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diff --git a/old/arpn10.txt b/old/arpn10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2bd0033 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/arpn10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12693 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Armourer's Prentices, by Charlotte M. Yonge + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Armourer's Prentices + +Author: Charlotte Mary Yonge + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9959] +[This file was first posted on November 5, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE ARMOURER'S PRENTICES *** + + + + +Transcribed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +THE ARMOURER'S PRENTICES + + + + +PREFACE + + + +I have attempted here to sketch citizen life in the early Tudor +days, aided therein by Stowe's Survey of London, supplemented by Mr. +Loftie's excellent history, and Dr. Burton's English Merchants. + +Stowe gives a full account of the relations of apprentices to their +masters; though I confess that I do not know whether Edmund Burgess +could have become a citizen of York after serving an apprenticeship +in London. Evil May Day is closely described in Hall's Chronicle. +The ballad, said to be by Churchill, a contemporary, does not agree +with it in all respects; but the story-teller may surely have +license to follow whatever is most suitable to the purpose. The +sermon is exactly as given by Hall, who is also responsible for the +description of the King's sports and of the Field of the Cloth of +Gold and of Ardres. Knight's admirable Pictorial History of England +tells of Barlow, the archer, dubbed by Henry VIII. the King of +Shoreditch. + +Historic Winchester describes both St. Elizabeth College and the +Archer Monks of Hyde Abbey. The tales mentioned as told by Ambrose +to Dennet are really New Forest legends. + +The Moresco's Arabic Gospel and Breviary are mentioned in Lady +Calcott's History of Spain, but she does not give her authority. +Nor can I go further than Knight's Pictorial History for the King's +adventure in the marsh. He does not say where it happened, but as +in Stowe's map "Dead Man's Hole" appears in what is now Regent's +Park, the marsh was probably deep enough in places for the adventure +there. Brand's Popular Antiquities are the authority for the +nutting in St. John's Wood on Holy Cross Day. Indeed, in some +country parishes I have heard that boys still think they have a +license to crack nuts at church on the ensuing Sunday. + +Seebohm's Oxford Reformers and the Life of Sir Thomas More, written +by William Roper, are my other authorities, though I touched +somewhat unwillingly on ground already lighted up by Miss Manning in +her Household of Sir Thomas More. + +Galt's Life of Cardinal Wolsey afforded the description of his +household taken from his faithful Cavendish, and likewise the story +of Patch the Fool. In fact, a large portion of the whole book was +built on that anecdote. + +I mention all this because I have so often been asked my authorities +in historical tales, that I think people prefer to have what the +French appropriately call pieces justificatives. + +C. M. YONGE. + +August 1st, 1884 + + + +CHAPTER I. THE VERDURER'S LODGE + + + +"Give me the poor allottery my father left me by testament, with +that I will go buy me fortunes." +"Get you with him, you old dog." + +As You Like It. + + +The officials of the New Forest have ever since the days of the +Conqueror enjoyed some of the pleasantest dwellings that southern +England can boast. + +The home of the Birkenholt family was not one of the least +delightful. It stood at the foot of a rising ground, on which grew +a grove of magnificent beeches, their large silvery boles rising +majestically like columns into a lofty vaulting of branches, covered +above with tender green foliage. Here and there the shade beneath +was broken by the gilding of a ray of sunshine on a lower twig, or +on a white trunk, but the floor of the vast arcades was almost +entirely of the russet brown of the fallen leaves, save where a fern +or holly bush made a spot of green. At the foot of the slope lay a +stretch of pasture ground, some parts covered by "lady-smocks, all +silver white," with the course of the little stream through the +midst indicated by a perfect golden river of shining kingcups +interspersed with ferns. Beyond lay tracts of brown heath and +brilliant gorse and broom, which stretched for miles and miles along +the flats, while the dry ground was covered with holly brake, and +here and there woods of oak and beech made a sea of verdure, +purpling in the distance. + +Cultivation was not attempted, but hardy little ponies, cows, goats, +sheep, and pigs were feeding, and picking their way about in the +marshy mead below, and a small garden of pot-herbs, inclosed by a +strong fence of timber, lay on the sunny side of a spacious rambling +forest lodge, only one story high, built of solid timber and roofed +with shingle. It was not without strong pretensions to beauty, as +well as to picturesqueness, for the posts of the door, the +architecture of the deep porch, the frames of the latticed windows, +and the verge boards were all richly carved in grotesque devices. +Over the door was the royal shield, between a pair of magnificent +antlers, the spoils of a deer reported to have been slain by King +Edward IV., as was denoted by the "glorious sun of York" carved +beneath the shield. + +In the background among the trees were ranges of stables and +kennels, and on the grass-plat in front of the windows was a row of +beehives. A tame doe lay on the little green sward, not far from a +large rough deer-hound, both close friends who could be trusted at +large. There was a mournful dispirited look about the hound, +evidently an aged animal, for the once black muzzle was touched with +grey, and there was a film over one of the keen beautiful eyes, +which opened eagerly as he pricked his ears and lifted his head at +the rattle of the door latch. Then, as two boys came out, he rose, +and with a slowly waving tail, and a wistful appealing air, came and +laid his head against one of the pair who had appeared in the porch. +They were lads of fourteen and fifteen, clad in suits of new +mourning, with the short belted doublet, puffed hose, small ruffs +and little round caps of early Tudor times. They had dark eyes and +hair, and honest open faces, the younger ruddy and sunburnt, the +elder thinner and more intellectual--and they were so much the same +size that the advantage of age was always supposed to be on the side +of Stephen, though he was really the junior by nearly a year. Both +were sad and grave, and the eyes and cheeks of Stephen showed traces +of recent floods of tears, though there was more settled dejection +on the countenance of his brother. + +"Ay, Spring," said the lad, "'tis winter with thee now. A poor old +rogue! Did the new housewife talk of a halter because he showed his +teeth when her ill-nurtured brat wanted to ride on him? Nay, old +Spring, thou shalt share thy master's fortunes, changed though they +be. Oh, father! father! didst thou guess how it would be with thy +boys!" And throwing himself on the grass, he hid his face against +the dog and sobbed. + +"Come, Stephen, Stephen; 'tis time to play the man! What are we to +do out in the world if you weep and wail?" + +"She might have let us stay for the month's mind," was heard from +Stephen. + +"Ay, and though we might be more glad to go, we might carry bitterer +thoughts along with us. Better be done with it at once, say I." + +"There would still be the Forest! And I saw the moorhen sitting +yester eve! And the wild ducklings are out on the pool, and the +woods are full of song. Oh! Ambrose! I never knew how hard it is +to part--" + +"Nay, now, Steve, where be all your plots for bravery? You always +meant to seek your fortune--not bide here like an acorn for ever." + +"I never thought to be thrust forth the very day of our poor +father's burial, by a shrewish town-bred vixen, and a base narrow- +souled--" + +"Hist! hist!" said the more prudent Ambrose. + +"Let him hear who will! He cannot do worse for us than he has done! +All the Forest will cry shame on him for a mean-hearted skinflint to +turn his brothers from their home, ere their father and his, be cold +in his grave," cried Stephen, clenching the grass with his hands, in +his passionate sense of wrong. + +"That's womanish," said Ambrose. + +"Who'll be the woman when the time comes for drawing cold steel?" +cried Stephen, sitting up. + +At that moment there came through the porch a man, a few years over +thirty, likewise in mourning, with a paler, sharper countenance than +the brothers, and an uncomfortable pleading expression of self- +justification. + +"How now, lads!" he said, "what means this passion? You have taken +the matter too hastily. There was no thought that ye should part +till you had some purpose in view. Nay, we should be fain for +Ambrose to bide on here, so he would leave his portion for me to +deal with, and teach little Will his primer and accidence. You are +a quiet lad, Ambrose, and can rule your tongue better than Stephen." + +"Thanks, brother John," said Ambrose, somewhat sarcastically, "but +where Stephen goes I go." + +"I would--I would have found Stephen a place among the prickers or +rangers, if--" hesitated John. "In sooth, I would yet do it, if he +would make it up with the housewife." + +"My father looked higher for his son than a pricker's office," +returned Ambrose. + +"That do I wot," said John, "and therefore, 'tis for his own good +that I would send him forth. His godfather, our uncle Birkenholt, +he will assuredly provide for him, and set him forth--" + +The door of the house was opened, and a shrewish voice cried, "Mr. +Birkenholt--here, husband! You are wanted. Here's little Kate +crying to have yonder smooth pouch to stroke, and I cannot reach it +for her." + +"Father set store by that otter-skin pouch, for poor Prince Arthur +slew the otter," cried Stephen. "Surely, John, you'll not let the +babes make a toy of that?" + +John made a helpless gesture, and at a renewed call, went indoors. + +"You are right, Ambrose," said Stephen, "this is no place for us. +Why should we tarry any longer to see everything moiled and set at +nought? I have couched in the forest before, and 'tis summer time." + +"Nay," said Ambrose, "we must make up our fardels and have our money +in our pouches before we can depart. We must tarry the night, and +call John to his reckoning, and so might we set forth early enough +in the morning to lie at Winchester that night and take counsel with +our uncle Birkenholt." + +"I would not stop short at Winchester," said Stephen. "London for +me, where uncle Randall will find us preferment!" + +"And what wilt do for Spring!" + +"Take him with me, of course!" exclaimed Stephen. "What! would I +leave him to be kicked and pinched by Will, and hanged belike by +Mistress Maud?" + +"I doubt me whether the poor old hound will brook the journey." + +"Then I'll carry him!" + +Ambrose looked at the big dog as if he thought it would be a serious +undertaking, but he had known and loved Spring as his brother's +property ever since his memory began, and he scarcely felt that they +could be separable for weal or woe. + +The verdurers of the New Forest were of gentle blood, and their +office was well-nigh hereditary. The Birkenholts had held it for +many generations, and the reversion passed as a matter of course to +the eldest son of the late holder, who had newly been laid in the +burial ground of Beaulieu Abbey. John Birkenholt, whose mother had +been of knightly lineage, had resented his father's second marriage +with the daughter of a yeoman on the verge of the Forest, suspected +of a strain of gipsy blood, and had lived little at home, becoming a +sort of agent at Southampton for business connected with the timber +which was yearly cut in the Forest to supply material for the +shipping. He had wedded the daughter of a person engaged in law +business at Southampton, and had only been an occasional visitor at +home, ever after the death of his stepmother. She had left these +two boys, unwelcome appendages in his sight. They had obtained a +certain amount of education at Beaulieu Abbey, where a school was +kept, and where Ambrose daily studied, though for the last few +months Stephen had assisted his father in his forest duties. + +Death had come suddenly to break up the household in the early +spring of 1515, and John Birkenholt had returned as if to a +patrimony, bringing his wife and children with him. The funeral +ceremonies had been conducted at Beaulieu Abbey on the extensive +scale of the sixteenth century, the requiem, the feast, and the +dole, all taking place there, leaving the Forest lodge in its +ordinary quiet. + +It had always been understood that on their father's death the two +younger sons must make their own way in the world; but he had hoped +to live until they were a little older, when he might himself have +started them in life, or expressed his wishes respecting them to +their elder brother. As it was, however, there was no commendation +of them, nothing but a strip of parchment, drawn up by one of the +monks of Beaulieu, leaving each of them twenty crowns, with a few +small jewels and properties left by their own mother, while +everything else went to their brother. + +There might have been some jealousy excited by the estimation in +which Stephen's efficiency--boy as he was--was evidently held by the +plain-spoken underlings of the verdurer; and this added to Mistress +Birkenholt's dislike to the presence of her husband's half-brothers, +whom she regarded as interlopers without a right to exist. Matters +were brought to a climax by old Spring's resentment at being roughly +teased by her spoilt children. He had done nothing worse than growl +and show his teeth, but the town-bred dame had taken alarm, and half +in terror, half in spite, had insisted on his instant execution, +since he was too old to be valuable. Stephen, who loved the dog +only less than he loved his brother Ambrose, had come to high words +with her; and the end of the altercation had been that she had +declared that she would suffer no great lubbers of the half-blood to +devour her children's inheritance, and teach them ill manners, and +that go they must, and that instantly. John had muttered a little +about "not so fast, dame," and "for very shame," but she had turned +on him, and rated him with a violence that demonstrated who was +ruler in the house, and took away all disposition to tarry long +under the new dynasty. + +The boys possessed two uncles, one on each side of the house. Their +father's elder brother had been a man-at-arms, having preferred a +stirring life to the Forest, and had fought in the last surges of +the Wars of the Roses. Having become disabled and infirm, he had +taken advantage of a corrody, or right of maintenance, as being of +kin to a benefactor of Hyde Abbey at Winchester, to which Birkenholt +some generations back had presented a few roods of land, in right of +which, one descendant at a time might be maintained in the Abbey. +Intelligence of his brother's death had been sent to Richard +Birkenholt, but answer had been returned that he was too evil- +disposed with the gout to attend the burial. + +The other uncle, Harry Randall, had disappeared from the country +under a cloud connected with the king's deer, leaving behind him the +reputation of a careless, thriftless, jovial fellow, the best +company in all the Forest, and capable of doing every one's work +save his own. + +The two brothers, who were about seven and six years old at the time +of his flight, had a lively recollection of his charms as a +playmate, and of their mother's grief for him, and refusal to +believe any ill of her Hal. Rumours had come of his attainment to +vague and unknown greatness at court, under the patronage of the +Lord Archbishop of York, which the Verdurer laughed to scorn, though +his wife gave credit to them. Gifts had come from time to time, +passed through a succession of servants and officials of the king, +such as a coral and silver rosary, a jewelled bodkin, an agate +carved with St. Catherine, an ivory pouncet box with a pierced gold +coin as the lid; but no letter with them, as indeed Hal Randall had +never been induced to learn to read or write. Master Birkenholt +looked doubtfully at the tokens and hoped Hal had come honestly by +them; but his wife had thoroughly imbued her sons with the belief +that Uncle Hal was shining in his proper sphere, where he was better +appreciated than at home. Thus their one plan was to go to London +to find Uncle Hal, who was sure to put Stephen on the road to +fortune, and enable Ambrose to become a great scholar, his favourite +ambition. + +His gifts would, as Ambrose observed, serve them as tokens, and with +the purpose of claiming them, they re-entered the hall, a long low +room, with a handsome open roof, and walls tapestried with dressed +skins, interspersed with antlers, hung with weapons of the chase. +At one end of the hall was a small polished barrel, always +replenished with beer, at the other a hearth with a wood fire +constantly burning, and there was a table running the whole length +of the room; at one end of this was laid a cloth, with a few +trenchers on it, and horn cups, surrounding a barley loaf and a +cheese, this meagre irregular supper being considered as a +sufficient supplement to the funeral baked meats which had abounded +at Beaulieu. John Birkenholt sat at the table with a trencher and +horn before him, uneasily using his knife to crumble, rather than +cut, his bread. His wife, a thin, pale, shrewish-looking woman, was +warming her child's feet at the fire, before putting him to bed, and +an old woman sat spinning and nodding on a settle at a little +distance. + +"Brother," said Stephen, "we have thought on what you said. We will +put our stuff together, and if you will count us out our portions, +we will be afoot by sunrise to-morrow." + +"Nay, nay, lad, I said not there was such haste; did I, mistress +housewife?"--(she snorted); "only that thou art a well-grown lusty +fellow, and 'tis time thou wentest forth. For thee, Ambrose, thou +wottest I made thee a fair offer of bed and board." + +"That is," called out the wife, "if thou wilt make a fair scholar of +little Will. 'Tis a mighty good offer. There are not many who +would let their child be taught by a mere stripling like thee!" + +"Nay," said Ambrose, who could not bring himself to thank her, "I go +with Stephen, mistress; I would mend my scholarship ere I teach." + +"As you please," said Mistress Maud, shrugging her shoulders, "only +never say that a fair offer was not made to you." + +"And," said Stephen, "so please you, brother John, hand us over our +portions, and the jewels as bequeathed to us, and we will be gone." + +"Portions, quotha?" returned John. "Boy, they be not due to you +till you be come to years of discretion." + +The brothers looked at one another, and Stephen said, "Nay, now, +brother, I know not how that may be, but I do know that you cannot +drive us from our father's house without maintenance, and detain +what belongs to us." + +And Ambrose muttered something about "my Lord of Beaulieu." + +"Look you, now," said John, "did I ever speak of driving you from +home without maintenance? Hath not Ambrose had his choice of +staying here, and Stephen of waiting till some office be found for +him? As for putting forty crowns into the hands of striplings like +you, it were mere throwing it to the robbers." + +"That being so," said Ambrose turning to Stephen, "we will to +Beaulieu, and see what counsel my lord will give us." + +"Yea, do, like the vipers ye are, and embroil us with my Lord of +Beaulieu," cried Maud from the fire. + +"See," said John, in his more caressing fashion, "it is not well to +carry family tales to strangers, and--and--" + +He was disconcerted by a laugh from the old nurse, "Ho! John +Birkenholt, thou wast ever a lad of smooth tongue, but an thou, or +madam here, think that thy brothers can be put forth from thy +father's door without their due before the good man be cold in his +grave, and the Forest not ring with it, thou art mightily out in thy +reckoning!" + +"Peace, thou old hag; what matter is't of thine?" began Mistress +Maud, but again came the harsh laugh. "Matter of mine! Why, whose +matter should it be but mine, that have nursed all three of the +lads, ay, and their father before them, besides four more that lie +in the graveyard at Beaulieu? Rest their sweet souls! And I tell +thee, Master John, an thou do not righteously by these thy brothers, +thou mayst back to thy parchments at Southampton, for not a man or +beast in the Forest will give thee good day." + +They all felt the old woman's authority. She was able and spirited +in her homely way, and more mistress of the house than Mrs. +Birkenholt herself; and such were the terms of domestic service, +that there was no peril of losing her place. Even Maud knew that to +turn her out was an impossibility, and that she must be accepted +like the loneliness, damp, and other evils of Forest life. John had +been under her dominion, and proceeded to persuade her. "Good now, +Nurse Joan, what have I denied these rash striplings that my father +would have granted them? Wouldst thou have them carry all their +portion in their hands, to be cozened of it at the first ale-house, +or robbed on the next heath?" + +"I would have thee do a brother's honest part, John Birkenholt. A +loving part I say not. Thou wert always like a very popple for +hardness, and smoothness, ay, and slipperiness. Heigh ho! But what +is right by the lads, thou SHALT do." + +John cowered under her eye as he had done at six years old, and +faltered, "I only seek to do them right, nurse." + +Nurse Joan uttered an emphatic grunt, but Mistress Maud broke in, +"They are not to hang about here in idleness, eating my poor child's +substance, and teaching him ill manners." + +"We would not stay here if you paid us for it," returned Stephen. + +"And whither would you go?" asked John. + +"To Winchester first, to seek counsel with our uncle Birkenholt. +Then to London, where uncle Randall will help us to our fortunes." + +"Gipsy Hal! He is more like to help you to a halter," sneered John, +sotto voce, and Joan herself observed, "Their uncle at Winchester +will show them better than to run after that there go-by-chance." + +However, as no one wished to keep the youths, and they were equally +determined to go, an accommodation was come to at last. John was +induced to give them three crowns apiece and to yield them up the +five small trinkets specified, though not without some murmurs from +his wife. It was no doubt safer to leave the rest of the money in +his hands than to carry it with them, and he undertook that it +should be forthcoming, if needed for any fit purpose, such as the +purchase of an office, an apprentice's fee, or an outfit as a +squire. It was a vague promise that cost him nothing just then, and +thus could be readily made, and John's great desire was to get them +away so that he could aver that they had gone by their own free +will, without any hardship, for he had seen enough at his father's +obsequies to show him that the love and sympathy of all the scanty +dwellers in the Forest was with them. + +Nurse Joan had fought their battles, but with the sore heart of one +who was parting with her darlings never to see them again. She bade +them doff their suits of mourning that she might make up their +fardels, as they would travel in their Lincoln-green suits. To take +these she repaired to the little rough shed-like chamber where the +two brothers lay for the last time on their pallet bed, awake, and +watching for her, with Spring at their feet. The poor old woman +stood over them, as over the motherless nurslings whom she had +tended, and she should probably never see more, but she was a woman +of shrewd sense, and perceived that "with the new madam in the hall" +it was better that they should be gone before worse ensued. + +She advised leaving their valuables sealed up in the hands of my +Lord Abbot, but they were averse to this--for they said their uncle +Randall, who had not seen them since they were little children, +would not know them without some pledge. + +She shook her head. "The less you deal with Hal Randall the +better," she said. "Come now, lads, be advised and go no farther +than Winchester, where Master Ambrose may get all the book-learning +he is ever craving for, and you, Master Steevie, may prentice +yourself to some good trade." + +"Prentice!" cried Stephen, scornfully. + +"Ay, ay. As good blood as thine has been prenticed," returned Joan. +"Better so than be a cut-throat sword-and-buckler fellow, ever +slaying some one else or getting thyself slain--a terror to all +peaceful folk. But thine uncle will see to that--a steady-minded +lad always was he--was Master Dick." + +Consoling herself with this hope, the old woman rolled up their new +suits with some linen into two neat knapsacks; sighing over the +thought that unaccustomed fingers would deal with the shirts she had +spun, bleached, and sewn. But she had confidence in "Master Dick," +and concluded that to send his nephews to him at Winchester gave a +far better chance of their being cared for, than letting them be +flouted into ill-doing by their grudging brother and his wife. + + + +CHAPTER II. THE GRANGE OF SILKSTEDE + + + + "All Itchen's valley lay, +St. Catherine's breezy side and the woodlands far away, +The huge Cathedral sleeping in venerable gloom, +The modest College tower, and the bedesmen's Norman home." + +LORD SELBORNE. + + +Very early in the morning, even according to the habits of the time, +were Stephen and Ambrose Birkenholt astir. They were full of ardour +to enter on the new and unknown world beyond the Forest, and much as +they loved it, any change that kept them still to their altered life +would have been distasteful. + +Nurse Joan, asking no questions, folded up their fardels on their +backs, and packed the wallets for their day's journey with ample +provision. She charged them to be good lads, to say their Pater, +Credo, and Ave daily, and never omit Mass on a Sunday. They kissed +her like their mother and promised heartily--and Stephen took his +crossbow. They had had some hope of setting forth so early as to +avoid all other human farewells, except that Ambrose wished to begin +by going to Beaulieu to take leave of the Father who had been his +kind master, and get his blessing and counsel. But Beaulieu was +three miles out of their way, and Stephen had not the same desire, +being less attached to his schoolmaster and more afraid of +hindrances being thrown in their way. + +Moreover, contrary to their expectation, their elder brother came +forth, and declared his intention of setting them forth on their +way, bestowing a great amount of good advice, to the same purport as +that of nurse Joan, namely, that they should let their uncle Richard +Birkenholt find them some employment at Winchester, where they, or +at least Ambrose, might even obtain admission into the famous +college of St. Mary. + +In fact, this excellent elder brother persuaded himself that it +would be doing them an absolute wrong to keep such promising youths +hidden in the Forest. + +The purpose of his going thus far with them made itself evident. It +was to see them past the turning to Beaulieu. No doubt he wished to +tell the story in his own way, and that they should not present +themselves there as orphans expelled from their father's house. It +would sound much better that he had sent them to ask counsel of +their uncle at Winchester, the fit person to take charge of them. +And as he represented that to go to Beaulieu would lengthen their +day's journey so much that they might hardly reach Winchester that +night, while all Stephen's wishes were to go forward, Ambrose could +only send his greetings. There was another debate over Spring, who +had followed his master as usual. John uttered an exclamation of +vexation at perceiving it, and bade Stephen drive the dog back. "Or +give me the leash to drag him. He will never follow me." + +"He goes with us," said Stephen. + +"He! Thou'lt never have the folly! The old hound is half blind and +past use. No man will take thee in with him after thee." + +"Then they shall not take me in," said Stephen. "I'll not leave him +to be hanged by thee." + +"Who spoke of hanging him!" + +"Thy wife will soon, if she hath not already." + +"Thou wilt be for hanging him thyself ere thou have made a day's +journey with him on the king's highway, which is not like these +forest paths, I would have thee to know. Why, he limps already." + +"Then I'll carry him," said Stephen, doggedly. + +"What hast thou to say to that device, Ambrose?" asked John, +appealing to the elder and wiser. + +But Ambrose only answered "I'll help," and as John had no particular +desire to retain the superannuated hound, and preferred on the whole +to be spared sentencing him, no more was said on the subject as they +went along, until all John's stock of good counsel had been lavished +on his brothers' impatient ears. He bade them farewell, and turned +back to the lodge, and they struck away along the woodland pathway +which they had been told led to Winchester, though they had never +been thither, nor seen any town save Southampton and Romsey at long +intervals. On they went, sometimes through beech and oak woods of +noble, almost primeval, trees, but more often across tracts of holly +underwood, illuminated here and there with the snowy garlands of the +wild cherry, and beneath with wide spaces covered with young green +bracken, whose soft irregular masses on the undulating ground had +somewhat the effect of the waves of the sea. These alternated with +stretches of yellow gorse and brown heather, sheets of cotton-grass, +and pools of white crowfoot, and all the vegetation of a mountain +side, only that the mountain was not there. + +The brothers looked with eyes untaught to care for beauty, but with +a certain love of the home scenes, tempered by youth's impatience +for something new. The nightingales sang, the thrushes flew out +before them, the wild duck and moorhen glanced on the pools. Here +and there they came on the furrows left by the snout of the wild +swine, and in the open tracts rose the graceful heads of the deer, +but of inhabitants or travellers they scarce saw any, save when they +halted at the little hamlet of Minestead, where a small alehouse was +kept by one Will Purkiss, who claimed descent from the charcoal- +burner who had carried William Rufus's corpse to burial at +Winchester--the one fact in history known to all New Foresters, +though perhaps Ambrose and John were the only persons beyond the +walls of Beaulieu who did not suppose the affair to have taken place +in the last generation. + +A draught of ale and a short rest were welcome as the heat of the +day came on, making the old dog plod wearily on with his tongue out, +so that Stephen began to consider whether he should indeed have to +be his bearer--a serious matter, for the creature at full length +measured nearly as much as he did. They met hardly any one, and +they and Spring were alike too well known and trained, for +difficulties to arise as to leading a dog through the Forest. +Should they ever come to the term of the Forest? It was not easy to +tell when they were really beyond it, for the ground was much of the +same kind. Only the smooth, treeless hills, where they had always +been told Winchester lay, seemed more defined; and they saw no more +deer, but here and there were inclosures where wheat and barley were +growing, and black timbered farm-houses began to show themselves at +intervals. Herd boys, as rough and unkempt as their charges, could +be seen looking after little tawny cows, black-faced sheep, or +spotted pigs, with curs which barked fiercely at poor weary Spring, +even as their masters were more disposed to throw stones than to +answer questions. + +By and by, on the further side of a green valley, could be seen +buildings with an encircling wall of flint and mortar faced with +ruddy brick, the dark red-tiled roofs rising among walnut-trees, and +an orchard in full bloom spreading into a long green field. + +"Winchester must be nigh. The sun is getting low," said Stephen. + +"We will ask. The good folk will at least give us an answer," said +Ambrose wearily. + +As they reached the gate, a team of plough horses was passing in led +by a peasant lad, while a lay brother, with his gown tucked up, rode +sideways on one, whistling. An Augustinian monk, ruddy, burly, and +sunburnt, stood in the farm-yard, to receive an account of the day's +work, and doffing his cap, Ambrose asked whether Winchester were +near. + +"Three mile or thereaway, my good lad," said the monk; "thou'lt see +the towers an ye mount the hill. Whence art thou?" he added, +looking at the two young strangers. "Scholars? The College elects +not yet a while." + +"We be from the Forest, so please your reverence," and are bound for +Hyde Abbey, where our uncle, Master Richard Birkenholt, dwells." + +"And oh, sir," added Stephen, "may we crave a drop of water for our +dog?" + +The monk smiled as he looked at Spring, who had flung himself down +to take advantage of the halt, hanging out his tongue, and panting +spasmodically. "A noble beast," he said, "of the Windsor breed, +is't not?" Then laying his hand on the graceful head, "Poor old +hound, thou art o'er travelled. He is aged for such a journey, if +you came from the Forest since morn. Twelve years at the least, I +should say, by his muzzle." + +"Your reverence is right," said Stephen, "he is twelve years old. +He is two years younger than I am, and my father gave him to me when +he was a little whelp." + +"So thou must needs take him to seek thy fortune with thee," said +the good-natured Augustinian, not knowing how truly he spoke. "Come +in, my lads, here's a drink for him. What said you was your uncle's +name?" and as Ambrose repeated it, "Birkenholt! Living on a corrody +at Hyde! Ay! ay! My lads, I have a call to Winchester to-morrow, +you'd best tarry the night here at Silkstede Grange, and fare +forward with me." + +The tired boys were heartily glad to accept the invitation, more +especially as Spring, happy as he was with the trough of water +before him, seemed almost too tired to stand over it, and after the +first, tried to lap, lying down. Silkstede was not a regular +convent, only a grange or farm-house, presided over by one of the +monks, with three or four lay brethren under him, and a little +colony of hinds, in the surrounding cottages, to cultivate the farm, +and tend a few cattle and numerous sheep, the special care of the +Augustinians. + +Father Shoveller, as the good-natured monk who had received the +travellers was called, took them into the spacious but homely +chamber which served as refectory, kitchen, and hall. He called to +the lay brother who was busy over the open hearth to fry a few more +rashers of bacon; and after they had washed away the dust of their +journey at the trough where Spring had slaked his thirst, they sat +down with him to a hearty supper, which smacked more of the grange +than of the monastery, spread on a large solid oak table, and washed +down with good ale. The repast was shared by the lay brethren and +farm servants, and also by two or three big sheep dogs, who had to +be taught their manners towards Spring. + +There was none of the formality that Ambrose was accustomed to at +Beaulieu in the great refectory, where no one spoke, but one of the +brethren read aloud some theological book from a stone pulpit in the +wall. Here Brother Shoveller conversed without stint, chiefly with +the brother who seemed to be a kind of bailiff, with whom he +discussed the sheep that were to be taken into market the next day, +and the prices to be given for them by either the college, the +castle, or the butchers of Boucher Row. He however found time to +talk to the two guests, and being sprung from a family in the +immediate neighbourhood, he knew the verdurer's name, and ere he was +a monk, had joined in the chase in the Forest. + +There was a little oratory attached to the hall, where he and the +lay brethren kept the hours, to a certain degree, putting two or +three services into one, on a liberal interpretation of laborare est +orare. Ambrose's responses made their host observe as they went +out, "Thou hast thy Latin pat, my son, there's the making of a +scholar in thee." + +Then they took their first night's rest away from home, in a small +guest-chamber, with a good bed, though bare in all other respects. +Brother Shoveller likewise had a cell to himself, but the lay +brethren slept promiscuously among their sheep-dogs on the floor of +the refectory. + +All were afoot in the early morning, and Stephen and Ambrose were +awakened by the tumultuous bleatings of the flock of sheep that were +being driven from their fold to meet their fate at Winchester +market. They heard Brother Shoveller shouting his orders to the +shepherds in tones a great deal more like those of a farmer than of +a monk, and they made haste to dress themselves and join him as he +was muttering a morning abbreviation of his obligatory devotions in +the oratory, observing that they might be in time to hear mass at +one of the city churches, but the sheep might delay them, and they +had best break their fast ere starting. + +It was Wednesday, a day usually kept as a moderate fast, so the +breakfast was of oatmeal porridge, flavoured with honey, and washed +down with mead, after which Brother Shoveller mounted his mule, a +sleek creature, whose long ears had an air of great contentment, and +rode off, accommodating his pace to that of his young companions up +a stony cart-track which soon led them to the top of a chalk down, +whence, as in a map, they could see Winchester, surrounded by its +walls, lying in a hollow between the smooth green hills. At one end +rose the castle, its fortifications covering its own hill, beneath, +in the valley, the long, low massive Cathedral, the college +buildings and tower with its pinnacles, and nearer at hand, among +the trees, the Almshouse of Noble Poverty at St. Cross, beneath the +round hill of St. Catherine. Churches and monastic buildings stood +thickly in the town, and indeed, Brother Shoveller said, shaking his +head, that there were well-nigh as many churches as folk to go to +them; the place was decayed since the time he remembered when Prince +Arthur was born there. Hyde Abbey he could not show them, from +where they stood, as it lay further off by the river side, having +been removed from the neighbourhood of the Minster, because the +brethren of St. Grimbald could not agree with those of St. Swithun's +belonging to the Minster, as indeed their buildings were so close +together that it was hardly possible to pass between them, and their +bells jangled in each other's ears. + +Brother Shoveller did not seem to entertain a very high opinion of +the monks of St. Grimbald, and he asked the boys whether they were +expected there. "No," they said; "tidings of their father's death +had been sent by one of the woodmen, and the only answer that had +been returned was that Master Richard Birkenholt was ill at ease, +but would have masses said for his brother's soul." + +"Hem!" said the Augustinian ominously; but at that moment they came +up with the sheep, and his attention was wholly absorbed by them, as +he joined the lay brothers in directing the shepherds who were +driving them across the downs, steering them over the high ground +towards the arched West Gate close to the royal castle. The street +sloped rapidly down, and Brother Shoveller conducted his young +companions between the overhanging houses, with stalls between +serving as shops, till they reached the open space round the Market +Cross, on the steps of which women sat with baskets of eggs, butter, +and poultry, raised above the motley throng of cattle and sheep, +with their dogs and drivers, the various cries of man and beast +forming an incongruous accompaniment to the bells of the churches +that surrounded the market-place. + +Citizens' wives in hood and wimple were there, shrilly bargaining +for provision for their households, squires and grooms in quest of +hay for their masters' stables, purveyors seeking food for the +garrison, lay brethren and sisters for their convents, and withal, +the usual margin of begging friars, wandering gleemen, jugglers and +pedlars, though in no great numbers, as this was only a Wednesday +market-day, not a fair. Ambrose recognised one or two who made part +of the crowd at Beaulieu only two days previously, when he had "seen +through tears the juggler leap," and the jingling tune one of them +was playing on a rebeck brought back associations of almost +unbearable pain. Happily, Father Shoveller, having seen his sheep +safely bestowed in a pen, bethought him of bidding the lay brother +in attendance show the young gentlemen the way to Hyde Abbey, and +turning up a street at right angles to the principal one, they were +soon out of the throng. + +It was a lonely place, with a decayed uninhabited appearance, and +Brother Peter told them it had been the Jewry, whence good King +Edward had banished all the unbelieving dogs of Jews, and where no +one chose to dwell after them. + +Soon they came in sight of a large extent of monastic buildings, +partly of stone, but the more domestic offices of flint and brick or +mortar. Large meadows stretched away to the banks of the Itchen, +with cattle grazing in them, but in one was a set of figures to whom +the lay brother pointed with a laugh of exulting censure. + +"Long bows!" exclaimed Stephen. "Who be they?" + +"Brethren of St. Grimbald, sir. Such rule doth my Lord of Hyde +keep, mitred abbot though he be. They say the good bishop hath +called him to order, but what recks he of bishops? Good-day, +Brother Bulpett, here be two young kinsmen of Master Birkenholt to +visit him; and so benedicite, fair sirs. St. Austin's grace be with +you!" + +Through a gate between two little red octagonal towers, Brother +Bulpett led the two visitors, and called to another of the monks, +"Benedicite, Father Segrim, here be two striplings wanting speech of +old Birkenholt." + +"Looking after dead men's shoes, I trow," muttered father Segrim, +with a sour look at the lads, as he led them through the outer +court, where some fine horses were being groomed, and then across a +second court surrounded with a beautiful cloister, with flower beds +in front of it. Here, on a stone bench, in the sun, clad in a gown +furred with rabbit skin, sat a decrepit old man, both his hands +clasped over his staff. Into his deaf ears their guide shouted, +"These boys say they are your kindred, Master Birkenholt." + +"Anan?" said the old man, trembling with palsy. The lads knew him +to be older than their father, but they were taken by surprise at +such feebleness, and the monk did not aid them, only saying roughly, +"There he is. Tell your errand." + +"How fares it with you, uncle?" ventured Ambrose. + +"Who be ye? I know none of you," muttered the old man, shaking his +head still more. + +"We are Ambrose and Stephen from the Forest," shouted Ambrose. + +"Ah! Steve! poor Stevie! The accursed boar has rent his goodly +face so as I would never have known him. Poor Steve! Best his +soul!" + +The old man began to weep, while his nephews recollected that they +had heard that another uncle had been slain by the tusk of a wild +boar in early manhood. Then to their surprise, his eyes fell on +Spring, and calling the hound by name, he caressed the creature's +head--"Spring, poor Spring! Stevie's faithful old dog. Hast lost +thy master? Wilt follow me now?" + +He was thinking of a Spring as well as of a Stevie of sixty years +ago, and he babbled on of how many fawns were in the Queen's Bower +this summer, and who had best shot at the butts at Lyndhurst, as if +he were excited by the breath of his native Forest, but there was no +making him understand that he was speaking with his nephews. The +name of his brother John only set him repeating that John loved the +greenwood, and would be content to take poor Stevie's place and +dwell in the verdurer's lodge; but that he himself ought to be +abroad, he had seen brave Lord Talbot's ships ready at Southampton, +John might stay at home, but he would win fame and honour in +Gascony. + +And while he thus wandered, and the boys stood by perplexed and +distressed, Brother Segrim came back, and said, "So, young sirs, +have you seen enough of your doting kinsman? The sub-prior bids me +say that we harbour no strange, idling, lubber lads nor strange dogs +here. 'Tis enough for us to be saddled with dissolute old men-at- +arms without all their idle kin making an excuse to come and pay +their devoirs. These corrodies are a heavy charge and a weighty +abuse, and if there be the visitation the king's majesty speaks of, +they will be one of the first matters to be amended." + +Wherewith Stephen and Ambrose found themselves walked out of the +cloister of St. Grimbald, and the gates shut behind them. + + + +CHAPTER III. KINSMEN AND STRANGERS + + + +"The reul of St. Maure and of St. Beneit +Because that it was old and some deale streit +This ilke monk let old things pace; +He held ever of the new world the trace." + +CHAUCER. + + +"The churls!" exclaimed Stephen. + +"Poor old man!" said Ambrose; "I hope they are good to him!" + +"To think that thus ends all that once was gallant talk of fighting +under Talbot's banner," sighed Stephen, thoughtful for a moment. +"However, there's a good deal to come first." + +"Yea, and what next?" said the elder brother. + +"On to uncle Hal. I ever looked most to him. He will purvey me to +a page's place in some noble household, and get thee a clerk's or +scholar's place in my Lord of York's house. Mayhap there will be +room for us both there, for my Lord of York hath a goodly following +of armed men." + +"Which way lies the road to London?" + +"We must back into the town and ask, as well as fill our stomachs +and our wallets," said Ambrose. "Talk of their rule! The +entertaining of strangers is better understood at Silkstede than at +Hyde." + +"Tush! A grudged crust sticks in the gullet," returned Stephen. +"Come on, Ambrose, I marked the sign of the White Hart by the +market-place. There will be a welcome there for foresters." + +They returned on their steps past the dilapidated buildings of the +old Jewry, and presently saw the market in full activity; but the +sounds and sights of busy life where they were utter strangers, gave +Ambrose a sense of loneliness and desertion, and his heart sank as +the bolder Stephen threaded the way in the direction of a broad +entry over which stood a slender-bodied hart with gold hoofs, horns, +collar, and chain. + +"How now, my sons?" said a full cheery voice, and to their joy, they +found themselves pushed up against Father Shoveller. + +"Returned already! Did you get scant welcome at Hyde? Here, come +where we can get a free breath, and tell me." + +They passed through the open gateway of the White Hart, into the +court, but before listening to them, the monk exchanged greetings +with the hostess, who stood at the door in a broad hat and velvet +bodice, and demanded what cheer there was for noon-meat. + +"A jack, reverend sir, eels and a grampus fresh sent up from +Hampton; also fresh-killed mutton for such lay folk as are not +curious of the Wednesday fast. They are laying the board even now." + +"Lay platters for me and these two young gentlemen," said the +Augustinian. "Ye be my guests, ye wot," he added, "since ye tarried +not for meat at Hyde." + +"Nor did they ask us," exclaimed Stephen; "lubbers and idlers were +the best words they had for us." + +"Ho! ho! That's the way with the brethren of St Grimbald! And your +uncle?" + +"Alas, sir, he doteth with age," said Ambrose. "He took Stephen for +his own brother, dead under King Harry of Windsor." + +"So! I had heard somewhat of his age and sickness. Who was it who +thrust you out?" + +"A lean brother with a thin red beard, and a shrewd, puckered +visage." + +"Ha! By that token 'twas Segrim the bursar. He wots how to drive a +bargain. St. Austin! but he deemed you came to look after your +kinsman's corrody." + +"He said the king spake of a visitation to abolish corrodies from +religious houses," said Ambrose. + +"He'll abolish the long bow from them first," said Father Shoveller. +"Ay, and miniver from my Lord Abbot's hood. I'd admonish you, my +good brethren of S. Grimbald, to be in no hurry for a visitation +which might scarce stop where you would fain have it. Well, my +sons, are ye bound for the Forest again? An ye be, we'll wend back +together, and ye can lie at Silkstede to-night." + +"Alack, kind father, there's no more home for us in the Forest," +said Ambrose. + +"Methought ye had a brother?" + +"Yea; but our brother hath a wife." + +"Ho! ho! And the wife will none of you?" + +"She would have kept Ambrose to teach her boy his primer," said +Stephen; "but she would none of Spring nor of me." + +"We hoped to receive counsel from our uncle at Hyde," added Ambrose. + +"Have ye no purpose now?" inquired the Father, his jolly good- +humoured face showing much concern. + +"Yea," manfully returned Stephen. "'Twas what I ever hoped to do, +to fare on and seek our fortune in London." + +"Ha! To pick up gold and silver like Dick Whittington. Poor old +Spring here will scarce do you the part of his cat," and the monk's +hearty laugh angered Stephen into muttering, "We are no fools," but +Father Shoveller only laughed the more, saying, "Fair and softly, my +son, ye'll never pick up the gold if ye cannot brook a kindly quip. +Have you friends or kindred in London?" + +"Yea, that have we, sir," cried Stephen; "our mother's own brother, +Master Randall, hath come to preferment there in my Lord Archbishop +of York's household, and hath sent us tokens from time to time, +which we will show you." + +"Not while we be feasting," said Father Shoveller, hastily checking +Ambrose, who was feeling in his bosom. "See, the knaves be bringing +their grampus across the court. Here, we'll clean our hands, and be +ready for the meal;" and he showed them, under a projecting gallery +in the inn yard a stone trough, through which flowed a stream of +water, in which he proceeded to wash his hands and face, and to wipe +them in a coarse towel suspended nigh at hand. Certainly after +handling sheep freely there was need, though such ablutions were a +refinement not indulged in by all the company who assembled round +the well-spread board of the White Hart for the meal after the +market. They were a motley company. By the host's side sat a +knight on his way home from pilgrimage to Compostella, or perhaps a +mission to Spain, with a couple of squires and other attendants, and +converse of political import seemed to be passing between him and a +shrewd-looking man in a lawyer's hood and gown, the recorder of +Winchester, who preferred being a daily guest at the White Hart to +keeping a table of his own. Country franklins and yeomen, merchants +and men-at-arms, palmers and craftsmen, friars and monks, black, +white, and grey, and with almost all, Father Shoveller had greeting +or converse to exchange. He knew everybody, and had friendly talk +with all, on canons or crops, on war or wool, on the prices of pigs +or prisoners, on the news of the country side, or on the perilous +innovations in learning at Oxford, which might, it was feared, even +affect St. Mary's College at Winchester. + +He did not affect outlandish fishes himself, and dined upon pike, +but observing the curiosity of his guests, he took good care to have +them well supplied with grampus; also in due time with varieties of +the pudding and cake kind which had never dawned on their forest- +bred imagination, and with a due proportion of good ale--the same +over which the knight might be heard rejoicing, and lauding far +above the Spanish or French wines, on which he said he had been half +starved. + +Father Shoveller mused a good deal over his pike and its savoury +stuffing. He was not by any means an ideal monk, but he was equally +far from being a scandal. He was the shrewd man of business and +manager of his fraternity, conducting the farming operations and +making all the bargains, following his rule respectably according to +the ordinary standard of his time, but not rising to any +spirituality, and while duly observing the fast day, as to the +quality of his food, eating with the appetite of a man who lived in +the open fields. + +But when their hunger was appeased, with many a fragment given to +Spring, the young Birkenholts, wearied of the endless talk that was +exchanged over the tankard, began to grow restless, and after +exchanging signs across Father Shoveller's solid person, they +simultaneously rose, and began to thank him and say they must pursue +their journey. + +"How now, not so fast, my sons," said the Father; "tarry a bit, I +have more to say to thee. Prayers and provender, thou knowst--I'll +come anon. So, sir, didst say yonder beggarly Flemings haggle at +thy price for thy Southdown fleeces. Weight of dirt forsooth! Do +not we wash the sheep in the Poolhole stream, the purest water in +the shire?" + +Manners withheld Ambrose from responding to Stephen's hot +impatience, while the merchant in the sleek puce-coloured coat +discussed the Flemish wool market with the monk for a good half-hour +longer. + +By this time the knight's horses were brought into the yard, and the +merchant's men had made ready his palfrey, his pack-horse being +already on the way; the host's son came round with the reckoning, +and there was a general move. Stephen expected to escape, and +hardly could brook the good-natured authority with which Father +Shoveller put Ambrose aside, when he would have discharged their +share of the reckoning, and took it upon himself. "Said I not ye +were my guests?" quoth he. "We missed our morning mass, it will do +us no harm to hear Nones in the Minster." + +"Sir, we thank you, but we should be on our way," said Ambrose, +incited by Stephen's impatient gestures. + +"Tut, tut. Fair and softly, my son, or more haste may be worse +speed. Methought ye had somewhat to show me." + +Stephen's youthful independence might chafe, but the habit of +submission to authorities made him obediently follow the monk out at +the back entrance of the inn, behind which lay the Minster yard, the +grand western front rising in front of them, and the buildings of +St. Swithun's Abbey extending far to their right. The hour was +nearly noon, and the space was deserted, except for an old woman +sitting at the great western doorway with a basket of rosaries made +of nuts and of snail shells, and a workman or two employed on the +bishop's new reredos. + +"Now for thy tokens," said Father Shoveller. "See my young +foresters, ye be new to the world. Take an old man's counsel, and +never show, nor speak of such gear in an hostel. Mine host of the +White Hart is an old gossip of mine, and indifferent honest, but who +shall say who might be within earshot?" + +Stephen had a mind to say that he did not see why the meddling monk +should wish to see them at all, and Ambrose looked a little +reluctant, but Father Shoveller said in his good-humoured way, "As +you please, young sirs. 'Tis but an old man's wish to see whether +he can do aught to help you, that you be not as lambs among wolves. +Mayhap ye deem ye can walk into London town, and that the first man +you meet can point you to your uncle--Randall call ye him?