse of far poorer +build than the other two and well-laden with sacks, for Rodriguez took +no chance of his castle cantering, as it were, away from him on four +hooves through the dust. +</P> + +<P> +And when they heard that his journey was by way of the Pyrenees four +knights of that army swore they would ride with him as far as the +frontier of Spain, to bear him company and bring him fuel in the lonely +cold of the mountains. They all set off and the merry army cheered. He +left them making ready for their banquet, and never knew the cause for +which he had fought. +</P> + +<P> +They came by evening again to the house to which Rodriguez had come two +nights before, when he had slept there with his castle yet to win. They +all halted before it, and the man and the woman came to the door +terrified. "The wars!" they said. +</P> + +<P> +"The wars," said one of the riders, "are over, and the just cause has +won." +</P> + +<P> +"The Saints be praised!" said the woman. "But will there be no more +fighting?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never again," said the horseman, "for men are sick of gunpowder." +</P> + +<P> +"The Saints be thanked," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"Say not that," said the horseman, "for Satan invented gunpowder." +</P> + +<P> +And she was silent; but, had none been there, she had secretly thanked +Satan. +</P> + +<P> +They demanded the food and shelter that armed men have the right to +demand. +</P> + +<P> +In the morning they were gone. They became a memory, which lingered +like a vision, made partly of sunset and partly of the splendour of +their cloaks, and so went down the years that those two folk had, a +thing of romance, magnificence and fear. And now the slope of the +mountain began to lift against them, and they rode slowly towards those +unearthly peaks that had deserted the level fields before ever man came +to them, and that sat there now familiar with stars and dawn with the +air of never having known of man. And as they rode they talked. And +Rodriguez talked with the four knights that rode with him, and they +told tales of war and told of the ways of fighting of many men: and +Morano rode behind them beside the captive and questioned him all the +morning about his castle in Spain. And at first the captive answered +his questions slowly, as if he were weary, or as though he were long +from home and remembered its features dimly; but memory soon returned +and he answered clearly, telling of such a castle as Morano had not +dreamed; and the eyes of the fat man bulged as he rode beside him, +growing rounder and rounder as they rode. +</P> + +<P> +They came by sunset to that wood of firs in which Rodriguez had rested. +In the midst of the wood they halted and tethered their horses to +trees; they tied blankets to branches and made an encampment; and in +the midst of it they made a fire, at first, with pine-needles and the +dead lower twigs and then with great logs. And there they feasted +together, all seven, around the fire. And when the feast was over and +the great logs burning well, and red sparks went up slowly towards the +silver stars, Morano turned to the prisoner seated beside him and "Tell +the seņors," he said, "of my master's castle." +</P> + +<P> +And in the silence, that was rather lulled than broken by the +whispering wind from the snow that sighed through the wood, the captive +slowly lifted up his head and spoke in his queer accent. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņors, in Aragon, across the Ebro, are many goodly towers." And as he +spoke they all leaned forward to listen, dark faces bright with +firelight. "On the Ebro's southern bank stands," he went on, "my home." +</P> + +<P> +He told of strange rocks rising from the Ebro; of buttresses built +among them in unremembered times; of the great towers lifting up in +multitudes from the buttresses; and of the mighty wall, windowless +until it came to incredible heights, where the windows shone all safe +from any ladder of war. +</P> + +<P> +At first they felt in his story his pride in his lost home, and +wondered, when he told of the height of his towers, how much he added +in pride. And then the force of that story gripped them all and they +doubted never a battlement, but each man's fancy saw between firelight +and starlight every tower clear in the air. And at great height upon +those marvellous towers the turrets of arches were; queer carvings +grinned down from above inaccessible windows; and the towers gathered +in light from the lonely air where nothing stood but they, and flashed +it far over Aragon; and the Ebro floated by them always new, always +amazed by their beauty. +</P> + +<P> +He spoke to the six listeners on the lonely mountain, slowly, +remembering mournfully; and never a story that Romance has known and +told of castles in Spain has held men more than he held his listeners, +while the sparks flew up toward the peaks of the Pyrenees and did not +reach to them but failed in the night, giving place to the white stars. +</P> + +<P> +And when he faltered through sorrow, or memory weakening, Morano +always, watching with glittering eyes, would touch his arm, sitting +beside him, and ask some question, and the captive would answer the +question and so talk sadly on. +</P> + +<P> +He told of the upper terraces, where heliotrope and aloe and oleander +took sunlight far above their native earth: and though but rare winds +carried the butterflies there, such as came to those fragrant terraces +lingered for ever. +</P> + +<P> +And after a while he spoke on carelessly, and Morano's questions ended, +and none of the men in the firelight said a word; but he spoke on +uninterrupted, holding them as by a spell, with his eyes fixed far away +on black crags of the Pyrenees, telling of his great towers: almost it +might have seemed he was speaking of mountains. And when the fire was +only a deep red glow and white ash showed all round it, and he ceased +speaking, having told of a castle marvellous even amongst the towers of +Spain: all sitting round the embers felt sad with his sadness, for his +sad voice drifted into their very spirits as white mists enter houses, +and all were glad when Rodriguez said to him that one of his ten tall +towers the captive should keep and should live in it for ever. And the +sad man thanked him sadly and showed no joy. +</P> + +<P> +When the tale of the castle and those great towers was done, the wind +that blew from the snow touched all the hearers; they had seemed to be +away by the bank of the Ebro in the heat and light of Spain, and now +the vast night stripped them and the peaks seemed to close round on +them. They wrapped themselves in blankets and lay down in their +shelters. For a while they heard the wind waving branches and the thump +of a horse's hoof restless at night; then they all slept except one +that guarded the captive, and the captive himself who long lay thinking +and thinking. +</P> + +<P> +Dawn stole through the wood and waked none of the sleepers; the birds +all shouted at them, still they slept on; and then the captive's guard +wakened Morano and he stirred up the sparks of the fire and cooked, and +they breakfasted late. And soon they left the wood and faced the bleak +slope, all of them going on foot and leading their horses. +</P> + +<P> +And the track crawled on till it came to the scorn of the peaks, +winding over a shoulder of the Pyrenees, where the peaks gaze cold and +contemptuous away from the things of man. +</P> + +<P> +In the presence of those that bore them company Rodriguez and Morano +felt none of the deadly majesty of those peaks that regard so awfully +over the solitudes. They passed through them telling cheerfully of wars +the four knights had known: and descended and came by sunset to the +lower edge of the snow. They pushed on a little farther and then +camped; and with branches from the last camp that they had heaped on +their horses they made another great fire and, huddling round it in the +blankets that they had brought, found warmth even there so far from the +hearths of men. +</P> + +<P> +And dawn and the cold woke them all on that treeless slope by barely +warm embers. Morano cooked again and they ate in silence. And then the +four knights rose sadly and one bowed and told Rodriguez how they must +now go back to their own country. And grief seized on Rodriguez at his +words, seeing that he was to lose four old friends at once and perhaps +for ever, for when men have fought under the same banner in war they +become old friends on that morning. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņors," said Rodriguez, "we may never meet again!" +</P> + +<P> +And the other looked back to the peaks beyond which the far lands lay, +and made a gesture with his hands. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor, at least," said Rodriguez, "let us camp once more together." +</P> + +<P> +And even Morano babbled a supplication. +</P> + +<P> +"Methinks, seņor," he answered, "we are already across the frontier, +and when we men of the sword cross frontiers misunderstandings arise, +so that it is our custom never to pass across them save when we push +the frontier with us, adding the lands over which we march to those of +our liege lord." +</P> + +<P> +"Seņors," said Rodriguez, "the whole mountain is the frontier. Come +with us one day further." But they would not stay. +</P> + +<P> +All the good things that could be carried they loaded on to the three +horses whose heads were turned towards Spain; then turned, all four, +and said farewell to the three. And long looked each in the face of +Rodriguez as he took his hand in fare well, for they had fought under +the same banner and, as wayfaring was in those days, it was not likely +that they would ever meet again. They turned and went with their horses +back towards the land they had fought for. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez and his captive and Morano went sadly down the mountain. They +came to the fir woods, and rested, and Morano cooked their dinner. And +after a while they were able to ride their horses. +</P> + +<P> +They came to the foot of the mountains, and rode on past the Inn of the +World's End. They camped in the open; and all night long Rodriguez or +Morano guarded the captive. +</P> + +<P> +For two days and part of the third they followed their old course, +catching sight again and again of the river Segre; and then they turned +further west ward to come to Aragon further up the Ebro. All the way +they avoided houses and camped in the open, for they kept their captive +to themselves: and they slept warm with their ample store of blankets. +And all the while the captive seemed morose or ill at ease, speaking +seldom and, when he did, in nervous jerks. +</P> + +<P> +Morano, as they rode, or by the camp fire at evening, still questioned +him now and then about his castle; and sometimes he almost seemed to +contradict himself, but in so vast a castle may have been many styles +of architecture, and it was difficult to trace a contradiction among +all those towers and turrets. His name was Don +Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle on-Ebro. +</P> + +<P> +One night while all three sat and gazed at the camp-fire as men will, +when the chilly stars are still and the merry flames are leaping, +Rodriguez, seeking to cheer his captive's mood, told him some of his +strange adventures. The captive listened with his sombre air. But when +Rodriguez told how they woke on the mountain after their journey to the +sun; and the sun was shining on their faces in the open, but the +magician and his whole house were gone; then there came another look +into Alvidar's eyes. And Rodriguez ended his tale and silence fell, +broken only by Morano saying across the fire, "It is true," and the +captive's thoughtful eyes gazed into the darkness. And then he also +spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," he said, "near to my rose-pink castle which looks into the +Ebro dwells a magician also." +</P> + +<P> +"Is it so?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed so, seņor," said Don Alvidar. "He is my enemy but dwells in awe +of me, and so durst never molest me except by minor wonders." +</P> + +<P> +"How know you that he is a magician?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"By those wonders," answered his captive. "He afflicts small dogs and +my poultry. And he wears a thin, high hat: his beard is also +extraordinary." +</P> + +<P> +"Long?" said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Green," answered Don Alvidar. +</P> + +<P> +"Is he very near the castle?" said Rodriguez and Morano together. +</P> + +<P> +"Too near," said Don Alvidar. +</P> + +<P> +"Is his house wonderful?" Rodriguez asked. +</P> + +<P> +"It is a common house," was the answer. "A mean, long house of one +story. The walls are white and it is well thatched. The windows are +painted green; there are two doors in it and by one of them grows a +rose tree." +</P> + +<P> +"A rose tree?" exclaimed Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"It seemed a rose tree," said Don Alvidar. +</P> + +<P> +"A captive lady chained to the wall perhaps, changed by magic," +suggested Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps," said Don Alvidar. +</P> + +<P> +"A strange house for a magician," said Rodriguez, for it sounded like +any small farmhouse in Spain. +</P> + +<P> +"He much affects mortal ways," replied Don Alvidar. +</P> + +<P> +Little more was then said, the fire being low: and Rodriguez lay down +to sleep while Morano guarded the captive. +</P> + +<P> +And the day after that they came to Aragon, and in one day more they +were across the Ebro; and then they rode west for a day along its +southern bank looking all the while as they rode for Rodriguez' castle. +And more and more silent and aloof, as they rode, grew Don +Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle-on-Ebro. +</P> + +<P> +And just before sunset a cry broke from the captive. "He has taken it!" +he said. And he pointed to just such a house as he had described, a +jolly Spanish farmhouse with white walls and thatch and green shutters, +and a rose tree by one of the doors just as he had told. +</P> + +<P> +"The magician's house. But the castle is gone," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez looked at his face and saw real alarm in it. He said nothing +but rode on in haste, a dim hope in his mind that explanations at the +white cottage might do something for his lost castle. +</P> + +<P> +And when the hooves were heard a woman came out of the cottage door by +the rose tree leading a small child by the hand. And the captive called +to the woman, "Maria, we are lost. And I gave my great castle with +rose-pink towers that stood just here as ransom to this seņor for my +life. But now, alas, I see that that magician who dwelt in the house +where you are now has taken it whither we know not." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Pedro," said the woman, "he took it yesterday." And she turned +blue eyes upon Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +And then Morano would be silent no longer. He had thought vaguely for +some days and intensely for the last few hundreds yards, and now he +blurted out the thoughts that boiled in him. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," he shouted, "he has sold his cattle and bought this raiment +of his, and that helmet that you opened up for him, and never had any +castle on the Ebro with any towers to it, and never knew any magician, +but lived in this house himself, and now your castle is gone, master, +and as for his life ..." +</P> + +<P> +"Be silent a moment, Morano," said Rodriguez, and he turned to the +woman whose eyes were on him still. +</P> + +<P> +"Was there a castle in this place?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, seņor. I swear it," she said. "And my husband, though a poor man, +always spoke the truth." +</P> + +<P> +"She lies," said Morano, and Rodriguez silenced him with a gesture. +</P> + +<P> +"I will get neighbours who will swear it too," she said. +</P> + +<P> +"A lousy neighbourhood," said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +Again Rodriguez silenced him. And then the child spoke in a frightened +voice, holding up a small cross that it had been taught to revere. "I +swear it too," it said. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez heaved a sigh and turned away. "Master," Morano cried in +pained astonishment, "you will not believe their swearings." +</P> + +<P> +"The child swore by the cross," he answered. +</P> + +<P> +"But, master!" Morano exclaimed. +</P> + +<P> +But Rodriguez would say no more. And they rode away aimless in silence. +</P> + +<P> +Galloping hooves were heard and Pedro was there. He had come to give up +his horse. He gave its reins to the scowling Morano but Rodriguez said +never a word. Then he ran round and kissed Rodriguez' hand, who still +was silent, for his hopes were lost with the castle; but he nodded his +head and so parted for ever from the man whom his wife called Pedro, +who called himself Don Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle-on-Ebro. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TENTH CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW HE CAME BACK TO LOWLIGHT +</H3> + +<P> +"Master," Morano said. But Rodriguez rode ahead and would not speak. +</P> + +<P> +They were riding vaguely southward. They had ample provisions on the +horse that Morano led, as well as blankets, which gave them comfort at +night. That night they both got the sleep they needed, now that there +was no captive to guard. All the next day they rode slowly in the April +weather by roads that wandered among tended fields; but a little way +off from the fields there shone low hills in the sunlight, so wild, so +free of man, that Rodriguez remembering them in later years, wondered +if their wild shrubs just hid the frontiers of fairyland. +</P> + +<P> +For two days they rode by the edge of unguessable regions. Had Pan +piped there no one had marvelled, nor though fauns had scurried past +sheltering clumps of azaleas. In the twilight no tiny queens had court +within rings of toadstools: yet almost, almost they appeared. +</P> + +<P> +And on the third day all at once they came to a road they knew. It was +the road by which they had ridden when Rodriguez still had his dream, +the way from Shadow Valley to the Ebro. And so they turned into the +road they knew, as wanderers always will; and, still without aim or +plan, they faced towards Shadow Valley. And in the evening of the day +that followed that, as they looked about for a camping-ground, there +came in sight the village on the hill which Rodriguez knew to be fifty +miles from the forest: it was the village in which they had rested the +first night after leaving Shadow Valley. They did not camp but went on +to the village and knocked at the door of the inn. Habit guides us all +at times, even kings are the slaves of it (though in their presence it +takes the prouder name of precedent); and here were two wanderers +without any plans at all; they were therefore defenceless in the grip +of habit and, seeing an inn they knew, they loitered up to it. Mine +host came again to the door. He cheerfully asked Rodriguez how he had +fared on his journey, but Rodriguez would say nothing. He asked for +lodging for himself and Morano and stabling for the horses: he ate and +slept and paid his due, and in the morning was gone. +</P> + +<P> +Whatever impulses guided Rodriguez as he rode and Morano followed, he +knew not what they were or even that there could be any. He followed +the road without hope and only travelled to change his camping-grounds. +And that night he was half-way between the village and Shadow Valley. +</P> + +<P> +Morano never spoke, for he saw that his master's disappointment was +still raw; but it pleased him to notice, as he had done all day, that +they were heading for the great forest. He cooked their evening meal in +their camp by the wayside and they both ate it in silence. For awhile +Rodriguez sat and gazed at the might-have-beens in the camp-fire: and +when these began to be hidden by white ash he went to his blankets and +slept. And Morano went quietly about the little camp, doing all that +needed to be done, with never a word. When the horses were seen to and +fed, when the knives were cleaned, when everything was ready for the +start next morning, Morano went to his blankets and slept too. And in +the morning again they wandered on. +</P> + +<P> +That evening they saw the low gold rays of the sun enchanting the tops +of a forest. It almost surprised Rodriguez, travelling without an aim, +to recognise Shadow Valley. They quickened their slow pace and, before +twilight faded, they were under the great oaks; but the last of the +twilight could not pierce the dimness of Shadow Valley, and it seemed +as if night had entered the forest with them. +</P> + +<P> +They chose a camping-ground as well as they could in the darkness and +Morano tied the horses to trees a little way off from the camp. Then he +returned to Rodriguez and tied a blanket to the windward side of two +trees to make a kind of bedroom for his master, for they had all the +blankets they needed. And when this was done he set the emblem and +banner of camps, anywhere all over the world in any time, for he +gathered sticks and branches and lit a camp-fire. The first red flames +went up and waved and proclaimed a camp: the light made a little +circle, shadows ran away to the forest, and the circle of light on the +ground and on the trees that stood round it became for that one night +home. +</P> + +<P> +They heard the horses stamp as they always did in the early part of the +night; and then Morano went to give them their fodder. Rodriguez sat +and gazed into the fire, his mind as full of thoughts as the fire was +full of pictures: one by one the pictures in the fire fell in; and all +his thoughts led nowhere. +</P> + +<P> +He heard Morano running back the thirty or forty yards he had gone from +the camp-fire "Master," Morano said, "the three horses are gone." +</P> + +<P> +"Gone?" said Rodriguez. There was little more to say; it was too dark +to track them and he knew that to find three horses in Shadow Valley +was a task that might take years. And after more thought than might +seem to have been needed he said; "We must go on foot." +</P> + +<P> +"Have we far to go, master?" said Morano, for the first time daring to +question him since they left the cottage in Spain. +</P> + +<P> +"I have nowhere to go," said Rodriguez. His head was downcast as he sat +by the fire: Morano stood and looked at him unhappily, full of a +sympathy that he found no words to express. A light wind slipped +through the branches and everything else was still. It was some while +before he lifted his head; and then he saw before him on the other side +of the fire, standing with folded arms, the man in the brown leather +jacket. +</P> + +<P> +"Nowhere to go!" said he. "Who needs go anywhere from Shadow Valley?" +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez stared at him. "But I can't stay here!" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"There is no fairer forest known to man," said the other. "I know many +songs that prove it." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez made no answer but dropped his eyes, gazing with listless +glance once more at the ground. "Come, seņor," said the man in the +leather jacket. "None are unhappy in Shadow Valley." +</P> + +<P> +"Who are you?" said Rodriguez. Both he and Morano were gazing curiously +at the man whom they had saved three weeks ago from the noose. +</P> + +<P> +"Your friend," answered the stranger. +</P> + +<P> +"No friend can help me," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," said the stranger across the fire, still standing with folded +arms, "I remain under an obligation to no man. If you have an enemy or +love a lady, and if they dwell within a hundred miles, either shall be +before you within a week." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez shook his head, and silence fell by the camp-fire. And after +awhile Rodriguez, who was accustomed to dismiss a subject when it was +ended, saw the stranger's eyes on him yet, still waiting for him to say +more. And those clear blue eyes seemed to do more than wait, seemed +almost to command, till they overcame Rodriguez' will and he obeyed and +said, although he could feel each word struggling to stay unuttered, +"Seņor, I went to the wars to win a castle and a piece of land thereby; +and might perchance have wed and ended my wanderings, with those of my +servant here; but the wars are over and no castle is won." +</P> + +<P> +And the stranger saw by his face in the firelight, and knew from the +tones of his voice in the still night, the trouble that his words had +not expressed. +</P> + +<P> +"I remain under an obligation to no man," said the stranger. "Be at +this place in four weeks' time, and you shall have a castle as large as +any that men win by war, and a goodly park thereby." +</P> + +<P> +"Your castle, master!" said Morano delighted, whose only thought up to +then was as to who had got his horses. But Rodriguez only stared: and +the stranger said no more but turned on his heel. And then Rodriguez +awoke out of his silence and wonder. "But where?" he said. "What +castle?" +</P> + +<P> +"That you will see," said the stranger. +</P> + +<P> +"But, but how ..." said Rodriguez. What he meant was, "How can I +believe you?" but he did not put it in words. +</P> + +<P> +"My word was never broken," said the other. And that is a good boast to +make, for those of us who can make it; if we need boast at all. +</P> + +<P> +"Whose word?" said Rodriguez, looking him in the eyes. +</P> + +<P> +The smoke from the fire between them was thickening greyly as though +something had been cast on it. "The word," he said, "of the King of +Shadow Valley." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez gazing through the increasing smoke saw not to the other +side. He rose and walked round the fire, but the strange man was gone. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez came back to his place by the fire and sat long there in +silence. Morano was bubbling over to speak, but respected his master's +silence: for Rodriguez was gazing into the deeps of the fire seeing +pictures there that were brighter than any that he had known. They were +so clear now that they seemed almost true. He saw Serafina's face there +looking full at him. He watched it long until other pictures hid it, +visions that had no meaning for Rodriguez. And not till then he spoke. +And when he spoke his face was almost smiling. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Morano," he said, "have we come by that castle at last?" +</P> + +<P> +"That man does not lie, master," he answered: and his eyes were +glittering with shrewd conviction. +</P> + +<P> +"What shall we do then?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Let us go to some village, master," said Morano, "until the time he +said." +</P> + +<P> +"What village?" Rodriguez asked. +</P> + +<P> +"I know not, master," answered Morano, his face a puzzle of innocence +and wonder; and Rodriguez fell back into thought again. And the dancing +flames calmed down to a deep, quiet glow; and soon Rodriguez stepped +back a yard or two from the fire to where Morano had prepared his bed; +and, watching the fire still, and turning over thoughts that flashed +and changed as fast as the embers, he went to wonderful dreams that +were no more strange or elusive than that valley's wonderful king. +</P> + +<P> +When he spoke in the morning the camp-fire was newly lit and there was +a smell of bacon; and Morano, out of breath and puzzled, was calling to +him. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," he said, "I was mistaken about those horses." +</P> + +<P> +"Mistaken?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"They were just as I left them, master, all tied to the tree with my +knots." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez left it at that. Morano could make mistakes and the forest +was full of wonders: anything might happen. "We will ride," he said. +</P> + +<P> +Morano's breakfast was as good as ever; and, when he had packed up +those few belongings that make a dwelling-place of any chance spot in +the wilderness, they mounted the horses, which were surely there, and +rode away through sunlight and green leaves. They rode slow, for the +branches were low over the path, and whoever canters in a forest and +closes his eyes against a branch has to consider whether he will open +them to be whipped by the next branch or close them till he bumps his +head into a tree. And it suited Rodriguez to loiter, for he thought +thus to meet the King of Shadow Valley again or his green bowmen and +learn the answers to innumerable questions about his castle which were +wandering through his mind. +</P> + +<P> +They ate and slept at noon in the forest's glittering greenness. +</P> + +<P> +They passed afterwards by the old house in the wood, in which the +bowmen feasted, for they followed the track that they had taken before. +They knocked loud on the door as they passed but the house was empty. +They heard the sound of a multitude felling trees, but whenever they +approached the sound of chopping ceased. Again and again they left the +track and rode towards the sound of chopping, and every time the +chopping died away just as they drew close. They saw many a tree half +felled, but never a green bowman. And at last they left it as one of +the wonders of the forest and returned to the track lest they lose it, +for the track was more important to them than curiosity, and evening +had come and was filling the forest with dimness, and shadows stealing +across the track were beginning to hide it away. In the distance they +heard the invisible woodmen chopping. +</P> + +<P> +And then they camped again and lit their fire; and night came down and +the two wanderers slept. +</P> + +<P> +The nightingale sang until he woke the cuckoo: and the cuckoo filled +the leafy air so full of his two limpid notes that the dreams of +Rodriguez heard them and went away, back over their border to +dreamland. Rodriguez awoke Morano, who lit his fire: and soon they had +struck their camp and were riding on. +</P> + +<P> +By noon they saw that if they hurried on they could come to Lowlight by +nightfall. But this was not Rodriguez' plan, for he had planned to ride +into Lowlight, as he had done once before, at the hour when Serafina +sat in her balcony in the cool of the evening, as Spanish ladies in +those days sometimes did. So they tarried long by their resting-place +at noon and then rode slowly on. And when they camped that night they +were still in the forest. +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," said Rodriguez over the camp-fire, "tomorrow brings me to +Lowlight." +</P> + +<P> +"Aye, master," said Morano, "we shall be there tomorrow." +</P> + +<P> +"That seņor with whom I had a meeting there," said Rodriguez, "he ..." +</P> + +<P> +"He loves me not," said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"He would surely kill you," replied Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +Morano looked sideways at his frying-pan. +</P> + +<P> +"It would therefore be better," continued Rodriguez, "that you should +stay in this camp while I give such greetings of ceremony in Lowlight +as courtesy demands." +</P> + +<P> +"I will stay, master," said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez was glad that this was settled, for he felt that to follow +his dreams of so many nights to that balconied house in Lowlight with +Morano would be no better than visiting a house accompanied by a dog +that had bitten one of the family. +</P> + +<P> +"I will stay," repeated Morano. "But, master ..." The fat man's eyes +were all supplication. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Leave me your mandolin," implored Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"My mandolin?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," said Morano, "that seņor who likes my fat body so ill he +would kill me, he ..." +</P> + +<P> +"Well?" said Rodriguez, for Morano was hesitating. +</P> + +<P> +"He likes your mandolin no better, master." +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez resented a slight to his mandolin as much as a slight to his +sword, but he smiled as he looked at Morano's anxious face. +</P> + +<P> +"He would kill you for your mandolin," Morano went on eagerly, "as he +would kill me for my frying-pan." +</P> + +<P> +And at the mention of that frying-pan Rodriguez frowned, although it +had given him many a good meal since the night it offended in Lowlight. +And he would sooner have gone to the wars without a sword than under +the balcony of his heart's desire without a mandolin. +</P> + +<P> +So Rodriguez would hear no more of Morano's request; and soon he left +the fire and went to lie down; but Morano sighed and sat gazing on into +the embers unhappily; while thoughts plodded slow through his mind, +leading to nothing. Late that night he threw fresh logs on the +camp-fire, so that when they awoke there was still fire in the embers +And when they had eaten their breakfast Rodriguez said farewell to +Morano, saying that he had business in Lowlight that might keep him a +few days. But Morano said not farewell then, for he would follow his +master as far as the midday halt to cook his next meal. And when noon +came they were beyond the forest. +</P> + +<P> +Once more Morano cooked bacon. Then while Rodriguez slept Morano took +his cloak and did all that could be done by brushing and smoothing to +give back to it that air that it some time had, before it had flapped +upon so many winds and wrapped Rodriguez on such various beds, and met +the vicissitudes that make this story. +</P> + +<P> +For the plume he could do little. +</P> + +<P> +And his master awoke, late in the afternoon, and went to his horse and +gave Morano his orders. He was to go back with two of the horses to +their last camp in the forest and take with him all their kit except +one blanket and make himself comfortable there and wait till Rodriguez +came. +</P> + +<P> +And then Rodriguez rode slowly away, and Morano stood gazing mournfully +and warningly at the mandolin; and the warnings were not lost upon +Rodriguez, though he would never admit that he saw in Morano's staring +eyes any wise hint that he heeded. +</P> + +<P> +And Morano sighed, and went and untethered his horses; and soon he was +riding lonely back to the forest. And Rodriguez taking the other way +saw at once the towers of Lowlight. +</P> + +<P> +Does my reader think that he then set spurs to his horse, galloping +towards that house about whose balcony his dreams flew every night? No, +it was far from evening; far yet from the colour and calm in which the +light with never a whisper says farewell to Earth, but with a gesture +that the horizon hides takes silent leave of the fields on which she +has danced with joy; far yet from the hour that shone for Serafina like +a great halo round her and round her mother's house. +</P> + +<P> +We cannot believe that one hour more than another shone upon Serafina, +or that the dim end of the evening was only hers: but these are the +Chronicles of Rodriguez, who of all the things that befell him +treasured most his memory of Serafina in the twilight, and who held +that this hour was hers as much as her raiment and her balcony: such +therefore it is in these chronicles. +</P> + +<P> +And so he loitered, waiting for the slow sun to set: and when at last a +tint on the walls of Lowlight came with the magic of Earth's most faery +hour he rode in slowly not perhaps wholly unwitting, for all his +anxious thoughts of Serafina, that a little air of romance from the +Spring and the evening followed this lonely rider. +</P> + +<P> +From some way off he saw that balcony that had drawn him back from the +other side of the far Pyrenees. Sometimes he knew that it drew him and +mostly he knew it not; yet always that curved balcony brought him +nearer, ever since he turned from the field of the false Don Alvidar: +the balcony held him with invisible threads, such as those with which +Earth draws in the birds at evening. And there was Serafina in her +balcony. +</P> + +<P> +When Rodriguez saw Serafina sitting there in the twilight, just as he +had often dreamed, he looked no more but lowered his head to the +withered rose that he carried now in his hand, the rose that he had +found by that very balcony under another moon. And, gazing still at the +rose, he rode on under the balcony, and passed it, until his hoof-beats +were heard no more in Lowlight and he and his horse were one dim shape +between the night and the twilight. And still he held on. +</P> + +<P> +He knew not yet, but only guessed, who had thrown that rose from the +balcony on the night when he slept on the dust: he knew not who it was +that he fought on the same night, and dared not guess what that unknown +hidalgo might be to Serafina. He had no claim to more from that house, +which once gave him so cold a welcome, than thus to ride by it in +silence. And he knew as he rode that the cloak and the plume that he +wore scarce seemed the same as those that had floated by when more than +a month ago he had ridden past that balcony; and the withered rose that +he carried added one more note of autumn. And yet he hoped. +</P> + +<P> +And so he rode into twilight and was hid from the sight of the village, +a worn, pathetic figure, trusting vaguely to vague powers of good +fortune that govern all men, but that favour youth. +</P> + +<P> +And, sure enough, it was not yet wholly moonlight when cantering hooves +came down the road behind him. It was once more that young hidalgo. And +as soon as he drew rein beside Rodriguez both reached out merry hands +as though their former meeting had been some errand of joy. And as +Rodriguez looked him in the eyes, while the two men leaned over +clasping hands, in light still clear though faded, he could not doubt +Serafina was his sister. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņor," said his old enemy, "will you tarry with us, in our house a +few days, if your journey is not urgent?" +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez gasped for joy; for the messenger from Lowlight, the +certainty that here was no rival, the summons to the house of his +dreams' pilgrimage, came all together: his hand still clasped the +stranger's. Yet he answered with the due ceremony that that age and +land demanded: then they turned and rode together towards Lowlight. And +first the young men told each other their names; and the stranger told +how he dwelt with his mother and sister in the house that Rodriguez +knew, and his name was Don Alderon of the Valley of Dawnlight. His +house had dwelt in that valley since times out of knowledge; but then +the Moors had come and his forbears had fled to Lowlight: the Moors +were gone now, for which Saint Michael and all fighting Saints be +praised; but there were certain difficulties about his right to the +Valley of Dawnlight. So they dwelt in Lowlight still. +</P> + +<P> +And Rodriguez told of the war that there was beyond the Pyrenees and +how the just cause had won, but little more than that he was able to +tell, for he knew scarce more of the cause for which he had fought than +History knows of it, who chooses her incidents and seems to forget so +much. And as they talked they came to the house with the balcony. A +waning moon cast light over it that was now no longer twilight; but was +the light of wild things of the woods, and birds of prey, and men in +mountains outlawed by the King, and magic, and mystery, and the quests +of love. Serafina had left her place: lights gleamed now in the +windows. And when the door was opened the hall seemed to Rodriguez so +much less hugely hollow, so much less full of ominous whispered echoes, +that his courage rose high as he went through it with Alderon, and they +entered the room together that they had entered together before. In the +long room beyond many candles he saw Dona Serafina and her mother +rising up to greet him. Neither the ceremonies of that age nor +Rodriguez' natural calm would have entirely concealed his emotion had +not his face been hidden as he bowed. They spoke to him; they asked him +of his travels; Rodriguez answered with effort. He saw by their manner +that Don Alderon must have explained much in his favour. He had this +time, to cheer him, a very different greeting; and yet he felt little +more at ease than when he had stood there late at night before, with +one eye bandaged and wearing only one shoe, suspected of he knew not +what brawling and violence. +</P> + +<P> +It was not until Dona Mirana, the mother of Serafina, asked him to play +to them on his mandolin that Rodriguez' ease returned. He bowed then +and brought round his mandolin, which had been slung behind him; and +knew a triumphant champion was by him now, one old in the ways of love +and wise in the sorrows of man, a slender but potent voice, +well-skilled to tell what there were not words to say; a voice +unhindered by language, unlimited even by thought, whose universal +meaning was heard and understood, sometimes perhaps by wandering +spirits of light, beaten far by some evil thought for their heavenly +courses and passing close along the coasts of Earth. +</P> + +<P> +And Rodriguez played no tune he had ever known, nor any airs that he +had heard men play in lanes in Andalusia; but he told of things that he +knew not, of sadnesses that he had scarcely felt and undreamed +exaltations. It was the hour of need, and the mandolin knew. +</P> + +<P> +And when all was told that the mandolin can tell of whatever is +wistfulest in the spirit of man, a mood of merriment entered its old +curved sides and there came from its hollows a measure such as they +dance to when laughter goes over the greens in Spain. Never a song sang +Rodriguez; the mandolin said all. +</P> + +<P> +And what message did Serafina receive from those notes that were +strange even to Rodriguez? Were they not stranger to her? I have said +that spirits blown far out of their course and nearing the mundane +coasts hear mortal music sometimes, and hearing understand. And if they +cannot understand those snatches of song, all about mortal things and +human needs, that are wafted rarely to them by chance passions, how +much more surely a young mortal heart, so near Rodriguez, heard what he +would say and understood the message however strange. +</P> + +<P> +When Dona Mirana and her daughter rose, exchanging their little +curtsies for the low bows of Rodriguez, and so retired for the night, +the long room seemed to Rodriguez now empty of threatening omens. The +great portraits that the moon had lit, and that had frowned at him in +the moonlight when he came here before, frowned at him now no longer. +The anger that he had known to lurk in the darkness on pictured faces +of dead generations had gone with the gloom that it haunted: they were +all passionless now in the quiet light of the candles. He looked again +at the portraits eye to eye, remembering looks they had given him in +the moonlight, and all looked back at him with ages of apathy; and he +knew that whatever glimmer of former selves there lurks about portraits +of the dead and gone was thinking only of their own past days in years +remote from Rodriguez. Whether their anger had flashed for a moment +over the ages on that night a month from now, or whether it was only +the moonlight, he never knew. Their spirits were back now surely +amongst their own days, whence they deigned not to look on the days +that make these chronicles. +</P> + +<P> +Not till then did Rodriguez admit, or even know, that he had not eaten +since his noonday meal. But now he admitted this to Don Alderon's +questions; and Don Alderon led him to another chamber and there regaled +him with all the hospitality for which that time was famous. And when +Rodriguez had eaten, Don Alderon sent for wine, and the butler brought +it in an olden flagon, dark wine of a precious vintage: and soon the +two young men were drinking together and talking of the wickedness of +the Moors. And while they talked the night grew late and chilly and +still, and the hour came when moths are fewer and young men think of +bed. Then Don Alderon showed his guest to an upper room, a long room +dim with red hangings, and carvings in walnut and oak, which the one +candle he carried barely lit but only set queer shadows scampering. And +here he left Rodriguez, who was soon in bed, with the great red +hangings round him. And awhile he wondered at the huge silence of the +house all round him, with never a murmur, never an echo, never a sigh; +for he missed the passing of winds, branches waving, the stirring of +small beasts, birds of prey calling, and the hundred sounds of the +night; but soon through the silence came sleep. +</P> + +<P> +He did not need to dream, for here in the home of Serafina he had come +to his dreams' end. +</P> + +<P> +Another day shone on another scene; for the sunlight that went in a +narrow stream of gold and silver between the huge red curtains had sent +away the shadows that had stalked overnight through the room, and had +scattered the eeriness that had lurked on the far side of furniture, +and all the dimness was gone that the long red room had harboured. And +for a while Rodriguez did not know where he was; and for a while, when +he remembered, he could not believe it true. He dressed with care, +almost with fear, and preened his small moustachios, which at last had +grown again just when he would have despaired. Then he descended, and +found that he had slept late, though the three of that ancient house +were seated yet at the table, and Serafina all dressed in white seemed +to Rodriguez to be shining in rivalry with the morning. Ah dreams and +fancies of youth! +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ELEVENTH CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +HOW HE TURNED TO GARDENING AND HIS SWORD RESTED +</H3> + +<P> +These were the days that Rodriguez always remembered; and, side by side +with them, there lodged in his memory, and went down with them into his +latter years, the days and nights when he went through the Pyrenees and +walked when he would have slept but had to walk or freeze: and by some +queer rule that guides us he treasured them both in his memory, these +happy days in this garden and the frozen nights on the peaks. +</P> + +<P> +For Serafina showed Rodriguez the garden that behind the house ran +narrow and long to the wild. There were rocks with heliotrope pouring +over them and flowers peeping behind them, and great azaleas all in +triumphant bloom, and ropes of flowering creepers coming down from +trees, and oleanders, and a plant named popularly Joy of the South, and +small paths went along it edged with shells brought from the far sea. +</P> + +<P> +There was only one street in the village, and you did not go far among +the great azaleas before you lost sight of the gables; and you did not +go far before the small paths ended with their shells from the distant +sea, and there was the mistress of all gardeners facing you, Mother +Nature nursing her children, the things of the wild. She too had +azaleas and oleanders, but they stood more solitary in their greater +garden than those that grew in the garden of Dona Mirana; and she too +had little paths, only they were without borders and without end. Yet +looking from the long and narrow garden at the back of that house in +Lowlight to the wider garden that sweeps round the world, and is fenced +by Space from the garden in Venus and by Space from the garden in Mars, +you scarce saw any difference or noticed where they met: the solitary +azaleas beyond were gathered together by distance, and from Lowlight to +the horizon seemed all one garden in bloom. And afterwards, all his +years, whenever Rodriguez heard the name of Spain, spoken by loyal men, +it was thus that he thought of it, as he saw it now. +</P> + +<P> +And here he used to walk with Serafina when she tended flowers in the +cool of the morning or went at evening to water favourite blooms. And +Rodriguez would bring with him his mandolin, and sometimes he touched +it lightly or even sang, as they rested on some carved seat at the +garden's end, looking out towards shadowy shrubs on the shining hill, +but mostly he heard her speak of the things she loved, of what moths +flew to their garden, and which birds sang, and how the flowers grew. +Serafina sat no longer in her balcony but, disguising idleness by other +names, they loitered along those paths that the seashells narrowed; yet +there was a grace in their loitering such as we have not in our dances +now. And evening stealing in from the wild places, from darkening +azaleas upon distant hills, still found them in the garden, found +Rodriguez singing in idleness undisguised, or anxiously helping in some +trivial task, tying up some tendril that had gone awry, helping some +magnolia that the wind had wounded. Almost unnoticed by him the +sunlight would disappear, and the coloured blaze of the sunset, and +then the gloaming; till the colours of all the flowers queerly changed +and they shone with that curious glow which they wear in the dusk. They +returned then to the house, the garden behind them with its dim hushed +air of a secret, before them the candlelight like a different land. And +after the evening meal Alderon and Rodriguez would sit late together +discussing the future of the world, Rodriguez holding that it was +intended that the earth should be ruled by Spain, and Alderon fearing +it would all go to the Moors. +</P> + +<P> +Days passed thus. +</P> + +<P> +And then one evening Rodriguez was in the garden with Serafina; the +flowers, dim and pale and more mysterious than ever, poured out their +scent towards the coming night, luring huge hawk-moths from the far +dusk that was gathering about the garden, to hover before each bloom on +myriad wingbeats too rapid for human eye: another inch and the fairies +had peeped out from behind azaleas, yet both of these late loiterers +felt fairies were surely there: it seemed to be Nature's own most +secret hour, upon which man trespasses if he venture forth from his +house: an owl from his hidden haunt flew nearer the garden and uttered +a clear call once to remind Rodriguez of this: and Rodriguez did not +heed, but walked in silence. +</P> + +<P> +He had played his mandolin. It had uttered to the solemn hush of the +understanding evening all it was able to tell; and after that cry, +grown piteous with so many human longings, for it was an old mandolin, +Rodriguez felt there was nothing left for his poor words to say. So he +went dumb and mournful. +</P> + +<P> +Serafina would have heard him had he spoken, for her thoughts vibrated +yet with the voice of the mandolin, which had come to her hearing as an +ambassador from Rodriguez, but he found no words to match with the +mandolin's high mood. His eyes said, and his sighs told, what the +mandolin had uttered; but his tongue was silent. +</P> + +<P> +And then Serafina said, as he walked all heavy with silence past a +curving slope of dimly glowing azaleas, "You like flowers, seņor?" +</P> + +<P> +"Seņorita, I adore them," he replied. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed?" said Dona Serafina. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed I do," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"And yet," asked Dona Serafina, "was it not a somewhat withered or +altogether faded flower that you carried, unless I fancied wrong, when +you rode past our balcony?" +</P> + +<P> +"It was indeed faded," said Rodriguez, "for the rose was some weeks +old." +</P> + +<P> +"One who loved flowers, I thought," said Serafina, "would perhaps care +more for them fresh." +</P> + +<P> +Half-dumb though Rodriguez was his shrewdness did not desert him. To +have said that he had the rose from Serafina would have been to claim +as though proven what was yet no more than a hope. +</P> + +<P> +"Seņorita," he said, "I found the flower on holy ground." +</P> + +<P> +"I did not know," she said, "that you had travelled so far." +</P> + +<P> +"I found it here," he said, "under your balcony." +</P> + +<P> +"Perchance I let it fall," said she. "It was idle of me." +</P> + +<P> +"I guard it still," he said, and drew forth that worn brown rose. +</P> + +<P> +"It was idle of me," said Serafina. +</P> + +<P> +But then in that scented garden among the dim lights of late evening +the ghost of that rose introduced their spirits one to the other, so +that the listening flowers heard Rodriguez telling the story of his +heart, and, bending over the shell-bordered path, heard Serafina's +answer; and all they seemed to do was but to watch the evening, with +leaves uplifted in the hope of rain. +</P> + +<P> +Film after film of dusk dropped down from where twilight had been, like +an army of darkness slowly pitching their tents on ground that had been +lost to the children of light. Out of the wild lands all the owls flew +nearer: their long, clear cries and the huge hush between them warned +all those lands that this was not man's hour. And neither Rodriguez nor +Serafina heard them. +</P> + +<P> +In pale blue sky where none had thought to see it one smiling star +appeared. It was Venus watching lovers, as men of the crumbled +centuries had besought her to do, when they named her so long ago, +kneeling upon their hills with bended heads, and arms stretched out to +her sweet eternal scrutiny. Beneath her wandering rays as they danced +down to bless them Rodriguez and Serafina talked low in the sight of +the goddess, and their voices swayed through the flowers with whispers +and winds, not troubling the little wild creatures that steal out shy +in the dusk, and Nature forgave them for being abroad in that hour; +although, so near that a single azalea seemed to hide it, so near +seemed to beckon and whisper old Nature's eldest secret. +</P> + +<P> +When flowers glimmered and Venus smiled and all things else were dim, +they turned on one of those little paths hand in hand homeward. +</P> + +<P> +Dona Mirana glanced once at her daughter's eyes and said nothing. Don +Alderon renewed his talk with Rodriguez, giving reasons for his +apprehension of the conquest of the world by the Moors, which he had +thought of since last night; and Rodriguez agreed with all that Don +Alderon said, but understood little, being full of dreams that seemed +to dance on the further, side of the candlelight to a strange, new, +unheard tune that his heart was aware of. He gazed much at Serafina and +said little. +</P> + +<P> +He drank no wine that night with Don Alderon: what need had he of wine? +On wonderful journeys that my pen cannot follow, for all the swiftness +of the wing from which it came; on darting journeys outspeeding the +lithe swallow or that great wanderer the white-fronted goose, his young +thoughts raced by a myriad of golden evenings far down the future +years. And what of the days he saw? Did he see them truly? Enough that +he saw them in vision. Saw them as some lone shepherd on lifted downs +sees once go by with music a galleon out of the East, with windy sails, +and masts ablaze with pennants, and heroes in strange dress singing new +songs; and the galleon goes nameless by till the singing dies away. +What ship was it? Whither bound? Why there? Enough that he has seen it. +Thus do we glimpse the glory of rare days as we swing round the sun; +and youth is like some high headland from which to see. +</P> + +<P> +On the next day he spoke with Dona Mirano. There was little to say but +to observe the courtesies appropriate to this occasion, for Dona Mirana +and her daughter had spoken long together already; and of one thing he +could say little, and indeed was dumb when asked of it, and that was +the question of his home. And then he said that he had a castle; and +when Dona Mirana asked him where it was he said vaguely it was to the +North. He trusted the word of the King of Shadow Valley and so he spoke +of his castle as a man speaks the truth. And when she asked him of his +castle again, whether on rock or river or in leafy lands, he began to +describe how its ten towers stood, being builded of a rock that was +slightly pink, and how they glowed across a hundred fields, especially +at evening; and suddenly he ceased, perceiving all in a moment he was +speaking unwittingly in the words of Don Alvidar and describing to Dona +Mirana that rose-pink castle on Ebro. And Dona Mirana knew then that +there was some mystery about Rodriguez' home. +</P> + +<P> +She spoke kindly to Rodriguez, yet she neither gave her consent nor yet +withheld it, and he knew there was no immediate hope in her words. +Graceful as were his bows as he withdrew, he left with scarcely another +word to say. All day his castle hung over him like a cloud, not +nebulous and evanescent only, but brooding darkly, boding storms, such +as the orange blossoms dread. +</P> + +<P> +He walked again in the garden with Serafina, but Dona Mirana was never +far, and the glamour of the former evening, lit by one star, was driven +from the garden by his anxieties about that castle of which he could +not speak. Serafina asked him of his home. He would not parry her +question, and yet he could not tell her that all their future hung on +the promise of a man in an old leathern jacket calling himself a king. +So the mystery of his habitation deepened, spoiling the glamour of the +evening. He spoke, instead, of the forest, hoping she might know +something of that strange monarch to whom they dwelt so near; but she +glanced uneasily towards Shadow Valley and told him that none in +Lowlight went that way. Sorrow grew heavier round Rodriguez' heart at +this: believing in the promise of a man whose eyes he trusted he had +asked Serafina to marry him, and Serafina had said Yes; and now he +found she knew nothing of such a man, which seemed somehow to Rodriguez +to weaken his promise, and, worst of all, she feared the place where he +lived. He welcomed the approach of Dona Mirana, and all three returned +to the house. For the rest of that evening he spoke little; but he had +formed his project. +</P> + +<P> +When the two ladies retired Rodriguez, who had seemed tongue-tied for +many hours, turned to Don Alderon. His mother had told Don Alderon +nothing yet; for she was troubled by the mystery of Rodriguez' castle, +and would give him time to make it clear if he could; for there was +something about Rodriguez of which with many pages I have tried to +acquaint my reader but which was clear when first she saw him to Dona +Mirana. In fact she liked him at once, as I hope that perhaps by now my +reader may. He turned to Don Alderon, who was surprised to see the +vehemence with which his guest suddenly spoke after those hours of +silence, and Rodriguez told him the story of his love and the story of +both his castles, that which had vanished from the bank of the Ebro and +that which was promised him by the King of Shadow Valley. And often Don +Alderon interrupted. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Rodriguez," he said, "you are welcome to our ancient, unfortunate +house": and later he said, "I have met no man that had a prettier way +with the sword." +</P> + +<P> +But Rodriguez held on to the end, telling all he had to tell; and +especially that he was landless and penniless but for that one promise; +and as for the sword, he said, he was but as a child playing before the +sword of Don Alderon. And this Don Alderon said was in no wise so, +though there were a few cunning passes that he had learned, hoping that +the day might come for him to do God a service thereby by slaying some +of the Moors: and heartily he gave his consent and felicitation. But +this Rodriguez would not have: "Come with me," he said, "to the forest +to the place where I met this man, and if we find him not there we will +go to the house in which his bowmen feast and there have news of him, +and he shall show us the castle of his promise and, if it be such a +castle as you approve, then your consent shall be given, but if not ..." +</P> + +<P> +"Gladly indeed," said Don Alderon. "We will start tomorrow." +</P> + +<P> +And Rodriguez took his words literally, though his host had meant no +more than what we should call "one of these days," but Rodriguez was +being consumed with a great impatience. And so they arranged it, and +Don Alderon went to bed with a feeling, which is favourable to dreams, +that on the next day they went upon an adventure; for neither he nor +anyone in that village had entered Shadow Valley. +</P> + +<P> +Once more next morning Rodriguez walked with Serafina, with something +of the romance of the garden gone, for Dona Mirana walked there too; +and romance is like one of those sudden, wonderful colours that flash +for a moment out of a drop of dew; a passing shadow obscures them; and +ask another to see it, and the colour is not the same: move but a yard +and the ray of enchantment is gone. Dona Mirana saw the romance of that +garden, but she saw it from thirty years away; it was all different +what she saw, all changed from a certain day (for love was love in the +old days): and to Rodriguez and Serafina it seemed that she could not +see romance at all, and somehow that dimmed it. Almost their eyes +seemed to search amongst the azaleas for the romance of that other +evening. +</P> + +<P> +And then Rodriguez told Serafina that he was riding away with her +brother to see about the affairs of his castle, and that they would +return in a few days. Scarcely a hint he gave that those affairs might +not prosper, for he trusted the word of the King of Shadow Valley. His +confidence had returned: and soon, with swords at side and cloaks +floating brilliant on light winds of April, Rodriguez and Alderon rode +away together. +</P> + +<P> +Soon in the distance they saw Shadow Valley. And then Rodriguez +bethought him of Morano and of the foul wrong he committed against Don +Alderon with his frying-pan, and how he was there in the camp to which +he was bringing his friend. And so he said: "That vile knave Morano +still lives and insists on serving me." +</P> + +<P> +"If he be near," said Don Alderon, "I pray you to disarm him of his +frying-pan for the sake of my honour, which does not suffer me to be +stricken with culinary weapons, but only with the sword, the lance, or +even bolts of cannon or arquebuss ..." He was thinking of yet more +weapons when Rodriguez put spurs to his horse. "He is near," he said; +"I will ride on and disarm him." +</P> + +<P> +So Rodriguez came cantering into the forest while Don Alderon ambled a +mile or so behind him. +</P> + +<P> +And there he found his old camp and saw Morano, sitting upon the ground +by a small fire. Morano sprang up at once with joy in his eyes, his +face wreathed with questions, which he did not put into words for he +did not pry openly into his master's affairs. +</P> + +<P> +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "give me your frying-pan." +</P> + +<P> +"My frying-pan?" said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Rodriguez. And when he held in his hand that blackened, +greasy utensil he told Morano, "That seņor you met in Lowlight rides +with me." +</P> + +<P> +The cheerfulness faded out of Morano's face as light fades at sunset. +"Master," he said, "he will surely slay me now." +</P> + +<P> +"He will not slay you," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Master," Morano said, "he hopes for my fat carcase as much as men hope +for the unicorn, when they wear their bright green coats and hunt him +with dogs in Spring." I know not what legend Morano stored in his mind, +nor how much of it was true. "And when he finds me without my +frying-pan he will surely slay me." +</P> + +<P> +"That seņor," said Rodriguez emphatically, "must not be hit with the +frying-pan." +</P> + +<P> +"That is a hard rule, master," said Morano. +</P> + +<P> +And Rodriguez was indignant, when he heard that, that anyone should +thus blaspheme against an obvious law of chivalry: while Morano's only +thought was upon the injustice of giving up the sweets of life for the +sake of a frying-pan. Thus they were at cross-purposes. And for some +while they stood silent, while Rodriguez hung the reins of his horse +over the broken branch of a tree. And then Don Alderon rode into the +wood. +</P> + +<P> +All then that was most pathetic in Morano's sense of injustice looked +out of his eyes as he turned them upon his master. But Don Alderon +scarcely glanced at all at Morano, even when he handed to him the reins +of his horse as he walked on towards Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +And there in that leafy place they rested all through the evening, for +they had not started so early upon their journey as travellers should. +Eight days had gone since Rodriguez had left that small camp to ride to +Lowlight, and to the apex of his life towards which all his days had +ascended; and in that time Morano had collected good store of wood and, +in little ways unthought of by dwellers in cities, had made the place +like such homes as wanderers find. Don Alderon was charmed with their +roof of towering greenness, and with the choirs of those which +inhabited it and which were now all coming home to sing. And at some +moment in the twilight, neither Rodriguez nor Alderon noticed when, +Morano repossessed himself of his frying-pan, unbidden by Rodriguez, +but acting on a certain tacit permission that there seemed to be in the +twilight or in the mood of the two young men as they sat by the fire. +And soon he was cooking once more, at a fire of his own, with something +of the air that you see upon a Field Marshal's face who has lost his +baton and found it again. Have you ever noticed it, reader? +</P> + +<P> +And when the meal was ready Morano served it in silence, moving +unobtrusively in the gloom of the wood; for he knew that he was +forgiven, yet not so openly that he wished to insist on his presence or +even to imply his possession of the weapon that fried the bacon. So, +like a dryad he moved from tree to tree, and like any fabulous creature +was gone again. And the two young men supped well, and sat on and on, +watching the sparks go up on innumerable journeys from the fire at +which they sat, to be lost to sight in huge wastes of blackness and +stars, lost to sight utterly, lost like the spirit of man to the gaze +of our wonder when we try to follow its journey beyond the hearths that +we know. +</P> + +<P> +All the next day they rode on through the forest, till they came to the +black circle of the old fire of their next camp. And here Rodriguez +halted on account of the attraction that one of his old camps seems to +have for a wanderer. It drew his feet towards it, this blackened +circle, this hearth that for one night made one spot in the wilderness +home. Don Alderon did not care whether they tarried or hurried; he +loved his journey through this leafy land; the cool night-breeze +slipping round the tree-trunks was new to him, and new was the +comradeship of the abundant stars; the quest itself was a joy to him; +with his fancy he built Rodriguez' mysterious castle no less +magnificently than did Don Alvidar. Sometimes they talked of the +castle, each of the young men picturing it as he saw it; but in the +warmth of the camp-fire after Morano slept they talked of more than +these chronicles can tell. +</P> + +<P> +In the morning they pressed on as fast as the forest's low boughs would +allow them. They passed somewhere near the great cottage in which the +bowmen feasted; but they held on, as they had decided after discussion +to do, for the last place in which Rodriguez had seen the King of +Shadow Valley, which was the place of his promise. And before any +dimness came even to the forest, or golden shafts down colonnades which +were before all cathedrals, they found the old camp that they sought, +which still had a clear flavour of magic for Morano on account of the +moth-like coming and going of his three horses after he had tied them +to that tree. And here they looked for the King of Shadow Valley; and +then Rodriguez called him; and then all three of them called him, +shouting "King of Shadow Valley" all together. No answer came: the +woods were without echo: nothing stirred but fallen leaves. But before +those miles of silence could depress them Rodriguez hit upon a simple +plan, which was that he and Alderon should search all round, far from +the track, while Morano stayed in the camp and shouted frequently, and +they would not go out of hearing of his voice: for Shadow Valley had a +reputation of being a bad forest for travellers to find their way +there; indeed, few ever attempted to. So they did as he said, he and +Alderon searching in different directions, while Morano remained in the +camp, lifting a large and melancholy voice. And though rumour said it +was hard to find the way when twenty yards from the track in Shadow +Valley, it did not say it was hard to find the green bowmen: and +Rodriguez, knowing that they guarded the forest as the shadows of trees +guard the coolness, was assured he would meet with some of them even +though he should miss their master. So he and Alderon searched till the +forest darkness came and only birds on high branches still had light; +and they never saw the King of Shadow Valley or any trace whatever of +any man. And Alderon first returned to the encampment; but Rodriguez +searched on into the night, searching and calling through the darkness, +and feeling, as every minute went by and every faint call of Morano, +that his castle was fading away, slipping past oak-tree and thorn-bush, +to take its place among the unpitying stars. And when he returned at +last from his useless search he found Morano standing by a good fire, +and the sight of it a little cheered Rodriguez, and the sight of the +firelight on Morano's face, and the homely comfort of the camp, for +everything is comparative. +</P> + +<P> +And over their supper Rodriguez and Alderon agreed that they had come +to a part of the forest too remote from the home of the King of Shadow +Valley, and decided to go the next day to the house of the green +bowmen: and before he slept Rodriguez felt once more that all was well +with his castle. +</P> + +<P> +Yet when the next day came they searched again, for Rodriguez +remembered how it was to this very place that the King of Shadow Valley +had bidden him come in four weeks, and though this period was not yet +accomplished, he felt, and Alderon fully agreed, they had waited long +enough: so they searched all the morning, and then fulfilled their +decision of overnight by riding for the great cottage Rodriguez knew. +All the way they met no one. And Rodriguez' gaiety came back as they +rode, for he and Don Alderon recognised more and more clearly that the +bowmen's great cottage was the place they should have gone at first. +</P> + +<P> +In early evening they were just at their journey's end; but barely had +they left the track that they had ridden the day before, barely taken +the smaller path that led after a few hundred yards to the cottage when +they found themselves stopped by huge chains that hung from tree to +tree. High into the trees went the chains above their heads where they +sat their horses, and a chain ran every six inches down to the very +ground: the road was well blocked. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez and Alderon hastily consulted; then, leaving the horses with +Morano, they followed the chains through dense forest to find a place +where they could get the horses through. Finding the chains go on and +on and on, and as evening was drawing in, the two friends divided, +Alderon going back and Rodriguez on, agreeing to meet again on the path +where Morano was. +</P> + +<P> +It was darkening when they met there, Rodriguez having found nothing +but that iron barrier going on from trunk to trunk, and Alderon having +found a great gateway of iron; but it was shut. Through the silent +shadows stealing abroad at evening the three men crashed their way on +foot, leading their horses, towards this gate; but their way was slow +and difficult for no path at all led up to it. It was dark when they +reached it and they saw the high gate in the night, a black barrier +among the trees where no one would wish to come, and in forest that +seemed to these three to be nearly impenetrable. And what astonished +Rodriguez most of all was that the chains had not been across the path +when he had feasted with the green bowmen. +</P> + +<P> +They stood there gazing, all three, at the dark locked gate, and then +they saw two shields that met in the midst of it, and Rodriguez mounted +his horse and stretched up to feel what device there was on the beaten +iron; and both the shields were blank. +</P> + +<P> +There they camped as well as men can when darkness has fallen before +they reach their camping-ground; and Morano lit a great fire before the +gate, and the smooth blank shields touching shoulders there up above +them shone on Rodriguez and Alderon in the firelight. For a while they +wondered at that strange gate that stood there dividing the wilderness; +and then sleep came. +</P> + +<P> +As soon as they woke they called loudly, but no one guarded that gate, +no step but theirs stirred in the forest. Then, leaving Morano in the +camp with its great gate that led nowhere, the two young men climbed up +by branches and chains, and were soon on the other side of the gate and +pressing on through the silence of the forest to find the cottage in +which Rodriguez had slept. And almost at once the green bowmen +appeared, ten of them with their bows, in front of Rodriguez and +Alderon. "Stop," said the ten green bowmen. When the bowmen said that, +there was nothing else to do. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you seek?" said the bowmen. +</P> + +<P> +"The King of Shadow Valley," answered Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"He is not here," they said. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is he?" asked Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"He is nowhere," said one, "when he does not wish to be seen." +</P> + +<P> +"Then show me the castle that he promised me," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"We know nothing of any castle," said one of the bowmen, and they all +shook their heads. +</P> + +<P> +"No castle?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"No," they said. +</P> + +<P> +"Has the King of Shadow Valley no castle?" he asked, beginning now to +despair. +</P> + +<P> +"We know of none," they said. "He lives in the forest." +</P> + +<P> +Before Rodriguez quite despaired he asked each one if they knew not of +any castle of which their King was possessed; and each of them said +that there was no castle in all Shadow Valley. The ten still stood in +front of them with their bows: and Rodriguez turned away then indeed in +despair, and walked slowly back to the camp, and Alderon walked behind +him. In silence they reached their camp by the great gate that led +nowhere, and there Rodriguez sat down on a log beside the dwindling +fire, gazing at the grey ashes and thinking of his dead hopes. He had +not the heart to speak to Alderon, and the silence was unbroken by +Morano who, for all his loquacity, knew when his words were not +welcome. Don Alderon tried to break that melancholy silence, saying +that these ten bowmen did not know the whole world; but he could not +cheer Rodriguez. For, sitting there in dejection on his log, thinking +of all the assurance with which he had often spoken of his castle, +there was one more thing to trouble him than Don Alderon knew. And this +was that when the bowmen had appeared he had hung once more round his +neck that golden badge that was worked for him by the King of Shadow +Valley; and they must have seen it, and they had paid no heed to it +whatever: its magic was wholly departed. And one thing troubled him +that Rodriguez did not know, a very potent factor in human sorrow: he +had left in the morning so eagerly that he had had no breakfast, and +this he entirely forgot and knew not how much of his dejection came +from this cause, thinking that the loss of his castle was of itself +enough. +</P> + +<P> +So with downcast head he sat empty and hopeless, and the little camp +was silent. +</P> + +<P> +In this mournful atmosphere while no one spoke, and no one seemed to +watch, stood, when at last Rodriguez raised his head, with folded arms +before the gate to nowhere, the King of Shadow Valley. His face was +surly, as though the face of a ghost, called from important work among +asteroids needing his care, by the trivial legerdemain of some foolish +novice. Rodriguez, looking into those angry eyes, wholly forgot it was +he that had a grievance. The silence continued. And then the King of +Shadow Valley spoke. +</P> + +<P> +"When have I broken my word?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez did not know. The man was still looking at him, still +standing there with folded arms before the great gate, confronting him, +demanding some kind of answer: and Rodriguez had nothing to say. +</P> + +<P> +"I came because you promised me the castle," he said at last. +</P> + +<P> +"I did not bid you come here," the man with the folded arms answered. +</P> + +<P> +"I went where you bade me," said Rodriguez, "and you were not there." +</P> + +<P> +"In four weeks, I said," answered the King angrily. +</P> + +<P> +And then Alderon spoke. "Have you any castle for my friend?" he said. +</P> + +<P> +"No," said the King of Shadow Valley. +</P> + +<P> +"You promised him one," said Don Alderon. +</P> + +<P> +The King of Shadow Valley raised with his left hand a horn that hung +below his elbow by a green cord round his body. He made no answer to +Don Alderon, but put the horn against his lips and blew. They watched +him all three in silence, till the silence was broken by many men +moving swiftly through covert, and the green bowmen appeared. +</P> + +<P> +When seven or eight were there he turned and looked at them. "When have +I broken my word?" he said to his men. +</P> + +<P> +And they all answered him, "Never!" +</P> + +<P> +More broke into sight through the bushes. +</P> + +<P> +"Ask them" he said. And Rodriguez did not speak. +</P> + +<P> +"Ask them," he said again, "when I have broken my word." +</P> + +<P> +Still Rodriguez and Alderon said nothing. And the bowmen answered them. +"He has never broken his word," every bowman said. +</P> + +<P> +"You promised me a castle," said Rodriguez, seeing that man's fierce +eyes upon him still. +</P> + +<P> +"Then do as I bid you," answered the King of Shadow Valley; and he +turned round and touched the lock of the gates with some key that he +had. The gates moved open and the King went through. +</P> + +<P> +Don Alderon ran forward after him, and caught up with him as he strode +away, and spoke to him, and the King answered. Rodriguez did not hear +what they said, and never afterwards knew. These words he heard only, +from the King of Shadow Valley as he and Don Alderon parted: ".... and +therefore, seņor, it were better for some holy man to do his blessed +work before we come." And the King of Shadow Valley passed into the +deeps of the wood. +</P> + +<P> +As the great gates were slowly swinging to, Don Alderon came back +thoughtfully. The gates clanged, clicked, and were shut again. The King +of Shadow Valley and all his bowmen were gone. +</P> + +<P> +Don Alderon went to his horse, and Rodriguez and Morano did the same, +drawn by the act of the only man of the three that seemed to have made +up his mind. Don Alderon led his horse back toward the path, and +Rodriguez followed with his. When they came to the path they mounted in +silence; and presently Morano followed them, with his blankets rolled +up in front of him on his horse and his frying-pan slung behind him. +</P> + +<P> +"Which way?" said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Home," said Don Alderon. +</P> + +<P> +"But I cannot go to your home," said Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +"Come," said Don Alderon, as one whose plans were made. Rodriguez +without a home, without plans, without hope, went with Don Alderon as +thistledown goes with the warm wind. They rode through the forest till +it grew all so dim that only a faint tinge of greenness lay on the dark +leaves: above were patches of bluish sky like broken pieces of steel. +And a star or two were out when they left the forest. And cantering on +they came to Lowlight when the Milky Way appeared. +</P> + +<P> +And there were Dona Mirana and Serafina in the hall to greet them as +they entered the door. +</P> + +<P> +"What news?" they asked. +</P> + +<P> +But Rodriguez hung back; he had no news to give. It was Don Alderon +that went forward, speaking cheerily to Serafina, and afterwards to his +mother, with whom he spoke long and anxiously, pointing toward the +forest sometimes, almost, as Rodriguez thought, in fear. +</P> + +<P> +And a little later, when the ladies had retired, Don Alderon told +Rodriguez over the wine, with which he had tried to cheer his forlorn +companion, that it was arranged that he should marry Serafina. And when +Rodriguez lamented that this was impossible he replied that the King of +Shadow Valley wished it. And when Rodriguez heard this his astonishment +equalled his happiness, for he marvelled that Don Alderon should not +only believe that strange man's unsupported promise, but that he should +even obey him as though he held him in awe. +</P> + +<P> +And on the next day Rodriguez spoke with Dona Mirana as they walked in +the glory of the garden. And Dona Mirana gave him her consent as Don +Alderon had done: and when Rodriguez spoke humbly of postponement she +glanced uneasily towards Shadow Valley, as though she too feared the +strange man who ruled over the forest which she had never entered. +</P> + +<P> +And so it was that Rodriguez walked with his lady, with the sweet +Serafina in that garden again. And walking there they forgot the need +of house or land, forgot Shadow Valley with its hopes and its doubts, +and all the anxieties of the thoughts that we take for the morrow: and +when evening came and the birds sang in azaleas, and the shadows grew +solemn and long, and winds blew cool from the blazing bed of the Sun, +into the garden now all strange and still, they forgot our Earth and, +beyond the mundane coasts, drifted on dreams of their own into aureate +regions of twilight, to wander in lands wherein lovers walk briefly and +only once. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE TWELFTH CHRONICLE +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BUILDING OF CASTLE RODRIGUEZ AND THE ENDING OF THESE CHRONICLES +</H3> + +<P> +When the King of Shadow Valley met Rodriguez, for the first time in the +forest, and gave him his promise and left him by his camp-fire, he went +back some way towards the bowmen's cottage and blew his horn; and his +hundred bowmen were about him almost at once. To these he gave their +orders and they went back, whence they had come, into the forest's +darkness. But he went to the bowmen's cottage and paced before it, a +dark and lonely figure of the night; and wherever he paced the ground +he marked it with small sticks. And next morning the hundred bowmen +came with axes as soon as the earliest light had entered the forest, +and each of them chose out one of the giant trees that stood before the +cottage, and attacked it. All day they swung their axes against the +forest's elders, of which nearly a hundred were fallen when evening +came. And the stoutest of these, great trunks that were four feet +through, were dragged by horses to the bowmen's cottage and laid by the +little sticks that the King of Shadow Valley had put overnight in the +ground. The bowmen's cottage and the kitchen that was in the wood +behind it, and a few trees that still stood, were now all enclosed by +four lines of fallen trees which made a large rectangle on the ground +with a small square at each of its corners. And craftsmen came, and +smoothed and hollowed the inner sides of the four rows of trees, +working far into the night. So was the first day's work accomplished +and so was built the first layer of the walls of Castle Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +On the next day the bowmen again felled a hundred trees; the top of the +first layer was cut flat by carpenters; at evening the second layer was +hoisted up after their under sides had been flattened to fit the layer +below them; quantities more were cast in to make the floor when they +had been gradually smoothed and fitted: at the end of the second day a +man could not see over the walls of Castle Rodriguez. And on the third +day more craftsmen arrived, men from distant villages at the forest's +edge, whence the King of Shadow Valley had summoned them; and they +carved the walls as they grew. And a hundred trees fell that day, and +the castle was another layer higher. And all the while a park was +growing in the forest, as they felled the great trees; but the greatest +trees of all the bowmen spared, oaks that had stood there for ages and +ages of men; they left them to grip the earth for a while longer, for a +few more human generations. +</P> + +<P> +On the fourth day the two windows at the back of the bowmen's cottage +began to darken, and that evening Castle Rodriguez was fifteen feet +high. And still the hundred bowmen hewed at the forest, bringing +sunlight bright on to grass that was shadowed by oaks for ages. And at +the end of the fifth day they began to roof the lower rooms and make +their second floor: and still the castle grew a layer a day, though the +second storey they built with thinner trees that were only three feet +through, which were more easily carried to their place by the pulleys. +And now they began to heap up rocks in a mass of mortar against the +wall on the outside, till a steep slope guarded the whole of the lower +part of the castle against fire from any attacker if war should come +that way, in any of the centuries that were yet to be: and the deep +windows they guarded with bars of iron. +</P> + +<P> +The shape of the castle showed itself clearly now, rising on each side +of the bowmen's cottage and behind it, with a tower at each of its +corners. To the left of the old cottage the main doorway opened to the +great hall, in which a pile of a few huge oaks was being transformed +into a massive stair. Three figures of strange men held up this ceiling +with their heads and uplifted hands, when the castle was finished; but +as yet the carvers had only begun their work, so that only here and +there an eye peeped out, or a smile flickered, to give any expression +to the curious faces of these fabulous creatures of the wood, which +were slowly taking their shape out of three trees whose roots were +still in the earth below the floor. In an upper storey one of these +trees became a tall cupboard; and the shelves and the sides and the +back and the top of it were all one piece of oak. +</P> + +<P> +All the interior of the castle was of wood, hollowed into alcoves and +polished, or carved into figures leaning out from the walls. So vast +were the timbers that the walls, at a glance, seemed almost one piece +of wood. And the centuries that were coming to Spain darkened the walls +as they came, through autumnal shades until they were all black, as +though they all mourned in secret for lost generations; but they have +not yet crumbled. +</P> + +<P> +The fireplaces they made with great square red tiles, which they also +put in the chimneys amongst rude masses of mortar: and these great dark +holes remained always mysterious to those that looked for mystery in +the family that whiled away the ages in that castle. And by every +fireplace two queer carved creatures stood upholding the mantlepiece, +with mystery in their faces and curious limbs, uniting the hearth with +fable and with tales told in the wood. Years after the men that carved +them were all dust the shadows of these creatures would come out and +dance in the room, on wintry nights when all the lamps were gone and +flames stole out and flickered above the smouldering logs. +</P> + +<P> +In the second storey one great saloon ran all the length of the castle. +In it was a long table with eight legs that had carvings of roses +rambling along its edges: the table and its legs were all of one piece +with the floor. They would never have hollowed the great trunk in time +had they not used fire. The second storey was barely complete on the +day that Rodriguez and Don Alderon and Morano came to the chains that +guarded the park. And the King of Shadow Valley would not permit his +gift to be seen in anything less than its full magnificence, and had +commanded that no man in the world might enter to see the work of his +bowmen and craftsmen until it should frown at all comers a castle +formidable as any in Spain. +</P> + +<P> +And then they heaped up the mortar and rock to the top of the second +storey, but above that they let the timbers show, except where they +filled in plaster between the curving trunks: and the ages blackened +the timber in amongst the white plaster; but not a storm that blew in +all the years that came, nor the moss of so many Springs, ever rotted +away those beams that the forest had given and on which the bowmen had +laboured so long ago. But the castle weathered the ages and reached our +days, worn, battered even, by its journey through the long and +sometimes troubled years, but splendid with the traffic that it had +with history in many gorgeous periods. Here Valdar the Excellent came +once in his youth. And Charles the Magnificent stayed a night in this +castle when on a pilgrimage to a holy place of the South. +</P> + +<P> +It was here that Peter the Arrogant in his cups gave Africa, one Spring +night, to his sister's son. What grandeurs this castle has seen! What +chronicles could be writ of it! But not these chronicles, for they draw +near their close, and they have yet to tell how the castle was built. +Others shall tell what banners flew from all four of its towers, adding +a splendour to the wind, and for what cause they flew. I have yet to +tell of their building. +</P> + +<P> +The second storey was roofed, and Castle Rodriguez still rose one layer +day by day, with a hauling at pulleys and the work of a hundred men: +and all the while the park swept farther into the forest. +</P> + +<P> +And the trees that grew up through the building were worked by the +craftsmen in every chamber into which they grew: and a great branch of +the hugest of them made a little crooked stair in an upper storey. On +the floors they laid down skins of beasts that the bowmen slew in the +forest; and on the walls there hung all manner of leather, tooled and +dyed as they had the art to do in that far-away period in Spain. +</P> + +<P> +When the third storey was finished they roofed the castle over, laying +upon the huge rafters red tiles that they made of clay. But the towers +were not yet finished. +</P> + +<P> +At this time the King of Shadow Valley sent a runner into Lowlight to +shoot a blunt arrow with a message tied to it into Don Alderon's +garden, near to the door, at evening. +</P> + +<P> +And they went on building the towers above the height of the roof And +near the top of them they made homes for archers, little turrets that +leaned like swallows' nests out from each tower, high places where they +could see and shoot and not be seen from below. And little narrow +passages wound away behind perched battlements of stone, by which +archers could slip from place to place, and shoot from here or from +there and never be known. So were built in that distant age the towers +of Castle Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +And one day four weeks from the felling of the first oak, the period of +his promise being accomplished, the King of Shadow Valley blew his +horn. And standing by what had been the bowmen's cottage, now all shut +in by sheer walls of Castle Rodriguez, he gathered his bowmen to him. +And when they were all about him he gave them their orders. They were +to go by stealth to the village of Lowlight, and were to be by daylight +before the house of Don Alderon; and, whether wed or unwed, whether she +fled or folk defended the house, to bring Dona Serafina of the Valley +of Dawnlight to be the chatelaine of Castle Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +For this purpose he bade them take with them a chariot that he thought +magnificent, though the mighty timbers that gave grandeur to Castle +Rodriguez had a cumbrous look in the heavy vehicle that was to the +bowmen's eyes the triumphal car of the forest. So they took their bows +and obeyed, leaving the craftsmen at their work in the castle, which +was now quite roofed over, towers and all. They went through the forest +by little paths that they knew, going swiftly and warily in the +bowmen's way: and just before nightfall they were at the forest's edge, +though they went no farther from it than its shadows go in the evening. +And there they rested under the oak trees for the early part of the +night except those whose art it was to gather news for their king; and +three of those went into Lowlight and mixed with the villagers there. +</P> + +<P> +When white mists moved over the fields near dawn and wavered ghostly +about Lowlight, the green bowman moved with them. And just out of +hearing of the village, behind wild shrubs that hid them, the bowmen +that were coming from the forest met the three that had spent the night +in taverns of Lowlight. And the three told the hundred of the great +wedding that there was to be in the Church of the Renunciation that +morning in Lowlight: and of the preparations that were made, and how +holy men had come from far on mules, and had slept the night in the +village, and the Bishop of Toledo himself would bless the bridegroom's +sword. The bowmen therefore retired a little way and, moving through +the mists, came forward to points whence they could watch the church, +well concealed on the wild plain, which here and there gave up a field +to man but was mostly the playground of wild creatures whose ways were +the bowmen's ways. And here they waited. +</P> + +<P> +This was the wedding of Rodriguez and Serafina, of which gossips often +spoke at their doors in summer evenings, old women mumbling of fair +weddings that each had seen; and they had been children when they saw +this wedding; they were those that threw small handfuls of anemones on +the path before the porch. They told the tale of it till they could +tell no more. It is the account of the last two or three of them, old, +old women, that came at last to these chronicles, so that their tongues +may wag as it were a little longer through these pages although they +have been for so many centuries dead. And this is all that books are +able to do. +</P> + +<P> +First there was bell-ringing and many voices, and then the voices +hushed, and there came the procession of eight divines of Murcia, whose +vestments were strange to Lowlight. Then there came a priest from the +South, near the border of Andalusia, who overnight had sanctified the +ring. (It was he who had entertained Rodriguez when he first escaped +from la Garda, and Rodriguez had sent for him now.) Each note of the +bells came clear through the hush as they entered the church. And then +with suitable attendants the bishop strode by and they saw quite close +the blessed cope of Toledo. And the bridegroom followed him in, wearing +his sword, and Don Alderon went with him. And then the voices rose +again in the street: the bells rang on: they all saw Dona Mirana. The +little bunches of bright anemones grew sticky in their hands: the bells +seemed louder: cheering rose in the street and came all down it nearer. +Then Dona Serafina walked past them with all her maids: and that is +what the gossips chiefly remembered, telling how she smiled at them, +and praising her dress, through those distant summer evenings. Then +there was music in the church. And afterwards the forest-people had +come. And the people screamed, for none knew what they would do. But +they bowed so low to the bride and bridegroom, and showed their great +hunting bows so willingly to all who wished to see, that the people +lost their alarm and only feared lest the Bishop of Toledo should blast +the merry bowmen with one of his curses. +</P> + +<P> +And presently the bride and bridegroom entered the chariot, and the +people cheered; and there were farewells and the casting of flowers; +and the bishop blessed three of their bows; and a fat man sat beside +the driver with folded arms, wearing bright on his face a look of +foolish contentment; and the bowmen and bride and bridegroom all went +away to the forest. +</P> + +<P> +Four huge white horses drew that bridal chariot, the bowmen ran beside +it, and soon it was lost to sight of the girls that watched it from +Lowlight; but their memories held it close till their eyes could no +longer see to knit and they could only sit by their porches in fine +weather and talk of the days that were. +</P> + +<P> +So came Rodriguez and his bride to the forest; he silent, perplexed, +wondering always to what home and what future he brought her; she +knowing less than he and trusting more. And on the untended road that +the bowmen shared with stags and with rare, very venturous travellers, +the wheels of the woodland chariot sank so deep in the sandy earth that +the escort of bowmen needed seldom to run any more; and he who sat by +the driver climbed down and walked silent for once, perhaps awed by the +occasion, though he was none other than Morano. Serafina was delighted +with the forest, but between Rodriguez and its beautiful grandeur his +anxieties crowded thickly. He leaned over once from the chariot and +asked one of the bowmen again about that castle; but the bowman only +bowed and answered with a proverb of Spain, not easily carried so far +from its own soil to thrive in our language, but signifying that the +morrow showeth all things. He was silent then, for he knew that there +was no way to a direct answer through those proverbs, and after a while +perhaps there came to him some of Serafina's trustfulness. By evening +they came to a wide avenue leading to great gates. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez did not know the avenue, he knew no paths so wide in Shadow +Valley; but he knew those gates. They were the gates of iron that led +nowhere. But now an avenue went from them upon the other side, and +opened widely into a park dotted with clumps of trees. And the two +great iron shields, they too had changed with the changes that had +bewitched the forest, for their surfaces that had glowed so +unmistakably blank, side by side in the firelight, not many nights +before, blazoned now the armorial bearings of Rodriguez upon the one +and those of the house of Dawnlight upon the other. Through the opened +gates they entered the young park that seemed to wonder at its own +ancient trees, where wild deer drifted away from them like shadows +through the evening: for the bowmen had driven in deer for miles +through the forest. They passed a pool where water-lilies lay in +languid beauty for hundreds of summers, but as yet no flower peeped +into the water, for the pond was all hallowed newly. +</P> + +<P> +A clump of trees stood right ahead of their way; they passed round it; +and Castle Rodriguez came all at once into view. Serafina gasped +joyously. Rodriguez saw its towers, its turrets for archers, its +guarded windows deep in the mass of stone, its solemn row of +battlements, but he did not believe what he saw. He did not believe +that here at last was his castle, that here was his dream fulfilled and +his journey done. He expected to wake suddenly in the cold in some +lonely camp, he expected the Ebro to unfold its coils in the North and +to come and sweep it away. It was but another strayed hope, he thought, +taking the form of dream. But Castle Rodriguez still stood frowning +there, and none of its towers vanished, or changed as things change in +dreams; but the servants of the King of Shadow Valley opened the great +door, and Serafina and Rodriguez entered, and all the hundred bowmen +disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +Here we will leave them, and let these Chronicles end. For whoever +would tell more of Castle Rodriguez must wield one of those ponderous +pens that hangs on the study wall in the house of historians. Great +days in the story of Spain shone on those iron-barred windows, and +things were said in its banqueting chamber and planned in its inner +rooms that sometimes turned that story this way or that, as rocks turn +a young river. And as a traveller meets a mighty river at one of its +bends, and passes on his path, while the river sweeps on to its estuary +and the sea, so I leave the triumphs and troubles of that story which I +touched for one moment by the door of Castle Rodriguez. +</P> + +<P> +My concern is but with Rodriguez and Serafina and to tell that they +lived here in happiness; and to tell that the humble Morano found his +happiness too. For he became the magnificent steward of Castle +Rodriguez, the majordomo, and upon august occasions he wore as much red +plush as he had ever seen in his dreams, when he saw this very event, +sleeping by dying camp-fires. And he slept not upon straw but upon good +heaps of wolf-skins. But pining a little in the second year of his +somewhat lonely splendour, he married one of the maidens of the forest, +the child of a bowman that hunted boars with their king. And all the +green bowmen came and built him a house by the gates of the park, +whence he walked solemnly on proper occasions to wait upon his master. +Morano, good, faithful man, come forward for but a moment out of the +Golden Age and bow across all those centuries to the reader: say one +farewell to him in your Spanish tongue, though the sound of it be no +louder than the sound of shadows moving, and so back to the dim +splendour of the past, for the Seņor or Seņora shall hear your name no +more. +</P> + +<P> +For years Rodriguez lived a chieftain of the forest, owning the +overlordship of the King of Shadow Valley, whom he and Serafina would +entertain with all the magnificence of which their castle was capable +on such occasions as he appeared before the iron gates. They seldom saw +him. Sometimes they heard his horn as he went by. They heard his bowmen +follow. And all would pass and perhaps they would see none. But upon +occasions he came. He came to the christening of the eldest son of +Rodriguez and Serafina, for whom he was godfather. He came again to see +the boy shoot for the first time with a bow. And later he came to give +little presents, small treasures of the forest, to Rodriguez' +daughters; who treated him always, not as sole lord of that forest that +travellers dreaded, but as a friend of their very own that they had +found for themselves. He had his favourites among them and none quite +knew which they were. +</P> + +<P> +And one day he came in his old age to give Rodriguez a message. And he +spoke long and tenderly of the forest as though all its glades were +sacred. +</P> + +<P> +And soon after that day he died, and was buried with the mourning of +all his men in the deeps of Shadow Valley, where only Rodriguez and the +bowmen knew. And Rodriguez became, as the old king had commanded, the +ruler of Shadow Valley and all its faithful men. With them he hunted +and defended the forest, holding all its ways to be sacred, as the old +king had taught. It is told how Rodriguez ruled the forest well. +</P> + +<P> +And later he made a treaty with the Spanish King acknowledging him sole +Lord of Spain, including Shadow Valley, saving that certain right +should pertain to the foresters and should be theirs for ever. And +these rights are written on parchment and sealed with the seal of +Spain; and none may harm the forest without the bowmen's leave. +</P> + +<P> +Rodriguez was made Duke of Shadow Valley and a Magnifico of the first +degree; though little he went with other hidalgos to Court, but lived +with his family in Shadow Valley, travelling seldom beyond the +splendour of the forest farther than Lowlight. +</P> + +<P> +Thus he saw the glory of autumn turning the woods to fairyland: and +when the stags were roaring and winter coming on he would take a +boar-spear down from the wall and go hunting through the forest, whose +twigs were black and slender and still against the bright menace of +winter. Spring found him viewing the fields that his men had sown, +along the forest's edge, and finding in the chaunt of the myriad birds +a stirring of memories, a beckoning towards past days. In summer he +would see his boys and girls at play, running through shafts of +sunlight that made leaves and grass like pale emeralds. He gave his +days to the forest and the four seasons. Thus he dwelt amidst +splendours such as History has never seen in any visit of hers to the +courts of men. +</P> + +<P> +Of him and Serafina it has been written and sung that they lived +happily ever after; and though they are now so many centuries dead, may +they have in the memories of such of my readers as will let them linger +there, that afterglow of life that remembrance gives, which is all that +there is on earth for those that walked it once and that walk the paths +of their old haunts no more. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Don Rodriguez, by +Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, Dunsany + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DON RODRIGUEZ *** + +***** This file should be named 4282-h.htm or 4282-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/8/4282/ + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</BODY> + +</HTML> + + diff --git a/4282.txt b/4282.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..11bb57a --- /dev/null +++ b/4282.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7980 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Don Rodriguez, by +Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, Dunsany + +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: Don Rodriguez + Chronicles of Shadow Valley + +Author: Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, Dunsany + +Posting Date: July 23, 2009 [EBook #4282] +Release Date: July, 2003 +First Posted: December 30, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DON RODRIGUEZ *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +DON RODRIGUEZ + +CHRONICLES OF SHADOW VALLEY + + +By + +LORD DUNSANY + + + +To WILLIAM BEEBE + + + + + +CHRONOLOGY + +After long and patient research I am still unable to give to the reader +of these Chronicles the exact date of the times that they tell of. Were +it merely a matter of history there could be no doubts about the +period; but where magic is concerned, to however slight an extent, +there must always be some element of mystery, arising partly out of +ignorance and partly from the compulsion of those oaths by which magic +protects its precincts from the tiptoe of curiosity. + +Moreover, magic, even in small quantities, appears to affect time, much +as acids affect some metals, curiously changing its substance, until +dates seem to melt into a mercurial form that renders them elusive even +to the eye of the most watchful historian. + +It is the magic appearing in Chronicles III and IV that has gravely +affected the date, so that all I can tell the reader with certainty of +the period is that it fell in the later years of the Golden Age in +Spain. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +THE FIRST CHRONICLE + HOW HE MET AND SAID FAREWELL TO MINE HOST OF THE DRAGON AND KNIGHT + +THE SECOND CHRONICLE + HOW HE HIRED A MEMORABLE SERVANT + +THE THIRD CHRONICLE + HOW HE CAME TO THE HOUSE OF WONDER + +THE FOURTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE CAME TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE SUN + +THE FIFTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE RODE IN THE TWILIGHT AND SAW SERAFINA + +THE SIXTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE SANG TO HIS MANDOLIN AND WHAT CAME OF HIS SINGING + +THE SEVENTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE CAME TO SHADOW VALLEY + +THE EIGHTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE TRAVELLED FAR + +THE NINTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE WON A CASTLE IN SPAIN + +THE TENTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE CAME BACK TO LOWLIGHT + +THE ELEVENTH CHRONICLE + HOW HE TURNED TO GARDENING AND HIS SWORD RESTED + +THE TWELFTH CHRONICLE + THE BUILDING OF CASTLE RODRIGUEZ AND THE ENDING OF THESE CHRONICLES + + + + + +DON RODRIGUEZ + + + + + +THE FIRST CHRONICLE + +HOW HE MET AND SAID FAREWELL TO MINE HOST OF THE DRAGON AND KNIGHT + + +Being convinced that his end was nearly come, and having lived long on +earth (and all those years in Spain, in the golden time), the Lord of +the Valleys of Arguento Harez, whose heights see not Valladolid, called +for his eldest son. And so he addressed him when he was come to his +chamber, dim with its strange red hangings and august with the +splendour of Spain: "O eldest son of mine, your younger brother being +dull and clever, on whom those traits that women love have not been +bestowed by God; and know my eldest son that here on earth, and for +ought I know Hereafter, but certainly here on earth, these women be the +arbiters of all things; and how this be so God knoweth only, for they +are vain and variable, yet it is surely so: your younger brother then +not having been given those ways that women prize, and God knows why +they prize them for they are vain ways that I have in my mind and that +won me the Valleys of Arguento Harez, from whose heights Angelico swore +he saw Valladolid once, and that won me moreover also ... but that is +long ago and is all gone now ... ah well, well ... what was I saying?" +And being reminded of his discourse, the old lord continued, saying, +"For himself he will win nothing, and therefore I will leave him these +my valleys, for not unlikely it was for some sin of mine that his +spirit was visited with dullness, as Holy Writ sets forth, the sins of +the fathers being visited on the children; and thus I make him amends. +But to you I leave my long, most flexible, ancient Castilian blade, +which infidels dreaded if old songs be true. Merry and lithe it is, and +its true temper singeth when it meets another blade as two friends sing +when met after many years. It is most subtle, nimble and exultant; and +what it will not win for you in the wars, that shall be won for you by +your mandolin, for you have a way with it that goes well with the old +airs of Spain. And choose, my son, rather a moonlight night when you +sing under those curved balconies that I knew, ah me, so well; for +there is much advantage in the moon. In the first place maidens see in +the light of the moon, especially in the Spring, more romance than you +might credit, for it adds for them a mystery to the darkness which the +night has not when it is merely black. And if any statue should gleam +on the grass near by, or if the magnolia be in blossom, or even the +nightingale singing, or if anything be beautiful in the night, in any +of these things also there is advantage; for a maiden will attribute to +her lover all manner of things that are not his at all, but are only +outpourings from the hand of God. There is this advantage also in the +moon, that, if interrupters come, the moonlight is better suited to the +play of a blade than the mere darkness of night; indeed but the merry +play of my sword in the moonlight was often a joy to see, it so +flashed, so danced, so sparkled. In the moonlight also one makes no +unworthy stroke, but hath scope for those fair passes that Sevastiani +taught, which were long ago the wonder of Madrid." + +The old lord paused, and breathed for a little space, as it were +gathering breath for his last words to his son. He breathed +deliberately, then spoke again. "I leave you," he said, "well content +that you have the two accomplishments, my son, that are most needful in +a Christian man, skill with the sword and a way with the mandolin. +There be other arts indeed among the heathen, for the world is wide and +hath full many customs, but these two alone are needful." And then with +that grand manner that they had at that time in Spain, although his +strength was failing, he gave to his eldest son his Castilian sword. He +lay back then in the huge, carved, canopied bed; his eyes closed, the +red silk curtains rustled, and there was no sound of his breathing. But +the old lord's spirit, whatever journey it purposed, lingered yet in +its ancient habitation, and his voice came again, but feebly now and +rambling; he muttered awhile of gardens, such gardens no doubt as the +hidalgos guarded in that fertile region of sunshine in the proudest +period of Spain; he would have known no others. So for awhile his +memory seemed to stray, half blind among those perfumed earthly +wonders; perhaps among these memories his spirit halted, and tarried +those last few moments, mistaking those Spanish gardens, remembered by +moonlight in Spring, for the other end of his journey, the glades of +Paradise. However it be, it tarried. These rambling memories ceased and +silence fell again, with scarcely the sound of breathing. Then +gathering up his strength for the last time and looking at his son, +"The sword to the wars," he said. "The mandolin to the balconies." With +that he fell back dead. + +Now there were no wars at that time so far as was known in Spain, but +that old lord's eldest son, regarding those last words of his father as +a commandment, determined then and there in that dim, vast chamber to +gird his legacy to him and seek for the wars, wherever the wars might +be, so soon as the obsequies of the sepulture were ended. And of those +obsequies I tell not here, for they are fully told in the Black Books +of Spain, and the deeds of that old lord's youth are told in the Golden +Stories. The Book of Maidens mentions him, and again we read of him in +Gardens of Spain. I take my leave of him, happy, I trust, in Paradise, +for he had himself the accomplishments that he held needful in a +Christian, skill with the sword and a way with the mandolin; and if +there be some harder, better way to salvation than to follow that which +we believe to be good, then are we all damned. So he was buried, and +his eldest son fared forth with his legacy dangling from his girdle in +its long, straight, lovely scabbard, blue velvet, with emeralds on it, +fared forth on foot along a road of Spain. And though the road turned +left and right and sometimes nearly ceased, as though to let the small +wild flowers grow, out of sheer good will such as some roads never +have; though it ran west and east and sometimes south, yet in the main +it ran northward, though wandered is a better word than ran, and the +Lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez who owned no valleys, or anything +but a sword, kept company with it looking for the wars. Upon his back +he had slung his mandolin. Now the time of the year was Spring, not +Spring as we know it in England, for it was but early March, but it was +the time when Spring coming up out of Africa, or unknown lands to the +south, first touches Spain, and multitudes of anemones come forth at +her feet. + +Thence she comes north to our islands, no less wonderful in our woods +than in Andalusian valleys, fresh as a new song, fabulous as a rune, +but a little pale through travel, so that our flowers do not quite +flare forth with all the myriad blaze of the flowers of Spain. + +And all the way as he went the young man looked at the flame of those +southern flowers, flashing on either side of him all the way, as though +the rainbow had been broken in Heaven and its fragments fallen on +Spain. All the way as he went he gazed at those flowers, the first +anemones of the year; and long after, whenever he sang to old airs of +Spain, he thought of Spain as it appeared that day in all the wonder of +Spring; the memory lent a beauty to his voice and a wistfulness to his +eyes that accorded not ill with the theme of the songs he sang, and +were more than once to melt proud hearts deemed cold. And so gazing he +came to a town that stood on a hill, before he was yet tired, though he +had done nigh twenty of those flowery miles of Spain; and since it was +evening and the light was fading away, he went to an inn and drew his +sword in the twilight and knocked with the hilt of it on the oaken +door. The name of it was the Inn of the Dragon and Knight. A light was +lit in one of the upper windows, the darkness seemed to deepen at that +moment, a step was heard coming heavily down a stairway; and having +named the inn to you, gentle reader, it is time for me to name the +young man also, the landless lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez, as +the step comes slowly down the inner stairway, as the gloaming darkens +over the first house in which he has ever sought shelter so far from +his father's valleys, as he stands upon the threshold of romance. He +was named Rodriguez Trinidad Fernandez, Concepcion Henrique Maria; but +we shall briefly name him Rodriguez in this story; you and I, reader, +will know whom we mean; there is no need therefore to give him his full +names, unless I do it here and there to remind you. + +The steps came thumping on down the inner stairway, different windows +took the light of the candle, and none other shone in the house; it was +clear that it was moving with the steps all down that echoing stairway. +The sound of the steps ceased to reverberate upon the wood, and now +they slowly moved over stone flags; Rodriguez now heard breathing, one +breath with every step, and at length the sound of bolts and chains +undone and the breathing now very close. The door was opened swiftly; a +man with mean eyes, and expression devoted to evil, stood watching him +for an instant; then the door slammed to again, the bolts were heard +going back again to their places, the steps and the breathing moved +away over the stone floor, and the inner stairway began again to echo. + +"If the wars are here," said Rodriguez to himself and his sword, "good, +and I sleep under the stars." And he listened in the street for the +sound of war and, hearing none, continued his discourse. "But if I have +not come as yet to the wars I sleep beneath a roof." + +For the second time therefore he drew his sword, and began to strike +methodically at the door, noting the grain in the wood and hitting +where it was softest. Scarcely had he got a good strip of the oak to +look like coming away, when the steps once more descended the wooden +stair and came lumbering over the stones; both the steps and the +breathing were quicker, for mine host of the Dragon and Knight was +hurrying to save his door. + +When he heard the sound of the bolts and chains again Rodriguez ceased +to beat upon the door: once more it opened swiftly, and he saw mine +host before him, eyeing him with those bad eyes; of too much girth, you +might have said, to be nimble, yet somehow suggesting to the swift +intuition of youth, as Rodriguez looked at him standing upon his +door-step, the spirit and shape of a spider, who despite her ungainly +build is agile enough in her way. + +Mine host said nothing; and Rodriguez, who seldom concerned himself +with the past, holding that the future is all we can order the scheme +of (and maybe even here he was wrong), made no mention of bolts or door +and merely demanded a bed for himself for the night. + +Mine host rubbed his chin; he had neither beard nor moustache but wore +hideous whiskers; he rubbed it thoughtfully and looked at Rodriguez. +Yes, he said, he could have a bed for the night. No more words he said, +but turned and led the way; while Rodriguez, who could sing to the +mandolin, wasted none of his words on this discourteous object. They +ascended the short oak stairway down which mine host had come, the +great timbers of which were gnawed by a myriad rats, and they went by +passages with the light of one candle into the interior of the inn, +which went back farther from the street than the young man had +supposed; indeed he perceived when they came to the great corridor at +the end of which was his appointed chamber, that here was no ordinary +inn, as it had appeared from outside, but that it penetrated into the +fastness of some great family of former times which had fallen on evil +days. The vast size of it, the noble design where the rats had spared +the carving, what the moths had left of the tapestries, all testified +to that; and, as for the evil days, they hung about the place, evident +even by the light of one candle guttering with every draught that blew +from the haunts of the rats, an inseparable heirloom for all who +disturbed those corridors. + +And so they came to the chamber. + +Mine host entered, bowed without grace in the doorway, and extended his +left hand, pointing into the room. The draughts that blew from the +rat-holes in the wainscot, or the mere action of entering, beat down +the flame of the squat, guttering candle so that the chamber remained +dim for a moment, in spite of the candle, as would naturally be the +case. Yet the impression made upon Rodriguez was as of some old +darkness that had been long undisturbed and that yielded reluctantly to +that candle's intrusion, a darkness that properly became the place and +was a part of it and had long been so, in the face of which the candle +appeared an ephemeral thing devoid of grace or dignity or tradition. +And indeed there was room for darkness in that chamber, for the walls +went up and up into such an altitude that you could scarcely see the +ceiling, at which mine host's eyes glanced, and Rodriguez followed his +look. + +He accepted his accommodation with a nod; as indeed he would have +accepted any room in that inn, for the young are swift judges of +character, and one who had accepted such a host was unlikely to find +fault with rats or the profusion of giant cobwebs, dark with the dust +of years, that added so much to the dimness of that sinister inn. They +turned now and went back, in the wake of that guttering candle, till +they came again to the humbler part of the building. Here mine host, +pushing open a door of blackened oak, indicated his dining-chamber. +There a long table stood, and on it parts of the head and hams of a +boar; and at the far end of the table a plump and sturdy man was seated +in shirt-sleeves feasting himself on the boar's meat. He leaped up at +once from his chair as soon as his master entered, for he was the +servant at the Dragon and Knight; mine host may have said much to him +with a flash of his eyes, but he said no more with his tongue than the +one word, "Dog": he then bowed himself out, leaving Rodriguez to take +the only chair and to be waited upon by its recent possessor. The +boar's meat was cold and gnarled, another piece of meat stood on a +plate on a shelf and a loaf of bread near by, but the rats had had most +of the bread: Rodriguez demanded what the meat was. "Unicorn's tongue," +said the servant, and Rodriguez bade him set the dish before him, and +he set to well content, though I fear the unicorn's tongue was only +horse: it was a credulous age, as all ages are. At the same time he +pointed to a three-legged stool that he perceived in a corner of the +room, then to the table, then to the boar's meat, and lastly at the +servant, who perceived that he was permitted to return to his feast, to +which he ran with alacrity. "Your name?" said Rodriguez as soon as both +were eating. "Morano," replied the servant, though it must not be +supposed that when answering Rodriguez he spoke as curtly as this; I +merely give the reader the gist of his answer, for he added Spanish +words that correspond in our depraved and decadent language of to-day +to such words as "top dog," "nut" and "boss," so that his speech had a +certain grace about it in that far-away time in Spain. + +I have said that Rodriguez seldom concerned himself with the past, but +considered chiefly the future: it was of the future that he was +thinking now as he asked Morano this question: + +"Why did my worthy and entirely excellent host shut his door in my +face?" + +"Did he so?" said Morano. + +"He then bolted it and found it necessary to put the chains back, +doubtless for some good reason." + +"Yes," said Morano thoughtfully, and looking at Rodriguez, "and so he +might. He must have liked you." + +Verily Rodriguez was just the young man to send out with a sword and a +mandolin into the wide world, for he had much shrewd sense. He never +pressed a point, but when something had been said that might mean much +he preferred to store it, as it were, in his mind and pass on to other +things, somewhat as one might kill game and pass on and kill more and +bring it all home, while a savage would cook the first kill where it +fell and eat it on the spot. Pardon me, reader, but at Morano's remark +you may perhaps have exclaimed, "That is not the way to treat one you +like." Not so did Rodriguez. His attention passed on to notice Morano's +rings which he wore in great profusion upon his little fingers; they +were gold and of exquisite work and had once held precious stones, as +large gaps testified; in these days they would have been priceless, but +in an age when workers only worked at arts that they understood, and +then worked for the joy of it, before the word artistic became +ridiculous, exquisite work went without saying; and as the rings were +slender they were of little value. Rodriguez made no comment upon the +rings; it was enough for him to have noticed them. He merely noted that +they were not ladies' rings, for no lady's ring would have fitted on to +any one of those fingers: the rings therefore of gallants: and not +given to Morano by their owners, for whoever wore precious stone needed +a ring to wear it in, and rings did not wear out like hose, which a +gallant might give to a servant. Nor, thought he, had Morano stolen +them, for whoever stole them would keep them whole, or part with them +whole and get a better price. Besides Morano had an honest face, or a +face at least that seemed honest in such an inn: and while these +thoughts were passing through his mind Morano spoke again: "Good hams," +said Morano. He had already eaten one and was starting upon the next. +Perhaps he spoke out of gratitude for the honour and physical advantage +of being permitted to sit there and eat those hams, perhaps +tentatively, to find out whether he might consume the second, perhaps +merely to start a conversation, being attracted by the honest looks of +Rodriguez. + +"You are hungry," said Rodriguez. + +"Praise God I am always hungry," answered Morano. "If I were not hungry +I should starve." + +"Is it so?" said Rodriguez. + +"You see," said Morano, "the manner of it is this: my master gives me +no food, and it is only when I am hungry that I dare to rob him by +breaking in, as you saw me, upon his viands; were I not hungry I should +not dare to do so, and so ..." He made a sad and expressive movement +with both his hands suggestive of autumn leaves blown hence to die. + +"He gives you no food?" said Rodriguez. + +"It is the way of many men with their dog," said Morano. "They give him +no food," and then he rubbed his hands cheerfully, "and yet the dog +does not die." + +"And he gives you no wages?" said Rodriguez. + +"Just these rings." + +Now Rodriguez had himself a ring upon his finger (as a gallant should), +a slender piece of gold with four tiny angels holding a sapphire, and +for a moment he pictured the sapphire passing into the hands of mine +host and the ring of gold and the four small angels being flung to +Morano; the thought darkened his gaiety for no longer than one of those +fleecy clouds in Spring shadows the fields of Spain. + +Morano was also looking at the ring; he had followed the young man's +glance. + +"Master," he said, "do you draw your sword of a night?" + +"And you?" said Rodriguez. + +"I have no sword," said Morano. "I am but as dog's meat that needs no +guarding, but you whose meat is rare like the flesh of the unicorn need +a sword to guard your meat. The unicorn has his horn always, and even +then he sometimes sleeps." + +"It is bad, you think, to sleep," Rodriguez said. + +"For some it is very bad, master. They say they never take the unicorn +waking. For me I am but dog's meat: when I have eaten hams I curl up +and sleep; but then you see, master, I know I shall wake in the +morning." + +"Ah," said Rodriguez, "the morning's a pleasant time," and he leaned +back comfortably in his chair. Morano took one shrewd look at him, and +was soon asleep upon his three-legged stool. + +The door opened after a while and mine host appeared. "It is late," he +said. Rodriguez smiled acquiescently and mine host withdrew, and +presently leaving Morano whom his master's voice had waked, to curl up +on the floor in a corner, Rodriguez took the candle that lit the room +and passed once more through the passages of the inn and down the great +corridor of the fastness of the family that had fallen on evil days, +and so came to his chamber. I will not waste a multitude of words over +that chamber; if you have no picture of it in your mind already, my +reader, you are reading an unskilled writer, and if in that picture it +appear a wholesome room, tidy and well kept up, if it appear a place in +which a stranger might sleep without some faint foreboding of disaster, +then I am wasting your time, and will waste no more of it with bits of +"descriptive writing" about that dim, high room, whose blackness +towered before Rodriguez in the night. He entered and shut the door, as +many had done before him; but for all his youth he took some wiser +precautions than had they, perhaps, who closed that door before. For +first he drew his sword; then for some while he stood quite still near +the door and listened to the rats; then he looked round the chamber and +perceived only one door; then he looked at the heavy oak furniture, +carved by some artist, gnawed by rats, and all blackened by time; then +swiftly opened the door of the largest cupboard and thrust his sword in +to see who might be inside, but the carved satyr's heads at the top of +the cupboard eyed him silently and nothing moved. Then he noted that +though there was no bolt on the door the furniture might be placed +across to make what in the wars is called a barricado, but the wiser +thought came at once that this was too easily done, and that if the +danger that the dim room seemed gloomily to forebode were to come from +a door so readily barricadoed, then those must have been simple +gallants who parted so easily with the rings that adorned Morano's two +little fingers. No, it was something more subtle than any attack +through that door that brought his regular wages to Morano. Rodriguez +looked at the window, which let in the light of a moon that was getting +low, for the curtains had years ago been eaten up by the moths; but the +window was barred with iron bars that were not yet rusted away, and +looked out, thus guarded, over a sheer wall that even in the moonlight +fell into blackness. Rodriguez then looked round for some hidden door, +the sword all the while in his hand, and very soon he knew that room +fairly well, but not its secret, nor why those unknown gallants had +given up their rings. + +It is much to know of an unknown danger that it really is unknown. Many +have met their deaths through looking for danger from one particular +direction, whereas had they perceived that they were ignorant of its +direction they would have been wise in their ignorance. Rodriguez had +the great discretion to understand clearly that he did not know the +direction from which danger would come. He accepted this as his only +discovery about that portentous room which seemed to beckon to him with +every shadow and to sigh over him with every mournful draught, and to +whisper to him unintelligible warnings with every rustle of tattered +silk that hung about his bed. And as soon as he discovered that this +was his only knowledge he began at once to make his preparations: he +was a right young man for the wars. He divested himself of his shoes +and doublet and the light cloak that hung from his shoulder and cast +the clothes on a chair. Over the back of the chair he slung his girdle +and the scabbard hanging therefrom and placed his plumed hat so that +none could see that his Castilian blade was not in its resting-place. +And when the sombre chamber had the appearance of one having undressed +in it before retiring Rodriguez turned his attention to the bed, which +he noticed to be of great depth and softness. That something not unlike +blood had been spilt on the floor excited no wonder in Rodriguez; that +vast chamber was evidently, as I have said, in the fortress of some +great family, against one of whose walls the humble inn had once leaned +for protection; the great family were gone: how they were gone +Rodriguez did not know, but it excited no wonder in him to see blood on +the boards: besides, two gallants may have disagreed; or one who loved +not dumb animals might have been killing rats. Blood did not disturb +him; but what amazed him, and would have surprised anyone who stood in +that ruinous room, was that there were clean new sheets on the bed. Had +you seen the state of the furniture and the floor, O my reader, and the +vastness of the old cobwebs and the black dust that they held, the dead +spiders and huge dead flies, and the living generation of spiders +descending and ascending through the gloom, I say that you also would +have been surprised at the sight of those nice clean sheets. Rodriguez +noted the fact and continued his preparations. He took the bolster from +underneath the pillow and laid it down the middle of the bed and put +the sheets back over it; then he stood back and looked at it, much as a +sculptor might stand back from his marble, then he returned to it and +bent it a little in the middle, and after that he placed his mandolin +on the pillow and nearly covered it with the sheet, but not quite, for +a little of the curved dark-brown wood remained still to be seen. It +looked wonderfully now like a sleeper in the bed, but Rodriguez was not +satisfied with his work until he had placed his kerchief and one of his +shoes where a shoulder ought to be; then he stood back once more and +eyed it with satisfaction. Next he considered the light. He looked at +the light of the moon and remembered his father's advice, as the young +often do, but considered that this was not the occasion for it, and +decided to leave the light of his candle instead, so that anyone who +might be familiar with the moonlight in that shadowy chamber should +find instead a less sinister light. He therefore dragged a table to the +bedside, placed the candle upon it, and opened a treasured book that he +bore in his doublet, and laid it on the bed near by, between the candle +and his mandolin-headed sleeper; the name of the book was Notes in a +Cathedral and dealt with the confessions of a young girl, which the +author claimed to have jotted down, while concealed behind a pillow +near the Confessional, every Sunday for the entire period of Lent. +Lastly he pulled a sheet a little loose from the bed, until a corner of +it lay on the floor; then he lay down on the boards, still keeping his +sword in his hand, and by means of the sheet and some silk that hung +from the bed, he concealed himself sufficient for his purpose, which +was to see before he should be seen by any intruder that might enter +that chamber. + +And if Rodriguez appear to have been unduly suspicious, it should be +borne in mind not only that those empty rings needed much explanation, +but that every house suggests to the stranger something; and that +whereas one house seems to promise a welcome in front of cosy fires, +another good fare, another joyous wine, this inn seemed to promise +murder; or so the young man's intuition said, and the young are wise to +trust to their intuitions. + +The reader will know, if he be one of us, who have been to the wars and +slept in curious ways, that it is hard to sleep when sober upon a +floor; it is not like the earth, or snow, or a feather bed; even rock +can be more accommodating; it is hard, unyielding and level, all night +unmistakable floor. Yet Rodriguez took no risk of falling asleep, so he +said over to himself in his mind as much as he remembered of his +treasured book, Notes in a Cathedral, which he always read to himself +before going to rest and now so sadly missed. It told how a lady who +had listened to a lover longer than her soul's safety could warrant, as +he played languorous music in the moonlight and sang soft by her low +balcony, and how she being truly penitent, had gathered many roses, the +emblems of love (as surely, she said at confession, all the world +knows), and when her lover came again by moonlight had cast them all +from her from the balcony, showing that she had renounced love; and her +lover had entirely misunderstood her. It told how she often tried to +show him this again, and all the misunderstandings are sweetly set +forth and with true Christian penitence. Sometimes some little matter +escaped Rodriguez's memory and then he longed to rise up and look at +his dear book, yet he lay still where he was: and all the while he +listened to the rats, and the rats went on gnawing and running +regularly, scared by nothing new; Rodriguez trusted as much to their +myriad ears as to his own two. The great spiders descended out of such +heights that you could not see whence they came, and ascended again +into blackness; it was a chamber of prodigious height. Sometimes the +shadow of a descending spider that had come close to the candle assumed +a frightening size, but Rodriguez gave little thought to it; it was of +murder he was thinking, not of shadows; still, in its way it was +ominous, and reminded Rodriguez horribly of his host; but what of an +omen, again, in a chamber full of omens. The place itself was ominous; +spiders could scarce make it more so. The spider itself was big enough, +he thought, to be impaled on his Castilian blade; indeed, he would have +done it but that he thought it wiser to stay where he was and watch. +And then the spider found the candle too hot and climbed in a hurry all +the way to the ceiling, and his horrible shadow grew less and dwindled +away. + +It was not that the rats were frightened: whatever it was that happened +happened too quietly for that, but the volume of the sound of their +running had suddenly increased: it was not like fear among them, for +the running was no swifter, and it did not fade away; it was as though +the sound of rats running, which had not been heard before, was +suddenly heard now. Rodriguez looked at the door, the door was shut. A +young Englishman would long ago have been afraid that he was making a +fuss over nothing and would have gone to sleep in the bed, and not seen +what Rodriguez saw. He might have thought that hearing more rats all at +once was merely a fancy, and that everything was all right. Rodriguez +saw a rope coming slowly down from the ceiling, he quickly determined +whether it was a rope or only the shadow of some huge spider's thread, +and then he watched it and saw it come down right over his bed and stop +within a few feet of it. Rodriguez looked up cautiously to see who had +sent him that strange addition to the portents that troubled the +chamber, but the ceiling was too high and dim for him to perceive +anything but the rope coming down out of the darkness. Yet he surmised +that the ceiling must have softly opened, without any sound at all, at +the moment that he heard the greater number of rats. He waited then to +see what the rope would do; and at first it hung as still as the great +festoons dead spiders had made in the corners; then as he watched it it +began to sway. He looked up into the dimness then to see who was +swaying the rope; and for a long time, as it seemed to him lying +gripping his Castilian sword on the floor he saw nothing clearly. And +then he saw mine host coming down the rope, hand over hand quite +nimbly, as though he lived by this business. In his right hand he held +a poniard of exceptional length, yet he managed to clutch the rope and +hold the poniard all the time with the same hand. + +If there had been something hideous about the shadow of the spider that +came down from that height the shadow of mine host was indeed demoniac. +He too was like a spider, with his body at no time slender all bunched +up on the rope, and his shadow was six times his size: you could turn +from the spider's shadow to the spider and see that it was for the most +part a fancy of the candle half crazed by the draughts, but to turn +from mine host's shadow to himself and to see his wicked eyes was to +say that the candle's wildest fears were true. So he climbed down his +rope holding his poniard upward. But when he came within perhaps ten +feet of the bed he pointed it downward and began to sway about. It will +be readily seen that by swaying his rope at a height mine host could +drop on any part of the bed. Rodriguez as he watched him saw him +scrutinise closely and continue to sway on his rope. He feared that +mine host was ill satisfied with the look of the mandolin and that he +would climb away again, well warned of his guest's astuteness, into the +heights of the ceiling to devise some fearfuller scheme; but he was +only looking for the shoulder. And then mine host dropped; poniard +first, he went down with all his weight behind it and drove it through +the bolster below where the shoulder should be, just where we slant our +arms across our bodies, when we lie asleep on our sides, leaving the +ribs exposed: and the soft bed received him. And the moment that mine +host let go of his rope Rodriguez leaped to his feet. He saw Rodriguez, +indeed their eyes met as he dropped through the air, but what could +mine host do? He was already committed to his stroke, and his poniard +was already deep in the mattress when the good Castilian blade passed +through his ribs. + + + + +THE SECOND CHRONICLE + +HOW HE HIRED A MEMORABLE SERVANT + + +When Rodriguez woke, the birds were singing gloriously. The sun was up +and the air was sparkling over Spain. The gloom had left his high +chamber, and much of the menace had gone from it that overnight had +seemed to bode in the corners. It had not become suddenly tidy; it was +still more suitable for spiders than men, it still mourned and brooded +over the great family that it had nursed and that evil days had so +obviously overtaken; but it no longer had the air of finger to lips, no +longer seemed to share a secret with you, and that secret Murder. The +rats still ran round the wainscot, but the song of the birds and the +jolly, dazzling sunshine were so much larger than the sombre room that +the young man's thoughts escaped from it and ran free to the fields. It +may have been only his fancy but the world seemed somehow brighter for +the demise of mine host of the Dragon and Knight, whose body still lay +hunched up on the foot of his bed. Rodriguez jumped up and went to the +high, barred window and looked out of it at the morning: far below him +a little town with red roofs lay; the smoke came up from the chimneys +toward him slowly, and spread out flat and did not reach so high. +Between him and the roofs swallows were sailing. + +He found water for washing in a cracked pitcher of earthenware and as +he dressed he looked up at the ceiling and admired mine host's device, +for there was an open hole that had come noiselessly, without any +sounds of bolts or lifting of trap-doors, but seemed to have opened out +all round on perfectly oiled grooves, to fit that well-to-do body, and +down from the middle of it from some higher beam hung the rope down +which mine host had made his last journey. + +Before taking leave of his host Rodriguez looked at his poniard, which +was a good two feet in length, not counting the hilt, and was surprised +to find it an excellent blade. It bore a design on the steel +representing a town, which Rodriguez recognised for the towers of +Toledo; and had held moreover a jewel at the end of the hilt, but the +little gold socket was empty. Rodriguez therefore perceived that the +poniard was that of a gallant, and surmised that mine host had begun +his trade with a butcher's knife, but having come by the poniard had +found it to be handier for his business. Rodriguez being now fully +dressed, girt his own blade about him, and putting the poniard under +his cloak, for he thought to find a use for it at the wars, set his +plumed hat upon him and jauntily stepped from the chamber. By the light +of day he saw clearly at what point the passages of the inn had dared +to make their intrusion on the corridors of the fortress, for he walked +for four paces between walls of huge grey rocks which had never been +plastered and were clearly a breach in the fortress, though whether the +breach were made by one of the evil days that had come upon the family +in their fastness, and whether men had poured through it with torches +and swords, or whether the gap had been cut in later years for mine +host of the Dragon and Knight, and he had gone quietly through it +rubbing his hands, nothing remained to show Rodriguez now. + +When he came to the dining-chamber he found Morano astir. Morano looked +up from his overwhelming task of tidying the Inn of the Dragon and +Knight and then went on with his pretended work, for he felt a little +ashamed of the knowledge he had concerning the ways of that inn, which +was more than an honest man should know about such a place. + +"Good morning, Morano," said Rodriguez blithely. + +"Good morning," answered the servant of the Dragon and Knight. + +"I am looking for the wars. Would you like a new master, Morano?" + +"Indeed," said Morano, "a good master is better to some men's minds +than a bad one. Yet, you see senor, my bad master has me bound never to +leave him, by oaths that I do not properly understand the meaning of, +and that might blast me in any world were I to forswear them. He hath +bound me by San Sathanas, with many others. I do not like the sound of +that San Sathanas. And so you see, senor, my bad master suits me better +than perhaps to be whithered in this world by a levin-stroke, and in +the next world who knows?" + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "there is a dead spider on my bed." + +"A dead spider, master?" said Morano, with as much concern in his voice +as though no spider had ever sullied that chamber before. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez, "I shall require you to keep my bed tidy on our +way to the wars." + +"Master," said Morano, "no spider shall come near it, living or dead." + +And so our company of one going northward through Spain looking for +romance became a company of two. + +"Master," said Morano, "as I do not see him whom I serve, and his ways +are early ways, I fear some evil has overtaken him, whereby we shall be +suspect, for none other dwells here: and he is under special protection +of the Garda Civil; it would be well therefore to start for the wars +right early." + +"The guard protect mine host then." Rodriguez said with as much +surprise in his tones as he ever permitted himself. + +"Master," Morano said, "it could not be otherwise. For so many gallants +have entered the door of this inn and supped in this chamber and never +been seen again, and so many suspicious things have been found here, +such as blood, that it became necessary for him to pay the guard well, +and so they protect him." And Morano hastily slung over his shoulder by +leather straps an iron pot and a frying-pan and took his broad felt hat +from a peg on the wall. + +Rodriguez' eyes looked so curiously at the great cooking utensils +dangling there from the straps that Morano perceived his young master +did not fully understand these preparations: he therefore instructed +him thus: "Master, there be two things necessary in the wars, strategy +and cooking. Now the first of these comes in use when the captains +speak of their achievements and the historians write of the wars. +Strategy is a learned thing, master, and the wars may not be told of +without it, but while the war rageth and men be camped upon the +foughten field then is the time for cooking; for many a man that fights +the wars, if he hath not his food, were well content to let the enemy +live, but feed him and at once he becometh proud at heart and cannot +a-bear the sight of the enemy walking among his tents but must needs +slay him outright. Aye, master, the cooking for the wars; and when the +wars are over you who are learned shall study strategy." + +And Rodriguez perceived that there was wisdom in the world that was not +taught in the College of San Josephus, near to his father's valleys, +where he had learned in his youth the ways of books. + +"Morano," he said, "let us now leave mine host to entertain la Garda." + +And at the mention of the guard hurry came on Morano, he closed his +lips upon his store of wisdom, and together they left the Inn of the +Dragon and Knight. And when Rodriguez saw shut behind him that dark +door of oak that he had so persistently entered, and through which he +had come again to the light of the sun by many precautions and some +luck, he felt gratitude to Morano. For had it not been for Morano's +sinister hints, and above all his remark that mine host would have +driven him thence because he liked him, the evil look of the sombre +chamber alone might not have been enough to persuade him to the +precautions that cut short the dreadful business of that inn. And with +his gratitude was a feeling not unlike remorse, for he felt that he had +deprived this poor man of a part of his regular wages, which would have +been his own gold ring and the setting that held the sapphire, had all +gone well with the business. So he slipped the ring from his finger and +gave it to Morano, sapphire and all. + +Morano's expressions of gratitude were in keeping with that flowery +period in Spain, and might appear ridiculous were I to expose them to +the eyes of an age in which one in Morano's place on such an occasion +would have merely said, "Damned good of you old nut, not half," and let +the matter drop. + +I merely record therefore that Morano was grateful and so expressed +himself; while Rodriguez, in addition to the pleasant glow in the mind +that comes from a generous action, had another feeling that gives all +of us pleasure, or comfort at least (until it grows monotonous), a +feeling of increased safety; for while he had the ring upon his finger +and Morano went unpaid the thought could not help occurring, even to a +generous mind, that one of these windy nights Morano might come for his +wages. + +"Master," said Morano looking at the sapphire now on his own little +finger near the top joint, the only stone amongst his row of rings, +"you must surely have great wealth." + +"Yes," said Rodriguez slapping the scabbard that held his Castilian +blade. And when he saw that Morano's eyes were staring at the little +emeralds that were dotted along the velvet of the scabbard he explained +that it was the sword that was his wealth: + +"For in the wars," he said, "are all things to be won, and nothing is +unobtainable to the sword. For parchment and custom govern all the +possessions of man, as they taught me in the College of San Josephus. +Yet the sword is at first the founder and discoverer of all +possessions; and this my father told me before he gave me this sword, +which hath already acquired in the old time fair castles with many a +tower." + +"And those that dwelt in the castles, master, before the sword came?" +said Morano. + +"They died and went dismally to Hell," said Rodriguez, "as the old +songs say." + +They walked on then in silence. Morano, with his low forehead and +greater girth of body than of brain to the superficial observer, was +not incapable of thought. However slow his thoughts may have come, +Morano was pondering surely. Suddenly the puckers on his little +forehead cleared and he brightly looked at Rodriguez as they went on +side by side. + +"Master," Morano said, "when you choose a castle in the wars, let it +above all things be one of those that is easy to be defended; for +castles are easily got, as the old songs tell, and in the heat of +combat positions are quickly stormed, and no more ado; but, when wars +are over, then is the time for ease and languorous days and the +imperilling of the soul, though not beyond the point where our good +fathers may save it." + +"Nay, Morano," Rodriguez said, "no man, as they taught me well in the +College of San Josephus, should ever imperil his soul." + +"But, master," Morano said, "a man imperils his body in the wars yet +hopes by dexterity and his sword to draw it safely thence: so a man of +courage and high heart may surely imperil his soul and still hope to +bring it at the last to salvation." + +"Not so," said Rodriguez, and gave his mind to pondering upon the exact +teaching he had received on this very point, but could not clearly +remember. + +So they walked in silence, Rodriguez thinking still of this spiritual +problem, Morano turning, though with infinite slowness, to another +thought upon a lower plane. + +And after a while Rodriguez' eyes turned again to the flowers, and he +felt his meditation, as youth will, and looking abroad he saw the +wonder of Spring calling forth the beauty of Spain, and he lifted up +his head and his heart rejoiced with the anemones, as hearts at his age +do: but Morano clung to his thought. + +It was long before Rodriguez' fanciful thoughts came back from among +the flowers, for among those delicate earliest blooms of Spring his +youthful visions felt they were with familiars; so they tarried, +neglecting the dusty road and poor gross Morano. But when his fancies +left the flowers at last and looked again at Morano, Rodriguez +perceived that his servant was all troubled with thought: so he left +Morano in silence for his thought to come to maturity, for he had +formed a liking already for the judgments of Morano's simple mind. + +They walked in silence for the space of an hour, and at last Morano +spoke. It was then noon. "Master," he said, "at this hour it is the +custom of la Garda to enter the Inn of the Dragon and to dine at the +expense of mine host." + +"A merry custom," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "if they find him in less than his usual health +they will get their dinners for themselves in the larder and dine and +afterwards sleep. But after that; master, after that, should anything +inauspicious have befallen mine host, they will seek out and ask many +questions concerning all travellers, too many for our liking." + +"We are many good miles from the Inn of the Dragon and Knight," said +Rodriguez. + +"Master, when they have eaten and slept and asked questions they will +follow on horses," said Morano. + +"We can hide," said Rodriguez, and he looked round over the plain, very +full of flowers, but empty and bare under the blue sky of any place in +which a man might hide to escape from pursuers on horse back. He +perceived then that he had no plan. + +"Master," said Morano, "there is no hiding like disguises." + +Once more Rodriguez looked round him over the plain, seeing no houses, +no men; and his opinion of Morano's judgment sank when he said +disguises. But then Morano unfolded to him that plan which up to that +day had never been tried before, so far as records tell, in all the +straits in which fugitive men have been; and which seems from my +researches in verse and prose never to have been attempted since. + +The plan was this, astute as Morano, and simple as his naive mind. The +clothing for which Rodriguez searched the plain vainly was ready to +hand. No disguise was effective against la Garda, they had too many +suspicions, their skill was to discover disguises. But in the moment of +la Garda's triumph, when they had found out the disguise, when success +had lulled the suspicions for which they were infamous, then was the +time to trick la Garda. Rodriguez wondered; but the slow mind of Morano +was sure, and now he came to the point, the fruit of his hour's +thinking. Rodriguez should disguise himself as Morano. When la Garda +discovered that he was not the man he appeared to be, a study to which +they devoted their lives, their suspicions would rest and there would +be an end of it. And Morano should disguise himself as Rodriguez. + +It was a new idea. Had Rodriguez been twice his age he would have +discarded it at once; for age is guided by precedent which, when +pursued, is a dangerous guide indeed. Even as it was he was critical, +for the novelty of the thing coming thus from his gross servant +surprised him as much as though Morano had uttered poetry of his own +when he sang, as he sometimes did, certain merry lascivious songs of +Spain that any one of the last few centuries knew as well as any of the +others. + +And would not la Garda find out that he was himself, Rodriguez asked, +as quickly as they found out he was not Morano. + +"That," said Morano, "is not the way of la Garda. For once let la Garda +come by a suspicion, such as that you, master, are but Morano, and they +will cling to it even to the last, and not abandon it until they needs +must, and then throw it away as it were in disgust and ride hence at +once, for they like not tarrying long near one who has seen them +mistaken." + +"They will soon then come by another suspicion," said Rodriguez. + +"Not so, master," answered Morano, "for those that are as suspicious as +la Garda change their suspicions but slowly. A suspicion is an old song +to them." + +"Then," said Rodriguez, "I shall be hard set ever to show that I am not +you if they ever suspect I am." + +"It will be hard, master," Morano answered; "but we shall do it, for we +shall have truth upon our side." + +"How shall we disguise ourselves?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "when you came to our town none knew you and all +marked your clothes. As for me my fat body is better known than my +clothes, yet am I not too well known by la Garda, for, being an honest +man, whenever la Garda came I used to hide." + +"You did well," said Rodriguez. + +"Certainly I did well," said Morano, "for had they seen me they might, +on account of certain matters, have taken me to prison, and prison is +no place for an honest man." + +"Let us disguise ourselves," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," answered Morano, "the brain is greater than the stomach, and +now more than at any time we need the counsel of the brain; let us +therefore appease the clamours of the stomach that it be silent." + +And he drew out from amongst his clothing a piece of sacking in which +was a mass of bacon and some lard, and unslung his huge frying-pan. +Rodriguez had entirely forgotten the need of food, but now the memory +of it had rushed upon him like a flood over a barrier, as soon as he +saw the bacon. And when they had collected enough of tiny inflammable +things, for it was a treeless plain, and Morano had made a fire, and +the odour of the bacon became perceptible, this memory was hugely +intensified. + +"Let us eat while they eat, master," said Morano, "and plan while they +sleep, and disguise ourselves while they pursue." + +And this they did: for after they had eaten they dug up earth and +gathered leaves with which to fill the gaps in Morano's garments when +they should hang on Rodriguez, they plucked a geranium with whose dye +they deepened Rodriguez' complexion, and with the sap from the stalk of +a weed Morano toned to a pallor the ruddy brown of his tough cheeks. +Then they changed clothes altogether, which made Morano gasp: and after +that nothing remained but to cut off the delicate black moustachios of +Rodriguez and to stick them to the face of Morano with the juice of +another flower that he knew where to find. Rodriguez sighed when he saw +them go. He had pictured ecstatic glances cast some day at those +moustachios, glances from under long eyelashes twinkling at evening +from balconies; and looking at them where they were now, he felt that +this was impossible. + +For one moment Morano raised his head with an air, as it were preening +himself, when the new moustachios had stuck; but as soon as he saw, or +felt, his master's sorrow at their loss he immediately hung his head, +showing nothing but shame for the loss he had caused his master, or for +the impropriety of those delicate growths that so ill become his jowl. +And now they took the road again, Rodriguez with the great frying-pan +and cooking-pot; no longer together, but not too far apart for la Garda +to take them both at once, and to make the doubly false charge that +should so confound their errand. And Morano wore that old triumphant +sword, and carried the mandolin that was ever young. + +They had not gone far when it was as Morano had said; for, looking +back, as they often did, to the spot where their road touched the +sky-line, they saw la Garda spurring, seven of them in their +unmistakable looped hats, very clear against the sky which a moment ago +seemed so fair. + +When the seven saw the two they did not spare the dust; and first they +came to Morano. + +"You," they said, "are Rodriguez Trinidad Fernandez, Concepcion +Henrique Maria, a Lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez." + +"No, masters," said Morano. + +Oh but denials were lost upon la Garda. + +Denials inflamed their suspicions as no other evidence could. Many a +man had they seen with his throat in the hands of the public garrotter; +and all had begun with denials who ended thus. They looked at the +mandolin, at the gay cloak, at the emeralds in the scabbard, for +wherever emeralds go there is evidence to identify them, until the +nature of man changes or the price of emeralds. They spoke hastily +among themselves. + +"Without doubt," said one of them, "you are whom we said." And they +arrested Morano. + +Then they spurred on to Rodriguez. "You are," they said, "as no man +doubts, one Morano, servant at the Inn of the Dragon and Knight, whose +good master is, as we allege, dead." + +"Masters," answered Rodriguez, "I am but a poor traveller, and no +servant at any inn." + +Now la Garda, as I have indicated, will hear all things except denials; +and thus to receive two within the space of two moments infuriated them +so fiercely that they were incapable of forming any other theory that +day except the one they held. + +There are many men like this; they can form a plausible theory and +grasp its logical points, but take it away from them and destroy it +utterly before their eyes, and they will not so easily lash their tired +brains at once to build another theory in place of the one that is +ruined. + +"As the saints live," they said, "you are Morano." And they arrested +Rodriguez too. + +Now when they began to turn back by the way they had come Rodriguez +began to fear overmuch identification, so he assured la Garda that in +the next village ahead of them were those who would answer all +questions concerning him, as well as being the possessors of the finest +vintage of wine in the kingdom of Spain. + +Now it may be that the mention of this wine soothed the anger caused in +the men of la Garda by two denials, or it may be that curiosity guided +them, at any rate they took the road that led away from last night's +sinister shelter, Rodriguez and five of la Garda. Two of them stayed +behind with Morano, undecided as yet which way to take, though looking +wistfully the way that that wine was said to be; and Rodriguez left +Morano to his own devices, in which he trusted profoundly. + +Now Rodriguez knew not the name of the next village that they would +come to nor the names of any of the dwellers in it. + +Yet he had a plan. As he went by the side of one of the horses he +questioned the rider. + +"Can Morano write?" he said. La Garda laughed. + +"Can Morano talk Latin?" he said. La Garda crossed themselves, all five +men. And after some while of riding, and hard walking for Rodriguez, to +whom they allowed a hand on a stirrup leather, there came in sight the +tops of the brown roofs of a village over a fold of the plain. "Is this +your village?" said one of his captors. + +"Surely," answered Rodriguez. + +"What is its name?" said one. + +"It has many names," said Rodriguez. + +And then another one of them recognised it from the shape of its roofs. +"It is Saint Judas-not-Iscariot," he said. + +"Aye, so strangers call it," said Rodriguez. + +And where the road turned round that fold of the plain, lolling a +little to its left in the idle Spanish air, they came upon the village +all in view. I do not know how to describe this village to you, my +reader, for the words that mean to you what it was are all the wrong +words to use. "Antique," "old-world," "quaint," seem words with which +to tell of it. Yet it had no antiquity denied to the other villages; it +had been brought to birth like them by the passing of time, and was +nursed like them in the lap of plains or valleys of Spain. Nor was it +quainter than any of its neighbours, though it was like itself alone, +as they had their characters also; and, though no village in the world +was like it, it differed only from the next as sister differs from +sister. To those that dwelt in it, it was wholly apart from all the +world of man. + +Most of its tall white houses with green doors were gathered about the +market-place, in which were pigeons and smells and declining sunlight, +as Rodriguez and his escort came towards it, and from round a corner at +the back of it the short, repeated song of one who would sell a +commodity went up piercingly. + +This was all very long ago. Time has wrecked that village now. +Centuries have flowed over it, some stormily, some smoothly, but so +many that, of the village Rodriguez saw, there can be now no more than +wreckage. For all I know a village of that name may stand on that same +plain, but the Saint Judas-not-Iscariot that Rodriguez knew is gone +like youth. + +Queerly tiled, sheltered by small dense trees, and standing a little +apart, Rodriguez recognised the house of the Priest. He recognised it +by a certain air it had. Thither he pointed and la Garda rode. Again he +spoke to them. "Can Morano speak Latin?" he said. + +"God forbid!" said la Garda. + +They dismounted and opened a gate that was gilded all over, in a low +wall of round boulders. They went up a narrow path between thick ilices +and came to the green door. They pulled a bell whose handle was a +symbol carved in copper, one of the Priest's mysteries. The bell boomed +through the house, a tiny musical boom, and the Priest opened the door; +and Rodriguez addressed him in Latin. And the Priest answered him. + +At first la Garda had not realised what had happened. And then the +Priest beckoned and they all entered his house, for Rodriguez had asked +him for ink. Into a room they came where a silver ink-pot was, and the +grey plume of the goose. Picture no such ink-pot, my reader, as they +sell to-day in shops, the silver no thicker than paper, and perhaps a +pattern all over it guaranteed artistic. It was molten silver well +wrought, and hollowed for ink. And in the hollow there was the magical +fluid, the stuff that rules the world and hinders time; that in which +flows the will of a king, to establish his laws for ever; that which +gives valleys unto new possessors; that whereby towers are held by +their lawful owners; that which, used grimly by the King's judge, is +death; that which, when poets play, is mirth for ever and ever. + +No wonder la Garda looked at it in awe, no wonder they crossed +themselves again: and then Rodriguez wrote. In the silence that +followed the jaws of la Garda dropped, while the old Priest slightly +smiled, for he somewhat divined the situation already; and, being the +people's friend, he loved not la Garda more than he was bound by the +rules of his duty to man. + +Then one of la Garda spoke, bringing back his confidence with a +bluster. "Morano has sold his soul to Satan," he said, "in exchange for +Satan's aid, and Satan has taught his tongue Latin and guides his +fingers in the affairs of the pen." And so said all la Garda, rejoicing +at finding an explanation where a moment ago there was none, as all men +at such times do: little it matters what the explanation be: does a man +in Sahara, who finds water suddenly, inquire with precision what its +qualities are? + +And then the Priest said a word and made a sign, against which Satan +himself can only prevail with difficulty, and in presence of which his +spells can never endure. And after this Rodriguez wrote again. Then +were la Garda silent. + +And at length the leader said, and he called on them all to testify, +that he had made no charge whatever against this traveller; moreover, +they had escorted him on his way out of respect for him, because the +roads were dangerous, and must now depart because they had higher +duties. So la Garda departed, looking before them with stern, +preoccupied faces and urging their horses on, as men who go on an +errand of great urgency. And Rodriguez, having thanked them for their +protection upon the road, turned back into the house and the two sat +down together, and Rodriguez told his rescuer the story of the +hospitality of the Inn of the Dragon and Knight. + +Not as confession he told it, but as a pleasant tale, for he looked on +the swift demise of la Garda's friend, in the night, in the spidery +room, as a fair blessing for Spain, a thing most suited to the sweet +days of Spring. The spiritual man rejoiced to hear such a tale, as do +all men of peace to hear talk of violent deeds in which they may not +share. And when the tale was ended he reproved Rodriguez exceedingly, +explaining to him the nature of the sin of blood, and telling him that +absolution could be come by now, though hardly, but how on some future +occasion there might be none to be had. And Rodriguez listened with all +the gravity of expression that youth knows well how to wear while its +thoughts are nimbly dancing far away in fair fields of adventure or +love. + +And darkness came down and lamps were carried in: and the reverend +father asked Rodriguez in what other affairs of violence his sword had +unhappily been. And Rodriguez knew well the history of that sword, +having gathered all that concerned it out of spoken legend or song. And +although the reverend man frowned minatorily whenever he heard of its +passings through the ribs of the faithful, and nodded as though his +head gave benediction when he heard of the destruction of God's most +vile enemy the infidel, and though he gasped a little through his lips +when he heard of certain tarryings of that sword, in scented gardens, +while Christian knights should sleep and their swords hang on the wall, +though sometimes even a little he raised his hands, yet he leaned +forward always, listening well, and picturing clearly as though his +gleaming eyes could see them, each doleful tale of violence or sin. And +so night came, and began to wear away, and neither knew how late the +hour was. And then as Rodriguez spoke of an evening in a garden, of +which some old song told well, a night in early summer under the +evening star, and that sword there as always; as he told of his +grandfather as poets had loved to tell, going among the scents of the +huge flowers, familiar with the dark garden as the moths that drifted +by him; as he spoke of a sigh heard faintly, as he spoke of danger +near, whether to body or soul; as the reverend father was about to +raise both his hands; there came a thunder of knockings upon the locked +green door. + + + + +THE THIRD CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME TO THE HOUSE OF WONDER + + +It was the gross Morano. Here he had tracked Rodriguez, for where la +Garda goes is always known, and rumour of it remains long behind them, +like the scent of a fox. He told no tale of his escape more than a dog +does who comes home some hours late; a dog comes back to his master, +that is all, panting a little perhaps; someone perhaps had caught him +and he escaped and came home, a thing too natural to attempt to speak +of by any of the signs that a dog knows. + +Part of Morano's method seems to have resembled Rodriguez', for just as +Rodriguez spoke Latin, so Morano fell back upon his own natural speech, +that he as it were unbridled and allowed to run free, the coarseness of +which had at first astounded, and then delighted, la Garda. + +"And did they not suspect that you were yourself?" said Rodriguez. + +"No, master," Morano answered, "for I said that I was the brother of +the King of Aragon." + +"The King of Aragon!" Rodriguez said, going to the length of showing +surprise. "Yes, indeed, master." said Morano, "and they recognised me." + +"Recognised you!" exclaimed the Priest. + +"Indeed so," said Morano, "for they said that they were themselves the +Kings of Aragon; and so, father, they recognised me for their brother." + +"That you should not have said," the Priest told Morano. + +"Reverend father," replied Morano, "as Heaven shines, I believed that +what I said was true." And Morano sighed deeply. "And now," he said, "I +know it is true no more." + +Whether he sighed for the loss of his belief in that exalted +relationship, or whether for the loss of that state of mind in which +such beliefs come easily, there was nothing in his sigh to show. They +questioned him further, but he said no more: he was here, there was no +more to say: he was here and la Garda was gone. + +And then the reverend man brought for them a great supper, even at that +late hour, for many an hour had slipped softly by as he heard the sins +of the sword; and wine he set out, too, of a certain golden vintage, +long lost--I fear--my reader: but this he gave not to Morano lest he +should be once more, what the reverend father feared to entertain, that +dread hidalgo, the King of Aragon's brother. And after that, the stars +having then gone far on their ways, the old Priest rose and offered a +bed to Rodriguez; and even as he eyed Morano, wondering where to put +him, and was about to speak, for he had no other bed, Morano went to a +corner of the room and curled up and lay down. And by the time his host +had walked over to him and spoken, asking anxiously if he needed +nothing more, he was almost already asleep, and muttered in answer, +after having been spoken to twice, no more than "Straw, reverend +father, straw." + +An armful of this the good man brought him, and then showed Rodriguez +to his room; and they can scarcely have reached it before Morano was +back in Aragon again, walking on golden shoes (which were sometimes +wings), proud among lesser princes. + +As precaution for the night Rodriguez took one more glance at his +host's kind face; and then, with sword out of reach and an unlocked +door, he slept till the songs of birds out of the deeps of the ilices +made sleep any longer impossible. + +The third morning of Rodriguez' wandering blazed over Spain like brass; +flowers and grass and sky were twinkling all together. + +When Rodriguez greeted his host Morano was long astir, having awakened +with dawn, for the simpler and humbler the creature the nearer it is +akin to the earth and the sun. The forces that woke the birds and +opened the flowers stirred the gross lump of Morano, ending his sleep +as they ended the nightingale's song. + +They breakfasted hurriedly and Rodriguez rose to depart, feeling that +he had taken hospitality that had not been offered. But against his +departure was the barrier of all the politeness of Spain. The house was +his, said his host, and even the small grove of ilices. + +If I told you half of the things that the reverend man said, you would +say: "This writer is affected. I do not like all this flowery mush." I +think it safer, my reader, not to tell you any of it. Let us suppose +that he merely said, "Quite all right," and that when Rodriguez thanked +him on one knee he answered, "Not at all;" and that so Rodriguez and +Morano left. If here it miss some flash of the fair form of Truth it is +the fault of the age I write for. + +The road again, dust again, birds and the blaze of leaves, these were +the background of my wanderers, until the eye had gone as far as the +eye can roam, and there were the tips of some far pale-blue mountains +that now came into view. + +They were still in each other's clothes; but the village was not behind +them very far when Morano explained, for he knew the ways of la Garda, +that having arrested two men upon this road, they would now arrest two +men each on all the other roads, in order to show the impartiality of +the Law, which constantly needs to be exhibited; and that therefore all +men were safe on the road they were on for a long while to come. + +Now there seemed to Rodriguez to be much good sense in what Morano had +said; and so indeed there was for they had good laws in Spain, and they +differed little, though so long ago, from our own excellent system. +Therefore they changed once more, giving back to each other everything +but, alas, those delicate black moustachios; and these to Rodriguez +seemed gone for ever, for the growth of new ones seemed so far ahead to +the long days of youth that his hopes could scarce reach to them. + +When Morano found himself once more in those clothes that had been with +him night and day for so many years he seemed to expand; I mean no +metaphor here; he grew visibly fatter. + +"Ah," said Morano after a huge breath, "last night I dreamed, in your +illustrious clothes, that I was in lofty station. And now, master, I am +comfortable." + +"Which were best, think you," said Rodriguez, "if you could have but +one, a lofty place or comfort?" Even in those days such a question was +trite, but Rodriguez uttered it only thinking to dip in the store of +Morano's simple wisdom, as one may throw a mere worm to catch a worthy +fish. But in this he was disappointed; for Morano made no neat +comparison nor even gave an opinion, saying only, "Master, while I have +comfort how shall I judge the case of any who have not?" And no more +would he say. His new found comfort, lost for a day and night, seemed +so to have soothed his body that it closed the gates of the mind, as +too much luxury may, even with poets. + +And now Rodriguez thought of his quest again, and the two of them +pushed on briskly to find the wars. + +For an hour they walked in silence an empty road. And then they came +upon a row of donkeys; piled high with the bark of the cork-tree, that +men were bringing slowly from far woods. Some of the men were singing +as they went. They passed slow in the sunshine. + +"Oh, master," said Morano when they were gone, "I like not that +lascivious loitering." + +"Why, Morano?" said Rodriguez. "It was not God that made hurry." + +"Master," answered Morano, "I know well who made hurry. And may he not +overtake my soul at the last. Yet it is bad for our fortunes that these +men should loiter thus. You want your castle, master; and I, I want not +always to wander roads, with la Garda perhaps behind and no certain +place to curl up and sleep in front. I look for a heap of straw in the +cellar of your great castle." + +"Yes, yes, you shall have it," his master said, "but how do these folks +hinder you?" For Morano was scowling at them over his shoulder in a way +that was somehow spoiling the gladness of Spring. + +"The air is full of their singing," Morano said. "It is as though their +souls were already flying to Hell, and cawing hoarse with sin all the +way as they go. And they loiter, and they linger..." Oh, but Morano was +angry. + +"But," said Rodriguez, "how does their lingering harm you?" + +"Where are the wars, master? Where are the wars?" blurted Morano, his +round face turning redder. "The donkeys would be dead, the men would be +running, there would be shouts, cries, and confusion, if the wars were +anywhere near. There would be all things but this." + +The men strolled on singing and so passed slow into distance. Morano +was right, though I know not how he knew. + +And now the men and the donkeys were nearly out of sight, but had not +yet at all emerged from the wrath of Morano. "Lascivious knaves," +muttered that disappointed man. And whenever he faintly heard dim +snatches of their far song that a breeze here, and another there, +brought over the plain as it ran on the errands of Spring, he cursed +their sins under his breath. Though it seemed not so much their sins +that moved his wrath as the leisure they had for committing them. + +"Peace, peace, Morano," said Rodriguez. + +"It is that," said Morano, "that is troubling me." + +"What?" + +"This same peace." + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "I had when young to study the affairs of +men; and this is put into books, and so they make history. Now I +learned that there is no thing in which men have taken delight, that is +ever put away from them; for it seems that time, which altereth every +custom, hath altered none of our likings: and in every chapter they +taught me there were these wars to be found." + +"Master, the times are altered," said Morano sadly. "It is not now as +in old days." + +And this was not the wisdom of Morano, for anger had clouded his +judgment. And a faint song came yet from the donkey-drivers, wavering +over the flowers. + +"Master," Morano said, "there are men like those vile sin-mongers, who +have taken delight in peace. It may be that peace has been brought upon +the world by one of these lousy likings." + +"The delight of peace," said Rodriguez, "is in its contrast to war. If +war were banished this delight were gone. And man lost none of his +delights in any chapter I read." + +The word and the meaning of CONTRAST were such as is understood by +reflective minds, the product of education. Morano felt rather than +reflected; and the word CONTRAST meant nothing to him. This ended their +conversation. And the songs of the donkey-drivers, light though they +were, being too heavy to be carried farther by the idle air of Spring, +Morano ceased cursing their sins. + +And now the mountains rose up taller, seeming to stretch themselves and +raise their heads. In a while they seemed to be peering over the plain. +They that were as pale ghosts, far off, dim like Fate, in the early +part of the morning, now appeared darker, more furrowed, more sinister, +more careworn; more immediately concerned with the affairs of Earth, +and so more menacing to earthly things. + +Still they went on and still the mountains grew. And noon came, when +Spain sleeps. + +And now the plain was altering, as though cool winds from the mountains +brought other growths to birth, so that they met with bushes straggling +wild; free, careless and mysterious, as they do, where there is none to +teach great Nature how to be tidy. + +The wanderers chose a clump of these that were gathered near the way, +like gypsies camped awhile midway on a wonderful journey, who at dawn +will rise and go, leaving but a bare trace of their resting and no +guess of their destiny; so fairy-like, so free, so phantasmal those +dark shrubs seemed. + +Morano lay down on the very edge of the shade of one, and Rodriguez lay +fair in the midst of the shade of another, whereby anyone passing that +way would have known which was the older traveller. Morano, according +to his custom, was asleep almost immediately; but Rodriguez, with +wonder and speculation each toying with novelty and pulling it +different ways between them, stayed awhile wakeful. Then he too slept, +and a bird thought it safe to return to an azalea of its own; which it +lately fled from troubled by the arrival of these two. + +And Rodriguez the last to sleep was the first awake, for the shade of +the shrub left him, and he awoke in the blaze of the sun to see Morano +still sheltered, well in the middle now of the shadow he chose. The +gross sleep of Morano I will not describe to you, reader. I have chosen +a pleasant tale for you in a happy land, in the fairest time of year, +in a golden age: I have youth to show you and an ancient sword, birds, +flowers and sunlight, in a plain unharmed by any dream of commerce: why +should I show you the sleep of that inelegant man whose bulk lay +cumbering the earth like a low, unseemly mountain? + +Rodriguez overtook the shade he had lost and lay there resting until +Morano awoke, driven all at once from sleep by a dream or by mere +choking. Then from the intricacies of his clothing, which to him after +those two days was what home is to some far wanderer, Morano drew out +once more a lump of bacon. Then came the fry-pan and then a fire: it +was the Wanderers' Mess. That mess-room has stood in many lands and has +only one roof. We are proud of that roof, all we who belong to that +Mess. We boast of it when we show it to our friends when it is all set +out at night. It has Aldebaran in it, the Bear and Orion, and at the +other end the Southern Cross. Yes we are proud of our roof when it is +at its best. + +What am I saying? I should be talking of bacon. Yes, but there is a way +of cooking it in our Mess that I want to tell you and cannot. I've +tasted bacon there that isn't the same as what you get at the Ritz. And +I want to tell you how that bacon tastes; and I can't so I talk about +stars. But perhaps you are one of us, reader, and then you will +understand. Only why the hell don't we get back there again where the +Evening Star swings low on the wall of the Mess? + +When they rose from table, when they got up from the earth, and the +frying-pan was slung on Morano's back, adding grease to the mere +surface of his coat whose texture could hold no more, they pushed on +briskly for they saw no sign of houses, unless what Rodriguez saw now +dimly above a ravine were indeed a house in the mountains. + +They had walked from eight till noon without any loitering. They must +have done fifteen miles since the mountains were pale blue. And now, +every mile they went, on the most awful of the dark ridges the object +Rodriguez saw seemed more and more like a house. Yet neither then, nor +as they drew still nearer, nor when they saw it close, nor looking back +on it after years, did it somehow seem quite right. And Morano +sometimes crossed himself as he looked at it, and said nothing. + +Rodriguez, as they walked ceaselessly through the afternoon, seeing his +servant show some sign of weariness, which comes not to youth, pointed +out the house looking nearer than it really was on the mountain, and +told him that he should find there straw, and they would sup and stay +the night. Afterwards, when the strange appearance of the house, +varying with different angles, filled him with curious forebodings, +Rodriguez would make no admission to his servant, but held to the plan +he had announced, and so approached the queer roofs, neglecting the +friendly stars. + +Through the afternoon the two travellers pushed on mostly in silence, +for the glances that house seemed to give him from the edge of its +perilous ridge, had driven the mirth from Rodriguez and had even +checked the garrulity on the lips of the tougher Morano, if garrulity +can be ascribed to him whose words seldom welled up unless some simple +philosophy troubled his deeps. The house seemed indeed to glance at +him, for as their road wound on, the house showed different aspects, +different walls and edges of walls, and different curious roofs; all +these walls seemed to peer at him. One after another they peered, new +ones glided imperceptibly into sight as though to say, We see too. + +The mountains were not before them but a little to the right of their +path, until new ones appeared ahead of them like giants arising from +sleep, and then their path seemed blocked as though by a mighty wall +against which its feeble wanderings went in vain. In the end it turned +a bit to its right and went straight for a dark mountain, where a wild +track seemed to come down out of the rocks to meet it, and upon this +track looked down that sinister house. Had you been there, my reader, +you would have said, any of us had said, Why not choose some other +house? There were no other houses. He who dwelt on the edge of the +ravine that ran into that dark mountain was wholly without neighbours. + +And evening came, and still they were far from the mountain. + +The sun set on their left. But it was in the eastern sky that the +greater splendour was; for the low rays streaming across lit up some +stormy clouds that were brooding behind the mountain and turned their +gloomy forms to an astounding purple. + +And after this their road began to rise toward the ridges. The +mountains darkened and the sinister house was about to merge with +their shadows, when he who dwelt there lit candles. + +The act astonished the wayfarers. All through half the day they had +seen the house, until it seemed part of the mountains; evil it seemed +like their ridges, that were black and bleak and forbidding, and +strange it seemed with a strangeness that moved no fears they could +name, yet it seemed inactive as night. + +Now lights appeared showing that someone moved. Window after window +showed to the bare dark mountain its gleaming yellow glare; there in +the night the house forsook the dark rocks that seemed kin to it, by +glowing as they could never glow, by doing what the beasts that haunted +them could not do: this was the lair of man. Here was the light of +flame but the rocks remained dark and cold as the wind of night that +went over them, he who dwelt now with the lights had forsaken the +rocks, his neighbours. + +And, when all were lit, one light high in a tower shone green. These +lights appearing out of the mountain thus seemed to speak to Rodriguez +and to tell him nothing. And Morano wondered, as he seldom troubled to +do. + +They pushed on up the steepening path. + +"Like you the looks of it?" said Rodriguez once. + +"Aye, master," answered Morano, "so there be straw." + +"You see nothing strange there, then?" Rodriguez said. + +"Master," Morano said, "there be saints for all requirements." + +Any fears he had felt about that house before, now as he neared it were +gone; it was time to put away fears and face the event; thus worked +Morano's philosophy. And he turned his thoughts to the achievements +upon earth of a certain Saint who met Satan, and showed to the +sovereign of Hell a discourtesy alien to the ways of the Church. + +It was dark now, and the yellow lights got larger as they drew nearer +the windows, till they saw large shadows obscurely passing from room to +room. The ascent was steep now and the pathway stopped. No track of any +kind approached the house. It stood on a precipice-edge as though one +of the rocks of the mountain: they climbed over rocks to reach it. The +windows flickered and blinked at them. + +Nothing invited them there in the look of that house, but they were now +in such a forbidding waste that shelter had to be found; they were all +among edges of rock as black as the night and hard as the material of +which Cosmos was formed, at first upon Chaos' brink. The sound of their +climbing ran noisily up the mountain but no sound came from the house: +only the shadows moved more swiftly across a room, passed into other +rooms and came hurrying back. Sometimes the shadows stayed and seemed +to peer; and when the travellers stood and watched to see what they +were they would disappear and there were no shadows at all, and the +rooms were filled instead with their wondering speculation. Then they +pushed on over rocks that seemed never trodden by man, so sharp were +they and slanting, all piled together: it seemed the last waste, to +which all shapeless rocks had been thrown. + +Morano and these black rocks seemed shaped by a different scheme; +indeed the rocks had never been shaped at all, they were just raw +pieces of Chaos. Morano climbed over their edges with moans and +discomfort. Rodriguez heard him behind him and knew by his moans when +he came to the top of each sharp rock. + +The rocks became savager, huger, even more sharp and more angular. They +were there in the dark in multitudes. Over these Rodriguez staggered, +and Morano clambered and tumbled; and so they came, breathing hard, to +the lonely house. + +In the wall that their hands had reached there was no door, so they +felt along it till they came to the corner, and beyond the corner was +the front wall of the house. In it was the front door. But so nearly +did this door open upon the abyss that the bats that fled from their +coming, from where they hung above the door of oak, had little more to +do than fall from their crannies, slanting ever so slightly, to find +themselves safe from man in the velvet darkness, that lay between +cliffs so lonely they were almost strangers to Echo. And here they +floated upon errands far from our knowledge; while the travellers +coming along the rocky ledge between destruction and shelter, knocked +on the oaken door. + +The sound of their knocking boomed huge and slow through the house as +though they had struck the door of the very mountain. And no one came. +And then Rodriguez saw dimly in the darkness the great handle of a +bell, carved like a dragon running down the wall: he pulled it and a +cry of pain arose from the basement of the house. + +Even Morano wondered. It was like a terrible spirit in distress. It was +long before Rodriguez dare touch the handle again. Could it have been +the bell? He felt the iron handle and the iron chain that went up from +it. How could it have been the bell! The bell had not sounded: he had +not pulled hard enough: that scream was fortuitous. The night on that +rocky ledge had jangled his nerves. He pulled again and more firmly. +The answering scream was more terrible. Rodriguez could doubt no +longer, as he sprang back from the bell-handle, that with the chain he +had pulled he inflicted some unknown agony. + +The scream had awakened slow steps that now came towards the +travellers, down corridors, as it sounded, of stone. And then chains +fell on stone and the door of oak was opened by some one older than +what man hopes to come to, with small, peaked lips as those of some +woodland thing. + +"Senores," the old one said, "the Professor welcomes you." + +They stood and stared at his age, and Morano blurted uncouthly what +both of them felt. "You are old, grandfather," he said. + +"Ah, Senores," the old man sighed, "the Professor does not allow me to +be young. I have been here years and years but he never allowed it. I +have served him well but it is still the same. I say to him, 'Master, I +have served you long ...' but he interrupts me for he will have none of +youth. Young servants go among the villages, he says. And so, and so..." + +"You do not think your master can give you youth!" said Rodriguez. + +The old man knew that he had talked too much, voicing that grievance +again of which even the rocks were weary. "Yes," he said briefly, and +bowed and led the way into the house. In one of the corridors running +out of the hall down which he was leading silently, Rodriguez overtook +that old man and questioned him to his face. + +"Who is this professor?" he said. + +By the light of a torch that spluttered in an iron clamp on the wall +Rodriguez questioned him with these words, and Morano with his +wondering, wistful eyes. The old man halted and turned half round, and +lifted his head and answered. "In the University of Saragossa," he said +with pride, "he holds the Chair of Magic." + +Even the names of Oxford or Cambridge, Harvard or Yale or Princeton, +move some respect, and even yet in these unlearned days. What wonder +then that the name of Saragossa heard on that lonely mountain awoke in +Rodriguez some emotion of reverence and even awed Morano. As for the +Chair of Magic, it was of all the royal endowments of that illustrious +University the most honoured and dreaded. + +"At Saragossa!" Rodriguez muttered. + +"At Saragossa," the old man affirmed. + +Between that ancient citadel of learning and this most savage mountain +appeared a gulf scarce to be bridged by thought. + +"The Professor rests in his mountain," the old man said, "because of a +conjunction of the stars unfavourable to study, and his class have gone +to their homes for many weeks." He bowed again and led on along that +corridor of dismal stone. The others followed, and still as Rodriguez +went that famous name Saragossa echoed within his mind. + +And then they came to a door set deep in the stone, and their guide +opened it and they went in; and there was the Professor in a mystical +hat and a robe of dim purple, seated with his back to them at a table, +studying the ways of the stars. "Welcome, Don Rodriguez," said the +Professor before he turned round; and then he rose, and with small +steps backwards and sideways and many bows, he displayed all those +formulae of politeness that Saragossa knew in the golden age and which +her professors loved to execute. In later years they became more +elaborate still, and afterwards were lost. + +Rodriguez replied rather by instinct than knowledge; he came of a house +whose bows had never missed graceful ease and which had in some +generations been a joy to the Court of Spain. Morano followed behind +him; but his servile presence intruded upon that elaborate ceremony, +and the Professor held up his hand, and Morano was held in mid stride +as though the air had gripped him. There he stood motionless, having +never felt magic before. And when the Professor had welcomed Rodriguez +in a manner worthy of the dignity of the Chair that he held at +Saragossa, he made an easy gesture and Morano was free again. + +"Master," said Morano to the Professor, as soon as he found he could +move, "master, it looks like magic." Picture to yourself some yokel +shown into the library of a professor of Greek at Oxford, taking down +from a shelf one of the books of the Odyssey, and saying to the +Professor, "It looks like Greek"! + +Rodriguez felt grieved by Morano's boorish ignorance. Neither he nor +his host answered him. + +The Professor explained that he followed the mysteries dimly, owing to +a certain aspect of Orion, and that therefore his class were gone to +their homes and were hunting; and so he studied alone under +unfavourable auspices. And once more he welcomed Rodriguez to his roof, +and would command straw to be laid down for the man that Rodriguez had +brought from the Inn of the Dragon and Knight; for he, the Professor, +saw all things, though certain stars would hide everything. + +And when Rodriguez had appropriately uttered his thanks, he added with +all humility and delicate choice of phrase a petition that he might be +shown some mere rudiment of the studies for which that illustrious +chair in Saragossa was famous. The Professor bowed again and, in +accepting the well-rounded compliments that Rodriguez paid to the +honoured post he occupied, he introduced himself by name. He had been +once, he said, the Count of the Mountain, but when his astral studies +had made him eminent and he had mastered the ways of the planet nearest +the sun he took the title Magister Mercurii, and by this had long been +known; but had now forsaken this title, great as it was, for a more +glorious nomenclature, and was called in the Arabic language the Slave +of Orion. When Rodriguez heard this he bowed very low. + +And now the Professor asked Rodriguez in which of the activities of +life his interest lay; for the Chair of Magic at Saragossa, he said, +was concerned with them all. + +"In war," said Rodriguez. + +And Morano unostentatiously rubbed his hands; for here was one, he +thought, who would soon put his master on the right way, and matters +would come to a head and they would find the wars. But far from +concerning himself with the wars of that age, the Slave of Orion +explained that as events came nearer they became grosser or more +material, and that their grossness did not leave them until they were +some while passed away; so that to one whose studies were with +aetherial things, near events were opaque and dim. He had a window, he +explained, through which Rodriguez should see clearly the ancient wars, +while another window beside it looked on all wars of the future except +those which were planned already or were coming soon to earth, and +which were either invisible or seen dim as through mist. + +Rodriguez said that to be privileged to see so classical an example of +magic would be to him both a delight and honour. Yet, as is the way of +youth, he more desired to have a sight of the wars than he cared for +all the learning of the Professor. + +And to him who held the Chair of Magic at Saragossa it was a precious +thing that his windows could be made to show these marvels, while the +guest to whom he was about to display these two gems of his learning +was thinking of little but what he should see through the windows, and +not at all of what spells, what midnight oil, what incantations, what +witchcrafts, what lonely hours among bats, had gone to the +gratification of his young curiosity. It is usually thus. + +The Professor rose: his cloak floated out from him as he left the +chamber, and Rodriguez following where he guided saw, by the torchlight +in the corridors, upon the dim purple border signs that, to his +untutored ignorance of magic, were no more than hints of the affairs of +the Zodiac. And if these signs were obscure it were better they were +obscurer, for they dealt with powers that man needs not to possess, who +has the whole earth to regulate and control; why then should he seek to +govern the course of any star? + +And Morano followed behind them, hoping to be allowed to get a sight of +the wars. + +They came to a room where two round windows were; each of them larger +than the very largest plate, and of very thick glass indeed, and of a +wonderful blue. The blue was like the blue of the Mediterranean at +evening, when lights are in it both of ships and of sunset, and lights +of harbours being lit one by one, and the light of Venus perhaps and +about two other stars, so deeply did it stare and so twinkled, near its +edges, with lights that were strange to that room, and so triumphed +with its clear beauty over the night outside. No, it was more magical +than the Mediterranean at evening, even though the peaks of the +Esterels be purple and their bases melting in gold and the blue sea +lying below them smiling at early stars: these windows were more +mysterious than that; it was a more triumphant blue; it was like the +Mediterranean seen with the eyes of Shelley, on a happy day in his +youth, or like the sea round Western islands of fable seen by the fancy +of Keats. They were no windows for any need of ours, unless our dreams +be needs, unless our cries for the moon be urged by the same Necessity +as makes us cry for bread. They were clearly concerned only with magic +or poetry; though the Professor claimed that poetry was but a branch of +his subject; and it was so regarded at Saragossa, where it was taught +by the name of theoretical magic, while by the name of practical magic +they taught dooms, brews, hauntings, and spells. + +The Professor stood before the left-hand window and pointed to its +deep-blue centre. "Through this," he said, "we see the wars that were." + +Rodriguez looked into the deep-blue centre where the great bulge of the +glass came out towards him; it was near to the edges where the glass +seemed thinner that the little strange lights were dancing; Morano +dared to tiptoe a little nearer. Rodriguez looked and saw no night +outside. Just below and near to the window was white mist, and the dim +lines and smoke of what may have been recent wars; but farther away on +a plain of strangely vast dimensions he saw old wars that were. War +after war he saw. Battles that long ago had passed into history and had +been for many ages skilled, glorious and pleasant encounters he saw +even now tumbling before him in their savage confusion and dirt. He saw +a leader, long glorious in histories he had read, looking round +puzzled, to see what was happening, and in a very famous fight that he +had planned very well. He saw retreats that History called routs, and +routs that he had seen History calling retreats. He saw men winning +victories without knowing they had won. Never had man pried before so +shamelessly upon History, or found her such a liar. With his eyes on +the great blue glass Rodriguez forgot the room, forgot time, forgot his +host and poor excited Morano, as he watched those famous fights. + +And now my reader wishes to know what he saw and how it was that he was +able to see it. + +As regards the second, my reader will readily understand that the +secrets of magic are very carefully guarded, and any smatterings of it +that I may ever have come by I possess, for what they are worth, +subjects to oaths and penalties at which even bad men shudder. My +reader will be satisfied that even those intimate bonds between reader +and writer are of no use to him here. I say him as though I had only +male readers, but if my reader be a lady I leave the situation +confidently to her intuition. As for the things he saw, of all of these +I am at full liberty to write, and yet, my reader, they would differ +from History's version: never a battle that Rodriguez saw on all the +plain that swept away from that circular window, but History wrote +differently. And now, my reader, the situation is this: who am I? +History was a goddess among the Greeks, or is at least a distinguished +personage, perhaps with a well-earned knighthood, and certainly with +widespread recognition amongst the Right Kind of People. I have none of +these things. Whom, then, would you believe? + +Yet I would lay my story confidently before you, my reader, trusting in +the justice of my case and in your judicial discernment, but for one +other thing. What will the Goddess Clio say, or the well-deserving +knight, if I offend History? She has stated her case, Sir Bartimeus has +written it, and then so late in the day I come with a different story, +a truer but different story. What will they do? Reader, the future is +dark, uncertain and long; I dare not trust myself to it if I offend +History. Clio and Sir Bartimeus will make hay of my reputation; an +innuendo here, a foolish fact there, they know how to do it, and not a +soul will suspect the goddess of personal malice or the great historian +of pique. Rodriguez gazed then through the deep blue window, forgetful +of all around, on battles that had not all the elegance or neatness of +which our histories so tidily tell. And as he gazed upon a merry +encounter between two men on the fringe of an ancient fight he felt a +touch on his shoulder and then almost a tug, and turning round beheld +the room he was in. How long he had been absent from it in thought he +did not know, but the Professor was still standing with folded arms +where he had left him, probably well satisfied with the wonder that his +most secret art had awakened in his guest. It was Morano who touched +his shoulder, unable to hold back any longer his impatience to see the +wars; his eyes as Rodriguez turned round were gazing at his master with +dog-like wistfulness. + +The absurd eagerness of Morano, his uncouth touch on his shoulder, +seemed only pathetic to Rodriguez. He looked at the Professor's face, +the nose like a hawk's beak, the small eyes deep down beside it, dark +of hue and dreadfully bright, the silent lips. He stood there uttering +no actual prohibition, concerning which Rodriguez's eyes had sought; +so, stepping aside from his window, Rodriguez beckoned Morano, who at +once ran forward delighted to see those ancient wars. + +A slight look of scorn showed faint upon the Professor's face such as +you may see anywhere when a master-craftsman perceives the gaze of the +ignorant turned towards his particular subject. But he said no word, +and soon speech would have been difficult, for the loud clamour of +Morano filled the room: he had seen the wars and his ecstasies were +ungoverned. As soon as he saw those fights he looked for the Infidels, +for his religious mind most loved to see the Infidel slain. And if my +reader discern or suppose some gulf between religion and the recent +business of the Inn of the Dragon and Knight, Morano, if driven to +admit any connection between murder and his daily bread, would have +said, "All the more need then for God's mercy through the intercession +of His most blessed Saints." But these words had never passed Morano's +lips, for shrewd as he was in enquiry into any matter that he desired +to know, his shrewdness was no less in avoiding enquiry where there +might be something that he desired not to know, such as the origin of +his wages as servant of the Inn of the Dragon and Knight, those +delicate gold rings with settings empty of jewels. + +Morano soon recognized the Infidel by his dress, and after that no +other wars concerned him. He slapped his thigh, he shouted +encouragement, he howled vile words of abuse, partly because he +believed that this foul abuse was rightly the due of the Infidel, and +partly because he believed it delighted God. + +Rodriguez stood and watched, pleased at the huge joy of the simple man. +The Slave of Orion stood watching in silence too, but who knows if he +felt pleasure or any other emotion? Perhaps his mind was simply like +ours; perhaps, as has been claimed by learned men of the best-informed +period, that mind had some control upon the comet, even when farthest +out from the paths we know. Morano turned round for a moment to +Rodriguez: + +"Good wars, master, good wars," he said with a vast zest, and at once +his head was back again at that calm blue window. In that flash of the +head Rodriguez had seen his eyes, blue, round and bulging; the round +man was like a boy who in some shop window has seen, unexpected, huge +forbidden sweets. Clearly, in the war he watched things were going well +for the Cross, for such cries came from Morano as "A pretty stroke," +"There now, the dirty Infidel," "Now see God's power shown," "Spare him +not, good knight; spare him not," and many more, till, uttered faster +and faster, they merged into mere clamorous rejoicing. + +But the battles beyond the blue window seemed to move fast, and now a +change was passing across Morano's rejoicings. It was not that he swore +more for the cause of the Cross, but brief, impatient, meaningless +oaths slipped from him now; he was becoming irritable; a puzzled look, +so far as Rodriguez could see, was settling down on his features. For a +while he was silent except for the little, meaningless oaths. Then he +turned round from the glass, his hands stretched out, his face full of +urgent appeal. + +"Masters," he said, "God's enemy wins!" + +In answer to Morano's pitiful look Rodriguez' hand went to his +sword-hilt; the Slave of Orion merely smiled with his lips; Morano +stood there with his hands still stretched out, his face still all +appeal, and something more for there was reproach in his eyes that men +could tarry while the Cross was in danger and the Infidel lived. He did +not know that it was all finished and over hundreds of years ago, a +page of history upon which many pages were turned, and which lay as +unalterable as the fate of some warm swift creature of early Eocene +days over whose fossil today the strata lie long and silent. + +"But can nothing be done, master?" he said when Rodriguez told him +this. And when Rodriguez failed him here, he turned away from the +window. To him the Infidel were game, but to see them defeating +Christian knights violated the deeps of his feelings. + +Morano sulky excited little more notice from his host and his master +who had watched his rejoicings, and they seem to have forgotten this +humble champion of Christendom. The Professor slightly bowed to +Rodriguez and extended a graceful hand. He pointed to the other window. + +Reader, your friend shows you his collection of stamps, his fossils, +his poems, or his luggage labels. One of them interests you, you look +at it awhile, you are ready to go away: then your friend shows you +another. This also must be seen; for your friend's collection is a +precious thing; it is that point upon huge Earth on which his spirit +has lit, on which it rests, on which it shelters even (who knows from +what storms?). To slight it were to weaken such hold as his spirit has, +in its allotted time, upon this sphere. It were like breaking the twig +of a plant upon which a butterfly rests, and on some stormy day and +late in the year. + +Rodriguez felt all this dimly, but no less surely; and went to the +other window. + +Below the window were those wars that were soon coming to Spain, hooded +in mist and invisible. In the centre of the window swam as profound a +blue, dwindling to paler splendour at the edge, the wandering lights +were as lovely, as in the other window just to the left; but in the +view from the right-hand window how sombre a difference. A bare yard +separated the two. Through the window to the left was colour, courtesy, +splendour; there was Death at least disguising himself, well cloaked, +taking mincing steps, bowing, wearing a plume in his hat and a decent +mask. In the right-hand window all the colours were fading, war after +war they grew dimmer; and as the colours paled Death's sole purpose +showed clearer. Through the beautiful left-hand window were killings to +be seen, and less mercy than History supposes, yet some of the fighters +were merciful, and mercy was sometimes a part of Death's courtly pose, +which went with the cloak and the plume. But in the other window +through that deep, beautiful blue Rodriguez saw Man make a new ally, an +ally who was only cruel and strong and had no purpose but killing, who +had no pretences or pose, no mask and no manner, but was only the slave +of Death and had no care but for his business. He saw it grow bigger +and stronger. Heart it had none, but he saw its cold steel core +scheming methodical plans and dreaming always destruction. Before it +faded men and their fields and their houses. Rodriguez saw the machine. + +Many a proud invention of ours that Rodriguez saw raging on that +ruinous plain he might have anticipated, but not for all Spain would he +have done so: it was for the sake of Spain that he was silent about +much that he saw through that window. As he looked from war to war he +saw almost the same men fighting, men with always the same attitude to +the moment and with similar dim conception of larger, vaguer things; +grandson differed imperceptibly from grandfather; he saw them fight +sometimes mercifully, sometimes murderously, but in all the wars beyond +that twinkling window he saw the machine spare nothing. + +Then he looked farther, for the wars that were farthest from him in +time were farther away from the window. He looked farther and saw the +ruins of Peronne. He saw them all alone with their doom at night, all +drenched in white moonlight, sheltering huge darkness in their stricken +hollows. Down the white street, past darkness after darkness as he went +by the gaping rooms that the moon left mourning alone, Rodriguez saw a +captain going back to the wars in that far-future time, who turned his +head a moment as he passed, looking Rodriguez in the face, and so went +on through the ruins to find a floor on which to lie down for the +night. When he was gone the street was all alone with disaster, and +moonlight pouring down, and the black gloom in the houses. + +Rodriguez lifted his eyes and glanced from city to city, to Albert, +Bapaume, and Arras, his gaze moved over a plain with its harvest of +desolation lying forlorn and ungathered, lit by the flashing clouds and +the moon and peering rockets. He turned from the window and wept. + +The deep round window glowed with serene blue glory. It seemed a +foolish thing to weep by that beautiful glass. Morano tried to comfort +him. That calm, deep blue, he felt, and those little lights, surely, +could hurt no one. + +What had Rodriguez seen? Morano asked. But that Rodriguez would not +answer, and told no man ever after what he had seen through that window. + +The Professor stood silent still: he had no comfort to offer; indeed +his magical wisdom had found none for the world. + +You wonder perhaps why the Professor did not give long ago to the world +some of these marvels that are the pride of our age. Reader, let us put +aside my tale for a moment to answer this. For all the darkness of his +sinister art there may well have been some good in the Slave of Orion; +and any good there was, and mere particle even, would surely have +spared the world many of those inventions that our age has not spared +it. Blame not the age, it is now too late to stop; it is in the grip of +inventions now, and has to go on; we cannot stop content with +mustard-gas; it is the age of Progress, and our motto is Onwards. And +if there was no good in this magical man, then may it not have been he +who in due course, long after he himself was safe from life, caused our +inventions to be so deadly divulged? Some evil spirit has done it, then +why not he? + +He stood there silent: let us return to our story. + +Perhaps the efforts of poor clumsy Morano to comfort him cheered +Rodriguez and sent him back to the window, perhaps he turned from them +to find comfort of his own; but, however he came by it, he had a hope +that this was a passing curse that had come on the world, whose welfare +he cared for whether he lived or died, and that looking a little +farther into the future he would see Mother Earth smiling and her +children happy again. So he looked through the deep-blue luminous +window once more, beyond the battles we know. From this he turned back +shuddering. + +Again he saw the Professor smile with his lips, though whether at his +own weakness, or whether with cynical mirth at the fate of the world, +Rodriguez could not say. + + + + +THE FOURTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE SUN + + +The Professor said that in curiosity alone had been found the seeds of +all that is needful for our damnation. Nevertheless, he said, if +Rodriguez cared to see more of his mighty art the mysteries of +Saragossa were all at his guest's disposal. + +Rodriguez, sad and horrified though he was, forgot none of his +courtesy. He thanked the Professor and praised the art of Saragossa, +but his faith in man and his hope for the world having been newly +disappointed, he cared little enough for the things we should care to +see or for any of the amusements that are usually dear to youth. + +"I shall be happy to see anything, senor," he said to the Slave of +Orion, "that is further from our poor Earth, and to study therein and +admire your famous art." + +The Professor bowed. He drew small curtains over the windows, matching +his cloak. Morano sought a glimpse through the right-hand window before +the curtains covered it. Rodriguez held him back. Enough had been seen +already, he thought, through that window for the peace of mind of the +world: but he said no word to Morano. He held him by the arm, and the +Professor covered the windows. When the little mauve curtains were +drawn it seemed to Rodriguez that the windows behind them disappeared +and were there no more; but this he only guessed from uncertain +indications. + +Then the Professor drew forth his wand and went to his cupboard of +wonder. Thence he brought condiments, oils, and dews of amazement. +These he poured into a vessel that was in the midst of the room, a bowl +of agate standing alone on a table. He lit it and it all welled up in +flame, a low broad flame of the colour of pale emerald. Over this he +waved his wand, which was of exceeding blackness. Morano watched as +children watch the dancer, who goes from village to village when spring +is come, with some new dance out of Asia or some new song.