--as +readily as I could show you my brother, Thomas Shoveller of +Granbury. But you are just as like to meet with some knave who +might cozen you of all you have, or mayhap a beadle might take you +up for vagabonds, and thrust you in the stocks, or ever you get to +London town; so I would fain give you some commendation, an I knew +to whom to make it, and ye be not too proud to take it." + +"You are but too good to us, sir," said Ambrose, quite conquered, +though Stephen only half believed in the difficulties. The Father +took them within the west door of the Minster, and looking up and +down the long arcade of the southern aisle to see that no one was +watching, he inspected the tokens, and cross-examined them on their +knowledge of their uncle. + +His latest gift, the rosary, had come by the hand of Friar Hurst, a +begging Minorite of Southampton, who had it from another of his +order at Winchester, who had received it from one of the king's +archers at the Castle, with a message to Mistress Birkenholt that it +came from her brother, Master Randall, who had good preferment in +London, in the house of my Lord Archbishop of York, without whose +counsel King Henry never stirred. As to the coming of the agate and +the pouncet box, the minds of the boys were very hazy. They knew +that the pouncet box had been conveyed through the attendants of the +Abbot of Beaulieu, but they were only sure that from that time the +belief had prevailed with their mother that her brother was +prospering in the house of the all-powerful Wolsey. The good +Augustinian, examining the tokens, thought they gave colour to that +opinion. The rosary and agate might have been picked up in an +ecclesiastical household, and the lid of the pouncet box was made of +a Spanish coin, likely to have come through some of the attendants +of Queen Katharine. + +"It hath an appearance," he said. "I marvel whether there be still +at the Castle this archer who hath had speech with Master Randall, +for if ye know no more than ye do at present, 'tis seeking a needle +in a bottle of hay. But see, here come the brethren that be to sing +Nones--sinner that I am, to have said no Hours since the morn, being +letted with lawful business." + +Again the unwilling Stephen had to submit. There was no feeling for +the incongruous in those days, and reverence took very different +directions from those in which it now shows itself, so that nobody +had any objection to Spring's pacing gravely with the others towards +the Lady Chapel, where the Hours were sung, since the Choir was in +the hands of workmen, and the sound of chipping stone could be heard +from it, where Bishop Fox's elaborate lace-work reredos was in +course of erection. Passing the shrine of St. Swithun, and the +grand tomb of Cardinal Beaufort, where his life-coloured effigy +filled the boys with wonder, they followed their leader's example, +and knelt within the Lady Chapel, while the brief Latin service for +the ninth hour was sung through by the canon, clerks, and boys. It +really was the Sixth, but cumulative easy-going treatment of the +Breviary had made this the usual time for it, as the name of noon +still testifies. The boys' attention, it must be confessed, was +chiefly expended on the wonderful miracles of the Blessed Virgin in +fresco on the walls of the chapel, all tending to prove that here +was hope for those who said their Ave in any extremity of fire or +flood. + +Nones ended, Father Shoveller, with many a halt for greeting or for +gossip, took the lads up the hill towards the wide fortified space +where the old Castle and royal Hall of Henry of Winchester looked +down on the city, and after some friendly passages with the warder +at the gate, Father Shoveller explained that he was in quest of some +one recently come from court, of whom the striplings in his company +could make inquiry concerning a kinsman in the household of my Lord +Archbishop of York. The warder scratched his head, and bethinking +himself that Eastcheap Jockey was the reverend. Father's man, +summoned a horse-boy to call that worthy. + +"Where was he?" + +"Sitting over his pottle in the Hall," was the reply, and the monk, +with a laugh savouring little of asceticism, said he would seek him +there, and accordingly crossed the court to the noble Hall, with its +lofty dark marble columns, and the Round Table of King Arthur +suspended at the upper end. The governor of the Castle had risen +from his meal long ago, but the garrison in the piping times of +peace would make their ration of ale last as far into the afternoon +as their commanders would suffer. And half a dozen men still sat +there, one or two snoring, two playing at dice on a clear corner of +the board, and another, a smart well-dressed fellow in a bright +scarlet jerkin, laying down the law to a country bumpkin, who looked +somewhat dazed. The first of these was, as it appeared, Eastcheap +Jockey, and there was something both of the readiness and the +impudence of the Londoner in his manner, when he turned to answer +the question. He knew many in my Lord of York's house--as many as a +man was like to know where there was a matter of two hundred folk +between clerks and soldiers, he had often crushed a pottle with +them. No; he had never heard of one called Randall, neither in hat +nor cowl, but he knew more of them by face than by name, and more by +byname than surname or christened name. He was certainly not the +archer who had brought a token for Mistress Birkenholt, and his +comrades all avouched equal ignorance on the subject. Nothing could +be gained there, and while Father Shoveller rubbed his bald head in +consideration, Stephen rose to take leave. + +"Look you here, my fair son," said the monk. "Starting at this +hour, though the days be long, you will not reach any safe halting +place with daylight, whereas by lying a night in this good city, you +might reach Alton to-morrow, and there is a home where the name of +Brother Shoveller will win you free lodging and entertainment." + +"And to-night, good Father?" inquired Ambrose. + +"That will I see to, if ye will follow me." + +Stephen was devoured with impatience during the farewells in the +Castle, but Ambrose represented that the good man was giving them +much of his time, and that it would be unseemly and ungrateful to +break from him. + +"What matter is it of his? And why should he make us lose a whole +day?" grumbled Stephen. + +"What special gain would a day be to us?" sighed Ambrose. "I am +thankful that any should take heed for us." + +"Ay, you love leading-strings," returned Stephen. "Where is he +going now? All out of our way!" + +Father Shoveller, however, as he went down the Castle hill, +explained that the Warden of St. Elizabeth's Hospital was his +friend, and knowing him to have acquaintance among the clergy of St. +Paul's, it would be well to obtain a letter of commendation from +him, which might serve them in good stead in case they were +disappointed of finding their uncle at once. + +"It would be better for Spring to have a little more rest," thought +Stephen, thus mitigating his own longing to escape from the monks +and friars, of whom Winchester seemed to be full. + +They had a kindly welcome in the pretty little college of St. +Elizabeth of Hungary, lying in the meadows between William of +Wykeham's College and the round hill of St. Catharine. The Warden +was a more scholarly and ecclesiastical-looking person than his +friend, the good-natured Augustinian. After commending them to his +care, and partaking of a drink of mead, the monk of Silkstede took +leave of the youths, with a hearty blessing and advice to husband +their few crowns, not to tell every one of their tokens, and to +follow the counsel of the Warden of St. Elizabeth's, assuring them +that if they turned back to the Forest, they should have a welcome +at Silkstede. Moreover he patted Spring pitifully, and wished him +and his master well through the journey. + +St. Elizabeth's College was a hundred years older than its neighbour +St. Mary's, as was evident to practised eyes by its arches and +windows, but it had been so entirely eclipsed by Wykeham's +foundation that the number of priests, students, and choir-boys it +was intended to maintain, had dwindled away, so that it now +contained merely the Warden, a superannuated priest, and a couple of +big lads who acted as servants. There was an air of great quietude +and coolness about the pointed arches of its tiny cloister on that +summer's day, with the old monk dozing in his chair over the +manuscript he thought he was reading, not far from the little table +where the Warden was eagerly studying Erasmus's Praise of Folly. +But the Birkenholts were of the age at which quiet means dulness, at +least Stephen was, and the Warden had pity both on them and on +himself; and hearing joyous shouts outside, he opened a little door +in the cloister wall, and revealed a multitude of lads with their +black gowns tucked up "a playing at the ball"--these being the +scholars of St. Mary's. Beckoning to a pair of elder ones, who were +walking up and down more quietly, he consigned the strangers to +their care, sweetening the introduction by an invitation to supper, +for which he would gain permission from their Warden. + +One of the young Wykehamists was shy and churlish, and sheered off +from the brothers, but the other catechised them on their views of +becoming scholars in the college. He pointed out the cloister where +the studies took place in all weathers, showed them the hall, the +chapel, and the chambers, and expatiated on the chances of attaining +to New College. Being moreover a scholarly fellow, he and Ambrose +fell into a discussion over the passage of Virgil, copied out on a +bit of paper, which he was learning by heart. Some other scholars +having finished their game, and become aware of the presence of a +strange dog and two strange boys, proceeded to mob Stephen and +Spring, whereupon the shy boy stood forth and declared that the +Warden of St. Elizabeth's had brought them in for an hour's sport. + +Of course, in such close quarters, the rival Warden was esteemed a +natural enemy, and went by the name of "Old Bess," so that his +recommendation went for worse than nothing, and a dash at Spring was +made by the inhospitable young savages. Stephen stood to the +defence in act to box, and the shy lad stood by him, calling for +fair play and one at a time. Of course a fight ensued, Stephen and +his champion on the one side, and two assailants on the other, till +after a fall on either side, Ambrose's friend interfered with a +voice as thundering as the manly crack would permit, peace was +restored, Stephen found himself free of the meads, and Spring was +caressed instead of being tormented. + +Stephen was examined on his past, present, and future, envied for +his Forest home, and beguiled into magnificent accounts, not only of +the deer that had fallen to his bow and the boars that had fallen to +his father's spear, but of the honours to which his uncle in the +Archbishop's household would prefer him--for he viewed it as an +absolute certainty that his kinsman was captain among the men-at- +arms, whom he endowed on the spot with scarlet coats faced with +black velvet, and silver medals and chains. + +Whereat one of the other boys was not behind in telling how his +father was pursuivant to my Lord Duke of Norfolk, and never went +abroad save with silver lions broidered on back and breast, and +trumpets going before; and another dwelt on the splendours of the +mayor and aldermen of Southampton with their chains and cups of +gold. Stephen felt bound to surpass this with the last report that +my Lord of York's men rode Flemish steeds in crimson velvet +housings, passmented with gold and gems, and of course his uncle had +the leading of them. + +"Who be thine uncle?" demanded a thin, squeaky voice. "I have +brothers likewise in my Lord of York's meime." + +"Mine uncle is Captain Harry Randall, of Shirley," quoth Stephen +magnificently, scornfully surveying the small proportions of the +speaker, "What is thy brother?" + +"Head turnspit," said a rude voice, provoking a general shout of +laughter; but the boy stood his ground, and said hotly: "He is page +to the comptroller of my lord's household, and waits at the second +table, and I know every one of the captains." + +"He'll say next he knows every one of the Seven Worthies," cried +another boy, for Stephen was becoming a popular character. + +"And all the paladins to boot. Come on, little Rowley!" was the +cry. + +"I tell you my brother is page to the comptroller of the household, +and my mother dwells beside the Gate House, and I know every man of +them," insisted Rowley, waxing hot. "As for that Forest savage +fellow's uncle being captain of the guard, 'tis more like that he is +my lord's fool, Quipsome Hal!" + +Whereat there was a cry, in which were blended exultation at the +hit, and vituperation of the hitter. Stephen flew forward to avenge +the insult, but a big bell was beginning to ring, a whole wave of +black gowns rushed to obey it, sweeping little Rowley away with +them; and Stephen found himself left alone with his brother and the +two lads who had been invited to St. Elizabeth's, and who now +repaired thither with them. + +The supper party in the refectory was a small one, and the rule of +the foundation limited the meal to one dish and a pittance, but the +dish was of savoury eels, and the Warden's good nature had added to +it some cates and comfits in consideration of his youthful guests. + +After some conversation with the elder Wykehamist, the Warden called +Ambrose and put him through an examination on his attainments, which +proved so satisfactory, that it ended in an invitation to the +brothers to fill two of the empty scholarships of the college of the +dear St. Elizabeth. It was a good offer, and one that Ambrose would +fain have accepted, but Stephen had no mind for the cloister or for +learning. + +The Warden had no doubt that he could be apprenticed in the city of +Winchester, since the brother at home had in keeping a sum +sufficient for the fee. Though the trade of "capping" had fallen +off, there were still good substantial burgesses who would be +willing to receive an active lad of good parentage, some being +themselves of gentle blood. Stephen, however, would not brook the +idea. "Out upon you, Ambrose!" said he, "to desire to bind your own +brother to base mechanical arts." + +"'Tis what Nurse Joan held to be best for us both," said Ambrose. + +"Joan! Yea, like a woman, who deems a man safest when he is a +tailor, or a perfumer. An you be minded to stay here with a black +gown and a shaven crown, I shall on with Spring and come to +preferment. Maybe thou'lt next hear of me when I have got some fat +canonry for thee." + +"Nay, I quit thee not," said Ambrose. "If thou fare forward, so do +I. But I would thou couldst have brought thy mind to rest there." + +"What! wouldst thou be content with this worn-out place, with more +churches than houses, and more empty houses than full ones? No! let +us on where there is something doing! Thou wilt see that my Lord of +York will have room for the scholar as well as the man-at-arms." + +So the kind offer was declined, but Ambrose was grieved to see that +the Warden thought him foolish, and perhaps ungrateful. + +Nevertheless the good man gave them a letter to the Reverend Master +Alworthy, singing clerk at St. Paul's Cathedral, telling Ambrose it +might serve them in case they failed to find their uncle, or if my +Lord of York's household should not be in town. He likewise gave +them a recommendation which would procure them a night's lodging at +the Grange, and after the morning's mass and meat, sped them on +their way with his blessing, muttering to himself, "That elder one +might have been the staff of mine age! Pity on him to be lost in +the great and evil City! Yet 'tis a good lad to follow that fiery +spark his brother. Tanquam agnus inter lupos. Alack!" + + + +CHAPTER IV. A HERO'S FALL + + + +"These four came all afront and mainly made at me. I made no more +ado, but took their seven points on my target--thus--" + +SHAKESPEARE. + + +The journey to Alton was eventless. It was slow, for the day was a +broiling one, and the young foresters missed their oaks and beeches, +as they toiled over the chalk downs that rose and sank in endless +succession; though they would hardly have slackened their pace if it +had not been for poor old Spring, who was sorely distressed by the +heat and the want of water on the downs. Every now and then he lay +down, panting distressfully, with his tongue hanging out, and his +young masters always waited for him, often themselves not sorry to +rest in the fragment of shade from a solitary thorn or juniper. + +The track was plain enough, and there were hamlets at long +intervals. Flocks of sheep fed on the short grass, but there was no +approaching the shepherds, as they and their dogs regarded Spring as +an enemy, to be received with clamour, stones, and teeth, in spite +of the dejected looks which might have acquitted him of evil +intentions. + +The travellers reached Alton in the cool of the evening, and were +kindly received by a monk, who had charge of a grange just outside +the little town, near one of the springs of the River Wey. + +The next day's journey was a pleasanter one, for there was more of +wood and heather, and they had to skirt round the marshy borders of +various bogs. Spring was happier, being able to stop and lap +whenever he would, and the whole scene was less unfriendly to them. +But they scarcely made speed enough, for they were still among tall +whins and stiff scrub of heather when the sun began to get low, +gorgeously lighting the tall plumes of golden broom, and they had +their doubts whether they might not be off the track; but in such +weather, there was nothing alarming in spending a night out of +doors, if only they had something for supper. Stephen took a bolt +from the purse at his girdle, and bent his crossbow, so as to be +ready in case a rabbit sprang out, or a duck flew up from the +marshes. + +A small thicket of trees was in sight, and they were making for it, +when sounds of angry voices were heard, and Spring, bristling up the +mane on his neck, and giving a few premonitory fierce growls like +thunder, bounded forward as though he had been seven years younger. +Stephen darted after him, Ambrose rushed after Stephen, and breaking +through the trees, they beheld the dog at the throat of one of three +men. As they came on the scene, the dog was torn down and hurled +aside, giving a howl of agony, which infuriated his master. Letting +fly his crossbow bolt full at the fellow's face, he dashed on, +reckless of odds, waving his knotted stick, and shouting with rage. +Ambrose, though more aware of the madness of such an assault, still +hurried to his support, and was amazed as well as relieved to find +the charge effectual. Without waiting to return a blow, the +miscreants took to their heels, and Stephen, seeing nothing but his +dog, dropped on his knees beside the quivering creature, from whose +neck blood was fast pouring. One glance of the faithful wistful +eyes, one feeble movement of the expressive tail, and Spring had +made his last farewell! That was all Stephen was conscious of; but +Ambrose could hear the cry, "Good sirs, good lads, set me free!" and +was aware of a portly form bound to a tree. As he cut the rope with +his knife, the rescued traveller hurried out thanks and demands-- +"Where are the rest of you?" and on the reply that there were no +more, proceeded, "Then we must on, on at once, or the villains will +return! They must have thought you had a band of hunters behind +you. Two furlongs hence, and we shall be safe in the hostel at +Dogmersfield. Come on, my boy," to Stephen, "the brave hound is +quite dead, more's the pity. Thou canst do no more for him, and we +shall soon be in his case if we dally here." + +"I cannot, cannot leave him thus," sobbed Stephen, who had the +loving old head on his knees. "Ambrose! stay, we must bring him. +There, his tail wagged! If the blood were staunched--" + +"Stephen! Indeed he is stone dead! Were he our brother we could +not do otherwise," reasoned Ambrose, forcibly dragging his brother +to his feet. "Go on we must. Wouldst have us all slaughtered for +his sake? Come! The rogues will be upon us anon. Spring saved +this good man's life. Undo not his work. See! Is yonder your +horse, sir? This way, Stevie!" + +The instinct of catching the horse roused Stephen, and it was soon +accomplished, for the steed was a plump, docile, city-bred palfrey, +with dapple-grey flanks like well-stuffed satin pincushions, by no +means resembling the shaggy Forest ponies of the boys' experience, +but quite astray in the heath, and ready to come at the master's +whistle, and call of "Soh! Soh!--now Poppet!" Stephen caught the +bridle, and Ambrose helped the burgess into the saddle. "Now, good +boys," he said, "each of you lay a hand on my pommel. We can make +good speed ere the rascals find out our scant numbers." + +"You would make better speed without us, sir," said Stephen, +hankering to remain beside poor Spring. + +"D'ye think Giles Headley the man to leave two children, that have +maybe saved my life as well as my purse, to bear the malice of the +robbers?" demanded the burgess angrily. "That were like those +fellows of mine who have shown their heels and left their master +strapped to a tree! Thou! thou! what's thy name, that hast the most +wit, bring thy brother, unless thou wouldst have him laid by the +side of his dog." + +Stephen was forced to comply, and run by Poppet's side, though his +eyes were so full of tears that he could not see his way, even when +the pace slackened, and in the twilight they found themselves among +houses and gardens, and thus in safety, the lights of an inn shining +not far off. + +A figure came out in the road to meet them, crying, "Master! master! +is it you? and without scathe? Oh, the saints be praised!" + +"Ay, Tibble, 'tis I and no other, thanks to the saints and to these +brave lads! What, man, I blame thee not, I know thou canst not +strike; but where be the rest?" + +"In the inn, sir. I strove to call up the hue and cry to come to +the rescue, but the cowardly hinds were afraid of the thieves, and +not one would come forth." + +"I wish they may not be in league with them," said Master Headley. +"See! I was delivered--ay, and in time to save my purse, by these +twain and their good dog. Are ye from these parts, my fair lads?" + +"We be journeying from the New Forest to London," said Ambrose. +"The poor dog heard the tumult, and leapt to your aid, sir, and we +made after him." + +"'Twas the saints sent him!" was the fervent answer. "And" (with a +lifting of the cap) "I hereby vow to St. Julian a hound of solid +bronze a foot in length, with a collar of silver, to his shrine in +St. Faith's, in token of my deliverance in body and goods! To +London are ye bound? Then will we journey on together!" + +They were by this time near the porch of a large country hostel, +from the doors and large bay window of which light streamed out. +And as the casement was open, those without could both see and hear +all that was passing within. + +The table was laid for supper, and in the place of honour sat a +youth of some seventeen or eighteen years, gaily dressed, with a +little feather curling over his crimson cap, and thus discoursing: +- + +"Yea, my good host, two of the rogues bear my tokens, besides him +whom I felled to the earth. He came on at me with his sword, but I +had my point ready for him; and down he went before me like an ox. +Then came on another, but him I dealt with by the back stroke as +used in the tilt-yard at Clarendon." + +"I trow we shall know him again, sir. Holy saints! to think such +rascals should haunt so nigh us," the hostess was exclaiming. "Pity +for the poor goodman, Master Headley. A portly burgher was he, +friendly of tongue and free of purse. I well remember him when he +went forth on his way to Salisbury, little thinking, poor soul, what +was before him. And is he truly sped?" + +"I tell thee, good woman, I saw him go down before three of their +pikes. What more could I do but drive my horse over the nearest +rogue who was rifling him?" + +"If he were still alive--which Our Lady grant!--the knaves will hold +him to ransom," quoth the host, as he placed a tankard on the table. + +"I am afraid he is past ransom," said the youth, shaking his head. +"But an if he be still in the rogues' hands and living, I will get +me on to his house in Cheapside, and arrange with his mother to find +the needful sum, as befits me, I being his heir and about to wed his +daughter. However, I shall do all that in me lies to get the poor +old seignior out of the hands of the rogues. Saints defend me!" + +"The poor old seignior is much beholden to thee," said Master +Headley, advancing amid a clamour of exclamations from three or four +serving-men or grooms, one protesting that he thought his master was +with him, another that his horse ran away with him, one showing an +arm which was actually being bound up, and the youth declaring that +he rode off to bring help. + +"Well wast thou bringing it," Master Headley answered. "I might be +still standing bound like an eagle displayed, against yonder tree, +for aught you fellows recked." + +"Nay, sir, the odds--" began the youth. + +"Odds! such odds as were put to rout--by what, deem you? These two +striplings and one poor hound. Had but one of you had the heart of +a sparrow, ye had not furnished a tale to be the laugh of the +Barbican and Cheapside. Look well at them. How old be you, my +brave lads?" + +"I shall be sixteen come Lammas day, and Stephen fifteen at +Martinmas day, sir," said Ambrose; "but verily we did nought. We +could have done nought had not the thieves thought more were behind +us." + +"There are odds between going forward and backward," said Master +Headley, dryly. "Ha! Art hurt? Thou bleedst," he exclaimed, +laying his hand on Stephen's shoulder, and drawing him to the light. + +"'Tis no blood of mine," said Stephen, as Ambrose likewise came to +join in the examination. "It is my poor Spring's. He took the +coward's blow. His was all the honour, and we have left him there +on the heath!" And he covered his face with his hands. + +"Come, come, my good child," said Master Headley; "we will back to +the place by times to-morrow when rogues hide and honest men walk +abroad. Thou shalt bury thine hound, as befits a good warrior, on +the battle-field. I would fain mark his points for the effigy we +will frame, honest Tibble, for St. Julian. And mark ye, fellows, +thou godson Giles, above all, who 'tis that boast of their valour, +and who 'tis that be modest of speech. Yea, thanks, mine host. Let +us to a chamber, and give us water to wash away soil of travel and +of fray, and then to supper. Young masters, ye are my guests. +Shame were it that Giles Headley let go farther them that have, +under Heaven and St. Julian, saved him in life, limb, and purse." + +The inn was large, being the resort of many travellers from the +south, often of nobles and knights riding to Parliament, and thus +the brothers found themselves accommodated with a chamber, where +they could prepare for the meal, while Ambrose tried to console his +brother by representing that, after all, poor Spring had died +gallantly, and with far less pain than if he had suffered a wasting +old age, besides being honoured for ever by his effigy in St. +Faith's, wherever that might be, the idea which chiefly contributed +to console his master. + +The two boys appeared in the room of the inn looking so unlike the +dusty, blood-stained pair who had entered, that Master Headley took +a second glance to convince himself that they were the same, before +beckoning them to seats on either side of him, saying that he must +know more of them, and bidding the host load their trenchers well +from the grand fabric of beef-pasty which had been set at the end of +the board. The runaways, four or five in number, herded together +lower down, with a few travellers of lower degree, all except the +youth who had been boasting before their arrival, and who retained +his seat at the board, thumping it with the handle of his knife to +show his impatience for the commencement of supper; and not far off +sat Tibble, the same who had hailed their arrival, a thin, slight, +one-sided looking person, with a terrible red withered scar on one +cheek, drawing the corner of his mouth awry. He, like Master +Headley himself, and the rest of his party were clad in red, guarded +with white, and wore the cross of St. George on the white border of +their flat crimson caps, being no doubt in the livery of their +Company. The citizen himself, having in the meantime drawn his +conclusions from the air and gestures of the brothers, and their +mode of dealing with their food, asked the usual question in an +affirmative tone, "Ye be of gentle blood, young sirs?" + +To which they replied by giving their names, and explaining that +they were journeying from the New Forest to find their uncle in the +train of the Archbishop of York. + +"Birkenholt," said Tibble, meditatively. "He beareth vert, a buck's +head proper, on a chief argent, two arrows in saltire. Crest, a +buck courant, pierced in the gorge by an arrow, all proper." + +To which the brothers returned by displaying the handles of their +knives, both of which bore the pierced and courant buck. + +"Ay, ay," said the man. "'Twill be found in our books, sir. We +painted the shield and new-crested the morion the first year of my +prenticeship, when the Earl of Richmond, the late King Harry of +blessed memory, had newly landed at Milford Haven." + +"Verily," said Ambrose, "our uncle Richard Birkenholt fought at +Bosworth under Sir Richard Pole's banner." + +"A tall and stalwart esquire, methinks," said Master Headley. "Is +he the kinsman you seek?" + +"Not so, sir. We visited him at Winchester, and found him sorely +old and with failing wits. We be on our way to our mother's +brother, Master Harry Randall." + +"Is he clerk or layman? My Lord of York entertaineth enow of both," +said Master Headley. + +"Lay assuredly, sir," returned Stephen; "I trust to him to find me +some preferment as page or the like." + +"Know'st thou the man, Tibble?" inquired the master. + +"Not among the men-at-arms, sir," was the answer; "but there be a +many of them whose right names we never hear. However, he will be +easily found if my Lord of York be returned from Windsor with his +train." + +"Then will we go forward together, my young Masters Birkenholt. I +am not going to part with my doughty champions!"--patting Stephen's +shoulder. "Ye'd not think that these light-heeled knaves belonged +to the brave craft of armourers?" + +"Certainly not," thought the lads, whose notion of armourers was +derived from the brawny blacksmith of Lyndhurst, who sharpened their +boar spears and shod their horses. They made some kind of assent, +and Master Headley went on. "These be the times! This is what +peace hath brought us to! I am called down to Salisbury to take +charge of the goods, chattels, and estate of my kinsman, Robert +Headley--Saints rest his soul!--and to bring home yonder spark, my +godson, whose indentures have been made over to me. And I may not +ride a mile after sunset without being set upon by a sort of +robbers, who must have guessed over-well what a pack of cowards they +had to deal with." + +"Sir," cried the younger Giles, "I swear to you that I struck right +and left. I did all that man could do, but these rogues of serving- +men, they fled, and dragged me along with them, and I deemed you +were of our company till we dismounted." + +"Did you so? Methought anon you saw me go down with three pikes in +my breast. Come, come, godson Giles, speech will not mend it! Thou +art but a green, town-bred lad, a mother's darling, and mayst be a +brave man yet, only don't dread to tell the honest truth that you +were afeard, as many a better man might be." + +The host chimed in with tales of the thieves and outlaws who then, +and indeed for many later generations, infested Bagshot heath, and +the wild moorland tracks around. He seemed to think that the +travellers had had a hair's-breadth escape, and that a few seconds' +more delay might have revealed the weakness of the rescuers and have +been fatal to them. + +However there was no danger so near the village in the morning, and, +somewhat to Stephen's annoyance, the whole place turned out to +inspect the spot, and behold the burial of poor Spring, who was +found stretched on the heather, just as he had been left the night +before. He was interred under the stunted oak where Master Headley +had been tied. While the grave was dug with a spade borrowed at the +inn, Ambrose undertook to cut out the dog's name on the bark, but he +had hardly made the first incision when Tibble, the singed foreman, +offered to do it for him, and made a much more sightly inscription +than he could have done. Master Headley's sword was found +honourably broken under the tree, and was reserved to form a base +for his intended ex voto. He uttered the vow in due form like a +funeral oration, when Stephen, with a swelling heart, had laid the +companion of his life in the little grave, which was speedily +covered in. + + + +CHAPTER V. THE DRAGON COURT + + + + "A citizen + Of credit and renown; +A trainband captain eke was he + Of famous London town." + +COWPER. + + +In spite of his satisfaction at the honourable obsequies of his dog, +Stephen Birkenholt would fain have been independent, and thought it +provoking and strange that every one should want to direct his +movements, and assume the charge of one so well able to take care of +himself; but he could not escape as he had done before from the +Warden of St. Elizabeth, for Ambrose had readily accepted the +proposal that they should travel in Master Headley's company, only +objecting that they were on foot; on which the good citizen hired a +couple of hackneys for them. + +Besides the two Giles Headleys, the party consisted of Tibble, the +scarred and withered foreman, two grooms, and two serving-men, all +armed with the swords and bucklers of which they had made so little +use. It appeared in process of time that the two namesakes, besides +being godfather and godson, were cousins, and that Robert, the +father of the younger one, had, after his apprenticeship in the +paternal establishment at Salisbury, served for a couple of years in +the London workshop of his kinsman to learn the latest improvements +in weapons. This had laid the foundation of a friendship which had +lasted through life, though the London cousin had been as prosperous +as the country one had been the reverse. The provincial trade in +arms declined with the close of the York and Lancaster wars. Men +were not permitted to turn from one handicraft to another, and +Robert Headley had neither aptitude nor resources. His wife was +vain and thriftless, and he finally broke down under his +difficulties, appointing by will his cousin to act as his executor, +and to take charge of his only son, who had served out half his time +as apprentice to himself. There had been delay until the peace with +France had given the armourer some leisure for an expedition to +Salisbury, a serious undertaking for a London burgess, who had +little about him of the ancient northern weapon-smith, and had +wanted to avail himself of the protection of the suite of the Bishop +of Salisbury, returning from Parliament. He had spent some weeks in +disposing of his cousin's stock in trade, which was far too +antiquated for the London market; also of the premises, which were +bought by an adjoining convent to extend its garden; and he had +divided the proceeds between the widow and children. He had +presided at the wedding of the last daughter, with whom the mother +was to reside, and was on his way back to London with his godson, +who had now become his apprentice. + +Giles Headley the younger was a fine tall youth, but clumsy and +untrained in the use of his limbs, and he rode a large, powerful +brown horse, which brooked no companionship, lashing out with its +shaggy hoofs at any of its kind that approached it, more especially +at poor, plump, mottled Poppet. The men said he had insisted on +retaining that, and no other, for his journey to London, contrary to +all advice, and he was obliged to ride foremost, alone in the middle +of the road; while Master Headley seemed to have an immense quantity +of consultation to carry on with his foreman, Tibble, whose quiet- +looking brown animal was evidently on the best of terms with Poppet. +By daylight Tibble looked even more sallow, lean, and sickly, and +Stephen could not help saying to the serving-man nearest to him, +"Can such a weakling verily be an armourer?" + +"Yea, sir. Wry-mouthed Tibble, as they call him, was a sturdy +fellow till he got a fell against the mouth of a furnace, and lay +ten months in St. Bartholomew's Spital, scarce moving hand or foot. +He cannot wield a hammer, but he has a cunning hand for gilding, and +coloured devices, and is as good as Garter-king-at-arms himself for +all bearings of knights and nobles." + +"As we heard last night," said Stephen. + +"Moreover in the spital he learnt to write and cast accompts like a +very scrivener, and the master trusts him more than any, except +maybe Kit Smallbones, the head smith." + +"What will Smallbones think of the new prentice!" said one of the +other men. + +"Prentice! 'Tis plain enough what sort of prentice the youth is +like to be who beareth the name of a master with one only daughter." + +An emphatic grunt was the only answer, while Ambrose pondered on the +good luck of some people, who had their futures cut out for them +with no trouble on their own part. + +This day's ride was through more inhabited parts, and was esteemed +less perilous. They came in sight of the Thames at Lambeth, but +Master Headley, remembering how ill his beloved Poppet had brooked +the ferry, decided to keep to the south of the river by a causeway +across Lambeth marsh, which was just passable in high and dry +summers, and which conducted them to a raised road called Bankside, +where they looked across to the towers of Westminster, and the Abbey +in its beauty dawned on the imagination of Stephen and Ambrose. The +royal standard floated over the palace, whence Master Headley +perceived that the King was there, and augured that my Lord of +York's meine would not be far to seek. Then came broad green fields +with young corn growing, or hay waving for the scythe, the tents and +booths of May Fair, and the beautiful Market Cross in the midst of +the village of Charing, while the Strand, immediately opposite, +began to be fringed with great monasteries within their ample +gardens, with here and there a nobleman's castellated house and +terraced garden, with broad stone stairs leading to the Thames. + +Barges and wherries plied up and down, the former often gaily +canopied and propelled by liveried oarsmen, all plying their arms in +unison, so that the vessel looked like some brilliant many-limbed +creature treading the water. Presently appeared the heavy walls +inclosing the City itself, dominated by the tall openwork timber +spire of St. Paul's, with the foursquare, four-turreted Tower +acting, as it has been well said, as a padlock to a chain, and the +river's breadth spanned by London bridge, a very street of houses +built on the abutments. Now, Bankside had houses on each side of +the road, and Wry-mouthed Tibble showed evident satisfaction when +they turned to cross the bridge, where they had to ride in single +file, not without some refractoriness on the part of young Headley's +steed. + +On they went, now along streets where each story of the tall houses +projected over the last, so that the gables seemed ready to meet; +now beside walls of convent gardens, now past churches, while the +country lads felt bewildered with the numbers passing to and fro, +and the air was full of bells. + +Cap after cap was lifted in greeting to Master Headley by burgess, +artisan, or apprentice, and many times did he draw Poppet's rein to +exchange greetings and receive congratulations on his return. On +reaching St. Paul's Minster, he halted and bade the servants take +home the horses, and tell the mistress, with his dutiful greetings, +that he should be at home anon, and with guests. + +"We must e'en return thanks for our safe journey and great +deliverance," he said to his young companions, and thrusting his arm +into that of a russet-vested citizen, who met him at the door, he +walked into the cathedral, recounting his adventure. + +The youths followed with some difficulty through the stream of +loiterers in the nave, Giles the younger elbowing and pushing so +that several of the crowd turned to look at him, and it was well +that his kinsman soon astonished him by descending a stair into a +crypt, with solid, short, clustered columns, and high-pitched +vaulting, fitted up as a separate church, namely that of the parish +of St. Faith. The great cathedral, having absorbed the site of the +original church, had given this crypt to the parishioners. Here all +was quiet and solemn, in marked contrast to the hubbub in "Paul's +Walk," above in the nave. Against the eastern pillar of one of the +bays was a little altar, and the decorations included St. Julian, +the patron of travellers, with his saltire doubly crossed, and his +stag beside him. Little ships, trees, and wonderful enamelled +representations of perils by robbers, field and flood, hung thickly +on St. Julian's pillar, and on the wall and splay of the window +beside it; and here, after crossing himself, Master Headley rapidly +repeated a Paternoster, and ratified his vow of presenting a bronze +image of the hound to whom he owed his rescue. One of the clergy +came up to register the vow, and the good armourer proceeded to +bespeak a mass of thanksgiving on the next morning, also ten for the +soul of Master John Birkenholt, late Verdurer of the New Forest in +Hampshire--a mode of showing his gratitude which the two sons highly +appreciated. + +Then, climbing up the steps again, and emerging from the cathedral +by the west door, the boys beheld a scene for which their +experiences of Romsey, and even of Winchester, had by no means +prepared them. It was five o'clock on a summer evening, so that the +place was full of stir. Old women sat with baskets of rosaries and +little crosses, or images of saints, on the steps of the cathedral, +while in the open space beyond, more than one horse was displaying +his paces for the benefit of some undecided purchaser, who had been +chaffering for hours in Paul's Walk. Merchants in the costume of +their countries, Lombard, Spanish, Dutch, or French, were walking +away in pairs, attended by servants, from their Exchange, likewise +in the nave. Women, some alone, some protected by serving-men or +apprentices, were returning from their orisons, or, it might be, +from their gossipings. Priests and friars, as usual, pervaded +everything, and round the open space were galleried buildings with +stalls beneath them, whence the holders were removing their wares +for the night. The great octagonal structure of Paul's Cross stood +in the centre, and just beneath the stone pulpit, where the sermons +were wont to be preached, stood a man with a throng round him, +declaiming a ballad at the top of his sing-song voice, and causing +much loud laughter by some ribaldry about monks and friars. + +Master Headley turned aside as quickly as he could, through +Paternoster Row, which was full of stalls, where little black books, +and larger sheets printed in black-letter, seemed the staple +commodities, and thence the burgess, keeping a heedful eye on his +young companions among all his greetings, entered the broader space +of Cheapside, where numerous prentice lads seemed to be playing at +different sports after the labours of the day. + +Passing under an archway surmounted by a dragon with shining scales, +Master Headley entered a paved courtyard, where the lads started at +the figures of two knights in full armour, their lances in rest, and +their horses with housings down to their hoofs, apparently about to +charge any intruder. But at that moment there was a shriek of joy, +and out from the scarlet and azure petticoats of the nearest steed, +there darted a little girl, crying, "Father! father!" and in an +instant she was lifted in Master Headley's arms, and was clinging +round his neck, while he kissed and blessed her, and as he set her +on her feet, he said, "Here, Dennet, greet thy cousin Giles Headley, +and these two brave young gentlemen. Greet them like a courteous +maiden, or they will think thee a little town mouse." + +In truth the child had a pointed little visage, and bright brown +eyes, somewhat like a mouse, but it was a very sweet face that she +lifted obediently to be kissed not only by the kinsman, but by the +two guests. Her father meantime was answering with nods to the +respectful welcomes of the workmen, who thronged out below, and +their wives looking down from the galleries above; while Poppet and +the other horses were being rubbed down after their journey. + +The ground-floor of the buildings surrounding the oblong court +seemed to be entirely occupied by forges, workshops, warehouses and +stables. Above, were open railed galleries, with outside stairs at +intervals, giving access to the habitations of the workpeople on +three sides. The fourth, opposite to the entrance, had a much +handsomer, broad, stone stair, adorned on one side with a stone +figure of the princess fleeing from the dragon, and on the other of +St. George piercing the monster's open mouth with his lance, the +scaly convolutions of the two dragons forming the supports of the +handrail on either side. Here stood, cap in hand, showing his thick +curly hair, and with open front, displaying a huge hairy chest, a +giant figure, whom his master greeted as Kit Smallbones, inquiring +whether all had gone well during his absence. "'Tis time you were +back, sir, for there's a great tilting match on hand for the Lady +Mary's wedding. Here have been half the gentlemen in the Court +after you, and my Lord of Buckingham sent twice for you since +Sunday, and once for Tibble Steelman, and his squire swore that if +you were not at his bidding before noon to-morrow, he would have his +new suit of Master Hillyer of the Eagle." + +"He shall see me when it suiteth me," said Mr. Headley coolly. "He +wotteth well that Hillyer hath none who can burnish plate armour +like Tibble here." + +"Moreover the last iron we had from that knave Mepham is nought. It +works short under the hammer." + +"That shall be seen to, Kit. The rest of the budget to-morrow. I +must on to my mother." + +For at the doorway, at the head of the stairs, there stood the still +trim and active figure of an old woman, with something of the mouse +likeness seen in her grand-daughter, in the close cap, high hat, and +cloth dress, that sumptuary opinion, if not law, prescribed for the +burgher matron, a white apron, silver chain and bunch of keys at her +girdle. Due and loving greetings passed between mother and son, +after the longest and most perilous absence of Master Headley's +life, and he then presented Giles, to whom the kindly dame offered +hand and cheek, saying, "Welcome, my young kinsman, your good father +was well known and liked here. May you tread in his steps!" + +"Thanks, good mistress," returned Giles. "I am thought to have a +pretty taste in the fancy part of the trade. My Lord of Montagu--" + +Before he could get any farther, Mistress Headley was inquiring what +was the rumour she had heard of robbers and dangers that had beset +her son, and he was presenting the two young Birkenholts to her. +"Brave boys! good boys," she said, holding out her hands and kissing +each according to the custom of welcome, "you have saved my son for +me, and this little one's father for her. Kiss them, Dennet, and +thank them." + +"It was the poor dog," said the child, in a clear little voice, +drawing back with a certain quaint coquetting shyness; "I would +rather kiss him." + +"Would that thou couldst, little mistress," said Stephen. "My poor +brave Spring!" + +"Was he thine own? Tell me all about him," said Dennet, somewhat +imperiously. + +She stood between the two strangers looking eagerly up with +sorrowfully interested eyes, while Stephen, out of his full heart, +told of his faithful comradeship with his hound from the infancy of +both. Her father meanwhile was exchanging serious converse with her +grandmother, and Giles finding himself left in the background, +began: "Come hither, pretty coz, and I will tell thee of my Lady of +Salisbury's dainty little hounds." + +"I care not for dainty little hounds," returned Dennet; "I want to +hear of the poor faithful dog that flew at the wicked robber." + +"A mighty stir about a mere chance," muttered Giles. + +"I know what YOU did," said Dennet, turning her bright brown eyes +full upon him. "You took to your heels." + +Her look and little nod were so irresistibly comical that the two +brothers could not help laughing; whereupon Giles Headley turned +upon them in a passion. + +"What mean ye by this insolence, you beggars' brats picked up on the +heath?" + +"Better born than thou, braggart and coward that thou art!" broke +forth Stephen, while Master Headley exclaimed, "How now, lads? No +brawling here!" + +Three voices spoke at once. + +"They were insolent." + +"He reviled our birth." + +"Father! they did but laugh when I told cousin Giles that he took to +his heels, and he must needs call them beggars' brats picked up on +the heath." + +"Ha! ha! wench, thou art woman enough already to set them together +by the ears," said her father, laughing. "See here, Giles Headley, +none who bears my name shall insult a stranger on my hearth." + +Stephen however had stepped forth holding out his small stock of +coin, and saying, "Sir, receive for our charges, and let us go to +the tavern we passed anon." + +"How now, boy! Said I not ye were my guests?" + +"Yea, sir, and thanks; but we can give no cause for being called +beggars nor beggars' brats." + +"What beggary is there in being guests, my young gentlemen?" said +the master of the house. "If any one were picked up on the heath, +it was I. We owned you for gentlemen of blood and coat armour, and +thy brother there can tell thee that, ye have no right to put an +affront on me, your host, because a rude prentice from a country +town hath not learnt to rule his tongue." + +Giles scowled, but the armourer spoke with an authority that imposed +on all, and Stephen submitted, while Ambrose spoke a few words of +thanks, after which the two brothers were conducted by an external +stair and gallery to a guest-chamber, in which to prepare for +supper. + +The room was small, but luxuriously filled beyond all ideas of the +young foresters, for it was hung with tapestry, representing the +history of Joseph; the bed was curtained, there was a carved chest +for clothes, a table and a ewer and basin of bright brass with the +armourer's mark upon it, a twist in which the letter H and the +dragon's tongue and tail were ingeniously blended. The City was far +in advance of the country in all the arts of life, and only the more +magnificent castles and abbeys, which the boys had never seen, +possessed the amount of comforts to be found in the dwellings of the +superior class of Londoners. Stephen was inclined to look with +contempt upon the effeminacy of a churl merchant. + +"No churl," returned Ambrose, "if manners makyth man, as we saw at +Winchester." + +"Then what do they make of that cowardly clown, his cousin?" + +Ambrose laughed, but said, "Prove we our gentle blood at least by +not brawling with the fellow. Master Headley will soon teach him to +know his place." + +"That will matter nought to us. To-morrow shall we be with our +uncle Hal. I only wish his lord was not of the ghostly sort, but +perhaps he may prefer me to some great knight's service. But oh! +Ambrose, come and look. See! The fellow they call Smallbones is +come out to the fountain in the middle of the court with a bucket in +each hand. Look! Didst ever see such a giant? He is as big and +brawny as Ascapart at the bar-gate at Southampton. See! he lifts +that big pail full and brimming as though it were an egg shell. See +his arm! 'Twere good to see him wield a hammer! I must look into +his smithy before going forth to-morrow." + +Stephen clenched his fist and examined his muscles ere donning his +best mourning jerkin, and could scarce be persuaded to complete his +toilet, so much was he entertained with the comings and goings in +the court, a little world in itself, like a college quadrangle. The +day's work was over, the forges out, and the smiths were lounging +about at ease, one or two sitting on a bench under a large elm-tree +beside the central well, enjoying each his tankard of ale. A few +more were watching Poppet being combed down, and conversing with the +newly-arrived grooms. One was carrying a little child in his arms, +and a young man and maid sitting on the low wall round the well, +seemed to be carrying on a courtship over the pitcher that stood +waiting to be filled. Two lads were playing at skittles, children +were running up and down the stairs and along the wooden galleries, +and men and women went and came by the entrance gateway between the +two effigies of knights in armour. Some were servants bringing helm +or gauntlet for repair, or taking the like away. Some might be +known by their flat caps to be apprentices, and two substantial +burgesses walked in together, as if to greet Master Headley on his +return. Immediately after, a man-cook appeared with white cap and +apron, bearing aloft a covered dish surrounded by a steamy cloud, +followed by other servants bearing other meats; a big bell began to +sound, the younger men and apprentices gathered together and the +brothers descended the stairs, and entered by the big door into the +same large hall where they had been received. The spacious hearth +was full of green boughs, with a beaupot of wild rose, honeysuckle, +clove pinks and gilliflowers; the lower parts of the walls were hung +with tapestry representing the adventures of St. George; the +mullioned windows had their upper squares filled with glass, bearing +the shield of the City of London, that of the Armourers' Company, +the rose and portcullis of the King, the pomegranate of Queen +Catharine, and other like devices. Others, belonging to the +Lancastrian kings, adorned the pendants from the handsome open roof +and the front of a gallery for musicians which crossed one end of +the hall in the taste of the times of Henry V. and Whittington. + +Far more interesting to the hungry travellers was it that the long +table, running the whole breadth of the apartment, was decked with +snowy linen, trenchers stood ready with horns or tankards beside +them, and loaves of bread at intervals, while the dishes were being +placed on the table. The master and his entire establishment took +their meals together, except the married men, who lived in the +quadrangle with their families. There was no division by the salt- +cellar, as at the tables of the nobles and gentry, but the master, +his family and guests, occupied the centre, with the hearth behind +them, where the choicest of the viands were placed; next after them +were the places of the journeymen according to seniority, then those +of the apprentices, household servants, and stable-men, but the +apprentices had to assist the serving-men in waiting on the master +and his party before sitting down themselves. There was a dignity +and regularity about the whole, which could not fail to impress +Stephen and Ambrose with the weight and importance of a London +burgher, warden of the Armourers' Company, and alderman of the Ward +of Cheap. There were carved chairs for himself, his mother, and the +guests, also a small Persian carpet extending from the hearth beyond +their seats. This article filled the two foresters with amazement. +To put one's feet on what ought to be a coverlet! They would not +have stepped on it, had they not been kindly summoned by old +Mistress Headley to take their places among the company, which +consisted, besides the family, of the two citizens who had entered, +and of a priest who had likewise dropped in to welcome Master +Headley's return, and had been invited to stay to supper. Young +Giles, as a matter of course, placed himself amongst them, at which +there were black looks and whispers among the apprentices, and even +Mistress Headley wore an air of amazement. + +"Mother," said the head of the family, speaking loud enough for all +to hear, "you will permit our young kinsman to be placed as our +guest this evening. To-morrow he will act as an apprentice, as we +all have done in our time." + +"I never did so at home!" cried Giles, in his loud, hasty voice. + +"I trow not," dryly observed one of the guests. + +Giles, however, went on muttering while the priest was pronouncing a +Latin grace, and thereupon the same burgess observed, "Never did I +see it better proved that folk in the country give their sons no +good breeding." + +"Have patience with him, good Master Pepper," returned Mr. Headley. +"He hath been an only son, greatly cockered by father, mother, and +sisters, but ere long he will learn what is befiting." + +Giles glared round, but he met nothing encouraging. Little Dennet +sat with open mouth of astonishment, her grandmother looked shocked, +the household which had been aggrieved by his presumption laughed at +his rebuke, for there was not much delicacy in those days; but +something generous in the gentle blood of Ambrose moved him to some +amount of pity for the lad, who thus suddenly became conscious that +the tie he had thought nominal at Salisbury, a mere preliminary to +municipal rank, was here absolute subjection, and a bondage whence +there was no escape. His was the only face that Giles met which had +any friendliness in it, but no one spoke, for manners imposed +silence upon youth at table, except when spoken to; and there was +general hunger enough prevailing to make Mistress Headley's fat +capon the most interesting contemplation for the present. + +The elders conversed, for there was much for Master Headley to hear +of civic affairs that had passed in his absence of two months, also +of all the comings and goings, and it was ascertained that my Lord +Archbishop of York was at his suburban abode, York House, now +Whitehall. + +It was a very late supper for the times, not beginning till seven +o'clock, on account of the travellers; and as soon as it was +finished, and the priest and burghers had taken their leave, Master +Headley dismissed the household to their beds, although daylight was +scarcely departed. + + + +CHAPTER VI. A SUNDAY IN THE CITY + + + +"The rod of Heaven has touched them all, + The word from Heaven is spoken: +Rise, shine and sing, thou captive thrall, + Are not thy fetters broken?" + +KEBLE. + + +On Sunday morning, when the young Birkenholts awoke, the whole air +seemed full of bells from hundreds of Church and Minster steeples. +The Dragon Court wore a holiday air, and there was no ring of +hammers at the forges; but the men who stood about were in holiday +attire: and the brothers assumed their best clothes. + +Breakfast was not a meal much accounted of. It was reckoned +effeminate to require more than two meals a day, though, just as in +the verdurer's lodge at home, there was a barrel of ale on tap with +drinking horns beside it in the hall, and on a small round table in +the window a loaf of bread, to which city luxury added a cheese, and +a jug containing sack, with some silver cups beside it, and a +pitcher of fair water. Master Headley, with his mother and +daughter, was taking a morsel of these refections, standing, and in +out-door garments, when the brothers appeared at about seven o'clock +in the morning. + +"Ha! that's well," quoth he, greeting them. "No slugabeds, I see. +Will ye come with us to hear mass at St. Faith's?" They agreed, and +Master Headley then told them that if they would tarry till the next +day in searching out their uncle, they could have the company of +Tibble Steelman, who had to see one of the captains of the guard +about an alteration of his corslet, and thus would have every +opportunity of facilitating their inquiries for their uncle. + +The mass was an ornate one, though not more so than they were +accustomed to at Beaulieu. Ambrose had his book of devotions, +supplied by the good monks who had brought him up, and old Mrs. +Headley carried something of the same kind; but these did not +necessarily follow the ritual, and neither quiet nor attention was +regarded as requisite in "hearing mass." Dennet, unchecked, was +exchanging flowers from her Sunday posy with another little girl, +and with hooded fingers carrying on in all innocence the satirical +pantomime of Father Francis and Sister Catharine; and even Master +Headley himself exchanged remarks with his friends, and returned +greetings from burgesses and their wives while the celebrant +priest's voice droned on, and the choir responded--the peals of the +organ in the Minster above coming in at inappropriate moments, for +there they were in a different part of High Mass using the Liturgy +peculiar to St. Paul's. + +Thinking of last week at Beaulieu, Ambrose knelt meantime with his +head buried in his hands, in an absorption of feeling that was not +perhaps wholly devout, but which at any rate looked more like +devotion than the demeanour of any one around. When the Ite missa +est was pronounced, and all rose up, Stephen touched him and he +rose, looking about, bewildered. + +"So please you, young sir, I can show you another sort of thing by +and by," said in his ear Tibble Steelman, who had come in late, and +marked his attitude. + +They went up from St. Faith's in a flood of talk, with all manner of +people welcoming Master Headley after his journey, and thence came +back to dinner which was set out in the hall very soon after their +return from church. Quite guests enough were there on this occasion +to fill all the chairs, and Master Headley intimated to Giles that +he must begin his duties at table as an apprentice, under the +tuition of the senior, a tall young fellow of nineteen, by name +Edmund Burgess. He looked greatly injured and discomfited, above +all when he saw his two travelling companions seated at the table-- +though far lower than the night before; nor would he stir from where +he was standing against the wall to do the slightest service, +although Edmund admonished him sharply that unless he bestirred +himself it would be the worse for him. + +When the meal was over, and grace had been said, the boards were +removed from their trestles, and the elders drew round the small +table in the window with a flagon of sack and a plate of wastel +bread in their midst to continue their discussion of weighty Town +Council matters. Every one was free to make holiday, and Edmund +Burgess good-naturedly invited the strangers to come to Mile End, +where there was to be shooting at the butts, and a match at +singlestick was to come off between Kit Smallbones and another +giant, who was regarded as the champion of the brewer's craft. + +Stephen was nothing loth, especially if he might take his own +crossbow; but Ambrose never had much turn for these pastimes and was +in no mood for them. The familiar associations of the mass had +brought the grief of orphanhood, homelessness, and uncertainty upon +him with the more force. His spirit yearned after his father, and +his heart was sick for his forest home. Moreover, there was the +duty incumbent on a good son of saying his prayers for the repose of +his father's soul. He hinted as much to Stephen, who, boy-like, +answered, "Oh, we'll see to that when we get into my Lord of York's +house. Masses must be plenty there. And I must see Smallbones +floor the brewer." + +Ambrose could trust his brother under the care of Edmund Burgess, +and resolved on a double amount of repetitions of the appointed +intercessions for the departed. + +He was watching the party of youths set off, all except Giles +Headley, who sulkily refused the invitations, betook himself to a +window and sat drumming on the glass, while Ambrose stood leaning on +the dragon balustrade, with his eyes dreamily following the merry +lads out at the gateway. + +"You are not for such gear, sir," said a voice at his ear, and he +saw the scathed face of Tibble Steelman beside him. + +"Never greatly so, Tibble," answered Ambrose. "And my heart is too +heavy for it now." + +"Ay, ay, sir. So I thought when I saw you in St. Faith's. I have +known what it was to lose a good father in my time." + +Ambrose held out his hand. It was the first really sympathetic word +he had heard since he had left Nurse Joan. + +"'Tis the week's mind of his burial," he said, half choked with +tears. "Where shall I find a quiet church where I may say his De +profundis in peace?" + +"Mayhap," returned Tibble, "the chapel in the Pardon churchyard +would serve your turn. 'Tis not greatly resorted to when mass time +is over, when there's no funeral in hand, and I oft go there to read +my book in quiet on a Sunday afternoon. And then, if 'tis your +will, I will take you to what to my mind is the best healing for a +sore heart." + +"Nurse Joan was wont to say the best for that was a sight of the +true Cross, as she once beheld it at Holy Rood church at +Southampton," said Ambrose. + +"And so it is, lad, so it is," said Tibble, with a strange light on +his distorted features. + +So they went forth together, while Giles again hugged himself in his +doleful conceit, marvelling how a youth of birth and nurture could +walk the streets on a Sunday with a scarecrow such as that! + +The hour was still early, there was a whole summer afternoon before +them; and Tibble, seeing how much his young companion was struck +with the grand vista of church towers and spires, gave him their +names as they stood, though coupling them with short dry comments on +the way in which their priests too often perverted them. + +The Cheap was then still in great part an open space, where boys +were playing, and a tumbler was attracting many spectators; while +the ballad-singer of yesterday had again a large audience, who +laughed loudly at every coarse jest broken upon mass-priests and +friars. + +Ambrose was horrified at the stave that met his ears, and asked how +such profanity could be allowed. Tibble shrugged his shoulders, and +cited the old saying, "The nearer the church"--adding, "Truth hath a +voice, and will out." + +"But surely this is not the truth?" + +"'Tis mighty like it, sir, though it might be spoken in a more +seemly fashion." + +"What's this?" demanded Ambrose. "'Tis a noble house." + +"That's the Bishop's palace, sir--a man that hath much to answer +for." + +"Liveth he so ill a life then?" + +"Not so. He is no scandalous liver, but he would fain stifle all +the voices that call for better things. Ay, you look back at yon +ballad-monger! Great folk despise the like of him, never guessing +at the power there may be in such ribald stuff; while they would +fain silence that which might turn men from their evil ways while +yet there is time." + +Tibble muttered this to himself, unheeded by Ambrose, and then +presently crossing the church-yard, where a grave was being filled +up, with numerous idle children around it, he conducted the youth +into a curious little chapel, empty now, but with the Host enthroned +above the altar, and the trestles on which the bier had rested still +standing in the narrow nave. + +It was intensely still and cool, a fit place indeed for Ambrose's +filial devotions, while Tibble settled himself on the step, took out +a little black book, and became absorbed. Ambrose's Latin +scholarship enabled him to comprehend the language of the round of +devotions he was rehearsing for the benefit of his father's soul; +but there was much repetition in them, and he had been so trained as +to believe their correct recital was much more important than +attention to their spirit, and thus, while his hands held his +rosary, his eyes were fixed upon the walls where was depicted the +Dance of Death. In terrible repetition, the artist had aimed at +depicting every rank or class in life as alike the prey of the +grisly phantom. Triple-crowned pope, scarlet-hatted cardinal, +mitred prelate, priests, monks, and friars of every degree; +emperors, kings, princes, nobles, knights, squires, yeomen, every +sort of trade, soldiers of all kinds, beggars, even thieves and +murderers, and, in like manner, ladies of every degree, from the +queen and the abbess, down to the starving beggar, were each +represented as grappled with, and carried off by the crowned +skeleton. There was no truckling to greatness. The bishop and +abbot writhed and struggled in the grasp of Death, while the miser +clutched at his gold, and if there were some nuns, and some poor +ploughmen who willingly clasped his bony fingers and obeyed his +summons joyfully, there were countesses and prioresses who tried to +beat him off, or implored him to wait. The infant smiled in his +arms, but the middle-aged fought against his scythe. + +The contemplation had a most depressing effect on the boy, whose +heart was still sore for his father. After the sudden shock of such +a loss, the monotonous repetition of the snatching away of all +alike, in the midst of their characteristic worldly employments, and +the anguish and hopeless resistance of most of them, struck him to +the heart. He moved between each bead to a fresh group; staring at +it with fixed gaze, while his lips moved in the unconscious hope of +something consoling; till at last, hearing some uncontrollable sobs, +Tibble Steelman rose and found him crouching rather than kneeling +before the figure of an emaciated hermit, who was greeting the +summons of the King of Terrors, with crucifix pressed to his breast, +rapt countenance and outstretched arms, seeing only the Angel who +hovered above. After some minutes of bitter weeping, which choked +his utterance, Ambrose, feeling a friendly hand on his shoulder, +exclaimed in a voice broken by sobs, "Oh, tell me, where may I go to +become an anchorite! There's no other safety! I'll give all my +portion, and spend all my time in prayer for my father and the other +poor souls in purgatory." + +Two centuries earlier, nay, even one, Ambrose would have been +encouraged to follow out his purpose. As it was, Tibble gave a +little dry cough and said, "Come along with me, sir, and I'll show +you another sort of way." + +"I want no entertainment!" said Ambrose, "I should feel only as if +he," pointing to the phantom, "were at hand, clutching me with his +deadly claw," and he looked over his shoulder with a shudder. + +There was a box by the door to receive alms for masses on behalf of +the souls in purgatory, and here he halted and felt for the pouch at +his girdle, to pour in all the contents; but Steelman said, "Hold, +sir, are you free to dispose of your brother's share, you who are +purse-bearer for both?" + +"I would fain hold my brother to the only path of safety." + +Again Tibble gave his dry cough, but added, "He is not in the path +of safety who bestows that which is not his own but is held in +trust. I were foully to blame if I let this grim portrayal so work +on you as to lead you to beggar not only yourself, but your brother, +with no consent of his." + +For Tibble was no impulsive Italian, but a sober-minded Englishman +of sturdy good sense, and Ambrose was reasonable enough to listen +and only drop in a few groats which he knew to be his own. + +At the same moment, a church bell was heard, the tone of which +Steelman evidently distinguished from all the others, and he led the +way out of the Pardon churchyard, over the space in front of St. +Paul's. Many persons were taking the same route; citizens in gowns +and gold or silver chains, their wives in tall pointed hats; +craftsmen, black-gowned scholarly men with fur caps, but there was a +much more scanty proportion of priests, monks or friars, than was +usual in any popular assemblage. Many of the better class of women +carried folding stools, or had them carried by their servants, as if +they expected to sit and wait. + +"Is there a procession toward? or a relic to be displayed?" asked +Ambrose, trying to recollect whose feast-day it might be. + +Tibble screwed up his mouth in an extraordinary smile as he said, +"Relic quotha? yea, the soothest relic there be of the Lord and +Master of us all." + +"Methought the true Cross was always displayed on the High Altar," +said Ambrose, as all turned to a side aisle of the noble nave. + +"Rather say hidden," muttered Tibble. "Thou shalt have it +displayed, young sir, but neither in wood nor gilded shrine. See, +here he comes who setteth it forth." + +From the choir came, attended by half a dozen clergy, a small, pale +man, in the ordinary dress of a priest, with a square cap on his +head. He looked spare, sickly, and wrinkled, but the furrows traced +lines of sweetness, his mouth was wonderfully gentle, and there was +a keen brightness about his clear grey eye. Every one rose and made +obeisance as he passed along to the stone stair leading to a pulpit +projecting from one of the columns. + +Ambrose saw what was coming, though he had only twice before heard +preaching. The children of the ante-reformation were not called +upon to hear sermons; and the few exhortations given in Lent to the +monks of Beaulieu were so exclusively for the religious that +seculars were not invited to them. So that Ambrose had only once +heard a weary and heavy discourse there plentifully garnished with +Latin; and once he had stood among the throng at a wake at +Millbrook, and heard a begging friar recommend the purchase of +briefs of indulgence and the daily repetition of the Ave Maria by a +series of extraordinary miracles for the rescue of desperate +sinners, related so jocosely as to keep the crowd in a roar of +laughter. He had laughed with the rest, but he could not imagine +his guide, with the stern, grave eyebrows, writhen features and +earnest, ironical tone, covering--as even he could detect--the +deepest feeling, enjoying such broad sallies as tickled the slow +merriment of village clowns and forest deer-stealers. + +All stood for a moment while the Paternoster was repeated. Then the +owners of stools sat down on them, some leant on adjacent pillars, +others curled themselves on the floor, but most remained on their +feet as unwilling to miss a word, and of these were Tibble Steelman +and his companion. + +Omnis qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati, followed by the +rendering in English, "Whosoever doeth sin is sin's bond thrall." +The words answered well to the ghastly delineations that seemed +stamped on Ambrose's brain and which followed him about into the +nave, so that he felt himself in the grasp of the cruel fiend, and +almost expected to feel the skeleton claw of Death about to hand him +over to torment. He expected the consolation of hearing that a +daily "Hail Mary," persevered in through the foulest life, would +obtain that beams should be arrested in their fall, ships fail to +sink, cords to hang, till such confession had been made as should +insure ultimate salvation, after such a proportion of the flames of +purgatory as masses and prayers might not mitigate. + +But his attention was soon caught. Sinfulness stood before him not +as the liability to penalty for transgressing an arbitrary rule, but +as a taint to the entire being, mastering the will, perverting the +senses, forging fetters out of habit, so as to be a loathsome horror +paralysing and enchaining the whole being and making it into the +likeness of him who brought sin and death into the world. The +horror seemed to grow on Ambrose, as his boyish faults and errors +rushed on his mind, and he felt pervaded by the contagion of the +pestilence, abhorrent even to himself. But behold, what was he +hearing now? "The bond thrall abideth not in the house for ever, +but the Son abideth ever. Si ergo Filius liberavit, vere liberi +eritis." "If the Son should make you free, then are ye free +indeed." And for the first time was the true liberty of the +redeemed soul comprehensibly proclaimed to the young spirit that had +begun to yearn for something beyond the outside. Light began to +shine through the outward ordinances; the Church; the world, life, +and death, were revealed as something absolutely new; a redeeming, +cleansing, sanctifying power was made known, and seemed to inspire +him with a new life, joy, and hope. He was no longer feeling +himself necessarily crushed by the fetters of death, or only +delivered from absolute peril by a mechanism that had lost its +heart, but he could enter into the glorious liberty of the sons of +God, in process of being saved, not in sin but FROM sin. + +It was an era in his life, and Tibble heard him sobbing, but with +very different sobs from those in the Pardon chapel. When it was +over, and the blessing given, Ambrose looked up from the hands which +had covered his face with a new radiance in his eyes, and drew a +long breath. Tibble saw that he was like one in another world, and +gently led him away. + +"Who is he? What is he? Is he an angel from Heaven?" demanded the +boy, a little wildly, as they neared the southern door. + +"If an angel be a messenger of God, I trow he is one," said Tibble. +"But men call him Dr. Colet. He is Dean of St. Paul's Minster, and +dwelleth in the house you see below there." + +"And are such words as these to be heard every Sunday?" + +"On most Sundays doth he preach here in the nave to all sorts of +folk." + +"I must--I must hear it again!" exclaimed Ambrose. + +"Ay, ay," said Tibble, regarding him with a well-pleased face. "You +are one with whom it works." + +"Every Sunday!" repeated Ambrose. "Why do not all--your master and +all these," pointing to the holiday crowds going to and fro--"why do +they not all come to listen?" + +"Master doth come by times," said Tibble, in the tone of irony that +was hard to understand. "He owneth the dean as a rare preacher." + +Ambrose did not try to understand. He exclaimed again, panting as +if his thoughts were too strong for his words--"Lo you, that +preacher--dean call ye him?--putteth a soul into what hath hitherto +been to me but a dead and empty framework." + +Tibble held out his hand almost unconsciously, and Ambrose pressed +it. Man and boy, alike they had felt the electric current of that +truth, which, suppressed and ignored among man's inventions, was +coming as a new revelation to many, and was already beginning to +convulse the Church and the world. + +Ambrose's mind was made up on one point. Whatever he did, and +wherever he went, he felt the doctrine he had just heard as needful +to him as vital air, and he must be within reach of it. This, and +not the hermit's cell, was what his instinct craved. He had always +been a studious, scholarly boy, supposed to be marked out for a +clerical life, because a book was more to him than a bow, and he had +been easily trained in good habits and practices of devotion; but +all in a childish manner, without going beyond simple receptiveness, +until the experiences of the last week had made a man of him, or +more truly, the Pardon chapel and Dean Colet's sermon had made him a +new being, with the realities of the inner life opened before him. + +His present feeling was relief from the hideous load he had felt +while dwelling on the Dance of Death, and therewith general goodwill +to all men, which found its first issue in compassion for Giles +Headley, whom he found on his return seated on the steps--moody and +miserable. + +"Would that you had been with us," said Ambrose, sitting down beside +him on the step. "Never have I heard such words as to-day." + +"I would not be seen in the street with that scarecrow," murmured +Giles. "If my mother could have guessed that he was to be set over +me, I had never come here." + +"Surely you knew that he was foreman." + +"Yea, but not that I should be under him--I whom old Giles vowed +should be as his own son--I that am to wed yon little brown moppet, +and be master here! So, forsooth," he said, "now he treats me like +any common low-bred prentice." + +"Nay," said Ambrose, "an if you were his son, he would still make +you serve. It's the way with all craftsmen--yea and with +gentlemen's sons also. They must be pages and squires ere they can +be knights." + +"It never was the way at home. I was only bound prentice to my +father for the name of the thing, that I might have the freedom of +the city, and become head of our house." + +"But how could you be a wise master without learning the craft?" + +"What are journeymen for?" demanded the lad. "Had I known how Giles +Headley meant to serve me, he might have gone whistle for a husband +for his wench. I would have ridden in my Lady of Salisbury's +train." + +"You might have had rougher usage there than here," said Ambrose. +"Master Headley lays nothing on you but what he has himself proved. +I would I could see you make the best of so happy a home." + +"Ay, that's all very well for you, who are certain of a great man's +house." + +"Would that I were certified that my brother would be as well off as +you, if you did but know it," said Ambrose. "Ha! here come the +dishes! 'Tis supper time come on us unawares, and Stephen not +returned from Mile End!" + +Punctuality was not, however, exacted on these summer Sunday +evenings, when practice with the bow and other athletic sports were +enjoined by Government, and, moreover, the youths were with so +trustworthy a member of the household as Kit Smallbones. + +Sundry City magnates had come to supper with Master Headley, and +whether it were the effect of Ambrose's counsel, or of the example +of a handsome lad who had come with his father, one of the +worshipful guild of Merchant Taylors, Giles did vouchsafe to bestir +himself in waiting, and in consideration of the effort it must have +cost him, old Mrs. Headley and her son did not take notice of his +blunders, but only Dennet fell into a violent fit of laughter, when +he presented the stately alderman with a nutmeg under the impression +that it was an overgrown peppercorn. She suppressed her mirth as +well as she could, poor little thing, for it was a great offence in +good manners, but she was detected, and, only child as she was, the +consequence was the being banished from the table and sent to bed. + +But when, after supper was over, Ambrose went out to see if there +were any signs of the return of Stephen and the rest, he found the +little maiden curled up in the gallery with her kitten in her arms. + +"Nay!" she said, in a spoilt-child tone, "I'm not going to bed +before my time for laughing at that great oaf! Nurse Alice says he +is to wed me, but I won't have him! I like the pretty boy who had +the good dog and saved father, and I like you, Master Ambrose. Sit +down by me and tell me the story over again, and we shall see Kit +Smallbones come home. I know he'll have beaten the brewer's +fellow." + +Before Ambrose had decided whether thus far to abet rebellion, she +jumped up and cried: "Oh, I see Kit! He's got my ribbon! He has +won the match!" + +And down she rushed, quite oblivious of her disgrace, and Ambrose +presently saw her uplifted in Kit Smallbones' brawny arms to utter +her congratulations. + +Stephen was equally excited. His head was full of Kit Smallbones' +exploits, and of the marvels of the sports he had witnessed and +joined in with fair success. He had thought Londoners poor +effeminate creatures, but he found that these youths preparing for +the trained bands understood all sorts of martial exercises far +better than any of his forest acquaintance, save perhaps the hitting +of a mark. He was half wild with a boy's enthusiasm for Kit +Smallbones and Edmund Burgess, and when, after eating the supper +that had been reserved for the late comers, he and his brother +repaired to their own chamber, his tongue ran on in description of +the feats he had witnessed and his hopes of emulating them, since he +understood that Archbishop as was my Lord of York, there was a tilt- +yard at York House. Ambrose, equally full of his new feelings, +essayed to make his brother a sharer in them, but Stephen entirely +failed to understand more than that his book-worm brother had heard +something that delighted him in his own line of scholarship, from +which Stephen had happily escaped a year ago! + + + +CHAPTER VII. YORK HOUSE + + + +"Then hath he servants five or six score, +Some behind and some before; +A marvellous great company +Of which are lords and gentlemen, +With many grooms and yeomen +And also knaves among them." + +Contemporary Poem on Wolsey. + + +Early were hammers ringing on anvils in the Dragon Court, and all +was activity. Master Headley was giving his orders to Kit +Smallbones before setting forth to take the Duke of Buckingham's +commands; Giles Headley, very much disgusted, was being invested +with a leathern apron, and entrusted to Edmund Burgess to learn +those primary arts of furbishing which, but for his mother's vanity +and his father's weakness, he would have practised four years +sooner. Tibble Steelman was superintending the arrangement of half +a dozen corslets, which were to be carried by three stout porters, +under his guidance, to what is now Whitehall, then the residence of +the Archbishop of York, the king's prime adviser, Thomas Wolsey. + +"Look you, Tib," said the kind-hearted armourer, "if those lads find +not their kinsman, or find him not what they look for, bring them +back hither, I cannot have them cast adrift. They are good and +brave youths, and I owe a life to them." + +Tibble nodded entire assent, but when the boys appeared in their +mourning suits, with their bundles on their backs, they were sent +back again to put on their forest green, Master Headley explaining +that it was reckoned ill-omened, if not insulting, to appear before +any great personage in black, unless to enhance some petition +directly addressed to himself. He also bade them leave their +fardels behind, as, if they tarried at York House, these could be +easily sent after them. + +They obeyed--even Stephen doing so with more alacrity than he had +hitherto shown to Master Headley's behests; for now that the time +for departure had come, he was really sorry to leave the armourer's +household. Edmund Burgess had been very good-natured to the raw +country lad, and Kit Smallbones was, in his eyes, an Ascapart in +strength, and a Bevis in prowess and kindliness. Mistress Headley +too had been kind to the orphan lads, and these two days had given a +feeling of being at home at the Dragon. When Giles wished them a +moody farewell, and wished he were going with them, Stephen +returned, "Ah! you don't know when you are well off." + +Little Dennet came running down after them with two pinks in her +hands. "Here's a sop-in-wine for a token for each of you young +gentlemen," she cried, "for you came to help father, and I would you +were going to stay and wed me instead of Giles." + +"What, both of us, little maid?" said Ambrose, laughing, as he +stooped to receive the kiss her rosy lips tendered to him. + +"Not but what she would have royal example," muttered Tibble aside. + +Dennet put her head on one side, as considering. "Nay, not both; +but you are gentle and courteous, and he is brave and gallant--and +Giles there is moody and glum, and can do nought." + +"Ah! you will see what a gallant fellow Giles can be when thou hast +cured him of his home-sickness by being good to him," said Ambrose, +sorry for the youth in the universal laughter at the child's plain +speaking. + +And thus the lads left the Dragon, amid friendly farewells. Ambrose +looked up at the tall spire of St. Paul's with a strong +determination that he would never put himself out of reach of such +words as he had there drunk in, and which were indeed spirit and +life to him. + +Tibble took them down to the St. Paul's stairs on the river, where +at his whistle a wherry was instantly brought to transport them to +York stairs, only one of the smiths going any further in charge of +the corslets. Very lovely was their voyage in the brilliant summer +morning, as the glittering water reflected in broken ripples church +spire, convent garden, and stately house. Here rows of elm-trees +made a cool walk by the river side, there strawberry beds sloped +down the Strand, and now and then the hooded figures of nuns might +be seen gathering the fruit. There, rose the round church of the +Temple, and the beautiful gardens surrounding the buildings, half +monastic, half military, and already inhabited by lawyers. From a +barge at the Temple stairs a legal personage descended, with a +square beard, and open, benevolent, shrewd face, before whom Tibble +removed his cap with eagerness, saying to Ambrose, "Yonder is Master +More, a close friend of the dean's, a good and wise man, and forward +in every good work." + +Thus did they arrive at York House. Workmen were busy on some +portions of it, but it was inhabited by the great Archbishop, the +king's chief adviser. The approach of the boat seemed to be +instantly notified, as it drew near the stone steps giving entrance +to the gardens, with an avenue of trees leading up to the principal +entrance. + +Four or five yeomen ran down the steps, calling out to Tibble that +their corslets had tarried a long time, and that Sir Thomas Drury +had been storming for him to get his tilting armour into order. + +Tibble followed the man who had undertaken to conduct him through a +path that led to the offices of the great house, bidding the boys +keep with him, and asking for their uncle Master Harry Randall. + +The yeoman shook his head. He knew no such person in the household, +and did not think there ever had been such. Sir Thomas Drury was +found in the stable court, trying the paces of the horse he intended +to use in the approaching joust. "Ha! old Wry-mouth," he cried, +"welcome at last! I must have my new device damasked on my shield. +Come hither, and I'll show it thee." + +Private rooms were seldom enjoyed, even by knights and gentlemen, in +such a household, and Sir Thomas could only conduct Tibble to the +armoury, where numerous suits of armour hung on blocks, presenting +the semblance of armed men. The knight, a good-looking personage, +expatiated much on the device he wished to dedicate to his lady- +love, a pierced heart with a forget-me-not in the midst, and it was +not until the directions were finished that Tibble ventured to +mention the inquiry for Randall. + +"I wot of no such fellow," returned Sir Thomas, "you had best go to +the comptroller, who keeps all the names." Tibble had to go to this +functionary at any rate, to obtain an order for payment for the +corslets he had brought home. Ambrose and Stephen followed him +across an enormous hall, where three long tables were being laid for +dinner. + +The comptroller of the household, an esquire of good birth, with a +stiff little ruff round his neck, sat in a sort of office inclosed +by panels at the end of the hall. He made an entry of Tibble's +account in a big book, and sent a message to the cofferer to bring +the amount. Then Tibble again put his question on behalf of the two +young foresters, and the comptroller shook his head. He did not +know the name. "Was the gentleman" (he chose that word as he looked +at the boys) "layman or clerk?" "Layman, certainly," said Ambrose, +somewhat dismayed to find how little, on interrogation, he really +knew. + +"Was he a yeoman of the guard, or in attendance on one of my lord's +nobles in waiting?" + +"We thought he had been a yeoman," said Ambrose. + +"See," said the comptroller, stimulated by a fee administered by +Tibble, "'tis just dinner time, and I must go to attend on my Lord +Archbishop; but do you, Tibble, sit down with these striplings to +dinner, and then I will cast my eye over the books, and see if I can +find any such name. What, hast not time? None ever quits my lord's +without breaking his fast." + +Tibble had no doubt that his master would be willing that he should +give up his time for this purpose, so he accepted the invitation. +The tables were by this time nearly covered, but all stood waiting, +for there flowed in from the great doorway of the hall a gorgeous +train--first, a man bearing the double archiepiscopal cross of York, +fashioned in silver, and thick with gems--then, with lofty mitre +enriched with pearls and jewels, and with flowing violet lace- +covered robes came the sturdy square-faced ruddy prelate, who was +then the chief influence in England, and after him two glittering +ranks of priests in square caps and richly embroidered copes, all in +accordant colours. They were returning, as a yeoman told Tibble, +from some great ecclesiastical ceremony, and dinner would be served +instantly. + +"That for which Ralf Bowyer lives!" said a voice close by, "He would +fain that the dial's hands were Marie bones, the face blancmange, +wherein the figures should be grapes of Corinth!" + +Stephen looked round and saw a man close beside him in what he knew +at once to be the garb of a jester. A tall scarlet velvet cap, with +three peaks, bound with gold braid, and each surmounted with a +little gilded bell, crowned his head, a small crimson ridge to +indicate the cock's comb running along the front. His jerkin and +hose were of motley, the left arm and right leg being blue, their +opposites, orange tawny, while the nether stocks and shoes were in +like manner black and scarlet counterchanged. And yet, somehow, +whether from the way of wearing it, or from the effect of the gold +embroidery meandering over all, the effect was not distressing, but +more like that of a gorgeous bird. The figure was tall, lithe, and +active, the brown ruddy face had none of the blank stare of vacant +idiocy, but was full of twinkling merriment, the black eyes laughed +gaily, and perhaps only so clearsighted and shrewd an observer as +Tibble would have detected a weakness of purpose about the mouth. + +There was a roar of laughter at the gibe, as indeed there was at +whatever was uttered by the man whose profession was to make mirth. + +"Thou likest thy food well enough thyself, quipsome one," muttered +Ralf. + +"Hast found one who doth not, Ralf? Then should he have a free gift +of my bauble," responded the jester, shaking on high that badge, +surmounted with the golden head of an ass, and jingling with bells. +"How now, friend Wry-mouth? 'Tis long since thou wert here! This +house hath well-nigh been forced to its ghostly weapons for lack of +thy substantial ones. Where hast thou been?" + +"At Salisbury, good Merryman." + +"Have the Wilts men raked the moon yet out of the pond? Did they +lend thee their rake, Tib, that thou hast raked up a couple of green +Forest palmer worms, or be they the sons of the man in the moon, +raked out and all astray?" + +"Mayhap, for we met them with dog and bush," said Tibble, "and they +dropped as from the moon to save my poor master from the robbers on +Bagshot heath! Come now, mine honest fellow, aid me to rake, as +thou sayest, this same household. They are come up from the Forest, +to seek out their uncle, one Randall, who they have heard to be in +this meine. Knowest thou such a fellow?" + +"To seek a spider in a stubble-field! Truly he needs my bauble who +sent them on such an errand," said the jester, rather slowly, as if +to take time for consideration. "What's your name, my Forest +flies?" + +"Birkenholt, sir," answered Ambrose, "but our uncle is Harry +Randall." + +"Here's fools enow to take away mine office," was the reply. +"Here's a couple of lads would leave the greenwood and the free oaks +and beeches, for this stinking, plague-smitten London." + +"We'd not have quitted it could we have tarried at home," began +Ambrose; but at that moment there was a sudden commotion, a +trampling of horses was heard outside, a loud imperious voice +demanded, "Is my Lord Archbishop within?" a whisper ran round, "the +King," and there entered the hall with hasty steps, a figure never +to be forgotten, clad in a hunting dress of green velvet embroidered +with gold, with a golden hunting horn slung round his neck. + +Henry VIII. was then in the splendid prime of his youth, in his +twenty-seventh year, and in the eyes, not only of his own subjects, +but of all others, the very type of a true king of men. Tall, and +as yet of perfect form for strength, agility, and grace; his +features were of the beautiful straight Plantagenet type, and his +complexion of purely fair rosiness, his large well-opened blue eyes +full at once of frankness and keenness, and the short golden beard +that fringed his square chin giving the manly air that otherwise +might have seemed wanting to the feminine tinting of his regular +lineaments. All caps were instantly doffed save the little bonnet +with one drooping feather that covered his short, curled, yellow +hair; and the Earl of Derby, who was at the head of Wolsey's +retainers, made haste, bowing to the ground, to assure him that my +Lord Archbishop was but doffing his robes, and would be with his +Grace instantly. Would his Grace vouchsafe to come on to the privy +chamber where the dinner was spread? + +At the same moment Quipsome Hal sprang forward, exclaiming, "How +now, brother and namesake? Wherefore this coil? Hath cloth of gold +wearied yet of cloth of frieze? Is she willing to own her right to +this?" as he held out his bauble. + +"Holla, old Blister! art thou there?" said the King, good- +humouredly. "What! knowest not that we are to have such a wedding +as will be a sight for sore eyes!" + +"Sore! that's well said, friend Hal. Thou art making progress in +mine art! Sore be the eyes wherein thou wouldst throw dust." + +Again the King laughed, for every one knew that his sister Mary had +secretly been married to the Duke of Suffolk for the last two +months, and that this public marriage and the tournament that was to +follow were only for the sake of appearances. He laid his hand +good-naturedly on the jester's shoulder as he walked up the hall +towards the Archbishop's private apartments, but the voices of both +were loud pitched, and bits of the further conversation could be +picked up. "Weddings are rife in your family," said the jester, +"none of you get weary of fitting on the noose. What, thou thyself, +Hal? Ay, thou hast not caught the contagion yet! Now ye gods +forefend! If thou hast the chance, thou'lt have it strong." + +Therewith the Archbishop, in his purple robes, appeared in the +archway at the other end of the hall, the King joined him, and still +followed by the jester, they both vanished. It was presently made +known that the King was about to dine there, and that all were to +sit down to eat. The King dined alone with the Archbishop as his +host; the two noblemen who had formed his suite joined the first +table in the higher hall; the knights that of the steward of the +household, who was of knightly degree, and with whom the superior +clergy of the household ate; and the grooms found their places among +the vast array of yeomen and serving-men of all kinds with whom +Tibble and his two young companions had to eat. A week ago, Stephen +would have contemned the idea of being classed with serving-men and +grooms, but by this time he was quite bewildered, and anxious enough +to be thankful to keep near a familiar face on any terms, and to +feel as if Tibble were an old friend, though he had only known him +for five days. + +Why the King had come had not transpired, but there was a whisper +that despatches from Scotland were concerned in it. The meal was a +lengthy one, but at last the King's horses were ordered, and +presently Henry came forth, with his arm familiarly linked in that +of the Archbishop, whose horse had likewise been made ready that he +might accompany the King back to Westminster. The jester was close +at hand, and as a parting shaft he observed, while the King mounted +his horse, "Friend Hal! give my brotherly commendations to our +Madge, and tell her that one who weds Anguish cannot choose but cry +out." + +Wherewith, affecting to expect a stroke from the King's whip, he +doubled himself up, performed the contortion now called turning a +coachwheel, then, recovering himself, put his hands on his hips and +danced wildly on the steps; while Henry, shaking his whip at him, +laughed at the only too obvious pun, for Anguish was the English +version of Angus, the title of Queen Margaret's second husband, and +it was her complaints that had brought him to his counsellor. + +The jester then, much to the annoyance of the two boys, thought +proper to follow them to the office of the comptroller, and as that +dignitary read out from his books the name of every Henry, and of +all the varieties of Ralf and Randolf among the hundred and eighty +persons composing the household, he kept on making comments. "Harry +Hempseed, clerk to the kitchen; ay, Hempseed will serve his turn one +of these days. Walter Randall, groom of the chamber; ah, ha! my +lads, if you want a generous uncle who will look after you well, +there is your man! He'll give you the shakings of the napery for +largesse, and when he is in an open-handed mood, will let you lie on +the rushes that have served the hall. Harry of Lambeth, yeoman of +the stable. He will make you free of all the taverns in Eastchepe." + +And so on, accompanying each remark with a pantomime mimicry of the +air and gesture of the individual. He showed in a second the +contortions of Harry Weston in drawing the bow, and in another the +grimaces of Henry Hope, the choir man, in producing bass notes, or +the swelling majesty of Randall Porcher, the cross-bearer, till it +really seemed as if he had shown off the humours of at least a third +of the enormous household. Stephen had laughed at first, but as +failure after failure occurred, the antics began to weary even him, +and seem unkind and ridiculous as hope ebbed away, and the appalling +idea began to grow on him of being cast loose on London without a +friend or protector. Ambrose felt almost despairing as he heard in +vain the last name. He would almost have been willing to own Hal +the scullion, and his hopes rose when he heard of Hodge Randolph, +the falconer, but alas, that same Hodge came from Yorkshire. + +"And mine uncle was from the New Forest in Hampshire," he said. + +"Maybe he went by the name of Shirley," added Stephen, "'tis where +his home was." + +But the comptroller, unwilling to begin a fresh search, replied at +once that the only Shirley in the household was a noble esquire of +the Warwickshire family. + +"You must e'en come back with me, young masters," said Tibble, "and +see what my master can do for you." + +"Stay a bit," said the fool. "Harry of Shirley! Harry of Shirley! +Methinks I could help you to the man, if so be as you will deem him +worth the finding," he added, suddenly turning upside down, and +looking at them standing on the palms of his hands, with an +indescribable leer of drollery, which in a moment dashed all the +hopes with which they had turned to him. "Should you know this +minks of yours?" he added. + +"I think I should," said Ambrose. "I remember best how he used to +carry me on his shoulder to cull mistletoe for Christmas." + +"Ah, ha! A proper fellow of his inches now, with yellow hair?" + +"Nay," said Ambrose, "I mind that his hair was black, and his eyes +as black as sloes--or as thine own, Master Jester." + +The jester tumbled over into a more extraordinary attitude than +before, while Stephen said - + +"John was wont to twit us with being akin to Gipsy Hal." + +"I mean a man sad and grave as the monks of Beaulieu," said the +jester. + +"He!" they both cried. "No, indeed! He was foremost in all +sports." "Ah!" cried Stephen, "mind you not, Ambrose, his teaching +us leap-frog, and aye leaping over one of us himself, with the other +in his arms?" + +"Ah! sadly changed, sadly changed," said the jester, standing +upright, with a most mournful countenance. "Maybe you'd not thank +me if I showed him to you, young sirs, that is, if he be the man." + +"Nay! is he in need, or distress?" cried the brothers. + +"Poor Hal!" returned the fool, shaking his head with mournfulness in +his voice. + +"Oh, take us to him, good--good jester," cried Ambrose. "We are +young and strong. We will work for him." + +"What, a couple of lads like you, that have come to London seeking +for him to befriend you--deserving well my cap for that matter. +Will ye be guided to him, broken and soured--no more gamesome, but a +sickly old runagate?" + +"Of course," cried Ambrose. "He is our mother's brother. We must +care for him." + +"Master Headley will give us work, mayhap," said Stephen, turning to +Tibble. "I could clean the furnaces." + +"Ah, ha! I see fools' caps must hang thick as beech masts in the +Forest," cried the fool, but his voice was husky, and he turned +suddenly round with his back to them, then cut three or four +extraordinary capers, after which he observed--"Well, young +gentlemen, I will see the man I mean, and if he be the same, and be +willing to own you for his nephews, he will meet you in the Temple +Gardens at six of the clock this evening, close to the rose-bush +with the flowers in my livery--motley red and white." + +"But how shall we know him?" + +"D'ye think a pair of green caterpillars like you can't be marked-- +unless indeed the gardener crushes you for blighting his roses." +Wherewith the jester quitted the scene, walking on his hands, with +his legs in the air. + +"Is he to be trusted?" asked Tibble of the comptroller. + +"Assuredly," was the answer; "none hath better wit than Quipsome +Hal, when he chooseth to be in earnest. In very deed, as I have +heard Sir Thomas More say, it needeth a wise man to be fool to my +Lord of York." + + + +CHAPTER VIII. QUIPSOME HAL + + + +"The sweet and bitter fool + Will presently appear, +The one in motley here + The other found out there." + +SHAKESPEARE. + + +There lay the quiet Temple Gardens, on the Thames bank, cut out in +formal walks, with flowers growing in the beds of the homely kinds +beloved by the English. Musk roses, honeysuckle and virgin's bower, +climbed on the old grey walls; sops-in-wine, bluebottles, bachelor's +buttons, stars of Bethlehem and the like, filled the borders; May +thorns were in full sweet blossom; and near one another were the two +rose bushes, one damask and one white Provence, whence Somerset and +Warwick were said to have plucked their fatal badges; while on the +opposite side of a broad grass-plot was another bush, looked on as a +great curiosity of the best omen, where the roses were streaked with +alternate red and white, in honour, as it were, of the union of York +and Lancaster. + +By this rose-tree stood the two young Birkenholts. Edmund Burgess +having, by his master's desire, shown them the way, and passed them +in by a word and sign from his master, then retired unseen to a +distance to mark what became of them, they having promised also to +return and report of themselves to Master Headley. + +They stood together earnestly watching for the coming of the uncle, +feeling quite uncertain whether to expect a frail old broken man, or +to find themselves absolutely deluded, and made game of by the +jester. + +The gardens were nearly empty, for most people were sitting over +their supper-tables after the business of the day was over, and only +one or two figures in black gowns paced up and down in conversation. + +"Come away, Ambrose," said Stephen at last. "He only meant to make +fools of us! Come, before he comes to gibe us for having heeded a +moment. Come, I say--here's this man coming to ask us what we are +doing here." + +For a tall, well-made, well-dressed personage in the black or sad +colour of a legal official, looking like a prosperous householder, +or superior artisan, was approaching them, some attendant, as the +boys concluded belonging to the Temple. They expected to be turned +out, and Ambrose in an apologetic tone, began, "Sir, we were bidden +to meet a--a kinsman here." + +"And even so am I," was the answer, in a grave, quiet tone, "or +rather to meet twain." + +Ambrose looked up into a pair of dark eyes, and exclaimed "Stevie, +Stevie, 'tis he. 'Tis uncle Hal." + +"Ay, 'tis all you're like to have for him," answered Harry Randall, +enfolding each in his embrace. "Lad, how like thou art to my poor +sister! And is she indeed gone--and your honest father too--and +none left at home but that hunks, little John? How and when died +she?" + +"Two years agone come Lammastide," answered Stephen. "There was a +deadly creeping fever and ague through the Forest. We two sickened, +and Ambrose was so like to die that Diggory went to the abbey for +the priest to housel and anneal him, but by the time Father Simon +came he was sound asleep, and soon was whole again. But before we +were on our legs, our blessed mother took the disease, and she +passed away ere many days were over. Then, though poor father took +not that sickness, he never was the same man again, and only twelve +days after last Pasch-tide he was taken with a fit and never spake +again." + +Stephen was weeping by this time, and his uncle had a hand on his +shoulder, and with tears in his eyes, threw in ejaculations of pity +and affection. Ambrose finished the narrative with a broken voice +indeed, but as one who had more self-command than his brother, +perhaps than his uncle, whose exclamations became bitter and angry +as he heard of the treatment the boys had experienced from their +half-brother, who, as he said, he had always known as a currish +mean-spirited churl, but scarce such as this. + +"Nor do I think he would have been, save for his wife, Maud Pratt of +Hampton," said Ambrose. "Nay, truly also, he deemed that we were +only within a day's journey of council from our uncle Richard at +Hyde." + +"Richard Birkenholt was a sturdy old comrade! Methinks he would +give Master Jack a piece of his mind." + +"Alack, good uncle, we found him in his dotage, and the bursar of +Hyde made quick work with us, for fear, good Father Shoveller said, +that we were come to look after his corrody." + +"Shoveller--what, a Shoveller of Cranbury? How fell ye in with +him?" + +Ambrose told the adventures of their journey, and Randall exclaimed +"By my bau--I mean by my faith--if ye have ill-luck in uncles, ye +have had good luck in friends." + +"No ill-luck in thee, good, kind uncle," said Stephen, catching at +his hand with the sense of comfort that kindred blood gives. + +"How wottest thou that, child? Did not I--I mean did not Merryman +tell you, that mayhap ye would not be willing to own your uncle?" + +"We deemed he was but jesting," said Stephen. "Ah!" + +For a sudden twinkle in the black eyes, an involuntary twist of the +muscles of the face, were a sudden revelation to him. He clutched +hold of Ambrose with a sudden grasp; Ambrose too looked and recoiled +for a moment, while the colour spread over his face. + +"Yes, lads. Can you brook the thought!--Harry Randall is the poor +fool!" + +Stephen, whose composure had already broken down, burst into tears +again, perhaps mostly at the downfall of all his own expectations +and glorifications of the kinsman about whom he had boasted. +Ambrose only exclaimed "O uncle, you must have been hard pressed." +For indeed the grave, almost melancholy man, who stood before them, +regarding them wistfully, had little in common with the lithe +tumbler full of absurdities whom they had left at York House. + +"Even so, my good lad. Thou art right in that," said he gravely. +"Harder than I trust will ever be the lot of you two, my sweet +Moll's sons. She never guessed that I was come to this." + +"O no," said Stephen. "She always thought thou--thou hadst some +high preferment in--" + +"And so I have," said Randall with something of his ordinary humour. +"There's no man dares to speak such plain truth to my lord--or for +that matter to King Harry himself, save his own Jack-a-Lee--and he, +being a fool of nature's own making, cannot use his chances, poor +rogue! And so the poor lads came up to London hoping to find a +gallant captain who could bring them to high preferment, and found +nought but--Tom Fool! I could find it in my heart to weep for them! +And so thou mindest clutching the mistletoe on nunk Hal's shoulder. +I warrant it groweth still on the crooked May bush? And is old +Bobbin alive?" + +They answered his questions, but still as if under a great shock, +and presently he said, as they paced up and down the garden walks, +"Ay, I have been sore bestead, and I'll tell you how it came about, +boys, and mayhap ye will pardon the poor fool, who would not own you +sooner, lest ye should come in for mockery ye have not learnt to +brook." There was a sadness and pleading in his tone that touched +Ambrose, and he drew nearer to his uncle, who laid a hand on his +shoulder, and presently the other on that of Stephen, who shrank a +little at first, but submitted. "Lads, I need not tell you why I +left fair Shirley and the good greenwood. I was a worse fool then +than ever I have been since I wore the cap and bells, and if all had +been brought home to me, it might have brought your father and +mother into trouble--my sweet Moll who had done her best for me. I +deemed, as you do now, that the way to fortune was open, but I found +no path before me, and I had tightened my belt many a time, and was +not much more than a bag of bones, when, by chance, I fell in with a +company of tumblers and gleemen. I sang them the old hunting-song, +and they said I did it tunably, and, whereas they saw I could +already dance a hornpipe and turn a somersault passably well, the +leader of the troop, old Nat Fire-eater, took me on, and methinks he +did not repent--nor I neither--save when I sprained my foot and had +time to lie by and think. We had plenty to fill our bellies and put +on our backs; we had welcome wherever we went, and the groats and +pennies rained into our caps. I was Clown and Jack Pudding and +whatever served their turn, and the very name of Quipsome Hal drew +crowds. Yea, 'twas a merry life! Ay, I feel thee wince and shrink, +my lad; and so should I have shuddered when I was of thine age, and +hoped to come to better things." + +"Methinks 'twere better than this present," said Stephen rather +gruffly. + +"I had my reasons, boy," said Randall, speaking as if he were +pleading his cause with their father and mother rather than with two +such young lads. "There was in our company an old man-at-arms who +played the lute and the rebeck, and sang ballads so long as hand and +voice served him, and with him went his grandchild, a fair and +honest little maiden, whom he kept so jealously apart that 'twas +long ere I knew of her following the company. He had been a +franklin on my Lord of Warwick's lands, and had once been burnt out +by Queen Margaret's men, and just as things looked up again with +him, King Edward's folk ruined all again, and slew his two sons. +When great folk play the fool, small folk pay the scot, as I din +into his Grace's ears whenever I may. A minion of the Duke of +Clarence got the steading, and poor old Martin Fulford was turned +out to shift as best he might. One son he had left, and with him he +went to the Low Countries, where they would have done well had they +not been bitten by faith in the fellow Perkin Warbeck. You've heard +of him?" + +"Yea," said Ambrose; "the same who was taken out of sanctuary at +Beaulieu, and borne off to London. Father said he was marvellous +like in the face to all the kings he had ever seen hunting in the +Forest." + +"I know not; but to the day of his death old Martin swore that he +was a son of King Edward's, and they came home again with the men +the Duchess of Burgundy gave Perkin--came bag and baggage, for young +Fulford had wedded a fair Flemish wife, poor soul! He left her with +his father nigh to Taunton ere the battle, and he was never heard of +more, but as he was one of the few men who knew how to fight, belike +he was slain. Thus old Martin was left with the Flemish wife and +her little one on his hands, for whose sake he did what went against +him sorely, joined himself to this troop of jugglers and players, so +as to live by the minstrelsy he had learnt in better days, while his +daughter-in-law mended and made for the company and kept them in +smart and shining trim. By the time I fell in with them his voice +was well-nigh gone, and his hand sorely shaking, but Fire-eating +Nat, the master of our troop, was not an ill-natured fellow, and the +glee-women's feet were well used to his rebeck. Moreover, the Fire- +eater had an eye to little Perronel, though her mother had never let +him train her--scarce let him set an eye on her; and when Mistress +Fulford died, poor soul, of ague, caught when we showed off before +the merry Prior of Worcester, her last words were that Perronel +should never be a glee-maiden. Well, to make an end of my tale, we +had one day a mighty show at Windsor, when the King and Court were +at the castle, and it was whispered to me at the end that my Lord +Archbishop's household needed a jester, and that Quipsome Hal had +been thought to make excellent fooling. I gave thanks at first, but +said I would rather be a free man, not bound to be a greater fool +than Dame Nature made me all the hours of the day. But when I got +back to the Garter, what should I find but that poor old Martin had +been stricken with the dead palsy while he was playing his rebeck, +and would never twang a note more; and there was pretty Perronel +weeping over him, and Nat Fire-eater pledging his word to give the +old man bed, board, and all that he could need, if so be that +Perronel should be trained to be one of his glee-maidens, to dance +and tumble and sing. And there was the poor old franklin shaking +his head more than the palsy made it shake already, and trying to +frame his lips to say, 'rather they both should die.'" + +"Oh, uncle, I wot now what thou didst!" cried Stephen. + +"Yea, lad, there was nought else to be done. I asked Master Fulford +to give me Perronel, plighting my word that never should she sing or +dance for any one's pleasure save her own and mine, and letting him +know that I came of a worthy family. We were wedded out of hand by +the priest that had been sent for to housel him, and in our true +names. The Fire-eater was fiery enough, and swore that, wedded or +not, I was bound to him, that he would have both of us, and would +not drag about a helpless old man unless he might have the wench to +do his bidding. I verily believe that, but for my being on the +watch and speaking a word to two or three stout yeomen of the king's +guard that chanced to be crushing a pot of sack at the Garter, he +would have played some villainous trick on us. They gave a hint to +my Lord of York's steward, and he came down and declared that the +Archbishop required Quipsome Hal, and would--of his grace--send a +purse of nobles to the Fire-eater, wherewith he was to be off on the +spot without more ado, or he might find it the worse for him, and +they, together with mine host's good wife, took care that the rogue +did not carry away Perronel with him, as he was like to have done. +To end my story, here am I, getting showers of gold coins one day +and nought but kicks and gibes the next, while my good woman keeps +house nigh here on the banks of the Thames with Gaffer Martin. Her +Flemish thrift has set her to the washing and clear-starching of the +lawyers' ruffs, whereby she makes enough to supply the defects of my +scanty days, or when I have to follow my lord's grace out of her +reach, sweet soul. There's my tale, nevoys. And now, have ye a +hand for Quipsome Hal?" + +"O uncle! Father would have honoured thee!" cried Stephen. + +"Why didst thou not bring her down to the Forest?" said Ambrose. + +"I conned over the thought," said Randall, "but there was no way of +living. I wist not whether the Ranger might not stir up old tales, +and moreover old Martin is ill to move. We brought him down by boat +from Windsor, and he has never quitted the house since, nor his bed +for the last two years. You'll come and see the housewife? She +hath a supper laying out for you, and on the way we'll speak of what +ye are to do, my poor lads." + +"I'd forgotten that," said Stephen. + +"So had not I," returned his uncle; "I fear me I cannot aid you to +preferment as you expected. None know Quipsome Hal by any name but +that of Harry Merryman, and it were not well that ye should come in +there as akin to the poor fool." + +"No," said Stephen, emphatically. + +"Your father left you twenty crowns apiece?" + +"Ay, but John hath all save four of them." + +"For that there's remedy. What saidst thou of the Cheapside +armourer? His fellow, the Wry-mouth, seemed to have a care of you. +Ye made in to the rescue with poor old Spring." + +"Even so," replied Ambrose, "and if Stevie would brook the thought, +I trow that Master Headley would be quite willing to have him bound +as his apprentice." + +"Well said, my good lad!" cried Hal. "What sayest thou, Stevie?" + +"I had liefer be a man-at-arms." + +"That thou couldst only be after being sorely knocked about as +horseboy and as groom. I tried that once, but found it meant kicks, +and