[Footnote: He +doesn't, but why shouldn't he?] Rodriguez sat and waited. The Professor +explained that to leave this Earth alive, or even dead, was prohibited +to our bodies, unless to a very few, whose names were hidden. Yet the +spirits of men could by incantation be liberated, and being liberated, +could be directed on journeys by such minds as had that power passed +down to them from of old. Such journeys, he said, were by no means +confined by the hills of Earth. "The Saints," exclaimed Morano, "guard +us utterly!" But Rodriguez smiled a little. His faith was given to the +Saints of Heaven. He wondered at their wonders, he admired their +miracles, he had little faith to spare for other marvels; in fact he +did not believe the Slave of Orion. + +"Do you desire such a journey?" said the Professor. + +"It will delight me," answered Rodriguez, "to see this example of your +art." + +"And you?" he said to Morano. + +The question seemed to alarm the placid Morano, but "I follow my +master," he said. + +At once the Professor stretched out his ebony wand, calling the green +flame higher. Then he put out his hands over the flame, without the +wand, moving them slowly with constantly tremulous fingers. And all at +once they heard him begin to speak. His deep voice flowed musically +while he scarcely seemed to be speaking but seemed only to be concerned +with moving his hands. It came soft, as though blown faint from +fabulous valleys, illimitably far from the land of Spain. It seemed +full not so much of magic as mere sleep, either sleep in an unknown +country of alien men, or sleep in a land dreamed sleeping a long while +since. As the travellers heard it they thought of things far away, of +mythical journeys and their own earliest years. + +They did not know what he said or what language he used. At first +Rodriguez thought Moorish, then he deemed it some secret language come +down from magicians of old, while Morano merely wondered; and then they +were lulled by the rhythm of those strange words, and so enquired no +more. Rodriguez pictured some sad wandering angel, upon some +mountain-peak of African lands, resting a moment and talking to the +solitudes, telling the lonely valley the mysteries of his home. While +lulled though Morano was he gave up his alertness uneasily. All the +while the green flame flooded upwards: all the while the tremulous +fingers made curious shadows. The shadow seemed to run to Rodriguez and +beckon him thence: even Morano felt them calling. Rodriguez closed his +eyes. The voice and the Moorish spells made now a more haunting melody: +they were now like a golden organ on undiscoverable mountains. Fear +came on Morano at the thought: who had power to speak like this? He +grasped Rodriguez by the wrist. "Master!" he said, but at that moment +on one of those golden spells the spirit of Rodriguez drifted away from +his body, and out of the greenish light of the curious room; unhampered +by weight, or fatigue, or pain, or sleep; and it rose above the rocks +and over the mountain, an unencumbered spirit: and the spirit of Morano +followed. + +The mountain dwindled at once; the Earth swept out all round them and +grew larger, and larger still, and then began to dwindle. They saw then +that they were launched upon some astounding journey. Does my reader +wonder they saw when they had no eyes? They saw as they had never seen +before, with sight beyond what they had ever thought to be possible. +Our eyes gather in light, and with the little rays of light that they +bring us we gather a few images of things as we suppose them to be. +Pardon me, reader, if I call them things as we suppose them to be; call +them by all means Things As They Really Are, if you wish. These images +then, this tiny little brainful that we gather from the immensities, +are all brought in by our eyesight upside-down, and the brain corrects +them again; and so, and so we know something. An oculist will tell you +how it all works. He may admit it is all a little clumsy, or for the +dignity of his profession he may say it is not at all. But be this as +it may, our eyes are but barriers between us and the immensities. All +our five senses that grope a little here and touch a little there, and +seize, and compare notes, and get a little knowledge sometimes, they +are only barriers between us and what there is to know. Rodriguez and +Morano were outside these barriers. They saw without the imperfections +of eyesight; they heard on that journey what would have deafened ears; +they went through our atmosphere unburned by speed, and were unchilled +in the bleak of the outer spaces. Thus freed of the imperfections of +the body they sped, no less upon a terrible journey, whose direction as +yet Rodriguez only began to fear. + +They had seen the stars pale rapidly and then the flash of dawn. The +Sun rushed up and at once began to grow larger. Earth, with her curved +sides still diminishing violently, was soon a small round garden in +blue and filmy space, in which mountains were planted. And still the +Sun was growing wider and wider. And now Rodriguez, though he knew +nothing of Sun or planets, perceived the obvious truth of their +terrible journey: they were heading straight for the Sun. But the +spirit of Morano was merely astounded; yet, being free of the body he +suffered none of those inconveniences that perturbation may bring to +us: spirits do not gasp, or palpitate, or weaken, or sicken. + +The dwindling Earth seemed now no more than the size of some unmapped +island seen from a mountain-top, an island a hundred yards or so +across, looking like a big table. + +Speed is comparative: compared to sound, their pace was beyond +comparison; nor could any modern projectile attain any velocity +comparable to it; even the speed of explosion was slow to it. And yet +for spirits they were moving slowly, who being independent of all +material things, travel with such velocities as that, for instance, of +thought. But they were controlled by one still dwelling on Earth, who +used material things, and the material that the Professor was using to +hurl them upon their journey was light, the adaptation of which to this +purpose he had learned at Saragossa. At the pace of light they were +travelling towards the Sun. + +They crossed the path of Venus, far from where Venus then was, so that +she scarcely seemed larger to them; Earth was but little bigger than +the Evening Star, looking dim in that monstrous daylight. + +Crossing the path of Mercury, Mercury appeared huger than our Moon, an +object weirdly unnatural; and they saw ahead of them the terrific glare +in which Mercury basks, from a Sun whose withering orb had more than +doubled its width since they came from the hills of Earth. And after +this the Sun grew terribly larger, filling the centre of the sky, and +spreading and spreading and spreading. It was now that they saw what +would have dazzled eyes, would have burned up flesh and would have +shrivelled every protection that our scientists' ingenuity could have +devised even today. To speak of time there is meaningless. There is +nothing in the empty space between the Sun and Mercury with which time +is at all concerned. Far less is there meaning in time wherever the +spirits of men are under stress. A few minutes' bombardment in a +trench, a few hours in a battle, a few weeks' travelling in a trackless +country; these minutes, these hours, these weeks can never be few. + +Rodriguez and Morano had been travelling about six or seven minutes, +but it seems idle to say so. + +And then the Sun began to fill the whole sky in front of them. And in +another minute, if minutes had any meaning, they were heading for a +boundless region of flame that, left and right, was everywhere, and now +towered above them, and went below them into a flaming abyss. + +And now Morano spoke to Rodriguez. He thought towards him, and +Rodriguez was aware of his thinking: it is thus that spirits +communicate. + +"Master," he said, "when it was all spring in Spain, years ago when I +was thin and young, twenty years gone at least; and the butterflies +were come, and song was everywhere; there came a maid bare-footed over +a stream, walking through flowers, and all to pluck the anemones." How +fair she seemed even now, how bright that far spring day. Morano told +Rodriguez not with his blundering lips: they were closed and resting +deeply millions of miles away: he told him as spirits tell. And in that +clear communication Rodriguez saw all that shone in Morano's memory, +the grace of the young girl's ankles, the thrill of Spring, the +anemones larger and brighter than anemones ever were, the hawks still +in clear sky; earth happy and heaven blue, and the dreams of youth +between. You would not have said, had you seen Morano's coarse fat +body, asleep in a chair in the Professor's room, that his spirit +treasured such delicate, nymph-like, pastoral memories as now shone +clear to Rodriguez. No words the blunt man had ever been able to utter +had ever hinted that he sometimes thought like a dream of pictures by +Watteau. And now in that awful space before the power of the terrible +Sun, spirit communed with spirit, and Rodriguez saw the beauty of that +far day, framed all about the beauty of one young girl, just as it had +been for years in Morano's memory. How shall I tell with words what +spirit sang wordless to spirit? We poets may compete with each other in +words; but when spirits give up the purest gold of their store, that +has shone far down the road of their earthly journey, cheering tired +hearts and guiding mortal feet, our words shall barely interpret. + +Love, coming long ago over flowers in Spain, found Morano; words did +not tell the story, words cannot tell it; as a lake reflects a cloud in +the blue of heaven, so Rodriguez understood and felt and knew this +memory out of the days of Morano's youth. "And so, master," said +Morano, "I sinned, and would indeed repent, and yet even now at this +last dread hour I cannot abjure that day; and this is indeed Hell, as +the good father said." + +Rodriguez tried to comfort Morano with such knowledge as he had of +astronomy, if knowledge it could be called. Indeed, if he had known +anything he would have perplexed Morano more, and his little pieces of +ignorance were well adapted for comfort. But Morano had given up hope, +having long been taught to expect this very fire: his spirit was no +wiser than it had been on Earth, it was merely freed of the +imperfections of the five senses and so had observation and expression +beyond those of any artist the world has known. This was the natural +result of being freed of the body; but he was not suddenly wiser; and +so, as he moved towards this boundless flame, he expected every moment +to see Satan charge out to meet him: and having no hope for the future +he turned to the past and fondled the memory of that one spring day. +His was a backsliding, unrepentant spirit. + +As that monstrous sea of flame grew ruthlessly larger Rodriguez felt no +fear, for spirits have no fear of material things: but Morano feared. +He feared as spirits fear spiritual things; he thought he neared the +home of vast spirits of evil and that the arena of conflict was +eternity. He feared with a fear too great to be borne by bodies. +Perhaps the fat body that slept on a chair on earth was troubled in +dreams by some echo of that fear that gripped the spirit so sorely. And +it may be from such far fears that all our nightmares come. + +When they had travelled nearly ten minutes from Earth and were about to +pass into the midst of the flame, that magician who controlled their +journey halted them suddenly in Space, among the upper mountain-peaks +of the Sun. There they hovered as the clouds hover that leave their +companions and drift among crags of the Alps: below them those awful +mountains heaved and thundered. All Atlas, and Teneriffe, and lonely +Kenia might have lain amongst them unnoticed. As often as the +earthquake rocked their bases it loosened from near their summits wild +avalanches of gold that swept down their flaming slopes with +unthinkable tumult. As they watched, new mountains rode past them, +crowned with their frightful flames; for, whether man knew it or not, +the Sun was rotating, but the force of its gravity that swung the +planets had no grip upon spirits, who were held by the power of that +tremendous spell that the Professor had learned one midnight at +Saragossa from one of that dread line who have their secrets from a +source that we do not know in a distant age. + +There is always something tremendous in the form of great mountains; +but these swept by, not only huger than anything Earth knows, but +troubled by horrible commotions, as though overtaken in flight by some +ceaseless calamity. + +Rodriguez and Morano, as they looked at them, forgetting the gardens of +Earth, forgetting Spring and Summer and the sweet beneficence of +sunshine, felt that the purpose of Creation was evil! So shocking a +thought may well astound us here, where green hills slope to lawns or +peer at a peaceful sea; but there among the flames of those dreadful +peaks the Sun seemed not the giver of joy and colour and life, but only +a catastrophe huger than everlasting war, a centre of hideous violence +and ruin and anger and terror. There came by mountains of copper +burning everlasting, hurling up to unthinkable heights their mass of +emerald flame. And mountains of iron raged by and mountains of salt, +quaking and thundering and clothed with their colours, the iron always +scarlet and the salt blue. And sometimes there came by pinnacles a +thousand miles high that from base to summit were fire, mountains of +pure flame that had no other substance. And these explosive mountains, +born of thunder and earthquake, hurling down avalanches the size of our +continents, and drawing upward out of the deeps of the Sun new material +for splendour and horror, this roaring waste, this extravagant +destruction, were necessary for every tint that our butterflies wear on +their wings. Without those flaming ranges of mountains of iron they +would have no red to show; even the poppy could have no red for her +petals: without the flames that were blasting the mountains of salt +there could be no answering blue in any wing, or one blue flower for +all the bees of Earth: without the nightmare light of those frightful +canyons of copper that awed the two spirits watching their ceaseless +ruin, the very leaves of the woods we love would be without their green +with which to welcome Spring; for from the flames of the various metals +and wonders that for ever blaze in the Sun, our sunshine gets all its +colours that it conveys to us almost unseen, and thence the wise little +insects and patient flowers softly draw the gay tints that they glory +in; there is nowhere else to get them. + +And yet to Rodriguez and Morano all that they saw seemed wholly and +hideously evil. + +How long they may have watched there they tried to guess afterwards, +but as they looked on those terrific scenes they had no way to separate +days from minutes: nothing about them seemed to escape destruction, and +time itself seemed no calmer than were those shuddering mountains. + +Then the thundering ranges passed; and afterwards there came a gleaming +mountain, one huge and lonely peak, seemingly all of gold. Had our +whole world been set beside it and shaped as it was shaped, that golden +mountain would yet have towered above it: it would have taken our moon +as well to reach that flashing peak. It rode on toward them in its +golden majesty, higher than all the flames, save now and then when some +wild gas seemed to flee from the dread earthquakes of the Sun, and was +overtaken in the height by fire, even above that mountain. + +As that mass of gold that was higher than all the world drew near to +Rodriguez and Morano they felt its unearthly menace; and though it +could not overcome their spirits they knew there was a hideous terror +about it. It was in its awful scale that its terror lurked for any +creature of our planet. Though they could not quake or tremble they +felt that terror. The mountain dwarfed Earth. + +Man knows his littleness, his own mountains remind him; many countries +are small, and some nations: but the dreams of Man make up for our +faults and failings, for the brevity of our lives, for the narrowness +of our scope; they leap over boundaries and are away and away. But this +great mountain belittled the world and all: who gazed on it knew all +his dreams to be puny. Before this mountain Man seemed a trivial thing, +and Earth, and all the dreams Man had of himself and his home. + +The golden mass drew opposite those two watchers and seemed to +challenge with its towering head the pettiness of the tiny world they +knew. And then the whole gleaming mountain gave one shudder and fell +into the awful plains of the Sun. Straight down before Rodriguez and +Morano it slipped roaring, till the golden peak was gone, and the +molten plain closed over it; and only ripples remained, the size of +Europe, as when a tumbling river strikes the rocks of its bed and on +its surface heaving circles widen and disappear. And then, as though +this horror left nothing more to be shown, they felt the Professor +beckon to them from Earth. + +Over the plains of the Sun a storm was sweeping in gusts of howling +flame as they felt the Professor's spell drawing them home. For the +magnitude of that storm there are no words in use among us; its +velocity, if expressed in figures, would have no meaning; its heat was +immeasurable. Suffice it to say that if such a tempest could have swept +over Earth for a second, both the poles would have boiled. The +travellers left it galloping over that plain, rippled from underneath +by the restless earthquake and whipped into flaming foam by the force +of the storm. The Sun already was receding from them, already growing +smaller. Soon the storm seemed but a cloud of light sweeping over the +empty plain, like a murderous mourner rushing swiftly away from the +grave of that mighty mountain. + +And now the Professor's spell gripped them in earnest: rapidly the Sun +grew smaller. As swiftly as he had sent them upon that journey he was +now drawing them home. They overtook thunders that they had heard +already, and passed them, and came again to the silent spaces which the +thunders of the Sun are unable to cross, so that even Mercury is +undisturbed by them. + +I have said that spirits neither fade nor weary. But a great sadness +was on them; they felt as men feel who come whole away from periods of +peril. They had seen cataclysms too vast for our imagination, and a +mournfulness and a satiety were upon them. They could have gazed at one +flower for days and needed no other experience, as a wounded man may be +happy staring at the flame of a candle. + +Crossing the paths of Mercury and Venus, they saw that these planets +had not appreciably moved, and Rodriguez, who knew that planets wander +in the night, guessed thereby that they had not been absent from Earth +for many hours. + +They rejoiced to see the Sun diminishing steadily. Only for a moment as +they started their journey had they seen that solar storm rushing over +the plains of the Sun; but now it appeared to hang halted in its mid +anger, as though blasting one region eternally. + +Moving on with the pace of light, they saw Earth, soon after crossing +the path of Venus, beginning to grow larger than a star. Never had home +appeared more welcome to wanderers, who see their house far off, +returning home. + +And as Earth grew larger, and they began to see forms that seemed like +seas and mountains, they looked for their own country, but could not +find it: for, travelling straight from the Sun, they approached that +part of the world that was then turned towards it, and were heading +straight for China, while Spain lay still in darkness. + +But when they came near Earth and its mountains were clear, then the +Professor drew them across the world, into the darkness and over Spain; +so that those two spirits ended their marvellous journey much as the +snipe ends his, a drop out of heaven and a swoop low over marshes. So +they came home, while Earth seemed calling to them with all her voices; +with memories, sights and scents, and little sounds; calling anxiously, +as though they had been too long away and must be home soon. They heard +a cock crow on the edge of the night; they heard more little sounds +than words can say; only the organ can hint at them. It was Earth +calling. For, talk as we may of our dreams that transcend this sphere, +or our hopes that build beyond it, Mother Earth has yet a mighty hold +upon us; and her myriad sounds were blending in one cry now, knowing +that it was late and that these two children of hers were nearly lost. +For our spirits that sometimes cross the path of the angels, and on +rare evenings hear a word of their talk, and have brief equality with +the Powers of Light, have the duty also of moving fingers and toes, +which freeze if our proud spirits forget their task for too long. + +And just as Earth was despairing they reached the Professor's mountain +and entered the room in which their bodies were. + +Blue and cold and ugly looked the body of Morano, but for all its +pallor there was beauty in the young face of Rodriguez. + +The Professor stood before them as he had stood when their spirits +left, with the table between him and the bodies, and the bowl on the +table which held the green flame, now low and flickering desperately, +which the Professor watched as it leaped and failed, with an air of +anxiety that seemed to pinch his thin features. + +With an impatience strange to him he waved a swift hand towards each of +the two bodies where they sat stiff, illumined by the last of the green +light; and at those rapid gestures the travellers returned to their +habitations. + +They seemed to be just awakening out of deep sleep. Again they saw the +Professor standing before them. But they saw him only with blinking +eyes, they saw him only as eyes can see, guessing at his mind from the +lines of his face, at his thoughts from the movements of his hands, +guessing as men guess, blindly: only a moment before they had known him +utterly. Now they were dazed and forgetting: slow blood began to creep +again to their toes and to come again to its place under fingernails: +it came with intense pain: they forgot their spirits. Then all the woes +of Earth crowded their minds at once, so that they wished to weep, as +infants weep. + +The Professor gave this mood time to change, as change it presently +did. For the warm blood came back and lit their cheeks, and a tingling +succeeded the pain in their fingers and toes, and a mild warmth +succeeded the tingling: their thoughts came back to the things of every +day, to mundane things and the affairs of the body. Therein they +rejoiced, and Morano no less than Rodriguez; though it was a coarse and +common body that Morano's spirit inhabited. And when the Professor saw +that the first sorrow of Earth, which all spirits feel when they land +here, had passed away, and that they were feeling again the joy of +mundane things, only then did he speak. + +"Senor," he said, "beyond the path of Mars run many worlds that I would +have you know. The greatest of these is Jupiter, towards whom all that +follow my most sacred art show reverent affection. The smallest are +those that sometimes strike our world, flaming all green upon November +nights, and are even as small as apples." He spoke of our world with a +certain air and a pride, as though, through virtue of his transcendent +art, the world were only his. "The world that we name Argola," he said, +"is far smaller than Spain and, being invisible from Earth, is only +known to the few who have spoken to spirits whose wanderings have +surpassed the path of Mars. Nearly half of Argola you shall find +covered with forests, which though very dense are no deeper than moss, +and the elephants in them are not larger than beetles. You shall see +many wonders of smallness in this world of Argola, which I desire in +especial to show you, since it is the orb with which we who study the +Art are most familiar, of all the worlds that the vulgar have not +known. It is indeed the prize of our traffic in those things that far +transcend the laws that have forbidden them." + +And as he said this the green flame in the bowl before him died, and he +moved towards his cupboard of wonder. Rodriguez hastily thanked the +Professor for his great courtesy in laying bare before him secrets that +the centuries hid, and then he referred to his own great unworthiness, +to the lateness of the hour, to the fatigue of the Professor, and to +the importance to Learning of adequate rest to refresh his illustrious +mind. And all that he said the Professor parried with bows, and drew +enchantments from his cupboard of wonder to replenish the bowl on the +table. And Rodriguez saw that he was in the clutch of a collector, one +who having devoted all his days to a hobby will exhibit his treasures +to the uttermost, and that the stars that magic knows were no less to +the Professor than all the whatnots that a man collects and insists on +showing to whomsoever enters his house. He feared some terrible +journey, perhaps some bare escape; for though no material thing can +quite encompass a spirit, he knew not what wanderers he might not meet +in lonely spaces beyond the path of Mars. So when his last polite +remonstrance failed, being turned aside with a pleasant phrase and a +smile from the grim lips, and looking at Morano he saw that he shared +his fears, then he determined to show whatever resistance were needed +to keep himself and Morano in this old world that we know, or that +youth at least believes that it knows. + +He watched the Professor return with his packets of wonder; dust from a +fallen star, phials of tears of lost lovers, poison and gold out of +elf-land, and all manner of things. But the moment that he put them +into the bowl Rodriguez' hand flew to his sword-hilt. He heaved up his +elbow, but no sword came forth, for it lay magnetised to its scabbard +by the grip of a current of magic. When Rodriguez saw this he knew not +what to do. + +The Professor went on pouring into the bowl. He added an odour +distilled out of dream-roses, three drops from the gall-bladder of a +fabulous beast, and a little dust that had been man. More too he added, +so that my reader might wonder were I to tell him all; yet it is not so +easy to free our spirits from the gross grip of our bodies. Wonder not +then, my reader, if the Professor exerted strange powers. And all the +while Morano was picking at a nail that fastened on the handle to his +frying-pan. + +And just as the last few mysteries were shaken into the bowl,--and +there were two among them of which even Asia is ignorant,--just as the +dews were blended with the powers in a grey-green sinister harmony, +Morano untwisted his nail and got the handle loose. + +The Professor kindled the mixture in the bowl; again green flame arose, +again that voice of his began to call to their spirits, and its beauty +and the power of its spell were as of some fallen angel. The spirit of +Rodriguez was nearly passing helplessly forth again on some frightful +journey, when Morano losed his scabbard and sword from its girdle and +tied the handle of his frying-pan across it a little below the hilt +with a piece of string. Across the table the Professor intoned his +spell, across a narrow table, but it seemed to come from the far side +of the twilight, a twilight red and golden in long layers, of an +evening wonderfully long ago. It seemed to take its music out of the +lights that it flowed through and to call Rodriguez from immediately +far away, with a call which it were sacrilege to refuse, and anguish +even, and hard toil such as there was no strength to do. And then +Morano held up the sword in its scabbard with the handle of the +frying-pan tied across. Rodriguez, disturbed by a stammer in the spell, +looked up and saw the Professor staring at the sword where Morano held +it up before his face in the green light of the flame from the bowl. He +did not seem like a fallen angel now. His spell had stopped. He seemed +like a professor who had forgotten the theme of his lecture, while the +class waits. For Morano was holding up the sign of the cross. + +"You have betrayed me!" shouted the Slave of Orion: the green flame +died, and he strode out of the room, his purple cloak floating behind +him. + +"Master," Morano said, "it was always good against magic." + +The sword was loose in the scabbard as Rodriguez took it back; there +was no longer a current of magic gripping the steel. + +A little uneasily Rodriguez thanked Morano: he was not sure if Morano +had behaved as a guest's servant should. But when he thought of the +Professor's terrible spells, which had driven them to the awful crags +of the sun, and might send them who knows where to hob-nob with who +knows what, his second thoughts perceived that Morano was right to cut +short those arts that the Slave of Orion loved, even by so extreme a +step: and he praised Morano as his ready shrewdness deserved. + +"We were very nearly too late back from that outing, master," remarked +Morano. + +"How know you that?" said Rodriguez. + +"This old body knew," said Morano. "Those heart-thumpings, this +warmness, and all the things that make a fat body comfortable, they +were stopping, master, they were spoiling, they were getting cold and +strange: I go no more errands for that senor." + +A certain diffidence about criticising his host even now; and a very +practical vein that ran through his nature, now showing itself in +anxiety for a bed at so late an hour, led Rodriguez to change the +subject. He wanted that aged butler, yet dare not ring the bell; for he +feared lest with all the bells there might be in use that frightful +practice that he had met by the outer door, a chain connected with some +hideous hook that gave anguish to something in the basement whenever +one touched the handle, so that the menials of that grim Professor were +shrilly summoned by screams. And therefore Rodriguez sought counsel of +Morano, who straightway volunteered to find the butler's quarters, by a +certain sense that he had of the fitness of things: and forth he went, +but would not leave the room without the scabbard and the handle of the +frying-pan lashed to it, which he bore high before him in both his +hands as though he were leading some austere procession. And even so he +returned with that aged man the butler, who led them down dim corridors +of stone; but, though he showed the way, Morano would go in front, +still holding up that scabbard and handle before him, while Rodriguez +held the bare sword. And so they came to a room lit by the flare of one +candle, which their guide told them the Professor had prepared for his +guest. In the vastness of it was a great bed. Shadows and a whir as of +wings passed out of the door as they entered. "Bats," said the ancient +guide. But Morano believed he had routed powers of evil with the handle +of his frying-pan and his master's scabbard. Who could say what they +were in such a house, where bats and evil spirits sheltered perennially +from the brooms of the just? Then that ancient man with the lips of +some woodland thing departed, and Rodriguez went to the great bed. On a +pile of straw that had been cast into the room Morano lay down across +the door, setting the scabbard upright in a rat-hole near his head, +while Rodriguez lay down with the bare sword in his hand. There was +only one door in the room, and this Morano guarded. Windows there were, +but they were shuttered with raw oak of enormous thickness. He had +already enquired with his sword behind the velvet curtains. He felt +secure in the bulk of Morano across the only door, at least from +creatures of this world: and Morano feared no longer either spirit or +spell, believing that he had vanquished the Professor with his symbol, +and all such allies as he may have had here or elsewhere. But not thus +easily do we overcome the powers of evil. + +A step was heard such as man walks with at the close of his later +years, coming along the corridor of stone; and they knew it for the +Professor's butler returning. The latch of the door trembled and +lifted, and the great oak door bumped slowly against Morano, who arose +grumbling, and the old man appeared. + +"The Professor," he said, while Morano watched him grudgingly, "returns +with all his household to Saragossa at once, to resume those studies +for which his name resounds, a certain conjunction of the stars having +come favourably." + +Even Morano doubted that so suddenly the courses of the stars, which he +deemed to be gradual, should have altered from antagonism towards the +Professor's art into a favourable aspect. Rodriguez sleepily +acknowledged the news and settled himself to sleep, still sword in +hand, when the servitor repeated with as much emphasis as his aged +voice could utter, "With all his household, senor." + +"Yes," muttered Rodriguez. "Farewell." + +And repeating again, "He takes his household with him," the old man +shuffled back from the room and hesitatingly closed the door. Before +the sound of his slow footsteps had failed to reach the room Morano was +asleep under his cross. Rodriguez still watched for a while the shadows +leaping and shuddering away from the candle, riding over the ceiling, +striding hugely along the walls, towards him and from him, as draughts +swayed the ruddy flame; then, gripping his sword still firmer in his +hand, as though that could avail against magic, he fell into the sleep +of tired men. + +No sound disturbed Rodriguez or Morano till both awoke in late morning +upon the rocks of the mountain. The sun had climbed over the crags and +now shone on their faces. Rodriguez was still lying with his sword +gripped in his hand, but the cross had fallen by Morano and now lay on +the rocks beside him with the handle of the frying-pan still tied in +its place by string. A young, wild, woodland squirrel gambolled near, +though there were no woods for it anywhere within sight: it leaped and +played as though rejoicing in youth, with such merriment as though +youth had but come to it newly or been lost and restored again. + +All over the mountain they looked but there was no house, nor any sign +of dwelling of man or spirit. + + + + +THE FIFTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE RODE IN THE TWILIGHT AND SAW SERAFINA + + +Rodriguez, who loved philosophy, turned his mind at once to the journey +that lay before him, deciding which was the north; for he knew that it +was by the north that he must leave Spain, which he still desired to +leave since there were no wars in that country. + +Morano knew not clearly what philosophy was, yet he wasted no thoughts +upon the night that was gone; and, fitting up his frying-pan +immediately, he brought out what was left of his bacon and began to +look for material to make a fire. The bacon lay waiting in the +frying-pan for some while before this material was gathered, for +nothing grew on the mountain but a heath; and of that there were few +bushes, scattered here and there. + +Rodriguez, far from ruminating upon the events of the previous night, +realised as he watched these preparations that he was enormously +hungry. And when Morano had kindled a fire and the smell of cooking +arose, he who had held the chair of magic at Saragossa was banished +from both their minds, although upon this very spot they had spent so +strange a night; but where bacon is, and there be hungry men, the +things of yesterday are often forgotten. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "we must walk far to-day." + +"Indeed, master," said Morano, "we must push on to these wars; for you +have no castle, master, no lands, no fortune ..." + +"Come," said Rodriguez. + +Morano slung his frying-pan behind him: they had eaten up the last of +his bacon: he stood up, and they were ready for the journey. The smoke +from their meagre fire went thinly into the air, the small grey clouds +of it went slowly up: nothing beside remained to bid them farewell, or +for them to thank for their strange night's hospitality. They climbed +till they reached the rugged crest of the mountain; thence they saw a +wide plain and the morning: the day was waiting for them. + +The northern slope of the mountain was wholly different from that black +congregation of angry rocks through which they had climbed by night to +the House of Wonder. + +The slope that now lay before them was smooth and grassy, flowing +before them far, a gentle slope that was soon to lend speed to +Rodriguez' feet, adding nimbleness even to youth. Soon, too, it was to +lift onward the dull weight of Morano as he followed his master towards +unknown wars, youth going before him like a spirit and the good slope +helping behind. But before they gave themselves to that waiting journey +they stood a moment and looked at the shining plain that lay before +them like an open page, on which was the whole chronicle of that day's +wayfaring. There was the road they should travel by, there were the +streams it crossed and narrow woods they might rest in, and dim on the +farthest edge was the place they must spend that night. It was all, as +it were written, upon the plain they watched, but in a writing not +intended for them, and, clear although it be, never to be interpreted +by one of our race. Thus they saw clear, from a height, the road they +would go by, but not one of all the events to which it would lead them. + +"Master," said Morano, "shall we have more adventures to-day?" + +"I trust so," said Rodriguez. "We have far to go, and it will be dull +journeying without them." + +Morano turned his eyes from his master's face and looked back to the +plain. "There, master," he said, "where our road runs through a wood, +will our adventure be there, think you? Or there, perhaps," and he +waved his hand widely farther. + +"No," said Rodriguez, "we pass that in bright daylight." + +"Is that not good for adventure?" said Morano. + +"The romances teach," said Rodriguez, "that twilight or night are +better. The shade of deep woods is favourable, but there are no such +woods on this plain. When we come to evening we shall doubtless meet +some adventure, far over there." And he pointed to the grey rim of the +plain where it started climbing towards hills. + +"These are good days," said Morano. He forgot how short a time ago he +had said regretfully that these days were not as the old days. But our +race, speaking generally, is rarely satisfied with the present, and +Morano's cheerfulness had not come from his having risen suddenly +superior to this everyday trouble of ours; it came from his having +shifted his gaze to the future. Two things are highly tolerable to us, +and even alluring, the past and the future. It was only with the +present that Morano was ever dissatisfied. + +When Morano said that the days were good Rodriguez set out to find +them, or at least that one that for some while now lay waiting for them +on the plain. He strode down the slope at once and, endowing nature +with his own impatience, he felt that he heard the morning call to him +wistfully. Morano followed. + +For an hour these refugees escaping from peace went down the slope; and +in that hour they did five swift miles, miles that seemed to run by +them as they walked, and so they came lightly to the level plain. And +in the next hour they did four miles more. Words were few, either +because Morano brooded mainly upon one thought, the theme of which was +his lack of bacon, or because he kept his breath to follow his master +who, with youth and the morning, was coming out of the hills at a pace +not tuned to Morano's forty years or so. And at the end of these nine +miles Morano perceived a house, a little way from the road, on the +left, upon rising ground. A mile or so ahead they saw the narrow wood +that they had viewed in the morning from the mountain running across +the plain. They saw now by the lie of the ground that it probably +followed a stream, a pleasant place in which to take the rest demanded +by Spain at noon. It was just an hour to noon; so Rodriguez, keeping +the road, told Morano to join him where it entered the wood when he had +acquired his bacon. And then as they parted a thought occurred to +Rodriguez, which was that bacon cost money. It was purely an +afterthought, an accidental fancy, such as inspirations are, for he had +never had to buy bacon. So he gave Morano a fifth part of his money, a +large gold coin the size of one of our five-shilling pieces, engraved +of course upon one side with the glories and honours of that golden +period of Spain, and upon the other with the head of the lord the King. +It was only by chance he had brought any at all; he was not what our +newspapers will call, if they ever care to notice him, a level-headed +business man. At the sight of the gold piece Morano bowed, for he felt +this gift of gold to be an occasion; but he trusted more for the +purchase of the bacon to some few small silver coins of his own that he +kept among lumps of lard and pieces of string. + +And so they parted for a while, Rodriguez looking for some great +shadowy oak with moss under it near a stream, Morano in quest of bacon. + +When Rodriguez entered the wood he found his oak, but it was not such +an oak as he cared to rest beneath during the heat of the day, nor +would you have done so, my reader, even though you have been to the +wars and seen many a pretty mess; for four of la Garda were by it and +were arranging to hang a man from the best of the branches. + +"La Garda again," said Rodriguez nearly aloud. + +His eye drooped, his look was listless, he gazed at other things; while +a glance that you had not noticed, flashed slantingly at la Garda, +satisfied Rodriguez that all four were strangers: then he walked +straight towards them merrily. The man they proposed to hang was a +stranger too. He appeared at first to be as stout as Morano, and he was +nearly half a foot taller, but his stoutness turned out to be sheer +muscle. The broad man was clothed in old brown leather and had blue +eyes. + +Now there was something about the poise of Rodriguez' young head which +gave him an air not unlike that which the King himself sometimes wore +when he went courting. It suited his noble sword and his merry plume. +When la Garda saw him they were all politeness at once, and invited him +to see the hanging, for which Rodriguez thanked them with amplest +courtesy. + +"It is not a bull-fight," said the chief of la Garda almost +apologetically. But Rodriguez waved aside his deprecations and declared +himself charmed at the prospect of a hanging. + +Bear with me, reader, while I champion a bad cause and seek to palliate +what is inexcusable. As we travel about the world on our way through +life we meet and pass here and there, in peace or in war, other men, +fellow-travellers: and sometimes there is no more than time for a +glance, eye to eye. And in that glance you see the sort of man: and +chiefly there are two sorts. The one sort always brooding, always +planning; mean, silent men, collecting properties and money; keeping +the law on their side, keeping everything on their side; except women +and heaven, and the late, leisurely judgment of simple people: and the +others merry folk, whose eyes twinkle, whose money flies, who will +sooner laugh than plan, who seem to inherit rightfully the happiness +that the others plot for, and fail to come by with all their schemes. +In the man who was to provide the entertainment Rodriguez recognised +the second kind. + +Now even though the law had caught a saint that had strayed too far +outside the boundary of Heaven, and desired to hang him, Rodriguez knew +that it was his duty to help the law while help was needed, and to +applaud after the thing was done. The law to Rodriguez was the most +sacred thing man had made, if indeed it were not divine; but since the +privilege that two days ago had afforded him of studying it more +closely, it appeared to him the blindest, silliest thing with which he +had had to do since the kittens were drowned that his cat Tabitharina +had had at Arguento Harez. + +It was in this deplorable state of mind that Rodriguez' glance fell on +the merry eyes and the solemn predicament of the man in the leather +coat, standing pinioned under a long branch of the oak-tree: and he +determined from that moment to disappoint la Garda and, I fear also, my +reader, perhaps to disappoint you, of the hanging that they at least +had promised themselves. + +"Think you," said Rodriguez, "that for so stout a knave this branch of +yours suffices?" + +Now it was an excellent branch. But it was not so much Rodriguez' words +as the anxious way in which he looked at the branch that aroused the +anxieties of la Garda: and soon they were looking about to find a +better tree; and when four men start doing this in a wood time quickly +passes. Meanwhile Morano drew near, and Rodriguez went to meet him. + +"Master," said Morano, all out of breath, "they had no bacon. But I got +these two bottles of wine. It is strong wine, which is a rare deluder +of the senses, which will need to be deluded if we are to go hungry." + +Rodriguez was about to cut short Morano's chatter when he thought of a +use for the wine, and was silent a moment. And as he pondered Morano +looked up and saw la Garda and at the same time perceived the +situation, for he had as quick an eye for a bad business as any man. + +"No one with the horses," was his comment; for they were tethered a +little apart. But Rodriguez' mind had already explored a surer method +than the one that Morano seemed to be contemplating. This method he +told Morano. And now, from little tugs that they were giving to the +doubled rope that hung over the branch of the oak-tree, it was clear +enough that the men of the law were returning to their confidence in +that very sufficient branch. + +They looked up with questions ripe to drop from their lips when they +saw Rodriguez returning with Morano. But before one of them spoke +Morano flung to them from far off a little piece of his wisdom: for +cast a truth into an occasion and it will always trouble the waters, +usually stirring up contradiction, but always bringing something to the +surface. + +"Senores," he said, "no man can enjoy a hanging with a dry throat." + +Thus he turned their attention a while from the business in hand, +changing their thoughts from the stout neck of the prisoner to their +own throats, wondering were they dry; and you do not wonder long about +this in the south without finding that what you feared is true. And +then he let them see the two great bottles, all full of wine, for the +invention of the false bottom that gives to our champagne-bottles the +place they rightly hold among famous deceptions had not as yet been +discovered. + +"It is true," said la Garda. And Rodriguez made Morano put one of the +bottles away in a piece of a sack that he carried: and when la Garda +saw one of the two bottles disappear it somehow decided them to have +the other, though how this came to be so there is no saying; and thus +the hanging was postponed again. + +Now the drink was a yellow wine, sweet and heavy and stronger than our +port; only our whisky could out-triumph it, but there in the warm south +it answered its purpose. Rodriguez beckoned Morano up and offered the +bottle to one of la Garda; but scarcely had he put it to his lips when +Rodriguez bade him stop, saying that he had had his share. And he did +the same with the next man. + +Now there be few things indeed which la Garda resent more than meagre +hospitality in the matter of drink, and with all their wits striving to +cope with this vicious defect in Rodriguez, as they rightly or wrongly +regarded it, how should they have any to spare for obvious precautions? +As the third man drank, Rodriguez turned to speak to Morano; and the +representative of the law took such advantage of an opportunity that he +feared to be fleeting, that when Rodriguez turned round again the +bottle was just half empty. Rodriguez had timed it very nicely. + +Next Rodriguez put the bottle to his lips and held it there a little +time, while the fourth man of the law, who was guarding the prisoner, +watched Rodriguez wistfully, and afterwards Morano, who took the bottle +next. Yet neither Rodriguez nor Morano drank. + +"You can finish the bottle," said Rodriguez to this anxious watcher, +who came forward eagerly though full of doubts, which changed to warm +feelings of exuberant gratitude when he found how much remained. Thus +he obtained not much less than two tumblerfuls of wine that, as I have +said, was stronger than port; and noon was nearing and it was spring in +Spain. And then he returned to guard his prisoner under the oak-tree +and lay down there on the moss, remembering that it was his duty to +keep awake. And afterwards with one hand he took hold of a rope that +bound the prisoner's ankles, so that he might still guard his prisoner +even though he should fall asleep. + +Now two of the men had had little more than the full of a sherry glass +each. To these Morano made signs that there was another bottle, and, +coming round behind his master, he covertly uncorked it and gave them +their heart's desire; and a little was left over for the man who drank +third on the first occasion. And presently the spirits of all four of +la Garda grew haughty and forgot their humble bodies, and would fain +have gone forth to dwell with the sons of light, while their bodies lay +on the moss and the sun grew warmer and warmer, shining dappled in +amongst the small green leaves. All seemed still but for the winged +insects flashing through shafts of the sunlight out of the gloom of the +trees and disappearing again like infinitesimal meteors. But our +concern is with the thoughts of man, of which deeds are but the +shadows: wherever these are active it is wrong to say all is still; for +whether they cast their shadows, which are actions, or whether they +remain a force not visibly stirring matter, they are the source of the +tales we write and the lives we lead; it is they that gave History her +material and they that bade her work it up into books. + +And thoughts were very active about that oak-tree. For while the +thoughts of la Garda arose like dawn, and disappeared into mists, their +prisoner was silently living through the sunny days of his life, which +are at no time quite lost to us, and which flash vivid and bright and +near when memory touches them, herself awakened by the nearness of +death. He lived again days far from the day that had brought him where +he stood. He drew from those days (that is to say) that delight, that +essence of hours, that something which we call life. The sun, the wind, +the rough sand, the splash of the sea, on the star-fish, and all the +things that it feels during its span, are stored in something like its +memory, and are what we call its life: it is the same with all of us. +Life is feeling. The prisoner from the store of his memory was taking +all he had. His head was lifted, he was gazing northwards, far further +than his eyes could see, to shining spaces in great woods; and there +his threatened being walked in youth, with steps such as spirits take, +over immortal flowers, which were dim and faint but unfading because +they lived on in memory. In memory he walked with some who were now far +from his footsteps. And, seen through the gloaming of that perilous +day, how bright did those far days appear! Did they not seem sunnier +than they really were? No, reader; for all the radiance that glittered +so late in his mind was drawn from those very days; it was their own +brightness that was shining now: we are not done with the days that +were as soon as their sunsets have faded, but a light remains from them +and grows fairer and fairer, like an afterglow lingering among +tremendous peaks above immeasurable slopes of snow. + +The prisoner had scarcely noticed Rodriguez or his servant, any more +than he noticed his captors; for there come an intensity to those who +walk near death that makes them a little alien from other men, life +flaring up in them at the last into so grand a flame that the lives of +the others seem a little cold and dim where they dwell remote from that +sunset that we call mortality. So he looked silently at the days that +were as they came dancing back again to him from where they had long +lain lost in chasms of time, to which they had slipped over dark edges +of years. Smiling they came, but all wistfully anxious, as though their +errand were paramount and their span short: he saw them cluster about +him, running now, bringing their tiny gifts, and scarcely heard the +heavy sigh of his guard as Rodriguez gagged him and Morano tied him up. + +Had Rodriguez now released the prisoner they could have been three to +three, in the event of things going wrong with the sleep of la Garda; +but, since in the same time they could gag and bind another, the odds +would be the same at two to two, and Rodriguez preferred this to the +slight uncertainties that would be connected with the entry of another +partner. They accordingly gagged the next man and bound his wrists and +ankles. And that Spanish wine held good with the other two and bound +them far down among the deeps of dreams: and so it should, for it was +of a vine that grew in the vales of Spain and had ripened in one of the +years of the golden age. + +They bound one as easily as they had bound the other two; and the last +Rodriguez watched while Morano cut the ropes off the prisoner, for he +had run out of bits of twine and all other improvisations. With these +ropes he ran back to his master, and they tied up the last prisoner but +did not gag him. + +"Shall we gag him, master, like the rest?" said Morano. + +"No," said Rodriguez. "He has nothing to say." + +And though this remark turned out to be strictly untrue, it well enough +answered its purpose. + +And then they saw standing before them the man they had freed. And he +bowed to Rodriguez like one that had never bowed before. I do not mean +that he bowed with awkwardness, like imitative men unused to +politeness, but he bowed as the oak bows to the woodman; he stood +straight, looking Rodriguez in the eyes, then he bowed as though he had +let his spirit break, which allowed him to bow to never a man before. +Thus, if my pen has been able dimly to tell of it, thus bowed the man +in the old leathern jacket. And Rodriguez bowed to him in answer with +the elegance that they that had dwelt at Arguento Harez had slowly +drawn from the ages. + +"Senor, your name," said the stranger. + +"Lord of Arguento Harez," said Rodriguez. + +"Senor," he said, "being a busy man, I have seldom time to pray. And +the blessed Saints, being more busy than I, I think seldom hear my +prayers: yet your name shall go up to them. I will often tell it them +quietly in the forest, and not on their holy days when bells are +ringing and loud prayers fill Heaven. It may be ..." + +"Senor," Rodriguez said, "I profoundly thank you." + +Even in these days, when bullets are often thicker than prayers, we are +not quite thankless for the prayers of others: in those days they were +what "closing quotations" are on the Stock Exchange, ink in Fleet +Street, machinery in the Midlands; common but valued; and Rodriguez' +thanks were sincere. + +And now that the curses of the ungagged one of la Garda were growing +monotonous, Rodriguez turned to Morano. + +"Ungag the rest," he said, "and let them talk to each other." + +"Master," Morano muttered, feeling that there was enough noise already +for a small wood, but he went and did as he was ordered. And Rodriguez +was justified of his humane decision, for the pent thoughts of all +three found expression together and, all four now talking at once, +mitigated any bitterness there may have been in those solitary curses. +And now Rodriguez could talk undisturbed. + +"Whither?" said the stranger. + +"To the wars," said Rodriguez, "if wars there be." + +"Aye," said the stranger, "there be always wars somewhere. By which +road go you?" + +"North," said Rodriguez, and he pointed. The stranger turned his eyes +to the way Rodriguez pointed. + +"That brings you to the forest," he said, "unless you go far around, as +many do." + +"What forest?" said Rodriguez. + +"The great forest named Shadow Valley," said the stranger. + +"How far?" said Rodriguez. + +"Forty miles," said the stranger. + +Rodriguez looked at la Garda and then at their horses, and thought. He +must be far from la Garda by nightfall. + +"It is not easy to pass through Shadow Valley," said the stranger. + +"Is it not?" said Rodriguez. + +"Have you a gold great piece?" the stranger said. + +Rodriguez held out one of his remaining four: the stranger took it. And +then he began to rub it on a stone, and continued to rub while +Rodriguez watched in silence, until the image of the lord the King was +gone and the face of the coin was scratchy and shiny and flat. And then +he produced from a pocket or pouch in his jacket a graving tool with a +round wooden handle, which he took in the palm of his hand, and the +edge of the steel came out between his forefinger and thumb: and with +this he cut at the coin. And Morano rejoined them from his merciful +mission and stood and wondered at the cutting. And while he cut they +talked. + +They did not ask him how he came to be chosen for hanging, because in +every country there are about a hundred individualists, varying to +perhaps half a hundred in poor ages. They go their hundred ways, or +their half-dozen ways; and there is a hundred and first way, or a +seventh way, which is the way that is cut for the rest: and if some of +the rest catch one of the hundred, or one of the six, they naturally +hang him, if they have a rope, and if hanging is the custom of the +country, for different countries use different methods. And you saw by +this man's eyes that he was one of the hundred. Rodriguez therefore +only sought to know how he came to be caught. + +"La Garda found you, senor?" he said. + +"As you see," said the stranger. "I came too far from my home." + +"You were travelling?" said Rodriguez. + +"Shopping," he said. + +At this word Morano's interest awakened wide. "Senor," he said, "what +is the right price for a bottle of this wine that la Garda drink?" + +"I know not," said the man in the brown jacket; "they give me these +things." + +"Where is your home, senor?" Rodriguez asked. + +"It is Shadow Valley," he said. + +One never saw Rodriguez fail to understand anything: if he could not +clear a situation up he did not struggle with it. Morano rubbed his +chin: he had heard of Shadow Valley only dimly, for all the travellers +he had known out of the north had gone round it. Rodriguez and Morano +bent their heads and watched a design that was growing out of the gold. +And as the design grew under the hand of the strange worker he began to +talk of the horses. He spoke as though his plans had been clearly +established by edict, and as though no others could be. + +"When I have gone with two horses," he said, "ride hard with the other +two till you reach the village named Lowlight, and take them to the +forge of Fernandez the smith, where one will shoe them who is not +Fernandez." + +And he waved his hand northwards. There was only one road. Then all his +attention fell back again to his work on the gold coin; and when those +blue eyes were turned away there seemed nothing left to question. And +now Rodriguez saw the design was a crown, a plain gold circlet with oak +leaves rising up from it. And this woodland emblem stood up out of the +gold, for the worker had hollowed the coin away all around it, and was +sloping it up to the edge. Little was said by the watchers in the +wonder of seeing the work, for no craft is very far from the line +beyond which is magic, and the man in the leather coat was clearly a +craftsman: and he said nothing for he worked at a craft. And when the +arboreal crown was finished, and its edges were straight and sharp, an +hour had passed since he began near noon. Then he drilled a hole near +the rim and, drawing a thin green ribbon from his pocket, he passed it +through the hole and, rising, he suddenly hung it round Rodriguez' neck. + +"Wear it thus," he said, "while you go through Shadow Valley." + +As he said this he stepped back among the trees, and Rodriguez followed +to thank him. Not finding him behind the tree where he thought to find +him, he walked round several others, and Morano joined his search; but +the stranger had vanished. When they returned again to the little +clearing they heard sounds of movement in the wood, and a little way +off where the four horses had grazed there were now only two, which +were standing there with their heads up. + +"We must ride, Morano," said Rodriguez. + +"Ride, master?" said Morano dolefully. + +"If we walk away," said Rodriguez, "they will walk after us." + +"They" meant la Garda. It was unnecessary for him to tell Morano what I +thus tell the reader, for in the wood it was hard to hear anyone else, +while to think of anyone else was out of the question. + +"What shall I do to them, master?" said Morano. + +They were now standing close to their captives and this simple question +calmed the four men's curses, all of a sudden, like shutting the door +on a storm. + +"Leave them," Rodriguez said. And la Garda's spirits rose and they +cursed again. + +"Ah. To die in the wood," said Morano. "No," said Rodriguez; and he +walked towards the horses. And something in that "No" sounding almost +contemptuous, Morano's feelings were hurt, and he blurted out to his +master "But how can they get away to get their food? It is good knots +that I tie, master." + +"Morano," Rodriguez said, "I remember ten ways in the books of romance +whereby bound men untie themselves; and doubtless one or two more I +have read and forgot; and there may be other ways in the books that I +have not read, besides any way that there be of which no books tell. +And in addition to these ways, one of them may draw a comrade's sword +with his teeth and thus ..." + +"Shall I pull out their teeth?" said Morano. + +"Ride," said Rodriguez, for they were now come to the horses. And +sorrowfully Morano looked at the horse that was to be his, as a man +might look at a small, uncomfortable boat that is to carry him far upon +a stormy day. And then Rodriguez helped him into the saddle. + +"Can you stay there?" Rodriguez said. "We have far to go." + +"Master," Morano answered, "these hands can hold till evening." + +And then Rodriguez mounted, leaving Morano gripping the high front of +the saddle with his large brown hands. But as soon as the horses +started he got a grip with his heels as well, and later on with his +knees. Rodriguez led the way on to the straggling road and was soon +galloping northwards, while Morano's heels kept his horse up close to +his master's. Morano rode as though trained in the same school that +some while later taught Macaulay's equestrian, who rode with "loose +rein and bloody spur." Yet the miles went swiftly by as they galloped +on soft white dust, which lifted and settled, some of it, back on the +lazy road, while some of it was breathed by Morano. The gold coin on +the green silk ribbon flapped up and down as Rodriguez rode, till he +stuffed it inside his clothing and remembered no more about it. Once +they saw before them the man they had snatched from the noose: he was +going hard and leading a loose horse. And then where the road bent +round a low hill he galloped out of sight and they saw him no more. He +had the loose horse to change on to as soon as the other was tired: +they had no prospect of overtaking him. And so he passed out of their +minds as their host had done who went away with his household to +Saragossa. + +At first Rodriguez' mandolin, that was always slung on his back, bumped +up and down uncomfortably; but he eased it by altering the strap: small +things like this bring contentment. And then he settled down to ride. +But no contentment came near Morano nor did he look for it. On the +first day of his wanderings he had worn his master's clothes, which has +been an experience standing somewhat where toothache does, which is +somewhere about half-way between discomfort and agony. On the second +day he had climbed at the end of a weary journey over those sharp rocks +whose shape was adapted so ill to his body. On the third day he was +riding. He did not look for comfort. But he met discomfort with an easy +resignation that almost defeated the intention of Satan who sends it, +unless--as is very likely--it be from Heaven. And in spite of all +discomforts he gaily followed Rodriguez. In a thousand days at the Inn +of the Dragon and Knight no two were so different to Morano that one +stood out from the other, or any from the rest. It was all as though +one day were repeated again and again; and at some point in this +monotonous repetition, like a milestone shaped as the rest on a +perfectly featureless road, life would end and the meaningless +repetition stop: and looking back on it there would only be one day to +see, or, if he could not look back, it would be all gone for nothing. +And then, into that one day that he was living on in the gloaming of +that grim inn, Rodriguez had appeared, and Morano had known him for one +of those wandering lights that sometimes make sudden day among the +stars. He knew--no, he felt--that by following him, yesterday today and +tomorrow would be three separate possessions in memory. Morano gladly +gave up that one dull day he was living for the new strange days +through which Rodriguez was sure to lead him. Gladly he left it: if +this be not true how then has a man with a dream led thousands to +follow his fancy, from the Crusades to whatever gay madness be the +fashion when this is read? As they galloped the scent of the flowers +rushed into Rodriguez' nostrils, while Morano mainly breathed the dust +from the hooves of his master's horse. But the quest was favoured the +more by the scent of the flowers inspiring its leader's fancies. So +Morano gained even from this. + +In the first hour they shortened by fifteen miles the length of their +rambling quest. In the next hour they did five miles; and in the third +hour ten. After this they rode slowly. The sun was setting. Morano +regarded the sunset with delight, for it seemed to promise jovially the +end of his sufferings, which except for brief periods when they went on +foot, to rest--as Rodriguez said--the horses, had been continuous and +even increasing since they started. Rodriguez, perhaps a little weary +too, drew from the sunset a more sombre feeling, as sensitive minds do: +he responded to its farewell, he felt its beauty, and as little winds +turned cool and the shine of blades of grass faded, making all the +plain dimmer, he heard, or believed he heard, further off than he could +see, sounds on the plain beyond ridges, in hollows, behind clumps of +bushes; as though small creatures all unknown to his learning played +instruments cut from reeds upon unmapped streams. In this hour, among +these fancies, Rodriguez saw clear on a hill the white walls of the +village of Lowlight. And now they began to notice that a great round +moon was shining. The sunset grew dimmer and the moonlight stole in +softly, as a cat might walk through great doors on her silent feet into +a throne-room just as the king had gone: and they entered the village +slowly in the perfect moment of twilight. + +The round horizon was brimming with a pale but magical colour, welling +up to the tips of trees and the battlements of white towers. Earth +seemed a mysterious cup overfull of this pigment of wonder. Clouds +wandering low, straying far from their azure fields, were dipped in it. +The towers of Lowlight turned slowly rose in that light, and glowed +together with the infinite gloaming, so that for this brief hour the +things of man were wed with the things of eternity. It was into this +wide, pale flame of aetherial rose that the moon came stealing like a +magician on tip-toe, to enchant the tips of the trees, low clouds and +the towers of Lowlight. A blue light from beyond our world touched the +pink that is Earth's at evening: and what was strange and a matter for +hushed voices, marvellous but yet of our earth, became at that touch +unearthly. All in a moment it was, and Rodriguez gasped to see it. Even +Morano's eyes grew round with the coming of wonder, or with some dim +feeling that an unnoticed moment had made all things strange and new. + +For some moments the spell of moonlight on sunlight hovered: the air +was brimming and quivering with it: magic touched earth. For some +moments, some thirty beats of a heron's wing, had the angels sung to +men, had their songs gone earthward into that rosy glow, gliding past +layers of faintly tinted cloud, like moths at dusk towards a +briar-rose; in those few moments men would have known their language. +Rodriguez reined in his horse in the heavy silence and waited. For what +he waited he knew not: some unearthly answer perhaps to his questioning +thoughts that had wandered far from earth, though no words came to him +with which to ask their question and he did not know what question they +would ask. He was all vibrating with the human longing: I know not what +it is, but perhaps philosophers know. He sat there waiting while a late +bird sailed homeward, sat while Morano wondered. And nothing spake from +anywhere. + +And now a dog began to notice the moon: now a child cried suddenly that +had been dragged back from the street, where it had wandered at +bedtime: an old dog rose from where it had lain in the sun and feebly +yet confidently scratched at a door: a cat peered round a corner: a man +spoke: Rodriguez knew there would be no answer now. + +Rodriguez hit his horse, the tired animal went forward, and he and +Morano rode slowly up the street. + +Dona Serafina of the Valley of Dawnlight had left the heat of the room +that looked on the fields, and into which the sun had all day been +streaming, and had gone at sunset to sit in the balcony that looked +along the street. Often she would do this at sunset; but she rather +dreamed as she sat there than watched the street, for all that it had +to show she knew without glancing. Evening after evening as soon as +winter was over the neighbour would come from next door and stretch +himself and yawn and sit on a chair by his doorway, and the neighbour +from opposite would saunter across the way to him, and they would talk +with eagerness of the sale of cattle, and sometimes, but more coldly, +of the affairs of kings. She knew, but cared not to know, just when the +two old men would begin their talk. She knew who owned every dog that +stretched itself in the dust until chilly winds blew in the dusk and +they rose up dissatisfied. She knew the affairs of that street like an +old, old lesson taught drearily, and her thoughts went far away to +vales of an imagination where they met with many another maiden fancy, +and they all danced there together through the long twilight in Spring. +And then her mother would come and warn her that the evening grew cold, +and Serafina would turn from the mystery of evening into the house and +the candle-light. This was so evening after evening all through spring +and summer for two long years of her youth. And then, this evening, +just as the two old neighbours began to discuss whether or not the +subjugation of the entire world by Spain would be for its benefit, just +as one of the dogs in the road was rising slowly to shake itself, +neighbours and dogs all raised their heads to look, and there was +Rodriguez riding down the street and Morano coming behind him. When +Serafina saw this she brought her eyes back from dreams, for she +dreamed not so deeply but that the cloak and plume of Rodriguez found +some place upon the boundaries of her day-dream. When she saw the way +he sat his horse and how he carried his head she let her eyes flash for +a little moment along the street from her balcony. And if some critical +reader ask how she did it I answer, "My good sir, I can't tell you, +because I don't know," or "My dear lady, what a question to ask!" And +where she learned to do it I cannot think, but nothing was easier. And +then she smiled to think that she had done the very thing that her +mother had warned her there was danger in doing. + +"Serafina," her mother said in that moment at the large window, "the +evening grows cold. It might be dangerous to stay there longer." And +Serafina entered the house, as she had done at the coming of dusk on +many an evening. + +Rodriguez missed as much of that flash of her eyes, shot from below the +darkness of her hair, as youth in its first glory and freedom misses. +For at the point on the road called life at which Rodriguez was then, +one is high on a crag above the promontories of watchmen, lower only +than the peaks of the prophets, from which to see such things. Yet it +did not need youth to notice Serafina. Beggars had blessed her for the +poise of her head. + +She turned that head a little as she went between the windows, till +Rodriguez gazing up to her saw the fair shape of her neck: and almost +in that moment the last of the daylight died. The windows shut; and +Rodriguez rode on with Morano to find the forge that was kept by +Fernandez the smith. And presently they came to the village forge, a +cottage with huge, high roof whose beams were safe from sparks; and its +fire was glowing redly into the moonlight through the wide door made +for horses, although there seemed no work to be done, and a man with a +swart moustache was piling more logs on. Over the door was burned on +oak in ungainly great letters-- + +"FERNANDEZ" + +"For whom do you seek, senor?" he said to Rodriguez, who had halted +before him with his horse's nose inside the doorway sniffing. + +"I look," he said, "for him who is not Fernandez." + +"I am he," said the man by the fire. + +Rodriguez questioned no further but dismounted, and bade Morano lead +the horses in. And then he saw in the dark at the back of the forge the +other two horses that he had seen in the wood. And they were shod as he +had never seen horses shod before. For the front pair of shoes were +joined by a chain riveted stoutly to each, and the hind pair also; and +both horses were shod alike. The method was equally new to Morano. And +now the man with the swart moustache picked up another bunch of +horseshoes hanging in pairs on chains. And Rodriguez was not far out +when he guessed that whenever la Garda overtook their horses they would +find that Fernandez was far away making holiday, while he who shod them +now would be gone upon other business. And all this work seemed to +Rodriguez not to be his affair. + +"Farewell," he said to the smith that was not Fernandez; and with a pat +for his horse he left it, having obtained a promise of oats. And so +Rodriguez and Morano went on foot again, Morano elated in spite of +fatigue and pain, rejoicing to feel the earth once more, flat under the +soles of his feet; Rodriguez a little humbled. + + + + +THE SIXTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE SANG TO HIS MANDOLIN AND WHAT CAME OF HIS SINGING + + +They walked back slowly in silence up the street down which they had +ridden. Earth darkened, the moon grew brighter: and Rodriguez gazing at +the pale golden disk began to wonder who dwelt in the lunar valleys; +and what message, if folk were there, they had for our peoples; and in +what language such message could ever be, and how it could fare across +that limpid remoteness that wafted light on to the coasts of Earth and +lapped in silence on the lunar shores. And as he wondered he thought of +his mandolin. + +"Morano," he said, "buy bacon." + +Morano's eyes brightened: they were forty-five miles from the hills on +which he had last tasted bacon. He selected his house with a glance, +and then he was gone. And Rodriguez reflected too late that he had +forgotten to tell Morano where he should find him, and this with night +coming on in a strange village. Scarcely, Rodriguez reflected, he knew +where he was going himself. Yet if old tunes lurking in its hollows, +echoing though imperceptibly from long-faded evenings, gave the +mandolin any knowledge of human affairs that other inanimate things +cannot possess, the mandolin knew. + +Let us in fancy call up the shade of Morano from that far generation. +Let us ask him where Rodriguez is going. Those blue eyes, dim with the +distance over which our fancy has called them, look in our eyes with +wonder. + +"I do not know," he says, "where Don Rodriguez is going. My master did +not tell me." + +Did he notice nothing as they rode by that balcony? + +"Nothing," Morano answers, "except my master riding." + +We may let Morano's shade drift hence again, for we shall discover +nothing: nor is this an age to which to call back spirits. + +Rodriguez strolled slowly on the deep dust of that street as though +wondering all the while where he should go; and soon he and his +mandolin were below that very balcony whereon he had seen the white +neck of Serafina gleam with the last of the daylight. And now the +spells of the moon charmed Earth with their full power. + +The balcony was empty. How should it have been otherwise? And yet +Rodriguez grieved. For between the vision that had drawn his footsteps +and that bare balcony below shuttered windows was the difference +between a haven, sought over leagues of sea, and sheer, uncharted +cliff. It brought a wistfulness into the music he played, and a +melancholy that was all new to Rodriguez, yet often and often before +had that mandolin sent up through evening against unheeding Space that +cry that man cannot utter; for the spirit of man needs a mandolin as a +comrade to face the verdict of the chilly stars as he needs a bulldog +for more mundane things. + +Soon out of the depth of that stout old mandolin, in which so many +human sorrows had spun tunes out of themselves, as the spiders spin +misty grey webs, till it was all haunted with music, soon the old cry +went up to the stars again, a thread of supplication spun of the matter +which else were distilled in tears, beseeching it knew not what. And, +but that Fate is deaf, all that man asks in music had been granted then. + +What sorrows had Rodriguez known in his life that he made so sad a +melody? I know not. It was the mandolin. When the mandolin was made it +knew at once all the sorrows of man, and all the old unnamed longings +that none defines. It knew them as the dog knows the alliance that its +forefathers made with man. A mandolin weeps the tears that its master +cannot shed, or utters the prayers that are deeper than its master's +lips can draw, as a dog will fight for his master with teeth that are +longer than man's. And if the moonlight streamed on untroubled, and +though Fate was deaf, yet beauty of those fresh strains going starward +from under his fingers touched at least the heart of Rodriguez and +gilded his dreams and gave to his thoughts a mournful autumnal glory, +until he sang all newly as he never had sung before, with limpid voice +along the edge of tears, a love-song old as the woods of his father's +valleys at whose edge he had heard it once drift through the evening. +And as he played and sang with his young soul in the music he fancied +(and why not, if they care aught for our souls in Heaven?) he fancied +the angles putting their hands each one on a star and leaning out of +Heaven through the constellations to listen. + +"A vile song, senor, and a vile tune with it," said a voice quite close. + +However much the words hurt his pride in his mandolin Rodriguez +recognised in the voice the hidalgo's accent and knew that it was an +equal that now approached him in the moonlight round a corner of the +house with the balcony; and he knew that the request he courteously +made would be as courteously granted. + +"Senor," he said, "I pray you to permit me to lean my mandolin against +the wall securely before we speak of my song." + +"Most surely, senor," the stranger replied, "for there is no fault with +the mandolin." + +"Senor," Rodriguez said, "I thank you profoundly." And he bowed to the +gallant, whom he now perceived to be young, a youth tall and lithe like +himself, one whom we might have chosen for these chronicles had we not +found Rodriguez. + +Then Rodriguez stepped back a short way and placed his kerchief on the +ground; and upon this he put his mandolin and leaned it against the +wall. When the mandolin was safe from dust or accident he approached +the stranger and drew his sword. + +"Senor," he said, "we will now discuss music." + +"Right gladly, senor," said the young man, who now drew his sword also. +There were no clouds; the moon was full; the evening promised well. + +Scarcely had the flash of thin rapiers crossing each other by moonlight +begun to gleam in the street when Morano appeared beside them and stood +there watching. He had bought his bacon and gone straight to the house +with the balcony. For though he knew no Latin he had not missed the +silent greeting that had welcomed his master to that village, or failed +to interpret the gist of the words that Rodriguez' dumb glance would +have said. He stood there watching while each combatant stood his +ground. + +And Rodriguez remembered all those passes and feints that he had had +from his father, and which Sevastiani, a master of arms in Madrid, had +taught in his father's youth: and some were famous and some were little +known. And all these passes, as he tried them one by one, his unknown +antagonist parried. And for a moment Rodriguez feared that Morano would +see those passes in which he trusted foiled by that unknown sword, and +then he reflected that Morano knew nothing of the craft of the rapier, +and with more content at that thought he parried thrusts that were +strange to him. But something told Morano that in this fight the +stranger was master and that along that pale-blue, moonlit, unknown +sword lurked a sure death for Rodriguez. He moved from his place of +vantage and was soon lost in large shadows; while the rapiers played +and blade rippled on blade with a sound as though Death were gently +sharpening his scythe in the dark. And now Rodriguez was giving ground, +now his antagonist pressed him; thrusts that he believed invincible had +failed; now he parried wearily and had at once to parry again; the +unknown pressed on, was upon him, was scattering his weakening parries; +drew back his rapier for a deadlier pass, learned in a secret school, +in a hut on mountains he knew, and practised surely; and fell in a heap +upon Rodriguez' feet, struck full on the back of the head by Morano's +frying-pan. + +"Most vile knave," shouted Rodriguez as he saw Morano before him with +his frying-pan in his hand, and with something of the stupid expression +that you see on the face of a dog that has done some foolish thing +which it thinks will delight its master. + +"Master! I am your servant," said Morano. + +"Vile, miserable knave," replied Rodriguez. + +"Master," Morano said plaintively, "shall I see to your comforts, your +food, and not to your life?" + +"Silence," thundered Rodriguez as he stooped anxiously to his +antagonist, who was not unconscious but only very giddy and who now +rose to his feet with the help of Rodriguez. + +"Alas, senor," said Rodriguez, "the foul knave is my servant. He shall +be flogged. He shall be flayed. His vile flesh shall be cut off him. +Does the hurt pain you, senor? Sit and rest while I beat the knave, and +then we will continue our meeting." + +And he ran to his kerchief on which rested his mandolin and laid it +upon the dust for the stranger. + +"No, no," said he. "My head clears again. It is nothing." + +"But rest, senor, rest," said Rodriguez. "It is always well to rest +before an encounter. Rest while I punish the knave." + +And he led him to where the kerchief lay on the ground. "Let me see the +hurt, senor," he continued. And the stranger removed his plumed hat as +Rodriguez compelled him to sit down. He straightened out the hat as he +sat, and the hurt was shown to be of no great consequence. + +"The blessed Saints be praised," Rodriguez said. "It need not stop our +encounter. But rest awhile, senor." + +"Indeed, it is nothing," he answered. + +"But the indignity is immeasurable," sighed Rodriguez. "Would you care, +senor, when you are well rested to give the chastisement yourself?" + +"As far as that goes," said the stranger, "I can chastise him now." + +"If you are fully recovered, senor," Rodriguez said, "my own sword is +at your disposal to beat him sore with the flat of it, or how you will. +Thus no dishonour shall touch your sword from the skin of so vile a +knave." + +The stranger smiled: the idea appealed to him. + +"You make a noble amend, senor," he said as he bowed over Rodriguez' +proffered sword. + +Morano had not moved far, but stood near, wondering. "What should a +servant do if not work for his master?" he wondered. And how work for +him when dead? And dead, as it seemed to Morano, through his own fault +if he allowed any man to kill him when he perceived him about to do so. +He stood there puzzled. And suddenly he saw the stranger coming angrily +towards him in the clear moonlight with a sword. Morano was frightened. + +As the hidalgo came up to him he stretched out his left hand to seize +Morano by the shoulder. Up went the frying-pan, the stranger parried, +but against a stroke that no school taught or knew, and for the second +time he went down in the dust with a reeling head. Rodriguez turned +toward Morano and said to him ... No, realism is all very well, and I +know that my duty as author is to tell all that happened, and I could +win mighty praise as a bold, unconventional writer; at the same time, +some young lady will be reading all this next year in some far country, +or in twenty years in England, and I would sooner she should not read +what Rodriguez said. I do not, I trust, disappoint her. But the gist of +it was that he should leave that place now and depart from his service +for ever. And hearing those words Morano turned mournfully away and was +at once lost in the darkness. While Rodriguez ran once more to help his +fallen antagonist. "Senor, senor," he said with an emotion that some +wearing centuries and a cold climate have taught us not to show, and +beyond those words he could find no more to say. + +"Giddy, only giddy," said the stranger. + +A tear fell on his forehead as Rodriguez helped him to his feet. + +"Senor," Rodriguez said fervently, "we will finish our encounter come +what may. The knave is gone and ..." + +"But I am somewhat giddy," said the other. + +"I will take off one of my shoes," said Rodriguez, "leaving the other +on. It will equalise our unsteadiness, and you shall not be +disappointed in our encounter. Come," he added kindly. + +"I cannot see so clearly as before," the young hidalgo murmured. + +"I will bandage my right eye also," said Rodriguez, "and if this cannot +equalise it ..." + +"It is a most fair offer," said the young man. + +"I could not bear that you should be disappointed of your encounter," +Rodriguez said, "by this spirit of Hell that has got itself clothed in +fat and dares to usurp the dignity of man." + +"It is a right fair offer," the young man said again. + +"Rest yourself, senor," said Rodriguez, "while I take off my shoe," and +he indicated his kerchief which was still on the ground. + +The stranger sat down a little wearily, and Rodriguez sitting upon the +dust took off his left shoe. And now he began to think a little +wistfully of the face that had shone from that balcony, where all was +dark now in black shadow unlit by the moon. The emptiness of the +balcony and its darkness oppressed him; for he could scarcely hope to +survive an encounter with that swordsman, whose skill he now recognised +as being of a different class from his own, a class of which he knew +nothing. All his own feints and passes were known, while those of his +antagonist had been strange and new, and he might well have even +others. The stranger's giddiness did not alter the situation, for +Rodriguez knew that his handicap was fair and even generous. He +believed he was near his grave, and could see no spark of light to +banish that dark belief; yet more chances than we can see often guard +us on such occasions. The absence of Serafina saddened him like a +sorrowful sunset. + +Rodriguez rose and limped with his one shoe off to the stranger, who +was sitting upon his kerchief. + +"I will bandage my right eye now, senor," he said. + +The young man rose and shook the dust from the kerchief and gave it to +Rodriguez with a renewed expression of his gratitude at the fairness of +the strange handicap. When Rodriguez had bandaged his eye the stranger +returned his sword to him, which he had held in his hand since his +effort to beat Morano, and drawing his own stepped back a few paces +from him. Rodriguez took one hopeless look at the balcony, saw it as +empty and as black as ever, then he faced his antagonist, waiting. + +"Bandage one eye, indeed!" muttered Morano as he stepped up behind the +stranger and knocked him down for the third time with a blow over the +head from his frying-pan. + +The young hidalgo dropped silently. + +Rodriguez uttered one scream of anger and rushed at Morano with his +sword. Morano had already started to run; and, knowing well that he was +running for his life, he kept for awhile the start that he had of the +rapier. Rodriguez knew that no plump man of over forty could last +against his lithe speed long. He saw Morano clearly before him, then +lost sight of him for a moment and ran confidently on pursuing. He ran +on and on. And at last he recognised that Morano had slipped into the +darkness, which lies always so near to the moonlight, and was not in +front of him at all. So he returned to his fallen antagonist and found +him breathing heavily where he fell, scarcely conscious. The third +stroke of the frying-pan had done its work surely. Rodriguez' fury died +down, only because it is difficult to feel two emotions at once: it +died down as pity took its place, though every now and then it would +suddenly flare and fall again. He returned his sword and lifted the +young hidalgo and carried him to the door of the house under which they +had fought. + +With one fist he beat on the door without putting the hurt man down, +and continued to hit it until steps were heard, and bolts began to +grumble, as though disturbed too early from their rusty sleep in stone +sockets. + +The door of the house with the balcony was opened by a servant who, +when he saw who it was that Rodriguez carried, fled into the house in +alarm, as one who runs with bad news. He carried one candle and, when +he had disappeared with the steaming flame, Rodriguez found himself in +a long hall lit by the moonlight only, which was looking in through the +small contorted panes of the upper part of a high window. Alone with +echoes and shadows Rodriguez carried the hurt man through the hall, who +was muttering now as he came back to consciousness. And, as he went, +there came to Rodriguez thoughts between wonder and hope, for he had +had no thought at all when he beat on the door except to get shelter +and help for the hurt man. At the end of the hall they came to an open +door that led into a chamber partly shining with moonlight. + +"In there," said the man that he carried. + +Rodriguez carried him in and laid him on a long couch at the end of the +room. Large pictures of men in the blackness, out of the moon's rays, +frowned at Rodriguez mysteriously. He could not see their faces in the +darkness, but he somehow knew they frowned. Two portraits that were +clear in the moonlight eyed him with absolute apathy. So cold a welcome +from that house's past generations boded no good to him from those that +dwelt there today. Rodriguez knew that in carrying the hurt man there +he helped at a Christian deed; and yet there was no putting the merits +of the case against the omens that crowded the chamber, lurking along +the edge of moonlight and darkness, disappearing and reappearing till +the gloom was heavy with portent. The omens knew. In a weak voice and +few words the hurt man thanked him, but the apathetic faces seemed to +say What of that? And the frowning faces that he could not see still +filled the darkness with anger. + +And then from the end of the chamber, dressed in white, and all shining +with moonlight, came Serafina. + +Rodriguez in awed silence watched her come. He saw her pass through the +moonlight and grow dimmer, and glide to the moonlight again that +streamed through another window. A great dim golden circle appeared at +the far end of the chamber whence she had come, as the servant returned +with his candle and held it high to give light for Dona Serafina. But +that one flame seemed to make the darkness only blacker; and for any +cheerfulness it brought to the gloom it had better never have +challenged those masses of darkness at all in that high chamber among +the brooding portraits it seemed trivial, ephemeral, modern, ill able +to cope with the power of ancient things, dead days and forgotten +voices, which make their home in the darkness because the days that +have usurped them have stolen the light of the sun. + +And there the man stood holding his candle high, and the rays of the +moon became more magical still beside that little mundane, flickering +thing. And Serafina was moving through the moonlight as though its rays +were her sisters, which she met noiselessly and brightly upon some +island, as it seemed to Rodriguez, beyond the coasts of Earth, so +quietly and so brightly did her slender figure move and so aloof from +him appeared her eyes. And there came on Rodriguez that feeling that +some deride and that others explain away, the feeling of which romance +is mainly made and which is the aim and goal of all the earth. And his +love for Serafina seemed to him not only to be an event in his life but +to have some part in veiled and shadowy destinies and to have the +blessing of most distant days: grey beards seemed to look out of graves +in forgotten places to wag approval: hands seemed to beckon to him out +of far-future times, where faces were smiling quietly: and, dreaming on +further still, this vast approval that gave benediction to his heart's +youthful fancy seemed to widen and widen like the gold of a summer's +evening or, the humming of bees in summer in endless rows of limes, +until it became a part of the story of man. Spring days of his earliest +memory seemed to have their part in it, as well as wonderful evenings +of days that were yet to be, till his love for Serafina was one with +the fate of earth; and, wandering far on their courses, he knew that +the stars blessed it. But Serafina went up to the man on the couch with +no look for Rodriguez. + +With no look for Rodriguez she bent over the stricken hidalgo. He +raised himself a little on one elbow. "It is nothing," he said, +"Serafina." + +Still she bent over him. He laid his head down again, but now with open +and undimmed eyes. She put her hand to his forehead, she spoke in a low +voice to him; she lavished upon him sympathy for which Rodriguez would +have offered his head to swords; and all, thought Rodriguez for three +blows from a knave's frying-pan: and his anger against Morano flared up +again fiercely. Then there came another thought to him out of the +shadows, where Serafina was standing all white, a figure of solace. Who +was this man who so mysteriously blended with the other unknown things +that haunted the gloom of that chamber? Why had he fought him at night? +What was he to Serafina? Thoughts crowded up to him from the interior +of the darkness, sombre and foreboding as the shadows that nursed them. +He stood there never daring to speak to Serafina; looking for +permission to speak, such as a glance might give. And no glance came. + +And now, as though soothed by her beauty, the hurt man closed his eyes. +Serafina stood beside him anxious and silent, gleaming in that dim +place. The servant at the far end of the chamber still held his one +candle high, as though some light of earth were needed against the +fantastic moon, which if unopposed would give everything over to magic. +Rodriguez stood there, scarcely breathing. All was silent. And then +through the door by which Serafina had come, past that lonely, golden, +moon-defying candle, all down the long room across moonlight and +blackness, came the lady of the house, Serafina's mother. She came, as +Serafina came, straight toward the man on the couch, giving no look to +Rodriguez, walking something as Serafina walked, with the same poise, +the same dignity, though the years had carried away from her the grace +Serafina had: so that, though you saw that they were mother and +daughter, the elder lady called to mind the lovely things of earth, +large gardens at evening, statues dim in the dusk, summer and +whatsoever binds us to earthly things; but Serafina turned Rodriguez' +thoughts to the twilight in which he first saw her, and he pictured her +native place as far from here, in mellow fields near the moon, wherein +she had walked on twilight outlasting any we know, with all delicate +things of our fancy, too fair for the rugged earth. + +As the lady approached the couch upon which the young man was lying, +and still no look was turned towards Rodriguez, his young dreams fled +as butterflies sailing high in the heat of June that are suddenly +plunged in night by a total eclipse of the sun. He had never spoken to +Serafina, or seen before her mother, and they did not know his name; he +knew that he, Rodriguez, had no claim to a welcome. But his dreams had +flocked so much about Serafina's face, basking so much in her beauty, +that they now fell back dying; and when a man's dreams die what +remains, if he lingers awhile behind them? + +Rodriguez suddenly felt that his left shoe was off and his right eye +still bandaged, things that he had not noticed while his only thought +was for the man he carried to shelter, but torturing his consciousness +now that he thought of himself. He opened his lips to explain; but +before words came to him, looking at the face of Serafina's mother, +standing now by the couch, he felt that, not knowing how, he had +somehow wronged the Penates of this house, or whatever was hid in the +dimness of that long chamber, by carrying in this young man there to +rest from his hurt. + +Rodriguez' depression arose from these causes, but having arisen, it +grew of its own might: he had had nothing to eat since morning, and in +the favouring atmosphere of hunger his depression grew gigantic. He +opened his lips once more to say farewell, was oppressed by all manner +of thoughts that held him dumb, and turned away in silence and left the +house. Outside he recovered his mandolin and his shoe. He was tired +with the weariness of defeated dreams that slept in his spirit +exhausted, rather than with any fatigue his young muscles had from the +journey. He needed sleep; he looked at the shuttered houses; then at +the soft dust of the road in which dogs lay during the daylight. But +the dust was near to his mood, so he lay down where he had fought the +unknown hidalgo. A light wind wandered the street like a visitor come +to the village out of a friendly valley, but Rodriguez' four days on +the roads had made him familiar with all wandering things, and the +breeze on his forehead troubled him not at all: before it had wearied +of wandering in the night Rodriguez had fallen asleep. Just by the edge +of sleep, upon which side he knew not, he heard the window of the +balcony creak, and looked up wide awake all in a moment. But nothing +stirred in the darkness of the balcony and the window was fast shut. So +whatever sound came from the window came not from its opening but +shutting: for a while he wondered; and then his tired thoughts rested, +and that was sleep. + +A light rain woke Rodriguez, drizzling upon his face; the first light +rain that had fallen in a romantic tale. Storms there had been, lashing +oaks to terrific shapes seen at night by flashes of lightning, through +which villains rode abroad or heroes sought shelter at midnight; +hurricanes there had been, flapping huge cloaks, fierce hail and +copious snow; but until now no drizzle. It was morning; dawn was old; +and pale and grey and unhappy. + +The balcony above him, still empty, scarcely even held romance now. +Rain dripped from it sadly. Its cheerless bareness seemed worse than +the most sinister shadows of night. + +And then Rodriguez saw a rose lying on the ground beside him. And for +all the dreams, fancies, and hopes that leaped up in Rodriguez' mind, +rising and falling and fading, one thing alone he knew and all the rest +was mystery: the rose had lain there before the rain had fallen. +Beneath the rose was white dust, while all around it the dust was +turning grey with rain. + +Rodriguez tried to guess how long the rain had fallen. The rose may +have lain beside him all night long. But the shadows of mystery receded +no farther than this one fact that the rose was there before the rain +began. No sign of any kind came from the house. + +Rodriguez put the rose safe under his coat, wrapped in the kerchief +that had guarded the mandolin, to carry it far from Lowlight, through +places familiar with roses and places strange to them; but it remained +for him a thing of mystery until a day far from then. + +Sadly he left the house in the sad rain, marching away alone to look +for his wars. + + + + +THE SEVENTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME TO SHADOW VALLEY + + +Rodriguez still believed it to be the duty of any Christian man to kill +Morano. Yet, more than comfort, more than dryness, he missed Morano's +cheerful chatter, and his philosophy into which all occasions so easily +slipped. Upon his first day's journey all was new; the very anemones +kept him company; but now he made the discovery that lonely roads are +long. + +When he had suggested food or rest Morano had fallen in with his +wishes; when he had suggested winning a castle in vague wars Morano had +agreed with him. Now he had dismissed Morano and had driven him away at +the rapier's point. There was no one now either to cook his food or to +believe in the schemes his ambition made. There was no one now to speak +of the wars as the natural end of the journey. Alone in the rain the +wars seemed far away and castles hard to come by. The unromantic rain +in which no dreams thrive fell on and on. + +The village of Lowlight was some way behind him, as he went with +mournful thoughts through the drizzling rain, when he caught the smell +of bacon. He looked for a house but the plain was bare except for small +bushes. He looked up wind, which was blowing from the west, whence came +the unmistakable smell of bacon: and there was a small fire smoking +greyly against a bush; and the fat figure crouching beside it, although +the face was averted, was clearly none but Morano. And when Rodriguez +saw that he was tenderly holding the infamous frying-pan, the very +weapon that had done the accursed deed, then he almost felt righteous +anger; but that frying-pan held other memories too, and Rodriguez felt +less fury than what he thought he felt. As for killing Morano, +Rodriguez believed, or thought he believed, that he was too far from +the road for it to be possible to overtake him to mete out his just +punishment. As for the bacon, Rodriguez scorned it and marched on down +the road. Now one side of the frying-pan was very hot, for it was +tilted a little and the lard had run sideways. By tilting it back again +slowly Morano could make the fat run back bit by bit over the heated +metal, and whenever it did so it sizzled. He now picked up the +frying-pan and one log that was burning well and walked parallel with +Rodriguez. He was up-wind of him, and whenever the bacon-fat sizzled +Rodriguez caught the smell of it. A small matter to inspire thoughts; +but Rodriguez had eaten nothing since the morning before, and ideas +surged through his head; and though they began with moral indignation +they adapted themselves more and more to hunger, until there came the +idea that since his money had bought the bacon the food was rightfully +his, and he had every right to eat it wherever he found it. So much can +slaves sometimes control the master, and the body rule the brain. + +So Rodriguez suddenly turned and strode up to Morano. "My bacon," he +said. + +"Master," Morano said, for it was beginning to cool, "let me make +another small fire." + +"Knave, call me not master," said Rodriguez. + +Morano, who knew when speech was good, was silent now, and blew on the +smouldering end of the log he carried and gathered a handful of twigs +and shook the rain off them; and soon had a small fire again, warming +the bacon. He had nothing to say which bacon could not say better. And +when Rodriguez had finished up the bacon he carefully reconsidered the +case of Morano, and there were points in it which he had not thought of +before. He reflected that for the execution of knaves a suitable person +was provided. He should perhaps give Morano up to la Garda. His next +thought was where to find la Garda. And easily enough another thought +followed that one, which was that although on foot and still some way +behind four of la Garda were trying to find him. Rodriguez' mind, which +was looking at life from the point of view of a judge, changed somewhat +at this thought. He reflected next that, for the prevention of crime, +to make Morano see the true nature of his enormity so that he should +never commit it again might after all be as good as killing him. So +what we call his better nature, his calmer judgment, decided him now to +talk to Morano and not to kill him: but Morano, looking back upon this +merciful change, always attributed it to fried bacon. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez' better nature, "to offend the laws of +Chivalry is to have against you the swords of all true men." + +"Master," Morano said, "that were dreadful odds." + +"And rightly," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "I will keep those laws henceforth. I may cook +bacon for you when you are hungry, I may brush the dust from your +cloak, I may see to your comforts. This Chivalry forbids none of that. +But when I see anyone trying to kill you, master; why, kill you he +must, and welcome." + +"Not always," said Rodriguez somewhat curtly, for it struck him that +Morano spoke somehow too lightly of sacred things. + +"Not always?" asked Morano. + +"No," said Rodriguez. + +"Master, I implore you tell me," said Morano, "when they may kill you +and when they may not, so that I may never offend again." + +Rodriguez cast a swift glance at him but found his face so full of +puzzled anxiety that he condescended to do what Morano had asked, and +began to explain to him the rudiments of the laws of Chivalry. + +"In the wars," he said, "you may defend me whoever assails me, or if +robbers or any common persons attack me, but if I arrange a meeting +with a gentleman, and any knave basely interferes, then is he damned +hereafter as well as accursed now; for, the laws of Chivalry being +founded on true religion, the penalty for their breach is by no means +confined to this world." + +"Master," replied Morano thoughtfully, "if I be not damned already I +will avoid those fires of Hell; and none shall kill you that you have +not chosen to kill you, and those that you choose shall kill you +whenever you have a mind." + +Rodriguez opened his lips to correct Morano but reflected that, though +in his crude and base-born way, he had correctly interpreted the law so +far as his mind was able. + +So he briefly said "Yes," and rose and returned to the road, giving +Morano no order to follow him; and this was the last concession he made +to the needs of Chivalry on account of the sin of Morano. Morano +gathered up the frying-pan and followed Rodriguez, and when they came +to the road he walked behind him in silence. + +For three or four miles they walked thus, Morano knowing that he +followed on sufferance and calling no attention to himself with his +garrulous tongue. But at the end of an hour the rain lifted; and with +the coming out of the sun Morano talked again. + +"Master," he said, "the next man that you choose to kill you, let him +be one too base-born to know the tricks of the rapier, too ignorant to +do aught but wish you well, some poor fat fool over forty who shall be +too heavy to elude your rapier's point and too elderly for it to matter +when you kill him at your Chivalry, the best of life being gone already +at forty-five." + +"There is timber here," said Rodriguez. "We will have some more bacon +while you dry my cloak over a fire." + +Thus he acknowledged Morano again for his servant but never +acknowledged that in Morano's words he had understood any poor sketch +of Morano's self, or that the words went to his heart. + +"Timber, Master?" said Morano, though it did not need Rodriguez to +point out the great oaks that now began to stand beside their journey, +but he saw that the other matter was well and thus he left well alone. + +Rodriguez waved an arm towards the great trees. "Yes, indeed," said +Morano, and began to polish up the frying-pan as he walked. + +Rodriguez, who missed little, caught a glimpse of tears in Morano's +eyes, for all that his head was turned downward over the frying-pan; +yet he said nothing, for he knew that forgiveness was all that Morano +needed, and that he had now given him: and it was much to give, +reflected Rodriguez, for so great a crime, and dismissed the matter +from his mind. + +And now their road dipped downhill, and they passed a huge oak and then +another. More and more often now they met these solitary giants, till +their view began to be obscured by them. The road dwindled till it was +no better than a track, the earth beside it was wild and rocky; +Rodriguez wondered to what manner of land he was coming. But +continually the branches of some tree obscured his view and the only +indication he had of it was from the road he trod, which seemed to tell +him that men came here seldom. Beyond every huge tree that they passed +as they went downhill Rodriguez hoped to get a better view, but always +there stood another to close the vista. It was some while before he +realised that he had entered a forest. They were come to Shadow Valley. + +The grandeur of this place, penetrated by shafts of sunlight, coloured +by flashes of floating butterflies, filled by the chaunt of birds +rising over the long hum of insects, lifted the fallen spirits of +Rodriguez as he walked on through the morning. + +He still would not have exchanged his rose for the whole forest; but in +the mighty solemnity of the forest his mourning for the lady that he +feared he had lost no longer seemed the only solemn thing: indeed, the +sombre forest seemed well attuned to his mood; and what complaint have +we against Fate wherever this is so. His mood was one of tragic loss, +the defeat of an enterprise that his hopes had undertaken, to seize +victory on the apex of the world, to walk all his days only just +outside the edge of Paradise, for no less than that his hopes and his +first love promised each other; and then he walked despairing in small +rain. In this mood Fate had led him to solemn old oaks standing huge +among shadows; and the grandeur of their grey grip on the earth that +had been theirs for centuries was akin to the grandeur of the high +hopes he had had, and his despair was somehow soothed by the shadows. +And then the impudent birds seemed to say "Hope again." + +They walked for miles into the forest and lit a fire before noon, for +Rodriguez had left Lowlight very early. And by it Morano cooked bacon +again and dried his master's cloak. They ate the bacon and sat by the +fire till all their clothes were dry, and when the flames from the +great logs fell and only embers glowed they sat there still, with hands +spread to the warmth of the embers; for to those who wander a fire is +food and rest and comfort. Only as the embers turned grey did they +throw earth over their fire and continue their journey. Their road grew +smaller and the forest denser. + +They had walked some miles from the place where they lit their fire, +when a somewhat unmistakable sound made Rodriguez look ahead of him. An +arrow had struck a birch tree on the right side, ten or twelve paces in +front of him; and as he looked up another struck it from the opposite +side just level with the first; the two were sticking in it ten feet or +so from the ground. Rodriguez drew his sword. But when a third arrow +went over his head from behind and struck the birch tree, whut! just +between the other two, he perceived, as duller minds could have done, +that it was a hint, and he returned his sword and stood still. Morano +questioned his master with his eyes, which were asking what was to be +done next. But Rodriguez shrugged his shoulders: there was no fighting +with an invisible foe that could shoot like that. That much Morano +knew, but he did not know that there might not be some law of Chivalry +that would demand that Rodriguez should wave his sword in the air or +thrust at the birch tree until someone shot him. When there seemed to +be no such rule Morano was well content. And presently men came quietly +on to the road from different parts of the wood. They were dressed in +brown leather and wore leaf-green hats, and round each one's neck hung +a disk of engraved copper. They came up to the travellers carrying +bows, and the leader said to Rodriguez: + +"Senor, all travellers here bring tribute to the King of Shadow +Valley," at the mention of whom all touched hats and bowed their heads. +"What do you bring us?" + +Rodriguez thought of no answer; but after a moment he said, for the +sake of loyalty: "I know one king only." + +"There is only one king in Shadow Valley," said the bowman. + +"He brings a tribute of emeralds," said another, looking at Rodriguez' +scabbard. And then they searched him and others search Morano. There +were eight or nine of them, all in their leaf-green hats, with ribbons +round their necks of the same colour to hold the copper disks. They +took a gold coin from Morano and grey greasy pieces of silver. One of +them took his frying-pan; but he looked so pitifully at them as he said +simply, "I starve," that the frying-pan was restored to him. + +They unbuckled Rodriguez' belt and took from him sword and scabbard and +three gold pieces from his purse. Next they found the gold piece that +was hanging round his neck, still stuffed inside his clothes where he +had put it when he was riding. Having examined it they put it back +inside his clothes, while the leader rebuckled his sword-belt about his +waist and returned him his three gold-pieces. + +Others returned his money to Morano. "Master," said the leader, bowing +to Rodriguez, his green hat in hand, "under our King, the forest is +yours." + +Morano was pleased to hear this respect paid to his master, but +Rodriguez was so surprised that he who was never curt without reason +found no more to say than "Why?" + +"Because we are your servants," said the other. + +"Who are you?" asked Rodriguez. + +"We are the green bowmen, master," he said, "who hold this forest +against all men for our King." + +"And who is he?" said Rodriguez. + +And the bowman answered: "The King of Shadow Valley," at which the +others all touched hats and bowed heads again. And Rodriguez seeing +that the mystery would grow no clearer for any information to be had +from them said: "Conduct me to your king." + +"That, master, we cannot do," said the chief of the bowmen. "There be +many trees in this forest, and behind any one of them he holds his +court. When he needs us there is his clear horn. But when men need him +who knows which shadow is his of all that lie in the forest?" Whether +or not there was anything interesting in the mystery, to Rodriguez it +was merely annoying; and finding it grew no clearer he turned his +attention to shelter for the night, to which all travellers give a +thought at least once, between noon and sunset. + +"Is there any house on this road, senor," he said, "in which we could +rest the night?" + +"Ten miles from here," said he, "and not far from the road you take is +the best house we have in the forest. It is yours, master, for as long +as you honour it." + +"Come then," said Rodriguez, "and I thank you, senor." + +So they all started together, Rodriguez with the leader going in front +and Morano following with all the bowmen. And soon the bowmen were +singing songs of the forest, hunting songs, songs of the winter; and +songs of the long summer evenings, songs of love. Cheered by this +merriment, the miles slipped by. + +And Rodriguez gathered from the songs they sang something of what they +were and of how they lived in the forest, living amongst the woodland +creatures till these men's ways were almost as their ways; killing what +they needed for food but protecting the woodland things against all +others; straying out amongst the villages in summer evenings, and +always welcome; and owning no allegiance but to the King of the Shadow +Valley. + +And the leader told Rodriguez that his name was Miguel Threegeese, +given him on account of an exploit in his youth when he lay one night +with his bow by one of the great pools in the forest, where the geese +come in winter. He said the forest was a hundred miles long, lying +mostly along a great valley, which they were crossing. And once they +had owned allegiance to kings of Spain, but now to none but the King of +the Shadow Valley, for the King of Spain's men had once tried to cut +some of the forest down, and the forest was sacred. + +Behind him the men sang on of woodland things, and of cottage gardens +in the villages: with singing and laughter they came to their journey's +end. A cottage as though built by peasants with boundless material +stood in the forest. It was a thatched cottage built in the peasant's +way but of enormous size. The leader entered first and whispered to +those within, who rose and bowed to Rodriguez as he entered, twenty +more bowmen who had been sitting at a table. One does not speak of the +banqueting-hall of a cottage, but such it appeared, for it occupied +more than half of the cottage and was as large as the banqueting-hall +of any castle. It was made of great beams of oak, and high at either +end just under the thatch were windows with their little square panes +of bulging bluish glass, which at that time was rare in Spain. A table +of oak ran down the length of it, cut from a single tree, polished and +dark from the hands of many men that had sat at it. Boar spears hung on +the wall, great antlers and boar's tusks and, carved in the oak of the +wall and again on a high, dark chair that stood at the end of the long +table empty, a crown with oak leaves that Rodriguez recognised. It was +the same as the one that was cut on his gold coin, which he had given +no further thought to, riding to Lowlight, and which the face of +Serafina had driven from his mind altogether. "But," he said, and then +was silent, thinking to learn more by watching than by talking. And his +companions of the road came in and all sat down on the benches beside +the ample table, and a brew was brought, a kind of pale mead, that they +called forest water. And all drank; and, sitting at the table, watching +them more closely than he could as he walked in the forest, Rodriguez +saw by the sunlight that streamed in low through one window that on the +copper disks they wore round their necks on green ribbon the design was +again the same. It was much smaller than his on the gold coin but the +same strange leafy crown. "Wear it as you go through Shadow Valley," he +now seemed to remember the man saying to him who put it round his neck. +But why? Clearly because it was the badge of this band of men. And this +other man was one of them. + +His eyes strayed back to the great design on the wall. "The crown of +the forest," said Miguel as he saw his eyes wondering at it, "as you +doubtless know, senor." + +Why should he know? Of course because he bore the design himself. "Who +wears it?" said Rodriguez. + +"The King of Shadow Valley." + +Morano was without curiosity; he did not question good drink; he sat at +the table with a cup of horn in his hand, as happy as though he had +come to his master's castle, though that had not yet been won. + +The sun sank under the oaks, filling the hall with a ruddy glow, +turning the boar spears scarlet and reddening the red faces of the +merry men of the bow. + +A dozen of the men went out; to relieve the guard in the forest, Miguel +explained. And Rodriguez learned that he had come through a line of +sentries without ever seeing one. Presently a dozen others came in from +their posts and unslung their bows and laid them on pegs on the wall +and sat down at the table. Whereat there were whispered words and they +all rose and bowed to Rodriguez. And Rodriguez had caught the words "A +prince of the forest." What did it mean? + +Soon the long hall grew dim, and his love for the light drew Rodriguez +out to watch the sunset. And there was the sun under indescribable +clouds, turning huge and yellow among the trunks of the trees and +casting glory munificently down glades. It set, and the western sky +became blood-red and lilac: from the other end of the sky the moon +peeped out of night. A hush came and a chill, and a glory of colour, +and a dying away of light; and in the hush the mystery of the great +oaks became magical. A blackbird blew a tune less of this earth than of +fairy-land. + +Rodriguez wished that he could have had a less ambition than to win a +castle in the wars, for in those glades and among those oaks he felt +that happiness might be found under roofs of thatch. But having come by +his ambition he would not desert it. + +Now rushlights were lit in the great cottage and the window of the long +room glowed yellow. A fountain fell in the stillness that he had not +heard before. An early nightingale tuned a tentative note. "The forest +is fair, is it not?" said Miguel. + +Rodriguez had no words to say. To turn into words the beauty that was +now shining in his thoughts, reflected from the evening there, was no +easier than for wood to reflect all that is seen in the mirror. + +"You love the forest," he said at last. + +"Master," said Miguel, "it is the only land in which we should live our +days. There are cities and roads but man is not meant for them. I know +not, master, what God intends about us; but in cities we are against +the intention at every step, while here, why, we drift along with it." + +"I, too, would live here always," said Rodriguez. + +"The house is yours," said Miguel. And Rodriguez answered: "I go +tomorrow to the wars." + +They turned round then and walked slowly back to the cottage, and +entered the candlelight and the loud talk of many men out of the hush +of the twilight. But they passed from the room at once by a door on the +left, and came thus to a large bedroom, the only other room in the +cottage. + +"Your room, master," said Miguel Threegeese. + +It was not so big as the hall where the bowmen sat, but it was a goodly +room. The bed was made of carved wood, for there were craftsmen in the +forest, and a hunt went all the way round it with dogs and deer. Four +great posts held a canopy over it: they were four young birch-trees +seemingly still wearing their bright bark, but this had been painted on +their bare timber by some woodland artist. The chairs had not the +beauty of the great ages of furniture, but they had a dignity that the +age of commerce has not dreamed of. Each one was carved out of a single +block of wood: there was no join in them anywhere. One of them lasts to +this day. + +The skins of deer covered the long walls. There were great basins and +jugs of earthenware. All was forest-made. The very shadows whispering +among themselves in corners spoke of the forest. The room was rude; but +being without ornament, except for the work of simple craftsmen, it had +nothing there to offend the sense of right of anyone entering its door, +by any jarring conflict with the purposes and traditions of the land in +which it stood. All the woodland spirits might have entered there, and +slept--if spirits sleep--in the great bed, and left at dawn unoffended. +In fact that age had not yet learned vulgarity. + +When Miguel Threegeese left Morano entered. + +"Master," he said, "they are making a banquet for you." + +"Good," said Rodriguez. "We will eat it." And he waited to hear what +Morano had come to say, for he could see that it was more than this. + +"Master," said Morano, "I have been talking with the bowman. And they +will give you whatever you ask. They are good people, master, and they +will give you all things, whatever you asked of them." + +Rodriguez would not show to his servant that it all still puzzled him. + +"They are very amiable men," he said. + +"Master," said Morano, coming to the point, "that Garda, they will have +walked after us. They must be now in Lowlight. They have all to-night +to get new shoes on their horses. And to-morrow, master, to-morrow, if +we be still on foot..." + +Rodriguez was thinking. Morano seemed to him to be talking sense. + +"You would like another ride?" he said to Morano. + +"Master," he answered, "riding is horrible. But the public garrotter, +he is a bad thing too." And he meditatively stroked the bristles under +his chin. + +"They would give us horses?" said Rodriguez. + +"Anything, master, I am sure of it. They are good people." + +"They'll have news of the road by which they left Lowlight," said +Rodriguez reflectively. "They say la Garda dare not enter the forest," +Morano continued, "but thirty miles from here the forest ends. They +could ride round while we go through." + +"They would give us horses?" said Rodriguez again. + +"Surely," said Morano. + +And then Rodriguez asked where they cooked the banquet, since he saw +that there were only two rooms in the great cottage and his inquiring +eye saw no preparations for cooking about the fireplace of either. And +Morano pointed through a window at the back of the room to another +cottage among the trees, fifty paces away. A red glow streamed from its +windows, growing strong in the darkening forest. + +"That is their kitchen, master," he said. "The whole house is kitchen." +His eyes looked eagerly at it, for, though he loved bacon, he welcomed +the many signs of a dinner of boundless variety. + +As he and his master returned to the long hall great plates of polished +wood were being laid on the table. They gave Rodriguez a place on the +right of the great chair that had the crown of the forest carved on the +back. + +"Whose chair is that?" said Rodriguez. + +"The King of Shadow Valley," they said. + +"He is not here then," said Rodriguez. + +"Who knows?" said a bowman. + +"It is his chair," said another; "his place is ready. None knows the +ways of the King of Shadow Valley." + +"He comes sometimes at this hour," said a third, "as the boar comes to +Heather Pool at sunset. But not always. None knows his ways." + +"If they caught the King," said another, "the forest would perish. None +loves it as he, none knows its ways as he, no other could so defend it." + +"Alas," said Miguel, "some day when he be not here they will enter the +forest." All knew whom he meant by they. "And the goodly trees will +go." He spoke as a man foretelling the end of the world; and, as men to +whom no less was announced, the others listened to him. They all loved +Shadow Valley. + +In this man's time, so they told Rodriguez, none entered the forest to +hurt it, no tree was cut except by his command, and venturous men +claiming rights from others than him seldom laid axe long to tree +before he stood near, stepping noiselessly from among shadows of trees +as though he were one of their spirits coming for vengeance on man. + +All this they told Rodriguez, but nothing definite they told of their +king, where he was yesterday, where he might be now; and any questions +he asked of such things seemed to offend a law of the forest. + +And then the dishes were carried in, to Morano's great delight: with +wide blue eyes he watched the produce of that mighty estate coming in +through the doorway cooked. Boars' heads, woodcock, herons, plates full +of fishes, all manner of small eggs, a roe-deer and some rabbits, were +carried in by procession. And the men set to with their ivory-handled +knives, each handle being the whole tusk of a boar. And with their +eating came merriment and tales of past huntings and talk of the forest +and stories of the King of Shadow Valley. + +And always they spoke of him not only with respect but also with the +discretion, Rodriguez thought, of men that spoke of one who might be +behind them at that moment, and one who tolerated no trifling with his +authority. Then they sang songs again, such as Rodriguez had heard on +the road, and their merry lives passed clearly before his mind again, +for we live in our songs as no men live in histories. And again +Rodriguez lamented his hard ambition and his long, vague journey, +turning away twice from happiness; once in the village of Lowlight +where happiness deserted him, and here in the goodly forest where he +jilted happiness. How well could he and Morano live as two of this +band, he thought; leaving all cares in cities: for there dwelt cares in +cities even then. Then he put the thought away. And as the evening wore +away with merry talk and with song, Rodriguez turned to Miguel and told +him how it was with la Garda and broached the matter of horses. And +while the others sang Miguel spoke sadly to him. "Master," he said, "la +Garda shall never take you in Shadow Valley, yet if you must leave us +to make your fortune in the wars, though your fortune waits you here, +there be many horses in the forest, and you and your servant shall have +the best." + +"Tomorrow morning, senor?" said Rodriguez. + +"Even so," said Miguel. + +"And how shall I send them to you again?