oaths, and vile company--such as I would not have for thy +mother's son, Steve. Headley is a well-reported, God-fearing man, +and will do well by thee. And thou wilt learn the use of arms as +well as handle them." + +"I like Master Headley and Kit Smallbones well enough," said +Stephen, rather gloomily, "and if a gentleman must be a prentice, +weapons are not so bad a craft for him." + +"Whittington was a gentleman," said Ambrose. + +"I am sick of Whittington," muttered Stephen. + +"Nor is he the only one," said Randall; "there's Middleton and Pole- +-ay, and many another who have risen from the flat cap to the open +helm, if not to the coronet. Nay, these London companies have rules +against taking any prentice not of gentle blood. Come in to supper +with my good woman, and then I'll go with thee and hold converse +with good Master Headley, and if Master John doth not send the fee +freely, why then I know of them who shall make him disgorge it. But +mark," he added, as he led the way out of the gardens, "not a breath +of Quipsome Hal. Down here they know me as a clerk of my lord's +chamber, sad and sober, and high in his trust, and therein they are +not far out." + +In truth, though Harry Randall had been a wild and frolicsome youth +in his Hampshire home, the effect of being a professional buffoon +had actually made it a relaxation of effort to him to be grave, +quiet, and slow in movement; and this was perhaps a more effectual +disguise than the dark garments, and the false brown hair, beard, +and moustache, with which he concealed the shorn and shaven +condition required of the domestic jester. Having been a player, he +was well able to adapt himself to his part, and yet Ambrose had +considerable doubts whether Tibble had not suspected his identity +from the first, more especially as both the lads had inherited the +same dark eyes from their mother, and Ambrose for the first time +perceived a considerable resemblance between him and Stephen, not +only in feature but in unconscious gesture. + +Ambrose was considering whether he had better give his uncle a hint, +lest concealment should excite suspicion; when, niched as it were +against an abutment of the wall of the Temple courts, close to some +steps going down to the Thames, they came upon a tiny house, at +whose open door stood a young woman in the snowiest of caps and +aprons over a short black gown, beneath which were a trim pair of +blue hosen and stout shoes; a suspicion of yellow hair was allowed +to appear framing the honest, fresh, Flemish face, which beamed a +good-humoured welcome. + +"Here they be! here be the poor lads, Pernel mine." She held out +her hand, and offered a round comfortable cheek to each, saying, +"Welcome to London, young gentlemen." + +Good Mistress Perronel did not look exactly the stuff to make a +glee-maiden of, nor even the beauty for whom to sacrifice +everything, even liberty and respect. She was substantial in form, +and broad in face and mouth, without much nose, and with large +almost colourless eyes. But there was a wonderful look of +heartiness and friendliness about her person and her house; the boys +had never in their lives seen anything so amazingly and spotlessly +clean and shining. In a corner stood an erection like a dark oaken +cupboard or wardrobe, but in the middle was an opening about a yard +square through which could be seen the night-capped face of a white- +headed, white-bearded old man, propped against snowy pillows. To +him Randall went at once, saying, "So, gaffer, how goes it? You see +I have brought company, my poor sister's sons--rest her soul!" + +Gaffer Martin mumbled something to them incomprehensible, but which +the jester comprehended, for he called them up and named them to +him, and Martin put out a bony hand, and gave them a greeting. +Though his speech and limbs had failed him, his intelligence was +evidently still intact, and there was a tenderly-cared-for look +about him, rendering his condition far less pitiable than that of +Richard Birkenholt, who was so palpably treated as an incumbrance. + +The table was already covered with a cloth, and Perronel quickly +placed on it a yellow bowl of excellent beef broth, savoury with +vegetables and pot-herbs, and with meat and dumplings floating in +it. A lesser bowl was provided for each of the company, with horn +spoons, and a loaf of good wheaten bread, and a tankard of excellent +ale. Randall declared that his Perronel made far daintier dishes +than my Lord Archbishop's cook, who went every day in silk and +velvet. + +He explained to her his views on the armourer, to which she agreed +with all her might, the old gentleman in bed adding something which +the boys began to understand, that there was no worthier nor more +honourable condition than that of an English burgess, specially in +the good town of London, where the kings knew better than to be ever +at enmity with their good towns. + +"Will the armourer take both of you?" asked Mistress Randall. + +"Nay, it was only for Stephen we devised it," said Ambrose. + +"And what wilt thou do?" + +"I wish to be a scholar," said Ambrose. + +"A lean trade," quoth the jester; "a monk now or a friar may be a +right jolly fellow, but I never yet saw a man who throve upon +books!" + +"I had rather study than thrive," said Ambrose rather dreamily. + +"He wotteth not what he saith," cried Stephen. + +"Oh ho! so thou art of that sort!" rejoined his uncle. "I know +them! A crabbed black and white page is meat and drink to them! +There's that Dutch fellow, with a long Latin name, thin and weazen +as never was Dutchman before; they say he has read all the books in +the world, and can talk in all the tongues, and yet when he and Sir +Thomas More and the Dean of St. Paul's get together at my lord's +table one would think they were bidding for my bauble. Such +excellent fooling do they make, that my lord sits holding his +sides." + +"The Dean of St. Paul's!" said Ambrose, experiencing a shock. + +"Ay! He's another of your lean scholars, and yet he was born a +wealthy man, son to a Lord Mayor, who, they say, reared him alone +out of a round score of children." + +"Alack! poor souls," sighed Mistress Randall under her breath, for, +as Ambrose afterwards learnt, her two babes had scarce seen the +light. Her husband, while giving her a look of affection, went on-- +"Not that he can keep his wealth. He has bestowed the most of it on +Stepney church, and on the school he hath founded for poor children, +nigh to St. Paul's." + +"Could I get admittance to that school?" exclaimed Ambrose. + +"Thou art a big fellow for a school," said his uncle, looking him +over. "However, faint heart never won fair lady." + +"I have a letter from the Warden of St. Elizabeth's to one of the +clerks of St. Paul's," added Ambrose. "Alworthy is his name." + +"That's well. We'll prove that same," said his uncle. "Meantime, +if ye have eaten your fill, we must be on our way to thine armourer, +nevoy Stephen, or I shall be called for." + +And after a private colloquy between the husband and wife, Ambrose +was by both of them desired to make the little house his home until +he could find admittance into St. Paul's School, or some other. He +demurred somewhat from a mixture of feelings, in which there was a +certain amount of Stephen's longing for freedom of action, and +likewise a doubt whether he should not thus be a great inconvenience +in the tiny household--a burden he was resolved not to be. But his +uncle now took a more serious tone. + +"Look thou, Ambrose, thou art my sister's son, and fool though I be, +thou art bound in duty to me, and I to have charge of thee, nor will +I--for the sake of thy father and mother--have thee lying I know not +where, among gulls, and cutpurses, and beguilers of youth here in +this city of London. So, till better befals thee, and I wot of it, +thou must be here no later than curfew, or I will know the reason +why." + +"And I hope the young gentleman will find it no sore grievance," +said Perronel, so good-humouredly that Ambrose could only protest +that he had feared to be troublesome to her, and promise to bring +his bundle the next day. + + + +CHAPTER IX. ARMS SPIRITUAL AND TEMPORAL + + + +"For him was leifer to have at his bedde's hedde +Twenty books clothed in blacke or redde +Of Aristotle and his philosophie +Than robes riche or fiddle or psalterie." + +CHAUCER. + + +Master Headley was found spending the summer evening in the bay +window of the hall. Tibble sat on a three-legged stool by him, +writing in a crabbed hand, in a big ledger, and Kit Smallbones +towered above both, holding in his hand a bundle of tally-sticks. +By the help of these, and of that accuracy of memory which writing +has destroyed, he was unfolding, down to the very last farthing, the +entire account of payments and receipts during his master's absence, +the debtor and creditor account being preserved as perfectly as if +he had always had a pen in his huge fingers, and studied book- +keeping by double or single entry. + +On the return of the two boys with such an apparently respectable +member of society as the handsome well-dressed personage who +accompanied them, little Dennet, who had been set to sew her sampler +on a stool by her grandmother, under penalty of being sent off to +bed if she disturbed her father, sprang up with a little cry of +gladness, and running up to Ambrose, entreated for the tales of his +good greenwood Forest, and the pucks and pixies, and the girl who +daily shared her breakfast with a snake and said, "Eat your own +side, Speckleback." Somehow, on Sunday night she had gathered that +Ambrose had a store of such tales, and she dragged him off to the +gallery, there to revel in them, while his brother remained with her +father. + +Though Master Stephen had begun by being high and mighty about +mechanical crafts, and thought it a great condescension to consent +to be bound apprentice, yet when once again in the Dragon court, it +looked so friendly and felt so much like a home that he found +himself very anxious that Master Headley should not say that he +could take no more apprentices at present, and that he should be +satisfied with the terms uncle Hal would propose. And oh! suppose +Tibble should recognise Quipsome Hal! + +However, Tibble was at this moment entirely engrossed by the +accounts, and his master left him and his big companion to unravel +them, while he himself held speech with his guest at some distance-- +sending for a cup of sack, wherewith to enliven the conversation. + +He showed himself quite satisfied with what Randall chose to tell of +himself as a well known "housekeeper" close to the Temple, his wife +a "lavender" there, while he himself was attached to the suite of +the Archbishop of York. Here alone was there any approach to +shuffling, for Master Headley was left to suppose that Randall +attended Wolsey in his capacity of king's counsellor, and therefore, +having a house of his own, had not been found in the roll of the +domestic retainers and servants. He did not think of inquiring +further, the more so as Randall was perfectly candid as to his own +inferiority of birth to the Birkenholt family, and the circumstances +under which he had left the Forest. + +Master Headley professed to be quite willing to accept Stephen as an +apprentice, with or without a fee; but he agreed with Randall that +it would be much better not to expose him to having it cast in his +teeth that he was accepted out of charity; and Randall undertook to +get a letter so written and conveyed to John Birkenholt that he +should not dare to withhold the needful sum, in earnest of which +Master Headley would accept the two crowns that Stephen had in hand, +as soon as the indentures could be drawn out by one of the many +scriveners who lived about St. Paul's. + +This settled, Randall could stay no longer, but he called both +nephews into the court with him. "Ye can write a letter?" he said. + +"Ay, sure, both of us; but Ambrose is the best scribe," said +Stephen. + +"One of you had best write then. Let that cur John know that I have +my Lord of York's ear, and there will be no fear but he will give +it. I'll find a safe hand among the clerks, when the judges ride to +hold the assize. Mayhap Ambrose might also write to the Father at +Beaulieu. The thing had best be bruited." + +"I wished to do so," said Ambrose. "It irked me to have taken no +leave of the good Fathers." + +Randall then took his leave, having little more than time to return +to York House, where the Archbishop might perchance come home +wearied and chafed from the King, and the jester might be missed if +not there to put him in good humour. + +The curfew sounded, and though attention to its notes was not +compulsory by law, it was regarded as the break-up of the evening +and the note of recall in all well-ordered establishments. The +apprentices and journeymen came into the court, among them Giles +Headley, who had been taken out by one of the men to be provided +with a working dress, much to his disgust; the grandmother summoned +little Dennet and carried her off to bed. Stephen and Ambrose bade +good-night, but Master Headley and his two confidential men remained +somewhat longer to wind up their accounts. Doors were not, as a +rule, locked within the court, for though it contained from forty to +fifty persons, they were all regarded as a single family, and it was +enough to fasten the heavily bolted, iron-studded folding doors of +the great gateway leading into Cheapside, the key being brought to +the master like that of a castle, seven minutes, measured by the +glass, after the last note of the curfew in the belfry outside St. +Paul's. + +The summer twilight, however, lasted long after this time of grace, +and when Tibble had completed his accountant's work, and Smallbones' +deep voiced "Goodnight, comrade," had resounded over the court, he +beheld a figure rise up from the steps of the gallery, and Ambrose's +voice said: "May I speak to thee, Tibble? I need thy counsel." + +"Come hither, sir," said the foreman, muttering to himself, +"Methought 'twas working in him! The leaven! the leaven!" + +Tibble led the way up one of the side stairs into the open gallery, +where he presently opened a door, admitting to a small, though high +chamber, the walls of bare brick, and containing a low bed, a small +table, a three-legged stool, a big chest, and two cupboards, also a +cross over the head of the bed. A private room was a luxury neither +possessed nor desired by most persons of any degree, and only +enjoyed by Tibble in consideration of his great value to his master, +his peculiar tastes, and the injuries he had received. In point of +fact, his fall had been owing to a hasty blow, given in a passion by +the master himself when a young man. Dismay and repentance had made +Giles Headley a cooler and more self-controlled man ever since, and +even if Tibble had not been a superior workman, he might still have +been free to do almost anything he chose. Tibble gave his visitor +the stool, and himself sat down on the chest, saying: "So you have +found your uncle, sir." + +"Ay," said Ambrose, pausing in some expectation that Tibble would +mention some suspicion of his identity; but if the foreman had his +ideas on the subject he did not disclose them, and waited for more +communications. + +"Tibble!" said Ambrose, with a long gasp, "I must find means to hear +more of him thou tookedst me to on Sunday." + +"None ever truly tasted of that well without longing to come back to +it," quoth Tibble. "But hath not thy kinsman done aught for thee?" + +"Nay," said Ambrose, "save to offer me a lodging with his wife, a +good and kindly lavender at the Temple." + +Tibble nodded. + +"So far am I free," said Ambrose, "and I am glad of it. I have a +letter here to one of the canons, one Master Alworthy, but ere I +seek him I would know somewhat from thee, Tibble. What like is he?" + +"I cannot tell, sir," said Tibble. "The canons are rich and many, +and a poor smith like me wots little of their fashions." + +"Is it true," again asked Ambrose, "that the Dean--he who spake +those words yesterday--hath a school here for young boys?" + +"Ay. And a good and mild school it be, bringing them up in the name +and nurture of the Holy Child Jesus, to whom it is dedicated." + +"Then they are taught this same doctrine?" + +"I trow they be. They say the Dean loves them like the children of +his old age, and declares that they shall be made in love with holy +lore by gentleness rather than severity." + +"Is it likely that this same Alworthy could obtain me entrance +there?" + +"Alack, sir, I fear me thou art too old. I see none but little lads +among them. Didst thou come to London with that intent?" + +"Nay, for I only wist to-day that there was such a school. I came +with I scarce know what purpose, save to see Stephen safely +bestowed, and then to find some way of learning myself. Moreover, a +change seems to have come on me, as though I had hitherto been +walking in a dream." + +Tibble nodded, and Ambrose, sitting there in the dark, was moved to +pour forth all his heart, the experience of many an ardent soul in +those spirit searching days. Growing up happily under the care of +the simple monks of Beaulieu he had never looked beyond their +somewhat mechanical routine, accepted everything implicitly, and +gone on acquiring knowledge with the receptive spirit but dormant +thought of studious boyhood as yet unawakened, thinking that the +studious clerical life to which every one destined him would only be +a continuation of the same, as indeed it had been to his master, +Father Simon. Not that Ambrose expressed this, beyond saying, "They +are good and holy men, and I thought all were like them, and fear +that was all!" + +Then came death, for the first time nearly touching and affecting +the youth, and making his soul yearn after further depths, which he +might yet have found in the peace of the good old men, and the holy +rites and doctrine that they preserved; but before there was time +for these things to find their way into the wounds of his spirit, +his expulsion from home had sent him forth to see another side of +monkish and clerkly life. + +Father Shoveller, kindly as he was, was a mere yeoman with nothing +spiritual about him; the monks of Hyde were, the younger, gay +comrades, only trying how loosely they could sit to their vows; the +elder, churlish and avaricious; even the Warden of Elizabeth College +was little more than a student. And in London, fresh phases had +revealed themselves; the pomp, state, splendour and luxury of +Archbishop Wolsey's house had been a shock to the lad's ideal of a +bishop drawn from the saintly biographies he had studied at +Beaulieu; and he had but to keep his ears open to hear endless +scandals about the mass priests, as they were called, since they +were at this time very unpopular in London, and in many cases +deservedly so. Everything that the boy had hitherto thought the way +of holiness and salvation seemed invaded by evil and danger, and +under the bondage of death, whose terrible dance continued to haunt +him. + +"I saw it, I saw it;" he said, "all over those halls at York House. +I seemed to behold the grisly shape standing behind one and another, +as they ate and laughed; and when the Archbishop and his priests and +the King came in it seemed only to make the pageant complete! Only +now and then could I recall those blessed words, 'Ye are free +indeed.' Did he say from the bondage of death?" + +"Yea," said Tibble, "into the glorious freedom of God's children." + +"Thou knowst it. Thou knowst it, Tibble. It seems to me that life +is no life, but living death, without that freedom! And I MUST hear +of it, and know whether it is mine, yea, and Stephen's, and all whom +I love. O Tibble, I would beg my bread rather than not have that +freedom ever before mine eyes." + +"Hold it fast! hold it fast, dear sir," said Tibble, holding out his +hands with tears in his eyes, and his face working in a manner that +happily Ambrose could not see. + +"But how--how? The barefoot friar said that for an Ave a day, our +Blessed Lady will drag us back from purgatory. I saw her on the +wall of her chapel at Winchester saving a robber knight from the +sea, yea and a thief from the gallows; but that is not being free." + +"Fond inventions of pardon-mongers," muttered Tibble. + +"And is one not free when the priest hath assoilsied him?" added +Ambrose. + +"If, and if--" said Tibble. "But bone shall make me trow that +shrift in words, without heart-sorrow for sin, and the Latin heard +with no thought of Him that bore the guilt, can set the sinner free. +'Tis none other that the Dean sets forth, ay, and the book that I +have here. I thank my God," he stood up and took off his cap +reverently, "that He hath opened the eyes of another!" + +His tone was such that Ambrose could have believed him some devout +almost inspired hermit rather than the acute skilful artisan he +appeared at other times; and in fact, Tibble Steelman, like many +another craftsman of those days, led a double life, the outer one +that of the ordinary workman, the inner one devoted to those lights +that were shining unveiled and new to many; and especially here in +the heart of the City, partly from the influence of Dean Colet's +sermons and catechisings at St. Paul's, but also from remnants of +Lollardism, which had never been entirely quenched. The ordinary +clergy looked at it with horror, but the intelligent and thoughtful +of the burgher and craftsman classes studied it with a passionate +fervour which might have sooner broken out and in more perilous +forms save for the guidance it received in the truly Catholic and +open-spirited public teachings of Colet, in which he persisted in +spite of the opposition of his brother clergy. + +Not that as yet the inquirers had in the slightest degree broken +with the system of the Church, or with her old traditions. They +were only beginning to see the light that had been veiled from them, +and to endeavour to clear the fountain from the mire that had fouled +it; and there was as yet no reason to believe that the aspersions +continually made against the mass priests and the friars were more +than the chronic grumblings of Englishmen, who had found the same +faults in them for the last two hundred years. + +"And what wouldst thou do, young sir?" presently inquired Tibble. + +"That I came to ask thee, good Tibble. I would work to the best of +my power in any craft so I may hear those words and gain the key to +all I have hitherto learnt, unheeding as one in a dream. My purpose +had been to be a scholar and a clerk, but I must see mine own way, +and know whither I am being carried, ere I can go farther." + +Tibble writhed and wriggled himself about in consideration. "I +would I wist how to take thee to the Dean himself," he said, "but I +am but a poor man, and his doctrine is 'new wine in old bottles' to +the master, though he be a right good man after his lights. See +now, Master Ambrose, meseemeth that thou hadst best take thy letter +first to this same priest. It may be that he can prefer thee to +some post about the minster. Canst sing?" + +"I could once, but my voice is nought at this present. If I could +but be a servitor at St. Paul's School!" + +"It might be that the will which hath led thee so far hath that post +in store for thee, so bear the letter to Master Alworthy. And if he +fail thee, wouldst thou think scorn of aiding a friend of mine who +worketh a printing-press in Warwick Inner Yard? Thou wilt find him +at his place in Paternoster Row, hard by St. Paul's. He needeth one +who is clerk enough to read the Latin, and the craft being a new one +'tis fenced by none of those prentice laws that would bar the way to +thee elsewhere, at thy years." + +"I should dwell among books!" + +"Yea, and holy books, that bear on the one matter dear to the true +heart. Thou might serve Lucas Hansen at the sign of the Winged +Staff till thou hast settled thine heart, and then it may be the way +would be opened to study at Oxford or at Cambridge, so that thou +couldst expound the faith to others." + +"Good Tibble, kind Tibble, I knew thou couldst aid me! Wilt thou +speak to this Master Hansen for me?" + +Tibble, however, held that it was more seemly that Ambrose should +first try his fate with Master Alworthy, but in case of this not +succeeding, he promised to write a billet that would secure +attention from Lucas Hansen. + +"I warn thee, however, that he is Low Dutch," he added, "though he +speaketh English well." He would gladly have gone with the youth, +and at any other time might have been sent by his master, but the +whole energies of the Dragon would be taken up for the next week by +preparations for the tilting-match at court, and Tibble could not be +spared for another working hour. + +Ambrose, as he rose to bid his friend good-night, could not help +saying that he marvelled that one such as he could turn his mind to +such vanities as the tilt-yard required. + +"Nay," said Tibble, "'twas the craft I was bred to--yea, and I have +a good master; and the Apostle Paul himself--as I've heard a +preacher say--bade men continue in the state wherein they were, and +not be curious to chop and change. Who knoweth whether in God's +sight, all our wars and policies be no more than the games of the +tilt-yard. Moreover, Paul himself made these very weapons read as +good a sermon as the Dean himself. Didst never hear of the shield +of faith, and helmet of salvation, and breastplate of righteousness? +So, if thou comest to Master Hansen, and provest worthy of his +trust, thou wilt hear more, ay, and maybe read too thyself, and send +forth the good seed to others," he murmured to himself, as he guided +his visitor across the moonlit court up the stairs to the chamber +where Stephen lay fast asleep. + + + +CHAPTER X. TWO VOCATIONS + + + +"The smith, a mighty man is he + With large and sinewy hands; +And the muscles of his brawny arms + Are strong as iron bands." + +LONGFELLOW. + + +Stephen's first thought in the morning was whether the ex voto +effigy of poor Spring was put in hand, while Ambrose thought of +Tibble's promised commendation to the printer. They both, however, +found their affairs must needs wait. Orders for weapons for the +tilting-match had come in so thickly the day before that every hand +must be employed on executing them, and the Dragon court was ringing +again with the clang of hammers and screech of grind-stones. + +Stephen, though not yet formally bound, was to enter on his +apprentice life at once; and Ambrose was assured by Master Headley +that it was of no use to repair to any of the dignified clergy of +St. Paul's before mid-day, and that he had better employ the time in +writing to his elder brother respecting the fee. Materials were +supplied to him, and he used them so as to do credit to the monks of +Beaulieu, in spite of little Dennet spending every spare moment in +watching his pen as if he were performing some cabalistic operation. + +He was a long time about it. There were two letters to write, and +the wording of thorn needed to be very careful, besides that the old +court hand took more time to frame than the Italian current hand, +and even thus, when dinner-time came, at ten o'clock, the household +was astonished to find that he had finished all that regarded +Stephen, though he had left the letters open, until his own venture +should have been made. + +Stephen flung himself down beside his brother hot and panting, +shaking his shoulder-blades and declaring that his arms felt ready +to drop out. He had been turning a grindstone ever since six +o'clock. The two new apprentices had been set on to sharpening the +weapon points as all that they were capable of, and had been bidden +by Smallbones to turn and hold alternately, but "that oaf Giles +Headley," said Stephen, "never ground but one lance, and made me go +on turning, threatening to lay the butt about mine ears if I +slacked." + +"The lazy lubber!" cried Ambrose. "But did none see thee, or +couldst not call out for redress?" + +"Thou art half a wench thyself, Ambrose, to think I'd complain. +Besides, he stood on his rights as a master, and he is a big +fellow." + +"That's true," said Ambrose, "and he might make it the worse for +thee." + +"I would I were as big as he," sighed Stephen, "I would soon show +him which was the better man." + +Perhaps the grinding match had not been as unobserved as Stephen +fancied, for on returning to work, Smallbones, who presided over all +the rougher parts of the business, claimed them both. He set +Stephen to stand by him, sort out and hand him all the rivets needed +for a suit of proof armour that hung on a frame, while he required +Giles to straighten bars of iron heated to a white heat. Ere long +Giles called out for Stephen to change places, to which Smallbones +coolly replied, "Turnabout is the rule here, master." + +"Even so," replied Giles, "and I have been at work like this long +enough, ay, and too long!" + +"Thy turn was a matter of three hours this morning," replied Kit-- +not coolly, for nobody was cool in his den, but with a brevity which +provoked a laugh. + +"I shall see what my cousin the master saith!" cried Giles in great +wrath. + +"Ay, that thou wilt," returned Kit, "if thou dost loiter over thy +business, and hast not those bars ready when called for." + +"He never meant me to be put on work like this, with a hammer that +breaks mine arm." + +"What! crying out for THAT!" said Edmund Burgess, who had just come +in to ask for a pair of tongs. "What wouldst say to the big hammer +that none can wield save Kit himself?" + +Giles felt there was no redress, and panted on, feeling as if he +were melting away, and with a dumb, wild rage in his heart, that +could get no outlet, for Smallbones was at least as much bigger than +he as he was than Stephen. Tibble was meanwhile busy over the +gilding and enamelling of Buckingham's magnificent plate armour in +Italian fashion, but he had found time to thrust into Ambrose's hand +an exceedingly small and curiously folded billet for Lucas Hansen, +the printer, in case of need. "He would be found at the sign of the +Winged Staff, in Paternoster Row," said Tibble, "or if not there +himself, there would be his servant who would direct Ambrose to the +place where the Dutch printer lived and worked." No one was at +leisure to show the lad the way, and he set out with a strange +feeling of solitude, as his path began decisively to be away from +that of his brother. + +He did not find much difficulty in discovering the quadrangle on the +south side of the minster where the minor canons lived near the +deanery; and the porter, a stout lay brother, pointed out to him the +doorway belonging to Master Alworthy. He knocked, and a young man +with a tonsured head but a bloated face opened it. Ambrose +explained that he had brought a letter from the Warden of St. +Elizabeth's College at Winchester. + +"Give it here," said the young man. + +"I would give it to his reverence himself," said Ambrose. + +"His reverence is taking his after-dinner nap and may not be +disturbed," said the man. + +"Then I will wait," said Ambrose. + +The door was shut in his face, but it was the shady side of the +court, and he sat down on a bench and waited. After full an hour +the door was opened, and the canon, a good-natured looking man, in a +square cap, and gown and cassock of the finest cloth, came slowly +out. He had evidently heard nothing of the message, and was taken +by surprise when Ambrose, doffing his cap and bowing low, gave him +the greeting of the Warden of St. Elizabeth's and the letter. + +"Hum! Ha! My good friend--Fielder--I remember him. He was always +a scholar. So he hath sent thee here with his commendations. What +should I do with all the idle country lads that come up to choke +London and feed the plague? Yet stay--that lurdane Bolt is getting +intolerably lazy and insolent, and methinks he robs me! What canst +do, thou stripling?" + +"I can read Latin, sir, and know the Greek alphabeta." + +"Tush! I want no scholar more than enough to serve my mass. Canst +sing?" + +"Not now; but I hope to do so again." + +"When I rid me of Bolt there--and there's an office under the +sacristan that he might fill as well as another knave--the fellow +might do for me well enow as a body servant," said Mr. Alworthy, +speaking to himself. "He would brush my gowns and make my bed, and +I might perchance trust him with my marketings, and by and by there +might be some office for him when he grew saucy and idle. I'll +prove him on mine old comrade's word." + +"Sir," said Ambrose, respectfully, "what I seek for is occasion for +study. I had hoped you could speak to the Dean, Dr. John Colet, for +some post at his school." + +"Boy," said Alworthy, "I thought thee no such fool! Why crack thy +brains with study when I can show thee a surer path to ease and +preferment? But I see thou art too proud to do an old man a +service. Thou writst thyself gentleman, forsooth, and high blood +will not stoop." + +"Not so, sir," returned Ambrose, "I would work in any way so I could +study the humanities, and hear the Dean preach. Cannot you commend +me to his school?" + +"Ha!" exclaimed the canon, "this is your sort, is it? I'll have +nought to do with it! Preaching, preaching! Every idle child's +head is agog on preaching nowadays! A plague on it! Why can't +Master Dean leave it to the black friars, whose vocation 'tis, and +not cumber us with his sermons for ever, and set every lazy lad +thinking he must needs run after them? No, no, my good boy, take my +advice. Thou shalt have two good bellyfuls a day, all my cast +gowns, and a pair of shoes by the year, with a groat a month if thou +wilt keep mine house, bring in my meals, and the like, and by and +by, so thou art a good lad, and runst not after these new-fangled +preachments which lead but to heresy, and set folk racking their +brains about sin and such trash, we'll get thee shorn and into minor +orders, and who knows what good preferment thou mayst not win in due +time!" + +"Sir, I am beholden to you, but my mind is set on study." + +"What kin art thou to a fool?" cried the minor canon, so startling +Ambrose that he had almost answered, and turning to another +ecclesiastic whose siesta seemed to have ended about the same time, +"Look at this varlet, Brother Cloudesley! Would you believe it? He +comes to me with a letter from mine old friend, in consideration of +which I offer him that saucy lubber Bolt's place, a gown of mine own +a year, meat and preferment, and, lo you, he tells me all he wants +is to study Greek, forsooth, and hear the Dean's sermons!" + +The other canon shook his head in dismay at such arrant folly. +"Young stripling, be warned," he said. "Know what is good for thee. +Greek is the tongue of heresy." + +"How may that be, reverend sir," said Ambrose, "when the holy +Apostles and the Fathers spake and wrote in the Greek?" + +"Waste not thy time on him, brother," said Mr. Alworthy. "He will +find out his error when his pride and his Greek forsooth have +brought him to fire and faggot." + +"Ay! ay!" added Cloudesley. "The Dean with his Dutch friend and his +sermons, and his new grammar and accidence, is sowing heretics as +thick as groundsel." + +Wherewith the two canons of the old school waddled away, arm in arm, +and Bolt put out his head, leered at Ambrose, and bade him shog off, +and not come sneaking after other folk's shoes. + +Sooth to say, Ambrose was relieved by his rejection. If he were not +to obtain admission in any capacity to St. Paul's School, he felt +more drawn to Tibble's friend the printer; for the self-seeking +luxurious habits into which so many of the beneficed clergy had +fallen were repulsive to him, and his whole soul thirsted after that +new revelation, as it were, which Colet's sermon had made to him. +Yet the word heresy was terrible and confusing, and a doubt came +over him whether he might not be forsaking the right path, and be +lured aside by false lights. + +He would think it out before he committed himself. Where should he +do so in peace? He thought of the great Minster, but the nave was +full of a surging multitude, and there was a loud hum of voices +proceeding from it, which took from him all inclination to find his +way to the quieter and inner portions of the sanctuary. + +Then he recollected the little Pardon Church, where he had seen the +Dance of Death on the walls; and crossing the burial-ground he +entered, and, as he expected, found it empty, since the hours for +masses for the dead were now past. He knelt down on a step, +repeated the sext office, in warning for which the bells were +chiming all round, covering his face with his hands, and thinking +himself back to Beaulieu; then, seating himself on a step, leaning +against the wall, he tried to think out whether to give himself up +to the leadings of the new light that had broken on him, or whether +to wrench himself from it. Was this, which seemed to him truth and +deliverance, verily the heresy respecting which rumours had come to +horrify the country convents? If he had only heard of it from +Tibble Wry-mouth, he would have doubted, in spite of its power over +him, but he had heard it from a man, wise, good, and high in place, +like Dean Colet. Yet to his further perplexity, his uncle had +spoken of Colet as jesting at Wolsey's table. What course should he +take? Could he bear to turn away from that which drew his soul so +powerfully, and return to the bounds which seem to him to be grown +so narrow, but which he was told were safe? Now that Stephen was +settled, it was open to him to return to St. Elizabeth's College, +but the young soul within him revolted against the repetition of +what had become to him unsatisfying, unless illumined by the +brightness he seemed to have glimpsed at. + +But Ambrose had gone through much unwonted fatigue of late, and +while thus musing he fell asleep, with his head against the wall. +He was half wakened by the sound of voices, and presently became +aware that two persons were examining the walls, and comparing the +paintings with some others, which one of them had evidently seen. +If he had known it, it was with the Dance of Death on the bridge of +Lucerne. + +"I question," said a voice that Ambrose had heard before, "whether +these terrors be wholesome for men's souls." + +"For priests' pouches, they be," said the other, with something of a +foreign accent. + +"Alack, when shall we see the day when the hope of paradise and +dread of purgatory shall be no longer made the tools of priestly +gain; and hatred of sin taught to these poor folk, instead of +servile dread of punishment." + +"Have a care, my Colet," answered the yellow bearded foreigner; +"thou art already in ill odour with those same men in authority; and +though a Dean's stall be fenced from the episcopal crook, yet there +is a rod at Rome which can reach even thither." + +"I tell thee, dear Erasmus, thou art too timid; I were well content +to leave house and goods, yea, to go to prison or to death, could I +but bring home to one soul, for which Christ died, the truth and +hope in every one of those prayers and creeds that our poor folk are +taught to patter as a senseless charm." + +"These are strange times," returned Erasmus. "Methinks yonder +phantom, be he skeleton or angel, will have snatched both of us away +ere we behold the full issue either of thy preachings, or my Greek +Testament, or of our More's Utopian images. Dost thou not feel as +though we were like children who have set some mighty engine in +motion, like the great water-wheels in my native home, which, +whirled by the flowing streams of time and opinion, may break up the +whole foundations, and destroy the oneness of the edifice?" + +"It may be so," returned Colet. "What read we? 'The net brake' +even in the Master's sight, while still afloat on the sea. It was +only on the shore that the hundred and fifty-three, all good and +sound, were drawn to His feet." + +"And," returned Erasmus, "I see wherefore thou hast made thy +children at St. Paul's one hundred and fifty and three." + +The two friends were passing out. Their latter speeches had scarce +been understood by Ambrose, even if he heard them, so full was he of +conflicting feelings, now ready to cast himself before their feet, +and entreat the Dean to help him to guidance, now withheld by +bashfulness, unwillingness to interrupt, and ingenuous shame at +appearing like an eavesdropper towards such dignified and venerable +personages. Had he obeyed his first impulse, mayhap his career had +been made safer and easier for him, but it was while shyness chained +his limbs and tongue that the Dean and Erasmus quitted the chapel, +and the opportunity of accosting them had slipped away. + +Their half comprehended words had however decided him in the part he +should take, making him sure that Colet was not controverting the +formularies of the Church, but drawing out those meanings which in +repetition by rote were well-nigh forgotten. It was as if his +course were made clear to him. + +He was determined to take the means which most readily presented +themselves of hearing Colet; and leaving the chapel, he bent his +steps to the Row which his book-loving eye had already marked. +Flanking the great Cathedral on the north, was the row of small open +stalls devoted to the sale of books, or "objects of devotion," all +so arranged that the open portion might be cleared, and the stock- +in-trade locked up if not carried away. Each stall had its own +sign, most of them sacred, such as the Lamb and Flag, the Scallop +Shell, or some patron saint, but classical emblems were oddly +intermixed, such as Minerva's AEgis, Pegasus, and the Lyre of +Apollo. The sellers, some middle-aged men, some lads, stretched out +their arms with their wares to attract the passengers in the street, +and did not fail to beset Ambrose. The more lively looked at his +Lincoln green and shouted verses of ballads at him, fluttering broad +sheets with verses on the lamentable fate of Jane Shore, or Fair +Rosamond, the same woodcut doing duty for both ladies, without mercy +to their beauty. The scholastic judged by his face and step that he +was a student, and they flourished at him black-bound copies of +Virgilius Maro, and of Tully's Offices, while others, hoping that he +was an incipient clerk, offered breviaries, missals or portuaries, +with the Use of St. Paul's, or of Sarum, or mayhap St. Austin's +Confessions. He made his way along, with his eye diligently heedful +of the signs, and at last recognised the Winged Staff, or caduceus +of Hermes, over a stall where a couple of boys in blue caps and +gowns and yellow stockings were making a purchase of a small, grave- +looking, elderly but bright cheeked man, whose yellow hair and beard +were getting intermingled with grey. They were evidently those St. +Paul's School boys whom Ambrose envied so much, and as they finished +their bargaining and ran away together, Ambrose advanced with a +salutation, asked if he did not see Master Lucas Hansen, and gave +him the note with the commendations of Tibble Steelman the armourer. + +He was answered with a ready nod and "yea, yea," as the old man +opened the billet and cast his eyes over it; then scanning Ambrose +from head to foot, said with some amazement, "But you are of gentle +blood, young sir." + +"I am," said Ambrose; "but gentle blood needs at times to work for +bread, and Tibble let me hope that I might find both livelihood for +the body and for the soul with you, sir." + +"Is it so?" asked the printer, his face lighting up. "Art thou +willing to labour and toil, and give up hope of fee and honour, if +so thou mayst win the truth?" + +Ambrose folded his hands with a gesture of earnestness, and Lucas +Hansen said, "Bless thee, my son! Methinks I can aid thee in thy +quest, so thou canst lay aside," and here his voice grew sharper and +more peremptory, "all thy gentleman's airs and follies, and serve-- +ay, serve and obey." + +"I trust so," returned Ambrose; "my brother is even now becoming +prentice to Master Giles Headley, and we hope to live as honest men +by the work of our hands and brains." + +"I forgot that you English herren are not so puffed up with pride +and scorn like our Dutch nobles," returned the printer. "Canst live +sparingly, and lie hard, and see that thou keepst the house clean, +not like these English swine?" + +"I hope so," said Ambrose, smiling; "but I have an uncle and aunt, +and they would have me lie every night at their house beside the +Temple gardens." + +"What is thine uncle?" + +"He hath a post in the meine of my Lord Archbishop of York," said +Ambrose, blushing and hesitating a little. "He cometh to and fro to +his wife, who dwells with her old father, doing fine lavender's work +for the lawyer folk therein." + +It was somewhat galling that this should be the most respectable +occupation that could be put forward, but Lucas Hansen was evidently +reassured by it. He next asked whether Ambrose could read Latin, +putting a book into his hand as he did so; Ambrose read and +construed readily, explaining that he had been trained at Beaulieu. + +"That is well!" said the printer; "and hast thou any Greek?" + +"Only the alphabeta," said Ambrose, "I made that out from a book at +Beaulieu, but Father Simon knew no more, and there was nought to +study from." + +"Even so," replied Hansen, "but little as thou knowst 'tis as much +as I can hope for from any who will aid me in my craft. 'Tis I +that, as thou hast seen, furnish for the use of the children at the +Dean's school of St. Paul's. The best and foremost scholars of them +are grounded in their Greek, that being the tongue wherein the Holy +Gospels were first writ. Hitherto I have had to get me books for +their use from Holland, whither they are brought from Basle, but I +have had sent me from Hamburg a fount of type of the Greek +character, whereby I hope to print at home, the accidence, and +mayhap the Dialogues of Plato, and it might even be the sacred +Gospel itself, which the great Doctor, Master Erasmus, is even now +collating from the best authorities in the universities." + +Ambrose's eyes kindled with unmistakable delight. "You have the +accidence!" he exclaimed. "Then could I study the tongue even while +working for you! Sir, I would do my best! It is the very +opportunity I seek." + +"Fair and softly," said the printer with something of a smile. +"Thou art new to cheapening and bargaining, my fair lad. Thou hast +spoken not one word of the wage." + +"I recked not of that," said Ambrose. "'Tis true, I may not burthen +mine uncle and aunt, but verily, sir, I would live on the humblest +fare that will keep body and soul together so that I may have such +an opportunity." + +"How knowst thou what the opportunity may be?" returned Lucas, +drily. "Thou art but a babe! Some one should have a care of thee. +If I set thee to stand here all day and cry what d'ye lack? or to +carry bales of books twixt this and Warwick Inner Yard, thou wouldst +have no ground to complain." + +"Nay, sir," returned Ambrose, "I wot that Tibble Steelman would +never send me to one who would not truly give me what I need." + +"Tibble Steelman is verily one of the few who are both called and +chosen," replied Lucas, "and I think thou art the same so far as +green youth may be judged, since thou art one who will follow the +word into the desert, and never ask for the loaves and fishes. +Nevertheless, I will take none advantage of thy youth and zeal, but +thou shalt first behold what thou shalt have to do for me, and then +if it still likes thee, I will see thy kindred. Hast no father?" + +Ambrose explained, and at that moment Master Hansen's boy made his +appearance, returning from an errand; the stall was left in his +charge, while the master took Ambrose with him into the precincts of +what had once been the splendid and hospitable mansion of the great +king-maker, Warwick, but was now broken up into endless little +tenements with their courts and streets, though the baronial +ornaments and the arrangement still showed what the place had been. + +Entering beneath a wide archway, still bearing the sign of the Bear +and Ragged Staff, Lucas led the way into what must have been one of +the courts of offices, for it was surrounded with buildings and +sheds of different heights and sizes, and had on one side a deep +trough of stone, fed by a series of water-taps, intended for the use +of the stables. The doors of one of these buildings was unlocked by +Master Hansen, and Ambrose found himself in what had once perhaps +been part of a stable, but had been partitioned off from the rest. +There were two stalls, one serving the Dutchman for his living room, +the other for his workshop. In one corner stood a white earthenware +stove--so new a spectacle to the young forester that he supposed it +to be the printing press. A table, shiny with rubbing, a wooden +chair, a couple of stools, a few vessels, mirrors for brightness, +some chests and corner cupboards, a bed shutting up like a box and +likewise highly polished, completed the furniture, all arranged with +the marvellous orderliness and neatness of the nation. A curtain +shut off the opening to the other stall, where stood a machine with +a huge screw, turned by leverage. Boxes of type and piles of paper +surrounded it, and Ambrose stood and looked at it with a sort of +awe-struck wonder and respect as the great fount of wisdom. Hansen +showed him what his work would be, in setting up type, and by and by +correcting after the first proof. The machine could only print four +pages at a time, and for this operation the whole strength of the +establishment was required. Moreover, Master Hansen bound, as well +as printed his books. Ambrose was by no means daunted. As long as +he might read as well as print, and while he had Sundays at St. +Paul's to look to, he asked no more--except indeed that his gentle +blood stirred at the notion of acting salesman in the book-stall, +and Master Hansen assured him with a smile that Will Wherry, the +other boy, would do that better than either of them, and that he +would be entirely employed here. + +The methodical master insisted however on making terms with the +boy's relations; and with some misgivings on Ambrose's part, the +two--since business hours were almost over--walked together to the +Temple and to the little house, where Perronel was ironing under her +window. + +Ambrose need not have doubted. The Dutch blood on either side was +stirred; and the good housewife commanded the little printer's +respect as he looked round on a kitchen as tidy as if it were in his +own country. And the bargain was struck that Ambrose Birkenholt +should serve Master Hansen for his meals and two pence a week, while +he was to sleep at the little house of Mistress Randall, who would +keep his clothes and linen in order. + +And thus it was that both Ambrose and Stephen Birkenholt had found +their vocations for the present, and both were fervent in them. +Master Headley pshawed a little when he heard that Ambrose had +engaged himself to a printer and a foreigner; and when he was told +it was to a friend of Tibble's, only shook his head, saying that +Tib's only fault was dabbling in matters of divinity, as if a plain +man could not be saved without them! However, he respected the lad +for having known his own mind and not hung about in idleness, and he +had no opinion of clerks, whether monks or priests. Indeed, the low +esteem in which the clergy as a class were held in London was one of +the very evil signs of the times. Ambrose was invited to dine and +sup at the Dragon court every Sunday and holiday, and he was glad to +accept, since the hospitality was so free, and he thus was able to +see his brother and Tibble; besides that, it prevented him from +burthening Mistress Randall, whom he really liked, though he could +not see her husband, either in his motley or his plain garments, +without a shudder of repulsion. + +Ambrose found that setting up type had not much more to do with the +study of new books than Stephen's turning the grindstone had with +fighting in the lists; and the mistakes he made in spelling from +right to left, and in confounding the letters, made him despair, and +prepare for any amount of just indignation from his master; but he +found on the contrary that Master Hansen had never had a pupil who +made so few blunders on the first trial, and augured well of him +from such a beginning. Paper was too costly, and pressure too +difficult, for many proofs to be struck off, but Hansen could read +and correct his type as it stood, and assured Ambrose that practice +would soon give him the same power; and the correction was thus +completed, when Will Wherry, a big, stout fellow, came in to dinner- +-the stall being left during that time, as nobody came for books +during the dinner-hour, and Hansen, having an understanding with his +next neighbour, by which they took turns to keep guard against +thieves. + +The master and the two lads dined together on the contents of a +cauldron, where pease and pork had been simmering together on the +stove all the morning. Their strength was then united to work the +press and strike off a sheet, which the master scanned, finding only +one error in it. It was a portion of Lilly's Grammar, and Ambrose +regarded it with mingled pride and delight, though he longed to go +further into those deeper revelations for the sake of which he had +come here. + +Master Hansen then left the youths to strike off a couple of hundred +sheets, after which they were to wash the types and re-arrange the +letters in the compartments in order, whilst he returned to the +stall. The customers requiring his personal attention were +generally late ones. When all this was accomplished, and the pot +put on again in preparation for supper, the lads might use the short +time that remained as they would, and Hansen himself showed Ambrose +a shelf of books concealed by a blue curtain, whence he might read. + +Will Wherry showed unconcealed amazement that this should be the +taste of his companion. He himself hated the whole business, and +would never have adopted it, but that he had too many brothers for +all to take to the water on the Thames, and their mother was too +poor to apprentice them, and needed the small weekly pay the +Dutchman gave him. He seemed a good-natured, dull fellow, whom no +doubt Hansen had hired for the sake of the strong arms, developed by +generations of oarsmen upon the river. What he specially disliked +was that his master was a foreigner. The whole court swarmed with +foreigners, he said, with the utmost disgust, as if they were +noxious insects. They made provisions dear, and undersold honest +men, and he wondered the Lord Mayor did not see to it and drive them +out. He did not SO much object to the Dutch, but the Spaniards--no +words could express his horror of them. + +By and by, Ambrose going out to fetch some water from the conduit, +found standing by it a figure entirely new to him. It was a young +girl of some twelve or fourteen years old, in the round white cap +worn by all of her age and sex; but from beneath it hung down two +thick plaits of the darkest hair he had ever seen, and though the +dress was of the ordinary dark serge with a coloured apron, it was +put on with an air that made it look like some strange and beautiful +costume on the slender, lithe, little form. The vermilion apron was +further trimmed with a narrow border of white, edged again with deep +blue, and it chimed in with the bright coral earrings and necklace. +As Ambrose came forward the creature tried to throw a crimson +handkerchief over her head, and ran into the shelter of another +door, but not before Ambrose had seen a pair of large dark eyes so +like those of a terrified fawn that they seemed to carry him back to +the Forest. Going back amazed, he asked his companion who the girl +he had seen could have been. + +Will stared. "I trow you mean the old blackamoor sword-cutler's +wench. He is one of those pestilent strangers. An 'Ebrew Jew who +worships Mahound and is too bad for the Spanish folk themselves." + +This rather startled Ambrose, though he knew enough to see that the +accusations could not both be true, but he forgot it in the delight, +when Will pronounced the work done, of drawing back the curtain and +feasting his eyes upon the black backs of the books, and the black- +letter brochures that lay by them. There were scarcely thirty, yet +he gloated on them as on an inexhaustible store, while Will, +whistling wonder at his taste, opined that since some one was there +to look after the stove, and the iron pot on it, he might go out and +have a turn at ball with Hob and Martin. + +Ambrose was glad to be left to go over his coming feast. There was +Latin, English, and, alas! baffling Dutch. High or Low it was all +the same to him. What excited his curiosity most was the +Enchiridion Militis Christiani of Erasmus--in Latin of course, and +that he could easily read--but almost equally exciting was a Greek +and Latin vocabulary; or again, a very thin book in which he +recognised the New Testament in the Vulgate. He had heard chapters +of it read from the graceful stone pulpit overhanging the refectory +at Beaulieu, and, of course, the Gospels and Epistles at mass, but +they had been read with little expression and no attention; and that +Sunday's discourse had filled him with eagerness to look farther; +but the mere reading the titles of the books was pleasure enough for +the day, and his master was at home before he had fixed his mind on +anything. Perhaps this was as well, for Lucas advised him what to +begin with, and how to divide his studies so as to gain a knowledge +of the Greek, his great ambition, and also to read the Scripture. + +The master was almost as much delighted as the scholar, and it was +not till the curfew was beginning to sound that Ambrose could tear +himself away. It was still daylight, and the door of the next +dwelling was open. There, sitting on the ground cross-legged, in an +attitude such as Ambrose had never seen, was a magnificent old man, +with a huge long white beard, wearing, indeed, the usual dress of a +Londoner of the lower class, but the gown flowed round him in a +grand and patriarchal manner, corresponding with his noble, somewhat +aquiline features; and behind him Ambrose thought he caught a +glimpse of the shy fawn he had seen in the morning. + + + +CHAPTER XI. AY DI ME GRENADA + + + +"In sooth it was a thing to weep + If then as now the level plain +Beneath was spreading like the deep, + The broad unruffled main. +If like a watch-tower of the sun + Above, the Alpuxarras rose, +Streaked, when the dying day was done, + "With evening's roseate snows." + +ARCHBISHOP TRENCH. + + +When Mary Tudor, released by death from her first dreary marriage, +contracted for her brother's pleasure, had appeased his wrath at her +second marriage made to please herself, Henry VIII. was only too +glad to mark his assent by all manner of festivities; and English +chroniclers, instead of recording battles and politics, had