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master, they are yours," said Miguel. + +But this Rodriguez would not have, for as yet he only guessed what +claim at all he had upon Shadow Valley, his speculations being far more +concerned with the identity of the hidalgo that he had fought the night +before, how he concerned Serafina, who had owned the rose that he +carried: in fact his mind was busy with such studies as were proper to +his age. And at last they decided between them on the house of a +lowland smith, who was the furthest man that the bowmen knew who was +secretly true to their king. At his house Rodriguez and Morano should +leave the horses. He dwelt sixty miles from the northern edge of the +forest, and would surely give Rodriguez fresh horses if he possessed +them, for he was a true man to the bowman. His name was Gonzalez and he +dwelt in a queer green house. + +They turned then to listen a moment to a hunting song that all the +bowmen were singing about the death of a boar. Its sheer merriment +constrained them. Then Miguel spoke again. "You should not leave the +forest," he said sadly. + +Rodriguez sighed: it was decided. Then Miguel told him of his road, +which ran north-eastward and would one day bring him out of Spain. He +told him how towns on the way, and the river Ebro, and with awe and +reverence he spoke of the mighty Pyrenees. And then Rodriguez rose, for +the start was to be at dawn, and walked quietly through the singing out +of the hall to the room where the great bed was. And soon he slept, and +his dreams joined in the endless hunt through Shadow Valley that was +carved all round the timbers of his bed. + +All too soon he heard voices, voices far off at first, to which he drew +nearer and nearer; thus he woke grudgingly out of the deeps of sleep. +It was Miguel and Morano calling him. + +When at length he reached the hall all the merriment of the evening was +gone from it but the sober beauty of the forest flooded in through both +windows with early sunlight and bird-song; so that it had not the sad +appearance of places in which we have rejoiced, when we revisit them +next day or next generation and find them all deserted by dance and +song. + +Rodriguez ate his breakfast while the bowmen waited with their bows all +strung by the door. When he was ready they all set off in the early +light through the forest. + +Rodriguez did not criticise his ambition; it sailed too high above his +logic for that; but he regretted it, as he went through the beauty of +the forest among these happy men. But we must all have an ambition, and +Rodriguez stuck to the one he had. He had another, but it was an +ambition with weak wings that could not come to hope. It depended upon +the first. If he could win a castle in the wars he felt that he might +even yet hope towards Lowlight. + +Little was said, and Rodriguez was all alone with his thoughts. In two +hours they met a bowman holding two horses. They had gone eight miles. + +"Farewell to the forest," said Miguel to Rodriguez. There was almost a +query in his voice. Would Rodriguez really leave them? it seemed to say. + +"Farewell," he answered. + +Morano too had looked sideways towards his master, seeming almost to +wonder what his answer would be: when it came he accepted it and walked +to the horses. Rodriguez mounted: willing hands helped up Morano. +"Farewell," said Miguel once more. And all the bowmen shouted +"Farewell." + +"Make my farewell," said Rodriguez, "to the King of Shadow Valley." + +A twig cracked in the forest. + +"Hark," said Miguel. "Maybe that was a boar." + +"I cannot wait to hunt," said Rodriguez, "for I have far to go." + +"Maybe," said Miguel, "it was the King's farewell to you." + +Rodriguez looked into the forest and saw nothing. + +"Farewell," he said again. The horses were fresh and he let his go. +Morano lumbered behind him. In two miles they came to the edge of the +forest and up a rocky hill, and so to the plains again, and one more +adventure lay behind them. Rodriguez turned round once on the high +ground and took a long look back on the green undulations of peace. The +forest slept there as though empty of men. + +Then they rode. In the first hour, easily cantering, they did ten +miles. Then they settled down to what those of our age and country and +occupation know as a hound-jog, which is seven miles an hour. And after +two hours they let the horses rest. It was the hour of the frying-pan. +Morano, having dismounted, stretched himself dolefully; then he brought +out all manner of meats. Rodriguez looked wonderingly at them. + +"For the wars, master," said Morano. To whatever wars they went, the +green bowmen seemed to have supplied an ample commissariat. + +They ate. And Rodriguez thought of the wars, for the thought of +Serafina made him sad, and his rejection of the life of the forest +saddened him too; so he sought to draw from the future the comfort that +he could not get from the past. + +They mounted again and rode again for three hours, till they saw very +far off on a hill a village that Miguel had told them was fifty miles +from the forest. + +"We rest the night there," said Rodriguez pointing, though it was yet +seven or eight miles away. + +"All the Saints be praised," said Morano. + +They dismounted then and went on foot, for the horses were weary. At +evening they rode slowly into the village. At an inn whose hospitable +looks were as cheerfully unlike the Inn of the Dragon and Knight as +possible, they demanded lodging for all four. They went first to the +stable, and when the horses had been handed over to the care of a groom +they returned to the inn, and mine host and Rodriguez had to help +Morano up the three steps to the door, for he had walked nine miles +that day and ridden fifty and he was too weary to climb the steps. + +And later Rodriguez sat down alone to his supper at a table well and +variously laden, for the doors of mine hosts' larder were opened wide +in his honour; but Rodriguez ate sparingly, as do weary men. + +And soon he sought his bed. And on the old echoing stairs as he and +mine host ascended they met Morano leaning against the wall. What shall +I say of Morano? Reader, your sympathy is all ready to go out to the +poor, weary man. He does not entirely deserve it, and shall not cheat +you of it. Reader, Morano was drunk. I tell you this sorry truth rather +than that the knave should have falsely come by your pity. And yet he +is dead now over three hundred years, having had his good time to the +full. Does he deserve your pity on that account? Or your envy? And to +whom or what would you give it? Well, anyhow, he deserved no pity for +being drunk. And yet he was thirsty, and too tired to eat, and sore in +need of refreshment, and had had no more cause to learn to shun good +wine than he had had to shun the smiles of princesses; and there the +good wine had been, sparkling beside him merrily. + +And now, why now, fatigued as he had been an hour or so ago (but time +had lost its tiresome, restless meaning), now he stood firm while all +things and all men staggered. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez as he passed that foolish figure, "we go sixty +miles to-morrow." + +"Sixty, master?" said Morano. "A hundred: two hundred." + +"It is best to rest now," said his master. + +"Two hundred, master, two hundred," Morano replied. + +And then Rodriguez left him, and heard him muttering his challenge to +distance still, "Two hundred, two hundred," till the old stairway +echoed with it. + +And so he came to his chamber, of which he remembered little, for sleep +lurked there and he was soon with dreams, faring further with them than +my pen can follow. + + + + +THE EIGHTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE TRAVELLED FAR + + +One blackbird on a twig near Rodriguez' window sang, then there were +fifty singing, and morning arose over Spain all golden and wonderful. + +Rodriguez descended and found mine host rubbing his hands by his good +table, with a look on his face that seemed to welcome the day and to +find good auguries concerning it. But Morano looked as one that, having +fallen from some far better place, is ill-content with earth and the +mundane way. + +He had scorned breakfast; but Rodriguez breakfasted. And soon the two +were bidding mine host farewell. They found their horses saddled, they +mounted at once, and rode off slowly in the early day. The horses were +tired and, slowly trotting and walking, and sometimes dismounting and +dragging the horses on, it was nearly two hours before they had done +ten miles and come to the house of the smith in a rocky village: the +street was cobbled and the houses were all of stone. + +The early sparkle had gone from the dew, but it was still morning, and +many a man but now sat down to his breakfast, as they arrived and beat +on the door. + +Gonzalez the smith opened it, a round and ruddy man past fifty, a +citizen following a reputable trade, but once, ah once, a bowman. + +"Senor," said Rodriguez, "our horses are weary. We have been told you +will change them for us." + +"Who told you that?" said Gonzalez. + +"The green bowmen in Shadow Valley," the young man answered. + +As a meteor at night lights up with its greenish glare flowers and +blades of grass, twisting long shadows behind them, lights up lawns and +bushes and the deep places of woods, scattering quiet night for a +moment, so the unexpected answer of Rodriguez lit memories in the mind +of the smith all down the long years; and a twinkle and a sparkle of +those memories dancing in woods long forsaken flashed from his eyes. + +"The green bowmen, senor," said Gonzalez. "Ah, Shadow Valley!" + +"We left it yesterday," said Rodriguez. + +When Gonzalez heard this he poured forth questions. "The forest, senor; +how is it now with the forest? Do the boars still drink at Heather +Pool? Do the geese go still to Greatmarsh? They should have come early +this year. How is it with Larios, Raphael, Migada? Who shoots woodcock +now?" + +The questions flowed on past answering, past remembering: he had not +spoken of the forest for years. And Rodriguez answered as such +questions are always answered, saying that all was well, and giving +Gonzalez some little detail of some trifling affair of the forest, +which he treasured as small shells are treasured in inland places when +travellers bring them from the sea; but all that he heard of the forest +seemed to the smith like something gathered on a far shore of time. +Yes, he had been a bowman once. + +But he had no horses. One horse that drew a cart, but no horses for +riding at all. And Rodriguez thought of the immense miles lying between +him and the foreign land, keeping him back from his ambition; they all +pressed on his mind at once. The smith was sorry, but he could not make +horses. + +"Show him your coin, master," said Morano. + +"Ah, a small token," said Rodriguez, drawing it forth still on its +green ribbon under his clothing. "The bowman's badge, is it not?" + +Gonzalez looked at it, then looked at Rodriguez. + +"Master," he said, "you shall have your horses. Give me time: you shall +have them. Enter, master." And he bowed and widely opened the door. "If +you will breakfast in my house while I go to the neighbours you shall +have some horses, master." + +So they entered the house, and the smith with many bows gave the +travellers over to the care of his wife, who saw from her husband's +manner that these were persons of importance and as such she treated +them both, and as such entertained them to their second breakfast. And +this meant they ate heartily, as travellers can, who can go without a +breakfast or eat two; and those who dwell in cities can do neither. + +And while the plump dame did them honour they spoke no word of the +forest, for they knew not what place her husband's early years had in +her imagination. + +They had barely finished their meal when the sound of hooves on cobbles +was heard and Gonzalez beat on the door. They all went to the door and +found him there with two horses. The horses were saddled and bridled. +They fixed the stirrups to please them, then the travellers mounted at +once. Rodriguez made his grateful farewell to the wife of the smith: +then, turning to Gonzalez, he pointed to the two tired horses which had +waited all the while with their reins thrown over a hook on the wall. + +"Let the owner of these have them till his own come back," he said, and +added: "How far may I take these?" + +"They are good horses," said the smith. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez. + +"They could do fifty miles to-day," Gonzalez continued, "and to-morrow, +why, forty, or a little more." + +"And where will that bring me?" said Rodriguez, pointing to the +straight road which was going his way, north-eastward. + +"That," said Gonzalez, "that should bring you some ten or twenty miles +short of Saspe." + +"And where shall I leave the horses?" Rodriguez asked. + +"Master," Gonzalez said, "in any village where there be a smith, if you +say 'these are the horses of the smith Gonzalez, who will come for them +one day from here,' they will take them in for you, master." + +"But," and Gonzalez walked a little away from his wife, and the horses +walked and he went beside them, "north of here none knows the bowmen. +You will get no fresh horses, master. What will you do?" + +"Walk," said Rodriguez. + +Then they said farewell, and there was a look on the face of the smith +almost such as the sons of men might have worn in Genesis when angels +visited them briefly. + +They settled down into a steady trot and trotted thus for three hours. +Noon came, and still there was no rest for Morano, but only dust and +the monotonous sight of the road, on which his eyes were fixed: nearly +an hour more passed, and at last he saw his master halt and turn round +in his saddle. + +"Dinner," Rodriguez said. + +All Morano's weariness vanished: it was the hour of the frying-pan once +more. + +They had done more than twenty-one miles from the house of Gonzalez. +Nimbly enough, in his joy at feeling the ground again, Morano ran and +gathered sticks from the bushes. And soon he had a fire, and a thin +column of grey smoke going up from it that to him was always home. + +When the frying-pan warmed and lard sizzled, when the smell of bacon +mingled with the smoke, then Morano was where all wise men and all +unwise try to be, and where some of one or the other some times come +for awhile, by unthought paths and are gone again; for that smoky, +mixed odour was happiness. + +Not for long men and horses rested, for soon Rodriguez' ambition was +drawing him down the road again, of which he knew that there remained +to be travelled over two hundred miles in Spain, and how much beyond +that he knew not, nor greatly cared, for beyond the frontier of Spain +he believed there lay the dim, desired country of romance where roads +were long no more and no rain fell. They mounted again and pushed on +for this country. Not a village they saw but that Morano hoped that +here his affliction would end and that he would dismount and rest; and +always Rodriguez rode on and Morano followed, and with a barking of +dogs they were gone and the village rested behind them. For many an +hour their slow trot carried them on; and Morano, clutching the saddle +with worn arms, already was close to despair, when Rodriguez halted in +a little village at evening before an inn. They had done their fifty +miles from the house of Gonzalez, and even a little more. + +Morano rolled from his horse and beat on the small green door. Mine +host came out and eyed them, preening the point of his beard; and +Rodriguez sat his horse and looked at him. They had not the welcome +here that Gonzalez gave them; but there was a room to spare for +Rodriguez, and Morano was promised what he asked for, straw; and there +was shelter to be had for the horses. It was all the travellers needed. + +Children peered at the strangers, gossips peeped out of doors to gather +material concerning them, dogs noted their coming, the eyes of the +little village watched them curiously, but Rodriguez and Morano passed +into the house unheeding; and past those two tired men the mellow +evening glided by like a dream. Tired though Rodriguez was he noticed a +certain politeness in mine host while he waited at supper, which had +not been noticeable when he had first received him, and rightly put +this down to some talk of Morano's; but he did not guess that Morano +had opened wide blue eyes and, babbling to his host, had guilelessly +told him that his master a week ago had killed an uncivil inn-keeper. + +Scarcely were late birds home before Rodriguez sought his bed, and not +all of them were sleeping before he slept. + +Another morning shone, and appeared to Spain, and all at once Rodriguez +was wide awake. It was the eighth day of his wanderings. + +When he had breakfasted and paid his due in silver he and Morano +departed, leaving mine host upon his doorstep bowing with an almost +perplexed look on his shrewd face as he took the points of moustachios +and beard lightly in turn between finger and thumb: for we of our day +enter vague details about ourselves in the book downstairs when we stay +at inns, but it was mine host's custom to gather all that with his +sharp eyes. Whatever he gathered, Rodriguez and Morano were gone. + +But soon their pace dwindled, the trot slackening and falling to a +walk; soon Rodriguez learned what it is to travel with tired horses. To +Morano riding was merely riding, and the discomforts of that were so +great that he noticed no difference. But to Rodriguez, his continual +hitting and kicking his horse's sides, his dislike of doing it, the +uselessness of it when done, his ambition before and the tired beast +underneath, the body always some yards behind the beckoning spirit, +were as great vexation as a traveller knows. It came to dismounting and +walking miles on foot; even then the horses hung back. They halted an +hour over dinner while the horses grazed and rested, and they returned +to their road refreshed by the magic that was in the frying-pan, but +the horses were no fresher. + +When our bodies are slothful and lie heavy, never responding to the +spirit's bright promptings, then we know dullness: and the burden of it +is the graver for hearing our spirits call faintly, as the chains of a +buccaneer in some deep prison, who hears a snatch of his comrades' +singing as they ride free by the coast, would grow more unbearable than +ever before. But the weight of his tired horse seemed to hang heavier +on the fanciful hopes that Rodriguez' dreams had made. Farther than +ever seemed the Pyrenees, huger than ever their barrier, dimmer and +dimmer grew the lands of romance. + +If the hopes of Rodriguez were low, if his fancies were faint, what +material have I left with which to make a story with glitter enough to +hold my readers' eyes to the page: for know that mere dreams and idle +fancies, and all amorous, lyrical, unsubstantial things, are all that +we writers have of which to make a tale, as they are all that the Dim +Ones have to make the story of man. + +Sometimes riding, sometimes going on foot, with the thought of the +long, long miles always crowding upon Rodriguez, overwhelming his +hopes; till even the castle he was to win in the wars grew too pale for +his fancy to see, tired and without illusions, they came at last by +starlight to the glow of a smith's forge. He must have done forty-five +miles and he knew they were near Caspe. + +The smith was working late, and looked up when Rodriguez halted. Yes, +he knew Gonzalez, a master in the trade: there was a welcome for his +horses. + +But for the two human travellers there were excuses, even apologies, +but no spare beds. It was the same in the next three or four houses +that stood together by the road. And the fever of Rodriguez' ambition +drove him on, though Morano would have lain down and slept where they +stood, though he himself was weary. The smith had received his horses; +after that he cared not whether they gave him shelter or not, the +alternative being the road, and that bringing nearer his wars and the +castle he was to win. And that fancy that led his master Morano allowed +always to lead him too, though a few more miles and he would have +fallen asleep as he walked and dropped by the roadside and slept on. +Luckily they had gone barely two miles from the forge where the horses +rested, when they saw a high, dark house by the road and knocked on the +door and found shelter. It was an old woman who let them in, a farmer's +wife, and she had room for them and one mattress, but no bed. They were +too tired to eat and did not ask for food, but at once followed her up +the booming stairs of her house, which were all dark but for her +candle, and so came among huge minuetting shadows to the long loft at +the top. There was a mattress there which the old woman laid out for +Rodriguez, and a heap of hay for Morano. Just for a moment, as +Rodriguez climbed the last step of the stair and entered the loft where +the huge shadows twirled between the one candle's light and the +unbeaten darkness in corners, just for a moment romance seemed to +beckon to him; for a moment, in spite of his fatigue and dejection, in +spite of the possibility of his quest being crazy, for a moment he felt +that great shadows and echoing boards, the very cobwebs even that hung +from the black rafters, were all romantic things; he felt that his was +a glorious adventure and that all these things that filled the loft in +the night were such as should fitly attend on youth and glory. In a +moment that feeling was gone he knew not why it had come. And though he +remembered it till grey old age, when he came to know the causes of +many things, he never knew what romance might have to do with shadows +or echoes at night in an empty room, and only knew of such fancies that +they came from beyond his understanding, whether from wisdom or folly. + +Morano was first asleep, as enormous snores testified, almost before +the echoes had died away of the footsteps of the old woman descending +the stairs; but soon Rodriguez followed him into the region of dreams, +where fantastic ambitions can live with less of a struggle than in the +broad light of day: he dreamed he walked at night down a street of +castles strangely colossal in an awful starlight, with doors too vast +for any human need, whose battlements were far in the heights of night; +and chose, it being in time of war, the one that should be his; but the +gargoyles on it were angry and spoiled the dream. + +Dream followed dream with furious rapidity, as the dreams of tired men +do, racing each other, jostling and mingling and dancing, an +ill-assorted company: myriads went by, a wild, grey, cloudy multitude; +and with the last walked dawn. + +Rodriguez rose more relieved to quit so tumultuous a rest than +refreshed by having had it. + +He descended, leaving Morano to sleep on, and not till the old dame had +made a breakfast ready did he return to interrupt his snores. + +Even as he awoke upon his heap of hay Morano remained as true to his +master's fantastic quest as the camel is true to the pilgrimage to +Mecca. He awoke grumbling, as the camel grumbles at dawn when the packs +are put on him where he lies, but never did he doubt that they went to +victorious wars where his master would win a castle splendid with +towers. + +Breakfast cheered both the travellers. And then the old lady told +Rodriguez that Caspe was but a three hours' walk, and that cheered them +even more, for Caspe is on the Ebro, which seemed to mark for Rodriguez +a stage in his journey, being carried easily in his imagination, like +the Pyrenees. What road he would take when he reached Caspe he had not +planned. And soon Rodriguez expressed his gratitude, full of fervour, +with many a flowery phrase which lived long in the old dame's mind; and +the visit of those two travellers became one of the strange events of +that house and was chief of the memories that faintly haunted the +rafters of the loft for years. + +They did not reach Caspe in three hours, but went lazily, being weary; +for however long a man defies fatigue the hour comes when it claims +him. The knowledge that Caspe lay near with sure lodging for the night, +soothed Rodriguez' impatience. And as they loitered they talked, and +they decided that la Garda must now be too far behind to pursue any +longer. They came in four hours to the bank of the Ebro and there saw +Caspe near them; but they dined once more on the grass, sitting beside +the river, rather than enter the town at once, for there had grown in +both travellers a liking for the wanderers' green table of earth. + +It was a time to make plans. The country of romance was far away and +they were without horses. + +"Will you buy horses, master?" said Morano. + +"We might not get them over the Pyrenees," said Rodriguez, though he +had a better reason, which was that three gold pieces did not buy two +saddled horses. There were no more friends to hire from. Morano grew +thoughtful. He sat with his feet dangling over the bank of the Ebro. + +"Master," he said after a while, "this river goes our way. Let us come +by boat, master, and drift down to France at our ease." + +To get a river over a range of mountains is harder than to get horses. +Some such difficulty Rodriguez implied to him; but Morano, having come +slowly by an idea, parted not so easily with it. + +"It goes our way, master," he repeated, and pointed a finger at the +Ebro. + +At this moment a certain song that boatmen sing on that river, when the +current is with them and they have nothing to do but be idle and their +lazy thoughts run to lascivious things, came to the ears of Rodriguez +and Morano; and a man with a bright blue sash steered down the Ebro. He +had been fishing and was returning home. + +"Master," Morano said, "that knave shall row us there." + +Rodriguez seeing that the idea was fixed in Morano's mind determined +that events would move it sooner than argument, and so made no reply. + +"Shall I tell him, master?" asked Morano. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez, "if he can row us over the Pyrenees." + +This was the permission that Morano sought, and a hideous yell broke +from his throat hailing the boatman. The boatman looked up lazily, a +young man with strong brown arms, turning black moustaches towards +Morano. Again Morano hailed him and ran along the bank, while the boat +drifted down and the boatman steered in towards Morano. Somehow Morano +persuaded him to come in to see what he wanted; and in a creek he ran +his boat aground, and there he and Morano argued and bargained. But +Rodriguez remained where he was, wondering why it took so long to turn +his servant's mind from that curious fancy. At last Morano returned. + +"Well?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "he will row us to the Pyrenees." + +"The Pyrenees!" said Rodriguez. "The Ebro runs into the sea." For they +had taught him this at the college of San Josephus. + +"He will row us there," said Morano, "for a gold piece a day, rowing +five hours each day." + +Now between them they had but four gold pieces; but that did not make +the Ebro run northward. It seemed that the Ebro, after going their way, +as Morano had said, for twenty or thirty miles, was joined by the river +Segre, and that where the Ebro left them, turning eastwards, the course +of the Segre took them on their way: but it would be rowing against the +current. + +"How far is it?" said Rodriguez. + +"A hundred miles, he says," answered Morano. "He knows it well." + +Rodriguez calculated swiftly. First he added thirty miles; for he knew +that his countrymen took a cheerful view of distance, seldom allowing +any distance to oppress them under its true name at the out set of a +journey; then he guessed that the boatman might row five miles an hour +for the first thirty miles with the stream of the Ebro, and he hoped +that he might row three against the Segre until they came near the +mountains, where the current might grow too strong. + +"Morano," he said, "we shall have to row too." + +"Row, master?" said Morano. + +"We can pay him for four days," said Rodriguez. "If we all row we may +go far on our way." + +"It is better than riding," replied Morano with entire resignation. + +And so they walked to the creek and Rodriguez greeted the boatman, +whose name was Perez; and they entered the boat and he rowed them down +to Caspe. And, in the house of Perez, Rodriguez slept that night in a +large dim room, untidy with diverse wares: they slept on heaps of +things that pertained to the river and fishing. Yet it was late before +Rodriguez slept, for in sight of his mind came glimpses at last of the +end of his journey; and, when he slept at last, he saw the Pyrenees. +Through the long night their mighty heads rejected him, staring +immeasurably beyond him in silence, and then in happier dreams they +beckoned him for a moment. Till at last a bird that had entered the +city of Caspe sang clear and it was dawn. With that first light +Rodriguez arose and awoke Morano. Together they left that long haven of +lumber and found Perez already stirring. They ate hastily and all went +down to the boat, the unknown that waits at the end of all strange +journeys quickening their steps as they went through the early light. + +Perez rowed first and the others took their turns and so they went all +the morning down the broad flood of the Ebro, and came in the afternoon +to its meeting place with the Segre. And there they landed and +stretched their limbs on shore and lit a fire and feasted, before they +faced the current that would be henceforth against them. Then they +rowed on. + +When they landed by starlight and unrolled a sheet of canvas that Perez +had put in the boat, and found what a bad time starlight is for +pitching a tent, Rodriguez and Morano had rowed for four hours each and +Perez had rowed for five. They carried no timber in the boat but used +the oars for tent-poles and cut tent-pegs with a small hatchet that +Perez had brought. + +They stumbled on rocks, tore the canvas on bushes, lost the same thing +over and over again; in fact they were learning the craft of wandering. +Yet at last their tent was up and a good fire comforting them outside, +and Morano had cooked the food and they had supped and talked, and +after that they slept. And over them sleeping the starlight faded away, +and in the greyness that none of them dreamed was dawn five clear notes +were heard so shrill in the night that Rodriguez half waking wondered +what bird of the darkness called, and learned from the answering chorus +that it was day. + +He woke Morano who rose in that chilly hour and, striking sparks among +last night's embers, soon had a fire: they hastily made a meal and +wrapped up their tent and soon they were going onward against the tide +of the Segre. And that day Morano rowed more skilfully; and Rodriguez +unwrapped his mandolin and played, reclining in the boat while he +rested from rowing. And the mandolin told them all, what the words of +none could say, that they fared to adventure in the land of Romance, to +the overthrow of dullness and the sameness of all drear schemes and the +conquest of discontent in the spirit of man; and perhaps it sang of a +time that has not yet come, or the mandolin lied. + +That evening three wiser men made their camp before starlight. They +were now far up the Segre. + +For thirteen hours next day they toiled at the oars or lay languid. And +while Rodriguez rested he played on his mandolin. The Segre slipped by +them. + +They seemed like no men on their way to war, but seemed to loiter as +the bright river loitered, which slid seaward in careless ease and was +wholly freed from time. + +On this day they heard men speak of the Pyrenees, two men and a woman +walking by the river; their voices came to the boat across the water, +and they spoke of the Pyrenees. And on the next day they heard men +speak of war. War that some farmers had fled from on the other side of +the mountain. When Rodriguez heard these chance words his dreams came +nearer till they almost touched the edges of reality. + +It was the last day of Perez' rowing. He rowed well although they +neared the cradle of the Segre and he struggled against them in his +youth. Grey peaks began to peer that had nursed that river. Grey faces +of stone began to look over green hills. They were the Pyrenees. + +When Rodriguez saw at last the Pyrenees he drew a breath and was unable +to speak. Soon they were gone again below the hills: they had but +peered for a moment to see who troubled the Segre. + +And the sun set and still they did not camp, but Perez rowed on into +the starlight. That day he rowed six hours. + +They pitched their tent as well as they could in the darkness; and, +breathing a clear new air all crisp from the Pyrenees, they slept +outside the threshold of adventure. + +Rodriguez awoke cold. Once more he heard the first blackbird who sings +clear at the edge of night all alone in the greyness, the nightingale's +only rival; a rival like some unknown in the midst of a crowd who for a +moment leads some well-loved song, in notes more liquid than a +master-singer's; and all the crowd joins in and his voice is lost, and +no one learns his name. At once a host of birds answered him out of dim +bushes, whose shapes had barely as yet emerged from night. And in this +chorus Perez awoke, and even Morano. + +They all three breakfasted together, and then the wanderers said +good-bye to Perez. And soon he was gone with his bright blue sash, +drifting homewards with the Segre, well paid yet singing a little sadly +as he drifted; for he had been one of a quest, and now he left it at +the edge of adventure, near solemn mountains and, beyond them, +romantic, near-unknown lands. So Perez left and Rodriguez and Morano +turned again to the road, all the more lightly because they had not +done a full day's march for so long, and now a great one unrolled its +leagues before them. + +The heads of the mountains showed themselves again. They tramped as in +the early days of their quest. And as they went the mountains, +unveiling themselves slowly, dropping film after film of distance that +hid their mighty forms, gradually revealed to the wanderers the +magnificence of their beauty. Till at evening Rodriguez and Morano +stood on a low hill, looking at that tremendous range, which lifted far +above the fields of Earth, as though its mountains were no earthly +things but sat with Fate and watched us and did not care. + +Rodriguez and Morano stood and gazed in silence. They had come twenty +miles since morning, they were tired and hungry, but the mountains held +them: they stood there looking neither for rest nor food. Beyond them, +sheltering under the low hills, they saw a little village. Smoke +straggled up from it high into the evening: beyond the village woods +sloped away upwards. But far above smoke or woods the bare peaks +brooded. Rodriguez gazed on their austere solemnity, wondering what +secret they guarded there for so long, guessing what message they held +and hid from man; until he learned that the mystery they guarded among +them was of things that he knew not and could never know. + +Tinkle-ting said the bells of a church, invisible among the houses of +that far village. Tinkle-ting said the crescent of hills that sheltered +it. And after a while, speaking out of their grim and enormous silences +with all the gravity of their hundred ages, Tinkle-ting said the +mountains. With this trivial message Echo returned from among the homes +of the mighty, where she had run with the small bell's tiny cry to +trouble their crowned aloofness. + +Rodriguez and Morano pressed on, and the mountains cloaked themselves +as they went, in air of many colours; till the stars came out and the +lights of the village gleamed. In darkness, with surprise in the tones +of the barking dogs, the two wanderers came to the village where so few +ever came, for it lay at the end of Spain, cut off by those mighty +rocks, and they knew not much of what lands lay beyond. + +They beat on a door below a hanging board, on which was written "The +Inn of the World's End": a wandering scholar had written it and had +been well paid for his work, for in those days writing was rare. The +door was opened for them by the host of the inn, and they entered a +room in which men who had supped were sitting at a table. They were all +of them men from the Spanish side of the mountains, farmers come into +the village on the affairs of Mother Earth; next day they would be back +at their farms again; and of the land the other side of the mountains +that was so near now they knew nothing, so that it still remained for +the wanderers a thing of mystery wherein romance could dwell: and +because they knew nothing of that land the men at the inn treasured all +the more the rumours that sometimes came from it, and of these they +talked, and mine host listened eagerly, to whom all tales were brought +soon or late; and most he loved to hear tales from beyond the mountains. + +Rodriguez and Morano sat still and listened, and the talk was all of +war. It was faint and vague like fable, but rumour clearly said War, +and the other side of the mountains. It may be that no man has a crazy +ambition without at moments suspecting it; but prove it by the +touchstone of fact and he becomes at once as a woman whose invalid son, +after years of seclusion indoors, wins unexpectedly some athletic +prize. When Rodriguez heard all this talk of wars quite near he thought +of his castle as already won; his thoughts went further even, floating +through Lowlight in the glowing evening, and drifting up and down past +Serafina's house below the balcony where she sat for ever. + +Some said the Duke would never attack the Prince because the Duke's +aunt was a princess from the Troubadour's country. Another said that +there would surely be war. Others said that there was war already, and +too late for man to stop it. All said it would soon be over. + +And one man said that it was the last war that would come, because +gunpowder made fighting impossible. It could smite a man down, he said, +at two hundred paces, and a man be slain not knowing whom he fought. +Some loved fighting and some loved peace, he said, but gunpowder suited +none. + +"I like not the sound of that gunpowder, master," said Morano to +Rodriguez. + +"Nobody likes it," said the man at the table. "It is the end of war." +And some sighed and some were glad. But Rodriguez determined to push on +before the last war was over. + +Next morning Rodriguez paid the last of his silver pieces and set off +with Morano before any but mine host were astir. There was nothing but +the mountains in front of them. + +They climbed all the morning and they came to the fir woods. There they +lit a good fire and Morano brought out his frying-pan. Over the meal +they took stock of their provisions and found that, for all the store +Morano had brought from the forest, they had now only food for three +days; and they were quite without money. Money in those uplifted wastes +seemed trivial, but the dwindling food told Rodriguez that he must +press on; for man came among those rocky monsters supplied with all his +needs, or perished unnoticed before their stony faces. All the +afternoon they passed through the fir woods, and as shadows began to +grow long they passed the last tree. The village and all the fields +about it and the road by which they had come were all spread out below +them like little trivial things dimly remembered from very long ago by +one whose memory weakens. Distance had dwarfed them, and the cold +regard of those mighty peaks ignored them. And then a shadow fell on +the village, then tiny lights shone out. It was night down there. Still +the two wanderers climbed on in the daylight. With their faces to the +rocks they scarce saw night climb up behind them. But when Rodriguez +looked up at the sky to see how much light was left, and met the calm +gaze of the evening star, he saw that Night and the peaks were met +together, and understood all at once how puny an intruder is man. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "we must rest here for the night." + +Morano looked round him with an air of discontent, not with his +master's words but with the rocks' angular hardness. There was scarce a +plant of any kind near them now. They were near the snow, which had +flushed like a wild rose at sunset but was now all grey. Grey cliffs +seemed to be gazing sheer at eternity; and here was man, the creature +of a moment, who had strayed in the cold all homeless among his +betters. There was no welcome for them there: whatever feeling great +mountains evoke, THAT feeling was clear in Rodriguez and Morano. They +were all amongst those that have other aims, other ends, and know +naught of man. A bitter chill from the snow and from starry space drove +this thought home. + +They walked on looking for a better place, as men will, but found none. +And at last they lay down on the cold earth under a rock that seemed to +give shelter from the wind, and there sought sleep; but cold came +instead, and sleep kept far from the tremendous presences of the peaks +of the Pyrenees that gazed on things far from here. + +An ageing moon arose, and Rodriguez touched Morano and rose up; and the +two went slowly on, tired though they were. Picture the two tiny +figures, bent, shivering and weary, walking with clumsy sticks cut in +the wood, amongst the scorn of those tremendous peaks, which the moon +showed all too clearly. + +They got little warmth from walking, they were too weary to run; and +after a while they halted and burned their sticks, and got a little +warmth for some moments from their fire, which burned feebly and +strangely in those inhuman solitudes. + +Then they went on again and their track grew steeper. They rested again +for fatigue, and rose and climbed again because of the cold; and all +the while the peaks stared over them to spaces far beyond the thought +of man. + +Long before Spain knew anything of dawn a monster high in heaven smiled +at the sun, a peak out-towering all its aged children. It greeted the +sun as though this lonely thing, that scorned the race of man since +ever it came, had met a mighty equal out in Space. The vast peak +glowed, and the rest of its grey race took up the greeting leisurely +one by one. Still it was night in all Spanish houses. + +Rodriguez and Morano were warmed by that cold peak's glow, though no +warmth came from it at all; but the sight of it cheered them and their +pulses rallied, and so they grew warmer in that bitter hour. + +And then dawn came, and showed them that they were near the top of the +pass. They had come to the snow that gleams there everlastingly. + +There was no material for a fire but they ate cold meats, and went +wearily on. They passed through that awful assemblage of peaks. By noon +they were walking upon level ground. + +In the afternoon Rodriguez, tired with the journey and with the heat of +the sun, decided that it was possible to sleep, and, wrapping his cloak +around him, he lay down, doing what Morano would have done, by +instinct. Morano was asleep at once and Rodriguez soon after. They +awoke with the cold at sunset. + +Refreshed amazingly they ate some food and started their walk again to +keep themselves warm for the night. They were still on level ground and +set out with a good stride in their relief at being done with climbing. +Later they slowed down and wandered just to keep warm. And some time in +the starlight they felt their path dip, and knew that they were going +downward now to the land of Rodriguez' dreams. + +When the peaks glowed again, first meeting day in her earliest +dancing-grounds of filmy air, they stood now behind the wanderers. +Below them still in darkness lay the land of their dream, but hitherto +it had always faded at dawn. Now hills put up their heads one by one +through films of mist; woods showed, then hedges, and afterwards +fields, greyly at first and then, in the cold hard light of morning, +becoming more and more real. The sight of the land so long sought, at +moments believed by Morano not to exist on earth, perhaps to have faded +away when fables died, swept their fatigue from the wanderers, and they +stepped out helped by the slope of the Pyrenees and cheered by the +rising sun. They came at last to things that welcome man, little shrubs +flowering, and--at noon--to the edge of a fir wood. They entered the +wood and lit a merry fire, and heard birds singing, at which they both +rejoiced, for the great peaks had said nothing. + +They ate the food that Morano cooked, and drew warmth and cheer from +the fire, and then they slept a little: and, rising from sleep, they +pushed on through the wood, downward and downward toward the land of +their dreams, to see if it was true. + +They passed the wood and came to curious paths, and little hills, and +heath, and rocky places, and wandering vales that twisted all awry. +They passed through them all with the slope of the mountain behind +them. When level rays from the sunset mellowed the fields of France the +wanderers were walking still, but the peaks were far behind them, +austerely gazing on the remotest things, forgetting the footsteps of +man. And walking on past soft fields in the evening, all tilted a +little about the mountain's feet, they had scarcely welcomed the sight +of the evening star, when they saw before them the mild glow of a +window and knew they were come again to the earth that is mother to +man. In their cold savagery the inhuman mountains decked themselves out +like gods with colours they took from the sunset; then darkened, all +those peaks, in brooding conclave and disappeared in the night. And the +hushed night heard the tiny rap of Morano's hands on the door of the +house that had the glowing window. + + + + +THE NINTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE WON A CASTLE IN SPAIN + + +The woman that came to the door had on her face a look that pleased +Morano. + +"Are you soldiers?" she said. And her scared look portended war. + +"My master is a traveller looking for the wars," said Morano. "Are the +wars near?" + +"Oh, no, not near," said the woman; "not near." + +And something in the anxious way she said "not near" pleased Morano +also. + +"We shall find those wars, master," he said. + +And then they both questioned her. It seemed the wars were but twenty +miles away. "But they will move northward," she said. "Surely they will +move farther off?" + +Before the next night was passed Rodriguez' dream might come true! + +And then the man came to the door anxious at hearing strange voices; +and Morano questioned him too, but he understood never a word. He was a +French farmer that had married a Spanish girl, out of the wonderful +land beyond the mountains: but whether he understood her or not he +never understood Spanish. But both Rodriguez and the farmer's wife knew +the two languages, and he had no difficulty in asking for lodging for +the night; and she looked wistfully at him going to the wars, for in +those days wars were small and not every man went. The night went by +with dreams that were all on the verge of waking, which passed like +ghosts along the edge of night almost touched by the light of day. It +was Rodriguez whom these dreams visited. The farmer and his wife +wondered awhile and then slept; Morano slept with all his wonted +lethargy; but Rodriguez with his long quest now on the eve of +fulfilment slept a tumultuous sleep. Sometimes his dreams raced over +the Pyrenees, running south as far as Lowlight; and sometimes they +rushed forward and clung like bats to the towers of the great castle +that he should win in the war. And always he lay so near the edge of +sleep that he never distinguished quite between thought and dream. + +Dawn came and he put by all the dreams but the one that guided him +always, and went and woke Morano. They ate hurriedly and left the +house, and again the farmer's wife looked curiously at Rodriguez, as +though there were something strange in a man that went to wars: for +those days were not as these days. They followed the direction that had +been given them, and never had the two men walked so fast. By the end +of four hours they had done sixteen miles. They halted then, and Morano +drew out his frying-pan with a haughty flourish, and cooked in the +grand manner, every movement he made was a triumphant gesture; for they +had passed refugees! War was now obviously close: they had but to take +the way that the refugees were not taking. The dream was true: Morano +saw himself walking slowly in splendid dress along the tapestried +corridors of his master's castle. He would have slept after eating and +would have dreamed more of this, but Rodriguez commanded him to put the +things together: so what remained of the food disappeared again in a +sack, the frying-pan was slung over his shoulders, and Morano stood +ready again for the road. + +They passed more refugees: their haste was unmistakable, and told more +than their lips could have told had they tarried to speak: the wars +were near now, and the wanderers went leisurely. + +As they strolled through the twilight they came over the brow of a +hill, a little fold of the earth disturbed eras ago by the awful +rushing up of the Pyrenees; and they saw the evening darkening over the +fields below them and a white mist rising only just clear of the grass, +and two level rows of tents greyish-white like the mist, with a few +more tents scattered near them. The tents had come up that evening with +the mist, for there were men still hammering pegs. They were lighting +fires now as evening settled in. Two hundred paces or so separated each +row. It was two armies facing each other. + +The gloaming faded: mist and the tents grew greyer: camp-fires blinked +out of the dimness and grew redder and redder, and candles began to be +lit beside the tents till all were glowing pale golden: Rodriguez and +Morano stood there wondering awhile as they looked on the beautiful +aura that surrounds the horrors of war. + +They came by starlight to that tented field, by twinkling starlight to +the place of Rodriguez' dream. + +"For which side will you fight, master?" said Morano in his ear. + +"For the right," said Rodriguez and strode on towards the nearest +tents, never doubting that he would be guided, though not trying to +comprehend how this could be. + +They met with an officer going among his tents. "Where do you go?" he +shouted. + +"Senor," Rodriguez said, "I come with my mandolin to sing songs to you." + +And at this the officer called out and others came from their tents; +and Rodriguez repeated his offer to them not without confidence, for he +knew that he had a way with the mandolin. And they said that they +fought a battle on the morrow and could not listen to song: they heaped +scorn on singing for they said they must needs prepare for the fight: +and all of them looked with scorn on the mandolin. So Rodriguez bowed +low to them with doffed hat and left them; and Morano bowed also, +seeing his master bow; and the men of that camp returned to their +preparations. A short walk brought Rodriguez and his servant to the +other camp, over a flat field convenient for battle. He went up to a +large tent well lit, the door being open towards him; and, having +explained his errand to a sentry that stood outside, he entered and saw +three persons of quality that were sitting at a table. To them he bowed +low in the tent door, saying: "Senors, I am come to sing songs to you, +playing the while upon my mandolin." + +And they welcomed him gladly, saying: "We fight tomorrow and will +gladly cheer our hearts with the sound of song and strengthen our men +thereby." + +And so Rodriguez sang among the tents, standing by a great fire to +which they led him; and men came from the tents and into the circle of +light, and in the darkness outside it were more than Rodriguez saw. And +he sang to the circle of men and the vague glimmer of faces. Songs of +their homes he sang them, not in their language, but songs that were +made by old poets about the homes of their infancy, in valleys under +far mountains remote from the Pyrenees. And in the song the yearnings +of dead poets lived again, all streaming homeward like swallows when +the last of the storms is gone: and those yearnings echoed in the +hearts that beat in the night around the campfire, and they saw their +own homes. And then he began to touch his mandolin; and he played them +the tunes that draw men from their homes and that march them away to +war. The tunes flowed up from the firelight: the mandolin knew. And the +men heard the mandolin saying what they would say. + +In the late night he ended, and a hush came down on the camp while the +music floated away, going up from the dark ring of men and the fire-lit +faces, touching perhaps the knees of the Pyrenees and drifting thence +wherever echoes go. And the sparks of the camp-fire went straight +upwards as they had done for hours, and the men that sat around it saw +them go: for long they had not seen the sparks stream upwards, for +their thoughts were far away with the mandolin. And all at once they +cheered. And Rodriguez bowed to the one whose tent he had entered, and +sought permission to fight for them in the morning. + +With good grace this was accorded him, and while he bowed and well +expressed his thanks he felt Morano touching his elbow. And as soon as +he had gone aside with Morano that fat man's words bubbled over and +were said. + +"Master, fight not for these men," he exclaimed, "for they listen to +song till midnight while the others prepare for battle. The others will +win the fight, master, and where will your castle be?" + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "there seems to be truth in that. Yet must we +fight for the right. For how would it be if those that have denied song +should win and thrive? The arm of every good man must be against them. +They have denied song, Morano! We must fight against them, you and I, +while we can lay sword to head." + +"Yes, indeed, master," said Morano. "But how shall you come by your +castle?" + +"As for that," said Rodriguez, "it must some day be won, yet not by +denying song. These have given a welcome to song, and the others have +driven it forth. And what would life be if those that deny song are to +be permitted to thrive unmolested by all good men?" + +"I know not, master," said Morano, "but I would have that castle." + +"Enough," said Rodriguez. "We must fight for the right." + +And so Rodriguez remained true to those that had heard him sing. And +they gave him a casque and breast-plate, proof, they said, against any +sword, and offered a sword that they said would surely cleave any +breast-plate. For they fought not in battle with the nimble rapier. But +Rodriguez did not forsake that famous exultant sword whose deeds he +knew from many an ancient song; which he had brought so far to give it +its old rich drink of blood. He believed it the bright key of the +castle he was to win. + +And they gave Rodriguez a good bed on the ground in the tent of the +three leaders, the tent to which he first came; for they honoured him +for the gift of song that he had, and because he was a stranger, and +because he had asked permission to fight for them in their battle. And +Rodriguez took one look by the light of a lantern at the rose he had +carried from Lowlight, then slept a sleep through whose dreams loomed +up the towers of castles. + +Dawn came and he slept on still; but by seven all the camp was loudly +astir, for they had promised the enemy to begin the battle at eight. +Rodriguez breakfasted lightly; for, now that the day of his dreams was +come at last and all his hopes depended on the day, an anxiety for many +things oppressed him. It was as though his castle, rosy and fair in +dreams, chilled with its huge cold rocks all the air near it: it was as +though Rodriguez touched it at last with his hands and felt a dankness +of which he had never dreamed. + +Then it came to the hour of eight and his anxieties passed. + +The army was now drawn up before its tents in line, but the enemy was +not yet ready and so they had to wait. + +When the signal at length was given and the cannoniers fired their +pieces, and the musketoons were shot off, many men fell. Now Rodriguez, +with Morano, was placed on the right, and either through a slight +difference in numbers or because of an unevenness in the array of +battle they a little overlapped the enemy's left. When a few men fell +wounded there by the discharge of the musketoons this overlapping was +even more pronounced. + +Now the leaders of that fair army scorned all unknightly devices, and +would never have descended to any vile ruse de guerre. The reproach can +therefore never be made against them that they ever intended to +outflank their enemy. Yet, when both armies advanced after the +discharge of the musketoons and the merry noise of the cannon, this +occurred as the result of chance, which no leader can be held +accountable for; so that those that speak of treachery in this battle, +and deliberate outflanking, lie. + +Now Rodriguez as he advanced with his sword, when the musketoons were +empty, had already chosen his adversary. For he had carefully watched +those opposite to him, before any smoke should obscure them, and had +selected the one who from the splendour of his dress might be expected +to possess the finest castle. Certainly this adversary outshone those +amongst whom he stood, and gave fair promise of owning goodly +possessions, for he wore a fine green cloak over a dress of lilac, and +his helm and cuirass had a look of crafty workmanship. Towards him +Rodriguez marched. + +Then began fighting foot to foot, and there was a pretty laying on of +swords. And had there been a poet there that day then the story of +their fight had come down to you, my reader, all that way from the +Pyrenees, down all those hundreds of years, and this tale of mine had +been useless, the lame repetition in prose of songs that your nurses +had sung to you. But they fought unseen by those that see for the Muses. + +Rodriguez advanced upon his chosen adversary and, having briefly bowed, +they engaged at once. And Rodriguez belaboured his helm till dints +appeared, and beat it with swift strokes yet till the dints were +cracks, and beat the cracks till hair began to appear: and all the +while his adversary's strokes grew weaker and wilder, until he tottered +to earth and Rodriguez had won. Swift then as cats, while Morano kept +off others, Rodriguez leaped to his throat, and, holding up the +stiletto that he had long ago taken as his legacy from the host of the +Dragon and Knight, he demanded the fallen man's castle as ransom for +his life. + +"My castle, senor?" said his prisoner weakly. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez impatiently. + +"Yes, senor," said his adversary and closed his eyes for awhile. + +"Does he surrender his castle, master?" asked Morano. + +"Yes, indeed," said Rodriguez. They looked at each other: all at last +was well. + +The battle was rolling away from them and was now well within the +enemy's tents. + +History says of that day that the good men won. And, sitting, a Muse +upon her mythical mountain, her decision must needs be one from which +we may not appeal: and yet I wonder if she is ever bribed. Certainly +the shrewd sense of Morano erred for once; for those for whom he had +predicted victory, because they prepared so ostentatiously upon the +field, were defeated; while the others, having made their preparations +long before, were able to cheer themselves with song before the battle +and to win it when it came. + +And so Rodriguez was left undisturbed in possession of his prisoner and +with the promise of his castle as a ransom. The battle was swiftly +over, as must needs be where little armies meet so close. The enemy's +camp was occupied, his army routed, and within an hour of beginning the +battle the last of the fighting ceased. + +The army returned to its tents to rejoice and to make a banquet, +bringing with them captives and horses and other spoils of war. And +Rodriguez had honour among them because he had fought on the right and +so was one of those that had broken the enemy's left, from which +direction victory had come. And they would have feasted him and done +him honour, both for his work with the sword and for his songs to the +mandolin; and they would have marched away soon to their own country +and would have taken him with them and advanced him to honour there. +But Rodriguez would not stay with them for he had his castle at last, +and must needs march off at once with his captive and Morano to see the +fulfilment of his dream. And therefore he thanked the leaders of that +host with many a courtesy and many a well-bent bow, and explained to +them how it was about his castle, and felicitated them on the victory +of their good cause, and so wished them farewell. And they said +farewell sorrowfully: but when they saw he would go, they gave him +horses for himself and Morano, and another for his captive; and they +heaped them with sacks of provender and blankets and all things that +could give him comfort upon a journey: all this they brought him out of +their spoils of war, and they would give him no less that the most that +the horses could carry. And then Rodriguez turned to his captive again, +who now stood on his feet. + +"Senor," he said, "pray tell us all of your castle wherewith you ransom +your life." + +"Senor," he answered, "I have a castle in Spain." + +"Master," broke in Morano, his eyes lighting up with delight, "there +are no castles like the Spanish ones." + +They got to horse then, all three; the captive on a horse of far poorer +build than the other two and well-laden with sacks, for Rodriguez took +no chance of his castle cantering, as it were, away from him on four +hooves through the dust. + +And when they heard that his journey was by way of the Pyrenees four +knights of that army swore they would ride with him as far as the +frontier of Spain, to bear him company and bring him fuel in the lonely +cold of the mountains. They all set off and the merry army cheered. He +left them making ready for their banquet, and never knew the cause for +which he had fought. + +They came by evening again to the house to which Rodriguez had come two +nights before, when he had slept there with his castle yet to win. They +all halted before it, and the man and the woman came to the door +terrified. "The wars!" they said. + +"The wars," said one of the riders, "are over, and the just cause has +won." + +"The Saints be praised!" said the woman. "But will there be no more +fighting?" + +"Never again," said the horseman, "for men are sick of gunpowder." + +"The Saints be thanked," she said. + +"Say not that," said the horseman, "for Satan invented gunpowder." + +And she was silent; but, had none been there, she had secretly thanked +Satan. + +They demanded the food and shelter that armed men have the right to +demand. + +In the morning they were gone. They became a memory, which lingered +like a vision, made partly of sunset and partly of the splendour of +their cloaks, and so went down the years that those two folk had, a +thing of romance, magnificence and fear. And now the slope of the +mountain began to lift against them, and they rode slowly towards those +unearthly peaks that had deserted the level fields before ever man came +to them, and that sat there now familiar with stars and dawn with the +air of never having known of man. And as they rode they talked. And +Rodriguez talked with the four knights that rode with him, and they +told tales of war and told of the ways of fighting of many men: and +Morano rode behind them beside the captive and questioned him all the +morning about his castle in Spain. And at first the captive answered +his questions slowly, as if he were weary, or as though he were long +from home and remembered its features dimly; but memory soon returned +and he answered clearly, telling of such a castle as Morano had not +dreamed; and the eyes of the fat man bulged as he rode beside him, +growing rounder and rounder as they rode. + +They came by sunset to that wood of firs in which Rodriguez had rested. +In the midst of the wood they halted and tethered their horses to +trees; they tied blankets to branches and made an encampment; and in +the midst of it they made a fire, at first, with pine-needles and the +dead lower twigs and then with great logs. And there they feasted +together, all seven, around the fire. And when the feast was over and +the great logs burning well, and red sparks went up slowly towards the +silver stars, Morano turned to the prisoner seated beside him and "Tell +the senors," he said, "of my master's castle." + +And in the silence, that was rather lulled than broken by the +whispering wind from the snow that sighed through the wood, the captive +slowly lifted up his head and spoke in his queer accent. + +"Senors, in Aragon, across the Ebro, are many goodly towers." And as he +spoke they all leaned forward to listen, dark faces bright with +firelight. "On the Ebro's southern bank stands," he went on, "my home." + +He told of strange rocks rising from the Ebro; of buttresses built +among them in unremembered times; of the great towers lifting up in +multitudes from the buttresses; and of the mighty wall, windowless +until it came to incredible heights, where the windows shone all safe +from any ladder of war. + +At first they felt in his story his pride in his lost home, and +wondered, when he told of the height of his towers, how much he added +in pride. And then the force of that story gripped them all and they +doubted never a battlement, but each man's fancy saw between firelight +and starlight every tower clear in the air. And at great height upon +those marvellous towers the turrets of arches were; queer carvings +grinned down from above inaccessible windows; and the towers gathered +in light from the lonely air where nothing stood but they, and flashed +it far over Aragon; and the Ebro floated by them always new, always +amazed by their beauty. + +He spoke to the six listeners on the lonely mountain, slowly, +remembering mournfully; and never a story that Romance has known and +told of castles in Spain has held men more than he held his listeners, +while the sparks flew up toward the peaks of the Pyrenees and did not +reach to them but failed in the night, giving place to the white stars. + +And when he faltered through sorrow, or memory weakening, Morano +always, watching with glittering eyes, would touch his arm, sitting +beside him, and ask some question, and the captive would answer the +question and so talk sadly on. + +He told of the upper terraces, where heliotrope and aloe and oleander +took sunlight far above their native earth: and though but rare winds +carried the butterflies there, such as came to those fragrant terraces +lingered for ever. + +And after a while he spoke on carelessly, and Morano's questions ended, +and none of the men in the firelight said a word; but he spoke on +uninterrupted, holding them as by a spell, with his eyes fixed far away +on black crags of the Pyrenees, telling of his great towers: almost it +might have seemed he was speaking of mountains. And when the fire was +only a deep red glow and white ash showed all round it, and he ceased +speaking, having told of a castle marvellous even amongst the towers of +Spain: all sitting round the embers felt sad with his sadness, for his +sad voice drifted into their very spirits as white mists enter houses, +and all were glad when Rodriguez said to him that one of his ten tall +towers the captive should keep and should live in it for ever. And the +sad man thanked him sadly and showed no joy. + +When the tale of the castle and those great towers was done, the wind +that blew from the snow touched all the hearers; they had seemed to be +away by the bank of the Ebro in the heat and light of Spain, and now +the vast night stripped them and the peaks seemed to close round on +them. They wrapped themselves in blankets and lay down in their +shelters. For a while they heard the wind waving branches and the thump +of a horse's hoof restless at night; then they all slept except one +that guarded the captive, and the captive himself who long lay thinking +and thinking. + +Dawn stole through the wood and waked none of the sleepers; the birds +all shouted at them, still they slept on; and then the captive's guard +wakened Morano and he stirred up the sparks of the fire and cooked, and +they breakfasted late. And soon they left the wood and faced the bleak +slope, all of them going on foot and leading their horses. + +And the track crawled on till it came to the scorn of the peaks, +winding over a shoulder of the Pyrenees, where the peaks gaze cold and +contemptuous away from the things of man. + +In the presence of those that bore them company Rodriguez and Morano +felt none of the deadly majesty of those peaks that regard so awfully +over the solitudes. They passed through them telling cheerfully of wars +the four knights had known: and descended and came by sunset to the +lower edge of the snow. They pushed on a little farther and then +camped; and with branches from the last camp that they had heaped on +their horses they made another great fire and, huddling round it in the +blankets that they had brought, found warmth even there so far from the +hearths of men. + +And dawn and the cold woke them all on that treeless slope by barely +warm embers. Morano cooked again and they ate in silence. And then the +four knights rose sadly and one bowed and told Rodriguez how they must +now go back to their own country. And grief seized on Rodriguez at his +words, seeing that he was to lose four old friends at once and perhaps +for ever, for when men have fought under the same banner in war they +become old friends on that morning. + +"Senors," said Rodriguez, "we may never meet again!" + +And the other looked back to the peaks beyond which the far lands lay, +and made a gesture with his hands. + +"Senor, at least," said Rodriguez, "let us camp once more together." + +And even Morano babbled a supplication. + +"Methinks, senor," he answered, "we are already across the frontier, +and when we men of the sword cross frontiers misunderstandings arise, +so that it is our custom never to pass across them save when we push +the frontier with us, adding the lands over which we march to those of +our liege lord." + +"Senors," said Rodriguez, "the whole mountain is the frontier. Come +with us one day further." But they would not stay. + +All the good things that could be carried they loaded on to the three +horses whose heads were turned towards Spain; then turned, all four, +and said farewell to the three. And long looked each in the face of +Rodriguez as he took his hand in fare well, for they had fought under +the same banner and, as wayfaring was in those days, it was not likely +that they would ever meet again. They turned and went with their horses +back towards the land they had fought for. + +Rodriguez and his captive and Morano went sadly down the mountain. They +came to the fir woods, and rested, and Morano cooked their dinner. And +after a while they were able to ride their horses. + +They came to the foot of the mountains, and rode on past the Inn of the +World's End. They camped in the open; and all night long Rodriguez or +Morano guarded the captive. + +For two days and part of the third they followed their old course, +catching sight again and again of the river Segre; and then they turned +further west ward to come to Aragon further up the Ebro. All the way +they avoided houses and camped in the open, for they kept their captive +to themselves: and they slept warm with their ample store of blankets. +And all the while the captive seemed morose or ill at ease, speaking +seldom and, when he did, in nervous jerks. + +Morano, as they rode, or by the camp fire at evening, still questioned +him now and then about his castle; and sometimes he almost seemed to +contradict himself, but in so vast a castle may have been many styles +of architecture, and it was difficult to trace a contradiction among +all those towers and turrets. His name was Don +Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle on-Ebro. + +One night while all three sat and gazed at the camp-fire as men will, +when the chilly stars are still and the merry flames are leaping, +Rodriguez, seeking to cheer his captive's mood, told him some of his +strange adventures. The captive listened with his sombre air. But when +Rodriguez told how they woke on the mountain after their journey to the +sun; and the sun was shining on their faces in the open, but the +magician and his whole house were gone; then there came another look +into Alvidar's eyes. And Rodriguez ended his tale and silence fell, +broken only by Morano saying across the fire, "It is true," and the +captive's thoughtful eyes gazed into the darkness. And then he also +spoke. + +"Senor," he said, "near to my rose-pink castle which looks into the +Ebro dwells a magician also." + +"Is it so?" said Rodriguez. + +"Indeed so, senor," said Don Alvidar. "He is my enemy but dwells in awe +of me, and so durst never molest me except by minor wonders." + +"How know you that he is a magician?" said Rodriguez. + +"By those wonders," answered his captive. "He afflicts small dogs and +my poultry. And he wears a thin, high hat: his beard is also +extraordinary." + +"Long?" said Morano. + +"Green," answered Don Alvidar. + +"Is he very near the castle?" said Rodriguez and Morano together. + +"Too near," said Don Alvidar. + +"Is his house wonderful?" Rodriguez asked. + +"It is a common house," was the answer. "A mean, long house of one +story. The walls are white and it is well thatched. The windows are +painted green; there are two doors in it and by one of them grows a +rose tree." + +"A rose tree?" exclaimed Rodriguez. + +"It seemed a rose tree," said Don Alvidar. + +"A captive lady chained to the wall perhaps, changed by magic," +suggested Morano. + +"Perhaps," said Don Alvidar. + +"A strange house for a magician," said Rodriguez, for it sounded like +any small farmhouse in Spain. + +"He much affects mortal ways," replied Don Alvidar. + +Little more was then said, the fire being low: and Rodriguez lay down +to sleep while Morano guarded the captive. + +And the day after that they came to Aragon, and in one day more they +were across the Ebro; and then they rode west for a day along its +southern bank looking all the while as they rode for Rodriguez' castle. +And more and more silent and aloof, as they rode, grew Don +Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle-on-Ebro. + +And just before sunset a cry broke from the captive. "He has taken it!" +he said. And he pointed to just such a house as he had described, a +jolly Spanish farmhouse with white walls and thatch and green shutters, +and a rose tree by one of the doors just as he had told. + +"The magician's house. But the castle is gone," he said. + +Rodriguez looked at his face and saw real alarm in it. He said nothing +but rode on in haste, a dim hope in his mind that explanations at the +white cottage might do something for his lost castle. + +And when the hooves were heard a woman came out of the cottage door by +the rose tree leading a small child by the hand. And the captive called +to the woman, "Maria, we are lost. And I gave my great castle with +rose-pink towers that stood just here as ransom to this senor for my +life. But now, alas, I see that that magician who dwelt in the house +where you are now has taken it whither we know not." + +"Yes, Pedro," said the woman, "he took it yesterday." And she turned +blue eyes upon Rodriguez. + +And then Morano would be silent no longer. He had thought vaguely for +some days and intensely for the last few hundreds yards, and now he +blurted out the thoughts that boiled in him. + +"Master," he shouted, "he has sold his cattle and bought this raiment +of his, and that helmet that you opened up for him, and never had any +castle on the Ebro with any towers to it, and never knew any magician, +but lived in this house himself, and now your castle is gone, master, +and as for his life ..." + +"Be silent a moment, Morano," said Rodriguez, and he turned to the +woman whose eyes were on him still. + +"Was there a castle in this place?" he said. + +"Yes, senor. I swear it," she said. "And my husband, though a poor man, +always spoke the truth." + +"She lies," said Morano, and Rodriguez silenced him with a gesture. + +"I will get neighbours who will swear it too," she said. + +"A lousy neighbourhood," said Morano. + +Again Rodriguez silenced him. And then the child spoke in a frightened +voice, holding up a small cross that it had been taught to revere. "I +swear it too," it said. + +Rodriguez heaved a sigh and turned away. "Master," Morano cried in +pained astonishment, "you will not believe their swearings." + +"The child swore by the cross," he answered. + +"But, master!" Morano exclaimed. + +But Rodriguez would say no more. And they rode away aimless in silence. + +Galloping hooves were heard and Pedro was there. He had come to give up +his horse. He gave its reins to the scowling Morano but Rodriguez said +never a word. Then he ran round and kissed Rodriguez' hand, who still +was silent, for his hopes were lost with the castle; but he nodded his +head and so parted for ever from the man whom his wife called Pedro, +who called himself Don Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle-on-Ebro. + + + + +THE TENTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME BACK TO LOWLIGHT + + +"Master," Morano said. But Rodriguez rode ahead and would not speak. + +They were riding vaguely southward. They had ample provisions on the +horse that Morano led, as well as blankets, which gave them comfort at +night. That night they both got the sleep they needed, now that there +was no captive to guard. All the next day they rode slowly in the April +weather by roads that wandered among tended fields; but a little way +off from the fields there shone low hills in the sunlight, so wild, so +free of man, that Rodriguez remembering them in later years, wondered +if their wild shrubs just hid the frontiers of fairyland. + +For two days they rode by the edge of unguessable regions. Had Pan +piped there no one had marvelled, nor though fauns had scurried past +sheltering clumps of azaleas. In the twilight no tiny queens had court +within rings of toadstools: yet almost, almost they appeared. + +And on the third day all at once they came to a road they knew. It was +the road by which they had ridden when Rodriguez still had his dream, +the way from Shadow Valley to the Ebro. And so they turned into the +road they knew, as wanderers always will; and, still without aim or +plan, they faced towards Shadow Valley. And in the evening of the day +that followed that, as they looked about for a camping-ground, there +came in sight the village on the hill which Rodriguez knew to be fifty +miles from the forest: it was the village in which they had rested the +first night after leaving Shadow Valley. They did not camp but went on +to the village and knocked at the door of the inn. Habit guides us all +at times, even kings are the slaves of it (though in their presence it +takes the prouder name of precedent); and here were two wanderers +without any plans at all; they were therefore defenceless in the grip +of habit and, seeing an inn they knew, they loitered up to it. Mine +host came again to the door. He cheerfully asked Rodriguez how he had +fared on his journey, but Rodriguez would say nothing. He asked for +lodging for himself and Morano and stabling for the horses: he ate and +slept and paid his due, and in the morning was gone. + +Whatever impulses guided Rodriguez as he rode and Morano followed, he +knew not what they were or even that there could be any. He followed +the road without hope and only travelled to change his camping-grounds. +And that night he was half-way between the village and Shadow Valley. + +Morano never spoke, for he saw that his master's disappointment was +still raw; but it pleased him to notice, as he had done all day, that +they were heading for the great forest. He cooked their evening meal in +their camp by the wayside and they both ate it in silence. For awhile +Rodriguez sat and gazed at the might-have-beens in the camp-fire: and +when these began to be hidden by white ash he went to his blankets and +slept. And Morano went quietly about the little camp, doing all that +needed to be done, with never a word. When the horses were seen to and +fed, when the knives were cleaned, when everything was ready for the +start next morning, Morano went to his blankets and slept too. And in +the morning again they wandered on. + +That evening they saw the low gold rays of the sun enchanting the tops +of a forest. It almost surprised Rodriguez, travelling without an aim, +to recognise Shadow Valley. They quickened their slow pace and, before +twilight faded, they were under the great oaks; but the last of the +twilight could not pierce the dimness of Shadow Valley, and it seemed +as if night had entered the forest with them. + +They chose a camping-ground as well as they could in the darkness and +Morano tied the horses to trees a little way off from the camp. Then he +returned to Rodriguez and tied a blanket to the windward side of two +trees to make a kind of bedroom for his master, for they had all the +blankets they needed. And when this was done he set the emblem and +banner of camps, anywhere all over the world in any time, for he +gathered sticks and branches and lit a camp-fire. The first red flames +went up and waved and proclaimed a camp: the light made a little +circle, shadows ran away to the forest, and the circle of light on the +ground and on the trees that stood round it became for that one night +home. + +They heard the horses stamp as they always did in the early part of the +night; and then Morano went to give them their fodder. Rodriguez sat +and gazed into the fire, his mind as full of thoughts as the fire was +full of pictures: one by one the pictures in the fire fell in; and all +his thoughts led nowhere. + +He heard Morano running back the thirty or forty yards he had gone from +the camp-fire "Master," Morano said, "the three horses are gone." + +"Gone?" said Rodriguez. There was little more to say; it was too dark +to track them and he knew that to find three horses in Shadow Valley +was a task that might take years. And after more thought than might +seem to have been needed he said; "We must go on foot." + +"Have we far to go, master?" said Morano, for the first time daring to +question him since they left the cottage in Spain. + +"I have nowhere to go," said Rodriguez. His head was downcast as he sat +by the fire: Morano stood and looked at him unhappily, full of a +sympathy that he found no words to express. A light wind slipped +through the branches and everything else was still. It was some while +before he lifted his head; and then he saw before him on the other side +of the fire, standing with folded arms, the man in the brown leather +jacket. + +"Nowhere to go!" said he. "Who needs go anywhere from Shadow Valley?" + +Rodriguez stared at him. "But I can't stay here!" he said. + +"There is no fairer forest known to man," said the other. "I know many +songs that prove it." + +Rodriguez made no answer but dropped his eyes, gazing with listless +glance once more at the ground. "Come, senor," said the man in the +leather jacket. "None are unhappy in Shadow Valley." + +"Who are you?" said Rodriguez. Both he and Morano were gazing curiously +at the man whom they had saved three weeks ago from the noose. + +"Your friend," answered the stranger. + +"No friend can help me," said Rodriguez. + +"Senor," said the stranger across the fire, still standing with folded +arms, "I remain under an obligation to no man. If you have an enemy or +love a lady, and if they dwell within a hundred miles, either shall be +before you within a week." + +Rodriguez shook his head, and silence fell by the camp-fire. And after +awhile Rodriguez, who was accustomed to dismiss a subject when it was +ended, saw the stranger's eyes on him yet, still waiting for him to say +more. And those clear blue eyes seemed to do more than wait, seemed +almost to command, till they overcame Rodriguez' will and he obeyed and +said, although he could feel each word struggling to stay unuttered, +"Senor, I went to the wars to win a castle and a piece of land thereby; +and might perchance have wed and ended my wanderings, with those of my +servant here; but the wars are over and no castle is won." + +And the stranger saw by his face in the firelight, and knew from the +tones of his voice in the still night, the trouble that his words had +not expressed. + +"I remain under an obligation to no man," said the stranger. "Be at +this place in four weeks' time, and you shall have a castle as large as +any that men win by war, and a goodly park thereby." + +"Your castle, master!" said Morano delighted, whose only thought up to +then was as to who had got his horses. But Rodriguez only stared: and +the stranger said no more but turned on his heel. And then Rodriguez +awoke out of his silence and wonder. "But where?" he said. "What +castle?" + +"That you will see," said the stranger. + +"But, but how ..." said Rodriguez. What he meant was, "How can I +believe you?" but he did not put it in words. + +"My word was never broken," said the other. And that is a good boast to +make, for those of us who can make it; if we need boast at all. + +"Whose word?" said Rodriguez, looking him in the eyes. + +The smoke from the fire between them was thickening greyly as though +something had been cast on it. "The word," he said, "of the King of +Shadow Valley." + +Rodriguez gazing through the increasing smoke saw not to the other +side. He rose and walked round the fire, but the strange man was gone. + +Rodriguez came back to his place by the fire and sat long there in +silence. Morano was bubbling over to speak, but respected his master's +silence: for Rodriguez was gazing into the deeps of the fire seeing +pictures there that were brighter than any that he had known. They were +so clear now that they seemed almost true. He saw Serafina's face there +looking full at him. He watched it long until other pictures hid it, +visions that had no meaning for Rodriguez. And not till then he spoke. +And when he spoke his face was almost smiling. + +"Well, Morano," he said, "have we come by that castle at last?" + +"That man does not lie, master," he answered: and his eyes were +glittering with shrewd conviction. + +"What shall we do then?" said Rodriguez. + +"Let us go to some village, master," said Morano, "until the time he +said." + +"What village?" Rodriguez asked. + +"I know not, master," answered Morano, his face a puzzle of innocence +and wonder; and Rodriguez fell back into thought again. And the dancing +flames calmed down to a deep, quiet glow; and soon Rodriguez stepped +back a yard or two from the fire to where Morano had prepared his bed; +and, watching the fire still, and turning over thoughts that flashed +and changed as fast as the embers, he went to wonderful dreams that +were no more strange or elusive than that valley's wonderful king. + +When he spoke in the morning the camp-fire was newly lit and there was +a smell of bacon; and Morano, out of breath and puzzled, was calling to +him. + +"Master," he said, "I was mistaken about those horses." + +"Mistaken?" said Rodriguez. + +"They were just as I left them, master, all tied to the tree with my +knots." + +Rodriguez left it at that. Morano could make mistakes and the forest +was full of wonders: anything might happen. "We will ride," he said. + +Morano's breakfast was as good as ever; and, when he had packed up +those few belongings that make a dwelling-place of any chance spot in +the wilderness, they mounted the horses, which were surely there, and +rode away through sunlight and green leaves. They rode slow, for the +branches were low over the path, and whoever canters in a forest and +closes his eyes against a branch has to consider whether he will open +them to be whipped by the next branch or close them till he bumps his +head into a tree. And it suited Rodriguez to loiter, for he thought +thus to meet the King of Shadow Valley again or his green bowmen and +learn the answers to innumerable questions about his castle which were +wandering through his mind. + +They ate and slept at noon in the forest's glittering greenness. + +They passed afterwards by the old house in the wood, in which the +bowmen feasted, for they followed the track that they had taken before. +They knocked loud on the door as they passed but the house was empty. +They heard the sound of a multitude felling trees, but whenever they +approached the sound of chopping ceased. Again and again they left the +track and rode towards the sound of chopping, and every time the +chopping died away just as they drew close. They saw many a tree half +felled, but never a green bowman. And at last they left it as one of +the wonders of the forest and returned to the track lest they lose it, +for the track was more important to them than curiosity, and evening +had come and was filling the forest with dimness, and shadows stealing +across the track were beginning to hide it away. In the distance they +heard the invisible woodmen chopping. + +And then they camped again and lit their fire; and night came down and +the two wanderers slept. + +The nightingale sang until he woke the cuckoo: and the cuckoo filled +the leafy air so full of his two limpid notes that the dreams of +Rodriguez heard them and went away, back over their border to +dreamland. Rodriguez awoke Morano, who lit his fire: and soon they had +struck their camp and were riding on. + +By noon they saw that if they hurried on they could come to Lowlight by +nightfall. But this was not Rodriguez' plan, for he had planned to ride +into Lowlight, as he had done once before, at the hour when Serafina +sat in her balcony in the cool of the evening, as Spanish ladies in +those days sometimes did. So they tarried long by their resting-place +at noon and then rode slowly on. And when they camped that night they +were still in the forest. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez over the camp-fire, "tomorrow brings me to +Lowlight." + +"Aye, master," said Morano, "we shall be there tomorrow." + +"That senor with whom I had a meeting there," said Rodriguez, "he ..." + +"He loves me not," said Morano. + +"He would surely kill you," replied Rodriguez. + +Morano looked sideways at his frying-pan. + +"It would therefore be better," continued Rodriguez, "that you should +stay in this camp while I give such greetings of ceremony in Lowlight +as courtesy demands." + +"I will stay, master," said Morano. + +Rodriguez was glad that this was settled, for he felt that to follow +his dreams of so many nights to that balconied house in Lowlight with +Morano would be no better than visiting a house accompanied by a dog +that had bitten one of the family. + +"I will stay," repeated Morano. "But, master ..." The fat man's eyes +were all supplication. + +"Yes?" said Rodriguez. + +"Leave me your mandolin," implored Morano. + +"My mandolin?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "that senor who likes my fat body so ill he +would kill me, he ..." + +"Well?" said Rodriguez, for Morano was hesitating. + +"He likes your mandolin no better, master." + +Rodriguez resented a slight to his mandolin as much as a slight to his +sword, but he smiled as he looked at Morano's anxious face. + +"He would kill you for your mandolin," Morano went on eagerly, "as he +would kill me for my frying-pan." + +And at the mention of that frying-pan Rodriguez frowned, although it +had given him many a good meal since the night it offended in Lowlight. +And he would sooner have gone to the wars without a sword than under +the balcony of his heart's desire without a mandolin. + +So Rodriguez would hear no more of Morano's request; and soon he left +the fire and went to lie down; but Morano sighed and sat gazing on into +the embers unhappily; while thoughts plodded slow through his mind, +leading to nothing. Late that night he threw fresh logs on the +camp-fire, so that when they awoke there was still fire in the embers +And when they had eaten their breakfast Rodriguez said farewell to +Morano, saying that he had business in Lowlight that might keep him a +few days. But Morano said not farewell then, for he would follow his +master as far as the midday halt to cook his next meal. And when noon +came they were beyond the forest. + +Once more Morano cooked bacon. Then while Rodriguez slept Morano took +his cloak and did all that could be done by brushing and smoothing to +give back to it that air that it some time had, before it had flapped +upon so many winds and wrapped Rodriguez on such various beds, and met +the vicissitudes that make this story. + +For the plume he could do little. + +And his master awoke, late in the afternoon, and went to his horse and +gave Morano his orders. He was to go back with two of the horses to +their last camp in the forest and take with him all their kit except +one blanket and make himself comfortable there and wait till Rodriguez +came. + +And then Rodriguez rode slowly away, and Morano stood gazing mournfully +and warningly at the mandolin; and the warnings were not lost upon +Rodriguez, though he would never admit that he saw in Morano's staring +eyes any wise hint that he heeded. + +And Morano sighed, and went and untethered his horses; and soon he was +riding lonely back to the forest. And Rodriguez taking the other way +saw at once the towers of Lowlight. + +Does my reader think that he then set spurs to his horse, galloping +towards that house about whose balcony his dreams flew every night? No, +it was far from evening; far yet from the colour and calm in which the +light with never a whisper says farewell to Earth, but with a gesture +that the horizon hides takes silent leave of the fields on which she +has danced with joy; far yet from the hour that shone for Serafina like +a great halo round her and round her mother's house. + +We cannot believe that one hour more than another shone upon Serafina, +or that the dim end of the evening was only hers: but these are the +Chronicles of Rodriguez, who of all the things that befell him +treasured most his memory of Serafina in the twilight, and who held +that this hour was hers as much as her raiment and her balcony: such +therefore it is in these chronicles. + +And so he loitered, waiting for the slow sun to set: and when at last a +tint on the walls of Lowlight came with the magic of Earth's most faery +hour he rode in slowly not perhaps wholly unwitting, for all his +anxious thoughts of Serafina, that a little air of romance from the +Spring and the evening followed this lonely rider. + +From some way off he saw that balcony that had drawn him back from the +other side of the far Pyrenees. Sometimes he knew that it drew him and +mostly he knew it not; yet always that curved balcony brought him +nearer, ever since he turned from the field of the false Don Alvidar: +the balcony held him with invisible threads, such as those with which +Earth draws in the birds at evening. And there was Serafina in her +balcony. + +When Rodriguez saw Serafina sitting there in the twilight, just as he +had often dreamed, he looked no more but lowered his head to the +withered rose that he carried now in his hand, the rose that he had +found by that very balcony under another moon. And, gazing still at the +rose, he rode on under the balcony, and passed it, until his hoof-beats +were heard no more in Lowlight and he and his horse were one dim shape +between the night and the twilight. And still he held on. + +He knew not yet, but only guessed, who had thrown that rose from the +balcony on the night when he slept on the dust: he knew not who it was +that he fought on the same night, and dared not guess what that unknown +hidalgo might be to Serafina. He had no claim to more from that house, +which once gave him so cold a welcome, than thus to ride by it in +silence. And he knew as he rode that the cloak and the plume that he +wore scarce seemed the same as those that had floated by when more than +a month ago he had ridden past that balcony; and the withered rose that +he carried added one more note of autumn. And yet he hoped. + +And so he rode into twilight and was hid from the sight of the village, +a worn, pathetic figure, trusting vaguely to vague powers of good +fortune that govern all men, but that favour youth. + +And, sure enough, it was not yet wholly moonlight when cantering hooves +came down the road behind him. It was once more that young hidalgo. And +as soon as he drew rein beside Rodriguez both reached out merry hands +as though their former meeting had been some errand of joy. And as +Rodriguez looked him in the eyes, while the two men leaned over +clasping hands, in light still clear though faded, he could not doubt +Serafina was his sister. + +"Senor," said his old enemy, "will you tarry with us, in our house a +few days, if your journey is not urgent?" + +Rodriguez gasped for joy; for the messenger from Lowlight, the +certainty that here was no rival, the summons to the house of his +dreams' pilgrimage, came all together: his hand still clasped the +stranger's. Yet he answered with the due ceremony that that age and +land demanded: then they turned and rode together towards Lowlight. And +first the young men told each other their names; and the stranger told +how he dwelt with his mother and sister in the house that Rodriguez +knew, and his name was Don Alderon of the Valley of Dawnlight. His +house had dwelt in that valley since times out of knowledge; but then +the Moors had come and his forbears had fled to Lowlight: the Moors +were gone now, for which Saint Michael and all fighting Saints be +praised; but there were certain difficulties about his right to the +Valley of Dawnlight. So they dwelt in Lowlight still. + +And Rodriguez told of the war that there was beyond the Pyrenees and +how the just cause had won, but little more than that he was able to +tell, for he knew scarce more of the cause for which he had fought than +History knows of it, who chooses her incidents and seems to forget so +much. And as they talked they came to the house with the balcony. A +waning moon cast light over it that was now no longer twilight; but was +the light of wild things of the woods, and birds of prey, and men in +mountains outlawed by the King, and magic, and mystery, and the quests +of love. Serafina had left her place: lights gleamed now in the +windows. And when the door was opened the hall seemed to Rodriguez so +much less hugely hollow, so much less full of ominous whispered echoes, +that his courage rose high as he went through it with Alderon, and they +entered the room together that they had entered together before. In the +long room beyond many candles he saw Dona Serafina and her mother +rising up to greet him. Neither the ceremonies of that age nor +Rodriguez' natural calm would have entirely concealed his emotion had +not his face been hidden as he bowed. They spoke to him; they asked him +of his travels; Rodriguez answered with effort. He saw by their manner +that Don Alderon must have explained much in his favour. He had this +time, to cheer him, a very different greeting; and yet he felt little +more at ease than when he had stood there late at night before, with +one eye bandaged and wearing only one shoe, suspected of he knew not +what brawling and violence. + +It was not until Dona Mirana, the mother of Serafina, asked him to play +to them on his mandolin that Rodriguez' ease returned. He bowed then +and brought round his mandolin, which had been slung behind him; and +knew a triumphant champion was by him now, one old in the ways of love +and wise in the sorrows of man, a slender but potent voice, +well-skilled to tell what there were not words to say; a voice +unhindered by language, unlimited even by thought, whose universal +meaning was heard and understood, sometimes perhaps by wandering +spirits of light, beaten far by some evil thought for their heavenly +courses and passing close along the coasts of Earth. + +And Rodriguez played no tune he had ever known, nor any airs that he +had heard men play in lanes in Andalusia; but he told of things that he +knew not, of sadnesses that he had scarcely felt and undreamed +exaltations. It was the hour of need, and the mandolin knew. + +And when all was told that the mandolin can tell of whatever is +wistfulest in the spirit of man, a mood of merriment entered its old +curved sides and there came from its hollows a measure such as they +dance to when laughter goes over the greens in Spain. Never a song sang +Rodriguez; the mandolin said all. + +And what message did Serafina receive from those notes that were +strange even to Rodriguez? Were they not stranger to her? I have said +that spirits blown far out of their course and nearing the mundane +coasts hear mortal music sometimes, and hearing understand. And if they +cannot understand those snatches of song, all about mortal things and +human needs, that are wafted rarely to them by chance passions, how +much more surely a young mortal heart, so near Rodriguez, heard what he +would say and understood the message however strange. + +When Dona Mirana and her daughter rose, exchanging their little +curtsies for the low bows of Rodriguez, and so retired for the night, +the long room seemed to Rodriguez now empty of threatening omens. The +great portraits that the moon had lit, and that had frowned at him in +the moonlight when he came here before, frowned at him now no longer. +The anger that he had known to lurk in the darkness on pictured faces +of dead generations had gone with the gloom that it haunted: they were +all passionless now in the quiet light of the candles. He looked again +at the portraits eye to eye, remembering looks they had given him in +the moonlight, and all looked back at him with ages of apathy; and he +knew that whatever glimmer of former selves there lurks about portraits +of the dead and gone was thinking only of their own past days in years +remote from Rodriguez. Whether their anger had flashed for a moment +over the ages on that night a month from now, or whether it was only +the moonlight, he never knew. Their spirits were back now surely +amongst their own days, whence they deigned not to look on the days +that make these chronicles. + +Not till then did Rodriguez admit, or even know, that he had not eaten +since his noonday meal. But now he admitted this to Don Alderon's +questions; and Don Alderon led him to another chamber and there regaled +him with all the hospitality for which that time was famous. And when +Rodriguez had eaten, Don Alderon sent for wine, and the butler brought +it in an olden flagon, dark wine of a precious vintage: and soon the +two young men were drinking together and talking of the wickedness of +the Moors. And while they talked the night grew late and chilly and +still, and the hour came when moths are fewer and young men think of +bed. Then Don Alderon showed his guest to an upper room, a long room +dim with red hangings, and carvings in walnut and oak, which the one +candle he carried barely lit but only set queer shadows scampering. And +here he left Rodriguez, who was soon in bed, with the great red +hangings round him. And awhile he wondered at the huge silence of the +house all round him, with never a murmur, never an echo, never a sigh; +for he missed the passing of winds, branches waving, the stirring of +small beasts, birds of prey calling, and the hundred sounds of the +night; but soon through the silence came sleep. + +He did not need to dream, for here in the home of Serafina he had come +to his dreams' end. + +Another day shone on another scene; for the sunlight that went in a +narrow stream of gold and silver between the huge red curtains had sent +away the shadows that had stalked overnight through the room, and had +scattered the eeriness that had lurked on the far side of furniture, +and all the dimness was gone that the long red room had harboured. And +for a while Rodriguez did not know where he was; and for a while, when +he remembered, he could not believe it true. He dressed with care, +almost with fear, and preened his small moustachios, which at last had +grown again just when he would have despaired. Then he descended, and +found that he had slept late, though the three of that ancient house +were seated yet at the table, and Serafina all dressed in white seemed +to Rodriguez to be shining in rivalry with the morning. Ah dreams and +fancies of youth! + + + + +THE ELEVENTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE TURNED TO GARDENING AND HIS SWORD RESTED + + +These were the days that Rodriguez always remembered; and, side by side +with them, there lodged in his memory, and went down with them into his +latter years, the days and nights when he went through the Pyrenees and +walked when he would have slept but had to walk or freeze: and by some +queer rule that guides us he treasured them both in his memory, these +happy days in this garden and the frozen nights on the peaks. + +For Serafina showed Rodriguez the garden that behind the house ran +narrow and long to the wild. There were rocks with heliotrope pouring +over them and flowers peeping behind them, and great azaleas all in +triumphant bloom, and ropes of flowering creepers coming down from +trees, and oleanders, and a plant named popularly Joy of the South, and +small paths went along it edged with shells brought from the far sea. + +There was only one street in the village, and you did not go far among +the great azaleas before you lost sight of the gables; and you did not +go far before the small paths ended with their shells from the distant +sea, and there was the mistress of all gardeners facing you, Mother +Nature nursing her children, the things of the wild. She too had +azaleas and oleanders, but they stood more solitary in their greater +garden than those that grew in the garden of Dona Mirana; and she too +had little paths, only they were without borders and without end. Yet +looking from the long and narrow garden at the back of that house in +Lowlight to the wider garden that sweeps round the world, and is fenced +by Space from the garden in Venus and by Space from the garden in Mars, +you scarce saw any difference or noticed where they met: the solitary +azaleas beyond were gathered together by distance, and from Lowlight to +the horizon seemed all one garden in bloom. And afterwards, all his +years, whenever Rodriguez heard the name of Spain, spoken by loyal men, +it was thus that he thought of it, as he saw it now. + +And here he used to walk with Serafina when she tended flowers in the +cool of the morning or went at evening to water favourite blooms. And +Rodriguez would bring with him his mandolin, and sometimes he touched +it lightly or even sang, as they rested on some carved seat at the +garden's end, looking out towards shadowy shrubs on the shining hill, +but mostly he heard her speak of the things she loved, of what moths +flew to their garden, and which birds sang, and how the flowers grew. +Serafina sat no longer in her balcony but, disguising idleness by other +names, they loitered along those paths that the seashells narrowed; yet +there was a grace in their loitering such as we have not in our dances +now. And evening stealing in from the wild places, from darkening +azaleas upon distant hills, still found them in the garden, found +Rodriguez singing in idleness undisguised, or anxiously helping in some +trivial task, tying up some tendril that had gone awry, helping some +magnolia that the wind had wounded. Almost unnoticed by him the +sunlight would disappear, and the coloured blaze of the sunset, and +then the gloaming; till the colours of all the flowers queerly changed +and they shone with that curious glow which they wear in the dusk. They +returned then to the house, the garden behind them with its dim hushed +air of a secret, before them the candlelight like a different land. And +after the evening meal Alderon and Rodriguez would sit late together +discussing the future of the world, Rodriguez holding that it was +intended that the earth should be ruled by Spain, and Alderon fearing +it would all go to the Moors. + +Days passed thus. + +And then one evening Rodriguez was in the garden with Serafina; the +flowers, dim and pale and more mysterious than ever, poured out their +scent towards the coming night, luring huge hawk-moths from the far +dusk that was gathering about the garden, to hover before each bloom on +myriad wingbeats too rapid for human eye: another inch and the fairies +had peeped out from behind azaleas, yet both of these late loiterers +felt fairies were surely there: it seemed to be Nature's own most +secret hour, upon which man trespasses if he venture forth from his +house: an owl from his hidden haunt flew nearer the garden and uttered +a clear call once to remind Rodriguez of this: and Rodriguez did not +heed, but walked in silence. + +He had played his mandolin. It had uttered to the solemn hush of the +understanding evening all it was able to tell; and after that cry, +grown piteous with so many human longings, for it was an old mandolin, +Rodriguez felt there was nothing left for his poor words to say. So he +went dumb and mournful. + +Serafina would have heard him had he spoken, for her thoughts vibrated +yet with the voice of the mandolin, which had come to her hearing as an +ambassador from Rodriguez, but he found no words to match with the +mandolin's high mood. His eyes said, and his sighs told, what the +mandolin had uttered; but his tongue was silent. + +And then Serafina said, as he walked all heavy with silence past a +curving slope of dimly glowing azaleas, "You like flowers, senor?" + +"Senorita, I adore them," he replied. + +"Indeed?" said Dona Serafina. + +"Indeed I do," said Rodriguez. + +"And yet," asked Dona Serafina, "was it not a somewhat withered or +altogether faded flower that you carried, unless I fancied wrong, when +you rode past our balcony?" + +"It was indeed faded," said Rodriguez, "for the rose was some weeks +old." + +"One who loved flowers, I thought," said Serafina, "would perhaps care +more for them fresh." + +Half-dumb though Rodriguez was his shrewdness did not desert him. To +have said that he had the rose from Serafina would have been to claim +as though proven what was yet no more than a hope. + +"Senorita," he said, "I found the flower on holy ground." + +"I did not know," she said, "that you had travelled so far." + +"I found it here," he said, "under your balcony." + +"Perchance I let it fall," said she. "It was idle of me." + +"I guard it still," he said, and drew forth that worn brown rose. + +"It was idle of me," said Serafina. + +But then in that scented garden among the dim lights of late evening +the ghost of that rose introduced their spirits one to the other, so +that the listening flowers heard Rodriguez telling the story of his +heart, and, bending over the shell-bordered path, heard Serafina's +answer; and all they seemed to do was but to watch the evening, with +leaves uplifted in the hope of rain. + +Film after film of dusk dropped down from where twilight had been, like +an army of darkness slowly pitching their tents on ground that had been +lost to the children of light. Out of the wild lands all the owls flew +nearer: their long, clear cries and the huge hush between them warned +all those lands that this was not man's hour. And neither Rodriguez nor +Serafina heard them. + +In pale blue sky where none had thought to see it one smiling star +appeared. It was Venus watching lovers, as men of the crumbled +centuries had besought her to do, when they named her so long ago, +kneeling upon their hills with bended heads, and arms stretched out to +her sweet eternal scrutiny. Beneath her wandering rays as they danced +down to bless them Rodriguez and Serafina talked low in the sight of +the goddess, and their voices swayed through the flowers with whispers +and winds, not troubling the little wild creatures that steal out shy +in the dusk, and Nature forgave them for being abroad in that hour; +although, so near that a single azalea seemed to hide it, so near +seemed to beckon and whisper old Nature's eldest secret. + +When flowers glimmered and Venus smiled and all things else were dim, +they turned on one of those little paths hand in hand homeward. + +Dona Mirana glanced once at her daughter's eyes and said nothing. Don +Alderon renewed his talk with Rodriguez, giving reasons for his +apprehension of the conquest of the world by the Moors, which he had +thought of since last night; and Rodriguez agreed with all that Don +Alderon said, but understood little, being full of dreams that seemed +to dance on the further, side of the candlelight to a strange, new, +unheard tune that his heart was aware of. He gazed much at Serafina and +said little. + +He drank no wine that night with Don Alderon: what need had he of wine? +On wonderful journeys that my pen cannot follow, for all the swiftness +of the wing from which it came; on darting journeys outspeeding the +lithe swallow or that great wanderer the white-fronted goose, his young +thoughts raced by a myriad of golden evenings far down the future +years. And what of the days he saw? Did he see them truly? Enough that +he saw them in vision. Saw them as some lone shepherd on lifted downs +sees once go by with music a galleon out of the East, with windy sails, +and masts ablaze with pennants, and heroes in strange dress singing new +songs; and the galleon goes nameless by till the singing dies away. +What ship was it? Whither bound? Why there? Enough that he has seen it. +Thus do we glimpse the glory of rare days as we swing round the sun; +and youth is like some high headland from which to see. + +On the next day he spoke with Dona Mirano. There was little to say but +to observe the courtesies appropriate to this occasion, for Dona Mirana +and her daughter had spoken long together already; and of one thing he +could say little, and indeed was dumb when asked of it, and that was +the question of his home. And then he said that he had a castle; and +when Dona Mirana asked him where it was he said vaguely it was to the +North. He trusted the word of the King of Shadow Valley and so he spoke +of his castle as a man speaks the truth. And when she asked him of his +castle again, whether on rock or river or in leafy lands, he began to +describe how its ten towers stood, being builded of a rock that was +slightly pink, and how they glowed across a hundred fields, especially +at evening; and suddenly he ceased, perceiving all in a moment he was +speaking unwittingly in the words of Don Alvidar and describing to Dona +Mirana that rose-pink castle on Ebro. And Dona Mirana knew then that +there was some mystery about Rodriguez' home. + +She spoke kindly to Rodriguez, yet she neither gave her consent nor yet +withheld it, and he knew there was no immediate hope in her words. +Graceful as were his bows as he withdrew, he left with scarcely another +word to say. All day his castle hung over him like a cloud, not +nebulous and evanescent only, but brooding darkly, boding storms, such +as the orange blossoms dread. + +He walked again in the garden with Serafina, but Dona Mirana was never +far, and the glamour of the former evening, lit by one star, was driven +from the garden by his anxieties about that castle of which he could +not speak. Serafina asked him of his home. He would not parry her +question, and yet he could not tell her that all their future hung on +the promise of a man in an old leathern jacket calling himself a king. +So the mystery of his habitation deepened, spoiling the glamour of the +evening. He spoke, instead, of the forest, hoping she might know +something of that strange monarch to whom they dwelt so near; but she +glanced uneasily towards Shadow Valley and told him that none in +Lowlight went that way. Sorrow grew heavier round Rodriguez' heart at +this: believing in the promise of a man whose eyes he trusted he had +asked Serafina to marry him, and Serafina had said Yes; and now he +found she knew nothing of such a man, which seemed somehow to Rodriguez +to weaken his promise, and, worst of all, she feared the place where he +lived. He welcomed the approach of Dona Mirana, and all three returned +to the house. For the rest of that evening he spoke little; but he had +formed his project. + +When the two ladies retired Rodriguez, who had seemed tongue-tied for +many hours, turned to Don Alderon. His mother had told Don Alderon +nothing yet; for she was troubled by the mystery of Rodriguez' castle, +and would give him time to make it clear if he could; for there was +something about Rodriguez of which with many pages I have tried to +acquaint my reader but which was clear when first she saw him to Dona +Mirana. In fact she liked him at once, as I hope that perhaps by now my +reader may. He turned to Don Alderon, who was surprised to see the +vehemence with which his guest suddenly spoke after those hours of +silence, and Rodriguez told him the story of his love and the story of +both his castles, that which had vanished from the bank of the Ebro and +that which was promised him by the King of Shadow Valley. And often Don +Alderon interrupted. + +"Oh, Rodriguez," he said, "you are welcome to our ancient, unfortunate +house": and later he said, "I have met no man that had a prettier way +with the sword." + +But Rodriguez held on to the end, telling all he had to tell; and +especially that he was landless and penniless but for that one promise; +and as for the sword, he said, he was but as a child playing before the +sword of Don Alderon. And this Don Alderon said was in no wise so, +though there were a few cunning passes that he had learned, hoping that +the day might come for him to do God a service thereby by slaying some +of the Moors: and heartily he gave his consent and felicitation. But +this Rodriguez would not have: "Come with me," he said, "to the forest +to the place where I met this man, and if we find him not there we will +go to the house in which his bowmen feast and there have news of him, +and he shall show us the castle of his promise and, if it be such a +castle as you approve, then your consent shall be given, but if not ..." + +"Gladly indeed," said Don Alderon. "We will start tomorrow." + +And Rodriguez took his words literally, though his host had meant no +more than what we should call "one of these days," but Rodriguez was +being consumed with a great impatience. And so they arranged it, and +Don Alderon went to bed with a feeling, which is favourable to dreams, +that on the next day they went upon an adventure; for neither he nor +anyone in that village had entered Shadow Valley. + +Once more next morning Rodriguez walked with Serafina, with something +of the romance of the garden gone, for Dona Mirana walked there too; +and romance is like one of those sudden, wonderful colours that flash +for a moment out of a drop of dew; a passing shadow obscures them; and +ask another to see it, and the colour is not the same: move but a yard +and the ray of enchantment is gone. Dona Mirana saw the romance of that +garden, but she saw it from thirty years away; it was all different +what she saw, all changed from a certain day (for love was love in the +old days): and to Rodriguez and Serafina it seemed that she could not +see romance at all, and somehow that dimmed it. Almost their eyes +seemed to search amongst the azaleas for the romance of that other +evening. + +And then Rodriguez told Serafina that he was riding away with her +brother to see about the affairs of his castle, and that they would +return in a few days. Scarcely a hint he gave that those affairs might +not prosper, for he trusted the word of the King of Shadow Valley. His +confidence had returned: and soon, with swords at side and cloaks +floating brilliant on light winds of April, Rodriguez and Alderon rode +away together. + +Soon in the distance they saw Shadow Valley. And then Rodriguez +bethought him of Morano and of the foul wrong he committed against Don +Alderon with his frying-pan, and how he was there in the camp to which +he was bringing his friend. And so he said: "That vile knave Morano +still lives and insists on serving me." + +"If he be near," said Don Alderon, "I pray you to disarm him of his +frying-pan for the sake of my honour, which does not suffer me to be +stricken with culinary weapons, but only with the sword, the lance, or +even bolts of cannon or arquebuss ..." He was thinking of yet more +weapons when Rodriguez put spurs to his horse. "He is near," he said; +"I will ride on and disarm him." + +So Rodriguez came cantering into the forest while Don Alderon ambled a +mile or so behind him. + +And there he found his old camp and saw Morano, sitting upon the ground +by a small fire. Morano sprang up at once with joy in his eyes, his +face wreathed with questions, which he did not put into words for he +did not pry openly into his master's affairs. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "give me your frying-pan." + +"My frying-pan?" said Morano. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez. And when he held in his hand that blackened, +greasy utensil he told Morano, "That senor you met in Lowlight rides +with me." + +The cheerfulness faded out of Morano's face as light fades at sunset. +"Master," he said, "he will surely slay me now." + +"He will not slay you," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," Morano said, "he hopes for my fat carcase as much as men hope +for the unicorn, when they wear their bright green coats and hunt him +with dogs in Spring." I know not what legend Morano stored in his mind, +nor how much of it was true. "And when he finds me without my +frying-pan he will surely slay me." + +"That senor," said Rodriguez emphatically, "must not be hit with the +frying-pan." + +"That is a hard rule, master," said Morano. + +And Rodriguez was indignant, when he heard that, that anyone should +thus blaspheme against an obvious law of chivalry: while Morano's only +thought was upon the injustice of giving up the sweets of life for the +sake of a frying-pan. Thus they were at cross-purposes. And for some +while they stood silent, while Rodriguez hung the reins of his horse +over the broken branch of a tree. And then Don Alderon rode into the +wood. + +All then that was most pathetic in Morano's sense of injustice looked +out of his eyes as he turned them upon his master. But Don Alderon +scarcely glanced at all at Morano, even when he handed to him the reins +of his horse as he walked on towards Rodriguez. + +And there in that leafy place they rested all through the evening, for +they had not started so early upon their journey as travellers should. +Eight days had gone since Rodriguez had left that small camp to ride to +Lowlight, and to the apex of his life towards which all his days had +ascended; and in that time Morano had collected good store of wood and, +in little ways unthought of by dwellers in cities, had made the place +like such homes as wanderers find. Don Alderon was charmed with their +roof of towering greenness, and with the choirs of those which +inhabited it and which were now all coming home to sing. And at some +moment in the twilight, neither Rodriguez nor Alderon noticed when, +Morano repossessed himself of his frying-pan, unbidden by Rodriguez, +but acting on a certain tacit permission that there seemed to be in the +twilight or in the mood of the two young men as they sat by the fire. +And soon he was cooking once more, at a fire of his own, with something +of the air that you see upon a Field Marshal's face who has lost his +baton and found it again. Have you ever noticed it, reader? + +And when the meal was ready Morano served it in silence, moving +unobtrusively in the gloom of the wood; for he knew that he was +forgiven, yet not so openly that he wished to insist on his presence or +even to imply his possession of the weapon that fried the bacon. So, +like a dryad he moved from tree to tree, and like any fabulous creature +was gone again. And the two young men supped well, and sat on and on, +watching the sparks go up on innumerable journeys from the fire at +which they sat, to be lost to sight in huge wastes of blackness and +stars, lost to sight utterly, lost like the spirit of man to the gaze +of our wonder when we try to follow its journey beyond the hearths that +we know. + +All the next day they rode on through the forest, till they came to the +black circle of the old fire of their next camp. And here Rodriguez +halted on account of the attraction that one of his old camps seems to +have for a wanderer. It drew his feet towards it, this blackened +circle, this hearth that for one night made one spot in the wilderness +home. Don Alderon did not care whether they tarried or hurried; he +loved his journey through this leafy land; the cool night-breeze +slipping round the tree-trunks was new to him, and new was the +comradeship of the abundant stars; the quest itself was a joy to him; +with his fancy he built Rodriguez' mysterious castle no less +magnificently than did Don Alvidar. Sometimes they talked of the +castle, each of the young men picturing it as he saw it; but in the +warmth of the camp-fire after Morano slept they talked of more than +these chronicles can tell. + +In the morning they pressed on as fast as the forest's low boughs would +allow them. They passed somewhere near the great cottage in which the +bowmen feasted; but they held on, as they had decided after discussion +to do, for the last place in which Rodriguez had seen the King of +Shadow Valley, which was the place of his promise. And before any +dimness came even to the forest, or golden shafts down colonnades which +were before all cathedrals, they found the old camp that they sought, +which still had a clear flavour of magic for Morano on account of the +moth-like coming and going of his three horses after he had tied them +to that tree. And here they looked for the King of Shadow Valley; and +then Rodriguez called him; and then all three of them called him, +shouting "King of Shadow Valley" all together. No answer came: the +woods were without echo: nothing stirred but fallen leaves. But before +those miles of silence could depress them Rodriguez hit upon a simple +plan, which was that he and Alderon should search all round, far from +the track, while Morano stayed in the camp and shouted frequently, and +they would not go out of hearing of his voice: for Shadow Valley had a +reputation of being a bad forest for travellers to find their way +there; indeed, few ever attempted to. So they did as he said, he and +Alderon searching in different directions, while Morano remained in the +camp, lifting a large and melancholy voice. And though rumour said it +was hard to find the way when twenty yards from the track in Shadow +Valley, it did not say it was hard to find the green bowmen: and +Rodriguez, knowing that they guarded the forest as the shadows of trees +guard the coolness, was assured he would meet with some of them even +though he should miss their master. So he and Alderon searched till the +forest darkness came and only birds on high branches still had light; +and they never saw the King of Shadow Valley or any trace whatever of +any man. And Alderon first returned to the encampment; but Rodriguez +searched on into the night, searching and calling through the darkness, +and feeling, as every minute went by and every faint call of Morano, +that his castle was fading away, slipping past oak-tree and thorn-bush, +to take its place among the unpitying stars. And when he returned at +last from his useless search he found Morano standing by a good fire, +and the sight of it a little cheered Rodriguez, and the sight of the +firelight on Morano's face, and the homely comfort of the camp, for +everything is comparative. + +And over their supper Rodriguez and Alderon agreed that they had come +to a part of the forest too remote from the home of the King of Shadow +Valley, and decided to go the next day to the house of the green +bowmen: and before he slept Rodriguez felt once more that all was well +with his castle. + +Yet when the next day came they searched again, for Rodriguez +remembered how it was to this very place that the King of Shadow Valley +had bidden him come in four weeks, and though this period was not yet +accomplished, he felt, and Alderon fully agreed, they had waited long +enough: so they searched all the morning, and then fulfilled their +decision of overnight by riding for the great cottage Rodriguez knew. +All the way they met no one. And Rodriguez' gaiety came back as they +rode, for he and Don Alderon recognised more and more clearly that the +bowmen's great cottage was the place they should have gone at first. + +In early evening they were just at their journey's end; but barely had +they left the track that they had ridden the day before, barely taken +the smaller path that led after a few hundred yards to the cottage when +they found themselves stopped by huge chains that hung from tree to +tree. High into the trees went the chains above their heads where they +sat their horses, and a chain ran every six inches down to the very +ground: the road was well blocked. + +Rodriguez and Alderon hastily consulted; then, leaving the horses with +Morano, they followed the chains through dense forest to find a place +where they could get the horses through. Finding the chains go on and +on and on, and as evening was drawing in, the two friends divided, +Alderon going back and Rodriguez on, agreeing to meet again on the path +where Morano was. + +It was darkening when they met there, Rodriguez having found nothing +but that iron barrier going on from trunk to trunk, and Alderon having +found a great gateway of iron; but it was shut. Through the silent +shadows stealing abroad at evening the three men crashed their way on +foot, leading their horses, towards this gate; but their way was slow +and difficult for no path at all led up to it. It was dark when they +reached it and they saw the high gate in the night, a black barrier +among the trees where no one would wish to come, and in forest that +seemed to these three to be nearly impenetrable. And what astonished +Rodriguez most of all was that the chains had not been across the path +when he had feasted with the green bowmen. + +They stood there gazing, all three, at the dark locked gate, and then +they saw two shields that met in the midst of it, and Rodriguez mounted +his horse and stretched up to feel what device there was on the beaten +iron; and both the shields were blank. + +There they camped as well as men can when darkness has fallen before +they reach their camping-ground; and Morano lit a great fire before the +gate, and the smooth blank shields touching shoulders there up above +them shone on Rodriguez and Alderon in the firelight. For a while they +wondered at that strange gate that stood there dividing the wilderness; +and then sleep came. + +As soon as they woke they called loudly, but no one guarded that gate, +no step but theirs stirred in the forest. Then, leaving Morano in the +camp with its great gate that led nowhere, the two young men climbed up +by branches and chains, and were soon on the other side of the gate and +pressing on through the silence of the forest to find the cottage in +which Rodriguez had slept. And almost at once the green bowmen +appeared, ten of them with their bows, in front of Rodriguez and +Alderon. "Stop," said the ten green bowmen. When the bowmen said that, +there was nothing else to do. + +"What do you seek?" said the bowmen. + +"The King of Shadow Valley," answered Rodriguez. + +"He is not here," they said. + +"Where is he?" asked Rodriguez. + +"He is nowhere," said one, "when he does not wish to be seen." + +"Then show me the castle that he promised me," said Rodriguez. + +"We know nothing of any castle," said one of the bowmen, and they all +shook their heads. + +"No castle?" said Rodriguez. + +"No," they said. + +"Has the King of Shadow Valley no castle?" he asked, beginning now to +despair. + +"We know of none," they said. "He lives in the forest." + +Before Rodriguez quite despaired he asked each one if they knew not of +any castle of which their King was possessed; and each of them said +that there was no castle in all Shadow Valley. The ten still stood in +front of them with their bows: and Rodriguez turned away then indeed in +despair, and walked slowly back to the camp, and Alderon walked behind +him. In silence they reached their camp by the great gate that led +nowhere, and there Rodriguez sat down on a log beside the dwindling +fire, gazing at the grey ashes and thinking of his dead hopes. He had +not the heart to speak to Alderon, and the silence was unbroken by +Morano who, for all his loquacity, knew when his words were not +welcome. Don Alderon tried to break that melancholy silence, saying +that these ten bowmen did not know the whole world; but he could not +cheer Rodriguez. For, sitting there in dejection on his log, thinking +of all the assurance with which he had often spoken of his castle, +there was one more thing to trouble him than Don Alderon knew. And this +was that when the bowmen had appeared he had hung once more round his +neck that golden badge that was worked for him by the King of Shadow +Valley; and they must have seen it, and they had paid no heed to it +whatever: its magic was wholly departed. And one thing troubled him +that Rodriguez did not know, a very potent factor in human sorrow: he +had left in the morning so eagerly that he had had no breakfast, and +this he entirely forgot and knew not how much of his dejection came +from this cause, thinking that the loss of his castle was of itself +enough. + +So with downcast head he sat empty and hopeless, and the little camp +was silent. + +In this mournful atmosphere while no one spoke, and no one seemed to +watch, stood, when at last Rodriguez raised his head, with folded arms +before the gate to nowhere, the King of Shadow Valley. His face was +surly, as though the face of a ghost, called from important work among +asteroids needing his care, by the trivial legerdemain of some foolish +novice. Rodriguez, looking into those angry eyes, wholly forgot it was +he that had a grievance. The silence continued. And then the King of +Shadow Valley spoke. + +"When have I broken my word?" he said. + +Rodriguez did not know. The man was still looking at him, still +standing there with folded arms before the great gate, confronting him, +demanding some kind of answer: and Rodriguez had nothing to say. + +"I came because you promised me the castle," he said at last. + +"I did not bid you come here," the man with the folded arms answered. + +"I went where you bade me," said Rodriguez, "and you were not there." + +"In four weeks, I said," answered the King angrily. + +And then Alderon spoke. "Have you any castle for my friend?" he said. + +"No," said the King of Shadow Valley. + +"You promised him one," said Don Alderon. + +The King of Shadow Valley raised with his left hand a horn that hung +below his elbow by a green cord round his body. He made no answer to +Don Alderon, but put the horn against his lips and blew. They watched +him all three in silence, till the silence was broken by many men +moving swiftly through covert, and the green bowmen appeared. + +When seven or eight were there he turned and looked at them. "When have +I broken my word?" he said to his men. + +And they all answered him, "Never!" + +More broke into sight through the bushes. + +"Ask them" he said. And Rodriguez did not speak. + +"Ask them," he said again, "when I have broken my word." + +Still Rodriguez and Alderon said nothing. And the bowmen answered them. +"He has never broken his word," every bowman said. + +"You promised me a castle," said Rodriguez, seeing that man's fierce +eyes upon him still. + +"Then do as I bid you," answered the King of Shadow Valley; and he +turned round and touched the lock of the gates with some key that he +had. The gates moved open and the King went through. + +Don Alderon ran forward after him, and caught up with him as he strode +away, and spoke to him, and the King answered. Rodriguez did not hear +what they said, and never afterwards knew. These words he heard only, +from the King of Shadow Valley as he and Don Alderon parted: ".... and +therefore, senor, it were better for some holy man to do his blessed +work before we come." And the King of Shadow Valley passed into the +deeps of the wood. + +As the great gates were slowly swinging to, Don Alderon came back +thoughtfully. The gates clanged, clicked, and were shut again. The King +of Shadow Valley and all his bowmen were gone. + +Don Alderon went to his horse, and Rodriguez and Morano did the same, +drawn by the act of the only man of the three that seemed to have made +up his mind. Don Alderon led his horse back toward the path, and +Rodriguez followed with his. When they came to the path they mounted in +silence; and presently Morano followed them, with his blankets rolled +up in front of him on his horse and his frying-pan slung behind him. + +"Which way?" said Rodriguez. + +"Home," said Don Alderon. + +"But I cannot go to your home," said Rodriguez. + +"Come," said Don Alderon, as one whose plans were made. Rodriguez +without a home, without plans, without hope, went with Don Alderon as +thistledown goes with the warm wind. They rode through the forest till +it grew all so dim that only a faint tinge of greenness lay on the dark +leaves: above were patches of bluish sky like broken pieces of steel. +And a star or two were out when they left the forest. And cantering on +they came to Lowlight when the Milky Way appeared. + +And there were Dona Mirana and Serafina in the hall to greet them as +they entered the door. + +"What news?" they asked. + +But Rodriguez hung back; he had no news to give. It was Don Alderon +that went forward, speaking cheerily to Serafina, and afterwards to his +mother, with whom he spoke long and anxiously, pointing toward the +forest sometimes, almost, as Rodriguez thought, in fear. + +And a little later, when the ladies had retired, Don Alderon told +Rodriguez over the wine, with which he had tried to cheer his forlorn +companion, that it was arranged that he should marry Serafina. And when +Rodriguez lamented that this was impossible he replied that the King of +Shadow Valley wished it. And when Rodriguez heard this his astonishment +equalled his happiness, for he marvelled that Don Alderon should not +only believe that strange man's unsupported promise, but that he should +even obey him as though he held him in awe. + +And on the next day Rodriguez spoke with Dona Mirana as they walked in +the glory of the garden. And Dona Mirana gave him her consent as Don +Alderon had done: and when Rodriguez spoke humbly of postponement she +glanced uneasily towards Shadow Valley, as though she too feared the +strange man who ruled over the forest which she had never entered. + +And so it was that Rodriguez walked with his lady, with the sweet +Serafina in that garden again. And walking there they forgot the need +of house or land, forgot Shadow Valley with its hopes and its doubts, +and all the anxieties of the thoughts that we take for the morrow: and +when evening came and the birds sang in azaleas, and the shadows grew +solemn and long, and winds blew cool from the blazing bed of the Sun, +into the garden now all strange and still, they forgot our Earth and, +beyond the mundane coasts, drifted on dreams of their own into aureate +regions of twilight, to wander in lands wherein lovers walk briefly and +only once. + + + + +THE TWELFTH CHRONICLE + +THE BUILDING OF CASTLE RODRIGUEZ AND THE ENDING OF THESE CHRONICLES + + +When the King of Shadow Valley met Rodriguez, for the first time in the +forest, and gave him his promise and left him by his camp-fire, he went +back some way towards the bowmen's cottage and blew his horn; and his +hundred bowmen were about him almost at once. To these he gave their +orders and they went back, whence they had come, into the forest's +darkness. But he went to the bowmen's cottage and paced before it, a +dark and lonely figure of the night; and wherever he paced the ground +he marked it with small sticks. And next morning the hundred bowmen +came with axes as soon as the earliest light had entered the forest, +and each of them chose out one of the giant trees that stood before the +cottage, and attacked it. All day they swung their axes against the +forest's elders, of which nearly a hundred were fallen when evening +came. And the stoutest of these, great trunks that were four feet +through, were dragged by horses to the bowmen's cottage and laid by the +little sticks that the King of Shadow Valley had put overnight in the +ground. The bowmen's cottage and the kitchen that was in the wood +behind it, and a few trees that still stood, were now all enclosed by +four lines of fallen trees which made a large rectangle on the ground +with a small square at each of its corners. And craftsmen came, and +smoothed and hollowed the inner sides of the four rows of trees, +working far into the night. So was the first day's work accomplished +and so was built the first layer of the walls of Castle Rodriguez. + +On the next day the bowmen again felled a hundred trees; the top of the +first layer was cut flat by carpenters; at evening the second layer was +hoisted up after their under sides had been flattened to fit the layer +below them; quantities more were cast in to make the floor when they +had been gradually smoothed and fitted: at the end of the second day a +man could not see over the walls of Castle Rodriguez. And on the third +day more craftsmen arrived, men from distant villages at the forest's +edge, whence the King of Shadow Valley had summoned them; and they +carved the walls as they grew. And a hundred trees fell that day, and +the castle was another layer higher. And all the while a park was +growing in the forest, as they felled the great trees; but the greatest +trees of all the bowmen spared, oaks that had stood there for ages and +ages of men; they left them to grip the earth for a while longer, for a +few more human generations. + +On the fourth day the two windows at the back of the bowmen's cottage +began to darken, and that evening Castle Rodriguez was fifteen feet +high. And still the hundred bowmen hewed at the forest, bringing +sunlight bright on to grass that was shadowed by oaks for ages. And at +the end of the fifth day they began to roof the lower rooms and make +their second floor: and still the castle grew a layer a day, though the +second storey they built with thinner trees that were only three feet +through, which were more easily carried to their place by the pulleys. +And now they began to heap up rocks in a mass of mortar against the +wall on the outside, till a steep slope guarded the whole of the lower +part of the castle against fire from any attacker if war should come +that way, in any of the centuries that were yet to be: and the deep +windows they guarded with bars of iron. + +The shape of the castle showed itself clearly now, rising on each side +of the bowmen's cottage and behind it, with a tower at each of its +corners. To the left of the old cottage the main doorway opened to the +great hall, in which a pile of a few huge oaks was being transformed +into a massive stair. Three figures of strange men held up this ceiling +with their heads and uplifted hands, when the castle was finished; but +as yet the carvers had only begun their work, so that only here and +there an eye peeped out, or a smile flickered, to give any expression +to the curious faces of these fabulous creatures of the wood, which +were slowly taking their shape out of three trees whose roots were +still in the earth below the floor. In an upper storey one of these +trees became a tall cupboard; and the shelves and the sides and the +back and the top of it were all one piece of oak. + +All the interior of the castle was of wood, hollowed into alcoves and +polished, or carved into figures leaning out from the walls. So vast +were the timbers that the walls, at a glance, seemed almost one piece +of wood. And the centuries that were coming to Spain darkened the walls +as they came, through autumnal shades until they were all black, as +though they all mourned in secret for lost generations; but they have +not yet crumbled. + +The fireplaces they made with great square red tiles, which they also +put in the chimneys amongst rude masses of mortar: and these great dark +holes remained always mysterious to those that looked for mystery in +the family that whiled away the ages in that castle. And by every +fireplace two queer carved creatures stood upholding the mantlepiece, +with mystery in their faces and curious limbs, uniting the hearth with +fable and with tales told in the wood. Years after the men that carved +them were all dust the shadows of these creatures would come out and +dance in the room, on wintry nights when all the lamps were gone and +flames stole out and flickered above the smouldering logs. + +In the second storey one great saloon ran all the length of the castle. +In it was a long table with eight legs that had carvings of roses +rambling along its edges: the table and its legs were all of one piece +with the floor. They would never have hollowed the great trunk in time +had they not used fire. The second storey was barely complete on the +day that Rodriguez and Don Alderon and Morano came to the chains that +guarded the park. And the King of Shadow Valley would not permit his +gift to be seen in anything less than its full magnificence, and had +commanded that no man in the world might enter to see the work of his +bowmen and craftsmen until it should frown at all comers a castle +formidable as any in Spain. + +And then they heaped up the mortar and rock to the top of the second +storey, but above that they let the timbers show, except where they +filled in plaster between the curving trunks: and the ages blackened +the timber in amongst the white plaster; but not a storm that blew in +all the years that came, nor the moss of so many Springs, ever rotted +away those beams that the forest had given and on which the bowmen had +laboured so long ago. But the castle weathered the ages and reached our +days, worn, battered even, by its journey through the long and +sometimes troubled years, but splendid with the traffic that it had +with history in many gorgeous periods. Here Valdar the Excellent came +once in his youth. And Charles the Magnificent stayed a night in this +castle when on a pilgrimage to a holy place of the South. + +It was here that Peter the Arrogant in his cups gave Africa, one Spring +night, to his sister's son. What grandeurs this castle has seen! What +chronicles could be writ of it! But not these chronicles, for they draw +near their close, and they have yet to tell how the castle was built. +Others shall tell what banners flew from all four of its towers, adding +a splendour to the wind, and for what cause they flew. I have yet to +tell of their building. + +The second storey was roofed, and Castle Rodriguez still rose one layer +day by day, with a hauling at pulleys and the work of a hundred men: +and all the while the park swept farther into the forest. + +And the trees that grew up through the building were worked by the +craftsmen in every chamber into which they grew: and a great branch of +the hugest of them made a little crooked stair in an upper storey. On +the floors they laid down skins of beasts that the bowmen slew in the +forest; and on the walls there hung all manner of leather, tooled and +dyed as they had the art to do in that far-away period in Spain. + +When the third storey was finished they roofed the castle over, laying +upon the huge rafters red tiles that they made of clay. But the towers +were not yet finished. + +At this time the King of Shadow Valley sent a runner into Lowlight to +shoot a blunt arrow with a message tied to it into Don Alderon's +garden, near to the door, at evening. + +And they went on building the towers above the height of the roof And +near the top of them they made homes for archers, little turrets that +leaned like swallows' nests out from each tower, high places where they +could see and shoot and not be seen from below. And little narrow +passages wound away behind perched battlements of stone, by which +archers could slip from place to place, and shoot from here or from +there and never be known. So were built in that distant age the towers +of Castle Rodriguez. + +And one day four weeks from the felling of the first oak, the period of +his promise being accomplished, the King of Shadow Valley blew his +horn. And standing by what had been the bowmen's cottage, now all shut +in by sheer walls of Castle Rodriguez, he gathered his bowmen to him. +And when they were all about him he gave them their orders. They were +to go by stealth to the village of Lowlight, and were to be by daylight +before the house of Don Alderon; and, whether wed or unwed, whether she +fled or folk defended the house, to bring Dona Serafina of the Valley +of Dawnlight to be the chatelaine of Castle Rodriguez. + +For this purpose he bade them take with them a chariot that he thought +magnificent, though the mighty timbers that gave grandeur to Castle +Rodriguez had a cumbrous look in the heavy vehicle that was to the +bowmen's eyes the triumphal car of the forest. So they took their bows +and obeyed, leaving the craftsmen at their work in the castle, which +was now quite roofed over, towers and all. They went through the forest +by little paths that they knew, going swiftly and warily in the +bowmen's way: and just before nightfall they were at the forest's edge, +though they went no farther from it than its shadows go in the evening. +And there they rested under the oak trees for the early part of the +night except those whose art it was to gather news for their king; and +three of those went into Lowlight and mixed with the villagers there. + +When white mists moved over the fields near dawn and wavered ghostly +about Lowlight, the green bowman moved with them. And just out of +hearing of the village, behind wild shrubs that hid them, the bowmen +that were coming from the forest met the three that had spent the night +in taverns of Lowlight. And the three told the hundred of the great +wedding that there was to be in the Church of the Renunciation that +morning in Lowlight: and of the preparations that were made, and how +holy men had come from far on mules, and had slept the night in the +village, and the Bishop of Toledo himself would bless the bridegroom's +sword. The bowmen therefore retired a little way and, moving through +the mists, came forward to points whence they could watch the church, +well concealed on the wild plain, which here and there gave up a field +to man but was mostly the playground of wild creatures whose ways were +the bowmen's ways. And here they waited. + +This was the wedding of Rodriguez and Serafina, of which gossips often +spoke at their doors in summer evenings, old women mumbling of fair +weddings that each had seen; and they had been children when they saw +this wedding; they were those that threw small handfuls of anemones on +the path before the porch. They told the tale of it till they could +tell no more. It is the account of the last two or three of them, old, +old women, that came at last to these chronicles, so that their tongues +may wag as it were a little longer through these pages although they +have been for so many centuries dead. And this is all that books are +able to do. + +First there was bell-ringing and many voices, and then the voices +hushed, and there came the procession of eight divines of Murcia, whose +vestments were strange to Lowlight. Then there came a priest from the +South, near the border of Andalusia, who overnight had sanctified the +ring. (It was he who had entertained Rodriguez when he first escaped +from la Garda, and Rodriguez had sent for him now.) Each note of the +bells came clear through the hush as they entered the church. And then +with suitable attendants the bishop strode by and they saw quite close +the blessed cope of Toledo. And the bridegroom followed him in, wearing +his sword, and Don Alderon went with him. And then the voices rose +again in the street: the bells rang on: they all saw Dona Mirana. The +little bunches of bright anemones grew sticky in their hands: the bells +seemed louder: cheering rose in the street and came all down it nearer. +Then Dona Serafina walked past them with all her maids: and that is +what the gossips chiefly remembered, telling how she smiled at them, +and praising her dress, through those distant summer evenings. Then +there was music in the church. And afterwards the forest-people had +come. And the people screamed, for none knew what they would do. But +they bowed so low to the bride and bridegroom, and showed their great +hunting bows so willingly to all who wished to see, that the people +lost their alarm and only feared lest the Bishop of Toledo should blast +the merry bowmen with one of his curses. + +And presently the bride and bridegroom entered the chariot, and the +people cheered; and there were farewells and the casting of flowers; +and the bishop blessed three of their bows; and a fat man sat beside +the driver with folded arms, wearing bright on his face a look of +foolish contentment; and the bowmen and bride and bridegroom all went +away to the forest. + +Four huge white horses drew that bridal chariot, the bowmen ran beside +it, and soon it was lost to sight of the girls that watched it from +Lowlight; but their memories held it close till their eyes could no +longer see to knit and they could only sit by their porches in fine +weather and talk of the days that were. + +So came Rodriguez and his bride to the forest; he silent, perplexed, +wondering always to what home and what future he brought her; she +knowing less than he and trusting more. And on the untended road that +the bowmen shared with stags and with rare, very venturous travellers, +the wheels of the woodland chariot sank so deep in the sandy earth that +the escort of bowmen needed seldom to run any more; and he who sat by +the driver climbed down and walked silent for once, perhaps awed by the +occasion, though he was none other than Morano. Serafina was delighted +with the forest, but between Rodriguez and its beautiful grandeur his +anxieties crowded thickly. He leaned over once from the chariot and +asked one of the bowmen again about that castle; but the bowman only +bowed and answered with a proverb of Spain, not easily carried so far +from its own soil to thrive in our language, but signifying that the +morrow showeth all things. He was silent then, for he knew that there +was no way to a direct answer through those proverbs, and after a while +perhaps there came to him some of Serafina's trustfulness. By evening +they came to a wide avenue leading to great gates. + +Rodriguez did not know the avenue, he knew no paths so wide in Shadow +Valley; but he knew those gates. They were the gates of iron that led +nowhere. But now an avenue went from them upon the other side, and +opened widely into a park dotted with clumps of trees. And the two +great iron shields, they too had changed with the changes that had +bewitched the forest, for their surfaces that had glowed so +unmistakably blank, side by side in the firelight, not many nights +before, blazoned now the armorial bearings of Rodriguez upon the one +and those of the house of Dawnlight upon the other. Through the opened +gates they entered the young park that seemed to wonder at its own +ancient trees, where wild deer drifted away from them like shadows +through the evening: for the bowmen had driven in deer for miles +through the forest. They passed a pool where water-lilies lay in +languid beauty for hundreds of summers, but as yet no flower peeped +into the water, for the pond was all hallowed newly. + +A clump of trees stood right ahead of their way; they passed round it; +and Castle Rodriguez came all at once into view. Serafina gasped +joyously. Rodriguez saw its towers, its turrets for archers, its +guarded windows deep in the mass of stone, its solemn row of +battlements, but he did not believe what he saw. He did not believe +that here at last was his castle, that here was his dream fulfilled and +his journey done. He expected to wake suddenly in the cold in some +lonely camp, he expected the Ebro to unfold its coils in the North and +to come and sweep it away. It was but another strayed hope, he thought, +taking the form of dream. But Castle Rodriguez still stood frowning +there, and none of its towers vanished, or changed as things change in +dreams; but the servants of the King of Shadow Valley opened the great +door, and Serafina and Rodriguez entered, and all the hundred bowmen +disappeared. + +Here we will leave them, and let these Chronicles end. For whoever +would tell more of Castle Rodriguez must wield one of those ponderous +pens that hangs on the study wall in the house of historians. Great +days in the story of Spain shone on those iron-barred windows, and +things were said in its banqueting chamber and planned in its inner +rooms that sometimes turned that story this way or that, as rocks turn +a young river. And as a traveller meets a mighty river at one of its +bends, and passes on his path, while the river sweeps on to its estuary +and the sea, so I leave the triumphs and troubles of that story which I +touched for one moment by the door of Castle Rodriguez. + +My concern is but with Rodriguez and Serafina and to tell that they +lived here in happiness; and to tell that the humble Morano found his +happiness too. For he became the magnificent steward of Castle +Rodriguez, the majordomo, and upon august occasions he wore as much red +plush as he had ever seen in his dreams, when he saw this very event, +sleeping by dying camp-fires. And he slept not upon straw but upon good +heaps of wolf-skins. But pining a little in the second year of his +somewhat lonely splendour, he married one of the maidens of the forest, +the child of a bowman that hunted boars with their king. And all the +green bowmen came and built him a house by the gates of the park, +whence he walked solemnly on proper occasions to wait upon his master. +Morano, good, faithful man, come forward for but a moment out of the +Golden Age and bow across all those centuries to the reader: say one +farewell to him in your Spanish tongue, though the sound of it be no +louder than the sound of shadows moving, and so back to the dim +splendour of the past, for the Senor or Senora shall hear your name no +more. + +For years Rodriguez lived a chieftain of the forest, owning the +overlordship of the King of Shadow Valley, whom he and Serafina would +entertain with all the magnificence of which their castle was capable +on such occasions as he appeared before the iron gates. They seldom saw +him. Sometimes they heard his horn as he went by. They heard his bowmen +follow. And all would pass and perhaps they would see none. But upon +occasions he came. He came to the christening of the eldest son of +Rodriguez and Serafina, for whom he was godfather. He came again to see +the boy shoot for the first time with a bow. And later he came to give +little presents, small treasures of the forest, to Rodriguez' +daughters; who treated him always, not as sole lord of that forest that +travellers dreaded, but as a friend of their very own that they had +found for themselves. He had his favourites among them and none quite +knew which they were. + +And one day he came in his old age to give Rodriguez a message. And he +spoke long and tenderly of the forest as though all its glades were +sacred. + +And soon after that day he died, and was buried with the mourning of +all his men in the deeps of Shadow Valley, where only Rodriguez and the +bowmen knew. And Rodriguez became, as the old king had commanded, the +ruler of Shadow Valley and all its faithful men. With them he hunted +and defended the forest, holding all its ways to be sacred, as the old +king had taught. It is told how Rodriguez ruled the forest well. + +And later he made a treaty with the Spanish King acknowledging him sole +Lord of Spain, including Shadow Valley, saving that certain right +should pertain to the foresters and should be theirs for ever. And +these rights are written on parchment and sealed with the seal of +Spain; and none may harm the forest without the bowmen's leave. + +Rodriguez was made Duke of Shadow Valley and a Magnifico of the first +degree; though little he went with other hidalgos to Court, but lived +with his family in Shadow Valley, travelling seldom beyond the +splendour of the forest farther than Lowlight. + +Thus he saw the glory of autumn turning the woods to fairyland: and +when the stags were roaring and winter coming on he would take a +boar-spear down from the wall and go hunting through the forest, whose +twigs were black and slender and still against the bright menace of +winter. Spring found him viewing the fields that his men had sown, +along the forest's edge, and finding in the chaunt of the myriad birds +a stirring of memories, a beckoning towards past days. In summer he +would see his boys and girls at play, running through shafts of +sunlight that made leaves and grass like pale emeralds. He gave his +days to the forest and the four seasons. Thus he dwelt amidst +splendours such as History has never seen in any visit of hers to the +courts of men. + +Of him and Serafina it has been written and sung that they lived +happily ever after; and though they are now so many centuries dead, may +they have in the memories of such of my readers as will let them linger +there, that afterglow of life that remembrance gives, which is all that +there is on earth for those that walked it once and that walk the paths +of their old haunts no more. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Don Rodriguez, by +Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, Baron, Dunsany + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DON RODRIGUEZ *** + +***** This file should be named 4282.txt or 4282.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/8/4282/ + +Produced by Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/4282.zip b/4282.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..69542f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/4282.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6cf64bc --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #4282 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4282) diff --git a/old/drodr10.txt b/old/drodr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3e65801 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/drodr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8389 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Don Rodriguez +by Lord Dunsany +(#2 in our series by Lord Dunsany) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before distributing this or any other +Project Gutenberg file. + +We encourage you to keep this file, exactly as it is, on your +own disk, thereby keeping an electronic path open for future +readers. Please do not remove this. + +This header should be the first thing seen when anyone starts to +view the etext. Do not change or edit it without written permission. +The words are carefully chosen to provide users with the +information they need to understand what they may and may not +do with the etext. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These Etexts Are Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get etexts, and +further information, is included below. We need your donations. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541 + + + +Title: Don Rodriguez + +Author: Lord Dunsany + +Release Date: July, 2003 [Etext #4282] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on December 30, 2001] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Don Rodriguez +by Lord Dunsany +******This file should be named drodr10.txt or drodr10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, drodr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, drodr10a.txt + +Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep etexts in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our etexts one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +etexts, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any Etext before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2001 as we release over 50 new Etext +files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 4000+ +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 4,000 Etexts. We need +funding, as well as continued efforts by volunteers, to maintain +or increase our production and reach our goals. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of November, 2001, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, +Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, +Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, +Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, +Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, +and Wyoming. + +*In Progress + +We have filed in about 45 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +All donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fundraising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fundraising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etexts, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this etext, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the etext, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.10/04/01*END* + + + + +Robert Rowe, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +DON RODRIGUEZ + +CHRONICLES OF SHADOW VALLEY + +By LORD DUNSANY + +To WILLIAM BEEBE + + + + + +CHRONOLOGY + +After long and patient research I am still unable to give to the +reader of these Chronicles the exact date of the times that they +tell of. Were it merely a matter of history there could be no +doubts about the period; but where magic is concerned, to however +slight an extent, there must always be some element of mystery, +arising partly out of ignorance and partly from the compulsion of +those oaths by which magic protects its precincts from the tiptoe +of curiosity. + +Moreover, magic, even in small quantities, appears to affect time, +much as acids affect some metals, curiously changing its +substance, until dates seem to melt into a mercurial form that +renders them elusive even to the eye of the most watchful +historian. + +It is the magic appearing in Chronicles III and IV that has +gravely affected the date, so that all I can tell the reader with +certainty of the period is that it fell in the later years of the +Golden Age in Spain. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +THE FIRST CHRONICLE +HOW HE MET AND SAID FAREWELL TO MINE HOST +OF THE DRAGON AND KNIGHT + +THE SECOND CHRONICLE +HOW HE HIRED A MEMORABLE SERVANT + +THE THIRD CHRONICLE +HOW HE CAME TO THE HOUSE OF WONDER + +THE FOURTH CHRONICLE +HOW HE CAME TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE SUN + +THE FIFTH CHRONICLE +HOW HE RODE IN THE TWILIGHT AND SAW SERAFINA + +THE SIXTH CHRONICLE +HOW HE SANG TO HIS MANDOLIN AND WHAT CAME OF HIS SINGING + +THE SEVENTH CHRONICLE +HOW HE CAME TO SHADOW VALLEY + +THE EIGHTH CHRONICLE +HOW HE TRAVELLED FAR + +THE NINTH CHRONICLE +HOW HE WON A CASTLE IN SPAIN + +THE TENTH CHRONICLE +HOW HE CAME BACK TO LOWLIGHT + +THE ELEVENTH CHRONICLE +HOW HE TURNED TO GARDENING AND HIS SWORD RESTED + +THE TWELFTH CHRONICLE +THE BUILDING OF CASTLE RODRIGUEZ AND THE ENDING OF THESE CHRONICLES + + + + + +DON RODRIGUEZ + + + + + +THE FIRST CHRONICLE + +HOW HE MET AND SAID FAREWELL TO MINE HOST OF THE DRAGON AND KNIGHT + + +Being convinced that his end was nearly come, and having lived +long on earth (and all those years in Spain, in the golden time), +the Lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez, whose heights see not +Valladolid, called for his eldest son. And so he addressed him +when he was come to his chamber, dim with its strange red hangings +and august with the splendour of Spain: "O eldest son of mine, +your younger brother being dull and clever, on whom those traits +that women love have not been bestowed by God; and know my eldest +son that here on earth, and for ought I know Hereafter, but +certainly here on earth, these women be the arbiters of all +things; and how this be so God knoweth only, for they are vain and +variable, yet it is surely so: your younger brother then not +having been given those ways that women prize, and God knows why +they prize them for they are vain ways that I have in my mind and +that won me the Valleys of Arguento Harez, from whose heights +Angelico swore he saw Valladolid once, and that won me moreover +also ... but that is long ago and is all gone now ... ah well, +well ... what was I saying?" And being reminded of his discourse, +the old lord continued, saying, "For himself he will win nothing, +and therefore I will leave him these my valleys, for not unlikely +it was for some sin of mine that his spirit was visited with +dullness, as Holy Writ sets forth, the sins of the fathers being +visited on the children; and thus I make him amends. But to you I +leave my long, most flexible, ancient Castilian blade, which +infidels dreaded if old songs be true. Merry and lithe it is, and +its true temper singeth when it meets another blade as two friends +sing when met after many years. It is most subtle, nimble and +exultant; and what it will not win for you in the wars, that shall +be won for you by your mandolin, for you have a way with it that +goes well with the old airs of Spain. And choose, my son, rather a +moonlight night when you sing under those curved balconies that I +knew, ah me, so well; for there is much advantage in the moon. In +the first place maidens see in the light of the moon, especially +in the Spring, more romance than you might credit, for it adds for +them a mystery to the darkness which the night has not when it is +merely black. And if any statue should gleam on the grass near by, +or if the magnolia be in blossom, or even the nightingale singing, +or if anything be beautiful in the night, in any of these things +also there is advantage; for a maiden will attribute to her lover +all manner of things that are not his at all, but are only +outpourings from the hand of God. There is this advantage also in +the moon, that, if interrupters come, the moonlight is better +suited to the play of a blade than the mere darkness of night; +indeed but the merry play of my sword in the moonlight was often a +joy to see, it so flashed, so danced, so sparkled. In the +moonlight also one makes no unworthy stroke, but hath scope for +those fair passes that Sevastiani taught, which were long ago the +wonder of Madrid." + +The old lord paused, and breathed for a little space, as it were +gathering breath for his last words to his son. He breathed +deliberately, then spoke again. "I leave you," he said, "well +content that you have the two accomplishments, my son, that are +most needful in a Christian man, skill with the sword and a way +with the mandolin. There be other arts indeed among the heathen, +for the world is wide and hath full many customs, but these two +alone are needful." And then with that grand manner that they had +at that time in Spain, although his strength was failing, he gave +to his eldest son his Castilian sword. He lay back then in the +huge, carved, canopied bed; his eyes closed, the red silk curtains +rustled, and there was no sound of his breathing. But the old +lord's spirit, whatever journey it purposed, lingered yet in its +ancient habitation, and his voice came again, but feebly now and +rambling; he muttered awhile of gardens, such gardens no doubt as +the hidalgos guarded in that fertile region of sunshine in the +proudest period of Spain; he would have known no others. So for +awhile his memory seemed to stray, half blind among those perfumed +earthly wonders; perhaps among these memories his spirit halted, +and tarried those last few moments, mistaking those Spanish +gardens, remembered by moonlight in Spring, for the other end of +his journey, the glades of Paradise. However it be, it tarried. +These rambling memories ceased and silence fell again, with +scarcely the sound of breathing. Then gathering up his strength +for the last time and looking at his son, "The sword to the wars," +he said. "The mandolin to the balconies." With that he fell back +dead. + +Now there were no wars at that time so far as was known in Spain, +but that old lord's eldest son, regarding those last words of his +father as a commandment, determined then and there in that dim, +vast chamber to gird his legacy to him and seek for the wars, +wherever the wars might be, so soon as the obsequies of the +sepulture were ended. And of those obsequies I tell not here, for +they are fully told in the Black Books of Spain, and the deeds of +that old lord's youth are told in the Golden Stories. The Book of +Maidens mentions him, and again we read of him in Gardens of +Spain. I take my leave of him, happy, I trust, in Paradise, for he +had himself the accomplishments that he held needful in a +Christian, skill with the sword and a way with the mandolin; and +if there be some harder, better way to salvation than to follow +that which we believe to be good, then are we all damned. So he +was buried, and his eldest son fared forth with his legacy +dangling from his girdle in its long, straight, lovely scabbard, +blue velvet, with emeralds on it, fared forth on foot along a road +of Spain. And though the road turned left and right and sometimes +nearly ceased, as though to let the small wild flowers grow, out +of sheer good will such as some roads never have; though it ran +west and east and sometimes south, yet in the main it ran +northward, though wandered is a better word than ran, and the Lord +of the Valleys of Arguento Harez who owned no valleys, or anything +but a sword, kept company with it looking for the wars. Upon his +back he had slung his mandolin. Now the time of the year was +Spring, not Spring as we know it in England, for it was but early +March, but it was the time when Spring coming up out of Africa, or +unknown lands to the south, first touches Spain, and multitudes of +anemones come forth at her feet. + +Thence she comes north to our islands, no less wonderful in our +woods than in Andalusian valleys, fresh as a new song, fabulous as +a rune, but a little pale through travel, so that our flowers do +not quite flare forth with all the myriad blaze of the flowers of +Spain. + +And all the way as he went the young man looked at the flame of +those southern flowers, flashing on either side of him all the +way, as though the rainbow had been broken in Heaven and its +fragments fallen on Spain. All the way as he went he gazed at +those flowers, the first anemones of the year; and long after, +whenever he sang to old airs of Spain, he thought of Spain as it +appeared that day in all the wonder of Spring; the memory lent a +beauty to his voice and a wistfulness to his eyes that accorded +not ill with the theme of the songs he sang, and were more than +once to melt proud hearts deemed cold. And so gazing he came to a +town that stood on a hill, before he was yet tired, though he had +done nigh twenty of those flowery miles of Spain; and since it was +evening and the light was fading away, he went to an inn and drew +his sword in the twilight and knocked with the hilt of it on the +oaken door. The name of it was the Inn of the Dragon and Knight. A +light was lit in one of the upper windows, the darkness seemed to +deepen at that moment, a step was heard coming heavily down a +stairway; and having named the inn to you, gentle reader, it is +time for me to name the young man also, the landless lord of the +Valleys of Arguento Harez, as the step comes slowly down the inner +stairway, as the gloaming darkens over the first house in which he +has ever sought shelter so far from his father's valleys, as he +stands upon the threshold of romance. He was named Rodriguez +Trinidad Fernandez, Concepcion Henrique Maria; but we shall +briefly name him Rodriguez in this story; you and I, reader, will +know whom we mean; there is no need therefore to give him his full +names, unless I do it here and there to remind you. + +The steps came thumping on down the inner stairway, different +windows took the light of the candle, and none other shone in the +house; it was clear that it was moving with the steps all down +that echoing stairway. The sound of the steps ceased to +reverberate upon the wood, and now they slowly moved over stone +flags; Rodriguez now heard breathing, one breath with every step, +and at length the sound of bolts and chains undone and the +breathing now very close. The door was opened swiftly; a man with +mean eyes, and expression devoted to evil, stood watching him for +an instant; then the door slammed to again, the bolts were heard +going back again to their places, the steps and the breathing +moved away over the stone floor, and the inner stairway began +again to echo. + +"If the wars are here," said Rodriguez to himself and his sword, +"good, and I sleep under the stars." And he listened in the street +for the sound of war and, hearing none, continued his discourse. +"But if I have not come as yet to the wars I sleep beneath a +roof." + +For the second time therefore he drew his sword, and began to +strike methodically at the door, noting the grain in the wood and +hitting where it was softest. Scarcely had he got a good strip of +the oak to look like coming away, when the steps once more +descended the wooden stair and came lumbering over the stones; +both the steps and the breathing were quicker, for mine host of +the Dragon and Knight was hurrying to save his door. + +When he heard the sound of the bolts and chains again Rodriguez +ceased to beat upon the door: once more it opened swiftly, and he +saw mine host before him, eyeing him with those bad eyes; of too +much girth, you might have said, to be nimble, yet somehow +suggesting to the swift intuition of youth, as Rodriguez looked at +him standing upon his door-step, the spirit and shape of a +spider, who despite her ungainly build is agile enough in her way. + +Mine host said nothing; and Rodriguez, who seldom concerned +himself with the past, holding that the future is all we can order +the scheme of (and maybe even here he was wrong), made no mention +of bolts or door and merely demanded a bed for himself for the +night. + +Mine host rubbed his chin; he had neither beard nor moustache but +wore hideous whiskers; he rubbed it thoughtfully and looked at +Rodriguez. Yes, he said, he could have a bed for the night. No +more words he said, but turned and led the way; while Rodriguez, +who could sing to the mandolin, wasted none of his words on this +discourteous object. They ascended the short oak stairway down +which mine host had come, the great timbers of which were gnawed +by a myriad rats, and they went by passages with the light of one +candle into the interior of the inn, which went back farther from +the street than the young man had supposed; indeed he perceived +when they came to the great corridor at the end of which was his +appointed chamber, that here was no ordinary inn, as it had +appeared from outside, but that it penetrated into the fastness of +some great family of former times which had fallen on evil days. +The vast size of it, the noble design where the rats had spared +the carving, what the moths had left of the tapestries, all +testified to that; and, as for the evil days, they hung about the +place, evident even by the light of one candle guttering with +every draught that blew from the haunts of the rats, an +inseparable heirloom for all who disturbed those corridors. + +And so they came to the chamber. + +Mine host entered, bowed without grace in the doorway, and +extended his left hand, pointing into the room. The draughts that +blew from the rat-holes in the wainscot, or the mere action of +entering, beat down the flame of the squat, guttering candle so +that the chamber remained dim for a moment, in spite of the +candle, as would naturally be the case. Yet the impression made +upon Rodriguez was as of some old darkness that had been long +undisturbed and that yielded reluctantly to that candle's +intrusion, a darkness that properly became the place and was a +part of it and had long been so, in the face of which the candle +appeared an ephemeral thing devoid of grace or dignity or +tradition. And indeed there was room for darkness in that chamber, +for the walls went up and up into such an altitude that you could +scarcely see the ceiling, at which mine host's eyes glanced, and +Rodriguez followed his look. + +He accepted his accommodation with a nod; as indeed he would have +accepted any room in that inn, for the young are swift judges of +character, and one who had accepted such a host was unlikely to +find fault with rats or the profusion of giant cobwebs, dark with +the dust of years, that added so much to the dimness of that +sinister inn. They turned now and went back, in the wake of that +guttering candle, till they came again to the humbler part of the +building. Here mine host, pushing open a door of blackened oak, +indicated his dining-chamber. There a long table stood, and on it +parts of the head and hams of a boar; and at the far end of the +table a plump and sturdy man was seated in shirt-sleeves feasting +himself on the boar's meat. He leaped up at once from his chair as +soon as his master entered, for he was the servant at the Dragon +and Knight; mine host may have said much to him with a flash of +his eyes, but he said no more with his tongue than the one word, +"Dog": he then bowed himself out, leaving Rodriguez to take the +only chair and to be waited upon by its recent possessor. The +boar's meat was cold and gnarled, another piece of meat stood on a +plate on a shelf and a loaf of bread near by, but the rats had had +most of the bread: Rodriguez demanded what the meat was. +"Unicorn's tongue," said the servant, and Rodriguez bade him set +the dish before him, and he set to well content, though I fear the +unicorn's tongue was only horse: it was a credulous age, as all +ages are. At the same time he pointed to a three-legged stool that +he perceived in a corner of the room, then to the table, then to +the boar's meat, and lastly at the servant, who perceived that he +was permitted to return to his feast, to which he ran with +alacrity. "Your name?" said Rodriguez as soon as both were eating. +"Morano," replied the servant, though it must not be supposed that +when answering Rodriguez he spoke as curtly as this; I merely give +the reader the gist of his answer, for he added Spanish words that +correspond in our depraved and decadent language of to-day to such +words as "top dog," "nut" and "boss," so that his speech had a +certain grace about it in that far-away time in Spain. + +I have said that Rodriguez seldom concerned himself with the past, +but considered chiefly the future: it was of the future that he +was thinking now as he asked Morano this question: + +"Why did my worthy and entirely excellent host shut his door in my +face?" + +"Did he so?" said Morano. + +"He then bolted it and found it necessary to put the chains back, +doubtless for some good reason." + +"Yes," said Morano thoughtfully, and looking at Rodriguez, "and so +he might. He must have liked you." + +Verily Rodriguez was just the young man to send out with a sword +and a mandolin into the wide world, for he had much shrewd sense. +He never pressed a point, but when something had been said that +might mean much he preferred to store it, as it were, in his mind +and pass on to other things, somewhat as one might kill game and +pass on and kill more and bring it all home, while a savage would +cook the first kill where it fell and eat it on the spot. Pardon +me, reader, but at Morano's remark you may perhaps have exclaimed, +"That is not the way to treat one you like." Not so did Rodriguez. +His attention passed on to notice Morano's rings which he wore in +great profusion upon his little fingers; they were gold and of +exquisite work and had once held precious stones, as large gaps +testified; in these days they would have been priceless, but in an +age when workers only worked at arts that they understood, and +then worked for the joy of it, before the word artistic became +ridiculous, exquisite work went without saying; and as the rings +were slender they were of little value. Rodriguez made no comment +upon the rings; it was enough for him to have noticed them. He +merely noted that they were not ladies' rings, for no lady's ring +would have fitted on to any one of those fingers: the rings +therefore of gallants: and not given to Morano by their owners, +for whoever wore precious stone needed a ring to wear it in, and +rings did not wear out like hose, which a gallant might give to a +servant. Nor, thought he, had Morano stolen them, for whoever +stole them would keep them whole, or part with them whole and get +a better price. Besides Morano had an honest face, or a face at +least that seemed honest in such an inn: and while these thoughts +were passing through his mind Morano spoke again: "Good hams," +said Morano. He had already eaten one and was starting upon the +next. Perhaps he spoke out of gratitude for the honour and +physical advantage of being permitted to sit there and eat those +hams, perhaps tentatively, to find out whether he might consume +the second, perhaps merely to start a conversation, being +attracted by the honest looks of Rodriguez. + +"You are hungry," said Rodriguez. + +"Praise God I am always hungry," answered Morano. "If I were not +hungry I should starve." + +"Is it so?" said Rodriguez. + +"You see," said Morano, "the manner of it is this: my master gives +me no food, and it is only when I am hungry that I dare to rob him +by breaking in, as you saw me, upon his viands; were I not hungry +I should not dare to do so, and so ..." He made a sad and +expressive movement with both his hands suggestive of autumn +leaves blown hence to die. + +"He gives you no food?" said Rodriguez. + +"It is the way of many men with their dog," said Morano. "They +give him no food," and then he rubbed his hands cheerfully, "and +yet the dog does not die." + +"And he gives you no wages?" said Rodriguez. + +"Just these rings." + +Now Rodriguez had himself a ring upon his finger (as a gallant +should), a slender piece of gold with four tiny angels holding a +sapphire, and for a moment he pictured the sapphire passing into +the hands of mine host and the ring of gold and the four small +angels being flung to Morano; the thought darkened his gaiety for +no longer than one of those fleecy clouds in Spring shadows the +fields of Spain. + +Morano was also looking at the ring; he had followed the young +man's glance. + +"Master," he said, "do you draw your sword of a night?" + +"And you?" said Rodriguez. + +"I have no sword," said Morano. "I am but as dog's meat that needs +no guarding, but you whose meat is rare like the flesh of the +unicorn need a sword to guard your meat. The unicorn has his horn +always, and even then he sometimes sleeps." + +"It is bad, you think, to sleep," Rodriguez said. + +"For some it is very bad, master. They say they never take the +unicorn waking. For me I am but dog's meat: when I have eaten hams +I curl up and sleep; but then you see, master, I know I shall wake +in the morning." + +"Ah," said Rodriguez, "the morning's a pleasant time," and he +leaned back comfortably in his chair. Morano took one shrewd look +at him, and was soon asleep upon his three-legged stool. + +The door opened after a while and mine host appeared. "It is +late," he said. Rodriguez smiled acquiescently and mine host +withdrew, and presently leaving Morano whom his master's voice had +waked, to curl up on the floor in a corner, Rodriguez took the +candle that lit the room and passed once more through the passages +of the inn and down the great corridor of the fastness of the +family that had fallen on evil days, and so came to his chamber. I +will not waste a multitude of words over that chamber; if you have +no picture of it in your mind already, my reader, you are reading +an unskilled writer, and if in that picture it appear a wholesome +room, tidy and well kept up, if it appear a place in which a +stranger might sleep without some faint foreboding of disaster, +then I am wasting your time, and will waste no more of it with +bits of "descriptive writing" about that dim, high room, whose +blackness towered before Rodriguez in the night. He entered and +shut the door, as many had done before him; but for all his youth +he took some wiser precautions than had they, perhaps, who closed +that door before. For first he drew his sword; then for some while +he stood quite still near the door and listened to the rats; then +he looked round the chamber and perceived only one door; then he +looked at the heavy oak furniture, carved by some artist, gnawed +by rats, and all blackened by time; then swiftly opened the door +of the largest cupboard and thrust his sword in to see who might +be inside, but the carved satyr's heads at the top of the cupboard +eyed him silently and nothing moved. Then he noted that though +there was no bolt on the door the furniture might be placed across +to make what in the wars is called a barricado, but the wiser +thought came at once that this was too easily done, and that if +the danger that the dim room seemed gloomily to forebode were to +come from a door so readily barricadoed, then those must have been +simple gallants who parted so easily with the rings that adorned +Morano's two little fingers. No, it was something more subtle than +any attack through that door that brought his regular wages to +Morano. Rodriguez looked at the window, which let in the light of +a moon that was getting low, for the curtains had years ago been +eaten up by the moths; but the window was barred with iron bars +that were not yet rusted away, and looked out, thus guarded, over +a sheer wall that even in the moonlight fell into blackness. +Rodriguez then looked round for some hidden door, the sword all +the while in his hand, and very soon he knew that room fairly +well, but not its secret, nor why those unknown gallants had given +up their rings. + +It is much to know of an unknown danger that it really is unknown. +Many have met their deaths through looking for danger from one +particular direction, whereas had they perceived that they were +ignorant of its direction they would have been wise in their +ignorance. Rodriguez had the great discretion to understand +clearly that he did not know the direction from which danger would +come. He accepted this as his only discovery about that portentous +room which seemed to beckon to him with every shadow and to sigh +over him with every mournful draught, and to whisper to him +unintelligible warnings with every rustle of tattered silk that +hung about his bed. And as soon as he discovered that this was his +only knowledge he began at once to make his preparations: he was a +right young man for the wars. He divested himself of his shoes and +doublet and the light cloak that hung from his shoulder and cast +the clothes on a chair. Over the back of the chair he slung his +girdle and the scabbard hanging therefrom and placed his plumed +hat so that none could see that his Castilian blade was not in its +resting-place. And when the sombre chamber had the appearance of +one having undressed in it before retiring Rodriguez turned his +attention to the bed, which he noticed to be of great depth and +softness. That something not unlike blood had been spilt on the +floor excited no wonder in Rodriguez; that vast chamber was +evidently, as I have said, in the fortress of some great family, +against one of whose walls the humble inn had once leaned for +protection; the great family were gone: how they were gone +Rodriguez did not know, but it excited no wonder in him to see +blood on the boards: besides, two gallants may have disagreed; or +one who loved not dumb animals might have been killing rats. Blood +did not disturb him; but what amazed him, and would have surprised +anyone who stood in that ruinous room, was that there were clean +new sheets on the bed. Had you seen the state of the furniture and +the floor, O my reader, and the vastness of the old cobwebs and +the black dust that they held, the dead spiders and huge dead +flies, and the living generation of spiders descending and +ascending through the gloom, I say that you also would have been +surprised at the sight of those nice clean sheets. Rodriguez noted +the fact and continued his preparations. He took the bolster from +underneath the pillow and laid it down the middle of the bed and +put the sheets back over it; then he stood back and looked at it, +much as a sculptor might stand back from his marble, then he +returned to it and bent it a little in the middle, and after that +he placed his mandolin on the pillow and nearly covered it with +the sheet, but not quite, for a little of the curved dark-brown +wood remained still to be seen. It looked wonderfully now like a +sleeper in the bed, but Rodriguez was not satisfied with his work +until he had placed his kerchief and one of his shoes where a +shoulder ought to be; then he stood back once more and eyed it +with satisfaction. Next he considered the light. He looked at the +light of the moon and remembered his father's advice, as the young +often do, but considered that this was not the occasion for it, +and decided to leave the light of his candle instead, so that +anyone who might be familiar with the moonlight in that shadowy +chamber should find instead a less sinister light. He therefore +dragged a table to the bedside, placed the candle upon it, and +opened a treasured book that he bore in his doublet, and laid it +on the bed near by, between the candle and his mandolin-headed +sleeper; the name of the book was Notes in a Cathedral and dealt +with the confessions of a young girl, which the author claimed to +have jotted down, while concealed behind a pillow near the +Confessional, every Sunday for the entire period of Lent. Lastly +he pulled a sheet a little loose from the bed, until a corner of +it lay on the floor; then he lay down on the boards, still keeping +his sword in his hand, and by means of the sheet and some silk +that hung from the bed, he concealed himself sufficient for his +purpose, which was to see before he should be seen by any intruder +that might enter that chamber. + +And if Rodriguez appear to have been unduly suspicious, it should +be borne in mind not only that those empty rings needed much +explanation, but that every house suggests to the stranger +something; and that whereas one house seems to promise a welcome +in front of cosy fires, another good fare, another joyous wine, +this inn seemed to promise murder; or so the young man's intuition +said, and the young are wise to trust to their intuitions. + +The reader will know, if he be one of us, who have been to the +wars and slept in curious ways, that it is hard to sleep when +sober upon a floor; it is not like the earth, or snow, or a +feather bed; even rock can be more accommodating; it is hard, +unyielding and level, all night unmistakable floor. Yet Rodriguez +took no risk of falling asleep, so he said over to himself in his +mind as much as he remembered of his treasured book, Notes in a +Cathedral, which he always read to himself before going to rest +and now so sadly missed. It told how a lady who had listened to a +lover longer than her soul's safety could warrant, as he played +languorous music in the moonlight and sang soft by her low +balcony, and how she being truly penitent, had gathered many +roses, the emblems of love (as surely, she said at confession, all +the world knows), and when her lover came again by moonlight had +cast them all from her from the balcony, showing that she had +renounced love; and her lover had entirely misunderstood her. It +told how she often tried to show him this again, and all the +misunderstandings are sweetly set forth and with true Christian +penitence. Sometimes some little matter escaped Rodriguez's memory +and then he longed to rise up and look at his dear book, yet he +lay still where he was: and all the while he listened to the rats, +and the rats went on gnawing and running regularly, scared by +nothing new; Rodriguez trusted as much to their myriad ears as to +his own two. The great spiders descended out of such heights that +you could not see whence they came, and ascended again into +blackness; it was a chamber of prodigious height. Sometimes the +shadow of a descending spider that had come close to the candle +assumed a frightening size, but Rodriguez gave little thought to +it; it was of murder he was thinking, not of shadows; still, in +its way it was ominous, and reminded Rodriguez horribly of his +host; but what of an omen, again, in a chamber full of omens. The +place itself was ominous; spiders could scarce make it more so. +The spider itself was big enough, he thought, to be impaled on his +Castilian blade; indeed, he would have done it but that he thought +it wiser to stay where he was and watch. And then the spider found +the candle too hot and climbed in a hurry all the way to the +ceiling, and his horrible shadow grew less and dwindled away. + +It was not that the rats were frightened: whatever it was that +happened happened too quietly for that, but the volume of the +sound of their running had suddenly increased: it was not like +fear among them, for the running was no swifter, and it did not +fade away; it was as though the sound of rats running, which had +not been heard before, was suddenly heard now. Rodriguez looked at +the door, the door was shut. A young Englishman would long ago +have been afraid that he was making a fuss over nothing and would +have gone to sleep in the bed, and not seen what Rodriguez saw. He +might have thought that hearing more rats all at once was merely a +fancy, and that everything was all right. Rodriguez saw a rope +coming slowly down from the ceiling, he quickly determined whether +it was a rope or only the shadow of some huge spider's thread, and +then he watched it and saw it come down right over his bed and +stop within a few feet of it. Rodriguez looked up cautiously to +see who had sent him that strange addition to the portents that +troubled the chamber, but the ceiling was too high and dim for him +to perceive anything but the rope coming down out of the darkness. +Yet he surmised that the ceiling must have softly opened, without +any sound at all, at the moment that he heard the greater number +of rats. He waited then to see what the rope would do; and at +first it hung as still as the great festoons dead spiders had made +in the corners; then as he watched it it began to sway. He looked +up into the dimness then to see who was swaying the rope; and for +a long time, as it seemed to him lying gripping his Castilian +sword on the floor he saw nothing clearly. And then he saw mine +host coming down the rope, hand over hand quite nimbly, as though +he lived by this business. In his right hand he held a poniard of +exceptional length, yet he managed to clutch the rope and hold the +poniard all the time with the same hand. + +If there had been something hideous about the shadow of the spider +that came down from that height the shadow of mine host was indeed +demoniac. He too was like a spider, with his body at no time +slender all bunched up on the rope, and his shadow was six times +his size: you could turn from the spider's shadow to the spider +and see that it was for the most part a fancy of the candle half +crazed by the draughts, but to turn from mine host's shadow to +himself and to see his wicked eyes was to say that the candle's +wildest fears were true. So he climbed down his rope holding his +poniard upward. But when he came within perhaps ten feet of the +bed he pointed it downward and began to sway about. It will be +readily seen that by swaying his rope at a height mine host could +drop on any part of the bed. Rodriguez as he watched him saw him +scrutinise closely and continue to sway on his rope. He feared +that mine host was ill satisfied with the look of the mandolin and +that he would climb away again, well warned of his guest's +astuteness, into the heights of the ceiling to devise some +fearfuller scheme; but he was only looking for the shoulder. And +then mine host dropped; poniard first, he went down with all his +weight behind it and drove it through the bolster below where the +shoulder should be, just where we slant our arms across our +bodies, when we lie asleep on our sides, leaving the ribs exposed: +and the soft bed received him. And the moment that mine host let +go of his rope Rodriguez leaped to his feet. He saw Rodriguez, +indeed their eyes met as he dropped through the air, but what +could mine host do? He was already committed to his stroke, and +his poniard was already deep in the mattress when the good +Castilian blade passed through his ribs. + + + + + +THE SECOND CHRONICLE + +HOW HE HIRED A MEMORABLE SERVANT + + +When Rodriguez woke, the birds were singing gloriously. The sun +was up and the air was sparkling over Spain. The gloom had left +his high chamber, and much of the menace had gone from it that +overnight had seemed to bode in the corners. It had not become +suddenly tidy; it was still more suitable for spiders than men, it +still mourned and brooded over the great family that it had nursed +and that evil days had so obviously overtaken; but it no longer +had the air of finger to lips, no longer seemed to share a secret +with you, and that secret Murder. The rats still ran round the +wainscot, but the song of the birds and the jolly, dazzling +sunshine were so much larger than the sombre room that the young +man's thoughts escaped from it and ran free to the fields. It may +have been only his fancy but the world seemed somehow brighter for +the demise of mine host of the Dragon and Knight, whose body still +lay hunched up on the foot of his bed. Rodriguez jumped up and +went to the high, barred window and looked out of it at the +morning: far below him a little town with red roofs lay; the smoke +came up from the chimneys toward him slowly, and spread out flat +and did not reach so high. Between him and the roofs swallows were +sailing. + +He found water for washing in a cracked pitcher of earthenware and +as he dressed he looked up at the ceiling and admired mine host's +device, for there was an open hole that had come noiselessly, +without any sounds of bolts or lifting of trap-doors, but seemed +to have opened out all round on perfectly oiled groves, to fit +that well-to-do body, and down from the middle of it from some +higher beam hung the rope down which mine host had made his last +journey. + +Before taking leave of his host Rodriguez looked at his poniard, +which was a good two feet in length, not counting the hilt, and +was surprised to find it an excellent blade. It bore a design on +the steel representing a town, which Rodriguez recognised for the +towers of Toledo; and had held moreover a jewel at the end of the +hilt, but the little gold socket was empty. Rodriguez therefore +perceived that the poniard was that of a gallant, and surmised +that mine host had begun his trade with a butcher's knife, but +having come by the poniard had found it to be handier for his +business. Rodriguez being now fully dressed, girt his own blade +about him, and putting the poniard under his cloak, for he thought +to find a use for it at the wars, set his plumed hat upon him and +jauntily stepped from the chamber. By the light of day he saw +clearly at what point the passages of the inn had dared to make +their intrusion on the corridors of the fortress, for he walked +for four paces between walls of huge grey rocks which had never +been plastered and were clearly a breach in the fortress, though +whether the breach were made by one of the evil days that had come +upon the family in their fastness, and whether men had poured +through it with torches and swords, or whether the gap had been +cut in later years for mine host of the Dragon and Knight, and he +had gone quietly through it rubbing his hands, nothing remained to +show Rodriguez now. + +When he came to the dining-chamber he found Morano astir. Morano +looked up from his overwhelming task of tidying the Inn of the +Dragon and Knight and then went on with his pretended work, for he +felt a little ashamed of the knowledge he had concerning the ways +of that inn, which was more than an honest man should know about +such a place. + +"Good morning, Morano," said Rodriguez blithely. + +"Good morning," answered the servant of the Dragon and Knight. + +"I am looking for the wars. Would you like a new master, Morano?" + +"Indeed," said Morano, "a good master is better to some men's +minds than a bad one. Yet, you see senor, my bad master has me +bound never to leave him, by oaths that I do not properly +understand the meaning of, and that might blast me in any world +were I to forswear them. He hath bound me by San Sathanas, with +many others. I do not like the sound of that San Sathanas. And so +you see, senor, my bad master suits me better than perhaps to be +whithered in this world by a levin-stroke, and in the next world +who knows?" + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "there is a dead spider on my bed." + +"A dead spider, master?" said Morano, with as much concern in his +voice as though no spider had ever sullied that chamber before. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez, "I shall require you to keep my bed tidy on +our way to the wars." + +"Master," said Morano, "no spider shall come near it, living or +dead." + +And so our company of one going northward through Spain looking +for romance became a company of two. + +"Master," said Morano, "as I do not see him whom I serve, and his +ways are early ways, I fear some evil has overtaken him, whereby +we shall be suspect, for none other dwells here: and he is under +special protection of the Garda Civil; it would be well therefore +to start for the wars right early." + +"The guard protect mine host then." Rodriguez said with as much +surprise in his tones as he ever permitted himself. + +"Master," Morano said, "it could not be otherwise. For so many +gallants have entered the door of this inn and supped in this +chamber and never been seen again, and so many suspicious things +have been found here, such as blood, that it became necessary for +him to pay the guard well, and so they protect him." And Morano +hastily slung over his shoulder by leather straps an iron pot and +a frying-pan and took his broad felt hat from a peg on the wall. + +Rodriguez' eyes looked so curiously at the great cooking utensils +dangling there from the straps that Morano perceived his young +master did not fully understand these preparations: he therefore +instructed him thus: "Master, there be two things necessary in the +wars, strategy and cooking. Now the first of these comes in use +when the captains speak of their achievements and the historians +write of the wars. Strategy is a learned thing, master, and the +wars may not be told of without it, but while the war rageth and +men be camped upon the foughten field then is the time for +cooking; for many a man that fights the wars, if he hath not his +food, were well content to let the enemy live, but feed him and at +once he becometh proud at heart and cannot a-bear the sight of the +enemy walking among his tents but must needs slay him outright. +Aye, master, the cooking for the wars; and when the wars are over +you who are learned shall study strategy." + +And Rodriguez perceived that there was wisdom in the world that +was not taught in the College of San Josephus, near to his +father's valleys, where he had learned in his youth the ways of +books. + +"Morano," he said, "let us now leave mine host to entertain la +Garda." + +And at the mention of the guard hurry came on Morano, he closed +his lips upon his store of wisdom, and together they left the Inn +of the Dragon and Knight. And when Rodriguez saw shut behind him +that dark door of oak that he had so persistently entered, and +through which he had come again to the light of the sun by many +precautions and some luck, he felt gratitude to Morano. For had it +not been for Morano's sinister hints, and above all his remark +that mine host would have driven him thence because he liked him, +the evil look of the sombre chamber alone might not have been +enough to persuade him to the precautions that cut short the +dreadful business of that inn. And with his gratitude was a +feeling not unlike remorse, for he felt that he had deprived this +poor man of a part of his regular wages, which would have been his +own gold ring and the setting that held the sapphire, had all gone +well with the business. So he slipped the ring from his finger and +gave it to Morano, sapphire and all. + +Morano's expressions of gratitude were in keeping with that +flowery period in Spain, and might appear ridiculous were I to +expose them to the eyes of an age in which one in Morano's place +on such an occasion would have merely said, "Damned good of you +old nut, not half," and let the matter drop. + +I merely record therefore that Morano was grateful and so +expressed himself; while Rodriguez, in addition to the pleasant +glow in the mind that comes from a generous action, had another +feeling that gives all of us pleasure, or comfort at least (until +it grows monotonous), a feeling of increased safety; for while he +had the ring upon his finger and Morano went unpaid the thought +could not help occurring, even to a generous mind, that one of +these windy nights Morano might come for his wages. + +"Master," said Morano looking at the sapphire now on his own +little finger near the top joint, the only stone amongst his row +of rings, "you must surely have great wealth." + +"Yes," said Rodriguez slapping the scabbard that held his +Castilian blade. And when he saw that Morano's eyes were staring +at the little emeralds that were dotted along the velvet of the +scabbard he explained that it was the sword that was his wealth: + +"For in the wars," he said, "are all things to be won, and nothing +is unobtainable to the sword. For parchment and custom govern all +the possessions of man, as they taught me in the College of San +Josephus. Yet the sword is at first the founder and discoverer of +all possessions; and this my father told me before he gave me this +sword, which hath already acquired in the old time fair castles +with many a tower." + +"And those that dwelt in the castles, master, before the sword +came?" said Morano. + +"They died and went dismally to Hell," said Rodriguez, "as the old +songs say." + +They walked on then in silence. Morano, with his low forehead and +greater girth of body than of brain to the superficial observer, +was not incapable of thought. However slow his thoughts may have +come, Morano was pondering surely. Suddenly the puckers on his +little forehead cleared and he brightly looked at Rodriguez as +they went on side by side. + +"Master," Morano said, "when you choose a castle in the wars, let +it above all things be one of those that is easy to be defended; +for castles are easily got, as the old songs tell, and in the heat +of combat positions are quickly stormed, and no more ado; but, +when wars are over, then is the time for ease and languorous days +and the imperilling of the soul, though not beyond the point where +our good fathers may save it." + +"Nay, Morano," Rodriguez said, "no man, as they taught me well in +the College of San Josephus, should ever imperil his soul." + +"But, master," Morano said, "a man imperils his body in the wars +yet hopes by dexterity and his sword to draw it safely thence: so +a man of courage and high heart may surely imperil his soul and +still hope to bring it at the last to salvation." + +"Not so," said Rodriguez, and gave his mind to pondering upon the +exact teaching he had received on this very point, but could not +clearly remember. + +So they walked in silence, Rodriguez thinking still of this +spiritual problem, Morano turning, though with infinite slowness, +to another thought upon a lower plane. + +And after a while Rodriguez' eyes turned again to the flowers, and +he felt his meditation, as youth will, and looking abroad he saw +the wonder of Spring calling forth the beauty of Spain, and he +lifted up his head and his heart rejoiced with the anemones, as +hearts at his age do: but Morano clung to his thought. + +It was long before Rodriguez' fanciful thoughts came back from +among the flowers, for among those delicate earliest blooms of +Spring his youthful visions felt they were with familiars; so they +tarried, neglecting the dusty road and poor gross Morano. But when +his fancies left the flowers at last and looked again at Morano, +Rodriguez perceived that his servant was all troubled with +thought: so he left Morano in silence for his thought to come to +maturity, for he had formed a liking already for the judgments of +Morano's simple mind. + +They walked in silence for the space of an hour, and at last +Morano spoke. It was then noon. "Master," he said, "at this hour +it is the custom of la Garda to enter the Inn of the Dragon and to +dine at the expense of mine host." + +"A merry custom," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "if they find him in less than his usual +health they will get their dinners for themselves in the larder +and dine and afterwards sleep. But after that; master, after that, +should anything inauspicious have befallen mine host, they will +seek out and ask many questions concerning all travellers, too +many for our liking." + +"We are many good miles from the Inn of the Dragon and Knight," +said Rodriguez. + +"Master, when they have eaten and slept and asked questions they +will follow on horses," said Morano. + +"We can hide," said Rodriguez, and he looked round over the plain, +very full of flowers, but empty and bare under the blue sky of any +place in which a man might hide to escape from pursuers on horse +back. He perceived then that he had no plan. + +"Master," said Morano, "there is no hiding like disguises." + +Once more Rodriguez looked round him over the plain, seeing no +houses, no men; and his opinion of Morano's judgment sank when he +said disguises. But then Morano unfolded to him that plan which up +to that day had never been tried before, so far as records tell, +in all the straits in which fugitive men have been; and which +seems from my researches in verse and prose never to have been +attempted since. + +The plan was this, astute as Morano, and simple as his naive mind. +The clothing for which Rodriguez searched the plain vainly was +ready to hand. No disguise was effective against la Garda, they +had too many suspicions, their skill was to discover disguises. +But in the moment of la Garda's triumph, when they had found out +the disguise, when success had lulled the suspicions for which +they were infamous, then was the time to trick la Garda. Rodriguez +wondered; but the slow mind of Morano was sure, and now he came to +the point, the fruit of his hour's thinking. Rodriguez should +disguise himself as Morano. When la Garda discovered that he was +not the man he appeared to be, a study to which they devoted their +lives, their suspicions would rest and there would be an end of +it. And Morano should disguise himself as Rodriguez. + +It was a new idea. Had Rodriguez been twice his age he would have +discarded it at once; for age is guided by precedent which, when +pursued, is a dangerous guide indeed. Even as it was he was +critical, for the novelty of the thing coming thus from his gross +servant surprised him as much as though Morano had uttered poetry +of his own when he sang, as he sometimes did, certain merry +lascivious songs of Spain that any one of the last few centuries +knew as well as any of the others. + +And would not la Garda find out that he was himself, Rodriguez +asked, as quickly as they found out he was not Morano. + +"That," said Morano, "is not the way of la Garda. For once let la +Garda come by a suspicion, such as that you, master, are but +Morano, and they will cling to it even to the last, and not +abandon it until they needs must, and then throw it away as it +were in disgust and ride hence at once, for they like not tarrying +long near one who has seen them mistaken." + +"They will soon then come by another suspicion," said Rodriguez. + +"Not so, master," answered Morano, "for those that are as +suspicious as la Garda change their suspicions but slowly. A +suspicion is an old song to them." + +"Then," said Rodriguez, "I shall be hard set ever to show that I +am not you if they ever suspect I am." + +"It will be hard, master," Morano answered; "but we shall do it, +for we shall have truth upon our side." + +"How shall we disguise ourselves?