only to +write of pageantries and tournaments during the merry May of the +year 1515--a May, be it remembered, which, thanks to the old style, +was at least ten days nearer to Midsummer than our present month. + +How the two queens and all their court had gone a-maying on +Shooter's Hill, ladies and horses poetically disguised and labelled +with sweet summer titles, was only a nine days' wonder when the +Birkenholts had come to London, but the approaching tournament at +Westminster on the Whitsun holiday was the great excitement to the +whole population, for, with all its faults, the Court of bluff King +Hal was thoroughly genial, and every one, gentle and simple, might +participate in his pleasures. + +Seats were reserved at the lists for the city dignitaries and their +families, and though old Mistress Headley professed that she ought +to have done with such vanities, she could not forbear from going to +see that her son was not too much encumbered with the care of little +Dennet, and that the child herself ran into no mischief. Master +Headley himself grumbled and sighed, but he put himself into his +scarlet gown, holding that his presence was a befitting attention to +the king, glad to gratify his little daughter, and not without a +desire to see how his workmanship--good English ware--held out +against "mail and plate of Milan steel," the fine armour brought +home from France by the new Duke of Suffolk. Giles donned his best +in the expectation of sitting in the places of honour as one of the +family, and was greatly disgusted when Kit Smallbones observed, +"What's all that bravery for? The tilting match quotha? Ha! ha! my +young springald, if thou see it at all, thou must be content to gaze +as thou canst from the armourers' tent, if Tibble there chooses to +be cumbered with a useless lubber like thee." + +"I always sat with my mother when there were matches at Clarendon," +muttered Giles, who had learnt at least that it was of no use to +complain of Smallbones' plain speaking. + +"If folks cocker malapert lads at Sarum we know better here," was +the answer. + +"I shall ask the master, my kinsman," returned the youth. + +But he got little by his move. Master Headley told him, not +unkindly, for he had some pity for the spoilt lad, that not the Lord +Mayor himself would take his own son with him while yet an +apprentice. Tibble Steelman would indeed go to one of the +attendants' tents at the further end of the lists, where repairs to +armour and weapons might be needed, and would take an assistant or +two, but who they might be must depend on his own choice, and if +Giles had any desire to go, he had better don his working dress. + +In fact, Tibble meant to take Edmund Burgess and one workman for +use, and one of the new apprentices for pleasure, letting them +change in the middle of the day. The swagger of Giles actually +forfeited for him the first turn, which--though he was no favourite +with the men--would have been granted to his elder years and his +relationship to the master; but on his overbearing demand to enter +the boat which was to carry down a little anvil and charcoal +furnace, with a few tools, rivets, nails, and horse-shoes, Tibble +coolly returned that he needed no such gay birds; but if Giles chose +to be ready in his leathern coat when Stephen Birkenholt came home +at midday, mayhap he might change with him. + +Stephen went joyously in the plainest of attire, though Tibble in +fur cap, grimy jerkin, and leathern apron was no elegant steersman; +and Edmund, who was at the age of youthful foppery, shrugged his +shoulders a little, and disguised the garments of the smithy with +his best flat cap and newest mantle. + +They kept in the wake of the handsome barge which Master Headley +shared with his friend and brother alderman, Master Hope the draper, +whose young wife, in a beautiful black velvet hood and shining blue +satin kirtle, was evidently petting Dennet to her heart's content, +though the little damsel never lost an opportunity of nodding to her +friends in the plainer barge in the rear. + +The Tudor tilting matches cost no lives, and seldom broke bones. +They were chiefly opportunities for the display of brilliant +enamelled and gilt armour, at the very acme of cumbrous +magnificence; and of equally gorgeous embroidery spread out over the +vast expanse provided by elephantine Flemish horses. Even if the +weapons had not been purposely blunted, and if the champions had +really desired to slay one another, they would have found the task +very difficult, as in effect they did in the actual game of war. +But the spectacle was a splendid one, and all the apparatus was +ready in the armourers' tent, marked by St. George and the Dragon. +Tibble ensconced himself in the innermost corner with a "tractate," +borrowed from his friend Lucas, and sent the apprentices to gaze +their fill at the rapidly filling circles of seats. They saw King +Harry, resplendent in gilded armour--"from their own anvil, true +English steel," said Edmund, proudly--hand to her seat his sister +the bride, one of the most beautiful women then in existence, with a +lovely and delicate bloom on her fair face and exquisite Plantagenet +features. No more royally handsome creatures could the world have +offered than that brother and sister, and the English world +appreciated them and made the lists ring with applause at the fair +lady who had disdained foreign princes to wed her true love, an +honest Englishman. + +He--the cloth of frieze--in blue Milanese armour, made to look as +classical as possible, and with clasps and medals engraven from +antique gems--handed in Queen Katharine, whose dark but glowing +Spanish complexion made a striking contrast to the dazzling fairness +of her young sister-in-law. Near them sat a stout burly figure in +episcopal purple, and at his feet there was a form which nearly took +away all Stephen's pleasure for the time. For it was in motley, and +he could hear the bells jingle, while the hot blood rose in his +cheeks in the dread lest Burgess should detect the connection, or +recognise in the jester the grave personage who had come to +negotiate with Mr. Headley for his indentures, or worse still, that +the fool should see and claim him. + +However, Quipsome Hal seemed to be exchanging drolleries with the +young dowager of France, who, sooth to say, giggled in a very +unqueenly manner at jokes which made the grave Spanish-born queen +draw up her stately head, and converse with a lady on her other +hand--an equally stately lady, somewhat older, with the straight +Plantagenet features, and by her side a handsome boy, who, though +only eight or nine years was tonsured, and had a little scholar's +gown. "That," said Edmund, "is my Lady Countess of Salisbury, of +whom Giles Headley prates so much." + +A tournament, which was merely a game between gorgeously equipped +princes and nobles, afforded little scope for adventure worthy of +record, though it gave great diversion to the spectators. Stephen +gazed like one fascinated at the gay panoply of horse and man with +the huge plumes on the heads of both, as they rushed against one +another, and he shared with Edmund the triumph when the lance from +their armoury held good, the vexation if it were shivered. All +would have been perfect but for the sight of his uncle, playing off +his drolleries in a manner that gave him a sense of personal +degradation. + +To escape from the sight almost consoled him when, in the pause +after the first courses had been run, Tibble told him and Burgess to +return, and send Headley and another workman with a fresh bundle of +lances for the afternoon's tilting. Stephen further hoped to find +his brother at the Dragon court, as it was one of those holidays +that set every one free, and separation began to make the brothers +value their meetings. + +But Ambrose was not at the Dragon court, and when Stephen went in +quest of him to the Temple, Perronel had not seen him since the +early morning, but she said he seemed so much bitten with the little +old man's scholarship that she had small doubt that he would be +found poring over a book in Warwick Inner Yard. + +Thither therefore did Stephen repair. The place was nearly +deserted, for the inhabitants were mostly either artisans or that +far too numerous race who lived on the doles of convents, on the +alms of churchgoers, and the largesses scattered among the people on +public occasions, and these were for the most part pursuing their +vocation both of gazing and looking out for gain among the +spectators outside the lists. The door that Stephen had been shown +as that of Ambrose's master was, however, partly open, and close +beside it sat in the sun a figure that amazed him. On a small mat +or rug, with a black and yellow handkerchief over her head, and +little scarlet legs crossed under a blue dress, all lighted up by +the gay May sun, there slept the little dark, glowing maiden, with +her head best as it leant against the wall, her rosy lips half open, +her long black plaits on her shoulders. + +Stepping up to the half-open door, whence he heard a voice reading, +his astonishment was increased. At the table were his brother and +his master, Ambrose with a black book in hand, Lucas Hansen with +some papers, and on the ground was seated a venerable, white-bearded +old man, something between Stephen's notions of an apostle and of a +magician, though the latter idea predominated at sight of a long +parchment scroll covered with characters such as belonged to no +alphabet that he had ever dreamt of. What were they doing to his +brother? He was absolutely in an enchanter's den. Was it a pixy at +the door, guarding it? "Ambrose!" he cried aloud. + +Everybody started. Ambrose sprang to his feet, exclaiming, +"Stephen!" The pixy gave a little scream and jumped up, flying to +the old man, who quietly rolled up his scroll. + +Lucas rose up as Ambrose spoke. + +"Thy brother?" said he. + +"Yea--come in search of me," said Ambrose. + +"Thou hadst best go forth with him," said Lucas. + +"It is not well that youth should study over long," said the old +man. "Thou hast aided us well, but do thou now unbend the bow. +Peace be with thee, my son." + +Ambrose complied, but scarcely willingly, and the instant they had +made a few steps from the door, Stephen exclaimed in dismay, "Who-- +what was it? Have they bewitched thee, Ambrose?" + +Ambrose laughed merrily. "Not so. It is holy lore that those good +men are reading." + +"Nay now, Ambrose. Stand still--if thou canst, poor fellow," he +muttered, and then made the sign of the cross three times over his +brother, who stood smiling, and said, "Art satisfied Stevie? Or +wilt have me rehearse my Credo?" Which he did, Stephen listening +critically, and drawing a long breath as he recognised each word, +pronounced without a shudder at the critical points. "Thou art safe +so far," said Stephen. "But sure he is a wizard. I even beheld his +familiar spirit--in a fair shape doubtless--like a pixy! Be not +deceived, brother. Sorcery reads backwards--and I saw him so read +from that scroll of his. Laughest thou! Nay! what shall I do to +free thee? Enter here!" + +Stephen dragged his brother, still laughing, into the porch of the +nearest church, and deluged him with holy water with such good will, +that Ambrose, putting up his hands to shield his eyes, exclaimed, +"Come now, have done with this folly, Stephen--though it makes me +laugh to think of thy scared looks, and poor little Aldonza being +taken for a familiar spirit." And Ambrose laughed as he had not +laughed for weeks. + +"But what is it, then?" + +"The old man is of thy calling, or something like it, Stephen, being +that he maketh and tempereth sword-blades after the prime Damascene +or Toledo fashion, and the familiar spirit is his little daughter." + +Stephen did not however look mollified. "Swordblades! None have a +right to make them save our craft. This is one of the rascaille +Spaniards who have poured into the city under favour of the queen to +spoil and ruin the lawful trade. Though could you but have seen, +Ambrose, how our tough English ashwood in King Harry's hand--from +our own armoury too--made all go down before it, you would never +uphold strangers and their false wares that CAN only get the better +by sorcery." + +"How thou dost harp upon sorcery!" exclaimed Ambrose. "I must tell +thee the good old man's story as 'twas told to me, and then wilt +thou own that he is as good a Christian as ourselves--ay, or better- +-and hath little cause to love the Spaniards." + +"Come on, then," said Stephen. "Methought if we went towards +Westminster we might yet get where we could see the lists. Such a +rare show, Ambrose, to see the King in English armour, ay, and +Master Headley's, every inch of it, glittering in the sun, so that +one could scarce brook the dazzling, on his horse like a rock +shattering all that came against him! I warrant you the lances +cracked and shivered like faggots under old Purkis's bill-hook. And +that you should liefer pore over crabbed monkish stuff with yonder +old men! My life on it, there must be some spell!" + +"No more than of old, when I was ever for book and thou for bow," +said Ambrose; "but I'll make thee rueful for old Michael yet. Hast +heard tell of the Moors in Spain?" + +"Moors--blackamoors who worship Mahound and Termagant. I saw a +blackamoor last week behind his master, a merchant of Genoa, in +Paul's Walk. He looked like the devils in the Miracle Play at +Christ Church, with blubber lips and wool for hair. I marvelled +that he did not writhe and flee when he came within the Minster, but +Ned Burgess said he was a christened man." + +"Moors be not all black, neither be they all worshippers of +Mahound," replied Ambrose. + +However, as Ambrose's information, though a few degrees more correct +and intelligent than his brother's, was not complete, it will be +better not to give the history of Lucas's strange visitors in his +words. + +They belonged to the race of Saracen Arabs who had brought the arts +of life to such perfection in Southern Spain, but who had received +the general appellation of Moors from those Africans who were +continually reinforcing them, and, bringing a certain Puritan +strictness of Mohammedanism with them, had done much towards +destroying the highest cultivation among them before the Spanish +kingdoms became united, and finally triumphed over them. During the +long interval of two centuries, while Castille was occupied by +internal wars, and Aragon by Italian conquests, there had been +little aggression on the Moorish borderland, and a good deal of +friendly intercourse both in the way of traffic and of courtesy, nor +had the bitter persecution and distrust of new converts then set in, +which followed the entire conquest of Granada. Thus, when Ronda was +one of the first Moorish cities to surrender, a great merchant of +the unrivalled sword-blades whose secret had been brought from +Damascus, had, with all his family, been accepted gladly when he +declared himself ready to submit and receive baptism. Miguel +Abenali was one of the sons, and though his conversion had at first +been mere compliance with his father's will and the family +interests, he had become sufficiently convinced of Christian truth +not to take part with his own people in the final struggle. Still, +however, the inbred abhorrence of idolatry had influenced his manner +of worship, and when, after half a life-time, Granada had fallen, +and the Inquisition had begun to take cognisance of new Christians +from among the Moors as well as the Jews, there were not lacking +spies to report the absence of all sacred images or symbols from the +house of the wealthy merchant, and that neither he nor any of his +family had been seen kneeling before the shrine of Nuestra Senora. +The sons of Abenali did indeed feel strongly the power of the +national reaction, and revolted from the religion which they saw +cruelly enforced on their conquered countrymen. The Moor had been +viewed as a gallant enemy, the Morisco was only a being to be +distrusted and persecuted; and the efforts of the good Bishop of +Granada, who had caused the Psalms, Gospels, and large portions of +the Breviary to be translated into Arabic, were frustrated by the +zeal of those who imagined that heresy lurked in the vernacular, and +perhaps that objections to popular practices might be strengthened. + +By order of Cardinal Ximenes, these Arabic versions were taken away +and burnt; but Miguel Abenali had secured his own copy, and it was +what he there learnt that withheld him from flying to his countrymen +and resuming their faith when he found that the Christianity he had +professed for forty years was no longer a protection to him. Having +known the true Christ in the Gospel, he could not turn back to +Mohammed, even though Christians persecuted in the Name they so +little understood. + +The crisis came in 1507, when Ximenes, apparently impelled by the +dread that simulated conformity should corrupt the Church, quickened +the persecution of the doubtful "Nuevos Cristianos," and the Abenali +family, who had made themselves loved and respected, received +warning that they had been denounced, and that their only hope lay +in flight. + +The two sons, high-spirited young men, on whom religion had far less +hold than national feeling, fled to the Alpuxarra Mountains, and +renouncing the faith of the persecutors, joined their countrymen in +their gallant and desperate warfare. Their mother, who had long +been dead, had never been more than an outward Christian; but the +second wife of Abenali shared his belief and devotion with the +intelligence and force of character sometimes found among the +Moorish ladies of Spain. She and her little ones fled with him in +disguise to Cadiz, with the precious Arabic Scriptures rolled round +their waists, and took shelter with an English merchant, who had had +dealings in sword-blades with Senor Miguel, and had been entertained +by him in his beautiful Saracenic house at Ronda with Eastern +hospitality. This he requited by giving them the opportunity of +sailing for England in a vessel laden with Xeres sack; but the +misery of the voyage across the Bay of Biscay in a ship fit for +nothing but wine, was excessive, and creatures reared in the lovely +climate and refined luxury of the land of the palm and orange, +exhausted too already by the toils of the mountain journey, were +incapable of enduring it, and Abenali's brave wife and one of her +children were left beneath the waves of the Atlantic. With the one +little girl left to him, he arrived in London, and the +recommendation of his Cadiz friend obtained for him work from a +dealer in foreign weapons, who was not unwilling to procure them +nearer home. Happily for him, Moorish masters, however rich, were +always required to be proficients in their own trade; and thus +Miguel, or Michael as he was known in England, was able to maintain +himself and his child by the fabrication of blades that no one could +distinguish from those of Damascus. Their perfection was a work of +infinite skill, labour, and industry, but they were so costly, that +their price, and an occasional job of inlaying gold in other metal, +sufficed to maintain the old man and his little daughter. The +armourers themselves were sometimes forced to have recourse to him, +though unwillingly, for he was looked on with distrust and dislike +as an interloper of foreign birth, belonging to no guild. A +Biscayan or Castillian of the oldest Christian blood incurred +exactly the same obloquy from the mass of London craftsmen and +apprentices, and Lucas himself had small measure of favour, though +Dutchmen were less alien to the English mind than Spaniards, and his +trade did not lead to so much rivalry and competition. + +As much of this as Ambrose knew or understood he told to Stephen, +who listened in a good deal of bewilderment, understanding very +little, but with a strong instinct that his brother's love of +learning was leading him into dangerous company. And what were they +doing on this fine May holiday, when every one ought to be out +enjoying themselves? + +"Well, if thou wilt know," said Ambrose, pushed hard, "there is one +Master William Tindal, who hath been doing part of the blessed +Evangel into English, and for better certainty of its correctness, +Master Michael was comparing it with his Arabic version, while I +overlooked the Latin." + +"O Ambrose, thou wilt surely run into trouble. Know you not how +nurse Joan used to tell us of the burning of the Lollard books?" + +"Nay, nay, Stevie, this is no heresy. 'Tis such work as the great +scholar, Master Erasmus, is busied on--ay, and he is loved and +honoured by both the Archbishops and the King's grace! Ask Tibble +Steelman what he thinks thereof." + +"Tibble Steelman would think nought of a beggarly stranger calling +himself a sword cutler, and practising the craft without +prenticeship or license," said Stephen, swelling with indignation. +"Come on, Ambrose, and sweep the cobwebs from thy brain. If we +cannot get into our own tent again, we can mingle with the +outskirts, and learn how the day is going, and how our lances and +breastplates have stood where the knaves' at the Eagle have gone +like reeds and egg-shells--just as I threw George Bates, the +prentice at the Eagle yesterday, in a wrestling match at the butts +with the trick old Diggory taught me." + + + +CHAPTER XII. A KING IN A QUAGMIRE + + + + For my pastance +Hunt, sing, and dance, +My heart is set +All godly sport +To my comfort. +Who shall me let? + +THE KING'S BALADE, attributed to Henry VIII. + + +Life was a rough, hearty thing in the early sixteenth century, +strangely divided between thought and folly, hardship and splendour, +misery and merriment, toil and sport. + +The youths in the armourer's household had experienced little of +this as yet in their country life, but in London they could not but +soon begin to taste both sides of the matter. Master Headley +himself was a good deal taken up with city affairs, and left the +details of his business to Tibble Steelman and Kit Smallbones, +though he might always appear on the scene, and he had a wonderful +knowledge of what was going on. + +The breaking-in and training of the two new country lads was +entirely left to them and to Edmund Burgess. Giles soon found that +complaints were of no avail, and only made matters harder for him, +and that Tibble Steelman and Kit Smallbones had no notion of +favouring their master's cousin. + +Poor fellow, he was very miserable in those first weeks. The actual +toil, to which he was an absolute novice, though nominally three +years an apprentice, made his hands raw, and his joints full of +aches, while his groans met with nothing but laughter; and he +recognised with great displeasure, that more was laid on him than on +Stephen Birkenholt. This was partly in consideration of Stephen's +youth, partly of his ready zeal and cheerfulness. His hands might +be sore too, but he was rather proud of it than otherwise, and his +hero worship of Kit Smallbones made him run on errands, tug at the +bellows staff, or fetch whatever was called for with a bright +alacrity that won the foremen's hearts, and it was noted that he who +was really a gentleman, had none of the airs that Giles Headley +showed. + +Giles began by some amount of bullying, by way of slaking his wrath +at the preference shown for one whom he continued to style a +beggarly brat picked up on the heath; but Stephen was good-humoured, +and accustomed to give and take, and they both found their level, as +well in the Dragon court as among the world outside, where the +London prentices were a strong and redoubtable body, with rude, not +to say cruel, rites of initiation among themselves, plenty of +rivalries and enmities between house and house, guild and guild, but +a united, not to say ferocious, esprit de corps against every one +else. Fisticuffs and wrestlings were the amenities that passed +between them, though always with a love of fair play so long as no +cowardice, or what was looked on as such, was shown, for there was +no mercy for the weak or weakly. Such had better betake themselves +at once to the cloister, or life was made intolerable by constant +jeers, blows, baiting and huntings, often, it must be owned, +absolutely brutal. + +Stephen and Giles had however passed through this ordeal. The +letter to John Birkenholt had been despatched by a trusty clerk +riding with the Judges of Assize, whom Mistress Perronel knew might +be safely trusted, and who actually brought back a letter which +might have emanated from the most affectionate of brothers, giving +his authority for the binding Stephen apprentice to the worshipful +Master Giles Headley, and sending the remainder of the boy's +portion. + +Stephen was thereupon regularly bound apprentice to Master Headley. +It was a solemn affair, which took place in the Armourer's Hall in +Coleman Street, before sundry witnesses. Harry Randall, in his +soberest garb and demeanour, acted as guardian to his nephew, and +presented him, clad in the regulation prentice garb--"flat round +cap, close-cut hair, narrow falling bands, coarse side coat, close +hose, cloth stockings," coat with the badge of the Armourers' +Company, and Master Headley's own dragon's tail on the sleeve, to +which was added a blue cloak marked in like manner. The +instructions to apprentices were rehearsed, beginning, "Ye shall +constantly and devoutly on your knees every day serve God, morning +and evening"--pledging him to "avoid evil company, to make speedy +return when sent on his master's business, to be fair, gentle and +lowly in speech and carriage with all men," and the like. + +Mutual promises were interchanged between him and his master, +Stephen on his knees; the indentures were signed, for Quipsome Hal +could with much ado produce an autograph signature, though his +penmanship went no further, and the occasion was celebrated by a +great dinner of the whole craft at the Armourers' Hall, to which the +principal craftsmen who had been apprentices, such as Tibble +Steelman and Kit Smallbones, were invited, sitting at a lower table, +while the masters had the higher one on the dais, and a third was +reserved for the apprentices after they should have waited on their +masters--in fact it was an imitation of the orders of chivalry, +knights, squires, and pages, and the gradation of rank was as +strictly observed as by the nobility. Giles, considering the feast +to be entirely in his honour, though the transfer of his indentures +had been made at Salisbury, endeavoured to come out in some of his +bravery, but was admonished that such presumption might be punished, +the first time, at his master's discretion, the second time, by a +whipping at the Hall of his Company, and the third time by six +months being added to the term of his apprenticeship. + +Master Randall was entertained in the place of honour, where he +comported himself with great gravity, though he could not resist +alarming Stephen with an occasional wink or gesture as the boy +approached in the course of the duties of waiting at the upper +board--a splendid sight with cups and flagons of gold and silver, +with venison and capons and all that a City banquet could command +before the invention of the turtle. + +There was drinking of toasts, and among the foremost was that of +Wolsey, who had freshly received his nomination of cardinal, and +whose hat was on its way from Rome--and here the jester could not +help betraying his knowledge of the domestic policy of the +household, and telling the company how it had become known that the +scarlet hat was actually on the way, but in a "varlet's budget--a +mere Italian common knave, no better than myself," quoth Quipsome +Hal, whereat his nephew trembled standing behind his chair, +forgetting that the decorous solid man in the sad-coloured gown and +well-crimped ruff, neatest of Perronel's performances, was no such +base comparison for any varlet. Hal went on to describe, however, +how my Lord of York had instantly sent to stay the messenger on his +handing at Dover, and equip him with all manner of costly silks by +way of apparel, and with attendants, such as might do justice to his +freight, "that so," he said, "men may not rate it but as a scarlet +cock's comb, since all men be but fools, and the sole question is, +who among them hath wit enough to live by his folly." Therewith he +gave a wink that so disconcerted Stephen as nearly to cause an upset +of the bowl of perfumed water that he was bringing for the washing +of hands. + +Master Headley, however, suspected nothing, and invited the grave +Master Randall to attend the domestic festival on the presentation +of poor Spring's effigy at the shrine of St. Julian. This was to +take place early in the morning of the 14th of September, Holy Cross +Day, the last holiday in the year that had any of the glory of +summer about it, and on which the apprentices claimed a prescriptive +right to go out nutting in St. John's Wood, and to carry home their +spoil to the lasses of their acquaintance. + +Tibble Steelman had completed the figure in bronze, with a silver +collar and chain, not quite without protest that the sum had better +have been bestowed in alms. But from his master's point of view +this would have been giving to a pack of lying beggars and thieves +what was due to the holy saint; no one save Tibble, who could do and +say what he chose, could have ventured on a word of remonstrance on +such a subject; and as the full tide of iconoclasm, consequent on +the discovery of the original wording of the second commandment, had +not yet set in, Tibble had no more conscientious scruple against +making the figure, than in moulding a little straight-tailed lion +for Lord Harry Percy's helmet. + +So the party in early morning heard their mass, and then, repairing +to St. Julian's pillar, while the rising sun came peeping through +the low eastern window of the vaulted Church of St. Faith, Master +Headley on his knees gave thanks for his preservation, and then put +forward his little daughter, holding on her joined hands the figure +of poor Spring, couchant, and beautifully modelled in bronze with +all Tibble's best skill. + +Hal Randall and Ambrose had both come up from the little home where +Perronel presided, for the hour was too early for the jester's +absence to be remarked in the luxurious household of the Cardinal +elect, and he even came to break his fast afterwards at the Dragon +court, and held such interesting discourse with old Dame Headley on +the farthingales and coifs of Queen Katharine and her ladies, that +she pronounced him a man wondrous wise and understanding, and +declared Stephen happy in the possession of such a kinsman. + +"And whither away now, youngsters?" he said, as he rose from table. + +"To St. John's Wood! The good greenwood, uncle," said Ambrose. + +"Thou too, Ambrose?" said Stephen joyfully. "For once away from +thine ink and thy books!" + +"Ay," said Ambrose, "mine heart warms to the woodlands once more. +Uncle, would that thou couldst come." + +"Would that I could, boy! We three would show these lads of +Cockayne what three foresters know of wood craft! But it may not +be. Were I once there the old blood might stir again and I might +bring you into trouble, and ye have not two faces under one hood as +I have! So fare ye well, I wish you many a bagful of nuts!" + +The four months of city life, albeit the City was little bigger than +our moderate sized country towns, and far from being an unbroken +mass of houses, had yet made the two young foresters delighted to +enjoy a day of thorough country in one another's society. Little +Dennet longed to go with them, but the prentice world was far too +rude for little maidens to be trusted in it, and her father held out +hopes of going one of these days to High Park as he called it, while +Edmund and Stephen promised her all their nuts, and as many +blackberries as could be held in their flat caps. + +"Giles has promised me none," said Dennet, with a pouting lip, "nor +Ambrose." + +"Why sure, little mistress, thou'lt have enough to crack thy teeth +on!" said Edmund Burgess. + +"They OUGHT to bring theirs to me," returned the little heiress of +the Dragon court with an air of offended dignity that might have +suited the heiress of the kingdom. + +Giles, who looked on Dennet as a kind of needful appendage to the +Dragon, a piece of property of his own, about whom he need take no +trouble, merely laughed and said, "Want must be thy master then." +But Ambrose treated her petulance in another fashion. "Look here, +pretty mistress," said he, "there dwells by me a poor little maid +nigh about thine age, who never goeth further out than to St. Paul's +minster, nor plucketh flower, nor hath sweet cake, nor manchet +bread, nor sugar-stick, nay, and scarce ever saw English hazel-nut +nor blackberry. 'Tis for her that I want to gather them." + +"Is she thy master's daughter?" demanded Dennet, who could admit the +claims of another princess. + +"Nay, my master hath no children, but she dwelleth near him." + +"I will send her some, and likewise of mine own comfits and cakes," +said Mistress Dennet. "Only thou must bring all to me first." + +Ambrose laughed and said, "It's a bargain then, little mistress?" + +"I keep my word," returned Dennet marching away, while Ambrose +obeyed a summons from good-natured Mistress Headley to have his +wallet filled with bread and cheese like those of her own prentices. + +Off went the lads under the guidance of Edmund Burgess, meeting +parties of their own kind at every turn, soon leaving behind them +the City bounds, as they passed under New Gate, and by and by +skirting the fields of the great Carthusian monastery, or Charter +House, with the burial-ground given by Sir Walter Manny at the time +of the Black Death. Beyond came marshy ground through which they +had to pick their way carefully, over stepping-stones--this being no +other than what is now the Regent's Park, not yet in any degree +drained by the New River, but all quaking ground, overgrown with +rough grass and marsh-plants, through which Stephen and Ambrose +bounded by the help of stout poles with feet and eyes well used to +bogs, and knowing where to look for a safe footing, while many a +flat-capped London lad floundered about and sank over his yellow +ankles or left his shoes behind him, while lapwings shrieked pee- +wheet, and almost flapped him with their broad wings, and moorhens +dived in the dark pools, and wild ducks rose in long families. + +Stephen was able to turn the laugh against his chief adversary and +rival, George Bates of the Eagle, who proposed seeking for the +lapwing's nest in hopes of a dainty dish of plovers' eggs; being too +great a cockney to remember that in September the contents of the +eggs were probably flying over the heather, as well able to shift +for themselves as their parents. + +Above all things the London prentices were pugnacious, but as every +one joined in the laugh against George, and he was, besides, stuck +fast on a quaking tussock of grass, afraid to proceed or advance, he +could not have his revenge. And when the slough was passed, and the +slight rise leading to the copse of St. John's Wood was attained, +behold, it was found to be in possession of the lower sort of lads, +the black guard as they were called. They were of course quite as +ready to fight with the prentices as the prentices were with them, +and a battle royal took place, all along the front of the hazel +bushes--in which Stephen of the Dragon and George of the Eagle +fought side by side. Sticks and fists were the weapons, and there +were no very severe casualties before the prentices, being the +larger number as well as the stouter and better fed, had routed +their adversaries, and driven them off towards Harrow. + +There was crackling of boughs and filling of bags, and cracking of +nuts, and wild cries in pursuit of startled hare or rabbit, and +though Ambrose and Stephen indignantly repelled the idea of St. +John's Wood being named in the same day with their native forest, it +is doubtful whether they had ever enjoyed themselves more; until +just as they were about to turn homeward, whether moved by his +hostility to Stephen, or by envy at the capful of juicy +blackberries, carefully covered with green leaves, George Bates, +rushing up from behind, shouted out "Here's a skulker! Here's one +of the black guard! Off to thy fellows, varlet!" at the same time +dealing a dexterous blow under the cap, which sent the blackberries +up into Ambrose's face. "Ha! ha!" shouted the ill-conditioned +fellow. "So much for a knave that serves rascally strangers! Here! +hand over that bag of nuts!" + +Ambrose was no fighter, but in defence of the bag that was to +purchase a treat for little Aldonza, he clenched his fists, and bade +George Bates come and take them if he would. The quiet scholarly +boy was, however, no match for the young armourer, and made but poor +reply to the buffets of his adversary, who had hold of the bag, and +was nearly choking him with the string round his neck. + +However, Stephen had already missed his brother, and turning round, +shouted out that the villain Bates was mauling him, and rushed back, +falling on Ambrose's assailant with a sudden well-directed pounding +that made him hastily turn about, with cries of "Two against one!" + +"Not at all," said Stephen. "Stand by, Ambrose; I'll give the +coward his deserts." + +In fact, though the boys were nearly of a size, George somewhat the +biggest, Stephen's country activity, and perhaps the higher spirit +of his gentle blood, generally gave him the advantage, and on this +occasion he soon reduced Bates to roar for mercy. + +"Thou must purchase it!" said Stephen. "Thy bag of nuts, in return +for the berries thou hast wasted!" + +Peaceable Ambrose would have remonstrated, but Stephen was +implacable. He cut the string, and captured the bag, then with a +parting kick bade Bates go after his comrades, for his Eagle was +nought but a thieving kite. + +Bates made off pretty quickly, but the two brothers tarried a little +to see how much damage the blackberries had suffered, and to repair +the losses as they descended into the bog by gathering some choice +dewberries. + +"I marvel these fine fellows 'scaped our company," said Stephen +presently. + +"Are we in the right track, thinkst thou? Here is a pool I marked +not before," said Ambrose anxiously. + +"Nay, we can't be far astray while we see St. Paul's spire and the +Tower full before us," said Stephen. "Plainer marks than we had at +home." + +"That may be. Only where is the safe footing?" said Ambrose. "I +wish we had not lost sight of the others!" + +"Pish! what good are a pack of City lubbers!" returned Stephen. +"Don't we know a quagmire when we see one, better than they do?" + +"Hark, they are shouting for us." + +"Not they! That's a falconer's call. There's another whistle! +See, there's the hawk. She's going down the wind, as I'm alive," +and Stephen began to bound wildly along, making all the sounds and +calls by which falcons were recalled, and holding up as a lure a +lapwing which he had knocked down. Ambrose, by no means so +confident in bog-trotting as his brother, stood still to await him, +hearing the calls and shouts of the falconer coming nearer, and +presently seeing a figure, flying by the help of a pole over the +pools and dykes that here made some attempt at draining the waste. +Suddenly, in mid career over one of these broad ditches, there was a +collapse, and a lusty shout for help as the form disappeared. +Ambrose instantly perceived what had happened, the leaping pole had +broken to the downfall of its owner. Forgetting all his doubts as +to bogholes and morasses, he grasped his own pole, and sprang from +tussock to tussock, till he had reached the bank of the ditch or +water-course in which the unfortunate sportsman was floundering. He +was a large, powerful man, but this was of no avail, for the slough +afforded no foothold. The further side was a steep built up of +sods, the nearer sloped down gradually, and though it was not +apparently very deep, the efforts of the victim to struggle out had +done nothing but churn up a mass of black muddy water in which he +sank deeper every moment, and it was already nearly to his shoulders +when with a cry of joy, half choked however, by the mud, he cried, +"Ha! my good lad! Are there any more of ye?" + +"Not nigh, I fear," said Ambrose, beholding with some dismay the +breadth of the shoulders which were all that appeared above the +turbid water. + +"Soh! Lie down, boy, behind that bunch of osier. Hold out thy +pole. Let me see thine hands. Thou art but a straw, but, our Lady +be my speed! Now hangs England on a pair of wrists!" + +There was a great struggle, an absolute effort for life, and but for +the osier stump Ambrose would certainly have been dragged into the +water, when the man had worked along the pole, and grasping his +hands, pulled himself upwards. Happily the sides of the dyke became +harder higher up, and did not instantly yield to the pressure of his +knees, and by the time Ambrose's hands and shoulders felt nearly +wrenched from their sockets, the stem of the osier had been +attained, and in another minute, the rescued man, bareheaded, +plastered with mud, and streaming with water, sat by him on the +bank, panting, gasping, and trying to gather breath and clear his +throat from the mud he had swallowed. + +"Thanks, good lad, well done," he articulated. "Those fellows! +where are they?" And feeling in his bosom, he brought out a gold +whistle suspended by a chain. "Blow it," he said, taking off the +chain, "my mouth is too full of slime." + +Ambrose blew a loud shrill call, but it seemed to reach no one but +Stephen, whom he presently saw dashing towards them. + +"Here is my brother coming, sir," he said, as he gave his endeavours +to help the stranger to free himself from the mud that clung to him, +and which was in some places thick enough to be scraped off with a +knife. He kept up a continual interchange of exclamations at his +plight, whistles and shouts for his people, and imprecations on +their tardiness, until Stephen was near enough to show that the hawk +had been recovered, and then he joyfully called out, "Ha! hast thou +got her? Why, flat-caps as ye are, ye put all my fellows to shame! +How now, thou errant bird, dost know thy master, or take him for a +mud wall? Kite that thou art, to have led me such a dance! And +what's your name, my brave lads? Ye must have been bred to wood- +craft." + +Ambrose explained both their parentage and their present occupation, +but was apparently heeded but little. "Wot ye how to get out of +this quagmire?" was the question. + +"I never was here before, sir," said Stephen; "but yonder lies the +Tower, and if we keep along by this dyke, it must lead us out +somewhere." + +"Well said, boy, I must be moving, or the mud will dry on me, and I +shall stand here as though I were turned to stone by the Gorgon's +head! So have with thee! Go on first, master hawk-tamer. What +will bear thee will bear me!" + +There was an imperative tone about him that surprised the brothers, +and Ambrose looking at him from head to foot, felt sure that it was +some great man at the least, whom it had been his hap to rescue. +Indeed, he began to have further suspicions when they came to a pool +of clearer water, beyond which was firmer ground, and the stranger +with an exclamation of joy, borrowed Stephen's cap, and, scooping up +the water with it, washed his face and head, disclosing the golden +hair and beard, fair complexion, and handsome square face he had +seen more than once before. + +He whispered to Stephen "'Tis the King!" + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Henry, "hast found him out, lads? Well, it may +not be the worse for ye. Pity thou shouldst not be in the Forest +still, my young falconer, but we know our good city of London to +well to break thy indentures. And thou--" + +He was turning to Ambrose when further shouts were heard. The King +hallooed, and bade the boys do so, and in a few moments more they +were surrounded by the rest of the hawking party, full of dismay at +the king's condition, and deprecating his anger for having lost him. + +"Yea," said Henry; "an it had not been for this good lad, ye would +never have heard more of the majesty of England! Swallowed in a +quagmire had made a new end for a king, and ye would have to brook +the little Scot." + +The gentlemen who had come up were profuse in lamentations. A horse +was brought up for the king's use, and he prepared to mount, being +in haste to get into dry clothes. He turned round, however, to the +boys, and said, "I'll not forget you, my lads. Keep that!" he +added, as Ambrose, on his knee, would have given him back the +whistle, "'tis a token that maybe will serve thee, for I shall know +it again. And thou, my black-eyed lad--My purse, Howard!" + +He handed the purse to Stephen--a velvet hag richly wrought with +gold, and containing ten gold angels, besides smaller money--bidding +them divide, like good brothers as he saw they were, and then +galloped off with his train. + +Twilight was coming on, but following in the direction of the +riders, the boys were soon on the Islington road. The New Gate was +shut by the time they reached it, and their explanation that they +were belated after a nutting expedition would not have served them, +had not Stephen produced the sum of twopence which softened the +surliness of the guard. + +It was already dark, and though curfew had not yet sounded, +preparations were making for lighting the watch-fires in the open +spaces and throwing chains across the streets, but the little door +in the Dragon court was open, and Ambrose went in with his brother +to deliver up his nuts to Dennet and claim her promise of sending a +share to Aldonza. + +They found their uncle in his sober array sitting by Master Headley, +who was rating Edmund and Giles for having lost sight of them, the +latter excusing himself by grumbling out that he could not be +marking all Stephen's brawls with George Bates. + +When the two wanderers appeared, relief took the form of anger, and +there were sharp demands why they had loitered. Their story was +listened to with many exclamations: Dennet jumped for joy, her +grandmother advised that the angels should be consigned to her own +safe keeping, and when Master Headley heard of Henry's scruples +about the indentures, he declared that it was a rare wise king who +knew that an honest craft was better than court favour. + +"Yet mayhap he might do something for thee, friend Ambrose," added +the armourer. "Commend thee to some post in his chapel royal, or +put thee into some college, since such is thy turn. How sayst thou, +Master Randall, shall he send in this same token, and make his +petition?" + +"If a foo--if a plain man may be heard where the wise hath spoken," +said Randall, "he had best abstain. Kings love not to be minded of +mishaps, and our Hal's humour is not to be reckoned on! Lay up the +toy in case of need, but an thou claim overmuch he may mind thee in +a fashion not to thy taste." + +"Sure our King is of a more generous mould!" exclaimed Mrs. Headley. + +"He is like other men, good mistress, just as you know how to have +him, and he is scarce like to be willing to be minded of the taste +of mire, or of floundering like a hog in a salt marsh. Ha! ha!" and +Quipsome Hal went off into such a laugh as might have betrayed his +identity to any one more accustomed to the grimaces of his +professional character, but which only infected the others with the +same contagious merriment. "Come thou home now," he said to +Ambrose; "my good woman hath been in a mortal fright about thee, and +would have me come out to seek after thee. Such are the women folk, +Master Headley. Let them have but a lad to look after, and they'll +bleat after him like an old ewe that has lost her lamb." + +Ambrose only stayed for Dennet to divide the spoil, and though the +blackberries had all been lost or crushed, the little maiden kept +her promise generously, and filled the bag not only with nuts but +with three red-checked apples, and a handful of comfits, for the +poor little maid who never tasted fruit or sweets. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. A LONDON HOLIDAY + + + +"Up then spoke the apprentices tall +Living in London, one and all." + +Old Ballad. + + +Another of the many holidays of the Londoners was enjoyed on the +occasion of the installation of Thomas Wolsey as Cardinal of St. +Cecilia, and Papal Legate. + +A whole assembly of prelates and "lusty gallant gentlemen" rode out +to Blackheath to meet the Roman envoy, who, robed in full splendour, +with St. Peter's keys embroidered on back and breast and on the +housings of his mule, appeared at the head of a gallant train in the +papal liveries, two of whom carried the gilded pillars, the insignia +of office, and two more, a scarlet and gold-covered box or casket +containing the Cardinal's hat. Probably no such reception of the +dignity was ever prepared elsewhere, and all was calculated to give +magnificent ideas of the office of Cardinal and of the power of the +Pope to those who had not been let into the secret that the +messenger had been met at Dover; and thus magnificently fitted out +to satisfy the requirements of the butcher's son of Ipswich, and of +one of the most ostentatious of courts. + +Old Gaffer Martin Fulford had muttered in his bed that such pomp had +not been the way in the time of the true old royal blood, and that +display had come in with the upstart slips of the Red Rose--as he +still chose to style the Tudors; and he maundered away about the +beauty and affability of Edward IV. till nobody could understand +him, and Perronel only threw in her "ay, grandad," or "yea, gaffer," +when she thought it was expected of her. + +Ambrose had an unfailing appetite for the sermons of Dean Colet, who +was to preach on this occasion in Westminster Abbey, and his uncle +had given him counsel how to obtain standing ground there, entering +before the procession. He was alone, his friends Tibble and Lucas +both had that part of the Lollard temper which loathed the pride and +wealth of the great political clergy, and in spite of their +admiration for the Dean they could not quite forgive his taking part +in the pomp of such a rare show. + +But Ambrose's devotion to the Dean, to say nothing of youthful +curiosity, outweighed all those scruples, and as he listened, he was +carried along by the curious sermon in which the preacher likened +the orders of the hierarchy below to that of the nine orders of the +Angels, making the rank of Cardinal correspond to that of the +Seraphim, aglow with love. Of that holy flame, the scarlet robes +were the type to the spiritualised mind of Colet, while others saw +in them only the relic of the imperial purple of old Rome; and some +beheld them as the token that Wolsey was one step nearer the supreme +height that he coveted so earnestly. But the great and successful +man found himself personally addressed, bidden not to be puffed up +with his own greatness, and stringently reminded of the highest +Example of humility, shown that he that exalteth himself shall be +abased, and he that humbleth himself be exalted. The preacher +concluded with a strong personal exhortation to do righteousness and +justice alike to rich and poor, joined with truth and mercy, setting +God always before him. + +The sermon ended, Wolsey knelt at the altar, and Archbishop Wareham, +who, like his immediate predecessors, held legatine authority, +performed the act of investiture, placing the scarlet hat with its +many hoops and tassels on his brother primate's head, after which a +magnificent Te Deum rang through the beautiful church, and the +procession of prelates, peers, and ecclesiastics of all ranks in +their richest array formed to escort the new Cardinal to banquet at +his palace with the King and Queen. + +Ambrose, stationed by a column, let the throng rush, tumble, and +jostle one another to behold the show, till the Abbey was nearly +empty, while he tried to work out the perplexing question whether +all this pomp and splendour were truly for the glory of God, or +whether it were a delusion for the temptation of men's souls. It +was a debate on which his old and his new guides seemed to him at +issue, and he was drawn in both directions--now by the beauty, +order, and deep symbolism of the Catholic ritual, now by the +spirituality and earnestness of the men among whom he lived. At one +moment the worldly pomp, the mechanical and irreverent worship, and +the gross and vicious habits of many of the clergy repelled him; at +another the reverence and conservatism of his nature held him fast. + +Presently he felt a hand on his shoulder, and started, "Lost in a +stud, as we say at home, boy," said the jester, resplendent in a +bran new motley suit. "Wilt come in to the banquet? 'Tis open +house, and I can find thee a seat without disclosing the kinship +that sits so sore on thy brother. Where is he?" + +"I have not seen him this day." + +"That did I," returned Randall, "as I rode by on mine ass. He was +ruffling it so lustily that I could not but give him a wink, the +which my gentleman could by no means stomach! Poor lad! Yet there +be times, Ambrose, when I feel in sooth that mine office is the only +honourable one, since who besides can speak truth? I love my lord; +he is a kind, open-handed master, and there's none I would so +willingly serve, whether by jest or earnest, but what is he but that +which I oft call him in joke--the greater fool than I, selling peace +and ease, truth and hope, this life and the next, for yonder scarlet +hat, which is after all of no more worth than this jingling head- +gear of mine." + +"Deafening the spiritual ears far more, it may be," said Ambrose, +"since humiles exallaverint." + +It was no small shock that there, in the midst of the nave, the +answer was a bound, like a ball, almost as high as the capital of +the column by which they stood. "There's exaltation!" said Randall +in a low voice, and Ambrose perceived that some strangers were in +sight. "Come, seek thy brother out, boy, and bring him to the +banquet. I'll speak a word to Peter Porter, and he'll let you in. +There'll be plenty of fooling all the afternoon, before my namesake +King Hal, who can afford to be an honester man in his fooling than +any about him, and whose laugh at a hearty jest is goodly to hear." + +Ambrose thanked him and undertook the quest. They parted at the +great west door of the Abbey, where, by way of vindicating his own +character for buffoonery, Randall exclaimed, "Where be mine ass?" +and not seeing the animal, immediately declared, "There he is!" and +at the same time sprang upon the back and shoulders of a gaping and +astonished clown who was gazing at the rear of the procession. + +The crowd applauded with shouts of coarse laughter, but a man, who +seemed to belong to the victim, broke in with an angry oath, and +"How now, sir?" + +"I cry you mercy," quoth the jester; "'twas mine own ass I sought, +and if I have fallen on thine, I will but ride him to York House and +then restore him. So ho! good jackass," crossing his ankles on the +poor fellow's chest so that he could not be shaken off. + +The comrade lifted a cudgel, but there was a general cry of "My Lord +Cardinal's jester, lay not a finger on him!" + +But Harry Randall was not one to brook immunity on the score of his +master's greatness. In another second he was on his feet, had +wrested the staff from the hands of his astounded beast of burden, +flourished it round his head after the most approved manner of +Shirley champions at Lyndhurst fair, and called to his adversary to +"come on." + +It did not take many rounds before Hal's dexterity had floored his +adversary, and the shouts of "Well struck, merry fool!" "Well +played, Quipsome Hal!" were rising high when the Abbot of +Westminster's yeomen were seen making way through the throng, which +fell back in terror on either side as they came to seize on the +brawlers in their sacred precincts. + +But here again my Lord Cardinal's fool was a privileged person, and +no one laid a hand on him, though his blood being up, he would, +spite of his gay attire, have enjoyed a fight on equal terms. His +quadruped donkey was brought up to him amid general applause, but +when he looked round for Ambrose, the boy had disappeared. + +The better and finer the nature that displayed itself in Randall, +the more painful was the sight of his buffooneries to his nephew, +and at the first leap, Ambrose had hurried away in confusion. He +sought his brother here, there, everywhere, and at last came to the +conclusion that Stephen must have gone home to dinner. He walked +quickly across the fields separating Westminster from the City of +London, hoping to reach Cheapside before the lads of the Dragon +should have gone out again; but just as he was near St. Paul's, +coming round Amen Corner, he heard the sounds of a fray. "Have at +the country lubbers! Away with the moonrakers! Flat-caps, come +on!" "Hey! lads of the Eagle! Down with the Dragons! Adders +Snakes--s-s s-s-s!" + +There was a kicking, struggling mass of blue backs and yellow legs +before him, from out of which came "Yah! Down with the Eagles! +Cowards! Kites! Cockneys!" There were plenty of boys, men, women +with children in their arms hallooing on, "Well done, Eagle!" "Go +it, Dragon!" + +The word Dragon filled the quiet Ambrose with hot impulse to defend +his brother. All his gentle, scholarly habits gave way before that +cry, and a shout that he took to be Stephen's voice in the midst of +the melee. + +He was fairly carried out of himself, and doubling his fists, fell +on the back of the nearest boys, intending to break through to his +brother, and he found an unexpected ally. Will Wherry's voice +called out, "Have with you, comrade!"--and a pair of hands and arms +considerably stouter and more used to fighting than his own, began +to pommel right and left with such good will that they soon broke +through to the aid of their friends; and not before it was time, for +Stephen, Giles, and Edmund, with their backs against the wall, were +defending themselves with all their might against tremendous odds; +and just as the new allies reached them, a sharp stone struck Giles +in the eye, and levelled him with the ground, his head striking +against the wall. Whether it were from alarm at his fall, or at the +unexpected attack in the rear, or probably from both causes, the +assailants dispersed in all directions without waiting to perceive +how slender the succouring force really was. + +Edmund and Stephen were raising up the unlucky Giles, who lay quite +insensible, with blood pouring from his eye. Ambrose tried to wipe +it away, and there were anxious doubts whether the eye itself were +safe. They were some way from home, and Giles was the biggest and +heaviest of them all. + +"Would that Kit Smallbones were here!" said Stephen, preparing to +take the feet, while Edmund took the shoulders. + +"Look here," said Will Wherry, pulling Ambrose's sleeve, "our yard +is much nearer, and the old Moor, Master Michael, is safe to know +what to do for him. That sort of cattle always are leeches. He +wiled the pain from my thumb when 'twas crushed in our printing +press. Mayhap if he put some salve to him, he might get home on his +own feet." + +Edmund listened. "There's reason in that," he said. "Dost know +this leech, Ambrose?" + +"I know him well. He is a good old man, and wondrous wise. Nay, no +black arts; but he saith his folk had great skill in herbs and the +like, and though he be no physician by trade, he hath much of their +lore." + +"Have with thee, then," returned Edmund, "the rather that Giles is +no small weight, and the guard might come on us ere we reached the +Dragon." + +"Or those cowardly rogues of the Eagle might set on us again," added +Stephen; and as they went on their way to Warwick Inner Yard, he +explained that the cause of the encounter had been that Giles had +thought fit to prank himself in his father's silver chain, and thus +George Bates, always owing the Dragon a grudge, and rendered +specially malicious since the encounter on Holy Rood Day, had raised +the cry against him, and caused all the flat-caps around to make a +rush at the gaud as lawful prey. + +"'Tis clean against prentice statutes to wear one, is it not?" asked +Ambrose. + +"Ay," returned Stephen; "yet none of us but would stand up for our +own comrade against those meddling fellows of the Eagle." + +"But," added Edmund, "we must beware the guard, for if they looked +into the cause of the fray, our master might be called on to give +Giles a whipping in the Company's hall, this being a second offence +of going abroad in these vanities." + +Ambrose went on before to prepare Miguel Abenali, and entreat his +good offices, explaining that the youth's master, who was also his +kinsman, would be sure to give handsome payment for any good offices +to him. He scarcely got out half the words; the grand old Arab +waved his hand and said, "When the wounded is laid before the tent +of Ben Ali, where is the question of recompense? Peace be with +thee, my son! Bring him hither. Aldonza, lay the carpet yonder, +and the cushions beneath the window, where I may have light to look +to his hurt." + +Therewith he murmured a few words in an unknown tongue, which, as +Ambrose understood, were an invocation to the God of Abraham to +bless his endeavours to heal the stranger youth, but which happily +were spoken before the arrival of the others, who would certainly +have believed them an incantation. + +The carpet though worn threadbare, was a beautiful old Moorish rug, +once glowing with brilliancy, and still rich in colouring, and the +cushion was of thick damask faded to a strange pale green. All in +that double-stalled partition, once belonging to the great earl's +war-horses, was scrupulously clean, for the Christian Moor had +retained some of the peculiar virtues born of Mohammedanism and of +high civilisation. The apprentice lads tramped in much as if they +had been entering a wizard's cave, though Stephen had taken care to +assure Edmund of his application of the test of holy water. + +Following the old man's directions, Edmund and Stephen deposited +their burden on the rug. Aldonza brought some warm water, and +Abenali washed and examined the wound, Aldonza standing by and +handing him whatever he needed, now and then assisting with her +slender brown hands in a manner astonishing to the youths, who stood +by anxious and helpless, white their companion began to show signs +of returning life. + +Abenali pronounced that the stone had missed the eyeball, but the +cut and bruise were such as to require constant bathing, and the +blow on the head was the more serious matter, for when the patient +tried to raise himself he instantly became sick and giddy, so that +it would be wise to leave him where he was. This was much against +the will of Edmund Burgess, who shared all the prejudices of the +English prentice against the foreigner--perhaps a wizard and rival +in trade; but there was no help for it, and he could only insist +that Stephen should mount guard over the bed until he had reported +to his master, and returned with his orders. Therewith he departed, +with such elaborate thanks and courtesies to the host, as betrayed a +little alarm in the tall apprentice, who feared not quarter-staff, +nor wrestler, and had even dauntlessly confronted the masters of his +guild! + +Stephen, sooth to say, was not very much at ease; everything around +had such a strange un-English aspect, and he imploringly muttered, +"Bide with me, Am!" to which his brother willingly assented, being +quite as comfortable in Master Michael's abode as by his aunt's own +hearth. + +Giles meanwhile lay quiet, and then, as his senses became less +confused, and he could open one eye, he looked dreamily about him, +and presently began to demand where he was, and what had befallen +him, grasping at the hand of Ambrose as if to hold fast by something +familiar; but he still seemed too much dazed to enter into the +explanation, and presently murmured something about thirst. Aldonza +came softly up with a cup of something cool. He looked very hard at +her, and when Ambrose would have taken it from her hand to give it +to him, he said, "Nay! SHE!" + +And SHE, with a sweet smile in her soft, dark, shady eyes, and on +her full lips, held the cup to his lips far more daintily and +dexterously than either of his boy companions could have done; then +when he moaned and said his head and eye pained him, the white- +bearded elder came and bathed his brow with the soft sponge. It +seemed all to pass before him like a dream, and it was not much +otherwise with his unhurt companions, especially Stephen, who +followed with wonder the movements made by the slippered feet of +father and daughter upon the mats which covered the stone flooring +of the old stable. The mats were only of English rushes and flags, +and had been woven by Abenali and the child; but loose rushes +strewing the floor were accounted a luxury in the Forest, and even +at the Dragon court the upper end of the hall alone had any +covering. Then the water was heated, and all such other operations +carried on over a curious round vessel placed over charcoal; the +window and the door had dark heavy curtains; and a matted partition +cut off the further stall, no doubt to serve as Aldonza's chamber. +Stephen looked about for something to assure him that the place +belonged to no wizard enchanter, and was glad to detect a large +white cross on the wall, with a holy-water stoup beneath it, but of +images there were none. + +It seemed to him a long time before Master Headley's ruddy face, +full of anxiety, appeared at the door. + +Blows were, of course, no uncommon matter; perhaps so long as no +permanent injury was inflicted, the master-armourer had no objection +to anything that might knock the folly out of his troublesome young +inmate; but Edmund had made him uneasy for the youth's eye, and +still more so about the quarters he was in, and he had brought a +mattress and a couple of men to carry the patient home, as well as +Steelman, his prime minister, to advise him. + +He had left all these outside, however, and advanced, civilly and +condescendingly thanking the sword-cutler, in perfect ignorance that +the man who stood before him had been born to a home that was an +absolute palace compared with the Dragon court. The two men were a +curious contrast. There stood the Englishman with his sturdy form +inclining, with age, to corpulence, his broad honest face telling of +many a civic banquet, and his short stubbly brown grizzled heard; +his whole air giving a sense of worshipful authority and weight; and +opposite to him the sparely made, dark, thin, aquiline-faced, white- +bearded Moor, a far smaller man in stature, yet with a patriarchal +dignity, refinement, and grace in port and countenance, belonging as +it were to another sphere. + +Speaking English perfectly, though with a foreign accent, Abenali +informed Master Headley that his young kinsman would by Heaven's +blessing soon recover without injury to the eye, though perhaps a +scar might remain. + +Mr. Headley thanked him heartily for his care, and said that he had +brought men to carry the youth home, if he could not walk; and then +he went up to the couch with a hearty "How now, Giles? So thou hast +had hard measure to knock the foolery out of thee, my poor lad. But +come, we'll have thee home, and my mother will see to thee." + +"I cannot walk," said Giles, heavily, hardly raising his eyes, and +when he was told that two of the men waited to bear him home, he +only entreated to be let alone. Somewhat sharply, Mr. Headley +ordered him to sit up and make ready, but when he tried to do so, he +sank back with a return of sickness and dizziness. + +Abenali thereupon intreated that he might be left for that night, +and stepping out into the court so as to be unheard by the patient, +explained that the brain had had a shock, and that perfect quiet for +some hours to come was the only way to avert a serious illness, +possibly dangerous. Master Headley did not like the alternative at +all, and was a good deal perplexed. He beckoned to Tibble Steelman, +who had all this time been talking to Lucas Hansen, and now came up +prepared with his testimony that this Michael was a good man and +true, a godly one to boot, who had been wealthy in his own land and +was a rare artificer in his own craft. + +"Though he hath no license to practise it here," threw in Master +Headley, sotto voce; but he accepted the assurance that Michael was +a good Christian, and, with his daughter, regularly went to mass; +and since better might not be, he reluctantly consented to leave +Giles under his treatment, on Lucas reiterating the assurance that +he need have no fears of magic or foul play of any sort. He then +took the purse that hung at his girdle, and declared that Master +Michael (the title of courtesy was wrung from him by the stately +appearance of the old man) must be at no charges for his cousin. + +But Abenali with a grace that removed all air of offence from his +manner, returned thanks for the intention, but declared that it +never was the custom of the sons of Ali to receive reward for the +hospitality they exercised to the stranger within their gates. And +so it was that Master Headley, a good deal puzzled, had to leave his +apprentice under the roof of the old sword-cutler for the night at +least. + +"'Tis passing strange," said he, as he walked back; "I know not what +my mother will say, but I wish all may be right. I feel--I feel as +if I had left the lad Giles with Abraham under the oak tree, as we +saw him in the miracle play!" + +This description did not satisfy Mrs. Headley, indeed she feared +that her son was likewise bewitched; and when, the next morning, +Stephen, who had been sent to inquire for the patient, reported him +better, but still unable to be moved, since he could not lift his +head without sickness, she became very anxious. Giles was +transformed in her estimate from a cross-grained slip to poor Robin +Headley's boy, the only son of a widow, and nothing would content +her but to make her son conduct her to Warwick Inner Yard to inspect +matters, and carry thither a precious relic warranted proof against +all sorcery. + +It was with great trepidation that the good old dame ventured, but +the result was that she was fairly subdued by Abenali's patriarchal +dignity. She had never seen any manners to equal his, not EVEN when +King Edward the Fourth had come to her father's house at the +Barbican, chucked her under the chin, and called her a dainty duck! + +It was Aldonza, however, who specially touched her feelings. Such a +sweet little wench, with the air of being bred in a kingly or +knightly court, to be living there close to the very dregs of the +city was a scandal and a danger--speaking so prettily too, and +knowing how to treat her elders. She would be a good example for +Dennet, who, sooth to say, was getting too old for spoilt-child +sauciness to be always pleasing, while as to Giles, he could not be +in better quarters. Mrs. Headley, well used to the dressing of the +burns and bruises incurred in the weapon smiths' business, could not +but confess that his eye had been dealt with as skilfully as she +could have done it herself. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. THE KNIGHT OF THE BADGER + + + +"I am a gentleman of a company." + +SHAKESPEARE. + + +Giles Headley's accident must have amounted to concussion of the +brain, for though he was able to return to the Dragon in a couple of +days, and the cut over his eye was healing fast, he was weak and +shaken, and did not for several weeks recover his usual health. The +noise and heat of the smithy were distressing to him, and there was +no choice but to let him lie on settles, sun himself on the steps, +and attempt no work. + +It had tamed him a good deal. Smallbones said the letting out of +malapert blood was wholesome, and others thought him still under a +spell; but he seemed to have parted with much of his arrogance, +either because he had not spirits for self-assertion, or because +something of the grand eastern courtesy of Abenali had impressed +him. For intercourse with the Morisco had by no means ceased. +Giles went, as long as the injury required it, to have the hurt +dressed, and loitered in the Inner Yard a long time every day, often +securing some small dainty for Aldonza--an apple, a honey cake, a +bit of marchpane, a dried plum, or a comfit. One day he took her a +couple of oranges. To his surprise, as he entered, Abenali looked +up with a strange light in his eyes, and exclaimed, "My son! thy +scent is to my nostrils as the court of my father's house!" Then, as +he beheld the orange, he clasped his hands, took it in them, and +held it to his breast, pouring out a chant in an unknown tongue, +while the tears flowed down his cheeks. + +"Father, father!" Aldonza cried, terrified, while Giles marvelled +whether the orange worked on him like a spell. But he perceived +their amazement, and spoke again in English, "I thank thee, my son! +Thou hast borne me back for a moment to the fountain in my father's +house, where ye grow, ye trees of the unfading leaf, the spotless +blossom, and golden fruit! Ah Ronda! Ronda! Land of the sunshine, +the deep blue sky, and snow-topped hills! Land where are the graves +of my father and mother! How pines and sickens the heart of the +exile for thee! O happy they who died beneath the sword or flame, +for they knew not the lonely home-longing of the exile. Ah! ye +golden fruits! One fragrant breath of thee is as a waft of the joys +of my youth! Are ye foretastes of the fruits of Paradise, the true +home to which I may yet come, though I may never, never see the +towers and hills of Ronda more?" + +Giles knew not what to make of this outburst. He kept it to himself +as too strange to be told. The heads of the family were willing +that he should carry these trifles to the young child of the man who +would accept no reward for his hospitality. Indeed, Master Headley +spent much consideration on how to recompense the care bestowed on +his kinsman. + +Giles suggested that Master Michael had just finished the most +beautiful sword blade he had ever seen, and had not yet got a +purchaser for it; it was far superior to the sword Tibble had just +completed for my Lord of Surrey. Thereat the whole court broke into +an outcry; that any workman should be supposed to turn out any kind +of work surpassing Steelman's was rank heresy, and Master Headley +bluntly told Giles that he knew not what he was talking of! He +might perhaps purchase the blade by way of courtesy and return of +kindness, but--good English workmanship for him! + +However, Giles was allowed to go and ask the price of the blade, and +bring it to be looked at. When he returned to the court he found, +in front of the building where finished suits were kept for display, +a tall, thin, wiry, elderly man, deeply bronzed, and with a scar on +his brow. Master Headley and Tibble were both in attendance, Tib +measuring the stranger, and Stephen, who was standing at a +respectful distance, gave Giles the information that this was the +famous Captain of Free-lances, Sir John Fulford, who had fought in +all the wars in Italy, and was going to fight in them again, but +wanted a suit of "our harness." + +The information was hardly needed, for Sir John, in a voice loud +enough to lead his men to the battle-field, and with all manner of +strong asseverations in all sorts of languages, was explaining the +dints and blows that had befallen the mail he had had from Master +Headley eighteen years ago, when he was but a squire; how his helmet +had endured tough blows, and saved his head at Novara, but had been +crushed like an egg shell by a stone from the walls at Barletta, +which had nearly been his own destruction: and how that which he at +present wore (beautifully chased and in a classical form) was taken +from a dead Italian Count on the field of Ravenna, but always sat +amiss on him; and how he had broken his good sword upon one of the +rascally Swiss only a couple of months ago at Marignano. Having +likewise disabled his right arm, and being well off through the +payment of some ransoms, he had come home partly to look after his +family, and partly to provide himself with a full suit of English +harness, his present suit being a patchwork of relics of numerous +battle-fields. Only one thing he desired, a true Spanish sword, not +only Toledo or Bilboa in name, but nature. He had seen execution +done by the weapons of the soldiers of the Great Captain, and been +witness to the endurance of their metal, and this made him demand +whether Master Headley could provide him with the like. + +Giles took the moment for stepping forward and putting Abenali's +work into the master's hand. The Condottiere was in raptures. He +pronounced it as perfect a weapon as Gonzalo de Cordova himself +could possess; showed off its temper and his own dexterity by +piercing and cutting up an old cuirass, and invited the bystanders +to let him put it to further proof by letting him slice through an +apple placed on the open palm of the hand. + +Giles's friendship could not carry him so far as to make the +venture; Kit Smallbones observed that he had a wife and children, +and could not afford to risk his good right hand on a wandering +soldier's bravado; Edmund was heard saying, "Nay, nay, Steve, don't +be such a fool," but Stephen was declaring he would not have the +fellow say that English lads hung back from what rogues of France +and Italy would dare. + +"No danger for him who winceth not," said the knight. + +Master Headley, a very peaceful citizen in his composition in spite +of his trade, was much inclined to forbid Stephen from the +experiment, but he refrained, ashamed and unwilling to daunt a high +spirit; and half the household, eager for the excitement, rushed to +the kitchen in quest of apples, and brought out all the women to +behold, and add a clamour of remonstrance. Sir John, however, +insisted that they should all be ordered back again. "Not that the +noise and clamour of women folk makes any odds to me," said the grim +old warrior, "I've seen too many towns taken for that, but it might +make the lad queasy, and cost him a thumb or so." + +Of course this renewed the dismay and excitement, and both Tibble +and his master entreated Stephen to give up the undertaking if he +felt the least misgiving as to his own steadiness, arguing that they +should not think him any more a craven than they did Kit Smallbones +or Edmund Burgess. But Stephen's mind was made up, his spirit was +high, and he was resolved to go through with it. + +He held out his open hand, a rosy-checked apple was carefully laid +on it. The sword flashed through the air--divided in half the apple +which remained on Stephen's palm. There was a sharp shriek from a +window, drowned in the acclamations of the whole court, while the +Captain patted Stephen on the shoulder, exclaiming, "Well done, my +lad. There's the making of a tall fellow in thee! If ever thou art +weary of making weapons and wouldst use them instead, seek out John +Fulford, of the Badger troop, and thou shalt have a welcome. Our +name is the Badger, because there's no troop like us for digging out +mines beneath the walls." + +A few months ago such an invitation would have been bliss to +Stephen. Now he was bound in all honour and duty to his master, and +could only thank the knight of the Badger, and cast a regretful eye +at him, as he drank a cup of wine, and flung a bag of gold and +silver, supplemented by a heavy chain, to Master Headley, who +prudently declined working for Free Companions, unless he were paid +beforehand; and, at the knight's request, took charge of a +sufficient amount to pay his fare back again to the Continent. Then +mounting a tall, lean, bony horse, the knight said he should call +for his armour on returning from Somerset, and rode off, while +Stephen found himself exalted as a hero in the eyes of his +companions for an act common enough at feats of arms among modern +cavalry, but quite new to the London flat-caps. The only sufferer +was little Dennet, who had burst into an agony of crying at the +sight, needed that Stephen should spread out both hands before her, +and show her the divided apple, before she would believe that his +thumb was in its right place, and at night screamed out in her sleep +that the ill-favoured man was cutting off Stephen's hands. + +The sword was left behind by Sir John in order that it might be +fitted with a scabbard and belt worthy of it; and on examination, +Master Headley and Tibble both confessed that they could produce +nothing equal to it in workmanship, though Kit looked with contempt +at the slight weapon of deep blue steel, with lines meandering on it +like a watered silk, and the upper part inlaid with gold wire in +exquisite arabesque patterns. He called it a mere toy, and muttered +something about sorcery, and men who had been in foreign parts not +thinking honest weight of English steel good enough for them. + +Master Headley would not trust one of the boys with the good silver +coins that had been paid as the price of the sword--French crowns +and Milanese ducats, with a few Venetian gold bezants--but he bade +them go as guards to Tibble, for it was always a perilous thing to +carry a sum of money through the London streets. Tibble was not an +unwilling messenger. He knew Master Michael to be somewhat of his +own way of thinking, and he was a naturally large-minded man who +could appreciate skill higher than his own without jealousy. +Indeed, he and his master held a private consultation on the mode of +establishing a connection with Michael and profiting by his ability. + +To have lodged him at the Dragon court and made him part of the +establishment might have seemed the most obvious way, but the dogged +English hatred and contempt of foreigners would have rendered this +impossible, even if Abenali himself would have consented to give up +his comparative seclusion and live in a crowd and turmoil. + +But he was thankful to receive and execute orders from Master +Headley, since so certain a connection would secure Aldonza from +privation such as the child had sometimes had to endure in the +winter; when, though the abstemious Eastern nature needed little +food, there was great suffering from cold and lack of fuel. And +Tibble moreover asked questions and begged for instructions in some +of the secrets of the art. It was an effort to such a prime +artificer as Steelman to ask instruction from any man, especially a +foreigner, but Tibble had a nature of no common order, and set +perfection far above class prejudice; and moreover, he felt Abenali +to be one of those men who had their inner eyes devotedly fixed on +the truth, though little knowing where the quest would lead them. + +On his side Abenali underwent a struggle. "Woe is me!" he said. +"Wottest thou, my son, that the secrets of the sword of light and +swiftness are the heritage that Abdallah Ben Ali brought from +Damascus in the hundred and fifty-third year of the flight of him +whom once I termed the prophet; nor have they departed from our +house, but have been handed on from father to son. And shall they +be used in the wars of the stranger and the Christian?" + +"I feared it might be thus," said Tibble. + +"And yet," went on the old man, as if not hearing him, "wherefore +should I guard the secret any longer? My sons? Where are they? +They brooked not the scorn and hatred of the Castillian which +poisoned to them the new faith. They cast in their lot with their +own people, and that their bones may lie bleaching on the mountains +is the best lot that can have befallen the children of my youth and +hope. The house of Miguel Abenali is desolate and childless, save +for the little maiden who sits by my hearth in the land of my exile! +Why should I guard it longer for him who may wed her, and whom I may +never behold? The will of Heaven be done! Young man, if I bestow +this knowledge on thee, wilt thou swear to be as a father to my +daughter, and to care for her as thine own?" + +It was a good while since Tibble had been called a young man, and as +he listened to the flowing Eastern periods in their foreign +enunciation, he was for a moment afraid that the price of the secret +was that he should become the old Moor's son-in-law! His seared and +scarred youth had precluded marriage, and he entertained the low +opinion of women frequent in men of superior intellect among the +uneducated. Besides, the possibilities of giving umbrage to Church +authorities were dawning on him, and he was not willing to form any +domestic ties, so that in every way such a proposition would have +been unwelcome to him. But he had no objection to pledge himself to +fatherly guardianship of the pretty child in case of a need that +might never arise. So he gave the promise, and became a pupil of +Abenali, visiting Warwick Inner Yard with his master's consent +whenever he could be spared, while the workmanship at the Dragon +began to profit thereby. + +The jealousy of the Eagle was proportionately increased. Alderman +Itillyeo, the head of the Eagle, was friendly enough to Mr. Headley, +but it was undeniable that they were the rival armourers of London, +dividing the favours of the Court equally between them, and the +bitterness of the emulation increased the lower it went in the +establishment. The prentices especially could hardly meet without +gibes and sneers, if nothing worse, and Stephen's exploit had a +peculiar flavour because it was averred that no one at the Eagle +would have done the like. + +But it was not till the Sunday that Ambrose chanced to hear of the +feat, at which he turned quite pale, but he was prouder of it than +any one else, and although he rejoiced that he had not seen it +performed, he did not fail to boast of it at home, though Perronel +began by declaring that she did not care for the mad pranks of +roistering prentices; but presently she paused, as she stirred her +grandfather's evening posset, and said, "What saidst thou was the +strange soldier's name?" + +"Fulford--Sir John Fulford" said Ambrose. "What? I thought not of +it, is not that Gaffer's name?" + +"Fulford, yea! Mayhap--" and Perronel sat down and gave an odd sort +of laugh of agitation--"mayhap 'tis mine own father." + +"Shouldst thou know him, good aunt?" cried Ambrose, much excited. + +"Scarce," she said. "I was not seven years old when he went to the +wars--if so be he lived through the battle--and he reeked little of +me, being but a maid. I feared him greatly and so did my mother. +'Twas happier with only Gaffer! Where saidst thou he was gone?" + +Ambrose could not tell, but he undertook to bring Stephen to answer +all queries on the subject. His replies that the Captain was gone +in quest of his family to Somersetshire settled the matter, since +there had been old Martin Fulford's abode, and there John Fulford +had parted with his wife and father. They did not, however, tell +the old man of the possibility of his son's being at home, he had +little memory, and was easily thrown into a state of agitation; +besides, it was a doubtful matter how the Condottiere would feel as +to the present fortunes of the family. Stephen was to look out for +his return in quest of his suit of armour, inform him of his +father's being alive, and show him the way to the little house by +the Temple Gardens; but Perronel gave the strictest injunctions that +her husband's profession should not be explained. It would be quite +enough to say that he was of the Lord Cardinal's household. + +Stephen watched, but the armour was finished and Christmas passed by +before anything was seen of the Captain. At last, however, he did +descend on the Dragon court, looking so dilapidated that Mr. Headley +rejoiced in the having received payment beforehand. He was louder +voiced and fuller of strange oaths than ever, and in the utmost +haste, for he had heard tidings that "there was to be a lusty game +between the Emperor and the Italians, and he must have his share." + +Stephen made his way up to speak to him, and was received with "Ha, +my gallant lad! Art weary of hammer and anvil? Wouldst be a brave +Badger, slip thine indentures, and hear helm and lance ring in good +earnest?" + +"Not so, sir," said Stephen, "but I have been bidden to ask if thou +hast found thy father?" + +"What's that to thee, stripling? When thou hast cut thy wisdom +teeth, thou'lt know old fathers be not so easy found. 'Twas a wild +goose chase, and I wot not what moved me to run after it. I met +jolly comrades enough, bumpkins that could drink with an honest +soldier when they saw him, but not one that ever heard the name of +Fulford." + +"Sir," said Stephen, "I know an old man named Fulford. His +granddaughter is my uncle's wife, and they dwell by the Temple." + +The intelligence seemed more startling and less gratifying than +Stephen had expected. Sir John demanded whether they were poor, and +declared that he had better have heard of them when his purse was +fuller. He had supposed that his wife had given him up and found a +fresh mate, and when he heard of her death, he made an exclamation +which might be pity, but had in it something of relief. He showed +more interest about his old father; but as to his daughter, if she +had been a lad now, a' might have been a stout comrade by this time, +ready to do the Badger credit. Yea, his poor Kate was a good lass, +but she was only a Flemish woman and hadn't the sense to rear aught +but a whining little wench, who was of no good except to turn fools' +heads, and she was wedded and past all that by this time. + +Stephen explained that she was wedded to one of the Lord Cardinal's +meine. + +"Ho!" said the Condottiere, pausing, "be that the butcher's boy that +is pouring out his gold to buy scarlet hats, if not the three +crowns. 'Tis no bad household wherein to have a footing. Saidst +thou I should find my wench and the old Gaffer there?" + +Stephen had to explain, somewhat to the disappointment of the +Captain, who had, as it appeared, in the company of three or four +more adventurous spirits like himself, taken a passage in a vessel +lying off Gravesend, and had only turned aside to take up his new +armour and his deposit of passage-money. He demurred a little, he +had little time to spare, and though, of course, he could take boat +at the Temple Stairs, and drop down the river, he observed that it +would have been a very different thing to go home to the old man +when he first came back with a pouch full of ransoms and plunder, +whereas now he had barely enough to carry him to the place of +meeting with his Badgers. And there was the wench too--he had +fairly forgotten her name. Women were like she wolves for greed +when they had a brood of whelps. + +Stephen satisfied him that there was no danger on that score, and +heard him muttering, that it was no harm to secure a safe harbour in +case a man hadn't the luck to be knocked on the head ere he grew too +old to trail a pike. And he would fain see the old man. + +So permission was asked for Stephen to show the way to Master +Randall's, and granted somewhat reluctantly, Master Headley saying, +"I'll have thee back within an hour, Stephen Birkenholt, and look +thou dost not let thy brain be set afire with this fellow's windy +talk of battles and sieges, and deeds only fit for pagans and +wolves." + +"Ay!" said Tibble, perhaps with a memory of the old fable, "better +be the trusty mastiff than the wolf." + +And like the wolf twitting the mastiff with his chain, the soldier +was no sooner outside the door of the Dragon court before he began +to express his wonder how a lad of mettle could put up with a flat +cap, a blue gown, and the being at the beck and call of a greasy +burgher, when a bold, handsome young knave like him might have the +world before him and his stout pike. + +Stephen was flattered, but scarcely tempted. The hard selfishness +and want of affection of the Condottiere shocked him, while he +looked about, hoping some of his acquaintance would see him in +company with this tall figure clanking in shining armour, and with a +knightly helmet and gilt spurs. The armour, new and brilliant, +concealed the worn and shabby leathern dress beneath, and gave the +tall, spare figure a greater breadth, diminishing the look of a +hungry wolf which Sir John Fulford's aspect suggested. However, as +he passed some of the wealthier stalls, where the apprentices, +seeing the martial figure, shouted, "What d'ye lack, sir knight?" +and offered silk and velvet robes and mantles, gay sword knots, or +even rich chains, under all the clamour, Stephen heard him swearing +by St. George what a place this would be for a sack, if his Badgers +were behind him. + +"If that poor craven of a Warbeck had had a spark of valour in him," +quoth he, as he passed a stall gay with bright tankards and flagons, +"we would have rattled some of that shining gear about the lazy +citizens' ears! He, jolly King Edward's son! I'll never give faith +to it! To turn his back when there was such a booty to be had for +the plundering." + +"He might not have found it so easy. Our trainbands are sturdy +enough," said Stephen, whose esprit de corps was this time on the +Londoners' side, but the knight of the Badger snapped his fingers, +and said, "So much for your burgher trainbands! All they be good +for with their show of fight is to give honest landsknechts a good +reason to fall on to the plunder, if so be one is hampered by a +squeamish prince. But grammercy to St. George, there be not many of +that sort after they he once fleshed!" + +Perhaps a year ago, when fresh from the Forest, Stephen might have +been more captivated by the notion of adventure and conquest. Now +that he had his place in the community and looked on a civic +position with wholesome ambition, Fulford's longings for havoc in +these peaceful streets made his blood run cold. He was glad when +they reached their destination, and he saw Perronel with bare arms, +taking in some linen cuffs and bands from a line across to the +opposite wall. He could only call out, "Good naunt, here he be!" + +Perronel turned round, the colour rising in her cheeks, with an +obeisance, but trembling a good deal. "How now, wench? Thou art +grown a buxom dame. Thou makst an old man of me," said the soldier +with a laugh. "Where's my father? I have not the turning of a cup +to stay, for I'm come home poor as a cat in a plundered town, and am +off to the wars again; but hearing that the old man was nigh at +hand, I came this way to see him, and let thee know thou art a +knight's daughter. Thou art indifferent comely, girl, what's thy +name? but not the peer of thy mother when I wooed her as one of the +bonny lasses of Bruges." + +He gave a kind of embrace, while she gave a kind of gasp of +"Welcome, sir," and glanced somewhat reproachfully at Stephen for +not having given her more warning. The cause of her dismay was +plain as the Captain, giving her no time to precede him, strode into +the little chamber, where Hal Randall, without his false beard or +hair, and in his parti-coloured hose, was seated by the cupboard- +like bed, assisting old Martin Fulford to take his midday meal. + +"Be this thine husband, girl? Ha! ha! He's more like a jolly friar +come in to make thee merry when the good man is out!" exclaimed the +visitor, laughing loudly at his own rude jest; but heeding little +either Hal's appearance or his reply, as he caught the old man's +bewildered eyes, and heard his efforts to utter his name. + +For eighteen years had altered John Fulford less than either his +father or his daughter, and old Martin recognised him instantly, and +held out the only arm he could use, while the knight, softened, +touched, and really feeling more natural affection than Stephen had +given him credit for, dropped on his knee, breaking into indistinct +mutterings with rough but hearty greetings, regretting that he had +not found his father sooner, when his pouch was full, lamenting the +change in him, declaring that he must hurry away now, but promising +to come back with sacks of Italian ducats to provide for the old +man. + +Those who could interpret the imperfect utterance, now further +choked by tears and agitation, knew that there was a medley of +broken rejoicings, blessings, and weepings, in the midst of which +the soldier, glad perhaps to end a scene where he became +increasingly awkward and embarrassed, started up, hastily kissed the +old man on each of his withered cheeks, gave another kiss to his +daughter, threw her two Venetian ducats, bidding her spend them for +the old man, and he would bring a pouchful more next time, and +striding to the door, bade Stephen call a boat to take him down to +Gravesend. + +Randall, who had in the meantime donned his sober black gown in the +inner chamber, together with a dark hood, accompanied his newly +found father-in-law down the river, and Stephen would fain have gone +too, but for the injunction to return within the hour. + +Perronel had hurried back to her grandfather's side to endeavour to +compose him after the shock of gladness. But it had been too much +for his enfeebled powers. Another stroke came on before the day was +over, and in two or three days more old Martin Fulford was laid to +rest, and his son's ducats were expended on masses for his soul's +welfare. + + + +CHAPTER XV. HEAVE HALF A BRICK AT HIM + + + +"For strangers then did so increase, + By reason of King Henry's queen, +And privileged in many a place + To dwell, as was in London seen. +Poor tradesmen had small dealing then + And who but strangers bore the bell, +Which was a grief to Englishmen + To see them here in London dwell." + +Ill May Day, by CHURCHILL, a Contemporary Poet. + + +Time passed on, and Edmund Burgess, who had been sent from York to +learn the perfection of his craft, completed his term and returned +to his home, much regretted in the Dragon court, where his good +humour and good sense had generally kept the peace, both within and +without. + +Giles Headley was now the eldest prentice. He was in every way +greatly improved, thoroughly accepting his position, and showing +himself quite ready both to learn and to work; but he had not the +will or the power of avoiding disputes with outsiders, or turning +them aside with a merry jest; and rivalries and quarrels with the +armoury at the Eagle began to increase. The Dragon, no doubt, +turned out finer workmanship, and this the Eagle alleged was wholly +owing to nefarious traffic with the old Spanish or Moorish sorcerer +in Warwick Inner Yard, a thing unworthy of honest Englishmen. This +made Giles furious, and the cry never failed to end in a fight, in +which Stephen supported the cause of the one house, and George Bates +and his comrades of the other. + +It was the same with even the archery at Mile End, where the butts +were erected, and the youth contended with the long bow, which was +still considered as the safeguard of England. King Henry often +looked in on these matches, and did honour to the winners. One +match there was in especial, on Mothering Sunday, when the champions +of each guild shot against one another at such a range that it +needed a keen eye to see the popinjay--a stuffed bird at which they +shot. + +Stephen was one of these, his forest lore having always given him an +advantage over many of the others. He even was one of the last +three who were to finish the sport by shooting against one another. +One was a butcher named Barlow. The other was a Walloon, the best +shot among six hundred foreigners of various nations, all of whom, +though with little encouragement, joined in the national sport on +these pleasant spring afternoons. The first contest threw out the +Walloon, at which there were cries of ecstasy; now the trial was +between Barlow and Stephen, and in this final effort, the distance +of the pole to which the popinjay was fastened was so much increased +that strength of arm told as much as accuracy of aim, and Stephen's +seventeen years' old muscles could not, after so long a strain, cope +with those of Ralph Barlow, a butcher of full thirty years old. His +wrist and arm began to shake with weariness, and only one of his +three last arrows went straight to the mark, while Barlow was as +steady as ever, and never once failed. Stephen was bitterly +disappointed, his eyes filled with tears, and he flung himself down +on the turf feeling as if the shouts of "A Barlow! a Barlow!" which +were led by the jovial voice of King Harry himself, were all +exulting over him. + +Barlow was led up to the king, who hailed him "King of Shoreditch," +a title borne by the champion archer ever after, so long as +bowmanship in earnest lasted. A tankard which the king filled with +silver pieces was his prize, but Henry did not forget No. 2. +"Where's the other fellow?" he said. "He was but a stripling, and +to my mind, his feat was a greater marvel than that of a stalwart +fellow like Barlow." + +Half a dozen of the spectators, among them the cardinal's jester, +hurried in search of Stephen, who was roused from his fit of +weariness and disappointment by a shake of the shoulder as his uncle +jingled his bells in his ears, and exclaimed, "How now, here I own a +cousin!" Stephen sat up and stared with angry, astonished eyes, but +only met a laugh. "Ay, ay, 'tis but striplings and fools that have +tears to spend for such as this! Up, boy! Dye hear? The other Hal +is asking for thee." + +And Stephen, hastily brushing away his tears, and holding his flat +cap in his hand, was marshalled across the mead, hot, shy, and +indignant, as the jester mopped and mowed, and cut all sorts of +antics before him, turning round to observe in an encouraging voice, +"Pluck up a heart, man! One would think Hal was going to cut oft +thine head!" And then, on arriving where the king sat on his horse, +"Here he is, Hal, such as he is come humbly to crave thy gracious +pardon for hitting the mark no better! He'll mend his ways, good my +lord, if your grace will pardon him this time." + +"Ay, marry, and that will I," said the king. "The springald bids +fair to be King of Shoreditch by the time the other fellow +abdicates. How old art thou, my lad?" + +"Seventeen, an it please your grace," said Stephen, in the gruff +voice of his age. + +"And thy name?" + +"Stephen Birkenholt, my liege," and he wondered whether he would be +recognised; but Henry only said - + +"Methinks I've seen those sloe-black eyes before. Or is it only +that the lad is thy very marrow, quipsome one?" + +"The which," returned the jester, gravely, while Stephen tingled all +over with dismay, "may account for the tears the lad was wasting at +not having the thews of the fellow double his age! But I envy him +not! Not I! He'll never have wit for mine office, but will come in +second there likewise." + +"I dare be sworn he will," said the king. "Here, take this, my good +lad, and prank thee in it when thou art out of thy time, and goest +a-hunting in Epping!" + +It was a handsome belt with a broad silver clasp, engraven with the +Tudor rose and portcullis; and Stephen bowed low and made his +acknowledgments as best he might. + +He was hailed with rapturous acclamations by his own contemporaries, +who held that he had saved the credit of the English prentice world, +and insisted on carrying him enthroned on their shoulders back to +Cheapside, in emulation of the journeymen and all the butcher kind, +who were thus bearing home the King of Shoreditch. + +Shouts, halloos, whistles, every jubilant noise that youth and +boyhood could invent, were the triumphant music of Stephen on his +surging and uneasy throne, as he was shifted from one bearer to +another when each in turn grew tired of his weight. Just, however, +as they were nearing their own neighbourhood, a counter cry broke +out, "Witchcraft! His arrows are bewitched by the old Spanish +sorcerer! Down with Dragons and Wizards!" And a handful of mud +came full in the face of the enthroned lad, aimed no doubt by George +Bates. There was a yell and rush of rage, but the enemy was in +numbers too small to attempt resistance, and dashed off before their +pursuers, only pausing at safe corners to shout Parthian darts of +"Wizards!" "Magic!" "Sorcerers!" "Heretics!" + +There was nothing to be done but to collect again, and escort +Stephen, who had wiped the mud off his face, to the Dragon court, +where Dennet danced on the steps for joy, and Master Headley, not a +little gratified, promised Stephen a supper for a dozen of his +particular friends at Armourers' Hall on the ensuing Easter Sunday. + +Of course Stephen went in search of his brother, all the more +eagerly because he was conscious that they had of late drifted apart +a good deal. Ambrose was more and more absorbed by the studies to +which Lucas Hansen led him, and took less and less interest in his +brother's pursuits. He did indeed come to the Sunday's dinner +according to the regular custom, but the moment it was permissible +to leave the board he was away with Tibble Steelman to meet friends +of Lucas, and pursue studies, as if, Stephen thought, he had not +enough of books as it was. When Dean Colet preached or catechised +in St. Paul's in the afternoon they both attended and listened, but +that good man was in failing health, and his wise discourses were +less frequent. + +Where they were at other times, Stephen did not know, and hardly +cared, except that he had a general dislike to, and jealousy of, +anything that took his brother's sympathy away from him. Moreover +Ambrose's face was thinner and paler, he had a strange absorbed +look, and often even when they were together seemed hardly to attend +to what his brother was saying. + +"I will make him come," said Stephen to himself, as he went with +swinging gait towards Warwick Inner Yard, where, sure enough, he +found Ambrose sitting at the door, frowning over some black letter +which looked most uninviting in the eyes of the apprentice, and he +fell upon his brother with half angry, half merry reproofs for +wasting the fine spring afternoon over such studies. + +Ambrose looked up with a dreamy smile and greeted his brother; but +all the time Stephen was narrating the history of the match (and he +DID tell the fate of each individual arrow of his own or Barlow's) +his eyes were wandering back to the crabbed page in his hand, and +when Stephen impatiently wound up his history with the invitation to +supper on Easter Sunday, the reply was, "Nay, brother, thanks, but +that I cannot do." + +"Cannot!" exclaimed Stephen. + +"Nay, there are other matters in hand that go deeper." + +"Yea, I know whatever concerns musty books goes deeper with thee +than thy brother," replied Stephen, turning away much mortified. + +Ambrose's warm nature was awakened. He held his brother by the arm +and declared himself anything but indifferent to him, but he owned +that he did not love noise and revelry, above all on Sunday. + +"Thou art addling thy brains with preachings!" said Stephen. "Pray +Heaven they make not a heretic of thee. But thou mightest for once +have come to mine own feast." + +Ambrose, much perplexed and grieved at thus vexing his brother, +declared that he would have done so with all his heart, but that +this very Easter Sunday there was coming a friend of Master Hansen's +from Holland; who was to tell them much of the teaching in Germany, +which was so enlightening men's eyes. + +"Yea, truly, making heretics of them, Mistress Headley saith," +returned Stephen. "O Ambrose, if thou wilt run after these books +and parchments, canst not do it in right fashion, among holy monks, +as of old?" + +"Holy monks!" repeated Ambrose. "Holy monks! Where be they?" + +Stephen stared at him. + +"Hear uncle Hal talk of monks whom he sees at my Lord Cardinal's +table! What holiness is there among them? Men, that have vowed to +renounce all worldly and carnal things flaunt like peacocks and +revel like swine--my Lord Cardinal with his silver pillars foremost +of them! He poor and mortified! 'Tis verily as our uncle saith, he +plays the least false and shameful part there!" + +"Ambrose, Ambrose, thou wilt be distraught, poring over these +matters that were never meant for lads like us! Do but come and +drive them out for once with mirth and good fellowship." + +"I tell thee, Stephen, what thou callest mirth and good fellowship +do but drive the pain in deeper. Sin and guilt be everywhere. I +seem to see the devils putting foul words on the tongue and ill +deeds in the hands of myself and all around me, that they may accuse +us before God. No, Stephen, I cannot, cannot come, I must go where +I can hear of a better way." + +"Nay," said Stephen, "what better way can there be than to be +shriven--clean shriven--and then houselled, as I was ere Lent, and +trust to be again on next Low Sunday morn? That's enough for a +plain lad." He crossed himself reverently, "Mine own Lord pardoneth +and cometh to me." + +But the two minds, one simple and practical, the other sensitive and +speculative, did not move in the same atmosphere, and could not +understand one another. Ambrose was in the condition of excitement +and bewilderment produced by the first stirrings of the Reformation +upon enthusiastic minds. He had studied the Vulgate, made out +something of the Greek Testament, read all fragments of the Fathers +that came in his way, and also all the controversial "tractates," +Latin or Dutch, that he could meet with, and attended many a secret +conference between Lucas and his friends, when men, coming from +Holland or Germany, communicated accounts of the lectures and +sermons of Dr. Martin Luther, which already were becoming widely +known. + +He was wretched under the continual tossings of his mind. Was the +entire existing system a vast delusion, blinding the eyes and +destroying the souls of those who trusted to it; and was the only +safety in the one point of faith that Luther pressed on all, and +ought all that he had hitherto revered to crumble down to let that +alone be upheld? Whatever he had once loved and honoured at times +seemed to him a lie, while at others real affection and veneration, +and dread of sacrilege, made him shudder at himself and his own +doubts! It was his one thought, and he passionately sought after +all those secret conferences which did but feed the flame that +consumed him. + +The elder men who were with him were not thus agitated. Lucas's +convictions had not long been fixed. He did not court observation +nor do anything unnecessarily to bring persecution on himself, but +he quietly and secretly acted as an agent in dispersing the Lollard +books and those of Erasmus, and lived in the conviction that there +would one day be a great crash, believing himself to be doing his +part by undermining the structure, and working on undoubtingly. +Abenali was not aggressive. In fact, though he was reckoned among +Lucas's party, because of his abstinence from all cult of saints or +images, and the persecution he had suffered, he did not join in +their general opinions, and held aloof from their meetings. And +Tibble Steelman, as has been before said, lived two lives, and that +as foreman at the Dragon court, being habitual to him, and requiring +much thought and exertion, the speculations of the reformers were to +him more like an intellectual relaxation than the business of life. +He took them as a modern artisan would in this day read his +newspaper, and attend his club meeting. + +Ambrose, however, had the enthusiastic practicalness of youth. On +that which he fully believed, he must act, and what did he fully +believe? + +Boy as he was--scarcely yet eighteen--the toils and sports that +delighted his brother seemed to him like toys amusing infants on the +verge of an abyss, and he spent his leisure either in searching in +the Vulgate for something to give him absolute direction, or in +going in search of preachers, for, with the stirring of men's minds, +sermons were becoming more frequent. + +There was much talk just now of the preaching of one Doctor Beale, +to whom all the tradesmen, journeymen, and apprentices were +resorting, even those who were of no special religious tendencies. +Ambrose went on Easter Tuesday to hear him preach at St. Mary's +Spitall. The place was crowded with artificers, and Beale began by +telling them that he had "a pitiful bill," meaning a letter, brought +to him declaring how aliens and strangers were coming in to inhabit +the City and suburbs, to eat the bread from poor fatherless +children, and take the living from all artificers and the +intercourse from merchants, whereby poverty was so much increased +that each bewaileth the misery of others. Presently coming to his +text, "Coelum coeli Domini, terram autem dedit filiis hominis" (the +Heaven of Heavens is the Lord's, the earth hath He given to the +children of men), the doctor inculcated that England was given to +Englishmen, and that as birds would defend their nests, so ought +Englishmen to defend themselves, AND TO HURT AND GRIEVE ALIENS FOR +THE COMMON WEAL! The corollary a good deal resembled that of "hate +thine enemy" which was foisted by "them of the old time" upon "thou +shalt love thy neighbour." And the doctor went on upon the text, +"Pugna pro patria," to demonstrate that fighting for one's country +meant rising upon and expelling all the strangers who dwelt and +traded within it. Many of these foreigners were from the Hanse +towns which had special commercial privileges, there were also +numerous Venetians and Genoese, French and Spaniards, the last of +whom were, above all, the objects of dislike. Their imports of +silks, cloth of gold, stamped leather, wine and oil, and their +superior skill in many handicrafts, had put English wares out of +fashion; and their exports of wool, tin, and lead excited equal +jealousy, which Dr. Beale, instigated as was well known by a broker +named John Lincoln, was thus stirring up into fierce passion. His +sermon was talked of all over London; blacker looks than ever were +directed at the aliens, stones and dirt were thrown at them, and +even Ambrose, as he walked along the street, was reviled as the +Dutchkin's knave. The insults became each day more daring and +outrageous. George Bates and a skinner's apprentice named Studley +were caught in the act of tripping up a portly old Flanderkin and +forthwith sent to Newgate, and there were other arrests, which did +but inflame the smouldering rage of the mob. Some of the wealthier +foreigners, taking warning by the signs of danger, left the City, +for there could be no doubt that the whole of London and the suburbs +were in a combustible condition of discontent, needing only a spark +to set it alight. + +It was just about this time that a disreputable clerk--a lewd +priest, as Hall calls him--a hanger-on of the house of Howard, was +guilty of an insult to a citizen's wife as she was quietly walking +home through the Cheap. Her husband and brother, who were nearer at +hand than he guessed, avenged the outrage with such good wills that +this disgrace to the priesthood was left dead on the ground. When +such things happened, and discourses like Beale's were heard, it was +not surprising that Ambrose's faith in the clergy as guides received +severe shocks. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. MAY EVE + + + +"The rich, the poor, the old, the young, +Beyond the seas though born and bred, +By prentices they suffered wrong, +When armed thus, they gather'd head." + +Ill May Day. + +May Eve had come, and little Dennet Headley was full of plans for +going out early with her young playfellows to the meadow to gather +May dew in the early morning, but her grandmother, who was in bed +under a heavy attack of rheumatism, did not like the reports brought +to her, and deferred her consent to the expedition. + +In the afternoon there were tidings that the Lord Mayor, Sir Thomas +Rest had been sent for to my Lord Cardinal, who just at this time, +during the building at York House, was lodging in his house close to +Temple Bar. Some hours later a message came to Master Alderman +Headley to meet the Lord Mayor and the rest of the Council at the +Guildhall. He shook himself into his scarlet gown, and went off, +puffing and blowing, and bidding Giles and Stephen take heed that +they kept close, and ran into no mischief. + +But they agreed, and Kit Smallbones with them, that there could be +no harm in going into the open space of Cheapside and playing out a +match with bucklers between Giles and Wat Ball, a draper's prentice +who had challenged him. The bucklers were huge shields, and the +weapons were wooden swords. It was an exciting sport, and brought +out all the youths of Cheapside in the summer evening, bawling out +encouragement, and laying wagers on either side. The curfew rang, +but there were special privileges on May Eve, and the game went on +louder than ever. + +There was far too much noise for any one to hear the town crier, who +went along jingling his bell, and shouting, "O yes! O yes! O yes! +By order of the Lord Mayor and Council, no householder shall allow +any one of his household to be abroad beyond his gate between the +hours of nine o'clock at night and seven in the morning," or if any +of the outermost heard it, as did Ambrose who was on his way home to +his night quarters, they were too much excited not to turn a deaf +ear to it. + +Suddenly, however, just as Giles was preparing for a master-stroke, +he was seized roughly by the shoulder and bidden to give over. He +looked round. It was an alderman, not his master, but Sir John +Mundy, an unpopular, harsh man. + +"Wherefore?" demanded Giles. + +"Thou shalt know," said the alderman, seizing his arm to drag him to +the Counter prison, but Giles resisted. Wat Ball struck at Sir +John's arm with his wooden sword, and as the alderman shouted for +the watch and city-guard, the lads on their side raised their cry, +"Prentices and Clubs! Flat-caps and Clubs!" Master Headley, +struggling along, met his colleague, with his gown torn into shreds +from his back, among a host of wildly yelling lads, and panting, +"Help, help, brother Headley!" With great difficulty the two +aldermen reached the door of the Dragon, whence Smallbones sallied +out to rescue them, and dragged them in. + +"The boys!