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "when you came to our town none knew you +and all marked your clothes. As for me my fat body is better known +than my clothes, yet am I not too well known by la Garda, for, +being an honest man, whenever la Garda came I used to hide." + +"You did well," said Rodriguez. + +"Certainly I did well," said Morano, "for had they seen me they +might, on account of certain matters, have taken me to prison, and +prison is no place for an honest man." + +"Let us disguise ourselves," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," answered Morano, "the brain is greater than the stomach, +and now more than at any time we need the counsel of the brain; +let us therefore appease the clamours of the stomach that it be +silent." + +And he drew out from amongst his clothing a piece of sacking in +which was a mass of bacon and some lard, and unslung his huge +frying-pan. Rodriguez had entirely forgotten the need of food, but +now the memory of it had rushed upon him like a flood over a +barrier, as soon as he saw the bacon. And when they had collected +enough of tiny inflammable things, for it was a treeless plain, +and Morano had made a fire, and the odour of the bacon became +perceptible, this memory was hugely intensified. + +"Let us eat while they eat, master," said Morano, "and plan while +they sleep, and disguise ourselves while they pursue." + +And this they did: for after they had eaten they dug up earth and +gathered leaves with which to fill the gaps in Morano's garments +when they should hang on Rodriguez, they plucked a geranium with +whose dye they deepened Rodriguez' complexion, and with the sap +from the stalk of a weed Morano toned to a pallor the ruddy brown +of his tough cheeks. Then they changed clothes altogether, which +made Morano gasp: and after that nothing remained but to cut off +the delicate black moustachios of Rodriguez and to stick them to +the face of Morano with the juice of another flower that he knew +where to find. Rodriguez sighed when he saw them go. He had +pictured ecstatic glances cast some day at those moustachios, +glances from under long eyelashes twinkling at evening from +balconies; and looking at them where they were now, he felt that +this was impossible. + +For one moment Morano raised his head with an air, as it were +preening himself, when the new moustachios had stuck; but as soon +as he saw, or felt, his master's sorrow at their loss he +immediately hung his head, showing nothing but shame for the loss +he had caused his master, or for the impropriety of those delicate +growths that so ill become his jowl. And now they took the road +again, Rodriguez with the great frying-pan and cooking-pot; no +longer together, but not too far apart for la Garda to take them +both at once, and to make the doubly false charge that should so +confound their errand. And Morano wore that old triumphant sword, +and carried the mandolin that was ever young. + +They had not gone far when it was as Morano had said; for, looking +back, as they often did, to the spot where their road touched the +sky-line, they saw la Garda spurring, seven of them in their +unmistakable looped hats, very clear against the sky which a +moment ago seemed so fair. + +When the seven saw the two they did not spare the dust; and first +they came to Morano. + +"You," they said, "are Rodriguez Trinidad Fernandez, Concepcion +Henrique Maria, a Lord of the Valleys of Arguento Harez." + +"No, masters," said Morano. + +Oh but denials were lost upon la Garda. + +Denials inflamed their suspicions as no other evidence could. Many +a man had they seen with his throat in the hands of the public +garrotter; and all had begun with denials who ended thus. They +looked at the mandolin, at the gay cloak, at the emeralds in the +scabbard, for wherever emeralds go there is evidence to identify +them, until the nature of man changes or the price of emeralds. +They spoke hastily among themselves. + +"Without doubt," said one of them, "you are whom we said." And +they arrested Morano. + +Then they spurred on to Rodriguez. "You are, they said, "as no man +doubts, one Morano, servant at the Inn of the Dragon and Knight, +whose good master is, as we allege, dead." + +"Masters," answered Rodriguez, "I am but a poor traveller, and no +servant at any inn." + +Now la Garda, as I have indicated, will hear all things except +denials; and thus to receive two within the space of two moments +infuriated them so fiercely that they were incapable of forming +any other theory that day except the one they held. + +There are many men like this; they can form a plausible theory and +grasp its logical points, but take it away from them and destroy +it utterly before their eyes, and they will not so easily lash +their tired brains at once to build another theory in place of the +one that is ruined. + +"As the saints live," they said, "you are Morano." And they +arrested Rodriguez too. + +Now when they began to turn back by the way they had come +Rodriguez began to fear overmuch identification, so he assured la +Garda that in the next village ahead of them were those who would +answer all questions concerning him, as well as being the +possessors of the finest vintage of wine in the kingdom of Spain. + +Now it may be that the mention of this wine soothed the anger +caused in the men of la Garda by two denials, or it may be that +curiosity guided them, at any rate they took the road that led +away from last night's sinister shelter, Rodriguez and five of la +Garda. Two of them stayed behind with Morano, undecided as yet +which way to take, though looking wistfully the way that that wine +was said to be; and Rodriguez left Morano to his own devices, in +which he trusted profoundly. + +Now Rodriguez knew not the name of the next village that they +would come to nor the names of any of the dwellers in it. + +Yet he had a plan. As he went by the side of one of the horses he +questioned the rider. + +"Can Morano write?" he said. La Garda laughed. + +"Can Morano talk Latin?" he said. La Garda crossed themselves, all +five men. And after some while of riding, and hard walking for +Rodriguez, to whom they allowed a hand on a stirrup leather, there +came in sight the tops of the brown roofs of a village over a fold +of the plain. "Is this your village?" said one of his captors. + +"Surely," answered Rodriguez. + +"What is its name?" said one. + +"It has many names," said Rodriguez. + +And then another one of them recognised it from the shape of its +roofs. "It is Saint Judas-not-Iscariot," he said. + +"Aye, so strangers call it," said Rodriguez. + +And where the road turned round that fold of the plain, lolling a +little to its left in the idle Spanish air, they came upon the +village all in view. I do not know how to describe this village to +you, my reader, for the words that mean to you what it was are all +the wrong words to use. "Antique," "old-world," "quaint," seem +words with which to tell of it. Yet it had no antiquity denied to +the other villages; it had been brought to birth like them by the +passing of time, and was nursed like them in the lap of plains or +valleys of Spain. Nor was it quainter than any of its neighbours, +though it was like itself alone, as they had their characters +also; and, though no village in the world was like it, it differed +only from the next as sister differs from sister. To those that +dwelt in it, it was wholly apart from all the world of man. + +Most of its tall white houses with green doors were gathered about +the market-place, in which were pigeons and smells and declining +sunlight, as Rodriguez and his escort came towards it, and from +round a corner at the back of it the short, repeated song of one +who would sell a commodity went up piercingly. + +This was all very long ago. Time has wrecked that village now. +Centuries have flowed over it, some stormily, some smoothly, but +so many that, of the village Rodriguez saw, there can be now no +more than wreckage. For all I know a village of that name may +stand on that same plain, but the Saint Judas-not-Iscariot that +Rodriguez knew is gone like youth. + +Queerly tiled, sheltered by small dense trees, and standing a +little apart, Rodriguez recognised the house of the Priest. He +recognised it by a certain air it had. Thither he pointed and la +Garda rode. Again he spoke to them. "Can Morano speak Latin?" he +said. + +"God forbid!" said la Garda. + +They dismounted and opened a gate that was gilded all over, in a +low wall of round boulders. They went up a narrow path between +thick ilices and came to the green door. They pulled a bell whose +handle was a symbol carved in copper, one of the Priest's +mysteries. The bell boomed through the house, a tiny musical boom, +and the Priest opened the door; and Rodriguez addressed him in +Latin. And the Priest answered him. + +At first la Garda had not realised what had happened. And then the +Priest beckoned and they all entered his house, for Rodriguez had +asked him for ink. Into a room they came where a silver ink-pot +was, and the grey plume of the goose. Picture no such ink-pot, my +reader, as they sell to-day in shops, the silver no thicker than +paper, and perhaps a pattern all over it guaranteed artistic. It +was molten silver well wrought, and hollowed for ink. And in the +hollow there was the magical fluid, the stuff that rules the world +and hinders time; that in which flows the will of a king, to +establish his laws for ever; that which gives valleys unto new +possessors; that whereby towers are held by their lawful owners; +that which, used grimly by the King's judge, is death; that which, +when poets play, is mirth for ever and ever. + +No wonder la Garda looked at it in awe, no wonder they crossed +themselves again: and then Rodriguez wrote. In the silence that +followed the jaws of la Garda dropped, while the old Priest +slightly smiled, for he somewhat divined the situation already; +and, being the people's friend, he loved not la Garda more than he +was bound by the rules of his duty to man. + +Then one of la Garda spoke, bringing back his confidence with a +bluster. "Morano has sold his soul to Satan," he said, "in +exchange for Satan's aid, and Satan has taught his tongue Latin +and guides his fingers in the affairs of the pen." And so said all +la Garda, rejoicing at finding an explanation where a moment ago +there was none, as all men at such times do: little it matters +what the explanation be: does a man in Sahara, who finds water +suddenly, in quire with precision what its qualities are? + +And then the Priest said a word and made a sign, against which +Satan himself can only prevail with difficulty, and in presence of +which his spells can never endure. And after this Rodriguez wrote +again. Then were la Garda silent. + +And at length the leader said, and he called on them all to +testify, that he had made no charge whatever against this +traveller; moreover, they had escorted him on his way out of +respect for him, because the roads were dangerous, and must now +depart because they had higher duties. So la Garda departed, +looking before them with stern, preoccupied faces and urging their +horses on, as men who go on an errand of great urgency. And +Rodriguez, having thanked them for their protection upon the road, +turned back into the house and the two sat down together, and +Rodriguez told his rescuer the story of the hospitality of the Inn +of the Dragon and Knight. + +Not as confession he told it, but as a pleasant tale, for he +looked on the swift demise of la Garda's friend, in the night, in +the spidery room, as a fair blessing for Spain, a thing most +suited to the sweet days of Spring. The spiritual man rejoiced to +hear such a tale, as do all men of peace to hear talk of violent +deeds in which they may not share. And when the tale was ended he +reproved Rodriguez exceedingly, explaining to him the nature of +the sin of blood, and telling him that absolution could be come by +now, though hardly, but how on some future occasion there might be +none to be had. And Rodriguez listened with all the gravity of +expression that youth knows well how to wear while its thoughts +are nimbly dancing far away in fair fields of adventure or love. + +And darkness came down and lamps were carried in: and the reverend +father asked Rodriguez in what other affairs of violence his sword +had unhappily been. And Rodriguez knew well the history of that +sword, having gathered all that concerned it out of spoken legend +or song. And although the reverend man frowned minatorily whenever +he heard of its passings through the ribs of the faithful, and +nodded as though his head gave benediction when he heard of the +destruction of God's most vile enemy the infidel, and though he +gasped a little through his lips when he heard of certain +tarryings of that sword, in scented gardens, while Christian +knights should sleep and their swords hang on the wall, though +sometimes even a little he raised his hands, yet he leaned forward +always, listening well, and picturing clearly as though his +gleaming eyes could see them, each doleful tale of violence or +sin. And so night came, and began to wear away, and neither knew +how late the hour was. And then as Rodriguez spoke of an evening +in a garden, of which some old song told well, a night in early +summer under the evening star, and that sword there as always; as +he told of his grandfather as poets had loved to tell, going among +the scents of the huge flowers, familiar with the dark garden as +the moths that drifted by him; as he spoke of a sigh heard +faintly, as he spoke of danger near, whether to body or soul; as +the reverend father was about to raise both his hands; there came +a thunder of knockings upon the locked green door. + + + + + +THE THIRD CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME TO THE HOUSE OF WONDER + + +It was the gross Morano. Here he had tracked Rodriguez, for where +la Garda goes is always known, and rumour of it remains long +behind them, like the scent of a fox. He told no tale of his +escape more than a dog does who comes home some hours late; a dog +comes back to his master, that is all, panting a little perhaps; +someone perhaps had caught him and he escaped and came home, a +thing too natural to attempt to speak of by any of the signs that +a dog knows. + +Part of Morano's method seems to have resembled Rodriguez', for +just as Rodriguez spoke Latin, so Morano fell back upon his own +natural speech, that he as it were unbridled and allowed to run +free, the coarseness of which had at first astounded, and then +delighted, la Garda. + +"And did they not suspect that you were yourself?" said Rodriguez. + +"No, master," Morano answered, "for I said that I was the brother +of the King of Aragon." + +"The King of Aragon!" Rodriguez said, going to the length of +showing surprise. "Yes, indeed, master." said Morano, "and they +recognised me." + +"Recognised you!" exclaimed the Priest. + +"Indeed so," said Morano, "for they said that they were themselves +the Kings of Aragon; and so, father, they recognised me for their +brother." + +"That you should not have said," the Priest told Morano. + +"Reverend father," replied Morano, "as Heaven shines, I believed +that what I said was true." And Morano sighed deeply. "And now," +he said, "I know it is true no more." + +Whether he sighed for the loss of his belief in that exalted +relationship, or whether for the loss of that state of mind in +which such beliefs come easily, there was nothing in his sigh to +show. They questioned him further, but he said no more: he was +here, there was no more to say: he was here and la Garda was gone. + +And then the reverend man brought for them a great supper, even at +that late hour, for many an hour had slipped softly by as he heard +the sins of the sword; and wine he set out, too, of a certain +golden vintage, long lost--I fear--my reader: but this he gave not +to Morano lest he should be once more, what the reverend father +feared to entertain, that dread hidalgo, the King of Aragon's +brother. And after that, the stars having then gone far on their +ways, the old Priest rose and offered a bed to Rodriguez; and even +as he eyed Morano, wondering where to put him, and was about to +speak, for he had no other bed, Morano went to a corner of the +room and curled up and lay down. And by the time his host had +walked over to him and spoken, asking anxiously if he needed +nothing more, he was almost already asleep, and muttered in +answer, after having been spoken to twice, no more than "Straw, +reverend father, straw." + +An armful of this the good man brought him, and then showed +Rodriguez to his room; and they can scarcely have reached it +before Morano was back in Aragon again, walking on golden shoes +(which were sometimes wings), proud among lesser princes. + +As precaution for the night Rodriguez took one more glance at his +host's kind face; and then, with sword out of reach and an +unlocked door, he slept till the songs of birds out of the deeps +of the ilices made sleep any longer impossible. + +The third morning of Rodriguez' wandering blazed over Spain like +brass; flowers and grass and sky were twinkling all together. + +When Rodriguez greeted his host Morano was long astir, having +awakened with dawn, for the simpler and humbler the creature the +nearer it is akin to the earth and the sun. The forces that woke +the birds and opened the flowers stirred the gross lump of Morano, +ending his sleep as they ended the nightingale's song. + +They breakfasted hurriedly and Rodriguez rose to depart, feeling +that he had taken hospitality that had not been offered. But +against his departure was the barrier of all the politeness of +Spain. The house was his, said his host, and even the small grove +of ilices. + +If I told you half of the things that the reverend man said, you +would say: "This writer is affected. I do not like all this +flowery mush." I think it safer, my reader, not to tell you any of +it. Let us suppose that he merely said, "Quite all right," and +that when Rodriguez thanked him on one knee he answered, "Not at +all;" and that so Rodriguez and Morano left. If here it miss some +flash of the fair form of Truth it is the fault of the age I write +for. + +The road again, dust again, birds and the blaze of leaves, these +were the background of my wanderers, until the eye had gone as far +as the eye can roam, and there were the tips of some far pale-blue +mountains that now came into view. + +They were still in each other's clothes; but the village was not +behind them very far when Morano explained, for he knew the ways +of la Garda, that having arrested two men upon this road, they +would now arrest two men each on all the other roads, in order to +show the impartiality of the Law, which constantly needs to be +exhibited; and that therefore all men were safe on the road they +were on for a long while to come. + +Now there seemed to Rodriguez to be much good sense in what Morano +had said; and so indeed there was for they had good laws in Spain, +and they differed little, though so long ago, from our own +excellent system. Therefore they changed once more, giving back to +each other everything but, alas, those delicate black moustachios; +and these to Rodriguez seemed gone for ever, for the growth of new +ones seemed so far ahead to the long days of youth that his hopes +could scarce reach to them. + +When Morano found himself once more in those clothes that had been +with him night and day for so many years he seemed to expand; I +mean no metaphor here; he grew visibly fatter. + +"Ah," said Morano after a huge breath, "last night I dreamed, in +your illustrious clothes, that I was in lofty station. And now, +master, I am comfortable." + +"Which were best, think you," said Rodriguez, "if you could have +but one, a lofty place or comfort?" Even in those days such a +question was trite, but Rodriguez uttered it only thinking to dip +in the store of Morano's simple wisdom, as one may throw a mere +worm to catch a worthy fish. But in this he was disappointed; for +Morano made no neat comparison nor even gave an opinion, saying +only, "Master, while I have comfort how shall I judge the case of +any who have not?" And no more would he say. His new found +comfort, lost for a day and night, seemed so to have soothed his +body that it closed the gates of the mind, as too much luxury may, +even with poets. + +And now Rodriguez thought of his quest again, and the two of them +pushed on briskly to find the wars. + +For an hour they walked in silence an empty road. And then they +came upon a row of donkeys; piled high with the bark of the cork- +tree, that men were bringing slowly from far woods. Some of the +men were singing as they went. They passed slow in the sunshine. + +"Oh, master," said Morano when they were gone, "I like not that +lascivious loitering." + +"Why, Morano?" said Rodriguez. "It was not God that made hurry." + +"Master," answered Morano, "I know well who made hurry. And may he +not overtake my soul at the last. Yet it is bad for our fortunes +that these men should loiter thus. You want your castle, master; +and I, I want not always to wander roads, with la Garda perhaps +behind and no certain place to curl up and sleep in front. I look +for a heap of straw in the cellar of your great castle." + +"Yes, yes, you shall have it," his master said, "but how do these +folks hinder you?" For Morano was scowling at them over his +shoulder in a way that was somehow spoiling the gladness of +Spring. + +"The air is full of their singing," Morano said. "It is as though +their souls were already flying to Hell, and cawing hoarse with +sin all the way as they go. And they loiter, and they linger..." +Oh, but Morano was angry. + +"But," said Rodriguez, "how does their lingering harm you?" + +"Where are the wars, master? Where are the wars?" blurted Morano, +his round face turning redder. "The donkeys would be dead, the men +would be running, there would be shouts, cries, and confusion, if +the wars were anywhere near. There would be all things but this." + +The men strolled on singing and so passed slow into distance. +Morano was right, though I know not how he knew. + +And now the men and the donkeys were nearly out of sight, but had +not yet at all emerged from the wrath of Morano. "Lascivious +knaves," muttered that disappointed man. And whenever he faintly +heard dim snatches of their far song that a breeze here, and +another there, brought over the plain as it ran on the errands of +Spring, he cursed their sins under his breath. Though it seemed +not so much their sins that moved his wrath as the leisure they +had for committing them. + +"Peace, peace, Morano," said Rodriguez. + +"It is that," said Morano, "that is troubling me." + +"What?" + +"This same peace." + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "I had when young to study the affairs +of men; and this is put into books, and so they make history. Now +I learned that there is no thing in which men have taken delight, +that is ever put away from them; for it seems that time, which +altereth every custom, hath altered none of our likings: and in +every chapter they taught me there were these wars to be found." + +"Master, the times are altered," said Morano sadly. "It is not now +as in old days." + +And this was not the wisdom of Morano, for anger had clouded his +judgment. And a faint song came yet from the donkey-drivers, +wavering over the flowers. + +"Master," Morano said, "there are men like those vile sin-mongers, +who have taken delight in peace. It may be that peace has been +brought upon the world by one of these lousy likings." + +"The delight of peace," said Rodriguez, "is in its contrast to +war. If war were banished this delight were gone. And man lost +none of his delights in any chapter I read." + +The word and the meaning of CONTRAST were such as is understood by +reflective minds, the product of education. Morano felt rather +than reflected; and the word CONTRAST meant nothing to him. This +ended their conversation. And the songs of the donkey-drivers, +light though they were, being too heavy to be carried farther by +the idle air of Spring, Morano ceased cursing their sins. + +And now the mountains rose up taller, seeming to stretch +themselves and raise their heads. In a while they seemed to be +peering over the plain. They that were as pale ghosts, far off, +dim like Fate, in the early part of the morning, now appeared +darker, more furrowed, more sinister, more careworn; more +immediately concerned with the affairs of Earth, and so more +menacing to earthly things. + +Still they went on and still the mountains grew. And noon came, +when Spain sleeps. + +And now the plain was altering, as though cool winds from the +mountains brought other growths to birth, so that they met with +bushes straggling wild; free, careless and mysterious, as they do, +where there is none to teach great Nature how to be tidy. + +The wanderers chose a clump of these that were gathered near the +way, like gypsies camped awhile midway on a wonderful journey, who +at dawn will rise and go, leaving but a bare trace of their +resting and no guess of their destiny; so fairy-like, so free, so +phantasmal those dark shrubs seemed. + +Morano lay down on the very edge of the shade of one, and +Rodriguez lay fair in the midst of the shade of another, whereby +anyone passing that way would have known which was the older +traveller. Morano, according to his custom, was asleep almost +immediately; but Rodriguez, with wonder and speculation each +toying with novelty and pulling it different ways between them, +stayed awhile wakeful. Then he too slept, and a bird thought it +safe to return to an azalea of its own; which it lately fled from +troubled by the arrival of these two. + +And Rodriguez the last to sleep was the first awake, for the shade +of the shrub left him, and he awoke in the blaze of the sun to see +Morano still sheltered, well in the middle now of the shadow he +chose. The gross sleep of Morano I will not describe to you, +reader. I have chosen a pleasant tale for you in a happy land, in +the fairest time of year, in a golden age: I have youth to show +you and an ancient sword, birds, flowers and sunlight, in a plain +unharmed by any dream of commerce: why should I show you the sleep +of that inelegant man whose bulk lay cumbering the earth like a +low, unseemly mountain? + +Rodriguez overtook the shade he had lost and lay there resting +until Morano awoke, driven all at once from sleep by a dream or by +mere choking. Then from the intricacies of his clothing, which to +him after those two days was what home is to some far wanderer, +Morano drew out once more a lump of bacon. Then came the fry-pan +and then a fire: it was the Wanderers' Mess. That mess-room has +stood in many lands and has only one roof. We are proud of that +roof, all we who belong to that Mess. We boast of it when we show +it to our friends when it is all set out at night. It has +Aldebaran in it, the Bear and Orion, and at the other end the +Southern Cross. Yes we are proud of our roof when it is at its +best. + +What am I saying? I should be talking of bacon. Yes, but there is +a way of cooking it in our Mess that I want to tell you and +cannot. I've tasted bacon there that isn't the same as what you +get at the Ritz. And I want to tell you how that bacon tastes; and +I can't so I talk about stars. But perhaps you are one of us, +reader, and then you will understand. Only why the hell don't we +get back there again where the Evening Star swings low on the wall +of the Mess? + +When they rose from table, when they got up from the earth, and +the frying-pan was slung on Morano's back, adding grease to the +mere surface of his coat whose texture could hold no more, they +pushed on briskly for they saw no sign of houses, unless what +Rodriguez saw now dimly above a ravine were indeed a house in the +mountains. + +They had walked from eight till noon without any loitering. They +must have done fifteen miles since the mountains were pale blue. +And now, every mile they went, on the most awful of the dark +ridges the object Rodriguez saw seemed more and more like a house. +Yet neither then, nor as they drew still nearer, nor when they saw +it close, nor looking back on it after years, did it somehow seem +quite right. And Morano sometimes crossed himself as he looked at +it, and said nothing. + +Rodriguez, as they walked ceaselessly through the afternoon, +seeing his servant show some sign of weariness, which comes not to +youth, pointed out the house looking nearer than it really was on +the mountain, and told him that he should find there straw, and +they would sup and stay the night. Afterwards, when the strange +appearance of the house, varying with different angles, filled him +with curious forebodings, Rodriguez would make no admission to his +servant, but held to the plan he had announced, and so approached +the queer roofs, neglecting the friendly stars. + +Through the afternoon the two travellers pushed on mostly in +silence, for the glances that house seemed to give him from the +edge of its perilous ridge, had driven the mirth from Rodriguez +and had even checked the garrulity on the lips of the tougher +Morano, if garrulity can be ascribed to him whose words seldom +welled up unless some simple philosophy troubled his deeps. The +house seemed indeed to glance at him, for as their road wound on, +the house showed different aspects, different walls and edges of +walls, and different curious roofs; all these walls seemed to peer +at him. One after another they peered, new ones glided +imperceptibly into sight as though to say, We see too. + +The mountains were not before them but a little to the right of +their path, until new ones appeared ahead of them like giants +arising from sleep, and then their path seemed blocked as though +by a mighty wall against which its feeble wanderings went in vain. +In the end it turned a bit to its right and went straight for a +dark mountain, where a wild track seemed to come down out of the +rocks to meet it, and upon this track looked down that sinister +house. Had you been there, my reader, you would have said, any of +us had said, Why not choose some other house? There were no other +houses. He who dwelt on the edge of the ravine that ran into that +dark mountain was wholly without neighbours. + +And evening came, and still they were far from the mountain. + +The sun set on their left. But it was in the eastern sky that the +greater splendour was; for the low rays streaming across lit up +some stormy clouds that were brooding behind the mountain and +turned their gloomy forms to an astounding purple. + +And after this their road began to rise toward the ridges. The +mountains darkened and the sinister house was about to emerge with +their shadows, when he who dwelt there lit candles. + +The act astonished the wayfarers. All through half the day they +had seen the house, until it seemed part of the mountains; evil it +seemed like their ridges, that were black and bleak and +forbidding, and strange it seemed with a strangeness that moved no +fears they could name, yet it seemed inactive as night. + +Now lights appeared showing that someone moved. Window after +window showed to the bare dark mountain its gleaming yellow glare; +there in the night the house forsook the dark rocks that seemed +kin to it, by glowing as they could never glow, by doing what the +beasts that haunted them could not do: this was the lair of man. +Here was the light of flame but the rocks remained dark and cold +as the wind of night that went over them, he who dwelt now with +the lights had forsaken the rocks, his neighbours. + +And, when all were lit, one light high in a tower shone green. +These lights appearing out of the mountain thus seemed to speak to +Rodriguez and to tell him nothing. And Morano wondered, as he +seldom troubled to do. + +They pushed on up the steepening path. + +"Like you the looks of it?" said Rodriguez once. + +"Aye, master," answered Morano, "so there be straw." + +"You see nothing strange there, then?" Rodriguez said. + +"Master," Morano said, "there be saints for all requirements." + +Any fears he had felt about that house before, now as he neared it +were gone; it was time to put away fears and face the event; thus +worked Morano's philosophy. And he turned his thoughts to the +achievements upon earth of a certain Saint who met Satan, and +showed to the sovereign of Hell a discourtesy alien to the ways of +the Church. + +It was dark now, and the yellow lights got larger as they drew +nearer the windows, till they saw large shadows obscurely passing +from room to room. The ascent was steep now and the pathway +stopped. No track of any kind approached the house. It stood on a +precipice-edge as though one of the rocks of the mountain: they +climbed over rocks to reach it. The windows flickered and blinked +at them. + +Nothing invited them there in the look of that house, but they +were now in such a forbidding waste that shelter had to be found; +they were all among edges of rock as black as the night and hard +as the material of which Cosmos was formed, at first upon Chaos' +brink. The sound of their climbing ran noisily up the mountain but +no sound came from the house: only the shadows moved more swiftly +across a room, passed into other rooms and came hurrying back. +Sometimes the shadows stayed and seemed to peer; and when the +travellers stood and watched to see what they were they would +disappear and there were no shadows at all, and the rooms were +filled instead with their wondering speculation. Then they pushed +on over rocks that seemed never trodden by man, so sharp were they +and slanting, all piled together: it seemed the last waste, to +which all shapeless rocks had been thrown. + +Morano and these black rocks seemed shaped by a different scheme; +indeed the rocks had never been shaped at all, they were just raw +pieces of Chaos. Morano climbed over their edges with moans and +discomfort. Rodriguez heard him behind him and knew by his moans +when he came to the top of each sharp rock. + +The rocks became savager, huger, even more sharp and more angular. +They were there in the dark in multitudes. Over these Rodriguez +staggered, and Morano clambered and tumbled; and so they came, +breathing hard, to the lonely house. + +In the wall that their hands had reached there was no door, so +they felt along it till they came to the corner, and beyond the +corner was the front wall of the house. In it was the front door. +But so nearly did this door open upon the abyss that the bats that +fled from their coming, from where they hung above the door of +oak, had little more to do than fall from their crannies, slanting +ever so slightly, to find themselves safe from man in the velvet +darkness, that lay between cliffs so lonely they were almost +strangers to Echo. And here they floated upon errands far from our +knowledge; while the travellers coming along the rocky ledge +between destruction and shelter, knocked on the oaken door. + +The sound of their knocking boomed huge and slow through the house +as though they had struck the door of the very mountain. And no +one came. And then Rodriguez saw dimly in the darkness the great +handle of a bell, carved like a dragon running down the wall: he +pulled it and a cry of pain arose from the basement of the house. + +Even Morano wondered. It was like a terrible spirit in distress. +It was long before Rodriguez dare touch the handle again. Could it +have been the bell? He felt the iron handle and the iron chain +that went up from it. How could it have been the bell! The bell +had not sounded: he had not pulled hard enough: that scream was +fortuitous. The night on that rocky ledge had jangled his nerves. +He pulled again and more firmly. The answering scream was more +terrible. Rodriguez could doubt no longer, as he sprang back from +the bell-handle, that with the chain he had pulled he inflicted +some unknown agony. + +The scream had awakened slow steps that now came towards the +travellers, down corridors, as it sounded, of stone. And then +chains fell on stone and the door of oak was opened by some one +older than what man hopes to come to, with small, peaked lips as +those of some woodland thing. + +"Senores," the old one said, "the Professor welcomes you." + +They stood and stared at his age, and Morano blurted uncouthly +what both of them felt. "You are old, grandfather," he said. + +"Ah, Senores," the old man sighed, "the Professor does not allow +me to be young. I have been here years and years but he never +allowed it. I have served him well but it is still the same. I say +to him, 'Master, I have served you long ...' but he interrupts me +for he will have none of youth. Young servants go among the +villages, he says. And so, and so ..." + +"You do not think your master can give you youth!" said Rodriguez. + +The old man knew that he had talked too much, voicing that +grievance again of which even the rocks were weary. "Yes," he said +briefly, and bowed and led the way into the house. In one of the +corridors running out of the hall down which he was leading +silently, Rodriguez overtook that old man and questioned him to +his face. + +"Who is this professor?" he said. + +By the light of a torch that spluttered in an iron clamp on the +wall Rodriguez questioned him with these words, and Morano with +his wondering, wistful eyes. The old man halted and turned half +round, and lifted his head and answered. "In the University of +Saragossa," he said with pride, "he holds the Chair of Magic." + +Even the names of Oxford or Cambridge, Harvard or Yale or +Princeton, move some respect, and even yet in these unlearned +days. What wonder then that the name of Saragossa heard on that +lonely mountain awoke in Rodriguez some emotion of reverence and +even awed Morano. As for the Chair of Magic, it was of all the +royal endowments of that illustrious University the most honoured +and dreaded. + +"At Saragossa!" Rodriguez muttered. + +"At Saragossa," the old man affirmed. + +Between that ancient citadel of learning and this most savage +mountain appeared a gulf scarce to be bridged by thought. + +"The Professor rests in his mountain," the old man said, "because +of a conjunction of the stars unfavourable to study, and his class +have gone to their homes for many weeks." He bowed again and led +on along that corridor of dismal stone. The others followed, and +still as Rodriguez went that famous name Saragossa echoed within +his mind. + +And then they came to a door set deep in the stone, and their +guide opened it and they went in; and there was the Professor in a +mystical hat and a robe of dim purple, seated with his back to +them at a table, studying the ways of the stars. "Welcome, Don +Rodriguez," said the Professor before he turned round; and then he +rose, and with small steps backwards and sideways and many bows, +he displayed all those formulae of politeness that Saragossa knew +in the golden age and which her professors loved to execute. In +later years they became more elaborate still, and afterwards were +lost. + +Rodriguez replied rather by instinct than knowledge; he came of a +house whose bows had never missed graceful ease and which had in +some generations been a joy to the Court of Spain. Morano followed +behind him; but his servile presence intruded upon that elaborate +ceremony, and the Professor held up his hand, and Morano was held +in mid stride as though the air had gripped him. There he stood +motionless, having never felt magic before. And when the Professor +had welcomed Rodriguez in a manner worthy of the dignity of the +Chair that he held at Saragossa, he made an easy gesture and +Morano was free again. + +"Master," said Morano to the Professor, as soon as he found he +could move, "master, it looks like magic." Picture to yourself +some yokel shown into the library of a professor of Greek at +Oxford, taking down from a shelf one of the books of the Odyssey, +and saying to the Professor, "It looks like Greek"! + +Rodriguez felt grieved by Morano's boorish ignorance. Neither he +nor his host answered him. + +The Professor explained that he followed the mysteries dimly, +owing to a certain aspect of Orion, and that therefore his class +were gone to their homes and were hunting; and so he studied alone +under unfavourable auspices. And once more he welcomed Rodriguez +to his roof, and would command straw to be laid down for the man +that Rodriguez had brought from the Inn of the Dragon and Knight; +for he, the Professor, saw all things, though certain stars would +hide everything. + +And when Rodriguez had appropriately uttered his thanks, he added +with all humility and delicate choice of phrase a petition that he +might be shown some mere rudiment of the studies for which that +illustrious chair in Saragossa was famous. The Professor bowed +again and, in accepting the well-rounded compliments that +Rodriguez paid to the honoured post he occupied, he introduced +himself by name. He had been once, he said, the Count of the +Mountain, but when his astral studies had made him eminent and he +had mastered the ways of the planet nearest the sun he took the +title Magister Mercurii, and by this had long been known; but had +now forsaken this title, great as it was, for a more glorious +nomenclature, and was called in the Arabic language the Slave of +Orion. When Rodriguez heard this he bowed very low. + +And now the Professor asked Rodriguez in which of the activities +of life his interest lay; for the Chair of Magic at Saragossa, he +said, was concerned with them all. + +"In war," said Rodriguez. + +And Morano unostentatiously rubbed his hands; for here was one, he +thought, who would soon put his master on the right way, and +matters would come to a head and they would find the wars. But far +from concerning himself with the wars of that age, the Slave of +Orion explained that as events came nearer they became grosser or +more material, and that their grossness did not leave them until +they were some while passed away; so that to one whose studies +were with aetherial things, near events were opaque and dim. He +had a window, he explained, through which Rodriguez should see +clearly the ancient wars, while another window beside it looked on +all wars of the future except those which were planned already or +were coming soon to earth, and which were either invisible or seen +dim as through mist. + +Rodriguez said that to be privileged to see so classical an +example of magic would be to him both a delight and honour. Yet, +as is the way of youth, he more desired to have a sight of the +wars than he cared for all the learning of the Professor. + +And to him who held the Chair of Magic at Saragossa it was a +precious thing that his windows could be made to show these +marvels, while the guest to whom he was about to display these two +gems of his learning was thinking of little but what he should see +through the windows, and not at all of what spells, what midnight +oil, what incantations, what witchcrafts, what lonely hours among +bats, had gone to the gratification of his young curiosity. It is +usually thus. + +The Professor rose: his cloak floated out from him as he left the +chamber, and Rodriguez following where he guided saw, by the +torchlight in the corridors, upon the dim purple border signs +that, to his untutored ignorance of magic, were no more than hints +of the affairs of the Zodiac. And if these signs were obscure it +were better they were obscurer, for they dealt with powers that +man needs not to possess, who has the whole earth to regulate and +control; why then should he seek to govern the course of any star? + +And Morano followed behind them, hoping to be allowed to get a +sight of the wars. + +They came to a room where two round windows were; each of them +larger than the very largest plate, and of very thick glass +indeed, and of a wonderful blue. The blue was like the blue of the +Mediterranean at evening, when lights are in it both of ships and +of sunset, and lights of harbours being lit one by one, and the +light of Venus perhaps and about two other stars, so deeply did it +stare and so twinkled, near its edges, with lights that were +strange to that room, and so triumphed with its clear beauty over +the night outside. No, it was more magical than the Mediterranean +at evening, even though the peaks of the Esterels be purple and +their bases melting in gold and the blue sea lying below them +smiling at early stars: these windows were more mysterious than +that; it was a more triumphant blue; it was like the Mediterranean +seen with the eyes of Shelley, on a happy day in his youth, or +like the sea round Western islands of fable seen by the fancy of +Keats. They were no windows for any need of ours, unless our +dreams be needs, unless our cries for the moon be urged by the +same Necessity as makes us cry for bread. They were clearly +concerned only with magic or poetry; though the Professor claimed +that poetry was but a branch of his subject; and it was so +regarded at Saragossa, where it was taught by the name of +theoretical magic, while by the name of practical magic they +taught dooms, brews, hauntings, and spells. + +The Professor stood before the left-hand window and pointed to its +deep-blue centre. "Through this," he said, "we see the wars that +were." + +Rodriguez looked into the deep-blue centre where the great bulge +of the glass came out towards him; it was near to the edges where +the glass seemed thinner that the little strange lights were +dancing; Morano dared to tiptoe a little nearer. Rodriguez looked +and saw no night outside. Just below and near to the window was +white mist, and the dim lines and smoke of what may have been +recent wars; but farther away on a plain of strangely vast +dimensions he saw old wars that were. War after war he saw. +Battles that long ago had passed into history and had been for +many ages skilled, glorious and pleasant encounters he saw even +now tumbling before him in their savage confusion and dirt. He saw +a leader, long glorious in histories he had read, looking round +puzzled, to see what was happening, and in a very famous fight +that he had planned very well. He saw retreats that History called +routs, and routs that he had seen History calling retreats. He saw +men winning victories without knowing they had won. Never had man +pried before so shamelessly upon History, or found her such a +liar. With his eyes on the great blue glass Rodriguez forgot the +room, forgot time, forgot his host and poor excited Morano, as he +watched those famous fights. + +And now my reader wishes to know what he saw and how it was that +he was able to see it. + +As regards the second, my reader will readily understand that the +secrets of magic are very carefully guarded, and any smatterings +of it that I may ever have come by I possess, for what they are +worth, subjects to oaths and penalties at which even bad men +shudder. My reader will be satisfied that even those intimate +bonds between reader and writer are of no use to him here. I say +him as though I had only male readers, but if my reader be a lady +I leave the situation confidently to her intuition. As for the +things he saw, of all of these I am at full liberty to write, and +yet, my reader, they would differ from History's version: never a +battle that Rodriguez saw on all the plain that swept away from +that circular window, but History wrote differently. And now, my +reader, the situation is this: who am I? History was a goddess +among the Greeks, or is at least a distinguished personage, +perhaps with a well-earned knighthood, and certainly with +widespread recognition amongst the Right Kind of People. I have +none of these things. Whom, then, would you believe? + +Yet I would lay my story confidently before you, my reader, +trusting in the justice of my case and in your judicial +discernment, but for one other thing. What will the Goddess Clio +say, or the well-deserving knight, if I offend History? She has +stated her case, Sir Bartimeus has written it, and then so late in +the day I come with a different story, a truer but different +story. What will they do? Reader, the future is dark, uncertain +and long; I dare not trust myself to it if I offend History. Clio +and Sir Bartimeus will make hay of my reputation; an innuendo +here, a foolish fact there, they know how to do it, and not a soul +will suspect the goddess of personal malice or the great historian +of pique. Rodriguez gazed then through the deep blue window, +forgetful of all around, on battles that had not all the elegance +or neatness of which our histories so tidily tell. And as he gazed +upon a merry encounter between two men on the fringe of an ancient +fight he felt a touch on his shoulder and then almost a tug, and +turning round beheld the room he was in. How long he had been +absent from it in thought he did not know, but the Professor was +still standing with folded arms where he had left him, probably +well satisfied with the wonder that his most secret art had +awakened in his guest. It was Morano who touched his shoulder, +unable to hold back any longer his impatience to see the wars; his +eyes as Rodriguez turned round were gazing at his master with dog- +like wistfulness. + +The absurd eagerness of Morano, his uncouth touch on his shoulder, +seemed only pathetic to Rodriguez. He looked at the Professor's +face, the nose like a hawk's beak, the small eyes deep down beside +it, dark of hue and dreadfully bright, the silent lips. He stood +there uttering no actual prohibition, concerning which Rodriguez's +eyes had sought; so, stepping aside from his window, Rodriguez +beckoned Morano, who at once ran forward delighted to see those +ancient wars. + +A slight look of scorn showed faint upon the Professor's face such +as you may see anywhere when a master-craftsman perceives the gaze +of the ignorant turned towards his particular subject. But he said +no word, and soon speech would have been difficult, for the loud +clamour of Morano filled the room: he had seen the wars and his +ecstasies were ungoverned. As soon as he saw those fights he +looked for the Infidels, for his religious mind most loved to see +the Infidel slain. And if my reader discern or suppose some gulf +between religion and the recent business of the Inn of the Dragon +and Knight, Morano, if driven to admit any connection between +murder and his daily bread, would have said, "All the more need +then for God's mercy through the intercession of His most blessed +Saints." But these words had never passed Morano's lips, for +shrewd as he was in enquiry into any matter that he desired to +know, his shrewdness was no less in avoiding enquiry where there +might be something that he desired not to know, such as the origin +of his wages as servant of the Inn of the Dragon and Knight, those +delicate gold rings with settings empty of jewels. + +Morano soon recognized the Infidel by his dress, and after that no +other wars concerned him. He slapped his thigh, he shouted +encouragement, he howled vile words of abuse, partly because he +believed that this foul abuse was rightly the due of the Infidel, +and partly because he believed it delighted God. + +Rodriguez stood and watched, pleased at the huge joy of the simple +man. The Slave of Orion stood watching in silence too, but who +knows if he felt pleasure or any other emotion? Perhaps his mind +was simply like ours; perhaps, as has been claimed by learned men +of the best-informed period, that mind had some control upon the +comet, even when farthest out from the paths we know. Morano +turned round for a moment to Rodriguez: + +"Good wars, master, good wars," he said with a vast zest, and at +once his head was back again at that calm blue window. In that +flash of the head Rodriguez had seen his eyes, blue, round and +bulging; the round man was like a boy who in some shop window has +seen, unexpected, huge forbidden sweets. Clearly, in the war he +watched things were going well for the Cross, for such cries came +from Morano as "A pretty stroke," "There now, the dirty Infidel," +"Now see God's power shown," "Spare him not, good knight; spare +him not," and many more, till, uttered faster and faster, they +merged into mere clamorous rejoicing. + +But the battles beyond the blue window seemed to move fast, and +now a change was passing across Morano's rejoicings. It was not +that he swore more for the cause of the Cross, but brief, +impatient, meaningless oaths slipped from him now; he was becoming +irritable; a puzzled look, so far as Rodriguez could see, was +settling down on his features. For a while he was silent except +for the little, meaningless oaths. Then he turned round from the +glass, his hands stretched out, his face full of urgent appeal. + +"Masters," he said, "God's enemy wins!" + +In answer to Morano's pitiful look Rodriguez' hand went to his +sword-hilt; the Slave of Orion merely smiled with his lips; Morano +stood there with his hands still stretched out, his face still all +appeal, and something more for there was reproach in his eyes that +men could tarry while the Cross was in danger and the Infidel +lived. He did not know that it was all finished and over hundreds +of years ago, a page of history upon which many pages were turned, +and which lay as unalterable as the fate of some warm swift +creature of early Eocene days over whose fossil today the strata +lie long and silent. + +"But can nothing be done, master?" he said when Rodriguez told him +this. And when Rodriguez failed him here, he turned away from the +window. To him the Infidel were game, but to see them defeating +Christian knights violated the deeps of his feelings. + +Morano sulky excited little more notice from his host and his +master who had watched his rejoicings, and they seem to have +forgotten this humble champion of Christendom. The Professor +slightly bowed to Rodriguez and extended a graceful hand. He +pointed to the other window. + +Reader, your friend shows you his collection of stamps, his +fossils, his poems, or his luggage labels. One of them interests +you, you look at it awhile, you are ready to go away: then your +friend shows you another. This also must be seen; for your +friend's collection is a precious thing; it is that point upon +huge Earth on which his spirit has lit, on which it rests, on +which it shelters even (who knows from what storms?). To slight it +were to weaken such hold as his spirit has, in its allotted time, +upon this sphere. It were like breaking the twig of a plant upon +which a butterfly rests, and on some stormy day and late in the +year. + +Rodriguez felt all this dimly, but no less surely; and went to the +other window. + +Below the window were those wars that were soon coming to Spain, +hooded in mist and invisible. In the centre of the window swam as +profound a blue, dwindling to paler splendour at the edge, the +wandering lights were as lovely, as in the other window just to +the left; but in the view from the right-hand window how sombre a +difference. A bare yard separated the two. Through the window to +the left was colour, courtesy, splendour; there was Death as least +disguising himself, well cloaked, taking mincing steps, bowing, +wearing a plume in his hat and a decent mask. In the right-hand +window all the colours were fading, war after war they grew +dimmer; and as the colours paled Death's sole purpose showed +clearer. Through the beautiful left-hand window were killings to +be seen, and less mercy than History supposes, yet some of the +fighters were merciful, and mercy was sometimes a part of Death's +courtly pose, which went with the cloak and the plume. But in the +other window through that deep, beautiful blue Rodriguez saw Man +make a new ally, an ally who was only cruel and strong and had no +purpose but killing, who had no pretences or pose, no mask and no +manner, but was only the slave of Death and had no care but for +his business. He saw it grow bigger and stronger. Heart it had +none, but he saw its cold steel core scheming methodical plans and +dreaming always destruction. Before it faded men and their fields +and their houses. Rodriguez saw the machine. + +Many a proud invention of ours that Rodriguez saw raging on that +ruinous plain he might have anticipated, but not for all Spain +would he have done so: it was for the sake of Spain that he was +silent about much that he saw through that window. As he looked +from war to war he saw almost the same men fighting, men with +always the same attitude to the moment and with similar dim +conception of larger, vaguer things; grandson differed +imperceptibly from grandfather; he saw them fight sometimes +mercifully, sometimes murderously, but in all the wars beyond that +twinkling window he saw the machine spare nothing. + +Then he looked farther, for the wars that were farthest from him +in time were farther away from the window. He looked farther and +saw the ruins of Peronne. He saw them all alone with their doom at +night, all drenched in white moonlight, sheltering huge darkness +in their stricken hollows. Down the white street, past darkness +after darkness as he went by the gaping rooms that the moon left +mourning alone, Rodriguez saw a captain going back to the wars in +that far-future time, who turned his head a moment as he passed, +looking Rodriguez in the face, and so went on through the ruins to +find a floor on which to lie down for the night. When he was gone +the street was all alone with disaster, and moonlight pouring +down, and the black gloom in the houses. + +Rodriguez lifted his eyes and glanced from city to city, to +Albert, Bapaume, and Arras, his gaze moved over a plain with its +harvest of desolation lying forlorn and ungathered, lit by the +flashing clouds and the moon and peering rockets. He turned from +the window and wept. + +The deep round window glowed with serene blue glory. It seemed a +foolish thing to weep by that beautiful glass. Morano tried to +comfort him. That calm, deep blue, he felt, and those little +lights, surely, could hurt no one. + +What had Rodriguez seen? Morano asked. But that Rodriguez would +not answer, and told no man ever after what he had seen through +that window. + +The Professor stood silent still: he had no comfort to offer; +indeed his magical wisdom had found none for the world. + +You wonder perhaps why the Professor did not give long ago to the +world some of these marvels that are the pride of our age. Reader, +let us put aside my tale for a moment to answer this. For all the +darkness of his sinister art there may well have been some good in +the Slave of Orion; and any good there was, and mere particle +even, would surely have spared the world many of those inventions +that our age has not spared it. Blame not the age, it is now too +late to stop; it is in the grip of inventions now, and has to go +on; we cannot stop content with mustard-gas; it is the age of +Progress, and our motto is Onwards. And if there was no good in +this magical man, then may it not have been he who in due course, +long after he himself was safe from life, caused our inventions to +be so deadly divulged? Some evil spirit has done it, then why not +he? + +He stood there silent: let us return to our story. + +Perhaps the efforts of poor clumsy Morano to comfort him cheered +Rodriguez and sent him back to the window, perhaps he turned from +them to find comfort of his own; but, however he came by it, he +had a hope that this was a passing curse that had come on the +world, whose welfare he cared for whether he lived or died, and +that looking a little farther into the future he would see Mother +Earth smiling and her children happy again. So he looked through +the deep-blue luminous window once more, beyond the battles we +know. From this he turned back shuddering. + +Again he saw the Professor smile with his lips, though whether at +his own weakness, or whether with cynical mirth at the fate of the +world, Rodriguez could not say. + + + + + +THE FOURTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME TO THE MOUNTAINS OF THE SUN + + +The Professor said that in curiosity alone had been found the +seeds of all that is needful for our damnation. Nevertheless, he +said, if Rodriguez cared to see more of his mighty art the +mysteries of Saragossa were all at his guest's disposal. + +Rodriguez, sad and horrified though he was, forgot none of his +courtesy. He thanked the Professor and praised the art of +Saragossa, but his faith in man and his hope for the world having +been newly disappointed, he cared little enough for the things we +should care to see or for any of the amusements that are usually +dear to youth. + +"I shall be happy to see anything, senor," he said to the Slave of +Orion, "that is further from our poor Earth, and to study therein +and admire your famous art." + +The Professor bowed. He drew small curtains over the windows, +matching his cloak. Morano sought a glimpse through the right-hand +window before the curtains covered it. Rodriguez held him back. +Enough had been seen already, he thought, through that window for +the peace of mind of the world: but he said no word to Morano. He +held him by the arm, and the Professor covered the windows. When +the little mauve curtains were drawn it seemed to Rodriguez that +the windows behind them disappeared and were there no more; but +this he only guessed from uncertain indications. + +Then the Professor drew forth his wand and went to his cupboard of +wonder. Thence he brought condiments, oils, and dews of amazement. +These he poured into a vessel that was in the midst of the room, a +bowl of agate standing alone on a table. He lit it and it all +welled up in flame, a low broad flame of the colour of pale +emerald. Over this he waved his wand, which was of exceeding +blackness. Morano watched as children watch the dancer, who goes +from village to village when spring is come, with some new dance +out of Asia or some new song.[Footnote: He doesn't, but why +shouldn't he?] Rodriguez sat and waited. The Professor explained +that to leave this Earth alive, or even dead, was prohibited to +our bodies, unless to a very few, whose names were hidden. Yet the +spirits of men could by incantation be liberated, and being +liberated, could be directed on journeys by such minds as had that +power passed down to them from of old. Such journeys, he said, +were by no means confined by the hills of Earth. "The Saints," +exclaimed Morano, "guard us utterly!" But Rodriguez smiled a +little. His faith was given to the Saints of Heaven. He wondered +at their wonders, he admired their miracles, he had little faith +to spare for other marvels; in fact he did not believe the Slave +of Orion. + +"Do you desire such a journey?" said the Professor. + +"It will delight me," answered Rodriguez, "to see this example of +your art." + +"And you?" he said to Morano. + +The question seemed to alarm the placid Morano, but "I follow my +master," he said. + +At once the Professor stretched out his ebony wand, calling the +green flame higher. Then he put out his hands over the flame, +without the wand, moving them slowly with constantly tremulous +fingers. And all at once they heard him begin to speak. His deep +voice flowed musically while he scarcely seemed to be speaking but +seemed only to be concerned with moving his hands. It came soft, +as though blown faint from fabulous valleys, illimitably far from +the land of Spain. It seemed full not so much of magic as mere +sleep, either sleep in an unknown country of alien men, or sleep +in a land dreamed sleeping a long while since. As the travellers +heard it they thought of things far away, of mythical journeys and +their own earliest years. + +They did not know what he said or what language he used. At first +Rodriguez thought Moorish, then he deemed it some secret language +come down from magicians of old, while Morano merely wondered; and +then they were lulled by the rhythm of those strange words, and so +enquired no more. Rodriguez pictured some sad wandering angel, +upon some mountain-peak of African lands, resting a moment and +talking to the solitudes, telling the lonely valley the mysteries +of his home. While lulled though Morano was he gave up his +alertness uneasily. All the while the green flame flooded upwards: +all the while the tremulous fingers made curious shadows. The +shadow seemed to run to Rodriguez and beckon him thence: even +Morano felt them calling. Rodriguez closed his eyes. The voice and +the Moorish spells made now a more haunting melody: they were now +like a golden organ on undiscoverable mountains. Fear came on +Morano at the thought: who had power to speak like this? He +grasped Rodriguez by the wrist. "Master!" he said, but at that +moment on one of those golden spells the spirit of Rodriguez +drifted away from his body, and out of the greenish light of the +curious room; unhampered by weight, or fatigue, or pain, or sleep; +and it rose above the rocks and over the mountain, an unencumbered +spirit: and the spirit of Morano followed. + +The mountain dwindled at once; the Earth swept out all round them +and grew larger, and larger still, and then began to dwindle. They +saw then that they were launched upon some astounding journey. +Does my reader wonder they saw when they had no eyes? They saw as +they had never seen before, with sight beyond what they had ever +thought to be possible. Our eyes gather in light, and with the +little rays of light that they bring us we gather a few images of +things as we suppose them to be. Pardon me, reader, if I call them +things as we suppose them to be; call them by all means Things As +They Really Are, if you wish. These images then, this tiny little +brainful that we gather from the immensities, are all brought in +by our eyesight upside-down, and the brain corrects them again; +and so, and so we know something. An oculist will tell you how it +all works. He may admit it is all a little clumsy, or for the +dignity of his profession he may say it is not at all. But be this +as it may, our eyes are but barriers between us and the +immensities. All our five senses that grope a little here and +touch a little there, and seize, and compare notes, and get a +little knowledge sometimes, they are only barriers between us and +what there is to know. Rodriguez and Morano were outside these +barriers. They saw without the imperfections of eyesight; they +heard on that journey what would have deafened ears; they went +through our atmosphere unburned by speed, and were unchilled in +the bleak of the outer spaces. Thus freed of the imperfections of +the body they sped, no less upon a terrible journey, whose +direction as yet Rodriguez only began to fear. + +They had seen the stars pale rapidly and then the flash of dawn. +The Sun rushed up and at once began to grow larger. Earth, with +her curved sides still diminishing violently, was soon a small +round garden in blue and filmy space, in which mountains were +planted. And still the Sun was growing wider and wider. And now +Rodriguez, though he knew nothing of Sun or planets, perceived the +obvious truth of their terrible journey: they were heading +straight for the Sun. But the spirit of Morano was merely +astounded; yet, being free of the body he suffered none of those +inconveniences that perturbation may bring to us: spirits do not +gasp, or palpitate, or weaken, or sicken. + +The dwindling Earth seemed now no more than the size of some +unmapped island seen from a mountain-top, an island a hundred +yards or so across, looking like a big table. + +Speed is comparative: compared to sound, their pace was beyond +comparison; nor could any modern projectile attain any velocity +comparable to it; even the speed of explosion was slow to it. And +yet for spirits they were moving slowly, who being independent of +all material things, travel with such velocities as that, for +instance, of thought. But they were controlled by one still +dwelling on Earth, who used material things, and the material that +the Professor was using to hurl them upon their journey was light, +the adaptation of which to this purpose he had learned at +Saragossa. At the pace of light they were travelling towards the +Sun. + +They crossed the path of Venus, far from where Venus then was, so +that she scarcely seemed larger to them; Earth was but little +bigger than the Evening Star, looking dim in that monstrous +daylight. + +Crossing the path of Mercury, Mercury appeared huger than our +Moon, an object weirdly unnatural; and they saw ahead of them the +terrific glare in which Mercury basks, from a Sun whose withering +orb had more than doubled its width since they came from the hills +of Earth. And after this the Sun grew terribly larger, filling the +centre of the sky, and spreading and spreading and spreading. It +was now that they saw what would have dazzled eyes, would have +burned up flesh and would have shrivelled every protection that +our scientists' ingenuity could have devised even today. To speak +of time there is meaningless. There is nothing in the empty space +between the Sun and Mercury with which time is at all concerned. +Far less is there meaning in time wherever the spirits of men are +under stress. A few minutes' bombardment in a trench, a few hours +in a battle, a few weeks' travelling in a trackless country; these +minutes, these hours, these weeks can never be few. + +Rodriguez and Morano had been travelling about six or seven +minutes, but it seems idle to say so. + +And then the Sun began to fill the whole sky in front of them. And +in another minute, if minutes had any meaning, they were heading +for a boundless region of flame that, left and right, was +everywhere, and now towered above them, and went below them into a +flaming abyss. + +And now Morano spoke to Rodriguez. He thought towards him, and +Rodriguez was aware of his thinking: it is thus that spirits +communicate. + +"Master," he said, "when it was all spring in Spain, years ago +when I was thin and young, twenty years gone at least; and the +butterflies were come, and song was everywhere; there came a maid +bare-footed over a stream, walking through flowers, and all to +pluck the anemones." How fair she seemed even now, how bright that +far spring day. Morano told Rodriguez not with his blundering +lips: they were closed and resting deeply millions of miles away: +he told him as spirits tell. And in that clear communication +Rodriguez saw all that shone in Morano's memory, the grace of the +young girl's ankles, the thrill of Spring, the anemones larger and +brighter than anemones ever were, the hawks still in clear sky; +earth happy and heaven blue, and the dreams of youth between. You +would not have said, had you seen Morano's coarse fat body, asleep +in a chair in the Professor's room, that his spirit treasured such +delicate, nymph-like, pastoral memories as now shone clear to +Rodriguez. No words the blunt man had ever been able to utter had +ever hinted that he sometimes thought like a dream of pictures by +Watteau. And now in that awful space before the power of the +terrible Sun, spirit communed with spirit, and Rodriguez saw the +beauty of that far day, framed all about the beauty of one young +girl, just as it had been for years in Morano's memory. How shall +I tell with words what spirit sang wordless to spirit? We poets +may compete with each other in words; but when spirits give up the +purest gold of their store, that has shone far down the road of +their earthly journey, cheering tired hearts and guiding mortal +feet, our words shall barely interpret. + +Love, coming long ago over flowers in Spain, found Morano; words +did not tell the story, words cannot tell it; as a lake reflects a +cloud in the blue of heaven, so Rodriguez understood and felt and +knew this memory out of the days of Morano's youth. "And so, +master," said Morano, "I sinned, and would indeed repent, and yet +even now at this last dread hour I cannot abjure that day; and +this is indeed Hell, as the good father said." + +Rodriguez tried to comfort Morano with such knowledge as he had of +astronomy, if knowledge it could be called. Indeed, if he had +known anything he would have perplexed Morano more, and his little +pieces of ignorance were well adapted for comfort. But Morano had +given up hope, having long been taught to expect this very fire: +his spirit was no wiser than it had been on Earth, it was merely +freed of the imperfections of the five senses and so had +observation and expression beyond those of any artist the world +has known. This was the natural result of being freed of the body; +but he was not suddenly wiser; and so, as he moved towards this +boundless flame, he expected every moment to see Satan charge out +to meet him: and having no hope for the future he turned to the +past and fondled the memory of that one spring day. His was a +backsliding, unrepentant spirit. + +As that monstrous sea of flame grew ruthlessly larger Rodriguez +felt no fear, for spirits have no fear of material things: but +Morano feared. He feared as spirits fear spiritual things; he +thought he neared the home of vast spirits of evil and that the +arena of conflict was eternity. He feared with a fear too great to +be borne by bodies. Perhaps the fat body that slept on a chair on +earth was troubled in dreams by some echo of that fear that +gripped the spirit so sorely. And it may be from such far fears +that all our nightmares come. + +When they had travelled nearly ten minutes from Earth and were +about to pass into the midst of the flame, that magician who +controlled their journey halted them suddenly in Space, among the +upper mountain-peaks of the Sun. There they hovered as the clouds +hover that leave their companions and drift among crags of the +Alps: below them those awful mountains heaved and thundered. All +Atlas, and Teneriffe, and lonely Kenia might have lain amongst +them unnoticed. As often as the earthquake rocked their bases it +loosened from near their summits wild avalanches of gold that +swept down their flaming slopes with unthinkable tumult. As they +watched, new mountains rode past them, crowned with their +frightful flames; for, whether man knew it or not, the Sun was +rotating, but the force of its gravity that swung the planets had +no grip upon spirits, who were held by the power of that +tremendous spell that the Professor had learned one midnight at +Saragossa from one of that dread line who have their secrets from +a source that we do not know in a distant age. + +There is always something tremendous in the form of great +mountains; but these swept by, not only huger than anything Earth +knows, but troubled by horrible commotions, as though overtaken in +flight by some ceaseless calamity. + +Rodriguez and Morano, as they looked at them, forgetting the +gardens of Earth, forgetting Spring and Summer and the sweet +beneficence of sunshine, felt that the purpose of Creation was +evil! So shocking a thought may well astound us here, where green +hills slope to lawns or peer at a peaceful sea; but there among +the flames of those dreadful peaks the Sun seemed not the giver of +joy and colour and life, but only a catastrophe huger than +everlasting war, a centre of hideous violence and ruin and anger +and terror. There came by mountains of copper burning everlasting, +hurling up to unthinkable heights their mass of emerald flame. And +mountains of iron raged by and mountains of salt, quaking and +thundering and clothed with their colours, the iron always scarlet +and the salt blue. And sometimes there came by pinnacles a +thousand miles high that from base to summit were fire, mountains +of pure flame that had no other substance. And these explosive +mountains, born of thunder and earthquake, hurling down avalanches +the size of our continents, and drawing upward out of the deeps of +the Sun new material for splendour and horror, this roaring waste, +this extravagant destruction, were necessary for every tint that +our butterflies wear on their wings. Without those flaming ranges +of mountains of iron they would have no red to show; even the +poppy could have no red for her petals: without the flames that +were blasting the mountains of salt there could be no answering +blue in any wing, or one blue flower for all the bees of Earth: +without the nightmare light of those frightful canyons of copper +that awed the two spirits watching their ceaseless ruin, the very +leaves of the woods we love would be without their green with +which to welcome Spring; for from the flames of the various metals +and wonders that for ever blaze in the Sun, our sunshine gets all +its colours that it conveys to us almost unseen, and thence the +wise little insects and patient flowers softly draw the gay tints +that they glory in; there is nowhere else to get them. + +And yet to Rodriguez and Morano all that they saw seemed wholly +and hideously evil. + +How long they may have watched there they tried to guess +afterwards, but as they looked on those terrific scenes they had +no way to separate days from minutes: nothing about them seemed to +escape destruction, and time itself seemed no calmer than were +those shuddering mountains. + +Then the thundering ranges passed; and afterwards there came a +gleaming mountain, one huge and lonely peak, seemingly all of +gold. Had our whole world been set beside it and shaped as it was +shaped, that golden mountain would yet have towered above it: it +would have taken our moon as well to reach that flashing peak. It +rode on toward them in its golden majesty, higher than all the +flames, save now and then when some wild gas seemed to flee from +the dread earthquakes of the Sun, and was overtaken in the height +by fire, even above that mountain. + +As that mass of gold that was higher than all the world drew near +to Rodriguez and Morano they felt its unearthly menace; and though +it could not overcome their spirits they knew there was a hideous +terror about it. It was in its awful scale that its terror lurked +for any creature of our planet. Though they could not quake or +tremble they felt that terror. The mountain dwarfed Earth. + +Man knows his littleness, his own mountains remind him; many +countries are small, and some nations: but the dreams of Man make +up for our faults and failings, for the brevity of our lives, for +the narrowness of our scope; they leap over boundaries and are +away and away. But this great mountain belittled the world and +all: who gazed on it knew all his dreams to be puny. Before this +mountain Man seemed a trivial thing, and Earth, and all the dreams +Man had of himself and his home. + +The golden mass drew opposite those two watchers and seemed to +challenge with its towering head the pettiness of the tiny world +they knew. And then the whole gleaming mountain gave one shudder +and fell into the awful plains of the Sun. Straight down before +Rodriguez and Morano it slipped roaring, till the golden peak was +gone, and the molten plain closed over it; and only ripples +remained, the size of Europe, as when a tumbling river strikes the +rocks of its bed and on its surface heaving circles widen and +disappear. And then, as though this horror left nothing more to be +shown, they felt the Professor beckon to them from Earth. + +Over the plains of the Sun a storm was sweeping in gusts of +howling flame as they felt the Professor's spell drawing them +home. For the magnitude of that storm there are no words in use +among us; its velocity, if expressed in figures, would have no +meaning; its heat was immeasurable. Suffice it to say that if such +a tempest could have swept over Earth for a second, both the poles +would have boiled. The travellers left it galloping over that +plain, rippled from underneath by the restless earthquake and +whipped into flaming foam by the force of the storm. The Sun +already was receding from them, already growing smaller. Soon the +storm seemed but a cloud of light sweeping over the empty plain, +like a murderous mourner rushing swiftly away from the grave of +that mighty mountain. + +And now the Professor's spell gripped them in earnest: rapidly the +Sun grew smaller. As swiftly as he had sent them upon that journey +he was now drawing them home. They overtook thunders that they had +heard already, and passed them, and came again to the silent +spaces which the thunders of the Sun are unable to cross, so that +even Mercury is undisturbed by them. + +I have said that spirits neither fade nor weary. But a great +sadness was on them; they felt as men feel who come whole away +from periods of peril. They had seen cataclysms too vast for our +imagination, and a mournfulness and a satiety were upon them. They +could have gazed at one flower for days and needed no other +experience, as a wounded man may be happy staring at the flame of +a candle. + +Crossing the paths of Mercury and Venus, they saw that these +planets had not appreciably moved, and Rodriguez, who knew that +planets wander in the night, guessed thereby that they had not +been absent from Earth for many hours. + +They rejoiced to see the Sun diminishing steadily. Only for a +moment as they started their journey had they seen that solar +storm rushing over the plains of the Sun; but now it appeared to +hang halted in its mid anger, as though blasting one region +eternally. + +Moving on with the pace of light, they saw Earth, soon after +crossing the path of Venus, beginning to grow larger than a star. +Never had home appeared more welcome to wanderers, who see their +house far off, returning home. + +And as Earth grew larger, and they began to see forms that seemed +like seas and mountains, they looked for their own country, but +could not find it: for, travelling straight from the Sun, they +approached that part of the world that was then turned towards it, +and were heading straight for China, while Spain lay still in +darkness. + +But when they came near Earth and its mountains were clear, then +the Professor drew them across the world, into the darkness and +over Spain; so that those two spirits ended their marvellous +journey much as the snipe ends his, a drop out of heaven and a +swoop low over marshes. So they came home, while Earth seemed +calling to them with all her voices; with memories, sights and +scents, and little sounds; calling anxiously, as though they had +been too long away and must be home soon. They heard a cock crow +on the edge of the night; they heard more little sounds than words +can say; only the organ can hint at them. It was Earth calling. +For, talk as we may of our dreams that transcend this sphere, or +our hopes that build beyond it, Mother Earth has yet a mighty hold +upon us; and her myriad sounds were blending in one cry now, +knowing that it was late and that these two children of hers were +nearly lost. For our spirits that sometimes cross the path of the +angels, and on rare evenings hear a word of their talk, and have +brief equality with the Powers of Light, have the duty also of +moving fingers and toes, which freeze if our proud spirits forget +their task for too long. + +And just as Earth was despairing they reached the Professor's +mountain and entered the room in which their bodies were. + +Blue and cold and ugly looked the body of Morano, but for all its +pallor there was beauty in the young face of Rodriguez. + +The Professor stood before them as he had stood when their spirits +left, with the table between him and the bodies, and the bowl on +the table which held the green flame, now low and flickering +desperately, which the Professor watched as it leaped and failed, +with an air of anxiety that seemed to pinch his thin features. + +With an impatience strange to him he waved a swift hand towards +each of the two bodies where they sat stiff, illumined by the last +of the green light; and at those rapid gestures the travellers +returned to their habitations. + +They seemed to be just awakening out of deep sleep. Again they saw +the Professor standing before them. But they saw him only with +blinking eyes, they saw him only as eyes can see, guessing at his +mind from the lines of his face, at his thoughts from the +movements of his hands, guessing as men guess, blindly: only a +moment before they had known him utterly. Now they were dazed and +forgetting: slow blood began to creep again to their toes and to +come again to its place under fingernails: it came with intense +pain: they forgot their spirits. Then all the woes of Earth +crowded their minds at once, so that they wished to weep, as +infants weep. + +The Professor gave this mood time to change, as change it +presently did. For the warm blood came back and lit their cheeks, +and a tingling succeeded the pain in their fingers and toes, and a +mild warmth succeeded the tingling: their thoughts came back to +the things of every day, to mundane things and the affairs of the +body. Therein they rejoiced, and Morano no less than Rodriguez; +though it was a coarse and common body that Morano's spirit +inhabited. And when the Professor saw that the first sorrow of +Earth, which all spirits feel when they land here, had passed +away, and that they were feeling again the joy of mundane things, +only then did he speak. + +"Senor," he said, "beyond the path of Mars run many worlds that I +would have you know. The greatest of these is Jupiter, towards +whom all that follow my most sacred art show reverent affection. +The smallest are those that sometimes strike our world, flaming +all green upon November nights, and are even as small as apples." +He spoke of our world with a certain air and a pride, as though, +through virtue of his transcendent art, the world were only his. +"The world that we name Argola," he said, "is far smaller than +Spain and, being invisible from Earth, is only known to the few +who have spoken to spirits whose wanderings have surpassed the +path of Mars. Nearly half of Argola you shall find covered with +forests, which though very dense are no deeper than moss, and the +elephants in them are not larger than beetles. You shall see many +wonders of smallness in this world of Argola, which I desire in +especial to show you, since it is the orb with which we who study +the Art are most familiar, of all the worlds that the vulgar have +not known. It is indeed the prize of our traffic in those things +that far transcend the laws that have forbidden them." + +And as he said this the green flame in the bowl before him died, +and he moved towards his cupboard of wonder. Rodriguez hastily +thanked the Professor for his great courtesy in laying bare before +him secrets that the centuries hid, and then he referred to his +own great unworthiness, to the lateness of the hour, to the +fatigue of the Professor, and to the importance to Learning of +adequate rest to refresh his illustrious mind. And all that he +said the Professor parried with bows, and drew enchantments from +his cupboard of wonder to replenish the bowl on the table. And +Rodriguez saw that he was in the clutch of a collector, one who +having devoted all his days to a hobby will exhibit his treasures +to the uttermost, and that the stars that magic knows were no less +to the Professor than all the whatnots that a man collects and +insists on showing to whomsoever enters his house. He feared some +terrible journey, perhaps some bare escape; for though no material +thing can quite encompass a spirit, he knew not what wanderers he +might not meet in lonely spaces beyond the path of Mars. So when +his last polite remonstrance failed, being turned aside with a +pleasant phrase and a smile from the grim lips, and looking at +Morano he saw that he shared his fears, then he determined to show +whatever resistance were needed to keep himself and Morano in this +old world that we know, or that youth at least believes that it +knows. + +He watched the Professor return with his packets of wonder; dust +from a fallen star, phials of tears of lost lovers, poison and +gold out of elf-land, and all manner of things. But the moment +that he put them into the bowl Rodriguez' hand flew to his sword- +hilt. He heaved up his elbow, but no sword came forth, for it lay +magnetised to its scabbard by the grip of a current of magic. When +Rodriguez saw this he knew not what to do. + +The Professor went on pouring into the bowl. He added an odour +distilled out of dream-roses, three drops from the gall-bladder of +a fabulous beast, and a little dust that had been man. More too he +added, so that my reader might wonder were I to tell him all; yet +it is not so easy to free our spirits from the gross grip of our +bodies. Wonder not then, my reader, if the Professor exerted +strange powers. And all the while Morano was picking at a nail +that fastened on the handle to his frying-pan. + +And just as the last few mysteries were shaken into the bowl,--and +there were two among them of which even Asia is ignorant,--just as +the dews were blended with the powers in a grey-green sinister +harmony, Morano untwisted his nail and got the handle loose. + +The Professor kindled the mixture in the bowl; again green flame +arose, again that voice of his began to call to their spirits, and +its beauty and the power of its spell were as of some fallen +angel. The spirit of Rodriguez was nearly passing helplessly forth +again on some frightful journey, when Morano losed his scabbard +and sword from its girdle and tied the handle of his frying-pan +across it a little below the hilt with a piece of string. Across +the table the Professor intoned his spell, across a narrow table, +but it seemed to come from the far side of the twilight, a +twilight red and golden in long layers, of an evening wonderfully +long ago. It seemed to take its music out of the lights that it +flowed through and to call Rodriguez from immediately far away, +with a call which it were sacrilege to refuse, and anguish even, +and hard toil such as there was no strength to do. And then Morano +held up the sword in its scabbard with the handle of the frying- +pan tied across. Rodriguez, disturbed by a stammer in the spell, +looked up and saw the Professor staring at the sword where Morano +held it up before his face in the green light of the flame from +the bowl. He did not seem like a fallen angel now. His spell had +stopped. He seemed like a professor who had forgotten the theme of +his lecture, while the class waits. For Morano was holding up the +sign of the cross. + +"You have betrayed me!" shouted the Slave of Orion: the green +flame died, and he strode out of the room, his purple cloak +floating behind him. + +"Master," Morano said, "it was always good against magic." + +The sword was loose in the scabbard as Rodriguez took it back; +there was no longer a current of magic gripping the steel. + +A little uneasily Rodriguez thanked Morano: he was not sure if +Morano had behaved as a guest's servant should. But when he +thought of the Professor's terrible spells, which had driven them +to the awful crags of the sun, and might send them who knows where +to hob-nob with who knows what, his second thoughts perceived that +Morano was right to cut short those arts that the Slave of Orion +loved, even by so extreme a step: and he praised Morano as his +ready shrewdness deserved. + +"We were very nearly too late back from that outing, master," +remarked Morano. + +"How know you that?" said Rodriguez. + +"This old body knew," said Morano. "Those heart-thumpings, this +warmness, and all the things that make a fat body comfortable, +they were stopping, master, they were spoiling, they were getting +cold and strange: I go no more errands for that senor." + +A certain diffidence about criticising his host even now; and a +very practical vein that ran through his nature, now showing +itself in anxiety for a bed at so late an hour; led Rodriguez to +change the subject. He wanted that aged butler, yet dare not ring +the bell; for he feared lest with all the bells there might be in +use that frightful practice that he had met by the outer door, a +chain connected with some hideous hook that gave anguish to +something in the basement whenever one touched the handle, so that +the menials of that grim Professor were shrilly summoned by +screams. And therefore Rodriguez sought counsel of Morano, who +straightway volunteered to find the butler's quarters, by a +certain sense that he had of the fitness of things: and forth he +went, but would not leave the room without the scabbard and the +handle of the frying-pan lashed to it, which he bore high before +him in both his hands as though he were leading some austere +procession. And even so he returned with that aged man the butler, +who led them down dim corridors of stone; but, though he showed +the way, Morano would go in front, still holding up that scabbard +and handle before him, while Rodriguez held the bare sword. And so +they came to a room lit by the flare of one candle, which their +guide told them the Professor had prepared for his guest. In the +vastness of it was a great bed. Shadows and a whir as of wings +passed out of the door as they entered. "Bats," said the ancient +guide. But Morano believed he had routed powers of evil with the +handle of his frying-pan and his master's scabbard. Who could say +what they were in such a house, where bats and evil spirits +sheltered perennially from the brooms of the just? Then that +ancient man with the lips of some woodland thing departed, and +Rodriguez went to the great bed. On a pile of straw that had been +cast into the room Morano lay down across the door, setting the +scabbard upright in a rat-hole near his head, while Rodriguez lay +down with the bare sword in his hand. There was only one door in +the room, and this Morano guarded. Windows there were, but they +were shuttered with raw oak of enormous thickness. He had already +enquired with his sword behind the velvet curtains. He felt secure +in the bulk of Morano across the only door, at least from +creatures of this world: and Morano feared no longer either spirit +or spell, believing that he had vanquished the Professor with his +symbol, and all such allies as he may have had here or elsewhere. +But not thus easily do we overcome the powers of evil. + +A step was heard such as man walks with at the close of his later +years, coming along the corridor of stone; and they knew it for +the Professor's butler returning. The latch of the door trembled +and lifted, and the great oak door bumped slowly against Morano, +who arose grumbling, and the old man appeared. + +"The Professor," he said, while Morano watched him grudgingly, +"returns with all his household to Saragossa at once, to resume +those studies for which his name resounds, a certain conjunction +of the stars having come favourably." + +Even Morano doubted that so suddenly the courses of the stars, +which he deemed to be gradual, should have altered from antagonism +towards the Professor's art into a favourable aspect. Rodriguez +sleepily acknowledged the news and settled himself to sleep, still +sword in hand, when the servitor repeated with as much emphasis as +his aged voice could utter, "With all his household, senor." + +"Yes," muttered Rodriguez. "Farewell." + +And repeating again, "He takes his household with him," the old +man shuffled back from the room and hesitatingly closed the door. +Before the sound of his slow footsteps had failed to reach the +room Morano was asleep under his cross. Rodriguez still watched +for a while the shadows leaping and shuddering away from the +candle, riding over the ceiling, striding hugely along the walls, +towards him and from him, as draughts swayed the ruddy flame; +then, gripping his sword still firmer in his hand, as though that +could avail against magic, he fell into the sleep of tired men. + +No sound disturbed Rodriguez or Morano till both awoke in late +morning upon the rocks of the mountain. The sun had climbed over +the crags and now shone on their faces. Rodriguez was still lying +with his sword gripped in his hand, but the cross had fallen by +Morano and now lay on the rocks beside him with the handle of the +frying-pan still tied in its place by string. A young, wild, +woodland squirrel gambolled near, though there were no woods for +it anywhere within sight: it leaped and played as though rejoicing +in youth, with such merriment as though youth had but come to it +newly or been lost and restored again. + +All over the mountain they looked but there was no house, nor any +sign of dwelling of man or spirit. + + + + + +THE FIFTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE RODE IN THE TWILIGHT AND SAW SERAFINA + + +Rodriguez, who loved philosophy, turned his mind at once to the +journey that lay before him, deciding which was the north; for he +knew that it was by the north that he must leave Spain, which he +still desired to leave since there were no wars in that country. + +Morano knew not clearly what philosophy was, yet he wasted no +thoughts upon the night that was gone; and, fitting up his frying- +pan immediately, he brought out what was left of his bacon and +began to look for material to make a fire. The bacon lay waiting +in the frying-pan for some while before this material was +gathered, for nothing grew on the mountain but a heath; and of +that there were few bushes, scattered here and there. + +Rodriguez, far from ruminating upon the events of the previous +night, realised as he watched these preparations that he was +enormously hungry. And when Morano had kindled a fire and the +smell of cooking arose, he who had held the chair of magic at +Saragossa was banished from both their minds, although upon this +very spot they had spent so strange a night; but where bacon is, +and there be hungry men, the things of yesterday are often +forgotten. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "we must walk far to-day." + +"Indeed, master," said Morano, "we must push on to these wars; for +you have no castle, master, no lands, no fortune ..." + +"Come," said Rodriguez. + +Morano slung his frying-pan behind him: they had eaten up the last +of his bacon: he stood up, and they were ready for the journey. +The smoke from their meagre fire went thinly into the air, the +small grey clouds of it went slowly up: nothing beside remained to +bid them farewell, or for them to thank for their strange night's +hospitality. They climbed till they reached the rugged crest of +the mountain; thence they saw a wide plain and the morning: the +day was waiting for them. + +The northern slope of the mountain was wholly different from that +black congregation of angry rocks through which they had climbed +by night to the House of Wonder. + +The slope that now lay before them was smooth and grassy, flowing +before them far, a gentle slope that was soon to lend speed to +Rodriguez' feet, adding nimbleness even to youth. Soon, too, it +was to lift onward the dull weight of Morano as he followed his +master towards unknown wars, youth going before him like a spirit +and the good slope helping behind. But before they gave themselves +to that waiting journey they stood a moment and looked at the +shining plain that lay before them like an open page, on which was +the whole chronicle of that day's wayfaring. There was the road +they should travel by, there were the streams it crossed and +narrow woods they might rest in, and dim on the farthest edge was +the place they must spend that night. It was all, as it were +written, upon the plain they watched, but in a writing not +intended for them, and, clear although it be, never to be +interpreted by one of our race. Thus they saw clear, from a +height, the road they would go by, but not one of all the events +to which it would lead them. + +"Master," said Morano, "shall we have more adventures to-day?" + +"I trust so," said Rodriguez. "We have far to go, and it will be +dull journeying without them." + +Morano turned his eyes from his master's face and looked back to +the plain. "There, master," he said, "where our road runs through +a wood, will our adventure be there, think you? Or there, +perhaps," and he waved his hand widely farther. + +"No," said Rodriguez, "we pass that in bright daylight." + +"Is that not good for adventure?" said Morano. + +"The romances teach," said Rodriguez, "that twilight or night are +better. The shade of deep woods is favourable, but there are no +such woods on this plain. When we come to evening we shall +doubtless meet some adventure, far over there." And he pointed to +the grey rim of the plain where it started climbing towards hills. + +"These are good days," said Morano. He forgot how short a time ago +he had said regretfully that these days were not as the old days. +But our race, speaking generally, is rarely satisfied with the +present, and Morano's cheerfulness had not come from his having +risen suddenly superior to this everyday trouble of ours; it came +from his having shifted his gaze to the future. Two things are +highly tolerable to us, and even alluring, the past and the +future. It was only with the present that Morano was ever +dissatisfied. + +When Morano said that the days were good Rodriguez set out to find +them, or at least that one that for some while now lay waiting for +them on the plain. He strode down the slope at once and, endowing +nature with his own impatience, he felt that he heard the morning +call to him wistfully. Morano followed. + +For an hour these refugees escaping from peace went down the +slope; and in that hour they did five swift miles, miles that +seemed to run by them as they walked, and so they came lightly to +the level plain. And in the next hour they did four miles more. +Words were few, either because Morano brooded mainly upon one +thought, the theme of which was his lack of bacon, or because he +kept his breath to follow his master who, with youth and the +morning, was coming out of the hills at a pace not tuned to +Morano's forty years or so. And at the end of these nine miles +Morano perceived a house, a little way from the road, on the left, +upon rising ground. A mile or so ahead they saw the narrow wood +that they had viewed in the morning from the mountain running +across the plain. They saw now by the lie of the ground that it +probably followed a stream, a pleasant place in which to take the +rest demanded by Spain at noon. It was just an hour to noon; so +Rodriguez, keeping the road, told Morano to join him where it +entered the wood when he had acquired his bacon. And then as they +parted a thought occurred to Rodriguez, which was that bacon cost +money. It was purely an afterthought, an accidental fancy, such as +inspirations are, for he had never had to buy bacon. So he gave +Morano a fifth part of his money, a large gold coin the size of +one of our five-shilling pieces, engraved of course upon one side +with the glories and honours of that golden period of Spain, and +upon the other with the head of the lord the King. It was only by +chance he had brought any at all; he was not what our newspapers +will call, if they ever care to notice him, a level-headed +business man. At the sight of the gold piece Morano bowed, for he +felt this gift of gold to be an occasion; but he trusted more for +the purchase of the bacon to some few small silver coins of his +own that he kept among lumps of lard and pieces of string. + +And so they parted for a while, Rodriguez looking for some great +shadowy oak with moss under it near a stream, Morano in quest of +bacon. + +When Rodriguez entered the wood he found his oak, but it was not +such an oak as he cared to rest beneath during the heat of the +day, nor would you have done so, my reader, even though you have +been to the wars and seen many a pretty mess; for four of la Garda +were by it and were arranging to hang a man from the best of the +branches. + +"La Garda again," said Rodriguez nearly aloud. + +His eye drooped, his look was listless, he gazed at other things; +while a glance that you had not noticed, flashed slantingly at la +Garda, satisfied Rodriguez that all four were strangers: then he +walked straight towards them merrily. The man they proposed to +hang was a stranger too. He appeared at first to be as stout as +Morano, and he was nearly half a foot taller, but his stoutness +turned out to be sheer muscle. The broad man was clothed in old +brown leather and had blue eyes. + +Now there was something about the poise of Rodriguez' young head +which gave him an air not unlike that which the King himself +sometimes wore when he went courting. It suited his noble sword +and his merry plume. When la Garda saw him they were all +politeness at once, and invited him to see the hanging, for which +Rodriguez thanked them with amplest courtesy. + +"It is not a bull-fight," said the chief of la Garda almost +apologetically. But Rodriguez waved aside his deprecations and +declared himself charmed at the prospect of a hanging. + +Bear with me, reader, while I champion a bad cause and seek to +palliate what is inexcusable. As we travel about the world on our +way through life we meet and pass here and there, in peace or in +war, other men, fellow-travellers: and sometimes there is no more +than time for a glance, eye to eye. And in that glance you see the +sort of man: and chiefly there are two sorts. The one sort always +brooding, always planning; mean, silent men, collecting properties +and money; keeping the law on their side, keeping everything on +their side; except women and heaven, and the late, leisurely +judgment of simple people: and the others merry folk, whose eyes +twinkle, whose money flies, who will sooner laugh than plan, who +seem to inherit rightfully the happiness that the others plot for, +and fail to come by with all their schemes. In the man who was to +provide the entertainment Rodriguez recognised the second kind. + +Now even though the law had caught a saint that had strayed too +far outside the boundary of Heaven, and desired to hang him, +Rodriguez knew that it was his duty to help the law while help was +needed, and to applaud after the thing was done. The law to +Rodriguez was the most sacred thing man had made, if indeed it +were not divine; but since the privilege that two days ago had +afforded him of studying it more closely, it appeared to him the +blindest, silliest thing with which he had had to do since the +kittens were drowned that his cat Tabitharina had had at Arguento +Harez. + +It was in this deplorable state of mind that Rodriguez' glance +fell on the merry eyes and the solemn predicament of the man in +the leather coat, standing pinioned under a long branch of the +oak-tree: and he determined from that moment to disappoint la +Garda and, I fear also, my reader, perhaps to disappoint you, of +the hanging that they at least had promised themselves. + +"Think you," said Rodriguez, "that for so stout a knave this +branch of yours suffices?" + +Now it was an excellent branch. But it was not so much Rodriguez' +words as the anxious way in which he looked at the branch that +aroused the anxieties of la Garda: and soon they were looking +about to find a better tree; and when four men start doing this in +a wood time quickly passes. Meanwhile Morano drew near, and +Rodriguez went to meet him. + +"Master," said Morano, all out of breath, "they had no bacon. But +I got these two bottles of wine. It is strong wine, which is a +rare deluder of the senses, which will need to be deluded if we +are to go hungry." + +Rodriguez was about to cut short Morano's chatter when he thought +of a use for the wine, and was silent a moment. And as he pondered +Morano looked up and saw la Garda and at the same time perceived +the situation, for he had as quick an eye for a bad business as +any man. + +"No one with the horses," was his comment; for they were tethered +a little apart. But Rodriguez' mind had already explored a surer +method than the one that Morano seemed to be contemplating. This +method he told Morano. And now, from little tugs that they were +giving to the doubled rope that hung over the branch of the oak- +tree, it was clear enough that the men of the law were returning +to their confidence in that very sufficient branch. + +They looked up with questions ripe to drop from their lips when +they saw Rodriguez returning with Morano. But before one of them +spoke Morano flung to them from far off a little piece of his +wisdom: for cast a truth into an occasion and it will always +trouble the waters, usually stirring up contradiction, but always +bringing something to the surface. + +"Senores," he said, "no man can enjoy a hanging with a dry +throat." + +Thus he turned their attention a while from the business in hand, +changing their thoughts from the stout neck of the prisoner to +their own throats, wondering were they dry; and you do not wonder +long about this in the south without finding that what you feared +is true. And then he let them see the two great bottles, all full +of wine, for the invention of the false bottom that gives to our +champagne-bottles the place they rightly hold among famous +deceptions had not as yet been discovered. + +"It is true," said la Garda. And Rodriguez made Morano put one of +the bottles away in a piece of a sack that he carried: and when la +Garda saw one of the two bottles disappear it somehow decided them +to have the other, though how this came to be so there is no +saying; and thus the hanging was postponed again. + +Now the drink was a yellow wine, sweet and heavy and stronger than +our port; only our whisky could out-triumph it, but there in the +warm south it answered its purpose. Rodriguez beckoned Morano up +and offered the bottle to one of la Garda; but scarcely had he put +it to his lips when Rodriguez bade him stop, saying that he had +had his share. And he did the same with the next man. + +Now there be few things indeed which la Garda resent more than +meagre hospitality in the matter of drink, and with all their wits +striving to cope with this vicious defect in Rodriguez, as they +rightly or wrongly regarded it, how should they have any to spare +for obvious precautions? As the third man drank, Rodriguez turned +to speak to Morano; and the representative of the law took such +advantage of an opportunity that he feared to be fleeting, that +when Rodriguez turned round again the bottle was just half empty. +Rodriguez had timed it very nicely. + +Next Rodriguez put the bottle to his lips and held it there a +little time, while the fourth man of the law, who was guarding the +prisoner, watched Rodriguez wistfully, and afterwards Morano, who +took the bottle next. Yet neither Rodriguez nor Morano drank. + +"You can finish the bottle," said Rodriguez to this anxious +watcher, who came forward eagerly though full of doubts, which +changed to warm feelings of exuberant gratitude when he found how +much remained. Thus he obtained not much less than two tumblerfuls +of wine that, as I have said, was stronger than port; and noon was +nearing and it was spring in Spain. And then he returned to guard +his prisoner under the oak-tree and lay down there on the moss, +remembering that it was his duty to keep awake. And afterwards +with one hand he took hold of a rope that bound the prisoner's +ankles, so that he might still guard his prisoner even though he +should fall asleep. + +Now two of the men had had little more than the full of a sherry +glass each. To these Morano made signs that there was another +bottle, and, coming round behind his master, he covertly uncorked +it and gave them their heart's desire; and a little was left over +for the man who drank third on the first occasion. And presently +the spirits of all four of la Garda grew haughty and forgot their +humble bodies, and would fain have gone forth to dwell with the +sons of light, while their bodies lay on the moss and the sun grew +warmer and warmer, shining dappled in amongst the small green +leaves. All seemed still but for the winged insects flashing +through shafts of the sunlight out of the gloom of the trees and +disappearing again like infinitesimal meteors. But our concern is +with the thoughts of man, of which deeds are but the shadows: +wherever these are active it is wrong to say all is still; for +whether they cast their shadows, which are actions, or whether +they remain a force not visibly stirring matter, they are the +source of the tales we write and the lives we lead; it is they +that gave History her material and they that bade her work it up +into books. + +And thoughts were very active about that oak-tree. For while the +thoughts of la Garda arose like dawn, and disappeared into mists, +their prisoner was silently living through the sunny days of his +life, which are at no time quite lost to us, and which flash vivid +and bright and near when memory touches them, herself awakened by +the nearness of death. He lived again days far from the day that +had brought him where he stood. He drew from those days (that is +to say) that delight, that essence of hours, that something which +we call life. The sun, the wind, the rough sand, the splash of the +sea, on the star-fish, and all the things that it feels during its +span, are stored in something like its memory, and are what we +call its life: it is the same with all of us. Life is feeling. The +prisoner from the store of his memory was taking all he had. His +head was lifted, he was gazing northwards, far further than his +eyes could see, to shining spaces in great woods; and there his +threatened being walked in youth, with steps such as spirits take, +over immortal flowers, which were dim and faint but unfading +because they lived on in memory. In memory he walked with some who +were now far from his footsteps. And, seen through the gloaming of +that perilous day, how bright did those far days appear! Did they +not seem sunnier than they really were? No, reader; for all the +radiance that glittered so late in his mind was drawn from those +very days; it was their own brightness that was shining now: we +are not done with the days that were as soon as their sunsets have +faded, but a light remains from them and grows fairer and fairer, +like an afterglow lingering among tremendous peaks above +immeasurable slopes of snow. + +The prisoner had scarcely noticed Rodriguez or his servant, any +more than he noticed his captors; for there come an intensity to +those who walk near death that makes them a little alien from +other men, life flaring up in them at the last into so grand a +flame that the lives of the others seem a little cold and dim +where they dwell remote from that sunset that we call mortality. +So he looked silently at the days that were as they came dancing +back again to him from where they had long lain lost in chasms of +time, to which they had slipped over dark edges of years. Smiling +they came, but all wistfully anxious, as though their errand were +paramount and their span short: he saw them cluster about him, +running now, bringing their tiny gifts, and scarcely heard the +heavy sigh of his guard as Rodriguez gagged him and Morano tied +him up. + +Had Rodriguez now released the prisoner they could have been three +to three, in the event of things going wrong with the sleep of la +Garda; but, since in the same time they could gag and bind +another, the odds would be the same at two to two, and Rodriguez +preferred this to the slight uncertainties that would be connected +with the entry of another partner. They accordingly gagged the +next man and bound his wrists and ankles. And that Spanish wine +held good with the other two and bound them far down among the +deeps of dreams: and so it should, for it was of a vine that grew +in the vales of Spain and had ripened in one of the years of the +golden age. + +They bound one as easily as they had bound the other two; and the +last Rodriguez watched while Morano cut the ropes off the +prisoner, for he had run out of bits of twine and all other +improvisations. With these ropes he ran back to his master, and +they tied up the last prisoner but did not gag him. + +"Shall we gag him, master, like the rest?" said Morano. + +"No," said Rodriguez. "He has nothing to say." + +And though this remark turned out to be strictly untrue, it well +enough answered its purpose. + +And then they saw standing before them the man they had freed. And +he bowed to Rodriguez like one that had never bowed before. I do +not mean that he bowed with awkwardness, like imitative men unused +to politeness, but he bowed as the oak bows to the woodman; he +stood straight, looking Rodriguez in the eyes, then he bowed as +though he had let his spirit break, which allowed him to bow to +never a man before. Thus, if my pen has been able dimly to tell of +it, thus bowed the man in the old leathern jacket. And Rodriguez +bowed to him in answer with the elegance that they that had dwelt +at Arguento Harez had slowly drawn from the ages. + +"Senor, your name," said the stranger. + +"Lord of Arguento Harez," said Rodriguez. + +"Senor," he said, "being a busy man, I have seldom time to pray. +And the blessed Saints, being more busy than I, I think seldom +hear my prayers: yet your name shall go up to them. I will often +tell it them quietly in the forest, and not on their holy days +when bells are ringing and loud prayers fill Heaven. It may be ..." + +"Senor," Rodriguez said, "I profoundly thank you." + +Even in these days, when bullets are often thicker than prayers, +we are not quite thankless for the prayers of others: in those +days they were what "closing quotations" are on the Stock +Exchange, ink in Fleet Street, machinery in the Midlands; common +but valued; and Rodriguez' thanks were sincere. + +And now that the curses of the ungagged one of la Garda were +growing monotonous, Rodriguez turned to Morano. + +"Ungag the rest," he said, "and let them talk to each other." + +"Master," Morano muttered, feeling that there was enough noise +already for a small wood, but he went and did as he was ordered. +And Rodriguez was justified of his humane decision, for the pent +thoughts of all three found expression together and, all four now +talking at once, mitigated any bitterness there may have been in +those solitary curses. And now Rodriguez could talk undisturbed. + +"Whither?" said the stranger. + +"To the wars," said Rodriguez, "if wars there be." + +"Aye," said the stranger, "there be always wars somewhere. By +which road go you?" + +"North," said Rodriguez, and he pointed. The stranger turned his +eyes to the way Rodriguez pointed. + +"That brings you to the forest," he said, "unless you go far +around, as many do." + +"What forest?" said Rodriguez. + +"The great forest named Shadow Valley," said the stranger. + +"How far?" said Rodriguez. + +"Forty miles," said the stranger. + +Rodriguez looked at la Garda and then at their horses, and +thought. He must be far from la Garda by nightfall. + +"It is not easy to pass through Shadow Valley," said the stranger. + +"Is it not?" said Rodriguez. + +"Have you a gold great piece?" the stranger said. + +Rodriguez held out one of his remaining four: the stranger took +it. And then he began to rub it on a stone, and continued to rub +while Rodriguez watched in silence, until the image of the lord +the King was gone and the face of the coin was scratchy and shiny +and flat. And then he produced from a pocket or pouch in his +jacket a graving tool with a round wooden handle, which he took in +the palm of his hand, and the edge of the steel came out between +his forefinger and thumb: and with this he cut at the coin. And +Morano rejoined them from his merciful mission and stood and +wondered at the cutting. And while he cut they talked. + +They did not ask him how he came to be chosen for hanging, because +in every country there are about a hundred individualists, varying +to perhaps half a hundred in poor ages. They go their hundred +ways, or their half-dozen ways; and there is a hundred and first +way, or a seventh way, which is the way that is cut for the rest: +and if some of the rest catch one of the hundred, or one of the +six, they naturally hang him, if they have a rope, and if hanging +is the custom of the country, for different countries use +different methods. And you saw by this man's eyes that he was one +of the hundred. Rodriguez therefore only sought to know how he +came to be caught. + +"La Garda found you, senor?" he said. + +"As you see," said the stranger. "I came too far from my home." + +"You were travelling?" said Rodriguez. + +"Shopping," he said. + +At this word Morano's interest awakened wide. "Senor," he said, +"what is the right price for a bottle of this wine that la Garda +drink?" + +"I know not," said the man in the brown jacket; "they give me +these things." + +"Where is your home, senor?" Rodriguez asked. + +"It is Shadow Valley," he said. + +One never saw Rodriguez fail to understand anything: if he could +not clear a situation up he did not struggle with it. Morano +rubbed his chin: he had heard of Shadow Valley only dimly, for all +the travellers he had known out of the north had gone round it. +Rodriguez and Morano bent their heads and watched a design that +was growing out of the gold. And as the design grew under the hand +of the strange worker he began to talk of the horses. He spoke as +though his plans had been clearly established by edict, and as +though no others could be. + +"When I have gone with two horses," he said, "ride hard with the +other two till you reach the village named Lowlight, and take them +to the forge of Fernandez the smith, where one will shoe them who +is not Fernandez." + +And he waved his hand northwards. There was only one road. Then +all his attention fell back again to his work on the gold coin; +and when those blue eyes were turned away there seemed nothing +left to question. And now Rodriguez saw the design was a crown, a +plain gold circlet with oak leaves rising up from it. And this +woodland emblem stood up out of the gold, for the worker had +hollowed the coin away all around it, and was sloping it up to the +edge. Little was said by the watchers in the wonder of seeing the +work, for no craft is very far from the line beyond which is +magic, and the man in the leather coat was clearly a craftsman: +and he said nothing for he worked at a craft. And when the +arboreal crown was finished, and its edges were straight and +sharp, an hour had passed since he began near noon. Then he +drilled a hole near the rim and, drawing a thin green ribbon from +his pocket, he passed it through the hole and, rising, he suddenly +hung it round Rodriguez' neck. + +"Wear it thus," he said, "while you go through Shadow Valley." + +As he said this he stepped back among the trees, and Rodriguez +followed to thank him. Not finding him behind the tree where he +thought to find him, he walked round several others, and Morano +joined his search; but the stranger had vanished. When they +returned again to the little clearing they heard sounds of +movement in the wood, and a little way off where the four horses +had grazed there were now only two, which were standing there with +their heads up. + +"We must ride, Morano," said Rodriguez. + +"Ride, master?" said Morano dolefully. + +"If we walk away," said Rodriguez, "they will walk after us." + +"They" meant la Garda. It was unnecessary for him to tell Morano +what I thus tell the reader, for in the wood it was hard to hear +anyone else, while to think of anyone else was out of the +question. + +"What shall I do to them, master?" said Morano. + +They were now standing close to their captives and this simple +question calmed the four men's curses, all of a sudden, like +shutting the door on a storm. + +"Leave them," Rodriguez said. And la Garda's spirits rose and they +cursed again. + +"Ah. To die in the wood," said Morano. "No," said Rodriguez; and +he walked towards the horses. And something in that "No" sounding +almost contemptuous, Morano's feelings were hurt, and he blurted +out to his master "But how can they get away to get their food?? +It is good knots that I tie, master." + +"Morano," Rodriguez said, "I remember ten ways in the books of +romance whereby bound men untie themselves; and doubtless one or +two more I have read and forgot; and there may be other ways in +the books that I have not read, besides any way that there be of +which no books tell. And in addition to these ways, one of them +may draw a comrade's sword with his teeth and thus ..." + +"Shall I pull out their teeth?" said Morano. + +"Ride," said Rodriguez, for they were now come to the horses. And +sorrowfully Morano looked at the horse that was to be his, as a +man might look at a small, uncomfortable boat that is to carry him +far upon a stormy day. And then Rodriguez helped him into the +saddle. + +"Can you stay there?" Rodriguez said. "We have far to go." + +"Master," Morano answered, "these hands can hold till evening." + +And then Rodriguez mounted, leaving Morano gripping the high front +of the saddle with his large brown hands. But as soon as the +horses started he got a grip with his heels as well, and later on +with his knees. Rodriguez led the way on to the straggling road +and was soon galloping northwards, while Morano's heels kept his +horse up close to his master's. Morano rode as though trained in +the same school that some while later taught Macaulay's +equestrian, who rode with "loose rein and bloody spur." Yet the +miles went swiftly by as they galloped on soft white dust, which +lifted and settled, some of it, back on the lazy road, while some +of it was breathed by Morano. The gold coin on the green silk +ribbon flapped up and down as Rodriguez rode, till he stuffed it +inside his clothing and remembered no more about it. Once they saw +before them the man they had snatched from the noose: he was going +hard and leading a loose horse. And then where the road bent round +a low hill he galloped out of sight and they saw him no more. He +had the loose horse to change on to as soon as the other was +tired: they had no prospect of overtaking him. And so he passed +out of their minds as their host had done who went away with his +household to Saragossa. + +At first Rodriguez' mandolin, that was always slung on his back, +bumped up and down uncomfortably; but he eased it by altering the +strap: small things like this bring contentment. And then he +settled down to ride. But no contentment came near Morano nor did +he look for it. On the first day of his wanderings he had worn his +master's clothes, which has been an experience standing somewhat +where toothache does, which is somewhere about half-way between +discomfort and agony. On the second day he had climbed at the end +of a weary journey over those sharp rocks whose shape was adapted +so ill to his body. On the third day he was riding. He did not +look for comfort. But he met discomfort with an easy resignation +that almost defeated the intention of Satan who sends it, unless-- +as is very likely--it be from Heaven. And in spite of all +discomforts he gaily followed Rodriguez. In a thousand days at the +Inn of the Dragon and Knight no two were so different to Morano +that one stood out from the other, or any from the rest. It was +all as though one day were repeated again and again; and at some +point in this monotonous repetition, like a milestone shaped as +the rest on a perfectly featureless road, life would end and the +meaningless repetition stop: and looking back on it there would +only be one day to see, or, if he could not look back, it would be +all gone for nothing. And then, into that one day that he was +living on in the gloaming of that grim inn, Rodriguez had +appeared, and Morano had known him for one of those wandering +lights that sometimes make sudden day among the stars. He knew-- +no, he felt--that by following him, yesterday today and tomorrow +would be three separate possessions in memory. Morano gladly gave +up that one dull day he was living for the new strange days +through which Rodriguez was sure to lead him. Gladly he left it: +if this be not true how then has a man with a dream led thousands +to follow his fancy, from the Crusades to whatever gay madness be +the fashion when this is read? As they galloped the scent of the +flowers rushed into Rodriguez' nostrils, while Morano mainly +breathed the dust from the hooves of his master's horse. But the +quest was favoured the more by the scent of the flowers inspiring +its leader's fancies. So Morano gained even from this. + +In the first hour they shortened by fifteen miles the length of +their rambling quest. In the next hour they did five miles; and in +the third hour ten. After this they rode slowly. The sun was +setting. Morano regarded the sunset with delight, for it seemed to +promise jovially the end of his sufferings, which except for brief +periods when they went on foot, to rest--as Rodriguez said--the +horses, had been continuous and even increasing since they +started. Rodriguez, perhaps a little weary too, drew from the +sunset a more sombre feeling, as sensitive minds do: he responded +to its farewell, he felt its beauty, and as little winds turned +cool and the shine of blades of grass faded, making all the plain +dimmer, he heard, or believed he heard, further off than he could +see, sounds on the plain beyond ridges, in hollows, behind clumps +of bushes; as though small creatures all unknown to his learning +played instruments cut from reeds upon unmapped streams. In this +hour, among these fancies, Rodriguez saw clear on a hill the white +walls of the village of Lowlight. And now they began to notice +that a great round moon was shining. The sunset grew dimmer and +the moonlight stole in softly, as a cat might walk through great +doors on her silent feet into a throne-room just as the king had +gone: and they entered the village slowly in the perfect moment of +twilight. + +The round horizon was brimming with a pale but magical colour, +welling up to the tips of trees and the battlements of white +towers. Earth seemed a mysterious cup overfull of this pigment of +wonder. Clouds wandering low, straying far from their azure +fields, were dipped in it. The towers of Lowlight turned slowly +rose in that light, and glowed together with the infinite +gloaming, so that for this brief hour the things of man were wed +with the things of eternity. It was into this wide, pale flame of +aetherial rose that the moon came stealing like a magician on tip- +toe, to enchant the tips of the trees, low clouds and the towers +of Lowlight. A blue light from beyond our world touched the pink +that is Earth's at evening: and what was strange and a matter for +hushed voices, marvellous but yet of our earth, became at that +touch unearthly. All in a moment it was, and Rodriguez gasped to +see it. Even Morano's eyes grew round with the coming of wonder, +or with some dim feeling that an unnoticed moment had made all +things strange and new. + +For some moments the spell of moonlight on sunlight hovered: the +air was brimming and quivering with it: magic touched earth. For +some moments, some thirty beats of a heron's wing, had the angels +sung to men, had their songs gone earthward into that rosy glow, +gliding past layers of faintly tinted cloud, like moths at dusk +towards a briar-rose; in those few moments men would have known +their language. Rodriguez reined in his horse in the heavy silence +and waited. For what he waited he knew not: some unearthly answer +perhaps to his questioning thoughts that had wandered far from +earth, though no words came to him with which to ask their +question and he did not know what question they would ask. He was +all vibrating with the human longing: I know not what it is, but +perhaps philosophers know. He sat there waiting while a late bird +sailed homeward, sat while Morano wondered. And nothing spake from +anywhere. + +And now a dog began to notice the moon: now a child cried suddenly +that had been dragged back from the street, where it had wandered +at bedtime: an old dog rose from where it had lain in the sun and +feebly yet confidently scratched at a door: a cat peered round a +corner: a man spoke: Rodriguez knew there would be no answer now. + +Rodriguez hit his horse, the tired animal went forward, and he and +Morano rode slowly up the street. + +Dona Serafina of the Valley of Dawnlight had left the heat of the +room that looked on the fields, and into which the sun had all day +been streaming, and had gone at sunset to sit in the balcony that +looked along the street. Often she would do this at sunset; but +she rather dreamed as she sat there than watched the street, for +all that it had to show she knew without glancing. Evening after +evening as soon as winter was over the neighbour would come from +next door and stretch himself and yawn and sit on a chair by his +doorway, and the neighbour from opposite would saunter across the +way to him, and they would talk with eagerness of the sale of +cattle, and sometimes, but more coldly, of the affairs of kings. +She knew, but cared not to know, just when the two old men would +begin their talk. She knew who owned every dog that stretched +itself in the dust until chilly winds blew in the dusk and they +rose up dissatisfied. She knew the affairs of that street like an +old, old lesson taught drearily, and her thoughts went far away to +vales of an imagination where they met with many another maiden +fancy, and they all danced there together through the long +twilight in Spring. And then her mother would come and warn her +that the evening grew cold, and Serafina would turn from the +mystery of evening into the house and the candle-light. This was +so evening after evening all through spring and summer for two +long years of her youth. And then, this evening, just as the two +old neighbours began to discuss whether or not the subjugation of +the entire world by Spain would be for its benefit, just as one of +the dogs in the road was rising slowly to shake itself, neighbours +and dogs all raised their heads to look, and there was Rodriguez +riding down the street and Morano coming behind him. When Serafina +saw this she brought her eyes back from dreams, for she dreamed +not so deeply but that the cloak and plume of Rodriguez found some +place upon the boundaries of her day-dream. When she saw the way +he sat his horse and how he carried his head she let her eyes +flash for a little moment along the street from her balcony. And +if some critical reader ask how she did it I answer, "My good sir, +I can't tell you, because I don't know," or "My dear lady, what a +question to ask!" And where she learned to do it I cannot think, +but nothing was easier. And then she smiled to think that she had +done the very thing that her mother had warned her there was +danger in doing. + +"Serafina," her mother said in that moment at the large window, +"the evening grows cold. It might be dangerous to stay there +longer." And Serafina entered the house, as she had done at the +coming of dusk on many an evening. + +Rodriguez missed as much of that flash of her eyes, shot from +below the darkness of her hair, as youth in its first glory and +freedom misses. For at the point on the road called life at which +Rodriguez was then, one is high on a crag above the promontories +of watchmen, lower only than the peaks of the prophets, from which +to see such things. Yet it did not need youth to notice Serafina. +Beggars had blessed her for the poise of her head. + +She turned that head a little as she went between the windows, +till Rodriguez gazing up to her saw the fair shape of her neck: +and almost in that moment the last of the daylight died. The +windows shut; and Rodriguez rode on with Morano to find the forge +that was kept by Fernandez the smith. And presently they came to +the village forge, a cottage with huge, high roof whose beams were +safe from sparks; and its fire was glowing redly into the +moonlight through the wide door made for horses, although there +seemed no work to be done, and a man with a swart moustache was +piling more logs on. Over the door was burned on oak in ungainly +great letters-- + +"FERNANDEZ" + +"For whom do you seek, senor?" he said to Rodriguez, who had +halted before him with his horse's nose inside the doorway +sniffing. + +"I look," he said, "for him who is not Fernandez." + +"I am he," said the man by the fire. + +Rodriguez questioned no further but dismounted, and bade Morano +lead the horses in. And then he saw in the dark at the back of the +forge the other two horses that he had seen in the wood. And they +were shod as he had never seen horses shod before. For the front +pair of shoes were joined by a chain riveted stoutly to each, and +the hind pair also; and both horses were shod alike. The method +was equally new to Morano. And now the man with the swart +moustache picked up another bunch of horseshoes hanging in pairs +on chains. And Rodriguez was not far out when he guessed that +whenever la Garda overtook their horses they would find that +Fernandez was far away making holiday, while he who shod them now +would be gone upon other business. And all this work seemed to +Rodriguez not to be his affair. + +"Farewell," he said to the smith that was not Fernandez; and with +a pat for his horse he left it, having obtained a promise of oats. +And so Rodriguez and Morano went on foot again, Morano elated in +spite of fatigue and pain, rejoicing to feel the earth once more, +flat under the soles of his feet; Rodriguez a little humbled. THE + + + + + +THE SIXTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE SANG TO HIS MANDOLIN AND WHAT CAME OF HIS SINGING + + +They walked back slowly in silence up the street down which they +had ridden. Earth darkened, the moon grew brighter: and Rodriguez +gazing at the pale golden disk began to wonder who dwelt in the +lunar valleys; and what message, if folk were there, they had for +our peoples; and in what language such message could ever be, and +how it could fare across that limpid remoteness that wafted light +on to the coasts of Earth and lapped in silence on the lunar +shores. And as he wondered he thought of his mandolin. + +"Morano," he said, "buy bacon." + +Morano's eyes brightened: they were forty-five miles from the +hills on which he had last tasted bacon. He selected his house +with a glance, and then he was gone. And Rodriguez reflected too +late that he had forgotten to tell Morano where he should find +him, and this with night coming on in a strange village. Scarcely, +Rodriguez reflected, he knew where he was going himself. Yet if +old tunes lurking in its hollows, echoing though imperceptibly +from long-faded evenings, gave the mandolin any knowledge of human +affairs that other inanimate things cannot possess, the mandolin +knew. + +Let us in fancy call up the shade of Morano from that far +generation. Let us ask him where Rodriguez is going. Those blue +eyes, dim with the distance over which our fancy has called them, +look in our eyes with wonder. + +"I do not know," he says, "where Don Rodriguez is going. My master +did not tell me." + +Did he notice nothing as they rode by that balcony? + +"Nothing," Morano answers, "except my master riding." + +We may let Morano's shade drift hence again, for we shall discover +nothing: nor is this an age to which to call back spirits. + +Rodriguez strolled slowly on the deep dust of that street as +though wondering all the while where he should go; and soon he and +his mandolin were below that very balcony whereon he had seen the +white neck of Serafina gleam with the last of the daylight. And +now the spells of the moon charmed Earth with their full power. + +The balcony was empty. How should it have been otherwise? And yet +Rodriguez grieved. For between the vision that had drawn his +footsteps and that bare balcony below shuttered windows was the +difference between a haven, sought over leagues of sea, and sheer, +uncharted cliff. It brought a wistfulness into the music he +played, and a melancholy that was all new to Rodriguez, yet often +and often before had that mandolin sent up through evening against +unheeding Space that cry that man cannot utter; for the spirit of +man needs a mandolin as a comrade to face the verdict of the +chilly stars as he needs a bulldog for more mundane things. + +Soon out of the depth of that stout old mandolin, in which so many +human sorrows had spun tunes out of themselves, as the spiders +spin misty grey webs, till it was all haunted with music, soon the +old cry went up to the stars again, a thread of supplication spun +of the matter which else were distilled in tears, beseeching it +knew not what. And, but that Fate is deaf, all that man asks in +music had been granted then. + +What sorrows had Rodriguez known in his life that he made so sad a +melody? I know not. It was the mandolin. When the mandolin was +made it knew at once all the sorrows of man, and all the old +unnamed longings that none defines. It knew them as the dog knows +the alliance that its forefathers made with man. A mandolin weeps +the tears that its master cannot shed, or utters the prayers that +are deeper than its master's lips can draw, as a dog will fight +for his master with teeth that are longer than man's. And if the +moonlight streamed on untroubled, and though Fate was deaf, yet +beauty of those fresh strains going starward from under his +fingers touched at least the heart of Rodriguez and gilded his +dreams and gave to his thoughts a mournful autumnal glory, until +he sang all newly as he never had sung before, with limpid voice +along the edge of tears, a love-song old as the woods of his +father's valleys at whose edge he had heard it once drift through +the evening. And as he played and sang with his young soul in the +music he fancied (and why not, if they care aught for our souls in +Heaven?) he fancied the angles putting their hands each one on a +star and leaning out of Heaven through the constellations to +listen. + +"A vile song, senor, and a vile tune with it," said a voice quite +close. + +However much the words hurt his pride in his mandolin Rodriguez +recognised in the voice the hidalgo's accent and knew that it was +an equal that now approached him in the moonlight round a corner +of the house with the balcony; and he knew that the request he +courteously made would be as courteously granted. + +"Senor," he said, "I pray you to permit me to lean my mandolin +against the wall securely before we speak of my song." + +"Most surely, senor," the stranger replied, "for there is no fault +with the mandolin." + +"Senor," Rodriguez said, "I thank you profoundly." And he bowed to +the gallant, whom he now perceived to be young, a youth tall and +lithe like himself, one whom we might have chosen for these +chronicles had we not found Rodriguez. + +Then Rodriguez stepped back a short way and placed his kerchief on +the ground; and upon this he put his mandolin and leaned it +against the wall. When the mandolin was safe from dust or accident +he approached the stranger and drew his sword. + +"Senor," he said, "we will now discuss music." + +"Right gladly, senor," said the young man, who now drew his sword +also. There were no clouds; the moon was full; the evening +promised well. + +Scarcely had the flash of thin rapiers crossing each other by +moonlight begun to gleam in the street when Morano appeared beside +them and stood there watching. He had bought his bacon and gone +straight to the house with the balcony. For though he knew no +Latin he had not missed the silent greeting that had welcomed his +master to that village, or failed to interpret the gist of the +words that Rodriguez' dumb glance would have said. He stood there +watching while each combatant stood his ground. + +And Rodriguez remembered all those passes and feints that he had +had from his father, and which Sevastiani, a master of arms in +Madrid, had taught in his father's youth: and some were famous and +some were little known. And all these passes, as he tried them one +by one, his unknown antagonist parried. And for a moment Rodriguez +feared that Morano would see those passes in which he trusted +foiled by that unknown sword, and then he reflected that Morano +knew nothing of the craft of the rapier, and with more content at +that thought he parried thrusts that were strange to him. But +something told Morano that in this fight the stranger was master +and that along that pale-blue, moonlit, unknown sword lurked a +sure death for Rodriguez. He moved from his place of vantage and +was soon lost in large shadows; while the rapiers played and blade +rippled on blade with a sound as though Death were gently +sharpening his scythe in the dark. And now Rodriguez was giving +ground, now his antagonist pressed him; thrusts that he believed +invincible had failed; now he parried wearily and had at once to +parry again; the unknown pressed on, was upon him, was scattering +his weakening parries; drew back his rapier for a deadlier pass, +learned in a secret school, in a hut on mountains he knew, and +practised surely; and fell in a heap upon Rodriguez' feet, struck +full on the back of the head by Morano's frying-pan. + +"Most vile knave," shouted Rodriguez as he saw Morano before him +with his frying-pan in his hand, and with something of the stupid +expression that you see on the face of a dog that has done some +foolish thing which it thinks will delight its master. + +"Master! I am your servant," said Morano. + +"Vile, miserable knave," replied Rodriguez. + +"Master," Morano said plaintively, "shall I see to your comforts, +your food, and not to your life?" + +"Silence," thundered Rodriguez as he stooped anxiously to his +antagonist, who was not unconscious but only very giddy and who +now rose to his feet with the help of Rodriguez. + +"Alas, senor," said Rodriguez, "the foul knave is my servant. He +shall be flogged. He shall be flayed. His vile flesh shall be cut +off him. Does the hurt pain you, senor? Sit and rest while I beat +the knave, and then we will continue our meeting." + +And he ran to his kerchief on which rested his mandolin and laid +it upon the dust for the stranger. + +"No, no," said he. "My head clears again. It is nothing." + +"But rest, senor, rest," said Rodriguez. "It is always well to +rest before an encounter. Rest while I punish the knave." + +And he led him to where the kerchief lay on the ground. "Let me +see the hurt, senor," he continued. And the stranger removed his +plumed hat as Rodriguez compelled him to sit down. He straightened +out the hat as he sat, and the hurt was shown to be of no great +consequence. + +"The blessed Saints be praised," Rodriguez said. "It need not stop +our encounter. But rest awhile, senor." + +"Indeed, it is nothing," he answered. + +"But the indignity is immeasurable," sighed Rodriguez. "Would you +care, senor, when you are well rested to give the chastisement +yourself?" + +"As far as that goes," said the stranger, "I can chastise him +now." + +"If you are fully recovered, senor," Rodriguez said, "my own sword +is at your disposal to beat him sore with the flat of it, or how +you will. Thus no dishonour shall touch your sword from the skin +of so vile a knave." + +The stranger smiled: the idea appealed to him. + +"You make a noble amend, senor," he said as he bowed over +Rodriguez' proffered sword. + +Morano had not moved far, but stood near, wondering. "What should +a servant do if not work for his master?" he wondered. And how +work for him when dead? And dead, as it seemed to Morano, through +his own fault if he allowed any man to kill him when he perceived +him about to do so. He stood there puzzled. And suddenly he saw +the stranger coming angrily towards him in the clear moonlight +with a sword. Morano was frightened. + +As the hidalgo came up to him he stretched out his left hand to +seize Morano by the shoulder. Up went the frying-pan, the stranger +parried, but against a stroke that no school taught or knew, and +for the second time he went down in the dust with a reeling head. +Rodriguez turned toward Morano and said to him ... No, realism is +all very well, and I know that my duty as author is to tell all +that happened, and I could win mighty praise as a bold, +unconventional writer; at the same time, some young lady will be +reading all this next year in some far country, or in twenty years +in England, and I would sooner she should not read what Rodriguez +said. I do not, I trust, disappoint her. But the gist of it was +that he should leave that place now and depart from his service +for ever. And hearing those words Morano turned mournfully away +and was at once lost in the darkness. While Rodriguez ran once +more to help his fallen antagonist. "Senor, senor," he said with +an emotion that some wearing centuries and a cold climate have +taught us not to show, and beyond those words he could find no +more to say. + +"Giddy, only giddy," said the stranger. + +A tear fell on his forehead as Rodriguez helped him to his feet. + +"Senor," Rodriguez said fervently, "we will finish our encounter +come what may. The knave is gone and ..." + +"But I am somewhat giddy," said the other. + +"I will take off one of my shoes," said Rodriguez, "leaving the +other on. It will equalise our unsteadiness, and you shall not be +disappointed in our encounter. Come," he added kindly. + +"I cannot see so clearly as before," the young hidalgo murmured. + +"I will bandage my right eye also," said Rodriguez, "and if this +cannot equalise it ..." + +"It is a most fair offer," said the young man. + +"I could not bear that you should be disappointed of your +encounter," Rodriguez said, "by this spirit of Hell that has got +itself clothed in fat and dares to usurp the dignity of man." + +"It is a right fair offer," the young man said again. + +"Rest yourself, senor," said Rodriguez, "while I take off my +shoe," and he indicated his kerchief which was still on the +ground. + +The stranger sat down a little wearily, and Rodriguez sitting upon +the dust took off his left shoe. And now he began to think a +little wistfully of the face that had shone from that balcony, +where all was dark now in black shadow unlit by the moon. The +emptiness of the balcony and its darkness oppressed him; for he +could scarcely hope to survive an encounter with that swordsman, +whose skill he now recognised as being of a different class from +his own, a class of which he knew nothing. All his own feints and +passes were known, while those of his antagonist had been strange +and new, and he might well have even others. The stranger's +giddiness did not alter the situation, for Rodriguez knew that his +handicap was fair and even generous. He believed he was near his +grave, and could see no spark of light to banish that dark belief; +yet more chances than we can see often guard us on such occasions. +The absence of Serafina saddened him like a sorrowful sunset. + +Rodriguez rose and limped with his one shoe off to the stranger, +who was sitting upon his kerchief. + +"I will bandage my right eye now, senor," he said. + +The young man rose and shook the dust from the kerchief and gave +it to Rodriguez with a renewed expression of his gratitude at the +fairness of the strange handicap. When Rodriguez had bandaged his +eye the stranger returned his sword to him, which he had held in +his hand since his effort to beat Morano, and drawing his own +stepped back a few paces from him. Rodriguez took one hopeless +look at the balcony, saw it as empty and as black as ever, then he +faced his antagonist, waiting. + +"Bandage one eye, indeed!" muttered Morano as he stepped up behind +the stranger and knocked him down for the third time with a blow +over the head from his frying-pan. + +The young hidalgo dropped silently. + +Rodriguez uttered one scream of anger and rushed at Morano with +his sword. Morano had already started to run; and, knowing well +that he was running for his life, he kept for awhile the start +that he had of the rapier. Rodriguez knew that no plump man of +over forty could last against his lithe speed long. He saw Morano +clearly before him, then lost sight of him for a moment and ran +confidently on pursuing. He ran on and on. And at last he +recognised that Morano had slipped into the darkness, which lies +always so near to the moonlight, and was not in front of him at +all. So he returned to his fallen antagonist and found him +breathing heavily where he fell, scarcely conscious. The third +stroke of the frying-pan had done its work surely. Rodriguez' fury +died down, only because it is difficult to feel two emotions at +once: it died down as pity took its place, though every now and +then it would suddenly flare and fall again. He returned his sword +and lifted the young hidalgo and carried him to the door of the +house under which they had fought. + +With one fist he beat on the door without putting the hurt man +down, and continued to hit it until steps were heard, and bolts +began to grumble, as though disturbed too early from their rusty +sleep in stone sockets. + +The door of the house with the balcony was opened by a servant +who, when he saw who it was that Rodriguez carried, fled into the +house in alarm, as one who runs with bad news. He carried one +candle and, when he had disappeared with the steaming flame, +Rodriguez found himself in a long hall lit by the moonlight only, +which was looking in through the small contorted panes of the +upper part of a high window. Alone with echoes and shadows +Rodriguez carried the hurt man through the hall, who was muttering +now as he came back to consciousness. And, as he went, there came +to Rodriguez thoughts between wonder and hope, for he had had no +thought at all when he beat on the door except to get shelter and +help for the hurt man. At the end of the hall they came to an open +door that led into a chamber partly shining with moonlight. + +"In there," said the man that he carried. + +Rodriguez carried him in and laid him on a long couch at the end +of the room. Large pictures of men in the blackness, out of the +moon's rays, frowned at Rodriguez mysteriously. He could not see +their faces in the darkness, but he somehow knew they frowned. Two +portraits that were clear in the moonlight eyed him with absolute +apathy. So cold a welcome from that house's past generations boded +no good to him from those that dwelt there today. Rodriguez knew +that in carrying the hurt man there he helped at a Christian deed; +and yet there was no putting the merits of the case against the +omens that crowded the chamber, lurking along the edge of +moonlight and darkness, disappearing and reappearing till the +gloom was heavy with portent. The omens knew. In a weak voice and +few words the hurt man thanked him, but the apathetic faces seemed +to say What of that? And the frowning faces that he could not see +still filled the darkness with anger. + +And then from the end of the chamber, dressed in white, and all +shining with moonlight, came Serafina. + +Rodriguez in awed silence watched her come. He saw her pass +through the moonlight and grow dimmer, and glide to the moonlight +again that streamed through another window. A great dim golden +circle appeared at the far end of the chamber whence she had come, +as the servent returned with his candle and held it high to give +light for Dona Serafina. But that one flame seemed to make the +darkness only blacker; and for any cheerfulness it brought to the +gloom it had better never have challenged those masses of darkness +at all in that high chamber among the brooding portraits it seemed +trivial, ephemeral, modern, ill able to cope with the power of +ancient things, dead days and forgotten voices, which make their +home in the darkness because the days that have usurped them have +stolen the light of the sun. + +And there the man stood holding his candle high, and the rays of +the moon became more magical still beside that little mundane, +flickering thing. And Serafina was moving through the moonlight as +though its rays were her sisters, which she met noiselessly and +brightly upon some island, as it seemed to Rodriguez, beyond the +costs of Earth, so quietly and so brightly did her slender figure +move and so aloof from him appeared her eyes. And there came on +Rodriguez that feeling that some deride and that others explain +away, the feeling of which romance is mainly made and which is the +aim and goal of all the earth. And his love for Serafina seemed to +him not only to be an event in his life but to have some part in +veiled and shadowy destinies and to have the blessing of most +distant days: grey beards seemed to look out of graves in +forgotten places to wag approval: hands seemed to beckon to him +out of far-future times, where faces were smiling quietly: and, +dreaming on further still, this vast approval that gave +benediction to his heart's youthful fancy seemed to widen and +widen like the gold of a summer's evening or, the humming of bees +in summer in endless rows of limes, until it became a part of the +story of man. Spring days of his earliest memory seemed to have +their part in it, as well as wonderful evenings of days that were +yet to be, till his love for Serafina was one with the fate of +earth; and, wandering far on their courses, he knew that the stars +blessed it. But Serafina went up to the man on the couch with no +look for Rodriguez. + +With no look for Rodriguez she bent over the stricken hidalgo. He +raised himself a little on one elbow. "It is nothing," he said, +"Serafina." + +Still she bent over him. He laid his head down again, but now with +open and undimmed eyes. She put her hand to his forehead, she +spoke in a low voice to him; she lavished upon him sympathy for +which Rodriguez would have offered his head to swords; and all, +thought Rodriguez for three blows from a knave's frying-pan: and +his anger against Morano flared up again fiercely. Then there came +another thought to him out of the shadows, where Serafina was +standing all white, a figure of solace. Who was this man who so +mysteriously blended with the other unknown things that haunted +the gloom of that chamber? Why had he fought him at night? What +was he to Serafina? Thoughts crowded up to him from the interior +of the darkness, sombre and foreboding as the shadows that nursed +them. He stood there never daring to speak to Serafina; looking +for permission to speak, such as a glance might give. And no +glance came. + +And now, as though soothed by her beauty, the hurt man closed his +eyes. Serafina stood beside him anxious and silent, gleaming in +that dim place. The servant at the far end of the chamber still +held his one candle high, as though some light of earth were +needed against the fantastic moon, which if unopposed would give +everything over to magic. Rodriguez stood there, scarcely +breathing. All was silent. And then through the door by which +Serafina had come, past that lonely, golden, moon-defying candle, +all down the long room across moonlight and blackness, came the +lady of the house, Serafina's mother. She came, as Serafina came, +straight toward the man on the couch, giving no look to Rodriguez, +walking something as Serafina walked, with the same poise, the +same dignity, though the years had carried away from her the grace +Serafina had: so that, though you saw that they were mother and +daughter, the elder lady called to mind the lovely things of +earth, large gardens at evening, statues dim in the dusk, summer +and whatsoever binds us to earthly things; but Serafina turned +Rodriguez' thoughts to the twilight in which he first saw her, and +he pictured her native place as far from here, in mellow fields +near the moon, wherein she had walked on twilight outlasting any +we know, with all delicate things of our fancy, too fair for the +rugged earth. + +As the lady approached the couch upon which the young man was +lying, and still no look was turned towards Rodriguez, his young +dreams fled as butterflies sailing high in the heat of June that +are suddenly plunged in night by a total eclipse of the sun. He +had never spoken to Serafina, or seen before her mother, and they +did not know his name; he knew that he, Rodriguez, had no claim to +a welcome. But his dreams had flocked so much about Serafina's +face, basking so much in her beauty, that they now fell back +dying; and when a man's dreams die what remains, if he lingers +awhile behind them? + +Rodriguez suddenly felt that his left shoe was off and his right +eye still bandaged, things that he had not noticed while his only +thought was for the man he carried to shelter, but torturing his +consciousness now that he thought of himself. He opened his lips +to explain; but before words came to him, looking at the face of +Serafina's mother, standing now by the couch, he felt that, not +knowing how, he had somehow wronged the Penates of this house, or +whatever was hid in the dimness of that long chamber, by carrying +in this young man there to rest from his hurt. + +Rodriguez' depression arose from these causes, but having arisen, +it grew of its own might: he had had nothing to eat since morning, +and in the favouring atmosphere of hunger his depression grew +gigantic. He opened his lips once more to say farewell, was +oppressed by all manner of thoughts that held him dumb, and turned +away in silence and left the house. Outside he recovered his +mandolin and his shoe. He was tired with the weariness of defeated +dreams that slept in his spirit exhausted, rather than with any +fatigue his young muscles had from the journey. He needed sleep; +he looked at the shuttered houses; then at the soft dust of the +road in which dogs lay during the daylight. But the dust was near +to his mood, so he lay down where he had fought the unknown +hidalgo. A light wind wandered the street like a visitor come to +the village out of a friendly valley, but Rodriguez' four days on +the roads had made him familiar with all wandering things, and the +breeze on his forehead troubled him not at all: before it had +wearied of wandering in the night Rodriguez had fallen asleep. +Just by the edge of sleep, upon which side he knew not, he heard +the window of the balcony creak, and looked up wide awake all in a +moment. But nothing stirred in the darkness of the balcony and the +window was fast shut. So whatever sound came from the window came +not from its opening but shutting: for a while he wondered; and +then his tired thoughts rested, and that was sleep. + +A light rain woke Rodriguez, drizzling upon his face; the first +light rain that had fallen in a romantic tale. Storms there had +been, lashing oaks to terrific shapes seen at night by flashes of +lightning, through which villains rode abroad or heroes sought +shelter at midnight; hurricanes there had been, flapping huge +cloaks, fierce hail and copious snow; but until now no drizzle. It +was morning; dawn was old; and pale and grey and unhappy. + +The balcony above him, still empty, scarcely even held romance +now. Rain dripped from it sadly. Its cheerless bareness seemed +worse than the most sinister shadows of night. + +And then Rodriguez saw a rose lying on the ground beside him. And +for all the dreams, fancies, and hopes that leaped up in +Rodriguez' mind, rising and falling and fading, one thing alone he +knew and all the rest was mystery: the rose had lain there before +the rain had fallen. Beneath the rose was white dust, while all +around it the dust was turning grey with rain. + +Rodriguez tried to guess how long the rain had fallen. The rose +may have lain beside him all night long. But the shadows of +mystery receded no farther than this one fact that the rose was +there before the rain began. No sign of any kind came from the +house. + +Rodriguez put the rose safe under his coat, wrapped in the +kerchief that had guarded the mandolin, to carry it far from +Lowlight, through places familiar with roses and places strange to +them; but it remained for him a thing of mystery until a day far +from then. + +Sadly he left the house in the sad rain, marching away alone to +look for his wars. + + + + + +THE SEVENTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME TO SHADOW VALLEY + + +Rodriguez still believed it to be the duty of any Christian man to +kill Morano. Yet, more than comfort, more than dryness, he missed +Morano's cheerful chatter, and his philosophy into which all +occasions so easily slipped. Upon his first day's journey all was +new; the very anemones kept him company; but now he made the +discovery that lonely roads are long. + +When he had suggested food or rest Morano had fallen in with his +wishes; when he had suggested winning a castle in vague wars +Morano had agreed with him. Now he had dismissed Morano and had +driven him away at the rapier's point. There was no one now either +to cook his food or to believe in the schemes his ambition made. +There was no one now to speak of the wars as the natural end of +the journey. Alone in the rain the wars seemed far away and +castles hard to come by. The unromantic rain in which no dreams +thrive fell on and on. + +The village of Lowlight was some way behind him, as he went with +mournful thoughts through the drizzling rain, when he caught the +smell of bacon. He looked for a house but the plain was bare +except for small bushes. He looked up wind, which was blowing from +the west, whence came the unmistakable smell of bacon: and there +was a small fire smoking greyly against a bush; and the fat figure +crouching beside it, although the face was averted, was clearly +none but Morano. And when Rodriguez saw that he was tenderly +holding the infamous frying-pan, the very weapon that had done the +accursed deed, then he almost felt righteous anger; but that +frying-pan held other memories too, and Rodriguez felt less fury +than what he thought he felt. As for killing Morano, Rodriguez +believed, or thought he believed, that he was too far from the +road for it to be possible to overtake him to mete out his just +punishment. As for the bacon, Rodriguez scorned it and marched on +down the road. Now one side of the frying-pan was very hot, for it +was tilted a little and the lard had run sideways. By tilting it +back again slowly Morano could make the fat run back bit by bit +over the heated metal, and whenever it did so it sizzled. He now +picked up the frying-pan and one log that was burning well and +walked parallel with Rodriguez. He was up-wind of him, and +whenever the bacon-fat sizzled Rodriguez caught the smell of it. A +small matter to inspire thoughts; but Rodriguez had eaten nothing +since the morning before, and ideas surged through his head; and +though they began with moral indignation they adapted themselves +more and more to hunger, until there came the idea that since his +money had bought the bacon the food was rightfully his, and he had +every right to eat it wherever he found it. So much can slaves +sometimes control the master, and the body rule the brain. + +So Rodriguez suddenly turned and strode up to Morano. "My bacon," +he said. + +"Master," Morano said, for it was beginning to cool, "let me make +another small fire." + +"Knave, call me not master," said Rodriguez. + +Morano, who knew when speech was good, was silent now, and blew on +the smouldering end of the log he carried and gathered a handful +of twigs and shook the rain off them; and soon had a small fire +again, warming the bacon. He had nothing to say which bacon could +not say better. And when Rodriguez had finished up the bacon he +carefully reconsidered the case of Morano, and there were points +in it which he had not thought of before. He reflected that for +the execution of knaves a suitable person was provided. He should +perhaps give Morano up to la Garda. His next thought was where to +find la Garda. And easily enough another thought followed that +one, which was that although on foot and still some way behind +four of la Garda were trying to find him. Rodriguez' mind, which +was looking at life from the point of view of a judge, changed +somewhat at this thought. He reflected next that, for the +prevention of crime, to make Morano see the true nature of his +enormity so that he should never commit it again might after all +be as good as killing him. So what we call his better nature, his +calmer judgment, decided him now to talk to Morano and not to kill +him: but Morano, looking back upon this merciful change, always +attributed it to fried bacon. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez' better nature, "to offend the laws of +Chivalry is to have against you the swords of all true men." + +"Master," Morano said, "that were dreadful odds." + +"And rightly," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "I will keep those laws henceforth. I may +cook bacon for you when you are hungry, I may brush the dust from +your cloak, I may see to your comforts. This Chivalry forbids none +of that. But when I see anyone trying to kill you, master; why, +kill you he must, and welcome." + +"Not always," said Rodriguez somewhat curtly, for it struck him +that Morano spoke somehow too lightly of sacred things. + +"Not always?" asked Morano. + +"No," said Rodriguez. + +"Master, I implore you tell me," said Morano, "when they may kill +you and when they may not, so that I may never offend again." + +Rodriguez cast a swift glance at him but found his face so full of +puzzled anxiety that he condescended to do what Morano had asked, +and began to explain to him the rudiments of the laws of Chivalry. + +"In the wars," he said, "you may defend me whoever assails me, or +if robbers or any common persons attack me, but if I arrange a +meeting with a gentleman, and any knave basely interferes, then is +he damned hereafter as well as accursed now; for, the laws of +Chivalry being founded on true religion, the penalty for their +breach is by no means confined to this world." + +"Master," replied Morano thoughtfully, "if I be not damned already +I will avoid those fires of Hell; and none shall kill you that you +have not chosen to kill you, and those that you choose shall kill +you whenever you have a mind." + +Rodriguez opened his lips to correct Morano but reflected that, +though in his crude and base-born way, he had correctly +interpreted the law so far as his mind was able. + +So he briefly said "Yes," and rose and returned to the road, +giving Morano no order to follow him; and this was the last +concession he made to the needs of Chivalry on account of the sin +of Morano. Morano gathered up the frying-pan and followed +Rodriguez, and when they came to the road he walked behind him in +silence. + +For three or four miles they walked thus, Morano knowing that he +followed on sufferance and calling no attention to himself with +his garrulous tongue. But at the end of an hour the rain lifted; +and with the coming out of the sun Morano talked again. + +"Master," he said, "the next man that you choose to kill you, let +him be one too base-born to know the tricks of the rapier, too +ignorant to do aught but wish you well, some poor fat fool over +forty who shall be too heavy to elude your rapier's point and too +elderly for it to matter when you kill him at your Chivalry, the +best of life being gone already at forty-five." + +"There is timber here," said Rodriguez. "We will have some more +bacon while you dry my cloak over a fire." + +Thus he acknowledged Morano again for his servant but never +acknowledged that in Morano's words he had understood any poor +sketch of Morano's self, or that the words went to his heart. + +"Timber, Master?" said Morano, though it did not need Rodriguez to +point out the great oaks that now began to stand beside their +journey, but he saw that the other matter was well and thus he +left well alone. + +Rodriguez waved an arm towards the great trees. "Yes, indeed," +said Morano, and began to polish up the frying-pan as he walked. + +Rodriguez, who missed little, caught a glimpse of tears in +Morano's eyes, for all that his head was turned downward over the +frying-pan; yet he said nothing, for he knew that forgiveness was +all that Morano needed, and that he had now given him: and it was +much to give, reflected Rodriguez, for so great a crime, and +dismissed the matter from his mind. + +And now their road dipped downhill, and they passed a huge oak and +then another. More and more often now they met these solitary +giants, till their view began to be obscured by them. The road +dwindled till it was no better than a track, the earth beside it +was wild and rocky; Rodriguez wondered to what manner of land he +was coming. But continually the branches of some tree obscured his +view and the only indication he had of it was from the road he +trod, which seemed to tell him that men came here seldom. Beyond +every huge tree that they passed as they went downhill Rodriguez +hoped to get a better view, but always there stood another to +close the vista. It was some while before he realised that he had +entered a forest. They were come to Shadow Valley. + +The grandeur of this place, penetrated by shafts of sunlight, +coloured by flashes of floating butterflies, filled by the chaunt +of birds rising over the long hum of insects, lifted the fallen +spirits of Rodriguez as he walked on through the morning. + +He still would not have exchanged his rose for the whole forest; +but in the mighty solemnity of the forest his mourning for the +lady that he feared he had lost no longer seemed the only solemn +thing: indeed, the sombre forest seemed well attuned to his mood; +and what complaint have we against Fate wherever this is so. His +mood was one of tragic loss, the defeat of an enterprise that his +hopes had undertaken, to seize victory on the apex of the world, +to walk all his days only just outside the edge of Paradise, for +no less than that his hopes and his first love promised each +other; and then he walked despairing in small rain. In this mood +Fate had led him to solemn old oaks standing huge among shadows; +and the grandeur of their grey grip on the earth that had been +theirs for centuries was akin to the grandeur of the high hopes he +had had, and his despair was somehow soothed by the shadows. And +then the impudent birds seemed to say "Hope again." + +They walked for miles into the forest and lit a fire before noon, +for Rodriguez had left Lowlight very early. And by it Morano +cooked bacon again and dried his master's cloak. They ate the +bacon and sat by the fire till all their clothes were dry, and +when the flames from the great logs fell and only embers glowed +they sat there still, with hands spread to the warmth of the +embers; for to those who wander a fire is food and rest and +comfort. Only as the embers turned grey did they throw earth over +their fire and continue their journey. Their road grew smaller and +the forest denser. + +They had walked some miles from the place where they lit their +fire, when a somewhat unmistakable sound made Rodriguez look ahead +of him. An arrow had struck a birch tree on the right side, ten or +twelve paces in front of him; and as he looked up another struck +it from the opposite side just level with the first; the two were +sticking in it ten feet or so from the ground. Rodriguez drew his +sword. But when a third arrow went over his head from behind and +struck the birch tree, whut! just between the other two, he +perceived, as duller minds could have done, that it was a hint, +and he returned his sword and stood still. Morano questioned his +master with his eyes, which were asking what was to be done next. +But Rodriguez shrugged his shoulders: there was no fighting with +an invisible foe that could shoot like that. That much Morano +knew, but he did not know that there might not be some law of +Chivalry that would demand that Rodriguez should wave his sword in +the air or thrust at the birch tree until someone shot him. When +there seemed to be no such rule Morano was well content. And +presently men came quietly on to the road from different parts of +the wood. They were dressed in brown leather and wore leaf-green +hats, and round each one's neck hung a disk of engraved copper. +They came up to the travellers carrying bows, and the leader said +to Rodriguez: + +"Senor, all travellers here bring tribute to the King of Shadow +Valley," at the mention of whom all touched hats and bowed their +heads. "What do you bring us?" + +Rodriguez thought of no answer; but after a moment he said, for +the sake of loyalty: "I know one king only." + +"There is only one king in Shadow Valley," said the bowman. + +"He brings a tribute of emeralds," said another, looking at +Rodriguez' scabbard. And then they searched him and others search +Morano. There were eight or nine of them, all in their leaf-green +hats, with ribbons round their necks of the same colour to hold +the copper disks. They took a gold coin from Morano and grey +greasy pieces of silver. One of them took his frying-pan; but he +looked so pitifully at them as he said simply, "I starve," that +the frying-pan was restored to him. + +They unbuckled Rodriguez' belt and took from him sword and +scabbard and three gold pieces from his purse. Next they found the +gold piece that was hanging round his neck, still stuffed inside +his clothes where he had put it when he was riding. Having +examined it they put it back inside his clothes, while the leader +rebuckled his sword-belt about his waist and returned him his +three gold-pieces. + +Others returned his money to Morano. "Master," said the leader, +bowing to Rodriguez, his green hat in hand, "under our King, the +forest is yours." + +Morano was pleased to hear this respect paid to his master, but +Rodriguez was so surprised that he who was never curt without +reason found no more to say than "Why?" + +"Because we are your servants," said the other. + +"Who are you?" asked Rodriguez. + +"We are the green bowmen, master," he said, "who hold this forest +against all men for our King." + +"And who is he?" said Rodriguez. + +And the bowman answered: "The King of Shadow Valley," at which the +others all touched hats and bowed heads again. And Rodriguez +seeing that the mystery would grow no clearer for any information +to be had from them said: "Conduct me to your king." + +"That, master, we cannot do," said the chief of the bowmen. "There +be many trees in this forest, and behind any one of them he holds +his court. When he needs us there is his clear horn. But when men +need him who knows which shadow is his of all that lie in the +forest?" Whether or not there was anything interesting in the +mystery, to Rodriguez it was merely annoying; and finding it grew +no clearer he turned his attention to shelter for the night, to +which all travellers give a thought at least once, between noon +and sunset. + +"Is there any house on this road, senor," he said, "in which we +could rest the night?" + +"Ten miles from here," said he, "and not far from the road you +take is the best house we have in the forest. It is yours, master, +for as long as you honour it." + +"Come then," said Rodriguez, "and I thank you, senor." + +So they all started together, Rodriguez with the leader going in +front and Morano following with all the bowmen. And soon the +bowmen were singing songs of the forest, hunting songs, songs of +the winter; and songs of the long summer evenings, songs of love. +Cheered by this merriment, the miles slipped by. + +And Rodriguez gathered from the songs they sang something of what +they were and of how they lived in the forest, living amongst the +woodland creatures till these men's ways were almost as their +ways; killing what they needed for food but protecting the +woodland things against all others; straying out amongst the +villages in summer evenings, and always welcome; and owning no +allegiance but to the King of the Shadow Valley. + +And the leader told Rodriguez that his name was Miguel Threegeese, +given him on account of an exploit in his youth when he lay one +night with his bow by one of the great pools in the forest, where +the geese come in winter. He said the forest was a hundred miles +long, lying mostly along a great valley, which they were crossing. +And once they had owned allegiance to kings of Spain, but now to +none but the King of the Shadow Valley, for the King of Spain's +men had once tried to cut some of the forest down, and the forest +was sacred. + +Behind him the men sang on of woodland things, and of cottage +gardens in the villages: with singing and laughter they came to +their journey's end. A cottage as though built by peasants with +boundless material stood in the forest. It was a thatched cottage +built in the peasant's way but of enormous size. The leader +entered first and whispered to those within, who rose and bowed to +Rodriguez as he entered, twenty more bowmen who had been sitting +at a table. One does not speak of the banqueting-hall of a +cottage, but such it appeared, for it occupied more than half of +the cottage and was as large as the banqueting-hall of any castle. +It was made of great beams of oak, and high at either end just +under the thatch were windows with their little square panes of +bulging bluish glass, which at that time was rare in Spain. A +table of oak ran down the length of it, cut from a single tree, +polished and dark from the hands of many men that had sat at it. +Boar spears hung on the wall, great antlers and boar's tusks and, +carved in the oak of the wall and again on a high, dark chair that +stood at the end of the long table empty, a crown with oak leaves +that Rodriguez recognised. It was the same as the one that was cut +on his gold coin, which he had given no further thought to, riding +to Lowlight, and which the face of Serafina had driven from his +mind altogether. "But," he said, and then was silent, thinking to +learn more by watching than by talking. And his companions of the +road came in and all sat down on the benches beside the ample +table, and a brew was brought, a kind of pale mead, that they +called forest water. And all drank; and, sitting at the table, +watching them more closely than he could as he walked in the +forest, Rodriguez saw by the sunlight that streamed in low through +one window that on the copper disks they wore round their necks on +green ribbon the design was again the same. It was much smaller +than his on the gold coin but the same strange leafy crown. "Wear +it as you go through Shadow Valley," he now seemed to remember the +man saying to him who put it round his neck. But why? Clearly +because it was the badge of this band of men. And this other man +was one of them. + +His eyes strayed back to the great design on the wall. "The crown +of the forest," said Miguel as he saw his eyes wondering at it, +"as you doubtless know, senor." + +Why should he know? Of course because he bore the design himself. +"Who wears it?" said Rodriguez. + +"The King of Shadow Valley." + +Morano was without curiosity; he did not question good drink; he +sat at the table with a cup of horn in his hand, as happy as +though he had come to his master's castle, though that had not yet +been won. + +The sun sank under the oaks, filling the hall with a ruddy glow, +turning the boar spears scarlet and reddening the red faces of the +merry men of the bow. + +A dozen of the men went out; to relieve the guard in the forest, +Miguel explained. And Rodriguez learned that he had come through a +line of sentries without ever seeing one. Presently a dozen others +came in from their posts and unslung their bows and laid them on +pegs on the wall and sat down at the table. Whereat there were +whispered words and they all rose and bowed to Rodriguez. And +Rodriguez had caught the words "A prince of the forest." What did +it mean? + +Soon the long hall grew dim, and his love for the light drew +Rodriguez out to watch the sunset. And there was the sun under +indescribable clouds, turning huge and yellow among the trunks of +the trees and casting glory munificently down glades. It set, and +the western sky became blood-red and lilac: from the other end of +the sky the moon peeped out of night. A hush came and a chill, and +a glory of colour, and a dying away of light; and in the hush the +mystery of the great oaks became magical. A blackbird blew a tune +less of this earth than of fairy-land. + +Rodriguez wished that he could have had a less ambition than to +win a castle in the wars, for in those glades and among those oaks +he felt that happiness might be found under roofs of thatch. But +having come by his ambition he would not desert it. + +Now rushlights were lit in the great cottage and the window of the +long room glowed yellow. A fountain fell in the stillness that he +had not heard before. An early nightingale tuned a tentative note. +"The forest is fair, is it not?" said Miguel. + +Rodriguez had no words to say. To turn into words the beauty that +was now shining in his thoughts, reflected from the evening there, +was no easier than for wood to reflect all that is seen in the +mirror. + +"You love the forest," he said at last. + +"Master," said Miguel, "it is the only land in which we should +live our days. There are cities and roads but man is not meant for +them. I know not, master, what God intends about us; but in cities +we are against the intention at every step, while here, why, we +drift along with it." + +"I, too, would live here always," said Rodriguez. + +"The house is yours," said Miguel. And Rodriguez answered: "I go +tomorrow to the wars." + +They turned round then and walked slowly back to the cottage, and +entered the candlelight and the loud talk of many men out of the +hush of the twilight. But they passed from the room at once by a +door on the left, and came thus to a large bedroom, the only other +room in the cottage. + +"Your room, master," said Miguel Threegeese. + +It was not so big as the hall where the bowmen sat, but it was a +goodly room. The bed was made of carved wood, for there were +craftsmen in the forest, and a hunt went all the way round it with +dogs and deer. Four great posts held a canopy over it: they were +four young birch-trees seemingly still wearing their bright bark, +but this had been painted on their bare timber by some woodland +artist. The chairs had not the beauty of the great ages of +furniture, but they had a dignity that the age of commerce has not +dreamed of. Each one was carved out of a single block of wood: +there was no join in them anywhere. One of them lasts to this day. + +The skins of deer covered the long walls. There were great basins +and jugs of earthenware. All was forest-made. The very shadows +whispering among themselves in corners spoke of the forest. The +room was rude; but being without ornament, except for the work of +simple craftsmen, it had nothing there to offend the sense of +right of anyone entering its door, by any jarring conflict with +the purposes and traditions of the land in which it stood. All the +woodland spirits might have entered there, and slept--if spirits +sleep--in the great bed, and left at dawn unoffended. In fact that +age had not yet learned vulgarity. + +When Miguel Threegeese left Morano entered. + +"Master," he said, "they are making a banquet for you." + +"Good," said Rodriguez. "We will eat it." And he waited to hear +what Morano had come to say, for he could see that it was more +than this. + +"Master," said Morano, "I have been talking with the bowman. And +they will give you whatever you ask. They are good people, master, +and they will give you all things, whatever you asked of them." + +Rodriguez would not show to his servant that it all still puzzled +him. + +"They are very amiable men," he said. + +"Master," said Morano, coming to the point, "that Garda, they will +have walked after us. They must be now in Lowlight. They have all +to-night to get new shoes on their horses. And to-morrow, master, +to-morrow, if we be still on foot..." + +Rodriguez was thinking. Morano seemed to him to be talking sense. + +"You would like another ride?" he said to Morano. + +"Master," he answered, "riding is horrible. But the public +garrotter, he is a bad thing too." And he meditatively stroked the +bristles under his chin. + +"They would give us horses?" said Rodriguez. + +"Anything, master, I am sure of it. They are good people." + +"They'll have news of the road by which they left Lowlight," said +Rodriguez reflectively. "They say la Garda dare not enter the +forest," Morano continued, "but thirty miles from here the forest +ends. They could ride round while we go through." + +"They would give us horses?" said Rodriguez again. + +"Surely," said Morano. + +And then Rodriguez asked where they cooked the banquet, since he +saw that there were only two rooms in the great cottage and his +inquiring eye saw no preparations for cooking about the fireplace +of either. And Morano pointed through a window at the back of the +room to another cottage among the trees, fifty paces away. A red +glow streamed from its windows, growing strong in the darkening +forest. + +"That is their kitchen, master," he said. "The whole house is +kitchen." His eyes looked eagerly at it, for, though he loved +bacon, he welcomed the many signs of a dinner of boundless +variety. + +As he and his master returned to the long hall great plates of +polished wood were being laid on the table. They gave Rodriguez a +place on the right of the great chair that had the crown of the +forest carved on the back. + +"Whose chair is that?" said Rodriguez. + +"The King of Shadow Valley," they said. + +"He is not here then," said Rodriguez. + +"Who knows?" said a bowman. + +"It is his chair," said another; "his place is ready. None knows +the ways of the King of Shadow Valley." + +"He comes sometimes at this hour," said a third, "as the boar +comes to Heather Pool at sunset. But not always. None knows his +ways." + +"If they caught the King," said another, "the forest would perish. +None loves it as he, none knows its ways as he, no other could so +defend it." + +"Alas," said Miguel, "some day when he be not here they will enter +the forest." All knew whom he meant by they. "And the goodly trees +will go." He spoke as a man foretelling the end of the world; and, +as men to whom no less was announced, the others listened to him. +They all loved Shadow Valley. + +In this man's time, so they told Rodriguez, none entered the +forest to hurt it, no tree was cut except by his command, and +venturous men claiming rights from others than him seldom laid axe +long to tree before he stood near, stepping noiselessly from among +shadows of trees as though he were one of their spirits coming for +vengeance on man. + +All this they told Rodriguez, but nothing definite they told of +their king, where he was yesterday, where he might be now; and any +questions he asked of such things seemed to offend a law of the +forest. + +And then the dishes were carried in, to Morano's great delight: +with wide blue eyes he watched the produce of that mighty estate +coming in through the doorway cooked. Boars' heads, woodcock, +herons, plates full of fishes, all manner of small eggs, a roe- +deer and some rabbits, were carried in by procession. And the men +set to with their ivory-handled knives, each handle being the +whole tusk of a boar. And with their eating came merriment and +tales of past huntings and talk of the forest and stories of the +King of Shadow Valley. + +And always they spoke of him not only with respect but also with +the discretion, Rodriguez thought, of men that spoke of one who +might be behind them at that moment, and one who tolerated no +trifling with his authority. Then they sang songs again, such as +Rodriguez had heard on the road, and their merry lives passed +clearly before his mind again, for we live in our songs as no men +live in histories. And again Rodriguez lamented his hard ambition +and his long, vague journey, turning away twice from happiness; +once in the village of Lowlight where happiness deserted him, and +here in the goodly forest where he jilted happiness. How well +could he and Morano live as two of this band, he thought; leaving +all cares in cities: for there dwelt cares in cities even then. +Then he put the thought away. And as the evening wore away with +merry talk and with song, Rodriguez turned to Miguel and told him +how it was with la Garda and broached the matter of horses. And +while the others sang Miguel spoke sadly to him. "Master," he +said, "la Garda shall never take you in Shadow Valley, yet if you +must leave us to make your fortune in the wars, though your +fortune waits you here, there be many horses in the forest, and +you and your servant shall have the best." + +"Tomorrow morning, senor?" said Rodriguez. + +"Even so," said Miguel. + +"And how shall I send them to you again?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master, they are yours," said Miguel. + +But this Rodriguez would not have, for as yet he only guessed what +claim at all he had upon Shadow Valley, his speculations being far +more concerned with the identity of the hidalgo that he had fought +the night before, how he concerned Serafina, who had owned the +rose that he carried: in fact his mind was busy with such studies +as were proper to his age. And at last they decided between them +on the house of a lowland smith, who was the furthest man that the +bowmen knew who was secretly true to their king. At his house +Rodriguez and Morano should leave the horses. He dwelt sixty miles +from the northern edge of the forest, and would surely give +Rodriguez fresh horses if he possessed them, for he was a true man +to the bowman. His name was Gonzalez and he dwelt in a queer green +house. + +They turned then to listen a moment to a hunting song that all the +bowmen were singing about the death of a boar. Its sheer merriment +constrained them. Then Miguel spoke again. "You should not leave +the forest," he said sadly. + +Rodriguez sighed: it was decided. Then Miguel told him of his +road, which ran north-eastward and would one day bring him out of +Spain. He told him how towns on the way, and the river Ebro, and +with awe and reverence he spoke of the mighty Pyrenees. And then +Rodriguez rose, for the start was to be at dawn, and walked +quietly through the singing out of the hall to the room where the +great bed was. And soon he slept, and his dreams joined in the +endless hunt through Shadow Valley that was carved all round the +timbers of his bed. + +All too soon he heard voices, voices far off at first, to which he +drew nearer and nearer; thus he woke grudgingly out of the deeps +of sleep. It was Miguel and Morano calling him. + +When at length he reached the hall all the merriment of the +evening was gone from it but the sober beauty of the forest +flooded in through both windows with early sunlight and bird-song; +so that it had not the sad appearance of places in which we have +rejoiced, when we revisit them next day or next generation and +find them all deserted by dance and song. + +Rodriguez ate his breakfast while the bowmen waited with their +bows all strung by the door. When he was ready they all set off in +the early light through the forest. + +Rodriguez did not criticise his ambition; it sailed too high above +his logic for that; but he regretted it, as he went through the +beauty of the forest among these happy men. But we must all have +an ambition, and Rodriguez stuck to the one he had. He had +another, but it was an ambition with weak wings that could not +come to hope. It depended upon the first. If he could win a castle +in the wars he felt that he might even yet hope towards Lowlight. + +Little was said, and Rodriguez was all alone with his thoughts. In +two hours they met a bowman holding two horses. They had gone +eight miles. + +"Farewell to the forest," said Miguel to Rodriguez. There was +almost a query in his voice. Would Rodriguez really leave them? it +seemed to say. + +"Farewell," he answered. + +Morano too had looked sideways towards his master, seeming almost +to wonder what his answer would be: when it came he accepted it +and walked to the horses. Rodriguez mounted: willing hands helped +up Morano. "Farewell," said Miguel once more. And all the bowmen +shouted "Farewell." + +"Make my farewell," said Rodriguez, "to the King of Shadow +Valley." + +A twig cracked in the forest. + +"Hark," said Miguel. "Maybe that was a boar." + +"I cannot wait to hunt," said Rodriguez, "for I have far to go." + +"Maybe," said Miguel, "it was the King's farewell to you." + +Rodriguez looked into the forest and saw nothing. + +"Farewell," he said again. The horses were fresh and he let his +go. Morano lumbered behind him. In two miles they came to the edge +of the forest and up a rocky hill, and so to the plains again, and +one more adventure lay behind them. Rodriguez turned round once on +the high ground and took a long look back on the green undulations +of peace. The forest slept there as though empty of men. + +Then they rode. In the first hour, easily cantering, they did ten +miles. Then they settled down to what those of our age and country +and occupation know as a hound-jog, which is seven miles an hour. +And after two hours they let the horses rest. It was the hour of +the frying-pan. Morano, having dismounted, stretched himself +dolefully; then he brought out all manner of meats. Rodriguez +looked wonderingly at them. + +"For the wars, master," said Morano. To whatever wars they went, +the green bowmen seemed to have supplied an ample commissariat. + +They ate. And Rodriguez thought of the wars, for the thought of +Serafina made him sad, and his rejection of the life of the forest +saddened him too; so he sought to draw from the future the comfort +that he could not get from the past. + +They mounted again and rode again for three hours, till they saw +very far off on a hill a village that Miguel had told them was +fifty miles from the forest. + +"We rest the night there," said Rodriguez pointing, though it was +yet seven or eight miles away. + +"All the Saints be praised," said Morano. + +They dismounted then and went on foot, for the horses were weary. +At evening they rode slowly into the village. At an inn whose +hospitable looks were as cheerfully unlike the Inn of the Dragon +and Knight as possible, they demanded lodging for all four. They +went first to the stable, and when the horses had been handed over +to the care of a groom they returned to the inn, and mine host and +Rodriguez had to help Morano up the three steps to the door, for +he had walked nine miles that day and ridden fifty and he was too +weary to climb the steps. + +And later Rodriguez sat down alone to his supper at a table well +and variously laden, for the doors of mine hosts' larder were +opened wide in his honour; but Rodriguez ate sparingly, as do +weary men. + +And soon he sought his bed. And on the old echoing stairs as he +and mine host ascended they met Morano leaning against the wall. +What shall I say of Morano? Reader, your sympathy is all ready to +go out to the poor, weary man. He does not entirely deserve it, +and shall not cheat you of it. Reader, Morano was drunk. I tell +you this sorry truth rather than that the knave should have +falsely come by your pity. And yet he is dead now over three +hundred years, having had his good time to the full. Does he +deserve your pity on that account? Or your envy? And to whom or +what would you give it? Well, anyhow, he deserved no pity for +being drunk. And yet he was thirsty, and too tired to eat, and +sore in need of refreshment, and had had no more cause to learn to +shun good wine than he had had to shun the smiles of princesses; +and there the good wine had been, sparkling beside him merrily. + +And now, why now, fatigued as he had been an hour or so ago (but +time had lost its tiresome, restless meaning), now he stood firm +while all things and all men staggered. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez as he passed that foolish figure, "we go +sixty miles to-morrow." + +"Sixty, master?" said Morano. "A hundred: two hundred." + +"It is best to rest now," said his master. + +"Two hundred, master, two hundred," Morano replied. + +And then Rodriguez left him, and heard him muttering his challenge +to distance still, "Two hundred, two hundred," till the old +stairway echoed with it. + +And so he came to his chamber, of which he remembered little, for +sleep lurked there and he was soon with dreams, faring further +with them than my pen can follow. + + + + + +THE EIGHTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE TRAVELLED FAR + + +One blackbird on a twig near Rodriguez' window sang, then there +were fifty singing, and morning arose over Spain all golden and +wonderful. + +Rodriguez descended and found mine host rubbing his hands by his +good table, with a look on his face that seemed to welcome the day +and to find good auguries concerning it. But Morano looked as one +that, having fallen from some far better place, is ill-content +with earth and the mundane way. + +He had scorned breakfast; but Rodriguez breakfasted. And soon the +two were bidding mine host farewell. They found their horses +saddled, they mounted at once, and rode off slowly in the early +day. The horses were tired and, slowly trotting and walking, and +sometimes dismounting and dragging the horses on, it was nearly +two hours before they had done ten miles and come to the house of +the smith in a rocky village: the street was cobbled and the +houses were all of stone. + +The early sparkle had gone from the dew, but it was still morning, +and many a man but now sat down to his breakfast, as they arrived +and beat on the door. + +Gonzalez the smith opened it, a round and ruddy man past fifty, a +citizen following a reputable trade, but once, ah once, a bowman. + +"Senor," said Rodriguez, "our horses are weary. We have been told +you will change them for us." + +"Who told you that?" said Gonzalez. + +"The green bowmen in Shadow Valley," the young man answered. + +As a meteor at night lights up with its greenish glare flowers and +blades of grass, twisting long shadows behind them, lights up +lawns and bushes and the deep places of woods, scattering quiet +night for a moment, so the unexpected answer of Rodriguez lit +memories in the mind of the smith all down the long years; and a +twinkle and a sparkle of those memories dancing in woods long +forsaken flashed from his eyes. + +"The green bowmen, senor," said Gonzalez. "Ah, Shadow Valley!" + +"We left it yesterday," said Rodriguez. + +When Gonzalez heard this he poured forth questions. "The forest, +senor; how is it now with the forest? Do the boars still drink at +Heather Pool? Do the geese go still to Greatmarsh? They should +have come early this year. How is it with Larios, Raphael, Migada? +Who shoots woodcock now?" + +The questions flowed on past answering, past remembering: he had +not spoken of the forest for years. And Rodriguez answered as such +questions are always answered, saying that all was well, and +giving Gonzalez some little detail of some trifling affair of the +forest, which he treasured as small shells are treasured in inland +places when travellers bring them from the sea; but all that he +heard of the forest seemed to the smith like something gathered on +a far shore of time. Yes, he had been a bowman once. + +But he had no horses. One horse that drew a cart, but no horses +for riding at all. And Rodriguez thought of the immense miles +lying between him and the foreign land, keeping him back from his +ambition; they all pressed on his mind at once. The smith was +sorry, but he could not make horses. + +"Show him your coin, master," said Morano. + +"Ah, a small token," said Rodriguez, drawing it forth still on its +green ribbon under his clothing. "The bowman's badge, is it not?" + +Gonzalez looked at it, then looked at Rodriguez. + +"Master," he said, "you shall have your horses. Give me time: you +shall have them. Enter, master." And he bowed and widely opened +the door. "If you will breakfast in my house while I go to the +neighbours you shall have some horses, master." + +So they entered the house, and the smith with many bows gave the +travellers over to the care of his wife, who saw from her +husband's manner that these were persons of importance and as such +she treated them both, and as such entertained them to their +second breakfast. And this meant they ate heartily, as travellers +can, who can go without a breakfast or eat two; and those who +dwell in cities can do neither. + +And while the plump dame did them honour they spoke no word of the +forest, for they knew not what place her husband's early years had +in her imagination. + +They had barely finished their meal when the sound of hooves on +cobbles was heard and Gonzalez beat on the door. They all went to +the door and found him there with two horses. The horses were +saddled and bridled. They fixed the stirrups to please them, then +the travellers mounted at once. Rodriguez made his grateful +farewell to the wife of the smith: then, turning to Gonzalez, he +pointed to the two tired horses which had waited all the while +with their reins thrown over a hook on the wall. + +"Let the owner of these have them till his own come back," he +said, and added: "How far may I take these?" + +"They are good horses," said the smith. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez. + +"They could do fifty miles to-day," Gonzalez continued, "and to- +morrow, why, forty, or a little more." + +"And where will that bring me?" said Rodriguez, pointing to the +straight road which was going his way, north-eastward. + +"That," said Gonzalez, "that should bring you some ten or twenty +miles short of Saspe." + +"And where shall I leave the horses?" Rodriguez asked. + +"Master," Gonzalez said, "in any village where there be a smith, +if you say 'these are the horses of the smith Gonzalez, who will +come for them one day from here,' they will take them in for you, +master." + +"But," and Gonzalez walked a little away from his wife, and the +horses walked and he went beside them, "north of here none knows +the bowmen. You will get no fresh horses, master. What will you +do?" + +"Walk," said Rodriguez. + +Then they said farewell, and there was a look on the face of the +smith almost such as the sons of men might have worn in Genesis +when angels visited them briefly. + +They settled down into a steady trot and trotted thus for three +hours. Noon came, and still there was no rest for Morano, but only +dust and the monotonous sight of the road, on which his eyes were +fixed: nearly an hour more passed, and at last he saw his master +halt and turn round in his saddle. + +"Dinner," Rodriguez said. + +All Morano's weariness vanished: it was the hour of the frying-pan +once more. + +They had done more than twenty-one miles from the house of +Gonzalez. Nimbly enough, in his joy at feeling the ground again, +Morano ran and gathered sticks from the bushes. And soon he had a +fire, and a thin column of grey smoke going up from it that to him +was always home. + +When the frying-pan warmed and lard sizzled, when the smell of +bacon mingled with the smoke, then Morano was where all wise men +and all unwise try to be, and where some of one or the other some +times come for awhile, by unthought paths and are gone again; for +that smoky, mixed odour was happiness. + +Not for long men and horses rested, for soon Rodriguez' ambition +was drawing him down the road again, of which he knew that there +remained to be travelled over two hundred miles in Spain, and how +much beyond that he knew not, nor greatly cared, for beyond the +frontier of Spain he believed there lay the dim, desired country +of romance where roads were long no more and no rain fell. They +mounted again and pushed on for this country. Not a village they +saw but that Morano hoped that here his affliction would end and +that he would dismount and rest; and always Rodriguez rode on and +Morano followed, and with a barking of dogs they were gone and the +village rested behind them. For many an hour their slow trot +carried them on; and Morano, clutching the saddle with worn arms, +already was close to despair, when Rodriguez halted in a little +village at evening before an inn. They had done their fifty miles +from the house of Gonzalez, and even a little more. + +Morano rolled from his horse and beat on the small green door. +Mine host came out and eyed them, preening the point of his beard; +and Rodriguez sat his horse and looked at him. They had not the +welcome here that Gonzalez gave them; but there was a room to +spare for Rodriguez, and Morano was promised what he asked for, +straw; and there was shelter to be had for the horses. It was all +the travellers needed. + +Children peered at the strangers, gossips peeped out of doors to +gather material concerning them, dogs noted their coming, the eyes +of the little village watched them curiously, but Rodriguez and +Morano passed into the house unheeding; and past those two tired +men the mellow evening glided by like a dream. Tired though +Rodriguez was he noticed a certain politeness in mine host while +he waited at supper, which had not been noticeable when he had +first received him, and rightly put this down to some talk of +Morano's; but he did not guess that Morano had opened wide blue +eyes and, babbling to his host, had guilelessly told him that his +master a week ago had killed an uncivil inn-keeper. + +Scarcely were late birds home before Rodriguez sought his bed, and +not all of them were sleeping before he slept. + +Another morning shone, and appeared to Spain, and all at once +Rodriguez was wide awake. It was the eighth day of his wanderings. + +When he had breakfasted and paid his due in silver he and Morano +departed, leaving mine host upon his doorstep bowing with an +almost perplexed look on his shrewd face as he took the points of +moustachios and beard lightly in turn between finger and thumb: +for we of our day enter vague details about ourselves in the book +downstairs when we stay at inns, but it was mine host's custom to +gather all that with his sharp eyes. Whatever he gathered, +Rodriguez and Morano were gone. + +But soon their pace dwindled, the trot slackening and falling to a +walk; soon Rodriguez learned what it is to travel with tired +horses. To Morano riding was merely riding, and the discomforts of +that were so great that he noticed no difference. But to +Rodriguez, his continual hitting and kicking his horse's sides, +his dislike of doing it, the uselessness of it when done, his +ambition before and the tired beast underneath, the body always +some yards behind the beckoning spirit, were as great vexation as +a traveller knows. It came to dismounting and walking miles on +foot; even then the horses hung back. They halted an hour over +dinner while the horses grazed and rested, and they returned to +their road refreshed by the magic that was in the frying-pan, but +the horses were no fresher. + +When our bodies are slothful and lie heavy, never responding to +the spirit's bright promptings, then we know dullness: and the +burden of it is the graver for hearing our spirits call faintly, +as the chains of a buccaneer in some deep prison, who hears a +snatch of his comrades' singing as they ride free by the coast, +would grow more unbearable than ever before. But the weight of his +tired horse seemed to hang heavier on the fanciful hopes that +Rodriguez' dreams had made. Farther than ever seemed the Pyrenees, +huger than ever their barrier, dimmer and dimmer grew the lands of +romance. + +If the hopes of Rodriguez were low, if his fancies were faint, +what material have I left with which to make a story with glitter +enough to hold my readers' eyes to the page: for know that mere +dreams and idle fancies, and all amorous, lyrical, unsubstantial +things, are all that we writers have of which to make a tale, as +they are all that the Dim Ones have to make the story of man. + +Sometimes riding, sometimes going on foot, with the thought of the +long, long miles always crowding upon Rodriguez, overwhelming his +hopes; till even the castle he was to win in the wars grew too +pale for his fancy to see, tired and without illusions, they came +at last by starlight to the glow of a smith's forge. He must have +done forty-five miles and he knew they were near Caspe. + +The smith was working late, and looked up when Rodriguez halted. +Yes, he knew Gonzalez, a master in the trade: there was a welcome +for his horses. + +But for the two human travellers there were excuses, even +apologies, but no spare beds. It was the same in the next three or +four houses that stood together by the road. And the fever of +Rodriguez' ambition drove him on, though Morano would have lain +down and slept where they stood, though he himself was weary. The +smith had received his horses; after that he cared not whether +they gave him shelter or not, the alternative being the road, and +that bringing nearer his wars and the castle he was to win. And +that fancy that led his master Morano allowed always to lead him +too, though a few more miles and he would have fallen asleep as he +walked and dropped by the roadside and slept on. Luckily they had +gone barely two miles from the forge where the horses rested, when +they saw a high, dark house by the road and knocked on the door +and found shelter. It was an old woman who let them in, a farmer's +wife, and she had room for them and one mattress, but no bed. They +were too tired to eat and did not ask for food, but at once +followed her up the booming stairs of her house, which were all +dark but for her candle, and so came among huge minuetting shadows +to the long loft at the top. There was a mattress there which the +old woman laid out for Rodriguez, and a heap of hay for Morano. +Just for a moment, as Rodriguez climbed the last step of the stair +and entered the loft where the huge shadows twirled between the +one candle's light and the unbeaten darkness in corners, just for +a moment romance seemed to beckon to him; for a moment, in spite +of his fatigue and dejection, in spite of the possibility of his +quest being crazy, for a moment he felt that great shadows and +echoing boards, the very cobwebs even that hung from the black +rafters, were all romantic things; he felt that his was a glorious +adventure and that all these things that filled the loft in the +night were such as should fitly attend on youth and glory. In a +moment that feeling was gone he knew not why it had come. And +though he remembered it till grey old age, when he came to know +the causes of many things, he never knew what romance might have +to do with shadows or echoes at night in an empty room, and only +knew of such fancies that they came from beyond his understanding, +whether from wisdom or folly. + +Morano was first asleep, as enormous snores testified, almost +before the echoes had died away of the footsteps of the old woman +descending the stairs; but soon Rodriguez followed him into the +region of dreams, where fantastic ambitions can live with less of +a struggle than in the broad light of day: he dreamed he walked at +night down a street of castles strangely colossal in an awful +starlight, with doors too vast for any human need, whose +battlements were far in the heights of night; and chose, it being +in time of war, the one that should be his; but the gargoyles on +it were angry and spoiled the dream. + +Dream followed dream with furious rapidity, as the dreams of tired +men do, racing each other, jostling and mingling and dancing, an +ill-assorted company: myriads went by, a wild, grey, cloudy +multitude; and with the last walked dawn. + +Rodriguez rose more relieved to quit so tumultuous a rest than +refreshed by having had it. + +He descended, leaving Morano to sleep on, and not till the old +dame had made a breakfast ready did he return to interrupt his +snores. + +Even as he awoke upon his heap of hay Morano remained as true to +his master's fantastic quest as the camel is true to the +pilgrimage to Mecca. He awoke grumbling, as the camel grumbles at +dawn when the packs are put on him where he lies, but never did he +doubt that they went to victorious wars where his master would win +a castle splendid with towers. + +Breakfast cheered both the travellers. And then the old lady told +Rodriguez that Caspe was but a three hours' walk, and that cheered +them even more, for Caspe is on the Ebro, which seemed to mark for +Rodriguez a stage in his journey, being carried easily in his +imagination, like the Pyrenees. What road he would take when he +reached Caspe he had not planned. And soon Rodriguez expressed his +gratitude, full of fervour, with many a flowery phrase which lived +long in the old dame's mind; and the visit of those two travellers +became one of the strange events of that house and was chief of +the memories that faintly haunted the rafters of the loft for +years. + +They did not reach Caspe in three hours, but went lazily, being +weary; for however long a man defies fatigue the hour comes when +it claims him. The knowledge that Caspe lay near with sure lodging +for the night, soothed Rodriguez' impatience. And as they loitered +they talked, and they decided that la Garda must now be too far +behind to pursue any longer. They came in four hours to the bank +of the Ebro and there saw Caspe near them; but they dined once +more on the grass, sitting beside the river, rather than enter the +town at once, for there had grown in both travellers a liking for +the wanderers' green table of earth. + +It was a time to make plans. The country of romance was far away +and they were without horses. + +"Will you buy horses, master?" said Morano. + +"We might not get them over the Pyrenees," said Rodriguez, though +he had a better reason, which was that three gold pieces did not +buy two saddled horses. There were no more friends to hire from. +Morano grew thoughtful. He sat with his feet dangling over the +bank of the Ebro. + +"Master," he said after a while, "this river goes our way. Let us +come by boat, master, and drift down to France at our ease." + +To get a river over a range of mountains is harder than to get +horses. Some such difficulty Rodriguez implied to him; but Morano, +having come slowly by an idea, parted not so easily with it. + +"It goes our way, master," he repeated, and pointed a finger at +the Ebro. + +At this moment a certain song that boatmen sing on that river, +when the current is with them and they have nothing to do but be +idle and their lazy thoughts run to lascivious things, came to the +ears of Rodriguez and Morano; and a man with a bright blue sash +steered down the Ebro. He had been fishing and was returning home. + +"Master," Morano said, "that knave shall row us there." + +Rodriguez seeing that the idea was fixed in Morano's mind +determined that events would move it sooner than argument, and so +made no reply. + +"Shall I tell him, master?" asked Morano. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez, "if he can row us over the Pyrenees." + +This was the permission that Morano sought, and a hideous yell +broke from his throat hailing the boatman. The boatman looked up +lazily, a young man with strong brown arms, turning black +moustaches towards Morano. Again Morano hailed him and ran along +the bank, while the boat drifted down and the boatman steered in +towards Morano. Somehow Morano persuaded him to come in to see +what he wanted; and in a creek he ran his boat aground, and there +he and Morano argued and bargained. But Rodriguez remained where +he was, wondering why it took so long to turn his servant's mind +from that curious fancy. At last Morano returned. + +"Well?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "he will row us to the Pyrenees." + +"The Pyrenees!" said Rodriguez. "The Ebro runs into the sea." For +they had taught him this at the college of San Josephus. + +"He will row us there," said Morano, "for a gold piece a day, +rowing five hours each day." + +Now between them they had but four gold pieces; but that did not +make the Ebro run northward. It seemed that the Ebro, after going +their way, as Morano had said, for twenty or thirty miles, was +joined by the river Segre, and that where the Ebro left them, +turning eastwards, the course of the Segre took them on their way: +but it would be rowing against the current. + +"How far is it?" said Rodriguez. + +"A hundred miles, he says," answered Morano. "He knows it well." + +Rodriguez calculated swiftly. First he added thirty miles; for he +knew that his countrymen took a cheerful view of distance, seldom +allowing any distance to oppress them under its true name at the +out set of a journey; then he guessed that the boatman might row +five miles an hour for the first thirty miles with the stream of +the Ebro, and he hoped that he might row three against the Segre +until they came near the mountains, where the current might grow +too strong. + +"Morano," he said, "we shall have to row too." + +"Row, master?" said Morano. + +"We can pay him for four days," said Rodriguez. "If we all row we +may go far on our way." + +"It is better than riding," replied Morano with entire +resignation. + +And so they walked to the creek and Rodriguez greeted the boatman, +whose name was Perez; and they entered the boat and he rowed them +down to Caspe. And, in the house of Perez, Rodriguez slept that +night in a large dim room, untidy with diverse wares: they slept +on heaps of things that pertained to the river and fishing. Yet it +was late before Rodriguez slept, for in sight of his mind came +glimpses at last of the end of his journey; and, when he slept at +last, he saw the Pyrenees. Through the long night their mighty +heads rejected him, staring immeasurably beyond him in silence, +and then in happier dreams they beckoned him for a moment. Till at +last a bird that had entered the city of Caspe sang clear and it +was dawn. With that first light Rodriguez arose and awoke Morano. +Together they left that long haven of lumber and found Perez +already stirring. They ate hastily and all went down to the boat, +the unknown that waits at the end of all strange journeys +quickening their steps as they went through the early light. + +Perez rowed first and the others took their turns and so they went +all the morning down the broad flood of the Ebro, and came in the +afternoon to its meeting place with the Segre. And there they +landed and stretched their limbs on shore and lit a fire and +feasted, before they faced the current that would be henceforth +against them. Then they rowed on. + +When they landed by starlight and unrolled a sheet of canvas that +Perez had put in the boat, and found what a bad time starlight is +for pitching a tent, Rodriguez and Morano had rowed for four hours +each and Perez had rowed for five. They carried no timber in the +boat but used the oars for tent-poles and cut tent-pegs with a +small hatchet that Perez had brought. + +They stumbled on rocks, tore the canvas on bushes, lost the same +thing over and over again; in fact they were learning the craft of +wandering. Yet at last their tent was up and a good fire +comforting them outside, and Morano had cooked the food and they +had supped and talked, and after that they slept. And over them +sleeping the starlight faded away, and in the greyness that none +of them dreamed was dawn five clear notes were heard so shrill in +the night that Rodriguez half waking wondered what bird of the +darkness called, and learned from the answering chorus that it was +day. + +He woke Morano who rose in that chilly hour and, striking sparks +among last night's embers, soon had a fire: they hastily made a +meal and wrapped up their tent and soon they were going onward +against the tide of the Segre. And that day Morano rowed more +skilfully; and Rodriguez unwrapped his mandolin and played, +reclining in the boat while he rested from rowing. And the +mandolin told them all, what the words of none could say, that +they fared to adventure in the land of Romance, to the overthrow +of dullness and the sameness of all drear schemes and the conquest +of discontent in the spirit of man; and perhaps it sang of a time +that has not yet come, or the mandolin lied. + +That evening three wiser men made their camp before starlight. +They were now far up the Segre. + +For thirteen hours next day they toiled at the oars or lay +languid. And while Rodriguez rested he played on his mandolin. The +Segre slipped by them. + +They seemed like no men on their way to war, but seemed to loiter +as the bright river loitered, which slid seaward in careless ease +and was wholly freed from time. + +On this day they heard men speak of the Pyrenees, two men and a +woman walking by the river; their voices came to the boat across +the water, and they spoke of the Pyrenees. And on the next day +they heard men speak of war. War that some farmers had fled from +on the other side of the mountain. When Rodriguez heard these +chance words his dreams came nearer till they almost touched the +edges of reality. + +It was the last day of Perez' rowing. He rowed well although they +neared the cradle of the Segre and he struggled against them in +his youth. Grey peaks began to peer that had nursed that river. +Grey faces of stone began to look over green hills. They were the +Pyrenees. + +When Rodriguez saw at last the Pyrenees he drew a breath and was +unable to speak. Soon they were gone again below the hills: they +had but peered for a moment to see who troubled the Segre. + +And the sun set and still they did not camp, but Perez rowed on +into the starlight. That day he rowed six hours. + +They pitched their tent as well as they could in the darkness; +and, breathing a clear new air all crisp from the Pyrenees, they +slept outside the threshold of adventure. + +Rodriguez awoke cold. Once more he heard the first blackbird who +sings clear at the edge of night all alone in the greyness, the +nightingale's only rival; a rival like some unknown in the midst +of a crowd who for a moment leads some well-loved song, in notes +more liquid than a master-singer's; and all the crowd joins in and +his voice is lost, and no one learns his name. At once a host of +birds answered him out of dim bushes, whose shapes had barely as +yet emerged from night. And in this chorus Perez awoke, and even +Morano. + +They all three breakfasted together, and then the wanderers said +good-bye to Perez. And soon he was gone with his bright blue sash, +drifting homewards with the Segre, well paid yet singing a little +sadly as he drifted; for he had been one of a quest, and now he +left it at the edge of adventure, near solemn mountains and, +beyond them, romantic, near-unknown lands. So Perez left and +Rodriguez and Morano turned again to the road, all the more +lightly because they had not done a full day's march for so long, +and now a great one unrolled its leagues before them. + +The heads of the mountains showed themselves again. They tramped +as in the early days of their quest. And as they went the +mountains, unveiling themselves slowly, dropping film after film +of distance that hid their mighty forms, gradually revealed to +the wanderers the magnificence of their beauty. Till at evening +Rodriguez and Morano stood on a low hill, looking at that +tremendous range, which lifted far above the fields of Earth, as +though its mountains were no earthly things but sat with Fate and +watched us and did not care. + +Rodriguez and Morano stood and gazed in silence. They had come +twenty miles since morning, they were tired and hungry, but the +mountains held them: they stood there looking neither for rest nor +food. Beyond them, sheltering under the low hills, they saw a +little village. Smoke straggled up from it high into the evening: +beyond the village woods sloped away upwards. But far above smoke +or woods the bare peaks brooded. Rodriguez gazed on their austere +solemnity, wondering what secret they guarded there for so long, +guessing what message they held and hid from man; until he learned +that the mystery they guarded among them was of things that he +knew not and could never know. + +Tinkle-ting said the bells of a church, invisible among the houses +of that far village. Tinkle-ting said the crescent of hills that +sheltered it. And after a while, speaking out of their grim and +enormous silences with all the gravity of their hundred ages, +Tinkle-ting said the mountains. With this trivial message Echo +returned from among the homes of the mighty, where she had run +with the small bell's tiny cry to trouble their crowned aloofness. + +Rodriguez and Morano pressed on, and the mountains cloaked +themselves as they went, in air of many colours; till the stars +came out and the lights of the village gleamed. In darkness, with +surprise in the tones of the barking dogs, the two wanderers came +to the village where so few ever came, for it lay at the end of +Spain, cut off by those mighty rocks, and they knew not much of +what lands lay beyond. + +They beat on a door below a hanging board, on which was written +"The Inn of the World's End": a wandering scholar had written it +and had been well paid for his work, for in those days writing was +rare. The door was opened for them by the host of the inn, and +they entered a room in which men who had supped were sitting at a +table. They were all of them men from the Spanish side of the +mountains, farmers come into the village on the affairs of Mother +Earth; next day they would be back at their farms again; and of +the land the other side of the mountains that was so near now they +knew nothing, so that it still remained for the wanderers a thing +of mystery wherein romance could dwell: and because they knew +nothing of that land the men at the inn treasured all the more the +rumours that sometimes came from it, and of these they talked, and +mine host listened eagerly, to whom all tales were brought soon or +late; and most he loved to hear tales from beyond the mountains. + +Rodriguez and Morano sat still and listened, and the talk was all +of war. It was faint and vague like fable, but rumour clearly said +War, and the other side of the mountains. It may be that no man +has a crazy ambition without at moments suspecting it; but prove +it by the touchstone of fact and he becomes at once as a woman +whose invalid son, after years of seclusion indoors, wins +unexpectedly some athletic prize. When Rodriguez heard all this +talk of wars quite near he thought of his castle as already won; +his thoughts went further even, floating through Lowlight in the +glowing evening, and drifting up and down past Serafina's house +below the balcony where she sat for ever. + +Some said the Duke would never attack the Prince because the +Duke's aunt was a princess from the Troubadour's country. Another +said that there would surely be war. Others said that there was +war already, and too late for man to stop it. All said it would +soon be over. + +And one man said that it was the last war that would come, because +gunpowder made fighting impossible. It could smite a man down, he +said, at two hundred paces, and a man be slain not knowing whom he +fought. Some loved fighting and some loved peace, he said, but +gunpowder suited none. + +"I like not the sound of that gunpowder, master," said Morano to +Rodriguez. + +"Nobody likes it," said the man at the table. "It is the end of +war." And some sighed and some were glad. But Rodriguez determined +to push on before the last war was over. + +Next morning Rodriguez paid the last of his silver pieces and set +off with Morano before any but mine host were astir. There was +nothing but the mountains in front of them. + +They climbed all the morning and they came to the fir woods. There +they lit a good fire and Morano brought out his frying-pan. Over +the meal they took stock of their provisions and found that, for +all the store Morano had brought from the forest, they had now +only food for three days; and they were quite without money. Money +in those uplifted wastes seemed trivial, but the dwindling food +told Rodriguez that he must press on; for man came among those +rocky monsters supplied with all his needs, or perished unnoticed +before their stony faces. All the afternoon they passed through +the fir woods, and as shadows began to grow long they passed the +last tree. The village and all the fields about it and the road by +which they had come were all spread out below them like little +trivial things dimly remembered from very long ago by one whose +memory weakens. Distance had dwarfed them, and the cold regard of +those mighty peaks ignored them. And then a shadow fell on the +village, then tiny lights shone out. It was night down there. +Still the two wanderers climbed on in the daylight. With their +faces to the rocks they scarce saw night climb up behind them. But +when Rodriguez looked up at the sky to see how much light was +left, and met the calm gaze of the evening star, he saw that Night +and the peaks were met together, and understood all at once how +puny an intruder is man. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "we must rest here for the night." + +Morano looked round him with an air of discontent, not with his +master's words but with the rocks' angular hardness. There was +scarce a plant of any kind near them now. They were near the snow, +which had flushed like a wild rose at sunset but was now all grey. +Grey cliffs seemed to be gazing sheer at eternity; and here was +man, the creature of a moment, who had strayed in the cold all +homeless among his betters. There was no welcome for them there: +whatever feeling great mountains evoke, THAT feeling was clear in +Rodriguez and Morano. They were all amongst those that have other +aims, other ends, and know naught of man. A bitter chill from the +snow and from starry space drove this thought home. + +They walked on looking for a better place, as men will, but found +none. And at last they lay down on the cold earth under a rock +that seemed to give shelter from the wind, and there sought sleep; +but cold came instead, and sleep kept far from the tremendous +presences of the peaks of the Pyrenees that gazed on things far +from here. + +An ageing moon arose, and Rodriguez touched Morano and rose up; +and the two went slowly on, tired though they were. Picture the +two tiny figures, bent, shivering and weary, walking with clumsy +sticks cut in the wood, amongst the scorn of those tremendous +peaks, which the moon showed all too clearly. + +They got little warmth from walking, they were too weary to run; +and after a while they halted and burned their sticks, and got a +little warmth for some moments from their fire, which burned +feebly and strangely in those inhuman solitudes. + +Then they went on again and their track grew steeper. They rested +again for fatigue, and rose and climbed again because of the cold; +and all the while the peaks stared over them to spaces far beyond +the thought of man. + +Long before Spain knew anything of dawn a monster high in heaven +smiled at the sun, a peak out-towering all its aged children. It +greeted the sun as though this lonely thing, that scorned the race +of man since ever it came, had met a mighty equal out in Space. +The vast peak glowed, and the rest of its grey race took up the +greeting leisurely one by one. Still it was night in all Spanish +houses. + +Rodriguez and Morano were warmed by that cold peak's glow, though +no warmth came from it at all; but the sight of it cheered them +and their pulses rallied, and so they grew warmer in that bitter +hour. + +And then dawn came, and showed them that they were near the top of +the pass. They had come to the snow that gleams there +everlastingly. + +There was no material for a fire but they ate cold meats, and went +wearily on. They passed through that awful assemblage of peaks. By +noon they were walking upon level ground. + +In the afternoon Rodriguez, tired with the journey and with the +heat of the sun, decided that it was possible to sleep, and, +wrapping his cloak around him, he lay down, doing what Morano +would have done, by instinct. Morano was asleep at once and +Rodriguez soon after. They awoke with the cold at sunset. + +Refreshed amazingly they ate some food and started their walk +again to keep themselves warm for the night. They were still on +level ground and set out with a good stride in their relief at +being done with climbing. Later they slowed down and wandered just +to keep warm. And some time in the starlight they felt their path +dip, and knew that they were going downward now to the land of +Rodriguez' dreams. + +When the peaks glowed again, first meeting day in her earliest +dancing-grounds of filmy air, they stood now behind the wanderers. +Below them still in darkness lay the land of their dream, but +hitherto it had always faded at dawn. Now hills put up their heads +one by one through films of mist; woods showed, then hedges, and +afterwards fields, greyly at first and then, in the cold hard +light of morning, becoming more and more real. The sight of the +land so long sought, at moments believed by Morano not to exist on +earth, perhaps to have faded away when fables died, swept their +fatigue from the wanderers, and they stepped out helped by the +slope of the Pyrenees and cheered by the rising sun. They came at +last to things that welcome man, little shrubs flowering, and--at +noon--to the edge of a fir wood. They entered the wood and lit a +merry fire, and heard birds singing, at which they both rejoiced, +for the great peaks had said nothing. + +They ate the food that Morano cooked, and drew warmth and cheer +from the fire, and then they slept a little: and, rising from +sleep, they pushed on through the wood, downward and downward +toward the land of their dreams, to see if it was true. + +They passed the wood and came to curious paths, and little hills, +and heath, and rocky places, and wandering vales that twisted all +awry. They passed through them all with the slope of the mountain +behind them. When level rays from the sunset mellowed the fields +of France the wanderers were walking still, but the peaks were far +behind them, austerely gazing on the remotest things, forgetting +the footsteps of man. And walking on past soft fields in the +evening, all tilted a little about the mountain's feet, they had +scarcely welcomed the sight of the evening star, when they saw +before them the mild glow of a window and knew they were come +again to the earth that is mother to man. In their cold savagery +the inhuman mountains decked themselves out like gods with colours +they took from the sunset; then darkened, all those peaks, in +brooding conclave and disappeared in the night. And the hushed +night heard the tiny rap of Morano's hands on the door of the +house that had the glowing window. + + + + + +THE NINTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE WON A CASTLE IN SPAIN + + +The woman that came to the door had on her face a look that +pleased Morano. + +"Are you soldiers?" she said. And her scared look portended war. + +"My master is a traveller looking for the wars," said Morano. "Are +the wars near?" + +"Oh, no, not near," said the woman; "not near." + +And something in the anxious way she said "not near" pleased +Morano also. + +"We shall find those wars, master," he said. + +And then they both questioned her. It seemed the wars were but +twenty miles away. "But they will move northward," she said. +"Surely they will move farther off?" + +Before the next night was passed Rodriguez' dream might come true! + +And then the man came to the door anxious at hearing strange +voices; and Morano questioned him too, but he understood never a +word. He was a French farmer that had married a Spanish girl, out +of the wonderful land beyond the mountains: but whether he +understood her or not he never understood Spanish. But both +Rodriguez and the farmer's wife knew the two languages, and he had +no difficulty in asking for lodging for the night; and she looked +wistfully at him going to the wars, for in those days wars were +small and not every man went. The night went by with dreams that +were all on the verge of waking, which passed like ghosts along +the edge of night almost touched by the light of day. It was +Rodriguez whom these dreams visited. The farmer and his wife +wondered awhile and then slept; Morano slept with all his wonted +lethargy; but Rodriguez with his long quest now on the eve of +fulfilment slept a tumultuous sleep. Sometimes his dreams raced +over the Pyrenees, running south as far as Lowlight; and sometimes +they rushed forward and clung like bats to the towers of the great +castle that he should win in the war. And always he lay so near +the edge of sleep that he never distinguished quite between +thought and dream. + +Dawn came and he put by all the dreams but the one that guided him +always, and went and woke Morano. They ate hurriedly and left the +house, and again the farmer's wife looked curiously at Rodriguez, +as though there were something strange in a man that went to wars: +for those days were not as these days. They followed the direction +that had been given them, and never had the two men walked so +fast. By the end of four hours they had done sixteen miles. They +halted then, and Morano drew out his frying-pan with a haughty +flourish, and cooked in the grand manner, every movement he made +was a triumphant gesture; for they had passed refugees! War was +now obviously close: they had but to take the way that the +refugees were not taking. The dream was true: Morano saw himself +walking slowly in splendid dress along the tapestried corridors of +his master's castle. He would have slept after eating and would +have dreamed more of this, but Rodriguez commanded him to put the +things together: so what remained of the food disappeared again in +a sack, the frying-pan was slung over his shoulders, and Morano +stood ready again for the road. + +They passed more refugees: their haste was unmistakable, and told +more than their lips could have told had they tarried to speak: +the wars were near now, and the wanderers went leisurely. + +As they strolled through the twilight they came over the brow of a +hill, a little fold of the earth disturbed eras ago by the awful +rushing up of the Pyrenees; and they saw the evening darkening +over the fields below them and a white mist rising only just clear +of the grass, and two level rows of tents greyish-white like the +mist, with a few more tents scattered near them. The tents had +come up that evening with the mist, for there were men still +hammering pegs. They were lighting fires now as evening settled +in. Two hundred paces or so separated each row. It was two armies +facing each other. + +The gloaming faded: mist and the tents grew greyer: camp-fires +blinked out of the dimness and grew redder and redder, and candles +began to be lit beside the tents till all were glowing pale +golden: Rodriguez and Morano stood there wondering awhile as they +looked on the beautiful aura that surrounds the horrors of war. + +They came by starlight to that tented field, by twinkling +starlight to the place of Rodriguez' dream. + +"For which side will you fight, master?" said Morano in his ear. + +"For the right," said Rodriguez and strode on towards the nearest +tents, never doubting that he would be guided, though not trying +to comprehend how this could be. + +They met with an officer going among his tents. "Where do you go?" +he shouted. + +"Senor," Rodriguez said, "I come with my mandolin to sing songs to +you." + +And at this the officer called out and others came from their +tents; and Rodriguez repeated his offer to them not without +confidence, for he knew that he had a way with the mandolin. And +they said that they fought a battle on the morrow and could not +listen to song: they heaped scorn on singing for they said they +must needs prepare for the fight: and all of them looked with +scorn on the mandolin. So Rodriguez bowed low to them with doffed +hat and left them; and Morano bowed also, seeing his master bow; +and the men of that camp returned to their preparations. A short +walk brought Rodriguez and his servant to the other camp, over a +flat field convenient for battle. He went up to a large tent well +lit, the door being open towards him; and, having explained his +errand to a sentry that stood outside, he entered and saw three +persons of quality that were sitting at a table. To them he bowed +low in the tent door, saying: "Senors, I am come to sing songs to +you, playing the while upon my mandolin." + +And they welcomed him gladly, saying: "We fight tomorrow and will +gladly cheer our hearts with the sound of song and strengthen our +men thereby." + +And so Rodriguez sang among the tents, standing by a great fire to +which they led him; and men came from the tents and into the +circle of light, and in the darkness outside it were more than +Rodriguez saw. And he sang to the circle of men and the vague +glimmer of faces. Songs of their homes he sang them, not in their +language, but songs that were made by old poets about the homes of +their infancy, in valleys under far mountains remote from the +Pyrenees. And in the song the yearnings of dead poets lived again, +all streaming homeward like swallows when the last of the storms +is gone: and those yearnings echoed in the hearts that beat in the +night around the campfire, and they saw their own homes. And then +he began to touch his mandolin; and he played them the tunes that +draw men from their homes and that march them away to war. The +tunes flowed up from the firelight: the mandolin knew. And the men +heard the mandolin saying what they would say. + +In the late night he ended, and a hush came down on the camp while +the music floated away, going up from the dark ring of men and the +fire-lit faces, touching perhaps the knees of the Pyrenees and +drifting thence wherever echoes go. And the sparks of the camp- +fire went straight upwards as they had done for hours, and the men +that sat around it saw them go: for long they had not seen the +sparks stream upwards, for their thoughts were far away with the +mandolin. And all at once they cheered. And Rodriguez bowed to the +one whose tent he had entered, and sought permission to fight for +them in the morning. + +With good grace this was accorded him, and while he bowed and well +expressed his thanks he felt Morano touching his elbow. And as +soon as he had gone aside with Morano that fat man's words bubbled +over and were said. + +"Master, fight not for these men," he exclaimed, "for they listen +to song till midnight while the others prepare for battle. The +others will win the fight, master, and where will your castle be?" + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "there seems to be truth in that. Yet +must we fight for the right. For how would it be if those that +have denied song should win and thrive? The arm of every good man +must be against them. They have denied song, Morano! We must fight +against them, you and I, while we can lay sword to head." + +"Yes, indeed, master," said Morano. "But how shall you come by +your castle?" + +"As for that," said Rodriguez, "it must some day be won, yet not +by denying song. These have given a welcome to song, and the +others have driven it forth. And what would life be if those that +deny song are to be permitted to thrive unmolested by all good +men?" + +"I know not, master," said Morano, "but I would have that castle." + +"Enough," said Rodriguez. "We must fight for the right." + +And so Rodriguez remained true to those that had heard him sing. +And they gave him a casque and breast-plate, proof, they said, +against any sword, and offered a sword that they said would surely +cleave any breast-plate. For they fought not in battle with the +nimble rapier. But Rodriguez did not forsake that famous exultant +sword whose deeds he knew from many an ancient song; which he had +brought so far to give it its old rich drink of blood. He believed +it the bright key of the castle he was to win. + +And they gave Rodriguez a good bed on the ground in the tent of +the three leaders, the tent to which he first came; for they +honoured him for the gift of song that he had, and because he was +a stranger, and because he had asked permission to fight for them +in their battle. And Rodriguez took one look by the light of a +lantern at the rose he had carried from Lowlight, then slept a +sleep through whose dreams loomed up the towers of castles. + +Dawn came and he slept on still; but by seven all the camp was +loudly astir, for they had promised the enemy to begin the battle +at eight. Rodriguez breakfasted lightly; for, now that the day of +his dreams was come at last and all his hopes depended on the day, +an anxiety for many things oppressed him. It was as though his +castle, rosy and fair in dreams, chilled with its huge cold rocks +all the air near it: it was as though Rodriguez touched it at last +with his hands and felt a dankness of which he had never dreamed. + +Then it came to the hour of eight and his anxieties passed. + +The army was now drawn up before its tents in line, but the enemy +was not yet ready and so they had to wait. + +When the signal at length was given and the cannoniers fired their +pieces, and the musketoons were shot off, many men fell. Now +Rodriguez, with Morano, was placed on the right, and either +through a slight difference in numbers or because of an unevenness +in the array of battle they a little overlapped the enemy's left. +When a few men fell wounded there by the discharge of the +musketoons this overlapping was even more pronounced. + +Now the leaders of that fair army scorned all unknightly devices, +and would never have descended to any vile ruse de querre. The +reproach can therefore never be made against them that they ever +intended to outflank their enemy. Yet, when both armies advanced +after the discharge of the musketoons and the merry noise of the +cannon, this occurred as the result of chance, which no leader can +be held accountable for; so that those that speak of treachery in +this battle, and deliberate outflanking, lie. + +Now Rodriguez as he advanced with his sword, when the musketoons +were empty, had already chosen his adversary. For he had carefully +watched those opposite to him, before any smoke should obscure +them, and had selected the one who from the splendour of his dress +might be expected to possess the finest castle. Certainly this +adversary outshone those amongst whom he stood, and gave fair +promise of owning goodly possessions, for he wore a fine green +cloak over a dress of lilac, and his helm and cuirass had a look +of crafty workmanship. Towards him Rodriguez marched. + +Then began fighting foot to foot, and there was a pretty laying on +of swords. And had there been a poet there that day then the story +of their fight had come down to you, my reader, all that way from +the Pyrenees, down all those hundreds of years, and this tale of +mine had been useless, the lame repetition in prose of songs that +your nurses had sung to you. But they fought unseen by those that +see for the Muses. + +Rodriguez advanced upon his chosen adversary and, having briefly +bowed, they engaged at once. And Rodriguez belaboured his helm +till dints appeared, and beat it with swift strokes yet till the +dints were cracks, and beat the cracks till hair began to appear: +and all the while his adversary's strokes grew weaker and wilder, +until he tottered to earth and Rodriguez had won. Swift then as +cats, while Morano kept off others, Rodriguez leaped to his +throat, and, holding up the stiletto that he had long ago taken as +his legacy from the host of the Dragon and Knight, he demanded the +fallen man's castle as ransom for his life. + +"My castle, senor?" said his prisoner weakly. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez impatiently. + +"Yes, senor," said his adversary and closed his eyes for awhile. + +"Does he surrender his castle, master?" asked Morano. + +"Yes, indeed," said Rodriguez. They looked at each other: all at +last was well. + +The battle was rolling away from them and was now well within the +enemy's tents. + +History says of that day that the good men won. And, sitting, a +Muse upon her mythical mountain, her decision must needs be one +from which we may not appeal: and yet I wonder if she is ever +bribed. Certainly the shrewd sense of Morano erred for once; for +those for whom he had predicted victory, because they prepared so +ostentatiously upon the field, were defeated; while the others, +having made their preparations long before, were able to cheer +themselves with song before the battle and to win it when it came. + +And so Rodriguez was left undisturbed in possession of his +prisoner and with the promise of his castle as a ransom. The +battle was swiftly over, as must needs be where little armies meet +so close. The enemy's camp was occupied, his army routed, and +within an hour of beginning the battle the last of the fighting +ceased. + +The army returned to its tents to rejoice and to make a banquet, +bringing with them captives and horses and other spoils of war. +And Rodriguez had honour among them because he had fought on the +right and so was one of those that had broken the enemy's left, +from which direction victory had come. And they would have feasted +him and done him honour, both for his work with the sword and for +his songs to the mandolin; and they would have marched away soon +to their own country and would have taken him with them and +advanced him to honour there. But Rodriguez would not stay with +them for he had his castle at last, and must needs march off at +once with his captive and Morano to see the fulfilment of his +dream. And therefore he thanked the leaders of that host with many +a courtesy and many a well-bent bow, and explained to them how it +was about his castle, and felicitated them on the victory of their +good cause, and so wished them farewell. And they said farewell +sorrowfully: but when they saw he would go, they gave him horses +for himself and Morano, and another for his captive; and they +heaped them with sacks of provender and blankets and all things +that could give him comfort upon a journey: all this they brought +him out of their spoils of war, and they would give him no less +that the most that the horses could carry. And then Rodriguez +turned to his captive again, who now stood on his feet. + +"Senor," he said, "pray tell us all of your castle wherewith you +ransom your life." + +"Senor," he answered, "I have a castle in Spain." + +"Master," broke in Morano, his eyes lighting up with delight, +"there are no castles like the Spanish ones." + +They got to horse then, all three; the captive on a horse of far +poorer build than the other two and well-laden with sacks, for +Rodriguez took no chance of his castle cantering, as it were, away +from him on four hooves through the dust. + +And when they heard that his journey was by way of the Pyrenees +four knights of that army swore they would ride with him as far as +the frontier of Spain, to bear him company and bring him fuel in +the lonely cold of the mountains. They all set off and the merry +army cheered. He left them making ready for their banquet, and +never knew the cause for which he had fought. + +They came by evening again to the house to which Rodriguez had +come two nights before, when he had slept there with his castle +yet to win. They all halted before it, and the man and the woman +came to the door terrified. "The wars!" they said. + +"The wars," said one of the riders, "are over, and the just cause +has won." + +"The Saints be praised!" said the woman. "But will there be no +more fighting?" + +"Never again," said the horseman, "for men are sick of gunpowder." + +"The Saints be thanked," she said. + +"Say not that," said the horseman, "for Satan invented gunpowder." + +And she was silent; but, had none been there, she had secretly +thanked Satan. + +They demanded the food and shelter that armed men have the right +to demand. + +In the morning they were gone. They became a memory, which +lingered like a vision, made partly of sunset and partly of the +splendour of their cloaks, and so went down the years that those +two folk had, a thing of romance, magnificence and fear. And now +the slope of the mountain began to lift against them, and they +rode slowly towards those unearthly peaks that had deserted the +level fields before ever man came to them, and that sat there now +familiar with stars and dawn with the air of never having known of +man. And as they rode they talked. And Rodriguez talked with the +four knights that rode with him, and they told tales of war and +told of the ways of fighting of many men: and Morano rode behind +them beside the captive and questioned him all the morning about +his castle in Spain. And at first the captive answered his +questions slowly, as if he were weary, or as though he were long +from home and remembered its features dimly; but memory soon +returned and he answered clearly, telling of such a castle as +Morano had not dreamed; and the eyes of the fat man bulged as he +rode beside him, growing rounder and rounder as they rode. + +They came by sunset to that wood of firs in which Rodriguez had +rested. In the midst of the wood they halted and tethered their +horses to trees; they tied blankets to branches and made an +encampment; and in the midst of it they made a fire, at first, +with pine-needles and the dead lower twigs and then with great +logs. And there they feasted together, all seven, around the fire. +And when the feast was over and the great logs burning well, and +red sparks went up slowly towards the silver stars, Morano turned +to the prisoner seated beside him and "Tell the senors," he said, +"of my master's castle." + +And in the silence, that was rather lulled than broken by the +whispering wind from the snow that sighed through the wood, the +captive slowly lifted up his head and spoke in his queer accent. + +"Senors, in Aragon, across the Ebro, are many goodly towers." And +as he spoke they all leaned forward to listen, dark faces bright +with firelight. "On the Ebro's southern bank stands," he went on, +"my home." + +He told of strange rocks rising from the Ebro; of buttresses built +among them in unremembered times; of the great towers lifting up +in multitudes from the buttresses; and of the mighty wall, +windowless until it came to incredible heights, where the windows +shone all safe from any ladder of war. + +At first they felt in his story his pride in his lost home, and +wondered, when he told of the height of his towers, how much he +added in pride. And then the force of that story gripped them all +and they doubted never a battlement, but each man's fancy saw +between firelight and starlight every tower clear in the air. And +at great height upon those marvellous towers the turrets of arches +were; queer carvings grinned down from above inaccessible +windows; and the towers gathered in light from the lonely air +where nothing stood but they, and flashed it far over Aragon; and +the Ebro floated by them always new, always amazed by their +beauty. + +He spoke to the six listeners on the lonely mountain, slowly, +remembering mournfully; and never a story that Romance has known +and told of castles in Spain has held men more than he held his +listeners, while the sparks flew up toward the peaks of the +Pyrenees and did not reach to them but failed in the night, giving +place to the white stars. + +And when he faltered through sorrow, or memory weakening, Morano +always, watching with glittering eyes, would touch his arm, +sitting beside him, and ask some question, and the captive would +answer the question and so talk sadly on. + +He told of the upper terraces, where heliotrope and aloe and +oleander took sunlight far above their native earth: and though +but rare winds carried the butterflies there, such as came to +those fragrant terraces lingered for ever. + +And after a while he spoke on carelessly, and Morano's questions +ended, and none of the men in the firelight said a word; but he +spoke on uninterrupted, holding them as by a spell, with his eyes +fixed far away on black crags of the Pyrenees, telling of his +great towers: almost it might have seemed he was speaking of +mountains. And when the fire was only a deep red glow and white +ash showed all round it, and he ceased speaking, having told of a +castle marvellous even amongst the towers of Spain: all sitting +round the embers felt sad with his sadness, for his sad voice +drifted into their very spirits as white mists enter houses, and +all were glad when Rodriguez said to him that one of his ten tall +towers the captive should keep and should live in it for ever. And +the sad man thanked him sadly and showed no joy. + +When the tale of the castle and those great towers was done, the +wind that blew from the snow touched all the hearers; they had +seemed to be away by the bank of the Ebro in the heat and light of +Spain, and now the vast night stripped them and the peaks seemed +to close round on them. They wrapped themselves in blankets and +lay down in their shelters. For a while they heard the wind waving +branches and the thump of a horse's hoof restless at night; then +they all slept except one that guarded the captive, and the +captive himself who long lay thinking and thinking. + +Dawn stole through the wood and waked none of the sleepers; the +birds all shouted at them, still they slept on; and then the +captive's guard wakened Morano and he stirred up the sparks of the +fire and cooked, and they breakfasted late. And soon they left the +wood and faced the bleak slope, all of them going on foot and +leading their horses. + +And the track crawled on till it came to the scorn of the peaks, +winding over a shoulder of the Pyrenees, where the peaks gaze cold +and contemptuous away from the things of man. + +In the presence of those that bore them company Rodriguez and +Morano felt none of the deadly majesty of those peaks that regard +so awfully over the solitudes. They passed through them telling +cheerfully of wars the four knights had known: and descended and +came by sunset to the lower edge of the snow. They pushed on a +little farther and then camped; and with branches from the last +camp that they had heaped on their horses they made another great +fire and, huddling round it in the blankets that they had brought, +found warmth even there so far from the hearths of men. + +And dawn and the cold woke them all on that treeless slope by +barely warm embers. Morano cooked again and they ate in silence. +And then the four knights rose sadly and one bowed and told +Rodriguez how they must now go back to their own country. And +grief seized on Rodriguez at his words, seeing that he was to lose +four old friends at once and perhaps for ever, for when men have +fought under the same banner in war they become old friends on +that morning. + +"Senors," said Rodriguez, "we may never meet again!" + +And the other looked back to the peaks beyond which the far lands +lay, and made a gesture with his hands. + +"Senor, at least," said Rodriguez, "let us camp once more +together." + +And even Morano babbled a supplication. + +"Methinks, senor," he answered, "we are already across the +frontier, and when we men of the sword cross frontiers +misunderstandings arise, so that it is our custom never to pass +across them save when we push the frontier with us, adding the +lands over which we march to those of our liege lord." + +"Senors," said Rodriguez, "the whole mountain is the frontier. +Come with us one day further." But they would not stay. + +All the good things that could be carried they loaded on to the +three horses whose heads were turned towards Spain; then turned, +all four, and said farewell to the three. And long looked each in +the face of Rodriguez as he took his hand in fare well, for they +had fought under the same banner and, as wayfaring was in those +days, it was not likely that they would ever meet again. They +turned and went with their horses back towards the land they had +fought for. + +Rodriguez and his captive and Morano went sadly down the mountain. +They came to the fir woods, and rested, and Morano cooked their +dinner. And after a while they were able to ride their horses. + +They came to the foot of the mountains, and rode on past the Inn +of the World's End. They camped in the open; and all night long +Rodriguez or Morano guarded the captive. + +For two days and part of the third they followed their old course, +catching sight again and again of the river Segre; and then they +turned further west ward to come to Aragon further up the Ebro. +All the way they avoided houses and camped in the open, for they +kept their captive to themselves: and they slept warm with their +ample store of blankets. And all the while the captive seemed +morose or ill at ease, speaking seldom and, when he did, in +nervous jerks. + +Morano, as they rode, or by the camp fire at evening, still +questioned him now and then about his castle; and sometimes he +almost seemed to contradict himself, but in so vast a castle may +have been many styles of architecture, and it was difficult to +trace a contradiction among all those towers and turrets. His name +was Don Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle on-Ebro. + +One night while all three sat and gazed at the camp-fire as men +will, when the chilly stars are still and the merry flames are +leaping, Rodriguez, seeking to cheer his captive's mood, told him +some of his strange adventures. The captive listened with his +sombre air. But when Rodriguez told how they woke on the mountain +after their journey to the sun; and the sun was shining on their +faces in the open, but the magician and his whole house were gone; +then there came another look into Alvidar's eyes. And Rodriguez +ended his tale and silence fell, broken only by Morano saying +across the fire, "It is true," and the captive's thoughtful eyes +gazed into the darkness. And then he also spoke. + +"Senor," he said, "near to my rose-pink castle which looks into +the Ebro dwells a magician also." + +"Is it so?" said Rodriguez. + +"Indeed so, senor," said Don Alvidar. "He is my enemy but dwells +in awe of me, and so durst never molest me except by minor +wonders." + +"How know you that he is a magician?" said Rodriguez. + +"By those wonders," answered his captive. "He afflicts small dogs +and my poultry. And he wears a thin, high hat: his beard is also +extraordinary." + +"Long?" said Morano. + +"Green," answered Don Alvidar. + +"Is he very near the castle?" said Rodriguez and Morano together. + +"Too near," said Don Alvidar. + +"Is his house wonderful?" Rodriguez asked. + +"It is a common house," was the answer. "A mean, long house of one +story. The walls are white and it is well thatched. The windows +are painted green; there are two doors in it and by one of them +grows a rose tree." + +"A rose tree?" exclaimed Rodriguez. + +"It seemed a rose tree," said Don Alvidar. + +"A captive lady chained to the wall perhaps, changed by magic," +suggested Morano. + +"Perhaps," said Don Alvidar. + +"A strange house for a magician," said Rodriguez, for it sounded +like any small farmhouse in Spain. + +"He much affects mortal ways," replied Don Alvidar. + +Little more was then said, the fire being low: and Rodriguez lay +down to sleep while Morano guarded the captive. + +And the day after that they came to Aragon, and in one day more +they were across the Ebro; and then they rode west for a day along +its southern bank looking all the while as they rode for +Rodriguez' castle. And more and more silent and aloof, as they +rode, grew Don Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle-on-Ebro. + +And just before sunset a cry broke from the captive. "He has taken +it!" he said. And he pointed to just such a house as he had +described, a jolly Spanish farmhouse with white walls and thatch +and green shutters, and a rose tree by one of the doors just as he +had told. + +"The magician's house. But the castle is gone," he said. + +Rodriguez looked at his face and saw real alarm in it. He said +nothing but rode on in haste, a dim hope in his mind that +explanations at the white cottage might do something for his lost +castle. + +And when the hooves were heard a woman came out of the cottage +door by the rose tree leading a small child by the hand. And the +captive called to the woman, "Maria, we are lost. And I gave my +great castle with rose-pink towers that stood just here as ransom +to this senor for my life. But now, alas, I see that that magician +who dwelt in the house where you are now has taken it whither we +know not." + +"Yes, Pedro," said the woman, "he took it yesterday." And she +turned blue eyes upon Rodriguez. + +And then Morano would be silent no longer. He had thought vaguely +for some days and intensely for the last few hundreds yards, and +now he blurted out the thoughts that boiled in him. + +"Master," he shouted, "he has sold his cattle and bought this +raiment of his, and that helmet that you opened up for him, and +never had any castle on the Ebro with any towers to it, and never +knew any magician, but lived in this house himself, and now your +castle is gone, master, and as for his life ..." + +"Be silent a moment, Morano," said Rodriguez, and he turned to the +woman whose eyes were on him still. + +"Was there a castle in this place?" he said. + +"Yes, senor. I swear it," she said. "And my husband, though a poor +man, always spoke the truth." + +"She lies," said Morano, and Rodriguez silenced him with a +gesture. + +"I will get neighbours who will swear it too," she said. + +"A lousy neighbourhood," said Morano. + +Again Rodriguez silenced him. And then the child spoke in a +frightened voice, holding up a small cross that it had been taught +to revere. "I swear it too," it said. + +Rodriguez heaved a sigh and turned away. "Master," Morano cried in +pained astonishment, "you will not believe their swearings." + +"The child swore by the cross," he answered. + +"But, master!" Morano exclaimed. + +But Rodriguez would say no more. And they rode away aimless in +silence. + +Galloping hooves were heard and Pedro was there. He had come to +give up his horse. He gave its reins to the scowling Morano but +Rodriguez said never a word. Then he ran round and kissed +Rodriguez' hand, who still was silent, for his hopes were lost +with the castle; but he nodded his head and so parted for ever +from the man whom his wife called Pedro, who called himself Don +Alvidar-of-the-Rose-pink-Castle-on-Ebro. + + + + + +THE TENTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE CAME BACK TO LOWLIGHT + + +"Master," Morano said. But Rodriguez rode ahead and would not +speak. + +They were riding vaguely southward. They had ample provisions on +the horse that Morano led, as well as blankets, which gave them +comfort at night. That night they both got the sleep they needed, +now that there was no captive to guard. All the next day they rode +slowly in the April weather by roads that wandered among tended +fields; but a little way off from the fields there shone low hills +in the sunlight, so wild, so free of man, that Rodriguez +remembering them in later years, wondered if their wild shrubs +just hid the frontiers of fairyland. + +For two days they rode by the edge of unguessable regions. Had Pan +piped there no one had marvelled, nor though fauns had scurried +past sheltering clumps of azaleas. In the twilight no tiny queens +had court within rings of toadstools: yet almost, almost they +appeared. + +And on the third day all at once they came to a road they knew. It +was the road by which they had ridden when Rodriguez still had his +dream, the way from Shadow Valley to the Ebro. And so they turned +into the road they knew, as wanderers always will; and, still +without aim or plan, they faced towards Shadow Valley. And in the +evening of the day that followed that, as they looked about for a +camping-ground, there came in sight the village on the hill which +Rodriguez knew to be fifty miles from the forest: it was the +village in which they had rested the first night after leaving +Shadow Valley. They did not camp but went on to the village and +knocked at the door of the inn. Habit guides us all at times, even +kings are the slaves of it (though in their presence it takes the +prouder name of precedent); and here were two wanderers without +any plans at all; they were therefore defenceless in the grip of +habit and, seeing an inn they knew, they loitered up to it. Mine +host came again to the door. He cheerfully asked Rodriguez how he +had fared on his journey, but Rodriguez would say nothing. He +asked for lodging for himself and Morano and stabling for the +horses: he ate and slept and paid his due, and in the morning was +gone. + +Whatever impulses guided Rodriguez as he rode and Morano followed, +he knew not what they were or even that there could be any. He +followed the road without hope and only travelled to change his +camping-grounds. And that night he was half-way between the +village and Shadow Valley. + +Morano never spoke, for he saw that his master's disappointment +was still raw; but it pleased him to notice, as he had done all +day, that they were heading for the great forest. He cooked their +evening meal in their camp by the wayside and they both ate it in +silence. For awhile Rodriguez sat and gazed at the might-have- +beens in the camp-fire: and when these began to be hidden by white +ash he went to his blankets and slept. And Morano went quietly +about the little camp, doing all that needed to be done, with +never a word. When the horses were seen to and fed, when the +knives were cleaned, when everything was ready for the start next +morning, Morano went to his blankets and slept too. And in the +morning again they wandered on. + +That evening they saw the low gold rays of the sun enchanting the +tops of a forest. It almost surprised Rodriguez, travelling +without an aim, to recognise Shadow Valley. They quickened their +slow pace and, before twilight faded, they were under the great +oaks; but the last of the twilight could not pierce the dimness of +Shadow Valley, and it seemed as if night had entered the forest +with them. + +They chose a camping-ground as well as they could in the darkness +and Morano tied the horses to trees a little way off from the +camp. Then he returned to Rodriguez and tied a blanket to the +windward side of two trees to make a kind of bedroom for his +master, for they had all the blankets they needed. And when this +was done he set the emblem and banner of camps, anywhere all over +the world in any time, for he gathered sticks and branches and lit +a camp-fire. The first red flames went up and waved and proclaimed +a camp: the light made a little circle, shadows ran away to the +forest, and the circle of light on the ground and on the trees +that stood round it became for that one night home. + +They heard the horses stamp as they always did in the early part +of the night; and then Morano went to give them their fodder. +Rodriguez sat and gazed into the fire, his mind as full of +thoughts as the fire was full of pictures: one by one the pictures +in the fire fell in; and all his thoughts led nowhere. + +He heard Morano running back the thirty or forty yards he had gone +from the camp-fire "Master," Morano said, "the three horses are +gone." + +"Gone?" said Rodriguez. There was little more to say; it was too +dark to track them and he knew that to find three horses in Shadow +Valley was a task that might take years. And after more thought +than might seem to have been needed he said; "We must go on foot." + +"Have we far to go, master?" said Morano, for the first time +daring to question him since they left the cottage in Spain. + +"I have nowhere to go," said Rodriguez. His head was downcast as +he sat by the fire: Morano stood and looked at him unhappily, full +of a sympathy that he found no words to express. A light wind +slipped through the branches and everything else was still. It was +some while before he lifted his head; and then he saw before him +on the other side of the fire, standing with folded arms, the man +in the brown leather jacket. + +"Nowhere to go!" said he. "Who needs go anywhere from Shadow +Valley?" + +Rodriguez stared at him. "But I can't stay here!" he said. + +"There is no fairer forest known to man," said the other. "I know +many songs that prove it." + +Rodriguez made no answer but dropped his eyes, gazing with +listless glance once more at the ground. "Come, senor," said the +man in the leather jacket. "None are unhappy in Shadow Valley." + +"Who are you?" said Rodriguez. Both he and Morano were gazing +curiously at the man whom they had saved three weeks ago from the +noose. + +"Your friend," answered the stranger. + +"No friend can help me," said Rodriguez. + +"Senor," said the stranger across the fire, still standing with +folded arms, "I remain under an obligation to no man. If you have +an enemy or love a lady, and if they dwell within a hundred miles, +either shall be before you within a week." + +Rodriguez shook his head, and silence fell by the camp-fire. And +after awhile Rodriguez, who was accustomed to dismiss a subject +when it was ended, saw the stranger's eyes on him yet, still +waiting for him to say more. And those clear blue eyes seemed to +do more than wait, seemed almost to command, till they overcame +Rodriguez' will and he obeyed and said, although he could feel +each word struggling to stay unuttered, "Senor, I went to the wars +to win a castle and a piece of land thereby; and might perchance +have wed and ended my wanderings, with those of my servant here; +but the wars are over and no castle is won." + +And the stranger saw by his face in the firelight, and knew from +the tones of his voice in the still night, the trouble that his +words had not expressed. + +"I remain under an obligation to no man," said the stranger. "Be +at this place in four weeks' time, and you shall have a castle as +large as any that men win by war, and a goodly park thereby." + +"Your castle, master!" said Morano delighted, whose only thought +up to then was as to who had got his horses. But Rodriguez only +stared: and the stranger said no more but turned on his heel. And +then Rodriguez awoke out of his silence and wonder. "But where?" +he said. "What castle?" + +"That you will see," said the stranger. + +"But, but how ..." said Rodriguez. What he meant was, "How can I +believe you?" but he did not put it in words. + +"My word was never broken," said the other. And that is a good +boast to make, for those of us who can make it; if we need boast +at all. + +"Whose word?" said Rodriguez, looking him in the eyes. + +The smoke from the fire between them was thickening greyly as +though something had been cast on it. "The word," he said, "of the +King of Shadow Valley." + +Rodriguez gazing through the increasing smoke saw not to the other +side. He rose and walked round the fire, but the strange man was +gone. + +Rodriguez came back to his place by the fire and sat long there in +silence. Morano was bubbling over to speak, but respected his +master's silence: for Rodriguez was gazing into the deeps of the +fire seeing pictures there that were brighter than any that he had +known. They were so clear now that they seemed almost true. He saw +Serafina's face there looking full at him. He watched it long +until other pictures hid it, visions that had no meaning for +Rodriguez. And not till then he spoke. And when he spoke his face +was almost smiling. + +"Well, Morano," he said, "have we come by that castle at last?" + +"That man does not lie, master," he answered: and his eyes were +glittering with shrewd conviction. + +"What shall we do then?" said Rodriguez. + +"Let us go to some village, master," said Morano, "until the time +he said." + +"What village?" Rodriguez asked. + +"I know not, master," answered Morano, his face a puzzle of +innocence and wonder; and Rodriguez fell back into thought again. +And the dancing flames calmed down to a deep, quiet glow; and soon +Rodriguez stepped back a yard or two from the fire to where Morano +had prepared his bed; and, watching the fire still, and turning +over thoughts that flashed and changed as fast as the embers, he +went to wonderful dreams that were no more strange or elusive than +that valley's wonderful king. + +When he spoke in the morning the camp-fire was newly lit and there +was a smell of bacon; and Morano, out of breath and puzzled, was +calling to him. + +"Master," he said, "I was mistaken about those horses." + +"Mistaken?" said Rodriguez. + +"They were just as I left them, master, all tied to the tree with +my knots." + +Rodriguez left it at that. Morano could make mistakes and the +forest was full of wonders: anything might happen. "We will ride," +he said. + +Morano's breakfast was as good as ever; and, when he had packed up +those few belongings that make a dwelling-place of any chance spot +in the wilderness, they mounted the horses, which were surely +there, and rode away through sunlight and green leaves. They rode +slow, for the branches were low over the path, and whoever canters +in a forest and closes his eyes against a branch has to consider +whether he will open them to be whipped by the next branch or +close them till he bumps his head into a tree. And it suited +Rodriguez to loiter, for he thought thus to meet the King of +Shadow Valley again or his green bowmen and learn the answers to +innumerable questions about his castle which were wandering +through his mind. + +They ate and slept at noon in the forest's glittering greenness. + +They passed afterwards by the old house in the wood, in which the +bowmen feasted, for they followed the track that they had taken +before. They knocked loud on the door as they passed but the house +was empty. They heard the sound of a multitude felling trees, but +whenever they approached the sound of chopping ceased. Again and +again they left the track and rode towards the sound of chopping, +and every time the chopping died away just as they drew close. +They saw many a tree half felled, but never a green bowman. And at +last they left it as one of the wonders of the forest and returned +to the track lest they lose it, for the track was more important +to them than curiosity, and evening had come and was filling the +forest with dimness, and shadows stealing across the track were +beginning to hide it away. In the distance they heard the +invisible woodmen chopping. + +And then they camped again and lit their fire; and night came down +and the two wanderers slept. + +The nightingale sang until he woke the cuckoo: and the cuckoo +filled the leafy air so full of his two limpid notes that the +dreams of Rodriguez heard them and went away, back over their +border to dreamland. Rodriguez awoke Morano, who lit his fire: and +soon they had struck their camp and were riding on. + +By noon they saw that if they hurried on they could come to +Lowlight by nightfall. But this was not Rodriguez' plan, for he +had planned to ride into Lowlight, as he had done once before, at +the hour when Serafina sat in her balcony in the cool of the +evening, as Spanish ladies in those days sometimes did. So they +tarried long by their resting-place at noon and then rode slowly +on. And when they camped that night they were still in the forest. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez over the camp-fire, "tomorrow brings me +to Lowlight." + +"Aye, master," said Morano, "we shall be there tomorrow." + +"That senor with whom I had a meeting there," said Rodriguez, "he ..." + +"He loves me not," said Morano. + +"He would surely kill you," replied Rodriguez. + +Morano looked sideways at his frying-pan. + +"It would therefore be better," continued Rodriguez, "that you +should stay in this camp while I give such greetings of ceremony +in Lowlight as courtesy demands." + +"I will stay, master," said Morano. + +Rodriguez was glad that this was settled, for he felt that to +follow his dreams of so many nights to that balconied house in +Lowlight with Morano would be no better than visiting a house +accompanied by a dog that had bitten one of the family. + +"I will stay," repeated Morano. "But, master ..." The fat man's +eyes were all supplication. + +"Yes?" said Rodriguez. + +"Leave me your mandolin," implored Morano. + +"My mandolin?" said Rodriguez. + +"Master," said Morano, "that senor who likes my fat body so ill he +would kill me, he ..." + +"Well?" said Rodriguez, for Morano was hesitating. + +"He likes your mandolin no better, master." + +Rodriguez resented a slight to his mandolin as much as a slight to +his sword, but he smiled as he looked at Morano's anxious face. + +"He would kill you for your mandolin," Morano went on eagerly, "as +he would kill me for my frying-pan." + +And at the mention of that frying-pan Rodriguez frowned, although +it had given him many a good meal since the night it offended in +Lowlight. And he would sooner have gone to the wars without a +sword than under the balcony of his heart's desire without a +mandolin. + +So Rodriguez would hear no more of Morano's request; and soon he +left the fire and went to lie down; but Morano sighed and sat +gazing on into the embers unhappily; while thoughts plodded slow +through his mind, leading to nothing. Late that night he threw +fresh logs on the camp-fire, so that when they awoke there was +still fire in the embers And when they had eaten their breakfast +Rodriguez said farewell to Morano, saying that he had business in +Lowlight that might keep him a few days. But Morano said not +farewell then, for he would follow his master as far as the midday +halt to cook his next meal. And when noon came they were beyond +the forest. + +Once more Morano cooked bacon. Then while Rodriguez slept Morano +took his cloak and did all that could be done by brushing and +smoothing to give back to it that air that it some time had, +before it had flapped upon so many winds and wrapped Rodriguez on +such various beds, and met the vicissitudes that make this story. + +For the plume he could do little. + +And his master awoke, late in the afternoon, and went to his horse +and gave Morano his orders. He was to go back with two of the +horses to their last camp in the forest and take with him all +their kit except one blanket and make himself comfortable there +and wait till Rodriguez came. + +And then Rodriguez rode slowly away, and Morano stood gazing +mournfully and warningly at the mandolin; and the warnings were +not lost upon Rodriguez, though he would never admit that he saw +in Morano's staring eyes any wise hint that he heeded. + +And Morano sighed, and went and untethered his horses; and soon he +was riding lonely back to the forest. And Rodriguez taking the +other way saw at once the towers of Lowlight. + +Does my reader think that he then set spurs to his horse, +galloping towards that house about whose balcony his dreams flew +every night? No, it was far from evening; far yet from the colour +and calm in which the light with never a whisper says farewell to +Earth, but with a gesture that the horizon hides takes silent +leave of the fields on which she has danced with joy; far yet from +the hour that shone for Serafina like a great halo round her and +round her mother's house. + +We cannot believe that one hour more than another shone upon +Serafina, or that the dim end of the evening was only hers: but +these are the Chronicles of Rodriguez, who of all the things that +befell him treasured most his memory of Serafina in the twilight, +and who held that this hour was hers as much as her raiment and +her balcony: such therefore it is in these chronicles. + +And so he loitered, waiting for the slow sun to set: and when at +last a tint on the walls of Lowlight came with the magic of +Earth's most faery hour he rode in slowly not perhaps wholly +unwitting, for all his anxious thoughts of Serafina, that a little +air of romance from the Spring and the evening followed this +lonely rider. + +From some way off he saw that balcony that had drawn him back from +the other side of the far Pyrenees. Sometimes he knew that it drew +him and mostly he knew it not; yet always that curved balcony +brought him nearer, ever since he turned from the field of the +false Don Alvidar: the balcony held him with invisible threads, +such as those with which Earth draws in the birds at evening. And +there was Serafina in her balcony. + +When Rodriguez saw Serafina sitting there in the twilight, just as +he had often dreamed, he looked no more but lowered his head to +the withered rose that he carried now in his hand, the rose that +he had found by that very balcony under another moon. And, gazing +still at the rose, he rode on under the balcony, and passed it, +until his hoof-beats were heard no more in Lowlight and he and his +horse were one dim shape between the night and the twilight. And +still he held on. + +He knew not yet, but only guessed, who had thrown that rose from +the balcony on the night when he slept on the dust: he knew not +who it was that he fought on the same night, and dared not guess +what that unknown hidalgo might be to Serafina. He had no claim to +more from that house, which once gave him so cold a welcome, than +thus to ride by it in silence. And he knew as he rode that the +cloak and the plume that he wore scarce seemed the same as those +that had floated by when more than a month ago he had ridden past +that balcony; and the withered rose that he carried added one more +note of autumn. And yet he hoped. + +And so he rode into twilight and was hid from the sight of the +village, a worn, pathetic figure, trusting vaguely to vague powers +of good fortune that govern all men, but that favour youth. + +And, sure enough, it was not yet wholly moonlight when cantering +hooves came down the road behind him. It was once more that young +hidalgo. And as soon as he drew rein beside Rodriguez both reached +out merry hands as though their former meeting had been some +errand of joy. And as Rodriguez looked him in the eyes, while the +two men leaned over clasping hands, in light still clear though +faded, he could not doubt Serafina was his sister. + +"Senor," said his old enemy, "will you tarry with us, in our house +a few days, if your journey is not urgent?" + +Rodriguez gasped for joy; for the messenger from Lowlight, the +certainty that here was no rival, the summons to the house of his +dreams' pilgrimage, came all together: his hand still clasped the +stranger's. Yet he answered with the due ceremony that that age +and land demanded: then they turned and rode together towards +Lowlight. And first the young men told each other their names; and +the stranger told how he dwelt with his mother and sister in the +house that Rodriguez knew, and his name was Don Alderon of the +Valley of Dawnlight. His house had dwelt in that valley since +times out of knowledge; but then the Moors had come and his +forbears had fled to Lowlight: the Moors were gone now, for which +Saint Michael and all fighting Saints be praised; but there were +certain difficulties about his right to the Valley of Dawnlight. +So they dwelt in Lowlight still. + +And Rodriguez told of the war that there was beyond the Pyrenees +and how the just cause had won, but little more than that he was +able to tell, for he knew scarce more of the cause for which he +had fought than History knows of it, who chooses her incidents and +seems to forget so much. And as they talked they came to the house +with the balcony. A waning moon cast light over it that was now no +longer twilight; but was the light of wild things of the woods, +and birds of prey, and men in mountains outlawed by the King, and +magic, and mystery, and the quests of love. Serafina had left her +place: lights gleamed now in the windows. And when the door was +opened the hall seemed to Rodriguez so much less hugely hollow, so +much less full of ominous whispered echoes, that his courage rose +high as he went through it with Alderon, and they entered the room +together that they had entered together before. In the long room +beyond many candles he saw Dona Serafina and her mother rising up +to greet him. Neither the ceremonies of that age nor Rodriguez' +natural calm would have entirely concealed his emotion had not his +face been hidden as he bowed. They spoke to him; they asked him of +his travels; Rodriguez answered with effort. He saw by their +manner that Don Alderon must have explained much in his favour. He +had this time, to cheer him, a very different greeting; and yet he +felt little more at ease than when he had stood there late at +night before, with one eye bandaged and wearing only one shoe, +suspected of he knew not what brawling and violence. + +It was not until Dona Mirana, the mother of Serafina, asked him to +play to them on his mandolin that Rodriguez' ease returned. He +bowed then and brought round his mandolin, which had been slung +behind him; and knew a triumphant champion was by him now, one old +in the ways of love and wise in the sorrows of man, a slender but +potent voice, well-skilled to tell what there were not words to +say; a voice unhindered by language, unlimited even by thought, +whose universal meaning was heard and understood, sometimes +perhaps by wandering spirits of light, beaten far by some evil +thought for their heavenly courses and passing close along the +coasts of Earth. + +And Rodriguez played no tune he had ever known, nor any airs that +he had heard men play in lanes in Andalusia; but he told of things +that he knew not, of sadnesses that he had scarcely felt and +undreamed exaltations. It was the hour of need, and the mandolin +knew. + +And when all was told that the mandolin can tell of whatever is +wistfulest in the spirit of man, a mood of merriment entered its +old curved sides and there came from its hollows a measure such as +they dance to when laughter goes over the greens in Spain. Never a +song sang Rodriguez; the mandolin said all. + +And what message did Serafina receive from those notes that were +strange even to Rodriguez? Were they not stranger to her? I have +said that spirits blown far out of their course and nearing the +mundane coasts hear mortal music sometimes, and hearing +understand. And if they cannot understand those snatches of song, +all about mortal things and human needs, that are wafted rarely to +them by chance passions, how much more surely a young mortal +heart, so near Rodriguez, heard what he would say and understood +the message however strange. + +When Dona Mirana and her daughter rose, exchanging their little +curtsies for the low bows of Rodriguez, and so retired for the +night, the long room seemed to Rodriguez now empty of threatening +omens. The great portraits that the moon had lit, and that had +frowned at him in the moonlight when he came here before, frowned +at him now no longer. The anger that he had known to lurk in the +darkness on pictured faces of dead generations had gone with the +gloom that it haunted: they were all passionless now in the quiet +light of the candles. He looked again at the portraits eye to eye, +remembering looks they had given him in the moonlight, and all +looked back at him with ages of apathy; and he knew that whatever +glimmer of former selves there lurks about portraits of the dead +and gone was thinking only of their own past days in years remote +from Rodriguez. Whether their anger had flashed for a moment over +the ages on that night a month from now, or whether it was only +the moonlight, he never knew. Their spirits were back now surely +amongst their own days, whence they deigned not to look on the +days that make these chronicles. + +Not till then did Rodriguez admit, or even know, that he had not +eaten since his noonday meal. But now he admitted this to Don +Alderon's questions; and Don Alderon led him to another chamber +and there regaled him with all the hospitality for which that time +was famous. And when Rodriguez had eaten, Don Alderon sent for +wine, and the butler brought it in an olden flagon, dark wine of a +precious vintage: and soon the two young men were drinking +together and talking of the wickedness of the Moors. And while +they talked the night grew late and chilly and still, and the hour +came when moths are fewer and young men think of bed. Then Don +Alderon showed his guest to an upper room, a long room dim with +red hangings, and carvings in walnut and oak, which the one candle +he carried barely lit but only set queer shadows scampering. And +here he left Rodriguez, who was soon in bed, with the great red +hangings round him. And awhile he wondered at the huge silence of +the house all round him, with never a murmur, never an echo, never +a sigh; for he missed the passing of winds, branches waving, the +stirring of small beasts, birds of prey calling, and the hundred +sounds of the night; but soon through the silence came sleep. + +He did not need to dream, for here in the home of Serafina he had +come to his dreams' end. + +Another day shone on another scene; for the sunlight that went in +a narrow stream of gold and silver between the huge red curtains +had sent away the shadows that had stalked overnight through the +room, and had scattered the eeriness that had lurked on the far +side of furniture, and all the dimness was gone that the long red +room had harboured. And for a while Rodriguez did not know where +he was; and for a while, when he remembered, he could not believe +it true. He dressed with care, almost with fear, and preened his +small moustachios, which at last had grown again just when he +would have despaired. Then he descended, and found that he had +slept late, though the three of that ancient house were seated yet +at the table, and Serafina all dressed in white seemed to +Rodriguez to be shining in rivalry with the morning. Ah dreams and +fancies of youth! + + + + + +THE ELEVENTH CHRONICLE + +HOW HE TURNED TO GARDENING AND HIS SWORD RESTED + + +These were the days that Rodriguez always remembered; and, side by +side with them, there lodged in his memory, and went down with +them into his latter years, the days and nights when he went +through the Pyrenees and walked when he would have slept but had +to walk or freeze: and by some queer rule that guides us he +treasured them both in his memory, these happy days in this garden +and the frozen nights on the peaks. + +For Serafina showed Rodriguez the garden that behind the house ran +narrow and long to the wild. There were rocks with heliotrope +pouring over them and flowers peeping behind them, and great +azaleas all in triumphant bloom, and ropes of flowering creepers +coming down from trees, and oleanders, and a plant named popularly +Joy of the South, and small paths went along it edged with shells +brought from the far sea. + +There was only one street in the village, and you did not go far +among the great azaleas before you lost sight of the gables; and +you did not go far before the small paths ended with their shells +from the distant sea, and there was the mistress of all gardeners +facing you, Mother Nature nursing her children, the things of the +wild. She too had azaleas and oleanders, but they stood more +solitary in their greater garden than those that grew in the +garden of Dona Mirana; and she too had little paths, only they +were without borders and without end. Yet looking from the long +and narrow garden at the back of that house in Lowlight to the +wider garden that sweeps round the world, and is fenced by Space +from the garden in Venus and by Space from the garden in Mars, you +scarce saw any difference or noticed where they met: the solitary +azaleas beyond were gathered together by distance, and from +Lowlight to the horizon seemed all one garden in bloom. And +afterwards, all his years, whenever Rodriguez heard the name of +Spain, spoken by loyal men, it was thus that he thought of it, as +he saw it now. + +And here he used to walk with Serafina when she tended flowers in +the cool of the morning or went at evening to water favourite +blooms. And Rodriguez would bring with him his mandolin, and +sometimes he touched it lightly or even sang, as they rested on +some carved seat at the garden's end, looking out towards shadowy +shrubs on the shining hill, but mostly he heard her speak of the +things she loved, of what moths flew to their garden, and which +birds sang, and how the flowers grew. Serafina sat no longer in +her balcony but, disguising idleness by other names, they loitered +along those paths that the seashells narrowed; yet there was a +grace in their loitering such as we have not in our dances now. +And evening stealing in from the wild places, from darkening +azaleas upon distant hills, still found them in the garden, found +Rodriguez singing in idleness undisguised, or anxiously helping in +some trivial task, tying up some tendril that had gone awry, +helping some magnolia that the wind had wounded. Almost unnoticed +by him the sunlight would disappear, and the coloured blaze of the +sunset, and then the gloaming; till the colours of all the flowers +queerly changed and they shone with that curious glow which they +wear in the dusk. They returned then to the house, the garden +behind them with its dim hushed air of a secret, before them the +candlelight like a different land. And after the evening meal +Alderon and Rodriguez would sit late together discussing the +future of the world, Rodriguez holding that it was intended that +the earth should be ruled by Spain, and Alderon fearing it would +all go to the Moors. + +Days passed thus. + +And then one evening Rodriguez was in the garden with Serafina; +the flowers, dim and pale and more mysterious than ever, poured +out their scent towards the coming night, luring huge hawk-moths +from the far dusk that was gathering about the garden, to hover +before each bloom on myriad wingbeats too rapid for human eye: +another inch and the fairies had peeped out from behind azaleas, +yet both of these late loiterers felt fairies were surely there: +it seemed to be Nature's own most secret hour, upon which man +trespasses if he venture forth from his house: an owl from his +hidden haunt flew nearer the garden and uttered a clear call once +to remind Rodriguez of this: and Rodriguez did not heed, but +walked in silence. + +He had played his mandolin. It had uttered to the solemn hush of +the understanding evening all it was able to tell; and after that +cry, grown piteous with so many human longings, for it was an old +mandolin, Rodriguez felt there was nothing left for his poor words +to say. So he went dumb and mournful. + +Serafina would have heard him had he spoken, for her thoughts +vibrated yet with the voice of the mandolin, which had come to her +hearing as an ambassador from Rodriguez, but he found no words to +match with the mandolin's high mood. His eyes said, and his sighs +told, what the mandolin had uttered; but his tongue was silent. + +And then Serafina said, as he walked all heavy with silence past a +curving slope of dimly glowing azaleas, "You like flowers, senor?" + +"Senorita, I adore them," he replied. + +"Indeed?" said Dona Serafina. + +"Indeed I do," said Rodriguez. + +"And yet," asked Dona Serafina, "was it not a somewhat withered or +altogether faded flower that you carried, unless I fancied wrong, +when you rode past our balcony?" + +"It was indeed faded," said Rodriguez, "for the rose was some +weeks old." + +"One who loved flowers, I thought," said Serafina, "would perhaps +care more for them fresh." + +Half-dumb though Rodriguez was his shrewdness did not desert him. +To have said that he had the rose from Serafina would have been to +claim as though proven what was yet no more than a hope. + +"Senorita," he said, "I found the flower on holy ground." + +"I did not know," she said, "that you had travelled so far." + +"I found it here," he said, "under your balcony." + +"Perchance I let it fall," said she. "It was idle of me." + +"I guard it still," he said, and drew forth that worn brown rose. + +"It was idle of me," said Serafina. + +But then in that scented garden among the dim lights of late +evening the ghost of that rose introduced their spirits one to the +other, so that the listening flowers heard Rodriguez telling the +story of his heart, and, bending over the shell-bordered path, +heard Serafina's answer; and all they seemed to do was but to +watch the evening, with leaves uplifted in the hope of rain. + +Film after film of dusk dropped down from where twilight had been, +like an army of darkness slowly pitching their tents on ground +that had been lost to the children of light. Out of the wild lands +all the owls flew nearer: their long, clear cries and the huge +hush between them warned all those lands that this was not man's +hour. And neither Rodriguez nor Serafina heard them. + +In pale blue sky where none had thought to see it one smiling star +appeared. It was Venus watching lovers, as men of the crumbled +centuries had besought her to do, when they named her so long ago, +kneeling upon their hills with bended heads, and arms stretched +out to her sweet eternal scrutiny. Beneath her wandering rays as +they danced down to bless them Rodriguez and Serafina talked low +in the sight of the goddess, and their voices swayed through the +flowers with whispers and winds, not troubling the little wild +creatures that steal out shy in the dusk, and Nature forgave them +for being abroad in that hour; although, so near that a single +azalea seemed to hide it, so near seemed to beckon and whisper old +Nature's eldest secret. + +When flowers glimmered and Venus smiled and all things else were +dim, they turned on one of those little paths hand in hand +homeward. + +Dona Mirana glanced once at her daughter's eyes and said nothing. +Don Alderon renewed his talk with Rodriguez, giving reasons for +his apprehension of the conquest of the world by the Moors, which +he had thought of since last night; and Rodriguez agreed with all +that Don Alderon said, but understood little, being full of dreams +that seemed to dance on the further, side of the candlelight to a +strange, new, unheard tune that his heart was aware of. He gazed +much at Serafina and said little. + +He drank no wine that night with Don Alderon: what need had he of +wine? On wonderful journeys that my pen cannot follow, for all the +swiftness of the wing from which it came; on darting journeys +outspeeding the lithe swallow or that great wanderer the white- +fronted goose, his young thoughts raced by a myriad of golden +evenings far down the future years. And what of the days he saw? +Did he see them truly? Enough that he saw them in vision. Saw them +as some lone shephered on lifted downs sees once go by with music +a galleon out of the East, with windy sails, and masts ablaze with +pennants, and heroes in strange dress singing new songs; and the +galleon goes nameless by till the singing dies away. What ship was +it? Whither bound? Why there? Enough that he has seen it. Thus do +we glimpse the glory of rare days as we swing round the sun; and +youth is like some high headland from which to see. + +On the next day he spoke with Dona Mirano. There was little to say +but to observe the courtesies appropriate to this occasion, for +Dona Mirana and her daughter had spoken long together already; and +of one thing he could say little, and indeed was dumb when asked +of it, and that was the question of his home. And then he said +that he had a castle; and when Dona Mirana asked him where it was +he said vaguely it was to the North. He trusted the word of the +King of Shadow Valley and so he spoke of his castle as a man +speaks the truth. And when she asked him of his castle again, +whether on rock or river or in leafy lands, he began to describe +how its ten towers stood, being builded of a rock that was +slightly pink, and how they glowed across a hundred fields, +especially at evening; and suddenly he ceased, perceiving all in a +moment he was speaking unwittingly in the words of Don Alvidar and +describing to Dona Mirana that rose-pink castle on Ebro. And Dona +Mirana knew then that there was some mystery about Rodriguez' +home. + +She spoke kindly to Rodriguez, yet she neither gave her consent +nor yet withheld it, and he knew there was no immediate hope in +her words. Graceful as were his bows as he withdrew, he left with +scarcely another word to say. All day his castle hung over him +like a cloud, not nebulous and evanescent only, but brooding +darkly, boding storms, such as the orange blossoms dread. + +He walked again in the garden with Serafina, but Dona Mirana was +never far, and the glamour of the former evening, lit by one star, +was driven from the garden by his anxieties about that castle of +which he could not speak. Serafina asked him of his home. He would +not parry her question, and yet he could not tell her that all +their future hung on the promise of a man in an old leathern +jacket calling himself a king. So the mystery of his habitation +deepened, spoiling the glamour of the evening. He spoke, instead, +of the forest, hoping she might know something of that strange +monarch to whom they dwelt so near; but she glanced uneasily +towards Shadow Valley and told him that none in Lowlight went that +way. Sorrow grew heavier round Rodriguez' heart at this: believing +in the promise of a man whose eyes he trusted he had asked +Serafina to marry him, and Serafina had said Yes; and now he found +she knew nothing of such a man, which seemed somehow to Rodriguez +to weaken his promise, and, worst of all, she feared the place +where he lived. He welcomed the approach of Dona Mirana, and all +three returned to the house. For the rest of that evening he spoke +little; but he had formed his project. + +When the two ladies retired Rodriguez, who had seemed tongue-tied +for many hours, turned to Don Alderon. His mother had told Don +Alderon nothing yet; for she was troubled by the mystery of +Rodriguez' castle, and would give him time to make it clear if he +could; for there was something about Rodriguez of which with many +pages I have tried to acquaint my reader but which was clear when +first she saw him to Dona Mirana. In fact she liked him at once, +as I hope that perhaps by now my reader may. He turned to Don +Alderon, who was surprised to see the vehemence with which his +guest suddenly spoke after those hours of silence, and Rodriguez +told him the story of his love and the story of both his castles, +that which had vanished from the bank of the Ebro and that which +was promised him by the King of Shadow Valley. And often Don +Alderon interrupted. + +"Oh, Rodriguez," he said, "you are welcome to our ancient, +unfortunate house": and later he said, "I have met no man that had +a prettier way with the sword." + +But Rodriguez held on to the end, telling all he had to tell; and +especially that he was landless and penniless but for that one +promise; and as for the sword, he said, he was but as a child +playing before the sword of Don Alderon. And this Don Alderon said +was in no wise so, though there were a few cunning passes that he +had learned, hoping that the day might come for him to do God a +service thereby by slaying some of the Moors: and heartily he gave +his consent and felicitation. But this Rodriguez would not have: +"Come with me," he said, "to the forest to the place where I met +this man, and if we find him not there we will go to the house in +which his bowmen feast and there have news of him, and he shall +show us the castle of his promise and, if it be such a castle as +you approve, then your consent shall be given, but if not ..." + +"Gladly indeed," said Don Alderon. "We will start tomorrow." + +And Rodriguez took his words literally, though his host had meant +no more than what we should call "one of these days," but +Rodriguez was being consumed with a great impatience. And so they +arranged it, and Don Alderon went to bed with a feeling, which is +favourable to dreams, that on the next day they went upon an +adventure; for neither he nor anyone in that village had entered +Shadow Valley. + +Once more next morning Rodriguez walked with Serafina, with +something of the romance of the garden gone, for Dona Mirana +walked there too; and romance is like one of those sudden, +wonderful colours that flash for a moment out of a drop of dew; a +passing shadow obscures them; and ask another to see it, and the +colour is not the same: move but a yard and the ray of enchantment +is gone. Dona Mirana saw the romance of that garden, but she saw +it from thirty years away; it was all different what she saw, all +changed from a certain day (for love was love in the old days): +and to Rodriguez and Serafina it seemed that she could not see +romance at all, and somehow that dimmed it. Almost their eyes +seemed to search amongst the azaleas for the romance of that other +evening. + +And then Rodriguez told Serafina that he was riding away with her +brother to see about the affairs of his castle, and that they +would return in a few days. Scarcely a hint he gave that those +affairs might not prosper, for he trusted the word of the King of +Shadow Valley. His confidence had returned: and soon, with swords +at side and cloaks floating brilliant on light winds of April, +Rodriguez and Alderon rode away together. + +Soon in the distance they saw Shadow Valley. And then Rodriguez +bethought him of Morano and of the foul wrong he committed against +Don Alderon with his frying-pan, and how he was there in the camp +to which he was bringing his friend. And so he said: "That vile +knave Morano still lives and insists on serving me." + +"If he be near," said Don Alderon, "I pray you to disarm him of +his frying-pan for the sake of my honour, which does not suffer me +to be stricken with culinary weapons, but only with the sword, the +lance, or even bolts of cannon or arquebuss ..." He was thinking +of yet more weapons when Rodriguez put spurs to his horse. "He is +near," he said; "I will ride on and disarm him." + +So Rodriguez came cantering into the forest while Don Alderon +ambled a mile or so behind him. + +And there he found his old camp and saw Morano, sitting upon the +ground by a small fire. Morano sprang up at once with joy in his +eyes, his face wreathed with questions, which he did not put into +words for he did not pry openly into his master's affairs. + +"Morano," said Rodriguez, "give me your frying-pan." + +"My frying-pan?" said Morano. + +"Yes," said Rodriguez. And when he held in his hand that +blackened, greasy utensil he told Morano, "That senor you met in +Lowlight rides with me." + +The cheerfulness faded out of Morano's face as light fades at +sunset. "Master," he said, "he will surely slay me now." + +"He will not slay you," said Rodriguez. + +"Master," Morano said, "he hopes for my fat carcase as much as men +hope for the unicorn, when they wear their bright green coats and +hunt him with dogs in Spring." I know not what legend Morano +stored in his mind, nor how much of it was true. "And when he +finds me without my frying-pan he will surely slay me." + +"That senor," said Rodriguez emphatically, "must not be hit with +the frying-pan." + +"That is a hard rule, master," said Morano. + +And Rodriguez was indignant, when he heard that, that anyone +should thus blaspheme against an obvious law of chivalry: while +Morano's only thought was upon the injustice of giving up the +sweets of life for the sake of a frying-pan. Thus they were at +cross-purposes. And for some while they stood silent, while +Rodriguez hung the reins of his horse over the broken branch of a +tree. And then Don Alderon rode into the wood. + +All then that was most pathetic in Morano's sense of injustice +looked out of his eyes as he turned them upon his master. But Don +Alderon scarcely glanced at all at Morano, even when he handed to +him the reins of his horse as he walked on towards Rodriguez. + +And there in that leafy place they rested all through the evening, +for they had not started so early upon their journey as travellers +should. Eight days had gone since Rodriguez had left that small +camp to ride to Lowlight, and to the apex of his life towards +which all his days had ascended; and in that time Morano had +collected good store of wood and, in little ways unthought of by +dwellers in cities, had made the place like such homes as +wanderers find. Don Alderon was charmed with their roof of +towering greenness, and with the choirs of those which inhabited +it and which were now all coming home to sing. And at some moment +in the twilight, neither Rodriguez nor Alderon noticed when, +Morano repossessed himself of his frying-pan, unbidden by +Rodriguez, but acting on a certain tacit permission that there +seemed to be in the twilight or in the mood of the two young men +as they sat by the fire. And soon he was cooking once more, at a +fire of his own, with something of the air that you see upon a +Field Marshal's face who has lost his baton and found it again. +Have you ever noticed it, reader? + +And when the meal was ready Morano served it in silence, moving +unobtrusively in the gloom of the wood; for he knew that he was +forgiven, yet not so openly that he wished to insist on his +presence or even to imply his possession of the weapon that fried +the bacon. So, like a dryad he moved from tree to tree, and like +any fabulous creature was gone again. And the two young men supped +well, and sat on and on, watching the sparks go up on innumerable +journeys from the fire at which they sat, to be lost to sight in +huge wastes of blackness and stars, lost to sight utterly, lost +like the spirit of man to the gaze of our wonder when we try to +follow its journey beyond the hearths that we know. + +All the next day they rode on through the forest, till they came +to the black circle of the old fire of their next camp. And here +Rodriguez halted on account of the attraction that one of his old +camps seems to have for a wanderer. It drew his feet towards it, +this blackened circle, this hearth that for one night made one +spot in the wilderness home. Don Alderon did not care whether they +tarried or hurried; he loved his journey through this leafy land; +the cool night-breeze slipping round the tree-trunks was new to +him, and new was the comradeship of the abundant stars; the quest +itself was a joy to him; with his fancy he built Rodriguez' +mysterious castle no less magnificently than did Don Alvidar. +Sometimes they talked of the castle, each of the young men +picturing it as he saw it; but in the warmth of the camp-fire +after Morano slept they talked of more than these chronicles can +tell. + +In the morning they pressed on as fast as the forest's low boughs +would allow them. They passed somewhere near the great cottage in +which the bowmen feasted; but they held on, as they had decided +after discussion to do, for the last place in which Rodriguez had +seen the King of Shadow Valley, which was the place of his +promise. And before any dimness came even to the forest, or golden +shafts down colonnades which were before all cathedrals, they +found the old camp that they sought, which still had a clear +flavour of magic for Morano on account of the moth-like coming and +going of his three horses after he had tied them to that tree. And +here they looked for the King of Shadow Valley; and then Rodriguez +called him; and then all three of them called him, shouting "King +of Shadow Valley" all together. No answer came: the woods were +without echo: nothing stirred but fallen leaves. But before those +miles of silence could depress them Rodriguez hit upon a simple +plan, which was that he and Alderon should search all round, far +from the track, while Morano stayed in the camp and shouted +frequently, and they would not go out of hearing of his voice: for +Shadow Valley had a reputation of being a bad forest for +travellers to find their way there; indeed, few ever attempted to. +So they did as he said, he and Alderon searching in different +directions, while Morano remained in the camp, lifting a large and +melancholy voice. And though rumour said it was hard to find the +way when twenty yards from the track in Shadow Valley, it did not +say it was hard to find the green bowmen: and Rodriguez, knowing +that they guarded the forest as the shadows of trees guard the +coolness, was assured he would meet with some of them even though +he should miss their master. So he and Alderon searched till the +forest darkness came and only birds on high branches still had +light; and they never saw the King of Shadow Valley or any trace +whatever of any man. And Alderon first returned to the encampment; +but Rodriguez searched on into the night, searching and calling +through the darkness, and feeling, as every minute went by and +every faint call of Morano, that his castle was fading away, +slipping past oak-tree and thorn-bush, to take its place among the +unpitying stars. And when he returned at last from his useless +search he found Morano standing by a good fire, and the sight of +it a little cheered Rodriguez, and the sight of the firelight on +Morano's face, and the homely comfort of the camp, for everything +is comparative. + +And over their supper Rodriguez and Alderon agreed that they had +come to a part of the forest too remote from the home of the King +of Shadow Valley, and decided to go the next day to the house of +the green bowmen: and before he slept Rodriguez felt once more +that all was well with his castle. + +Yet when the next day came they searched again, for Rodriguez +remembered how it was to this very place that the King of Shadow +Valley had bidden him come in four weeks, and though this period +was not yet accomplished, he felt, and Alderon fully agreed, they +had waited long enough: so they searched all the morning, and then +fulfilled their decision of overnight by riding for the great +cottage Rodriguez knew. All the way they met no one. And +Rodriguez' gaiety came back as they rode, for he and Don Alderon +recognised more and more clearly that the bowmen's great cottage +was the place they should have gone at first. + +In early evening they were just at their journey's end; but barely +had they left the track that they had ridden the day before, +barely taken the smaller path that led after a few hundred yards +to the cottage when they found themselves stopped by huge chains +that hung from tree to tree. High into the trees went the chains +above their heads where they sat their horses, and a chain ran +every six inches down to the very ground: the road was well +blocked. + +Rodriguez and Alderon hastily consulted; then, leaving the horses +with Morano, they followed the chains through dense forest to find +a place where they could get the horses through. Finding the +chains go on and on and on, and as evening was drawing in, the two +friends divided, Alderon going back and Rodriguez on, agreeing to +meet again on the path where Morano was. + +It was darkening when they met there, Rodriguez having found +nothing but that iron barrier going on from trunk to trunk, and +Alderon having found a great gateway of iron; but it was shut. +Through the silent shadows stealing abroad at evening the three +men crashed their way on foot, leading their horses, towards this +gate; but their way was slow and difficult for no path at all led +up to it. It was dark when they reached it and they saw the high +gate in the night, a black barrier among the trees where no one +would wish to come, and in forest that seemed to these three to be +nearly impenetrable. And what astonished Rodriguez most of all was +that the chains had not been across the path when he had feasted +with the green bowmen. + +They stood there gazing, all three, at the dark locked gate, and +then they saw two shields that met in the midst of it, and +Rodriguez mounted his horse and stretched up to feel what device +there was on the beaten iron; and both the shields were blank. + +There they camped as well as men can when darkness has fallen +before they reach their camping-ground; and Morano lit a great +fire before the gate, and the smooth blank shields touching +shoulders there up above them shone on Rodriguez and Alderon in +the firelight. For a while they wondered at that strange gate that +stood there dividing the wilderness; and then sleep came. + +As soon as they woke they called loudly, but no one guarded that +gate, no step but theirs stirred in the forest. Then, leaving +Morano in the camp with its great gate that led nowhere, the two +young men climbed up by branches and chains, and were soon on the +other side of the gate and pressing on through the silence of the +forest to find the cottage in which Rodriguez had slept. And +almost at once the green bowmen appeared, ten of them with their +bows, in front of Rodriguez and Alderon. "Stop," said the ten +green bowmen. When the bowmen said that, there was nothing else to +do. + +"What do you seek?" said the bowmen. + +"The King of Shadow Valley," answered Rodriguez. + +"He is not here," they said. + +"Where is he?" asked Rodriguez. + +"He is nowhere," said one, "when he does not wish to be seen." + +"Then show me the castle that he promised me," said Rodriguez. + +"We know nothing of any castle," said one of the bowmen, and they +all shook their heads. + +"No castle?" said Rodriguez. + +"No," they said. + +"Has the King of Shadow Valley no castle?" he asked, beginning now +to despair. + +"We know of none," they said. "He lives in the forest." + +Before Rodriguez quite despaired he asked each one if they knew +not of any castle of which their King was possessed; and each of +them said that there was no castle in all Shadow Valley. The ten +still stood in front of them with their bows: and Rodriguez turned +away then indeed in despair, and walked slowly back to the camp, +and Alderon walked behind him. In silence they reached their camp +by the great gate that led nowhere, and there Rodriguez sat down +on a log beside the dwindling fire, gazing at the grey ashes and +thinking of his dead hopes. He had not the heart to speak to +Alderon, and the silence was unbroken by Morano who, for all his +loquacity, knew when his words were not welcome. Don Alderon tried +to break that melancholy silence, saying that these ten bowmen did +not know the whole world; but he could not cheer Rodriguez. For, +sitting there in dejection on his log, thinking of all the +assurance with which he had often spoken of his castle, there was +one more thing to trouble him than Don Alderon knew. And this was +that when the bowmen had appeared he had hung once more round his +neck that golden badge that was worked for him by the King of +Shadow Valley; and they must have seen it, and they had paid no +heed to it whatever: its magic was wholly departed. And one thing +troubled him that Rodriguez did not know, a very potent factor in +human sorrow: he had left in the morning so eagerly that he had +had no breakfast, and this he entirely forgot and knew not how +much of his dejection came from this cause, thinking that the loss +of his castle was of itself enough. + +So with downcast head he sat empty and hopeless, and the little +camp was silent. + +In this mournful atmosphere while no one spoke, and no one seemed +to watch, stood, when at last Rodriguez raised his head, with +folded arms before the gate to nowhere, the King of Shadow Valley. +His face was surly, as though the face of a ghost, called from +important work among asteroids needing his care, by the trivial +legerdemain of some foolish novice. Rodriguez, looking into those +angry eyes, wholly forgot it was he that had a grievance. The +silence continued. And then the King of Shadow Valley spoke. + +"When have I broken my word?" he said. + +Rodriguez did not know. The man was still looking at him, still +standing there with folded arms before the great gate, confronting +him, demanding some kind of answer: and Rodriguez had nothing to +say. + +"I came because you promised me the castle," he said at last. + +"I did not bid you come here," the man with the folded arms +answered. + +"I went where you bade me," said Rodriguez, "and you were not +there." + +"In four weeks, I said," answered the King angrily. + +And then Alderon spoke. "Have you any castle for my friend?" he +said. + +"No," said the King of Shadow Valley. + +"You promised him one," said Don Alderon. + +The King of Shadow Valley raised with his left hand a horn that +hung below his elbow by a green cord round his body. He made no +answer to Don Alderon, but put the horn against his lips and blew. +They watched him all three in silence, till the silence was broken +by many men moving swiftly through covert, and the green bowmen +appeared. + +When seven or eight were there he turned and looked at them. "When +have I broken my word?" he said to his men. + +And they all answered him, "Never!" + +More broke into sight through the bushes. + +"Ask them" he said. And Rodriguez did not speak. + +"Ask them," he said again, "when I have broken my word." + +Still Rodriguez and Alderon said nothing. And the bowmen answered +them. "He has never broken his word," every bowman said. + +"You promised me a castle," said Rodriguez, seeing that man's +fierce eyes upon him still. + +"Then do as I bid you," answered the King of Shadow Valley; and he +turned round and touched the lock of the gates with some key that +he had. The gates moved open and the King went through. + +Don Alderon ran forward after him, and caught up with him as he +strode away, and spoke to him, and the King answered. Rodriguez +did not hear what they said, and never afterwards knew. These +words he heard only, from the King of Shadow Valley as he and Don +Alderon parted: ".... and therefore, senor, it were better for +some holy man to do his blessed work before we come." And the King +of Shadow Valley passed into the deeps of the wood. + +As the great gates were slowly swinging to, Don Alderon came back +thoughtfully. The gates clanged, clicked, and were shut again. The +King of Shadow Valley and all his bowmen were gone. + +Don Alderon went to his horse, and Rodriguez and Morano did the +same, drawn by the act of the only man of the three that seemed to +have made up his mind. Don Alderon led his horse back toward the +path, and Rodriguez followed with his. When they came to the path +they mounted in silence; and presently Morano followed them, with +his blankets rolled up in front of him on his horse and his +frying-pan slung behind him. + +"Which way?" said Rodriguez. + +"Home," said Don Alderon. + +"But I cannot go to your home," said Rodriguez. + +"Come," said Don Alderon, as one whose plans were made. Rodriguez +without a home, without plans, without hope, went with Don Alderon +as thistledown goes with the warm wind. They rode through the +forest till it grew all so dim that only a faint tinge of +greenness lay on the dark leaves: above were patches of bluish sky +like broken pieces of steel. And a star or two were out when they +left the forest. And cantering on they came to Lowlight when the +Milky Way appeared. + +And there were Dona Mirana and Serafina in the hall to greet them +as they entered the door. + +"What news?" they asked. + +But Rodriguez hung back; he had no news to give. It was Don +Alderon that went forward, speaking cheerily to Serafina, and +afterwards to his mother, with whom he spoke long and anxiously, +pointing toward the forest sometimes, almost, as Rodriguez +thought, in fear. + +And a little later, when the ladies had retired, Don Alderon told +Rodriguez over the wine, with which he had tried to cheer his +forlorn companion, that it was arranged that he should marry +Serafina. And when Rodriguez lamented that this was impossible he +replied that the King of Shadow Valley wished it. And when +Rodriguez heard this his astonishment equalled his happiness, for +he marvelled that Don Alderon should not only believe that strange +man's unsupported promise, but that he should even obey him as +though he held him in awe. + +And on the next day Rodriguez spoke with Dona Mirana as they +walked in the glory of the garden. And Dona Mirana gave him her +consent as Don Alderon had done: and when Rodriguez spoke humbly +of postponement she glanced uneasily towards Shadow Valley, as +though she too feared the strange man who ruled over the forest +which she had never entered. + +And so it was that Rodriguez walked with his lady, with the sweet +Serafina in that garden again. And walking there they forgot the +need of house or land, forgot Shadow Valley with its hopes and its +doubts, and all the anxieties of the thoughts that we take for the +morrow: and when evening came and the birds sang in azaleas, and +the shadows grew solemn and long, and winds blew cool from the +blazing bed of the Sun, into the garden now all strange and still, +they forgot our Earth and, beyond the mundane coasts, drifted on +dreams of their own into aureate regions of twilight, to wander in +lands wherein lovers walk briefly and only once. + + + + + +THE TWELFTH CHRONICLE + +THE BUILDING OF CASTLE RODRIGUEZ AND THE ENDING OF THESE +CHRONICLES + + +When the King of Shadow Valley met Rodriguez, for the first time +in the forest, and gave him his promise and left him by his camp- +fire, he went back some way towards the bowmen's cottage and blew +his horn; and his hundred bowmen were about him almost at once. To +these he gave their orders and they went back, whence they had +come, into the forest's darkness. But he went to the bowmen's +cottage and paced before it, a dark and lonely figure of the +night; and wherever he paced the ground he marked it with small +sticks. And next morning the hundred bowmen came with axes as soon +as the earliest light had entered the forest, and each of them +chose out one of the giant trees that stood before the cottage, +and attacked it. All day they swung their axes against the +forest's elders, of which nearly a hundred were fallen when +evening came. And the stoutest of these, great trunks that were +four feet through, were dragged by horses to the bowmen's cottage +and laid by the little sticks that the King of Shadow Valley had +put overnight in the ground. The bowmen's cottage and the kitchen +that was in the wood behind it, and a few trees that still stood, +were now all enclosed by four lines of fallen trees which made a +large rectangle on the ground with a small square at each of its +corners. And craftsmen came, and smoothed and hollowed the inner +sides of the four rows of trees, working far into the night. So +was the first day's work accomplished and so was built the first +layer of the walls of Castle Rodriguez. + +On the next day the bowmen again felled a hundred trees; the top +of the first layer was cut flat by carpenters; at evening the +second layer was hoisted up after their under sides had been +flattened to fit the layer below them; quantities more were cast +in to make the floor when they had been gradually smoothed and +fitted: at the end of the second day a man could not see over the +walls of Castle Rodriguez. And on the third day more craftsmen +arrived, men from distant villages at the forest's edge, whence +the King of Shadow Valley had summoned them; and they carved the +walls as they grew. And a hundred trees fell that day, and the +castle was another layer higher. And all the while a park was +growing in the forest, as they felled the great trees; but the +greatest trees of all the bowmen spared, oaks that had stood there +for ages and ages of men; they left them to grip the earth for a +while longer, for a few more human generations. + +On the fourth day the two windows at the back of the bowmen's +cottage began to darken, and that evening Castle Rodriguez was +fifteen feet high. And still the hundred bowmen hewed at the +forest, bringing sunlight bright on to grass that was shadowed by +oaks for ages. And at the end of the fifth day they began to roof +the lower rooms and make their second floor: and still the castle +grew a layer a day, though the second storey they built with +thinner trees that were only three feet through, which were more +easily carried to their place by the pulleys. And now they began +to heap up rocks in a mass of mortar against the wall on the +outside, till a steep slope guarded the whole of the lower part of +the castle against fire from any attacker if war should come that +way, in any of the centuries that were yet to be: and the deep +windows they guarded with bars of iron. + +The shape of the castle showed itself clearly now, rising on each +side of the bowmen's cottage and behind it, with a tower at each +of its corners. To the left of the old cottage the main doorway +opened to the great hall, in which a pile of a few huge oaks was +being transformed into a massive stair. Three figures of strange +men held up this ceiling with their heads and uplifted hands, when +the castle was finished; but as yet the carvers had only begun +their work, so that only here and there an eye peeped out, or a +smile flickered, to give any expression to the curious faces of +these fabulous creatures of the wood, which were slowly taking +their shape out of three trees whose roots were still in the earth +below the floor. In an upper storey one of these trees became a +tall cupboard; and the shelves and the sides and the back and the +top of it were all one piece of oak. + +All the interior of the castle was of wood, hollowed into alcoves +and polished, or carved into figures leaning out from the walls. +So vast were the timbers that the walls, at a glance, seemed +almost one piece of wood. And the centuries that were coming to +Spain darkened the walls as they came, through autumnal shades +until they were all black, as though they all mourned in secret +for lost generations; but they have not yet crumbled. + +The fireplaces they made with great square red tiles, which they +also put in the chimneys amongst rude masses of mortar: and these +great dark holes remained always mysterious to those that looked +for mystery in the family that whiled away the ages in that +castle. And by every fireplace two queer carved creatures stood +upholding the mantlepiece, with mystery in their faces and curious +limbs, uniting the hearth with fable and with tales told in the +wood. Years after the men that carved them were all dust the +shadows of these creatures would come out and dance in the room, +on wintry nights when all the lamps were gone and flames stole out +and flickered above the smouldering logs. + +In the second storey one great saloon ran all the length of the +castle. In it was a long table with eight legs that had carvings +of roses rambling along its edges: the table and its legs were all +of one piece with the floor. They would never have hollowed the +great trunk in time had they not used fire. The second storey was +barely complete on the day that Rodriguez and Don Alderon and +Morano came to the chains that guarded the park. And the King of +Shadow Valley would not permit his gift to be seen in anything +less than its full magnificence, and had commanded that no man in +the world might enter to see the work of his bowmen and craftsmen +until it should frown at all comers a castle formidable as any in +Spain. + +And then they heaped up the mortar and rock to the top of the +second storey, but above that they let the timbers show, except +where they filled in plaster between the curving trunks: and the +ages blackened the timber in amongst the white plaster; but not a +storm that blew in all the years that came, nor the moss of so +many Springs, ever rotted away those beams that the forest had +given and on which the bowmen had laboured so long ago. But the +castle weathered the ages and reached our days, worn, battered +even, by its journey through the long and sometimes troubled +years, but splendid with the traffic that it had with history in +many gorgeous periods. Here Valdar the Excellent came once in his +youth. And Charles the Magnificent stayed a night in this castle +when on a pilgrimage to a holy place of the South. + +It was here that Peter the Arrogant in his cups gave Africa, one +Spring night, to his sister's son. What grandeurs this castle has +seen! What chronicles could be writ of it! But not these +chronicles, for they draw near their close, and they have yet to +tell how the castle was built. Others shall tell what banners flew +from all four of its towers, adding a splendour to the wind, and +for what cause they flew. I have yet to tell of their building. + +The second storey was roofed, and Castle Rodriguez still rose one +layer day by day, with a hauling at pulleys and the work of a +hundred men: and all the while the park swept farther into the +forest. + +And the trees that grew up through the building were worked by the +craftsmen in every chamber into which they grew: and a great +branch of the hugest of them made a little crooked stair in an +upper storey. On the floors they laid down skins of beasts that +the bowmen slew in the forest; and on the walls there hung all +manner of leather, tooled and dyed as they had the art to do in +that far-away period in Spain. + +When the third storey was finished they roofed the castle over, +laying upon the huge rafters red tiles that they made of clay. But +the towers were not yet finished. + +At this time the King of Shadow Valley sent a runner into Lowlight +to shoot a blunt arrow with a message tied to it into Don +Alderon's garden, near to the door, at evening. + +And they went on building the towers above the height of the roof +And near the top of them they made homes for archers, little +turrets that leaned like swallows' nests out from each tower, high +places where they could see and shoot and not be seen from below. +And little narrow passages wound away behind perched battlements +of stone, by which archers could slip from place to place, and +shoot from here or from there and never be known. So were built in +that distant age the towers of Castle Rodriguez. + +And one day four weeks from the felling of the first oak, the +period of his promise being accomplished, the King of Shadow +Valley blew his horn. And standing by what had been the bowmen's +cottage, now all shut in by sheer walls of Castle Rodriguez, he +gathered his bowmen to him. And when they were all about him he +gave them their orders. They were to go by stealth to the village +of Lowlight, and were to be by daylight before the house of Don +Alderon; and, whether wed or unwed, whether she fled or folk +defended the house, to bring Dona Serafina of the Valley of +Dawnlight to be the chatelaine of Castle Rodriguez. + +For this purpose he bade them take with them a chariot that he +thought magnificent, though the mighty timbers that gave grandeur +to Castle Rodriguez had a cumbrous look in the heavy vehicle that +was to the bowmen's eyes the triumphal car of the forest. So they +took their bows and obeyed, leaving the craftsmen at their work in +the castle, which was now quite roofed over, towers and all. They +went through the forest by little paths that they knew, going +swiftly and warily in the bowmen's way: and just before nightfall +they were at the forest's edge, though they went no farther from +it than its shadows go in the evening. And there they rested under +the oak trees for the early part of the night except those whose +art it was to gather news for their king; and three of those went +into Lowlight and mixed with the villagers there. + +When white mists moved over the fields near dawn and wavered +ghostly about Lowlight, the green bowman moved with them. And just +out of hearing of the village, behind wild shrubs that hid them, +the bowmen that were coming from the forest met the three that had +spent the night in taverns of Lowlight. And the three told the +hundred of the great wedding that there was to be in the Church of +the Renunciation that morning in Lowlight: and of the preparations +that were made, and how holy men had come from far on mules, and +had slept the night in the village, and the Bishop of Toledo +himself would bless the bridegroom's sword. The bowmen therefore +retired a little way and, moving through the mists, came forward +to points whence they could watch the church, well concealed on +the wild plain, which here and there gave up a field to man but +was mostly the playground of wild creatures whose ways were the +bowmen's ways. And here they waited. + +This was the wedding of Rodriguez and Serafina, of which gossips +often spoke at their doors in summer evenings, old women mumbling +of fair weddings that each had seen; and they had been children +when they saw this wedding; they were those that threw small +handfuls of anemones on the path before the porch. They told the +tale of it till they could tell no more. It is the account of the +last two or three of them, old, old women, that came at last to +these chronicles, so that their tongues may wag as it were a +little longer through these pages although they have been for so +many centuries dead. And this is all that books are able to do. + +First there was bell-ringing and many voices, and then the voices +hushed, and there came the procession of eight divines of Murcia, +whose vestments were strange to Lowlight. Then there came a priest +from the South, near the border of Andalusia, who overnight had +sanctified the ring. (It was he who had entertained Rodriguez when +he first escaped from la Garda, and Rodriguez had sent for him +now.) Each note of the bells came clear through the hush as they +entered the church. And then with suitable attendants the bishop +strode by and they saw quite close the blessed cope of Toledo. And +the bridegroom followed him in, wearing his sword, and Don Alderon +went with him. And then the voices rose again in the street: the +bells rang on: they all saw Dona Mirana. The little bunches of +bright anemones grew sticky in their hands: the bells seemed +louder: cheering rose in the street and came all down it nearer. +Then Dona Serafina walked past them with all her maids: and that +is what the gossips chiefly remembered, telling how she smiled at +them, and praising her dress, through those distant summer +evenings. Then there was music in the church. And afterwards the +forest-people had come. And the people screamed, for none knew +what they would do. But they bowed so low to the bride and +bridegroom, and showed their great hunting bows so willingly to +all who wished to see, that the people lost their alarm and only +feared lest the Bishop of Toledo should blast the merry bowmen +with one of his curses. + +And presently the bride and bridegroom entered the chariot, and +the people cheered; and there were farewells and the casting of +flowers; and the bishop blessed three of their bows; and a fat man +sat beside the driver with folded arms, wearing bright on his face +a look of foolish contentment; and the bowmen and bride and +bridegroom all went away to the forest. + +Four huge white horses drew that bridal chariot, the bowmen ran +beside it, and soon it was lost to sight of the girls that watched +it from Lowlight; but their memories held it close till their eyes +could no longer see to knit and they could only sit by their +porches in fine weather and talk of the days that were. + +So came Rodriguez and his bride to the forest; he silent, +perplexed, wondering always to what home and what future he +brought her; she knowing less than he and trusting more. And on +the untended road that the bowmen shared with stags and with rare, +very venturous travellers, the wheels of the woodland chariot sank +so deep in the sandy earth that the escort of bowmen needed seldom +to run any more; and he who sat by the driver climbed down and +walked silent for once, perhaps awed by the occasion, though he +was none other than Morano. Serafina was delighted with the +forest, but between Rodriguez and its beautiful grandeur his +anxieties crowded thickly. He leaned over once from the chariot +and asked one of the bowmen again about that castle; but the +bowman only bowed and answered with a proverb of Spain, not easily +carried so far from its own soil to thrive in our language, but +signifying that the morrow showeth all things. He was silent then, +for he knew that there was no way to a direct answer through those +proverbs, and after a while perhaps there came to him some of +Serafma's trustfulness. By evening they came to a wide avenue +leading to great gates. + +Rodriguez did not know the avenue, he knew no paths so wide in +Shadow Valley; but he knew those gates. They were the gates of +iron that led nowhere. But now an avenue went from them upon the +other side, and opened widely into a park dotted with clumps of +trees. And the two great iron shields, they too had changed with +the changes that had bewitched the forest, for their surfaces that +had glowed so unmistakably blank, side by side in the firelight, +not many nights before, blazoned now the armorial bearings of +Rodriguez upon the one and those of the house of Dawnlight upon +the other. Through the opened gates they entered the young park +that seemed to wonder at its own ancient trees, where wild deer +drifted away from them like shadows through the evening: for the +bowmen had driven in deer for miles through the forest. They +passed a pool where water-lilies lay in languid beauty for +hundreds of summers, but as yet no flower peeped into the water, +for the pond was all hallowed newly. + +A clump of trees stood right ahead of their way; they passed round +it; and Castle Rodriguez came all at once into view. Serafina +gasped joyously. Rodriguez saw its towers, its turrets for +archers, its guarded windows deep in the mass of stone, its solemn +row of battlements, but he did not believe what he saw. He did not +believe that here at last was his castle, that here was his dream +fulfilled and his journey done. He expected to wake suddenly in +the cold in some lonely camp, he expected the Ebro to unfold its +coils in the North and to come and sweep it away. It was but +another strayed hope, he thought, taking the form of dream. But +Castle Rodriguez still stood frowning there, and none of its +towers vanished, or changed as things change in dreams; but the +servants of the King of Shadow Valley opened the great door, and +Serafina and Rodriguez entered, and all the hundred bowmen +disappeared. + +Here we will leave them, and let these Chronicles end. For whoever +would tell more of Castle Rodriguez must wield one of those +ponderous pens that hangs on the study wall in the house of +historians. Great days in the story of Spain shone on those iron- +barred windows, and things were said in its banqueting chamber and +planned in its inner rooms that sometimes turned that story this +way or that, as rocks turn a young river. And as a traveller meets +a mighty river at one of its bends, and passes on his path, while +the river sweeps on to its estuary and the sea, so I leave the +triumphs and troubles of that story which I touched for one moment +by the door of Castle Rodriguez. + +My concern is but with Rodriguez and Serafina and to tell that +they lived here in happiness; and to tell that the humble Morano +found his happiness too. For he became the magnificent steward of +Castle Rodriguez, the majordomo, and upon august occasions he +wore as much red plush as he had ever seen in his dreams, when he +saw this very event, sleeping by dying camp-fires. And he slept +not upon straw but upon good heaps of wolf-skins. But pining a +little in the second year of his somewhat lonely splendour, he +married one of the maidens of the forest, the child of a bowman +that hunted boars with their king. And all the green bowmen came +and built him a house by the gates of the park, whence he walked +solemnly on proper occasions to wait upon his master. Morano, +good, faithful man, come forward for but a moment out of the +Golden Age and bow across all those centuries to the reader: say +one farewell to him in your Spanish tongue, though the sound of it +be no louder than the sound of shadows moving, and so back to the +dim splendour of the past, for the Senor or Senora shall hear your +name no more. + +For years Rodriguez lived a chieftain of the forest, owning the +overlordship of the King of Shadow Valley, whom he and Serafina +would entertain with all the magnificence of which their castle +was capable on such occasions as he appeared before the iron +gates. They seldom saw him. Sometimes they heard his horn as he +went by. They heard his bowmen follow. And all would pass and +perhaps they would see none. But upon occasions he came. He came +to the christening of the eldest son of Rodriguez and Serafina, +for whom he was godfather. He came again to see the boy shoot for +the first time with a bow. And later he came to give little +presents, small treasures of the forest, to Rodriguez' daughters; +who treated him always, not as sole lord of that forest that +travellers dreaded, but as a friend of their very own that they +had found for themselves. He had his favourites among them and +none quite knew which they were. + +And one day he came in his old age to give Rodriguez a message. +And he spoke long and tenderly of the forest as though all its +glades were sacred. + +And soon after that day he died, and was buried with the mourning +of all his men in the deeps of Shadow Valley, where only Rodriguez +and the bowmen knew. And Rodriguez became, as the old king had +commanded, the ruler of Shadow Valley and all its faithful men. +With them he hunted and defended the forest, holding all its ways +to be sacred, as the old king had taught. It is told how Rodriguez +ruled the forest well. + +And later he made a treaty with the Spanish King acknowledging him +sole Lord of Spain, including Shadow Valley, saving that certain +right should pertain to the foresters and should be theirs for +ever. And these rights are written on parchment and sealed with +the seal of Spain; and none may harm the forest without the +bowmen's leave. + +Rodriguez was made Duke of Shadow Valley and a Magnifico of the +first degree; though little he went with other hidalgos to Court, +but lived with his family in Shadow Valley, travelling seldom +beyond the splendour of the forest farther than Lowlight. + +Thus he saw the glory of autumn turning the woods to fairyland: +and when the stags were roaring and winter coming on he would take +a boar-spear down from the wall and go hunting through the forest, +whose twigs were black and slender and still against the bright +menace of winter. Spring found him viewing the fields that his men +had sown, along the forest's edge, and finding in the chaunt of +the myriad birds a stirring of memories, a beckoning towards past +days. In summer he would see his boys and girls at play, running +through shafts of sunlight that made leaves and grass like pale +emeralds. He gave his days to the forest and the four seasons. +Thus he dwelt amidst splendours such as History has never seen in +any visit of hers to the courts of men. + +Of him and Serafina it has been written and sung that they lived +happily ever after; and though they are now so many centuries +dead, may they have in the memories of such of my readers as will +let them linger there, that afterglow of life that remembrance +gives, which is all that there is on earth for those that walked +it once and that walk the paths of their old haunts no more. + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Don Rodriguez +by Lord Dunsany + diff --git a/old/drodr10.zip b/old/drodr10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..88a4858 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/drodr10.zip |