--the boys!" was Master Headley's first cry, but he might +as well have tried to detach two particular waves from a surging +ocean as his own especial boys from the multitude on that wild +evening. There was no moon, and the twilight still prevailed, but +it was dark enough to make the confusion greater, as the cries +swelled and numbers flowed into the open space of Cheapside. In the +words of Hall, the chronicler, "Out came serving-men, and watermen, +and courtiers, and by XI of the chock there were VI or VII hundreds +in Cheap. And out of Pawle's Churchyard came III hundred which wist +not of the others." For the most part all was invoked in the semi- +darkness of the summer night, but here and there light came from an +upper window on some boyish face, perhaps full of mischief, perhaps +somewhat bewildered and appalled. Here and there were torches, +which cast a red glare round them, but whose smoke blurred +everything, and seemed to render the darkness deeper. + +Perhaps if the tumult had only been of the apprentices, provoked by +Alderman Mundy's interference, they would soon have dispersed, but +the throng was pervaded by men with much deeper design, and a cry +arose--no one knew from whence--that they would break into Newgate +and set free Studley and Bates. + +By this time the torrent of young manhood was quite irresistible by +any force that had yet been opposed to it. The Mayor and Sheriffs +stood at the Guildhall, and read the royal proclamation by the light +of a wax candle, held in the trembling hand of one of the clerks; +but no one heard or heeded them, and the uproar was increased as the +doors of Newgate fell, and all the felons rushed out to join the +rioters. + +At the same time another shout rose, "Down with the aliens!" and +there was a general rush towards St. Martin's gate, in which +direction many lived. There was, however, a pause here, for Sir +Thomas More, Recorder of London, stood in the way before St. +Martin's gate, and with his full sweet voice began calling out and +entreating the lads to go home, before any heads were broken more +than could be mended again. He was always a favourite, and his good +humour seemed to be making some impression, when, either from the +determination of the more evil disposed, or because the inhabitants +of St. Martin's Lane were beginning to pour down hot water, stones, +and brickbats on the dense mass of heads below them, a fresh access +of fury seized upon the mob. Yells of "Down with the strangers!" +echoed through the narrow streets, drowning Sir Thomas's voice. A +lawyer who stood with him was knocked down and much hurt, the doors +were battered down, and the household stuff thrown from the windows. +Here, Ambrose, who had hitherto been pushed helplessly about, and +knocked hither and thither, was driven up against Giles, and, to +avoid falling and being trampled down, clutched hold of him +breathless and panting. + +"Thou here!" exclaimed Giles. "Who would have thought of sober +Ambrose in the midst of the fray?" See here, Stevie!" + +"Poor old Ambrose!" cried Stephen, "keep close to us! We'll see no +harm comes to thee. 'Tis hot work, eh?" + +"Oh, Stephen! could I but get out of the throng to warn my master +and Master Michael!" + +Those words seemed to strike Giles Headley. He might have cared +little for the fate of the old printer, but as he heard the screams +of the women in the houses around, he exclaimed, "Ay! there's the +old man and the little maid! We will have her to the Dragon!" + +"Or to mine aunt's," said Ambrose. + +"Have with thee then," said Giles: "Take his other arm, Steve;" and +locking their arms together the three fought and forced their way +from among the plunderers in St. Martin's with no worse mishap than +a shower of hot water, which did not hurt them much through their +stout woollen coats. They came at last to a place where they could +breathe, and stood still a moment to recover from the struggle, and +vituperate the hot water. + +Then they heard fresh howls and yells in front as well as behind. + +"They are at it everywhere," exclaimed Stephen. "I hear them +somewhere out by Cornhill." + +"Ay, where the Frenchmen live that calender worsted," returned +Giles. "Come on; who knows how it is with the old man and little +maid?" + +"There's a sort in our court that are ready for aught," said +Ambrose. + +On they hurried in the darkness, which was now at the very deepest +of the night; now and then a torch was borne across the street, and +most of the houses had lights in the upper windows, for few +Londoners slept on that strange night. The stained glass of the +windows of the Churches beamed in bright colours from the Altar +lights seen through them, but the lads made slower progress than +they wished, for the streets were never easy to walk in the dark, +and twice they came on mobs assailing houses, from the windows of +one of which, French shoes and boots were being hailed down. Things +were moderately quiet around St. Paul's, but as they came into +Warwick Lane they heard fresh shouts and wild cries, and at the +archway heading to the inner yard they could see that there was a +huge bonfire in the midst of the court--of what composed they could +not see for the howling figures that exulted round it. + +"George Bates, the villain!" cried Stephen, as his enemy in exulting +ferocious delight was revealed for a moment throwing a book on the +fire, and shouting, "Hurrah! there's for the old sorcerer, there's +for the heretics!" + +That instant Giles was flying on Bates, and Stephen, with equal, if +not greater fury, at one of his comrades; but Ambrose dashed through +the outskirts of the wildly screaming and shouting fellows, many of +whom were the miscreant population of the mews, to the black yawning +doorway of his master. He saw only a fellow staggering out with the +screw of the press to feed the flame, and hurried on in the din to +call "Master, art thou there?" + +There was no answer, and he moved on to the next door, calling again +softly, while all the spoilers seemed absorbed in the fire and the +combat. "Master Michael! 'Tis I, Ambrose!" + +"Here, my son," cautiously answered a voice he knew for Lucas +Hansen's. + +"Oh, master! master!" was his low, heart-stricken cry, as by the +leaping light of a flame he saw the pale face of the old printer, +who drew him in. + +"Yea! 'tis ruin, my son," said Lucas. "And would that that were the +worst." + +The light flashed and flickered through the broken window so that +Ambrose saw that the hangings had been torn down and everything +wrecked, and a low sound as of stifled weeping directed his eyes to +a corner where Aldonza sat with her father's head on her lap. +"Lives he? Is he greatly hurt?" asked Ambrose, awe-stricken. + +"The life is yet in him, but I fear me greatly it is passing fast," +said Lucas, in a low voice. "One of those lads smote him on the +back with a club, and struck him down at the poor maid's feet, nor +hath he moved since. It was that one young Headley is fighting +with," he added. + +"Bates! ah! Would that we had come sooner! What! more of this +work--" + +For just then a tremendous outcry broke forth, and there was a rush +and panic among those who had been leaping round the fire just +before. "The guard!--the King's men!" was the sound they presently +distinguished. They could hear rough abusive voices, shrieks and +trampling of feet. A few seconds more and all was still, only the +fire remained, and in the stillness the suppressed sobs and moans of +Aldonza were heard. + +"A light! Fetch a light from the fire!" said Lucas. + +Ambrose ran out. The flame was lessening, but he could see the dark +bindings, and the blackened pages of the books he loved so well. A +corner of a page of St. Augustine's Confessions was turned towards +him and lay on a singed fragment of Aldonza's embroidered curtain, +while a little red flame was licking the spiral folds of the screw, +trying, as it were, to gather energy to do more than blacken it. +Ambrose could have wept over it at any other moment, but now he +could only catch up a brand--it was the leg of his master's carved +chair--and run back with it. Lucas ventured to light a lamp, and +they could then see the old man's face pale, but calm and still, +with his long white beard flowing over his breast. There was no +blood, no look of pain, only a set look about the eyes; and Aldonza +cried "Oh, father, thou art better! Speak to me! Let Master Lucas +lift thee up!" + +"Nay, my child. I cannot move hand or foot. Let me be thus till +the Angel of Death come for me. He is very near." He spoke in +short sentences. "Water--nay--no pain," he added then, and Ambrose +ran for some water in the first battered fragment of a tin pot he +could find. They bathed his face and he gathered strength after a +time to say "A priest!--oh for a priest to shrive and housel me." + +"I will find one," said Ambrose, speeding out into the court over +fragments of the beautiful work for which Abenali was hated, and +over the torn, half-burnt leaves of the beloved store of Lucas. The +fire had died down, but morning twilight was beginning to dawn, and +all was perfectly still after the recent tumult, though for a moment +or two Ambrose heard some distant cries. + +Where should he go? Priests indeed were plentiful, but both his +friends were in bad odour with the ordinary ones. Lucas had avoided +both the Lenten shrift and Easter Communion, and what Miguel might +have done, Ambrose was uncertain. Some young priests had actually +been among the foremost in sacking the dwellings of the unfortunate +foreigners, and Ambrose was quite uncertain whether he might not +fall on one of that stamp--or on one who might vex the old man's +soul--perhaps deny him the Sacraments altogether. As he saw the +pale lighted windows of St. Paul's, it struck him to see whether any +one were within. The light might be only from some of the tapers +burning perpetually, but the pale light in the north-east, the +morning chill, and the clock striking three, reminded him that it +must be the hour of Prime, and he said to himself, "Sure, if a +priest be worshipping at this hour, he will be a good and merciful +man. I can but try." + +The door of the transept yielded to his hand. He came forward, +lighted through the darkness by the gleam of the candles, which cast +a huge and awful shadow from the crucifix of the rood-screen upon +the pavement. Before it knelt a black figure in prayer. Ambrose +advanced in some awe and doubt how to break in on these devotions, +but the priest had heard his step, rose and said, "What is it, my +son? Dost thou seek sanctuary after these sad doings?" + +"Nay, reverend sir," said Ambrose. "'Tis a priest for a dying man +I seek;" and in reply to the instant question, where it was, he +explained in haste who the sufferer was, and how he had received a +fatal blow, and was begging for the Sacraments. "And oh, sir!" he +added, "he is a holy and God-fearing man, if ever one lived, and +hath been cruelly and foully entreated by jealous and wicked folk, +who hated him for his skill and industry." + +"Alack for the unhappy lads; and alack for those who egged them on," +said the priest. "Truly they knew not what they did. I will come +with thee, my good youth. Thou hast not been one of them?" + +"No, truly sir, save that I was carried along and could not break +from the throng. I work for Lucas Hansen, the Dutch printer, whom +they have likewise plundered in their savage rage." + +"'Tis well. Thou canst then bear this," said the priest, taking a +thick wax candle. Then reverently advancing to the Altar, whence he +took the pyx, or gold case in which the Host was reserved, he +lighted the candle, which he gave, together with his stole, to the +youth to bear before him. + +Then, when the light fell full on his features, Ambrose with a +strange thrill of joy and trust perceived that it was no other than +Dean Colet, who had here been praying against the fury of the +people. He was very thankful, feeling intuitively that there was no +fear but that Abenali would be understood, and for his own part, the +very contact with the man whom he revered seemed to calm and soothe +him, though on that solemn errand no word could be spoken. Ambrose +went on slowly before, his dark head uncovered, the priestly stole +hanging over his arm, his hands holding aloft the tall candle of +virgin wax, while the Dean followed closely with feeble steps, +looking frail and worn, but with a grave, sweet solemnity on his +face. It was a perfectly still morning, and as they slowly paced +along, the flame burnt steadily with little flickering, while the +pure, delicately-coloured sky overhead was becoming every moment +lighter, and only the larger stars were visible. The houses were +absolutely still, and the only person they met, a lad creeping +homewards after the fray, fell on his knees bareheaded as he +perceived their errand. Once or twice again sounds came up from the +city beneath, like shrieks or wailing breaking strangely on that +fair peaceful May morn; but still that pair went on till Ambrose had +guided the Dean to the yard, where, except that the daylight was +revealing more and more of the wreck around, all was as he had left +it. Aldonza, poor child, with her black hair hanging loose like a +veil, for she had been startled from her bed, still sat on the +ground making her lap a pillow for the white-bearded head, nobler +and more venerable than ever. On it lay, in the absolute immobility +produced by the paralysing blow, the fine features already in the +solemn grandeur of death, and only the movement of the lips under +the white flowing beard and of the dark eyes showing life. + +Dean Colet said afterwards that he felt as if he had been called to +the death-bed of Israel, or of Barzillai the Gileadite, especially +when the old man, in the Oriental phraseology he had never entirely +lost, said, "I thank Thee, my God, and the God of my fathers, that +Thou hast granted me that which I had prayed for." + +The Dutch printer was already slightly known to the Dean, having +sold him many books. A few words were exchanged with him, but it +was plain that the dying man could not be moved, and that his +confession must he made on the lap of the young girl. Colet knelt +over him so as to be able to hear, while Lucas and Ambrose withdraw, +but were soon called back for the remainder of the service for the +dying. The old man's face showed perfect peace. All worldly +thought and care seemed to have been crushed out of him by the blow, +and he did not even appear to think of the unprotected state of his +daughter, although he blessed her with solemn fervour immediately +after receiving the Viaticum--then lay murmuring to himself +sentences which Ambrose, who had learnt much from him, knew to be +from his Arabic breviary about palm-branches, and the twelve manner +of fruits of the Tree of Life. + +It was a strange scene--the grand, calm, patriarchal old man, so +peaceful on his dark-haired daughter's lap in the midst of the +shattered home in the old feudal stable. All were silent a while in +awe, but the Dean was the first to move and speak, calling Lucas +forward to ask sundry questions of him. + +"Is there no good woman," he asked, "who could be with this poor +child and take her home, when her father shall have passed away?" + +"Mine uncle's wife, sir," said Ambrose, a little doubtfully. "I +trow she would come--since I can certify her that your reverence +holds him for a holy man." + +"I had thy word for it," said the Dean. "Ah! reply not, my son, I +see well how it may be with you here. But tell those who will take +the word of John Colet that never did I mark the passing away of one +who had borne more for the true holy Catholic faith, nor held it +more to his soul's comfort." + +For the Dean, a man of vivid intelligence, knew enough of the +Moresco persecutions to be able to gather from the words of Lucas +and Ambrose, and the confession of the old man himself, a far more +correct estimate of Abenali's sufferings, and constancy to the +truth, than any of the more homebred wits could have divined. He +knew, too, that his own orthodoxy was so called in question by the +narrower and more unspiritual section of the clergy that only the +appreciative friendship of the King and the Cardinal kept him +securely in his position. + +Ambrose sped away, knowing that Perronel would be quite satisfied. +He was sure of her ready compassion and good-will, but she had so +often bewailed his running after learning and possibly heretical +doctrine, that he had doubted whether she would readily respond to a +summons, on his own authority alone, to one looked on with so much +suspicion as Master Michael. Colet intimated his intention of +remaining a little longer to pray with the dying man, and further +wrote a few words on his tablets, telling Ambrose to leave them with +one of the porters at his house as he went past St. Paul's. + +It was broad daylight now, a lovely May morning, such as generally +called forth the maidens, small and great, to the meadows to rub +their fresh cheeks with the silvery dew, and to bring home kingcups, +cuckoo flowers, blue bottles, and cowslips for the Maypoles that +were to be decked. But all was silent now, not a house was open, +the rising sun made the eastern windows of the churches a blaze of +light, and from the west door of St. Paul's the city beneath seemed +sleeping, only a wreath or two of smoke rising. Ambrose found the +porter looking out for his master in much perturbation. He groaned +as he looked at the tablets, and heard where the Dean was, and said +that came of being a saint on earth. It would be the death of him +ere long! What would old Mistress Colet, his mother, say? He would +have detained the youth with his inquiries, but Ambrose said he had +to speed down to the Temple on an errand from the Dean, and hurried +away. All Ludgate Hill was now quiet, every house closed, but here +and there lay torn shreds of garments, or household vessels. + +As he reached Fleet Street, however, there was a sound of horses' +feet, and a body of men-at-arms with helmets glancing in the sun +were seen. There was a cry, "There's one! That's one of the lewd +younglings! At him!" + +And Ambrose to his horror and surprise saw two horsemen begin to +gallop towards him, as if to ride him down. Happily he was close to +a narrow archway leading to an alley down which no war-horse could +possibly make its way, and dashing into it and round a corner, he +eluded his pursuers, and reached the bank of the river, whence, +being by this time experienced in the by-ways of London, he could +easily reach Perronel's house. + +She was standing at her door looking out anxiously, and as she saw +him she threw up her hands in thanksgiving to our Lady that here he +was at last, and then turned to scold him. "O lad, lad, what a +night thou hast given me! I trusted at least that thou hadst wit to +keep out of a fray and to let the poor aliens alone, thou that art +always running after yonder old Spaniard. Hey! what now? Did they +fall on him! Fie! Shame on them!--a harmless old man like that." + +"Yea, good aunt, and what is more, they have slain him, I fear me, +outright." + +Amidst many a "good lack" and exclamation of pity and indignation +from Perronel, Ambrose told his tale of that strange night, and +entreated her to come with him to do what was possible for Abenali +and his daughter. She hesitated a little; her kind heart was +touched, but she hardly liked to leave her house, in case her +husband should come in, as he generally contrived to do in the early +morning, now that the Cardinal's household was lodged so near her. +Sheltered as she was by the buildings of the Temple, she had heard +little or nothing of the noise of the riot, though she had been +alarmed at her nephew's absence, and an officious neighbour had run +in to tell her first that the prentice lads were up and sacking the +houses of the strangers, and next that the Tower was firing on them, +and the Lord Mayor's guard and the gentlemen of the Inns of Court +were up in arms to put them down. She said several times, "Poor +soul!" and "Yea, it were a shame to leave her to the old Dutchkin," +but with true Flemish deliberation she continued her household +arrangements, and insisted that the bowl of broth, which she set on +the table, should be partaken of by herself and Ambrose before she +would stir a step. "Not eat! Now out on thee, lad! what good dost +thou think thou or I can do if we come in faint and famished, where +there's neither bite nor sup to be had? As for me, not a foot will +I budge, till I have seen thee empty that bowl. So to it, my lad! +Thou hast been afoot all night, and lookst so grimed and ill- +favoured a varlet that no man would think thou camest from an honest +wife's house. Wash thee at the pail! Get thee into thy chamber and +put on clean garments, or I'll not walk the street with thee! 'Tis +not safe--thou wilt be put in ward for one of the rioters." + +Everybody who entered that little house obeyed Mistress Randall, and +Ambrose submitted, knowing it vain to resist, and remembering the +pursuit he had recently escaped; yet the very refreshment of food +and cleanliness revealed to him how stiff and weary were his limbs, +though he was in no mood for rest. His uncle appeared at the door +just as he had hoped Perronel was ready. + +"Ah! there's one of you whole and safe!" he exclaimed. "Where is +the other?" + +"Stephen?" exclaimed Ambrose. "I saw him last in Warwick Inner +Yard." And in a few words he explained. Hal Randall shook his +head. "May all be well," he exclaimed, and then he told how Sir +Thomas Parr had come at midnight and roused the Cardinal's household +with tidings that all the rabble of London were up, plundering and +murdering all who came in their way, and that he had then ridden on +to Richmond to the King with the news. The Cardinal had put his +house into a state of defence, not knowing against whom the riot +might be directed--and the jester had not been awakened till too +late to get out to send after his wife, besides which, by that time, +intelligence had come in that the attack was directed entirely on +the French and Spanish merchants and artificers in distant parts of +the city and suburbs, and was only conducted by lads with no better +weapons than sticks, so that the Temple and its precincts were in no +danger at all. + +The mob had dispersed of its own accord by about three or four +o'clock, but by that hour the Mayor had got together a force, the +Gentlemen of the Inns of Court and the Yeomen of the Tower were up +in arms, and the Earl of Shrewsbury had come in with a troop of +horse. They had met the rioters, and had driven them in herds like +sheep to the different prisons, after which Lord Shrewsbury had come +to report to the Cardinal that all was quiet, and the jester having +gathered as much intelligence as he could, had contrived to slip +into the garments that concealed his motley, and to reach home. He +gave ready consent to Perronel's going to the aid of the sufferers +in Warwick Inner Yard, especially at the summons of the Dean of St. +Paul's, and even to her bringing home the little wench. Indeed, he +would escort her thither himself for he was very anxious about +Stephen, and Ambrose was so dismayed by the account he gave as to +reproach himself extremely for having parted company with his +brother, and never having so much as thought of him as in peril, +while absorbed in care for Abenali. So the three set out together, +when no doubt the sober, solid appearance which Randall's double +suit of apparel and black gown gave him, together with his wife's +matronly and respectable look, were no small protection to Ambrose, +for men-at-arms were prowling about the streets, looking hungry to +pick up straggling victims, and one actually stopped Randall to +interrogate him as to who the youth was, and what was his errand. + +Before St. Paul's they parted, the husband and wife going towards +Warwick Inner Yard, whither Ambrose, fleeter of foot, would follow, +so soon as he had ascertained at the Dragon court whether Stephen +was at home. + +Alas! at the gate he was hailed with the inquiry whether he had seen +his brother or Giles. The whole yard was disorganised, no work +going on. The lads had not been seen all night, and the master +himself had in the midst of his displeasure and anxiety been +summoned to the Guildhall. The last that was known was Giles's +rescue, and the assault on Alderman Mundy. Smallbones and Steelman +had both gone in different directions to search for the two +apprentices, and Dennet, who had flown down unheeded and unchecked +at the first hope of news, pulled Ambrose by the sleeve, and +exclaimed, "Oh! Ambrose, Ambrose! they can never hurt them! They +can never do any harm to our lads, can they?" + +Ambrose hoped for the same security, but in his dismay, could only +hurry after his uncle and aunt. + +He found the former at the door of the old stable--whence issued +wild screams and cries. Several priests and attendants were there +now, and the kind Dean with Lucas was trying to induce Aldonza to +relax the grasp with which she embraced the body, whence a few +moments before the brave and constant spirit had departed. Her +black hair hanging over like a veil, she held the inanimate head to +her bosom, sobbing and shrieking with the violence of her Eastern +nature. The priest who had been sent for to take care of the +corpse, and bear it to the mortuary of the Minster, wanted to move +her by force; but the Dean insisted on one more gentle experiment, +and beckoned to the kindly woman, whom he saw advancing with eyes +full of tears. Perronel knelt down by her, persevered when the poor +girl stretched out her hand to beat her off, crying, "Off! go! +Leave me my father! O father, father, joy of my life! my one only +hope and stay, leave me not! Wake! wake, speak to thy child, O my +father!" + +Though the child had never seen or heard of Eastern wailings over +the dead, yet hereditary nature prompted her to the lamentations +that scandalised the priests and even Lucas, who broke in with "Fie, +maid, thou mournest as one who hath no hope." But Dr. Colet still +signed to them to have patience, and Perronel somehow contrived to +draw the girl's head on her breast and give her a motherly kiss, +such as the poor child had never felt since she, when almost a babe, +had been lifted from her dying mother's side in the dark stifling +hold of the vessel in the Bay of Biscay. And in sheer surprise and +sense of being soothed she ceased her cries, listened to the tender +whispers and persuasions about holy men who would care for her +father, and his wishes that she should be a good maid--till at last +she yielded, let her hands be loosed, allowed Perronel to lift the +venerable head from her knee, and close the eyes--then to gather her +in her arms, and lead her to the door, taking her, under Ambrose's +guidance, into Lucas's abode, which was as utterly and mournfully +dismantled as their own, but where Perronel, accustomed in her +wandering days to all sorts of contrivances, managed to bind up the +streaming hair, and, by the help of her own cloak, to bring the poor +girl into a state in which she could be led through the streets. + +The Dean meantime had bidden Lucas to take shelter at his own house, +and the old Dutchman had given a sort of doubtful acceptance. + +Ambrose, meanwhile, half distracted about his brother, craved +counsel of the jester where to seek him. + + + +CHAPTER XVII. ILL MAY DAY + + + +"With two and two together tied, + Through Temple Bar and Strand they go, +To Westminster, there to be tried, + With ropes about their necks also." + +Ill May Day. + +And where was Stephen? Crouching, wretched with hunger, cold, +weariness, blows, and what was far worse, sense of humiliation and +disgrace, and terror for the future, in a corner of the yard of +Newgate--whither the whole set of lads, surprised in Warwick Inner +Court by the law students of the Inns of Court, had been driven like +so many cattle, at the sword's point, with no attention or +perception that he and Giles had been struggling AGAINST the +spoilers. + +Yet this fact made them all the more forlorn. The others, some +forty in number, their companions in misfortune, included most of +the Barbican prentices, who were of the Eagle faction, special +enemies alike to Abenali and to the Dragon, and these held aloof +from Headley and Birkenholt, nay, reviled them for the attack which +they declared had caused the general capture. + +The two lads of the Dragon had, in no measured terms, denounced the +cruelty to the poor old inoffensive man, and were denounced in their +turn as friends of the sorcerer. But all were too much exhausted by +the night's work to have spirit for more than a snarling encounter +of words, and the only effect was that Giles and Stephen were left +isolated in their misery outside the shelter of the handsome arched +gateway under which the others congregated. + +Newgate had been rebuilt by Whittington out of pity to poor +prisoners and captives. It must have been unspeakably dreadful +before, for the foulness of the narrow paved court, shut in by +strong walls, was something terrible. Tired, spent, and aching all +over, and with boyish callousness to dirt, still Giles and Stephen +hesitated to sit down, and when at last they could stand no longer, +they rested, leaning against one another. Stephen tried to keep up +hope by declaring that his master would soon get them released, and +Giles alternated between despair, and declarations that he would +have justice on those who so treated his father's son. They dropped +asleep--first one and then the other--from sheer exhaustion, waking +from time to time to realise that it was no dream, and to feel all +the colder and more camped. + +By and by there were voices at the gate. Friends were there asking +after their own Will, or John, or Thomas, as the case might be. The +jailer opened a little wicket-window in the heavy door, and, no +doubt for a consideration, passed in food to certain lads whom he +called out, but it did not always reach its destination. It was +often torn away as by hungry wolves. For though the felons had been +let out, when the doors were opened; the new prisoners were not by +any means all apprentices. There were watermen, husbandmen, +beggars, thieves, among them, attracted by the scent of plunder; and +even some of the elder lads had no scruple in snatching the morsel +from the younger ones. + +Poor little Jasper Hope, a mischievous little curly-headed idle +fellow, only thirteen, just apprenticed to his brother the draper, +and rushing about with the other youths in the pride of his flat +cap, was one of the sufferers. A servant had been at the door, +promising that his brother would speedily have him released, and +handing in bread and meat, of which he was instantly robbed by +George Bates and three or four more big fellows, and sent away +reeling and sobbing, under a heavy blow, with all the mischief and +play knocked out of him. Stephen and Giles called "Shame!" but were +unheeded, and they could only draw the little fellow up to them, and +assure him that his brother would soon come for him. + +The next call at the gate was Headley and Birkenholt--"Master +Headley's prentices--Be they here?" + +And at their answer, not only the window, but the door in the gate +was opened, and stooping low to enter, Kit Smallbones came in, and +not empty-handed. + +"Ay, ay, youngsters," said he, "I knew how it would be, by what I +saw elsewhere, so I came with a fee to open locks. How came ye to +get into such plight as this? And poor little Hope too! A fine +pass when they put babes in jail." + +"I'm prenticed!" said Jasper, though in a very weak little voice. + +"Have you had bite or sup?" asked Kit. + +And on their reply, telling how those who had had supplies from home +had been treated, Smallbones observed, "Let them try it," and stood, +at all his breadth, guarding the two youths and little Jasper, as +they ate, Stephen at first with difficulty, in the faintness and +foulness of the place, but then ravenously. Smallbones lectured +them on their folly all the time, and made them give an account of +the night. He said their master was at the Guildhall taking counsel +with the Lord Mayor, and there were reports that it would go hard +with the rioters, for murder and plunder had been done in many +places, and he especially looked at Giles with pity, and asked how +he came to embroil himself with Master Mundy? Still his good- +natured face cheered them, and he promised further supplies. He +also relieved Stephen's mind about his brother, telling of his +inquiry at the Dragon in the morning. All that day the condition of +such of the prisoners as had well-to-do friends was improving. +Fathers, brothers, masters, and servants, came in quest of them, +bringing food and bedding, and by exorbitant fees to the jailers +obtained for them shelter in the gloomy cells. Mothers could not +come, for a proclamation had gone out that none were to babble, and +men were to keep their wives at home. And though there were more +material comforts, prospects were very gloomy. Ambrose came when +Kit Smallbones returned with what Mrs. Headley had sent the +captives. He looked sad and dazed, and clung to his brother, but +said very little, except that they ought to be locked up together, +and he really would have been left in Newgate, if Kit had not laid a +great hand on his shoulder and almost forced him away. + +Master Headley himself arrived with Master Hope in the afternoon. +Jasper sprang to his brother, crying, "Simon! Simon! you are come +to take me out of this dismal, evil place?" But Master Hope--a +tall, handsome, grave young man, who had often been much disturbed +by his little brother's pranks--could only shake his head with tears +in his eyes, and, sitting down on the roll of bedding, take him on +his knee and try to console him with the hope of liberty in a few +days. + +He had tried to obtain the boy's release on the plea of his extreme +youth, but the authorities were hotly exasperated, and would hear of +no mercy. The whole of the rioters were to be tried three days +hence, and there was no doubt that some would be made an example of, +the only question was, how many? + +Master Headley closely interrogated his own two lads, and was +evidently sorely anxious about his namesake, who, he feared, might +be recognised by Alderman Mundy and brought forward as a ringleader +of the disturbance; nor did he feel at all secure that the plea that +he had no enmity to the foreigners, but had actually tried to defend +Lucas and Abenali, would be attended to for a moment, though Lucas +Hansen had promised to bear witness of it. Giles looked perfectly +stunned at the time, unable to take in the idea, but at night +Stephen was wakened on the pallet that they shared with little +Jasper, by hearing him weeping and sobbing for his mother at +Salisbury. + +Time lagged on till the 4th of May. Some of the poor boys whiled +away their time with dreary games in the yard, sometimes wrestling, +but more often gambling with the dice, that one or two happened to +possess, for the dinners that were provided for the wealthier, +sometimes even betting on what the sentences would be, and who would +be hanged, or who escape. + +Poor lads, they did not, for the most part, realise their real +danger, but Stephen was more and more beset with home-sick longing +for the glades and thickets of his native forest, and would keep +little Jasper and even Giles for an hour together telling of the +woodland adventures of those happy times, shutting his eyes to the +grim stone walls, and trying to think himself among the beeches, +hollies, cherries, and hawthorns, shining in the May sun! Giles and +he were chose friends now, and with little Jasper, said their Paters +and Aves together, that they might be delivered from their trouble. +At last, on the 4th, the whole of the prisoners were summoned +roughly into the court, where harsh-hooking men-at-arms proceeded to +bind them together in pairs to be marched through the streets to the +Guildhall. Giles and Stephen would naturally have been put +together, but poor little Jasper cried out so lamentably, when he +was about to be bound to a stranger, that Stephen stepped forward in +his stead, begging that the boy might go with Giles. The soldier +made a contemptuous sound, but consented, and Stephen found that his +companion in misfortune, whose left elbow was tied to his right was +George Bates. + +The two lads looked at each other in a strange, rueful manner, and +Stephen said, "Shake hands, comrade. If we are to die, let us bear +no ill-will." + +George gave a cold, limp, trembling hand. He looked wretched, +subdued, tearful, and nearly starved, for he had no kinsfolk at +hand, and his master was too angry with him, and too much afraid of +compromising himself, to have sent him any supplies. Stephen tried +to unbutton his own pouch, but not succeeding with his left hand, +bade George try with his right. "There's a cake of bread there," he +said. "Eat that, and thou'lt be able better to stand up like a man, +come what will." + +George devoured it eagerly. "Ah!" he said, in a stronger voice, +"Stephen Birkenholt, thou art an honest fellow. I did thee wrong. +If ever we get out of this plight!" + +Here they were ordered to march, and in a long and doleful +procession they set forth. The streets were lined with men-at-arms, +for all the affections and sympathies of the people were with the +unfortunate boys, and a rescue was apprehended. + +In point of fact, the Lord Mayor and aldermen were afraid of the +King's supposing them to have organised the assault on their rivals, +and each was therefore desirous to show severity to any one's +apprentices save his own; while the nobility were afraid of +contumacy on the part of the citizens, and were resolved to crush +down every rioter among them, so that they had filled the city with +their armed retainers. Fathers and mothers, masters and dames, +sisters and fellow prentices, found their doors closely guarded, and +could only look with tearful, anxious eyes, at the processions of +poor youths, many of them mere children, who were driven from each +of the jails to the Guildhall. There when all collected the entire +number amounted to two hundred and seventy-eight, though a certain +proportion of these were grown men, priests, wherrymen and beggars, +who had joined the rabble in search of plunder. + +It did not look well for them that the Duke of Norfolk and his son, +the Earl of Surrey, were joined in the commission with the Lord +Mayor. The upper end of the great hall was filled with aldermen in +their robes and chains, with the sheriffs of London and the whole +imposing array, and the Lord Mayor with the Duke sat enthroned above +them in truly awful dignity. The Duke was a hard and pitiless man, +and bore the City a bitter grudge for the death of his retainer, the +priest killed in Cheapside, and in spite of all his poetical fame, +it may be feared that the Earl of Surrey was not of much more +merciful mood, while their men-at-arms spoke savagely of hanging, +slaughtering, or setting the City on fire. + +The arraignment was very long, as there were so large a number of +names to be read, and, to the horror of all, it was not for a mere +riot, but for high treason. The King, it was declared, being in +amity with all Christian princes, it was high treason to break the +truce and league by attacking their subjects resident in England. +The terrible punishment of the traitor would thus be the doom of all +concerned, and in the temper of the Howards and their retainers, +there was little hope of mercy, nor, in times like those, was there +even much prospect that, out of such large numbers, some might +escape. + +A few were more especially cited, fourteen in number, among them +George Bates, Walter Ball, and Giles Headley, who had certainly +given cause for the beginning of the affray. There was no attempt +to defend George Bates, who seemed to be stunned and bewildered +beyond the power of speaking or even of understanding, but as Giles +cast his eyes round in wild, terrified appeal, Master Headley rose +up in his alderman's gown, and prayed leave to be heard in his +defence, as he had witnesses to bring in his favour. + +"Is he thy son, good Armourer Headley?" demanded the Duke of +Norfolk, who held the work of the Dragon court in high esteem. + +"Nay, my Lord Duke, but he is in the place of one, my near kinsman +and godson, and so soon as his time be up, bound to wed my only +child! I pray you to hear his cause, ere cutting off the heir of an +old and honourable house." + +Norfolk and his sons murmured something about the Headley skill in +armour, and the Lord Mayor was willing enough for mercy, but Sir +John Mundy here rose: "My Lord Duke, this is the very young man who +was first to lay hands on me! Yea, my lords and sirs, ye have +already heard how their rude sport, contrary to proclamation, was +the cause of the tumult. When I would have bidden them go home, the +one brawler asks me insolently, 'Wherefore?' the other smote me with +his sword, whereupon the whole rascaille set on me, and as Master +Alderman Headley can testify, I scarce reached his house alive. I +ask should favour overcome justice, and a ringleader, who hath +assaulted the person of an alderman, find favour above others?" + +"I ask not for favour," returned Headley, "only that witnesses be +heard on his behalf, ere he be condemned." + +Headley, as a favourite with the Duke, prevailed to have permission +to call his witnesses; Christopher Smallbones, who had actually +rescued Alderman Mundy from the mob, and helped him into the Dragon +court, could testify that the proclamation had been entirely unheard +in the din of the youths looking on at the game. And this was +followed up by Lucas Hansen declaring that so far from having +attacked or plundered him and the others in Warwick Inner Yard, the +two, Giles Headley and Stephen Birkenholt, had come to their +defence, and fallen on those who were burning their goods. + +On this a discussion followed between the authorities seated at the +upper end of the hall. The poor anxious watchers below could only +guess by the gestures what was being agitated as to their fate, and +Stephen was feeling it sorely hard that Giles should be pleaded for +as the master's kinsman, and he left to so cruel a fate, no one +saying a word for him but unheeded Lucas. Finally, without giving +of judgment, the whole of the miserable prisoners, who had been +standing without food for hours, were marched back, still tied, to +their several prisons, while their guards pointed out the gibbets +where they were to suffer the next day. + +Master Headley was not quite so regardless of his younger apprentice +as Stephen imagined. There was a sort of little council held in his +hall when he returned--sad, dispirited, almost hopeless--to find Hal +Randall anxiously awaiting him. The alderman said he durst not +plead for Stephen, lest he should lose both by asking too much, and +his young kinsman had the first right, besides being in the most +peril as having been singled out by name; whereas Stephen might +escape with the multitude if there were any mercy. He added that +the Duke of Norfolk was certainly inclined to save one who knew the +secret of Spanish sword-blades; but that he was fiercely resolved to +be revenged for the murder of his lewd priest in Cheapside, and that +Sir John Mundy was equally determined that Giles should not escape. + +"What am I to say to his mother? Have I brought him from her for +this?" mourned Master Headley. "Ay, and Master Randall, I grieve as +much for thy nephew, who to my mind hath done nought amiss. A brave +lad! A good lad, who hath saved mine own life. Would that I could +do aught for him! It is a shame!" + +"Father," said Dennet, who had crept to the back of his chair, "the +King would save him! Mind you the golden whistle that the grandame +keepeth?" + +"The maid hath hit it!" exclaimed Randall. "Master alderman! Let +me but have the little wench and the whistle to-morrow morn, and it +is done. How sayest thou, pretty mistress? Wilt thou go with me +and ask thy cousin's life, and poor Stephen's, of the King?" + +"With all my heart, sir," said Dennet, coming to him with +outstretched hands. "Oh! sir, canst thou save them? I have been +vowing all I could think of to our Lady and the saints, and now they +are going to grant it!" + +"Tarry a little," said the alderman. "I must know more of this. +Where wouldst thou take my child? How obtain access to the King's +Grace?" + +"Worshipful sir, trust me," said Randall. "Thou know'st I am sworn +servant to my Lord Cardinal, and that his folk are as free of the +Court as the King's own servants. If thine own folk will take us up +the river to Richmond, and there wait for us while I lead the maid +to the King, I can well-nigh swear to thee that she will prevail." + +The alderman looked greatly distressed. Ambrose threw himself on +his knees before him, and in an agony entreated him to consent, +assuring him that Master Randall could do what he promised. The +alderman was much perplexed. He knew that his mother, who was +confined to her bed by rheumatism, would be shocked at the idea. He +longed to accompany his daughter himself, but for him to be absent +from the sitting of the court might be fatal to Giles, and he could +not bear to lose any chance for the poor youths. + +Meantime an interrogative glance and a nod had passed between Tibble +and Randall, and when the alderman looked towards the former, always +his prime minister, the answer was, "Sir, meseemeth that it were +well to do as Master Randall counselleth. I will go with Mistress +Dennet, if such be your will. The lives of two such youths as our +prentices may not lightly be thrown away, while by God's providence +there is any means of striving to save them." + +Consent then was given, and it was further arranged that Dennet and +her escort should be ready at the early hour of half-past four, so +as to elude the guards who were placed in the streets; and also +because King Henry in the summer went very early to mass, and then +to some out-of-door sport. Randall said he would have taken his own +good woman to have the care of the little mistress, but that the +poor little orphan Spanish wench had wept herself so sick, that she +could not be left to a stranger. + +Master Headley himself brought the child by back streets to the +river, and thence down to the Temple stairs, accompanied by Tibble +Steelman, and a maid-servant on whose presence her grandmother had +insisted. Dennet had hardly slept all night for excitement and +perturbation, and she looked very white, small, and insignificant +for her thirteen years, when Randall and Ambrose met her, and placed +her carefully in the barge which was to take them to Richmond. It +was somewhat fresh in the very early morning, and no one was +surprised that Master Randall wore a large dark cloak as they rowed +up the river. There was very little speech between the passengers; +Dennet sat between Ambrose and Tibble. They kept their heads bowed. +Ambrose's brow was on one hand, his elbow on his knee, but he spared +the other to hold Dennet. He had been longing for the old assurance +he would once have had, that to vow himself to a life of hard +service in a convent would be the way to win his brother's life; but +he had ceased to be able to feel that such bargains were the right +course, or that a convent necessarily afforded sure way of service, +and he never felt mere insecure of the way and means to prayer than +in this hour of anguished supplication. + +When they came beyond the City, within sight of the trees of Sheen, +as Richmond was still often called, Randall insisted that Dennet +should eat some of the bread and meat that Tibble had brought in a +wallet for her. "She must look her best," he said aside to the +foreman. "I would that she were either more of a babe or better +favoured! Our Hal hath a tender heart for a babe and an eye for a +buxom lass." + +He bade the maid trim up the child's cap and make the best of her +array, and presently reached some stairs leading up to the park. +There he let Ambrose lift her out of the boat. The maid would fain +have followed, but he prevented this, and when she spoke of her +mistress having bidden her follow wherever the child went, Tibble +interfered, telling her that his master's orders were that Master +Randall should do with her as he thought meet. Tibble himself +followed until they reached a thicket entirely concealing them from +the river. Halting here, Randall, with his nephew's help, divested +himself of his long gown and cloak, his beard and wig, produced +cockscomb and bauble from his pouch, and stood before the astonished +eyes of Dennet as the jester! + +She recoiled upon Tibble with a little cry, "Oh, why should he make +sport of us? Why disguise himself?" + +"Listen, pretty mistress," said Randall. "'Tis no disguise, Tibble +there can tell you, or my nephew. My disguise lies there," pointing +to his sober raiment. "Thus only can I bring thee to the King's +presence! Didst think it was jest? Nay, verily, I am as bound to +try to save my sweet Stevie's life, my sister's own gallant son, as +thou canst be to plead for thy betrothed." Dennet winced. + +"Ay, Mistress Dennet," said Tibble, "thou mayst trust him, spite of +his garb, and 'tis the sole hope. He could only thus bring thee in. +Go thou on, and the lad and I will fall to our prayers." + +Dennet's bosom heaved, but she looked up in the jesters dark eyes, +saw the tears in them, made an effort, put her hand in his, and +said, "I will go with him." + +Hal led her away, and they saw Tibble and Ambrose both fall on their +knees behind the hawthorn bush, to speed them with their prayers, +while all the joyous birds singing their carols around seemed to +protest against the cruel captivity and dreadful doom of the young +gladsome spirits pent up in the City prisons. + +One full gush of a thrush's song in especial made Dennet's eyes +overflow, which the jester perceived and said, "Nay, sweet maid, no +tears. Kings brook not to be approached with blubbered faces. I +marvel not that it seems hard to thee to go along with such as I, +but let me be what I will outside, mine heart is heavy enough, and +thou wilt learn sooner or later, that fools are not the only folk +who needs must smile when they have a load within." + +And then, as much to distract her thoughts and prevent tears as to +reassure her, he told her what he had before told his nephews of the +inducements that had made him Wolsey's jester, and impressed on her +the forms of address. + +"Thou'lt hear me make free with him, but that's part of mine office, +like the kitten I've seen tickling the mane of the lion in the +Tower. Thou must say, 'An it please your Grace,' and thou needst +not speak of his rolling in the mire, thou wottest, or it may anger +him." + +The girl showed that her confidence became warmer by keeping nearer +to his side, and presently she said, "I must beg for Stephen first, +for 'tis his whistle." + +"Blessings on thee, fair wench, for that, yet seest thou, 'tis the +other springald who is in the greater peril, and he is closer to thy +father and to thee." + +"He fled, when Stephen made in to the rescue of my father," said +Dennet. + +"The saints grant we may so work with the King that he may spare +them both," ejaculated Randall. + +By this time the strange pair were reaching the precincts of the +great dwelling-house, where about the wide-open door loitered +gentlemen, grooms, lacqueys, and attendants of all kinds. Randall +reconnoitred. + +"An we go up among all these," he said, "they might make their sport +of us both, so that we might have time. Let us see whether the +little garden postern be open." + +Henry VIII. had no fears of his people, and kept his dwellings more +accessible than were the castles of many a subject. The door in the +wall proved to be open, and with an exclamation of joy, Randall +pointed out two figures, one in a white silken doublet and hose, +with a short crimson cloak over his shoulder, the other in scarlet +and purple robes, pacing the walk under the wall--Henry's way of +holding a cabinet council with his prime minister on a summer's +morning. + +"Come on, mistress, put a brave face on it!" the jester encouraged +the girl, as he led her forward, while the king, catching sight of +them, exclaimed, "Ha! there's old Patch. What doth he there?" + +But the Cardinal, impatient of interruption, spoke imperiously, +"What dost thou here, Merriman? Away, this is no time for thy +fooleries and frolics." + +But the King, with some pleasure in teasing, and some of the +enjoyment of a schoolboy at a break in his tasks, called out, "Nay, +come hither, quipsome one! What new puppet hast brought hither to +play off on us?" + +"Yea, brother Hal," said the jester, "I have brought one to let thee +know how Tom of Norfolk and his crew are playing the fool in the +Guildhall, and to ask who will be the fool to let them wreak their +spite on the best blood in London, and leave a sore that will take +many a day to heal." + +"How is this, my Lord Cardinal?" said Henry; "I bade them make an +example of a few worthless hinds, such as might teach the lusty +burghers to hold their lads in bounds and prove to our neighbours +that their churlishness was by no consent of ours." + +"I trow," returned the Cardinal, "that one of these same hinds is a +boon companion of the fool's--hinc illae lachrymae, and a speech +that would have befitted a wise man's mouth." + +"There is work that may well make even a fool grave, friend Thomas," +replied the jester. + +"Nay, but what hath this little wench to say?" asked the King, +looking down on the child from under his plumed cap with a face set +in golden hair, the fairest and sweetest, as it seemed to her, that +she had ever seen, as he smiled upon her. "Methinks she is too +small to be thy love. Speak out, little one. I love little maids, +I have one of mine own. Hast thou a brother among these misguided +lads?" + +"Not so, an please your Grace," said Dennet, who fortunately was not +in the least shy, and was still too young for a maiden's +shamefastness. "He is to be my betrothed. I would say, one of them +is, but the other--he saved my father's life once." + +The latter words were lost in the laughter of the King and Cardinal +at the unblushing avowal of the small, prim-faced maiden. + +"Oh ho! So 'tis a case of true love, whereto a King's face must +needs show grace. Who art thou, fair suppliant, and who may this +swain of thine be?" + +"I am Dennet Headley, so please your Grace; my father is Giles +Headley the armourer, Alderman of Cheap Ward," said Dennet, doing +her part bravely, though puzzled by the King's tone of banter; "and +see here, your Grace!" + +"Ha! the hawk's whistle that Archduke Philip gave me! What of that? +I gave it--ay, I gave it to a youth that came to mine aid, and +reclaimed a falcon for me! Is't he, child?" + +"Oh, sir, 'tis he who came in second at the butts, next to Barlow, +'tis Stephen Birkenholt! And he did nought! They bore no ill-will +to strangers! No, they were falling on the wicked fellows who had +robbed and slain good old Master Michael, who taught our folk to +make the only real true Damascus blades welded in England. But the +lawyers of the Inns of Court fell on them all alike, and have driven +them off to Newgate, and poor little Jasper Hope too. And Alderman +Mundy bears ill-will to Giles. And the cruel Duke of Norfolk and +his men swear they'll have vengeance on the Cheap, and there'll be +hanging and quartering this very morn. Oh! your Grace, your Grace, +save our lads! for Stephen saved my father." + +"Thy tongue wags fast, little one," said the King, good-naturedly, +"with thy Stephen and thy Giles. Is this same Stephen, the knight +of the whistle and the bow, thy betrothed, and Giles thy brother?" + +"Nay, your Grace," said Dennet, hanging her head, "Giles Headley is +my betrothed--that is, when his time is served, he will be--father +sets great store by him, for he is the only one of our name to keep +up the armoury, and he has a mother, Sir, a mother at Salisbury. +But oh, Sir, Sir! Stephen is so good and brave a had! He made in +to save father from the robbers, and he draws the best bow in +Cheapside, and he can grave steel as well as Tibble himself, and +this is the whistle your Grace wots of." + +Henry listened with an amused smile that grew broader as Dennet's +voice all unconsciously became infinitely more animated and earnest, +when she began to plead Stephen's cause. + +"Well, well, sweetheart," he said, "I trow thou must have the twain +of them, though," he added to the Cardinal, who smiled broadly, "it +might perchance be more for the maid's peace than she wots of now, +were we to leave this same knight of the whistle to be strung up at +once, ere she have found her heart; but in sooth that I cannot do, +owing well nigh a life to him and his brother. Moreover, we may not +have old Headley's skill in weapons lost!" + +Dennet held her hands close clasped while these words were spoken +apart. She felt as if her hope, half granted, were being snatched +from her, as another actor appeared on the scene, a gentleman in a +lawyer's gown, and square cap, which he doffed as he advanced and +put his knee to the ground before the King, who greeted him with +"Save you, good Sir Thomas, a fair morning to you." + +"They told me your Grace was in Council with my Lord Cardinal," said +Sir Thomas More; "but seeing that there was likewise this merry +company, I durst venture to thrust in, since my business is urgent." + +Dennet here forgot court manners enough to cry out, "O your Grace! +your Grace, be pleased for pity's sake to let me have the pardon for +them first, or they'll be hanged and dead. I saw the gallows in +Cheapside, and when they are dead, what good will your Grace's mercy +do them?" + +"I see," said Sir Thomas. "This little maid's errand jumps with +mine own, which was to tell your Grace that unless there be speedy +commands to the Howards to hold their hands, there will be wailing +like that of Egypt in the City. The poor boys, who were but +shouting and brawling after the nature of mettled youth--the most +with nought of malice--are penned up like sheep for the slaughter-- +ay, and worse than sheep, for we quarter not our mutton alive, +whereas these poor younglings--babes of thirteen, some of them--be +indicted for high treason! Will the parents, shut in from coming to +them by my Lord of Norfolk's men, ever forget their agonies, I ask +your Grace?" + +Henry's face grew red with passion. "If Norfolk thinks to act the +King, and turn the city into a shambles,"--with a mighty oath--"he +shall abye it. Here, Lord Cardinal--more, let the free pardon be +drawn up for the two lads. And we will ourselves write to the Lord +Mayor and to Norfolk that though they may work their will on the +movers of the riot--that pestilent Lincoln and his sort--not a +prentice lad shall be touched till our pleasure be known. There +now, child, thou hast won the lives of thy lads, as thou callest +them. Wilt thou rue the day, I marvel? Why cannot some of their +mothers pluck up spirit and beg them off as thou hast done?" + +"Yea," said Wolsey. "That were the right course. If the Queen were +moved to pray your Grace to pity the striplings then could the +Spaniards make no plaint of too much clemency being shown." + +They were all this time getting nearer the palace, and being now at +a door opening into the hall, Henry turned round. "There, pretty +maid, spread the tidings among thy gossips, that they have a tender- +hearted Queen, and a gracious King. The Lord Cardinal will +presently give thee the pardon for both thy lads, and by and by thou +wilt know whether thou thankest me for it!" Then putting his hand +under her chin, he turned up her face to him, kissed her on each +cheek, and touched his feathered cap to the others, saying, "See +that my bidding be done," and disappeared. + +"It must be prompt, if it be to save any marked for death this +morn," More in a how voice observed to the Cardinal. "Lord Edmund +Howard is keen as a blood-hound on his vengeance." + +Wolsey was far from being a cruel man, and besides, there was a +natural antagonism between him and the old nobility, and he liked +and valued his fool, to whom he turned, saying, "And what stake hast +thou in this, sirrah? Is't all pure charity?" + +"I'm scarce such a fool as that, Cousin Red Hat," replied Randall, +rallying his powers. "I leave that to Mr. More here, whom we all +know to be a good fool spoilt. But I'll make a clean breast of it. +This same Stephen is my sister's son, an orphan lad of good birth +and breeding--whom, my lord, I would die to save." + +"Thou shalt have the pardon instantly, Merriman," said the Cardinal, +and beckoning to one of the attendants who clustered round the door, +he gave orders that a clerk should instantly, and very briefly, make +out the form. Sir Thomas More, hearing the name of Headley, added +that for him indeed the need of haste was great, since he was one of +the fourteen sentenced to die that morning. + +Quipsome Hal was interrogated as to how he had come, and the +Cardinal and Sir Thomas agreed that the river would be as speedy a +way of returning as by land; but they decided that a King's +pursuivant should accompany him, otherwise there would be no chance +of forcing his way in time through the streets, guarded by the +Howard retainers. + +As rapidly as was in the nature of a high officer's clerk to produce +a dozen lines, the precious document was indicted, and it was +carried at last to Dennet, bearing Henry's signature and seal. She +held it to her bosom, while, accompanied by the pursuivant, who-- +happily for them--was interested in one of the unfortunate fourteen, +and therefore did not wait to stand on his dignity, they hurried +across to the place where they had left the barge--Tibble and +Ambrose joining them on the way. Stephen was safe. Of his life +there could be no doubt, and Ambrose almost repented of feeling his +heart so light while Giles's fate hung upon their speed. + +The oars were plied with hearty good-will, but the barge was +somewhat heavy, and by and by coming to a landing-place where two +watermen had a much smaller and lighter boat, the pursuivant advised +that he should go forward with the more necessary persons, leaving +the others to follow. After a few words, the light weights of +Tibble and Dennet prevailed in their favour, and they shot forward +in the little boat. + +They passed the Temple--on to the stairs nearest Cheapside--up the +street. There was an awful stillness, only broken by heavy knells +sounding at intervals from the churches. The back streets were +thronged by a trembling, weeping people, who all eagerly made way +for the pursuivant, as he called "Make way, good people--a pardon!" + +They saw the broader space of Cheapside. Horsemen in armour guarded +it, but they too opened a passage for the pursuivant. There was to +be seen above the people's heads a scaffold. A fire burnt on it-- +the gallows and noosed rope hung above. + +A figure was mounting the ladder. A boy! Oh, Heavens! would it be +too late? Who was it? They were still too far off to see. They +might only be cruelly holding out hope to one of the doomed. + +The pursuivant shouted aloud--"In the King's name, Hold!" He lifted +Dennet on his shoulder, and bade her wave her parchment. An +overpowering roar arose. "A pardon! a pardon! God save the King!" + +Every hand seemed to be forwarding the pursuivant and the child, and +it was Giles Headley, who, loosed from the hold of the executioner, +stared wildly about him, like one distraught. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. PARDON + + + +"What if;' quoth she, 'by Spanish blood +Have London's stately streets been wet, +Yet will I seek this country's good +And pardon for these young men get.'" + +CHURCHILL. + +The night and morning had been terrible to the poor boys, who only +had begun to understand what awaited them. The fourteen selected +had little hope, and indeed a priest came in early morning to hear +the confessions of Giles Headley and George Bates, the only two who +were in Newgate. + +George Bates was of the stolid, heavy disposition that seems armed +by outward indifference, or mayhap pride. He knew that his case was +hopeless, and he would not thaw even to the priest. But Giles had +been quite unmanned, and when he found that for the doleful +procession to the Guildhall he was to be coupled with George Bates, +instead of either of his room-fellows, he flung himself on Stephen's +neck, sobbing out messages for his mother, and entreaties that, if +Stephen survived, he would be good to Aldonza. "For you will wed +Dennet, and--" + +There the jailers roughly ordered him to hold his peace, and dragged +him off to be pinioned to his fellow-sufferer. Stephen was not +called till some minutes later, and had not seen him since. He +himself was of course overshadowed by the awful gloom of +apprehension for himself, and pity for his comrades, and he was +grieved at not having seen or heard of his brother or master, but he +had a very present care in Jasper, who was sickening in the prison +atmosphere, and when fastened to his arm, seemed hardly able to +walk. Leashed as they were, Stephen could only help him by holding +the free hand, and when they came to the hall, supporting him as +much as possible, as they stood in the miserable throng during the +conclusion of the formalities, which ended by the horrible sentence +of the traitor being pronounced on the whole two hundred and +seventy-eight. Poor little Jasper woke for an interval from the +sense of present discomfort to hear it, he seemed to stiffen all +over with the shock of horror, and then hung a dead weight on +Stephen's arm. It would have dragged him down, but there was no +room to fall, and the wretchedness of the lad against whom he +staggered found vent in a surly imprecation, which was lost among +the cries and the entreaties of some of the others. The London +magistracy were some of them in tears, but the indictment for high +treason removed the poor lads from their jurisdiction to that of the +Earl Marshal, and thus they could do nothing to save the fourteen +foremost victims. The others were again driven out of the hall to +return to their prisons; the nearest pair of lads doing their best +to help Stephen drag his burthen along. In the halt outside, to +arrange the sad processions, one of the guards, of milder mood, cut +the cord that bound the lifeless weight to Stephen, and permitted +the child to be laid on the stones of the court, his collar +unbuttoned, and water to be brought. Jasper was just reviving when +the word came to march, but still he could not stand, and Stephen +was therefore permitted the free use of his arms, in order to carry +the poor little fellow. Thirteen years made a considerable load for +seventeen, though Stephen's arms were exercised in the smithy, and +it was a sore pull from the Guildhall. Jasper presently recovered +enough to walk with a good deal of support. When he was laid on the +bed he fell unto an exhausted sleep, while Stephen kneeling, as the +strokes of the knell smote on his ear, prayed--as he had never +prayed before--for his comrade, for his enemy, and for all the +unhappy boys who were being led to their death wherever the outrages +had been committed. + +Once indeed there was a strange sound coming across that of the +knell. It almost sounded like an acclamation of joy. Could people +be so cruel, thought Stephen, as to mock poor Giles's agonies? +There were the knells still sounding. How long he did not know, for +a beneficent drowsiness stole over him as he knelt, and he was only +awakened, at the same time as Jasper, by the opening of his door. + +He looked up to see three figures--his brother, his uncle, his +master. Were they come to take leave of him? But the one +conviction that their faces beamed with joy was all that he could +gather, for little Jasper sprang up with a scream of terror, +"Stephen, Stephen, save me! They will cut out my heart," and clung +trembling to his breast, with arms round his neck. + +"Poor child! poor child!" sighed Master Headley. "Would that I +brought him the same tidings as to thee!" + +"Is it so?" asked Stephen, reading confirmation as he looked from +the one to the other. Though he was unable to rise under the weight +of the boy, life and light were coming to his eye, while Ambrose +clasped his hand tightly, chocked by the swelling of his heart in +almost an agony of joy and thankfulness. + +"Yea, my good lad," said the alderman. "Thy good kinsman took my +little wench to bear to the King the token he gave thee." + +"And Giles?" Stephen asked, "and the rest?" + +"Giles is safe. For the rest--may God have mercy on their souls." + +These words passed while Stephen rocked Jasper backwards and +forwards, his face hidden on his neck. + +"Come home," added Master Headley. "My little Dennet and Giles +cannot yet rejoice till thou art with them. Giles would have come +himself, but he is sorely shaken, and could scarce stand." + +Jasper caught the words, and loosing his friend's neck, looked up. +"Oh! are we going home? Come, Stephen. Where's brother Simon? I +want my good sister! I want nurse! Oh! take me home!" For as he +tried to sit up, he fell back sick and dizzy on the bed. + +"Alack! alack!" mourned Master Headley; and the jester, muttering +that it was not the little wench's fault, turned to the window, and +burst into tears. Stephen understood it all, and though he felt a +passionate longing for freedom, he considered in one moment whether +there were any one of his fellow prisoners to whom Jasper could be +left, or who would be of the least comfort to him, but could find no +one, and resolved to cling to him as once to old Spring. + +"Sir," he said, as he rose to his master, "I fear me he is very +sick. Will they--will your worship give me licence to bide with him +till this ends?" + +"Thou art a good-hearted lad," said the alderman with a hand on his +shoulder. "There is no further danger of life to the prentice lads. +The King hath sent to forbid all further dealing with them, and hath +bidden my little maid to set it about that if their mothers beg them +grace from good Queen Katherine, they shall have it. But this poor +child! He can scarce be left. His brother will take it well of +thee if thou wilt stay with him till some tendance can be had. We +can see to that. Thanks be to St. George and our good King, this +good City is our own again!" + +The alderman turned away, and Ambrose and Stephen exchanged a +passionate embrace, feeling what it was to be still left to one +another. The jester too shook his nephew's hand, saying, "Boy, boy, +the blessing of such as I is scarce worth the having, but I would +thy mother could see thee this day." + +Stephen was left with these words and his brother's look to bear him +through a trying time. + +For the "Captain of Newgate" was an autocrat, who looked on his +captives as compulsory lodgers, out of whom he was entitled to wring +as much as possible--as indeed he had no other salary, nor means of +maintaining his underlings, a state of things which lasted for two +hundred years longer, until the days of James Oglethorpe and John +Howard. Even in the rare cases of acquittals, the prisoner could +not be released till he had paid his fees, and that Giles Headley +should have been borne off from the scaffold itself in debt to him +was an invasion of his privileges, which did not dispose him to be +favourable to any one connected with that affair; and he liked to +show his power and dignity even to an alderman. + +He was found sitting in a comfortable tapestried chamber, handsomely +dressed in orange and brown, and with a smooth sleek countenance and +the appearance of a good-natured substantial citizen. + +He only half rose from his big carved chair, and touched without +removing his cap, to greet the alderman, as he observed, without the +accustomed prefix of your worship--"So, you are come about your +prentice's fees and dues. By St. Peter of the Fetters, 'tis an +irksome matter to have such a troop of idle, mischievous, dainty +striplings thrust on one, giving more trouble, and making more call +and outcry than twice as many honest thieves and pickpurses." + +"Be assured, sir, they will scarce trouble you longer than they can +help," said Master Headley. + +"Yea, the Duke and my Lord Edmund are making brief work of them," +quoth the jailer. "Ha!" with an oath, "what's that? Nought will +daunt those lads till the hangman is at their throats." + +For it was a real hurrah that reached his ears. The jester had got +all the boys round him in the court, and was bidding them keep up a +good heart, for their lives were safe, and their mothers would beg +them off. Their shouts did not tend to increase the captain's good +humour, and though he certainly would not have let out Alderman +Headley's remaining apprentice without his fee, he made as great a +favour of permission, and charged as exorbitantly, for a pardoned +man to remain within his domains as if they had been the most costly +and delightful hostel in the kingdom. + +Master Hope, who presently arrived, had to pay a high fee for leave +to bring Master Todd, the barber-surgeon, with him to see his +brother; but though he offered a mark a day (a huge amount at that +time) the captain was obdurate in refusing to allow the patient to +be attended by his own old nurse, declaring that it was contrary to +discipline, and (what probably affected him much more) one such +woman could cause more trouble than a dozen felons. No doubt it was +true, for she would have insisted on moderate cleanliness and +comfort. No other attendant whom Mr. Hope could find would endure +the disgrace, the discomfort, and alarm of a residence in Newgate +for Jasper's sake; so that the drapers gratitude to Stephen +Birkenholt, for voluntarily sharing the little fellow's captivity, +was great, and he gave payment to one or two of the officials to +secure the two lads being civilly treated, and that the provisions +sent in reached them duly. + +Jasper did not in general seem very ill by day, only heavy, listless +and dull, unable to eat, too giddy to sit up, and unable to help +crying like a babe, if Stephen left him for a moment; but he never +fell asleep without all the horror and dread of the sentence coming +over him. Like all the boys in London, he had gazed at executions +with the sort of curiosity that leads rustic lads to run to see pigs +killed, and now the details came over him in semi-delirium, as acted +out on himself, and he shrieked and struggled in an anguish which +was only mitigated by Stephen's reassurances, caresses, even +scoldings. The other youths, relieved from the apprehension of +death, agreed to regard their detention as a holiday, and not being +squeamish, turned the yard into a playground, and there they +certainly made uproar, and played pranks, enough to justify the +preference of the captain for full grown criminals. But Stephen +could not join them, for Jasper would not spare him for an instant, +and he himself, though at first sorely missing employment and +exercise, was growing drowsy and heavy limbed in his cramped life +and the evil atmosphere, even the sick longings for liberty were +gradually passing away from him, so that sometimes he felt as if he +had lived here for ages and known no other life, though no sooner +did he lie down to rest, and shut his eyes, than the trees and green +glades of the New Forest rose before him, with all the hollies +shining in the summer light, or the gorse making a sheet of gold. + +The time was not in reality so very long. On the 7th of May, John +Lincoln, the broker, who had incited Canon Peale to preach against +the foreigners, was led forth with several others of the real +promoters of the riot to the centre of Cheapside, where Lincoln was +put death, but orders were brought to respite the rest; and, at the +same time, all the armed men were withdrawn, the City began to +breathe, and the women who had been kept within doors to go abroad +again. + +The Recorder of London and several aldermen were to meet the King at +his manor at Greenwich. This was the mothers' opportunity. The +civic dignitaries rode in mourning robes, but the wives and mothers, +sweethearts and sisters, every woman who had a youth's life at +stake, came together, took boat, and went down the river, a strange +fleet of barges, all containing white caps, and black gowns and +hoods, for all were clad in the most correct and humble citizen's +costume. + +"Never was such a sight," said Jester Randall, who had taken care to +secure a view, and who had come with his report to the Dragon court. +"It might have been Ash Wednesday for the look of them, when they +landed and got into order. One would think every prentice lad had +got at least three mothers, and four or five aunts and sisters! I +trow, verily, that half of them came to look on at the other half, +and get a sight of Greenwich and the three queens. However, be that +as it might, not one of them but knew how to open the sluices. +Queen Katharine noted well what was coming, and she and the Queens +of Scotland and France sat in the great chamber with the doors open. +And immediately there's a knock at the door, and so soon as the +usher opens it, in they come, three and three, every good wife of +them with her napkin to her eyes, and working away with her sobs. +Then Mistress Todd, the barber-surgeon's wife, she spoke for all, +being thought to have the more courtly tongue, having been tirewoman +to Queen Mary ere she went to France. Verily her husband must have +penned the speech for her--for it began right scholarly, and +flowery, with a likening of themselves to the mothers of Bethlehem +(lusty innocents theirs, I trow!), but ere long the good woman +faltered and forgot her part, and broke out 'Oh! madam, you that are +a mother yourself, for the sake of your own sweet babe, give us back +our sons.' And therewith they all fell on their knees, weeping and +wringing their hands, and crying out, 'Mercy, mercy! For our +Blessed Lady's sake, have pity on our children!' till the good +Queen, with the tears running down her cheeks for very ruth, told +them that the power was not in her hands, but the will was for them +and their poor sons, and that she would strive so to plead for them +with the King as to win their freedom. Meantime, there were the +aldermen watching for the King in his chamber of presence, till +forth he came, when all fell on their knees, and the Recorder spake +for them, casting all the blame on the vain and light persons who +had made that enormity. Thereupon what does our Hal but make +himself as stern as though he meant to string them all up in a line. +'Ye ought to wail and be sorry,' said he, 'whereas ye say that +substantial persons were not concerned, it appeareth to the +contrary. You did wink at the matter,' quoth he, 'and at this time +we will grant you neither favour nor good-will.' However, none who +knew Hal's eye but could tell that 'twas all very excellent fooling, +when he bade them get to the Cardinal. Therewith, in came the three +queens, hand in hand, with tears in their eyes, so as they might +have been the three queens that bore away King Arthur, and down they +went on their knees, and cried aloud 'Dear sir, we who are mothers +ourselves, beseech you to set the hearts at ease of all the poor +mothers who are mourning for their sons.' Whereupon, the door being +opened, came in so piteous a sound of wailing and lamentation as our +Harry's name must have been Herod to withstand! 'Stand up, Kate,' +said he, 'stand up, sisters, and hark in your ear. Not a hair of +the silly lads shall be touched, but they must bide lock and key +long enough to teach them and their masters to keep better ward.' +And then when the queens came back with the good tidings, such a +storm of blessings was never heard, laughings and cryings, and the +like, for verily some of the women seemed as distraught for joy as +ever they had been for grief and fear. Moreover, Mistress Todd +being instructed of her husband, led up Mistress Hope to Queen Mary, +and told her the tale of how her husband's little brother, a mere +babe, lay sick in prison--a mere babe, a suckling as it were--and +was like to die there, unless the sooner delivered, and how our +Steve was fool enough to tarry with the poor child, pardoned though +he be. Then the good lady wept again, and 'Good woman,' saith she +to Mistress Hope, 'the King will set thy brother free anon. His +wrath is not with babes, nor with lads like this other of whom thou +speakest.' + +"So off was she to the King again, and though he and his master +pished and pshawed, and said if one and another were to be set free +privily in this sort, there would be none to come and beg for mercy +as a warming to all malapert youngsters to keep within bounds, 'Nay, +verily,' quoth I, seeing the moment for shooting a fool's bolt among +them, 'methinks Master Death will have been a pick-lock before you +are ready for them, and then who will stand to cry mercy?' + +The narrative was broken off short by a cry of jubilee in the court. +Workmen, boys, and all were thronging together, Kit Smallbones' head +towering in the midst. Vehement welcomes seemed in progress. +"Stephen! Stephen!" shouted Dennet, and flew out of the hall and +down the steps. + +"The lad himself!" exclaimed the jester, leaping down after her. + +"Stephen, the good boy!" said Master Headley, descending more +slowly, but not less joyfully. + +Yes, Stephen himself it was, who had quietly walked into the court. +Master Hope and Master Todd had brought the order for Jasper's +release, had paid the captain's exorbitant fees for both, and, while +the sick boy was carried home in a litter, Stephen had entered the +Dragon court through the gates, as if he were coming home from an +errand; though the moment he was recognised by the little four-year +old Smallbones, there had been a general rush and shout of ecstatic +welcome, led by Giles Headley, who fairly threw himself on Stephen's +neck, as they met like comrades after a desperate battle. Not one +was there who did not claim a grasp of the boy's hand, and who did +not pour out welcomes and greetings, while in the midst, the +released captive looked, to say the truth, very spiritless, faded, +dusty, nay dirty. The court seemed spinning round with him, and the +loud welcomes roared in his ears. He was glad that Dennet took one +hand, and Giles the other, declaring that he must be led to the +grandmother instantly. + +He muttered something about being in too foul trim to go near her, +but Dennet held him fast, and he was too dizzy to make much +resistance. Old Mrs. Headley was better again, though not able to +do much but sit by the fire kept burning to drive away the plague +which was always smouldering in London. + +She held out her hands to Stephen, as he knelt down by her. "Take +an old woman's blessing, my good youth," she said. "Right glad am I +to see thee once more. Thou wilt not be the worse for the pains +thou hast spent on the little lad, though they have tried thee +sorely." + +Stephen, becoming somewhat less dazed, tried to fulfil his long +cherished intention of thanking Dennet for her intercession, but the +instant he tried to speak, to his dismay and indignation, tears +choked his voice, and he could do nothing but weep, as if, thought +he, his manhood had been left behind in the jail. + +"Vex not thyself," said the old dame, as she saw him struggling with +his sobs. "Thou art worn out--Giles here was not half his own man +when he came out, nor is he yet. Nay, beset him not, children. He +should go to his chamber, change these garments, and rest ere +supper-time." + +Stephen was fain to obey, only murmuring an inquiry for his brother, +to which his uncle responded that if Ambrose were at home, the +tidings would send him to the Dragon instantly; but he was much with +his old master, who was preparing to leave England, his work here +being ruined. + +The jester then took leave, accepting conditionally an invitation to +supper. Master Headley, Smallbones, and Tibble now knew who he was, +but the secret was kept from all the rest of the household, lest +Stephen should be twitted with the connection. + +Cold water was not much affected by the citizens of London, but +smiths' and armourers' work entailed a freer use of it than less +grimy trades; and a bath and Sunday garments made Stephen more like +himself, though still he felt so weary and depressed that he missed +the buoyant joy of release to which he had been looking forward. + +He was sitting on the steps, leaning against the rail, so much tired +that he hoped none of his comrades would notice that he had come +out, when Ambrose hurried into the court, having just heard tidings +of his freedom, and was at his side at once. The two brothers sat +together, leaning against one another as if they had all that they +could wish or long for. They had not met for more than a week, for +Ambrose's finances had not availed to fee the turnkeys to give him +entrance. + +"And what art thou doing, Ambrose?" asked Stephen, rousing a little +from his lethargy. "Methought I heard mine uncle say thine +occupation was gone?" + +"Even so," replied Ambrose. "Master Lucas will sail in a week's +time to join his brother at Rotterdam, bearing with him what he hath +been able to save out of the havoc. I wot not if I shall ever see +the good man more." + +"I am glad thou dost not go with him," said Stephen, with a hand on +his brother's leather-covered knee. + +"I would not put seas between us," returned Ambrose. "Moreover, +though I grieve to lose my good master, who hath been so scurvily +entreated here, yet, Stephen, this trouble and turmoil hath brought +me that which I longed for above all, even to have speech with the +Dean of St. Paul's." + +He then told Stephen how he had brought Dean Colet to administer the +last rites to Abenali, and how that good man had bidden Lucas to +take shelter at the Deanery, in the desolation of his own abode. +This had led to conversation between the Dean and the printer; +Lucas, who distrusted all ecclesiastics, would accept no patronage. +He had a little hoard, buried in the corner of his stall, which +would suffice to carry him to his native home and he wanted no more; +but he had spoken of Ambrose, and the Dean was quite ready to be +interested in the youth who had led him to Abenali. + +"He had me to his privy chamber," said Ambrose, "and spake to me as +no man hath yet spoken--no, not even Tibble. He let me utter all my +mind, nay, I never wist before even what mine own thoughts were till +he set them before me--as it were in a mirror." + +"Thou wast ever in a harl," said Stephen, drowsily using the +Hampshire word for whirl or entanglement. + +"Yea. On the one side stood all that I had ever believed or learnt +before I came hither of the one true and glorious Mother-Church to +whom the Blessed Lord had committed the keys of His kingdom, through +His holy martyrs and priests to give us the blessed host and lead us +in the way of salvation. And on the other side, I cannot but see +the lewd and sinful and worldly lives of the most part, and hear the +lies whereby they amass wealth and turn men from the spirit of truth +and holiness to delude them into believing that wilful sin can be +committed without harm, and that purchase of a parchment is as good +as repentance. That do I see and hear. And therewith my master +Lucas and Dan Tindall, and those of the new light, declare that all +has been false even from the very outset, and that all the pomp and +beauty is but Satan's bait, and that to believe in Christ alone is +all that needs to justify us, casting all the rest aside. All +seemed a mist, and I was swayed hither and thither till the more I +read and thought, the greater was the fog. And this--I know not +whether I told it to yonder good and holy doctor, or whether he knew +it, for his eyes seemed to see into me, and he told me that he had +felt and thought much the same. But on that one great truth, that +faith in the Passion is salvation, is the Church built, though +sinful men have hidden it by their errors and lies as befell before +among the Israelites, whose law, like ours, was divine. Whatever is +entrusted to man, he said, will become stained, soiled, and twisted, +though the power of the Holy Spirit will strive to renew it. And +such an outpouring of cleansing and renewing power is, he saith, +abroad in our day. When he was a young man, this good father, so he +said, hoped great things, and did his best to set forth the truth, +both at Oxford and here, as indeed he hath ever done, he and the +good Doctor Erasmus striving to turn men's eyes back to the +simplicity of God's Word rather than to the arguments and deductions +of the schoolmen. And for the abuses of evil priests that have +sprung up, my Lord Cardinal sought the Legatine Commission from our +holy father at Rome to deal with them. But Dr. Colet saith that +there are other forces at work, and he doubteth greatly whether this +same cleansing can be done without some great and terrible rending +and upheaving, that may even split the Church as it were asunder-- +since judgment surely awaiteth such as will not be reformed. But, +quoth he, 'our Mother-Church is God's own Church and I will abide by +her to the end, as the means of oneness with my Lord and Head, and +do thou the same, my son, for thou art like to be more sorely tried +than will a frail old elder like me, who would fain say his Nunc +Dimittis, if such be the Lord's will, ere the foundations be cast +down.'" + +Ambrose had gone on rehearsing all these words with the absorption +of one to whom they were everything, till it occurred to him to +wonder that Stephen had listened to so much with patience and +assent, and then, looking at the position of head and hands, he +perceived that his brother was asleep, and came to a sudden halt. +This roused Stephen to say, "Eh? What? The Dean, will he do aught +for thee?" + +"Yea," said Ambrose, recollecting that there was little use in +returning to the perplexities which Stephen could not enter into. +"He deemed that in this mood of mine, yea, and as matters now be at +the universities, I had best not as yet study there for the +priesthood. But he said he would commend me to a friend whose life +would better show me how the new gives life to the old than any man +he wots of." + +"One of thy old doctors in barnacles, I trow," said Stephen. + +"Nay, verily. We saw him t'other night perilling his life to stop +the poor crazy prentices, and save the foreigners. Dennet and our +uncle saw him pleading for them with the King." + +"What! Sir Thomas More?" + +"Ay, no other. He needs a clerk for his law matters, and the Dean +said he would speak of me to him. He is to sup at the Deanery to- +morrow, and I am to be in waiting to see him. I shall go with a +lighter heart now that thou art beyond the clutches of the captain +of Newgate." + +"Speak no more of that!" said Stephen, with a shudder. "Would that +I could forget it!" + +In truth Stephen's health had suffered enough to change the bold, +high-spirited, active had, so that he hardly knew himself. He was +quite incapable of work all the next day, and Mistress Headley began +to dread that he had brought home jail fever, and insisted on his +being inspected by the barber-surgeon, Todd, who proceeded to bleed +the patient, in order, as he said, to carry off the humours +contracted in the prison. He had done the same by Jasper Hope, and +by Giles, but he followed the treatment up with better counsel, +namely, that the lads should all be sent out of the City to some +farm where they might eat curds and whey, until their strength +should be restored. Thus they would be out of reach of the sweating +sickness which was already in some of the purlieus of St. +Katharine's Docks, and must be specially dangerous in their lowered +condition. + +Master Hope came in just after this counsel had been given. He had +a sister married to the host of a large prosperous inn near Windsor, +and he proposed to send not only Jasper but Stephen thither, feeling +how great a debt of gratitude he owed to the lad. Remembering well +the good young Mistress Streatfield, and knowing that the Antelope +was a large old house of excellent repute, where she often lodged +persons of quality attending on the court or needing country air, +Master Headley added Giles to the party at his own expense, and +wished also to send Dennet for greater security, only neither her +grandmother nor Mrs. Hope could leave home. + +It ended, however, in Perronel Randall being asked to take charge of +the whole party, including Aldonza. That little damsel had been in +a manner confided to her both by the Dean of St. Paul's and by +Tibble Steelman--and indeed the motherly woman, after nursing and +soothing her through her first despair at the loss of her father, +was already loving her heartily, and was glad to give her a place in +the home which Ambrose was leaving on being made an attendant on Sir +Thomas More. + +For the interview at the Deanery was satisfactory. The young man, +after a good supper, enlivened by the sweet singing of some chosen +pupils of St. Paul's school, was called up to where the Dean sat, +and with him, the man of the peculiarly sweet countenance, with the +noble and deep expression, yet withal, something both tender and +humorous in it. + +They made him tell his whole life, and asked many questions about +Abenali, specially about the fragment of Arabic scroll which had +been clutched in his hand even as he lay dying. They much regretted +never having known of his existence till too late. "Jewels lie +before the unheeding!" said More. Then Ambrose was called on to +show a specimen of his own penmanship, and to write from Sir +Thomas's dictation in English and in Latin. The result was that he +was engaged to act as one of the clerks Sir Thomas employed in his +occupations alike as lawyer, statesman, and scholar. + +"Methinks I have seen thy face before," said Sir Thomas, looking +keenly at him. "I have beheld those black eyes, though with a +different favour." + +Ambrose blushed deeply. "Sir, it is but honest to tell you that my +mother's brother is jester to my Lord Cardinal." + +"Quipsome Hal Merriman! Patch as the King calleth him!" exclaimed +Sir Thomas. "A man I have ever thought wore the motley rather from +excess, than infirmity, of wit." + +"Nay, sir, so please you, it was his good heart that made him a +jester," said Ambrose, explaining the story of Randall and his +Perronel in a few words, which touched the friends a good deal, and +the Dean remembered that she was in charge of the little Moresco +girl. He lost nothing by dealing thus openly with his new master, +who promised to keep his secret for him, then gave him handsel of +his salary, and bade him collect his possessions, and come to take +up his abode in the house of the More family at Chelsea. + +He would still often see his brother in the intervals of attending +Sir Thomas to the courts of law, but the chief present care was to +get the boys into purer air, both to expedite their recovery and to +ensure them against being dragged into the penitential company who +were to ask for their lives on the 22nd of May, consisting of such +of the prisoners who could still stand or go--for jail-fever was +making havoc among them, and some of the better-conditioned had been +released by private interest. The remainder, not more than half of +the original two hundred and seventy-eight, were stripped to their +shirts, had halters hung round their necks, and then, roped together +as before, were driven through the streets to Westminster, where the +King sat enthroned. There, looking utterly miserable, they fell on +their knees before him, and received his pardon for their +misdemeanours. They returned to their masters, and so ended that +Ill May-day, which was the longer remembered because one Churchill, +a ballad-monger in St. Paul's Churchyard, indited a poem on it, +wherein he swelled the number of prentices to two thousand, and of +the victims to two hundred. Will Wherry, who escaped from among the +prisoners very forlorn, was recommended by Ambrose to the work of a +carter at the Dragon, which he much preferred to printing. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. AT THE ANTELOPE + + + +"Say, Father Thames, for thou hast seen + Full many a sprightly race, +Disporting on thy margent green, + The paths of pleasure trace." +--GRAY + +Master Hope took all the guests by boat to Windsor, and very soon +the little party at the Antelope was in a state of such perfect +felicity as became a proverb with them all their lives afterwards. +It was an inn wherein to take one's ease, a large hostel full of +accommodation for man and horse, with a big tapestried room of +entertainment below, where meals were taken, with an oriel window +with a view of the Round Tower, and above it a still more charming +one, known as the Red Rose, because one of the Dukes of Somerset had +been wont to lodge there. The walls were tapestried with the story +of St. Genoveva of Brabant, fresh and new on Mrs. Streatfield's +marriage; there was a huge bed with green curtains of that dame's +own work, where one might have said + + +"Above, below, the rose of snow, +Twined with her blushing foe we spread." + + +so as to avoid all offence. There was also a cupboard or sideboard +of the choicer plate belonging to the establishment, and another +awmry containing appliances for chess and backgammon, likewise two +large chairs, several stools, and numerous chests. + +This apartment was given up to Mistress Randall and the two girls, +subject however to the chance of turning out for any very +distinguished guests. The big bed held all three, and the chamber +was likewise their sitting-room, though they took their meals down +stairs, and joined the party in the common room in the evening +whenever they were not out of doors, unless there were guests whom +Perronel did not think desirable company for her charges. Stephen +and Giles were quartered in a small room known as the Feathers, +smelling so sweet of lavender and woodruff that Stephen declared it +carried him back to the Forest. Mrs. Streatfield would have taken +Jasper to tend among her children, but the boy could not bear to be +without Stephen, and his brother advised her to let it be so, and +not try to make a babe of him again. + +The guest-chamber below stairs opened at one end into the innyard, a +quadrangle surrounded with stables, outhouses, and offices, with a +gallery running round to give access to the chambers above, where, +when the Court was at Windsor, two or three great men's trains of +retainers might be crowded together. + +One door, however, in the side of the guest-chamber had steps down +to an orchard, full of apple and pear trees in their glory of pink +bud and white blossom, borders of roses, gillyflowers, and lilies of +the valley running along under the grey walls. There was a broad +space of grass near the houses, whence could be seen the Round Tower +of the Castle looking down in protection, while the background of +the view was filled up with a mass of the foliage of Windsor forest, +in the spring tints. + +Stephen never thought of its being beautiful, but he revelled in the +refreshment of anything so like home, and he had nothing to wish for +but his brother, and after all he was too contented and happy even +to miss him much. + +Master Streatfield was an elderly man, fat and easygoing, to whom +talking seemed rather a trouble than otherwise, though he was very +good-natured. His wife was a merry, lively, active woman, who had +been handed over to him by her father like a piece of Flanders +cambric, but who never seemed to regret her position, managed men +and maids, farm and guests, kept perfect order without seeming to do +so, and made great friends with Perronel, never guessing that she +had been one of the strolling company, who, nine or ten years +before, had been refused admission to the Antelope, then crowded +with my Lord of Oxford's followers. + +At first, it was enough for the prentices to spend most of their +time in lying about on the grass under the trees. Giles, who was in +the best condition, exerted himself so far as to try to learn chess +from Aldonza, who seemed to be a proficient in the game, and even +defeated the good-natured burly parson who came every evening to the +Antelope, to imbibe slowly a tankard of ale, and hear any news there +stirring. + +She and Giles were content to spend hours over her instructions in +chess on that pleasant balcony in the shade of the house. Though +really only a year older than Dennet Headley, she looked much more, +and was so in all her ways. It never occurred to her to run +childishly wild with delight in the garden and orchard as did +Dennet, who, with little five-years-old Will Streatfield for her +guide and playfellow, rushed about hither and thither, making +acquaintance with hens and chickens, geese and goslings, seeing cows +and goats milked, watching butter churned, bringing all manner of +animal and vegetable curiosities to Stephen to be named and +explained, and enjoying his delight in them, a delight which after +the first few days became more and more vigorous. + +By and by there was punting and fishing on the river, strawberry +gathering in the park, explorations of the forest, expeditions of +all sorts and kinds, Jasper being soon likewise well enough to share +in them. The boys and girls were in a kind of fairy hand under +Perronel's kind wing, the wandering habits of whose girlhood made +the freedom of the country far more congenial to her than it would +have been to any regular Londoner. + +Stephen was the great oracle, of course, as to the deer respectfully +peeped at in the park, or the squirrels, the hares and rabbits, in +the forest, and the inhabitants of the stream above or below. It +was he who secured and tamed the memorials of their visit--two +starlings for Dennet and Aldonza. The birds were to be taught to +speak, and to do wonders of all kinds, but Aldonza's bird was found +one morning dead, and Giles consoled her by the promise of something +much bigger, and that would talk much better. Two days after he +brought her a young jackdaw. Aldonza clasped her hands and admired +its glossy back and queer blue eye, and was in transports when it +uttered something between "Jack" and "good lack." But Dennet looked +in scorn at it, and said, "That's a bird tamed already. He didn't +catch it. He only bought it! I would have none such! An ugsome +great thieving bird!" + +"Nay now, Mistress Dennet," argued Perronel. "Thou hast thy bird, +and Alice has lost hers. It is not meet to grudge it to her." + +"I! Grudge it to her!" said Dennet, with a toss of the head. "I +grudge her nought from Giles Headley, so long as I have my Goldspot +that Stephen climbed the wall for, his very self." + +And Dennet turned majestically away with her bird--Goldspot only in +the future--perched on her finger; while Perronel shook her head +bodingly. + +But they were all children still, and Aldonza was of a nature that +was slow to take offence, while it was quite true that Dennet had +been free from jealousy of the jackdaw, and only triumphant in +Stephen's prowess and her own starling. + +The great pleasure of all was a grand stag-hunt, got up for the +diversion of the French ambassadors, who had come to treat for the +espousals of the infant Princess Mary with the baby "Dolphyne." +Probably these illustrious personages did not get half the pleasure +out of it that the Antelope party had. Were they not, by special +management of a yeoman pricker who had recognised in Stephen a +kindred spirit, and had a strong admiration for Mistress Randall, +placed where there was the best possible view of hunters, horses, +and hounds, lords and ladies, King and ambassadors, in their +gorgeous hunting trim? Did not Stephen, as a true verdurer's son, +interpret every note on the horn, and predict just what was going to +happen, to the edification of all his hearers? And when the final +rush took place, did not the prentices, with their gowns rolled up, +dart off headlong in pursuit? Dennet entertained some hope that +Stephen would again catch some runaway steed, or come to the King's +rescue in some way or other, but such chances did not happen every +day. Nay, Stephen did not even follow up the chase to the death, +but left Giles to do that, turning back forsooth because that little +Jasper thought fit to get tired and out of breath, and could not +find his way back alone. Dennet was quite angry with Stephen and +turned her back on him, when Giles came in all glorious, at having +followed up staunchly all day, having seen the fate of the poor +stag, and having even beheld the King politely hand the knife to +Monsieur de Montmorency to give the first stroke to the quarry! + +That was the last exploit. There was to be a great tilting match in +honour of the betrothal, and Master Alderman Headley wanted his +apprentices back again, and having been satisfied by a laborious +letter from Dennet, sent per carrier, that they were in good health, +despatched orders by the same means, that they were to hire horses +at the Antelope and return--Jasper coming back at the same time, +though his aunt would fain have kept him longer. + +Women on a journey almost always rode double, and the arrangement +came under debate. Perronel, well accustomed to horse, ass, or +foot, undertook to ride behind the child, as she called Jasper, who- +-as a born Londoner--knew nothing of horses, though both the other +prentices did. Giles, who, in right of his name, kindred, and +expectations, always held himself a sort of master, declared that +"it was more fitting that Stephen should ride before Mistiness +Dennet." And to this none of the party made any objection, except +that Perronel privately observed to him that she should have thought +he would have preferred the company of his betrothed. + +"I shall have quite enough of her by and by," returned Giles; then +adding, "She is a good little wench, but it is more for her honour +that her father's servant should ride before her." + +Perronel held her tongue, and they rode merrily back to London, and +astonished their several homes by the growth and healthful looks of +the young people. Even Giles was grown, though he did not like to +be told so, and was cherishing the down on his chin. But the most +rapid development had been in Aldonza, or Alice, as Perronel +insisted on calling her to suit the ears of her neighbours. The +girl was just reaching the borderland of maidenhood, which came all +the sooner to one of southern birth and extraction, when the great +change took her from being her father's childish darling to be +Perronel's companion and assistant. She had lain down on that fatal +May Eve a child, she rose in the little house by the Temple Gardens, +a maiden, and a very lovely one, with delicate, refined, beautifully +cut features of a slightly aquiline cast, a bloom on her soft +brunette cheek, splendid dark liquid eyes shaded by long black +lashes, under brows as regular and well arched as her Eastern +cousins could have made them artificially, magnificent black hair, +that could hardly be contained in the close white cap, and a lithe +beautiful figure on which the plainest dress sat with an Eastern +grace. Perronel's neighbours did not admire her. They were not +sure whether she were most Saracen, gipsy, or Jew. In fact, she was +as like Rachel at the well as her father had been to a patriarch, +and her descent was of the purest Saracen lineage, but a Christian +Saracen was an anomaly the London mind could not comprehend, and her +presence in the family tended to cast suspicion that Master Randall +himself, with his gipsy eyes, and mysterious comings and goings, +must have some strange connections. For this, however, Perronel +cared little. She had made her own way for many years past, and had +won respect and affection by many good offices to her neighbours, +one of whom had taken her laundry work in her absence. + +Aldonza was by no means indocile or incapable. She shared in +Perronel's work without reluctance, making good use of her slender, +dainty brown fingers, whether in cooking, household work, washing, +ironing, plaiting, making or mending the stiff lawn collars and +cuffs in which her hostess's business lay. There was nothing that +she would not do when asked, or when she saw that it would save +trouble to good mother Perronel, of whom she was very fond, and she +seemed serene and contented, never wanting to go abroad; but she was +very silent, and Perronel declared herself never to have seen any +living woman so perfectly satisfied to do nothing. The good dame +herself was industrious, not only from thrift but from taste, and if +not busy in her vocation or in household business, was either using +her distaff or her needle, or chatting with her neighbours--often +doing both at once; but though Aldonza could spin, sew, and +embroider admirably, and would do so at the least request from her +hostess, it was always a sort of task, and she never seemed so happy +as when seated on the floor, with her dark eyes dreamily fixed on +the narrow window, where hung her jackdaw's cage, and the beads of +her rosary passing through her fingers. At first Mistress Randall +thought she was praying, but by and by came to the conviction that +most of the time "the wench was bemused." There was nothing to +complain of in one so perfectly gentle and obedient, and withal, +modest and devout; but the good woman, after having for some time +given her the benefit of the supposition that she was grieving for +her father, began to wonder at such want of activity and animation, +and to think that on the whole Jack was the more talkative +companion. + +Aldonza had certainly not taught him the phrases he was so fond of +repeating. Giles Headley had undertaken his education, and made it +a reason for stealing down to the Temple many an evening after work +was done, declaring that birds never learnt so well as after dark. +Moreover, he had possessed himself of a chess board, and insisted +that Aldonza should carry on her instructions in the game; he +brought her all his Holy Cross Day gain of nuts, and he used all his +blandishments to persuade Mrs. Randall to come and see the shooting +at the popinjay, at Mile End. + +All this made the good woman uneasy. Her husband was away, for the +dread of sweating sickness had driven the Court from London, and she +could only take counsel with Tibble Steelman. It was Hallowmas Eve, +and Giles had been the bearer of an urgent invitation from Dennet to +her friend Aldonza to come and join the diversions of the evening. +There was a large number of young folk in the hall--Jasper Hope +among them--mostly contemporaries of Dennet, and almost children, +all keen upon the sports of the evening, namely, a sort of indoor +quintain, where the revolving beam was decorated with a lighted +candle at one end, and at the other an apple to be caught at by the +players with their mouths, their hands being tied behind them. + +Under all the uproarious merriment that each attempt occasioned, +Tibble was about to steal off to his own chamber and his beloved +books, when, as he backed out of the group of spectators, he was +arrested by Mistress Randall, who had made her way into the rear of +the party at the same time. + +"Can I have a word with you, privily, Master Steelman?" she asked. + +Unwillingly he muttered, "Yea, so please you;" and they retreated to +a window at the dark end of the hall, where Perronel began--"The +alderman's daughter is contracted to young Giles, her kinsman, is +she not?" + +"Not as yet in form, but by the will of the parents," returned +Tibble, impatiently, as he thought of the half-hour's reading which +he was sacrificing to woman's gossip. + +"An it be so," returned Perronel, "I would fain--were I Master +Headley--that he spent not so many nights in gazing at mine Alice." + +"Forbid him the house, good dame." + +"Easier spoken than done," returned Perronel. "Moreover, 'tis +better to let the matter, such as it is, be open in my sight than to +teach them to run after one another stealthily, whereby worse might +ensue." + +"Have they spoken then to one another?" asked Tibble, beginning to +take alarm. + +"I trow not. I deem they know not yet what draweth them together." + +"Pish, they are mere babes!" quoth Tib, hoping he might cast it off +his mind. + +"Look!" said Perronel; and as they stood on the somewhat elevated +floor of the bay window, they could look over the heads of the other +spectators to the seats where the young girls sat. + +Aldonza's beautiful and peculiar contour of head and face rose among +the round chubby English faces like a jessamine among daisies, and +at that moment she was undertaking, with an exquisite smile, the +care of the gown that Giles laid at her feet, ere making his +venture. + +"There!" said Perronel. "Mark that look on her face! I never see +it save for that same youngster. The children are simple and +guileless thus far, it may be. I dare be sworn that she is, but +they wot not where they will be led on." + +"You are right, dame; you know best, no doubt," said Tib, in +helpless perplexity. "I wot nothing of such gear. What would you +do?" + +"Have the maid wedded at once, ere any harm come of it," returned +Perronel promptly. "She will make a good wife--there will be no +complaining of her tongue, and she is well instructed in all good +housewifery." + +"To whom then would you give her?" asked Tibble. + +"Ay, that's the question. Comely and good she is, but she is +outlandish, and I fear me 'twould take a handsome portion to get her +dark skin and Moorish blood o'erlooked. Nor hath she aught, poor +maid, save yonder gold and pearl earrings, and a cross of gold that +she says her father bade her never part with." + +"I pledged my word to her father," said Tibble, "that I would have a +care of her. I have not cared to hoard, having none to come after +me, but if a matter of twenty or five-and-twenty marks would avail-- +" + +"Wherefore not take her yourself?" said Perronel, as he stood +aghast. "She is a maid of sweet obedient conditions, trained by a +scholar even like yourself. She would make your chamber fair and +comfortable, and tend you dutifully." + +"Whisht, good woman. 'Tis too dark to see, or you could not speak +of wedlock to such as I. Think of the poor maid!" + +"That is all folly! She would soon know you for a better husband +than one of those young feather-pates, who have no care but of +themselves." + +"Nay, mistress," said Tibble, gravely, "your advice will not serve +here. To bring that fair young wench hither, to this very court, +mind you, with a mate loathly to behold as I be, and with the lad +there ever before her, would be verily to give place to the devil." + +"But you are the best sword-cutler in London. You could make a +living without service." + +"I am bound by too many years of faithful kindness to quit my master +or my home at the Dragon," said Tibble. "Nay, that will not serve, +good friend." + +"Then what can be done?" asked Perronel, somewhat in despair. +"There are the young sparks at the Temple. One or two of them are +already beginning to cast eyes at her, so that I dare not let her +help me carry home my basket, far less go alone. 'Tis not the +wench's fault. She shrinks from men's eyes more than any maid I +ever saw, but if she bide long with me, I wot not what may come of +it. There be rufflers there who would not stick to carry her off!" + +Tibble stood considering, and presently said, "Mayhap the Dean might +aid thee in this matter. He is free of hand and kind of heart, and +belike he would dower the maid, and find an honest man to wed her." + +Perronel thought well of the suggestion, and decided that after the +mass on All Soul's Day, and the general visiting of the graves of +kindred, she would send Aldonza home with Dennet, whom they were +sure to meet in the Pardon Churchyard, since her mother, as well as +Abenali and Martin Fulford lay there; and herself endeavour to see +Dean Colet, who was sure to be at home, as he was hardly recovered +from an attack of the prevalent disorder. + +Then Tibble escaped, and Perronel drew near to the party round the +fire, where the divination of the burning of nuts was going on, but +not successfully, since no pair hitherto put in would keep together. +However, the next contribution was a snail, which had been captured +on the wall, and was solemnly set to crawl on the hearth by Dennet, +"to see whether it would trace a G or an H." + +However, the creature proved sullen or sleepy, and no jogging of +hands, no enticing, would induce it to crawl an inch, and the +alderman, taking his daughter on his knee, declared that it was a +wise beast, who knew her hap was fixed. Moreover, it was time for +the rere supper, for the serving-men with the lanterns would be +coming for the young folk. + +London entertainments for women or young people had to finish very +early unless they had a strong escort to go home with, for the +streets were far from safe after dark. Giles's great desire to +convoy her home, added to Perronel's determination, and on All +Souls' Day, while knells were ringing from every church in London, +she roused Aldonza from her weeping devotions at her father's grave, +and led her to Dennet, who had just finished her round of prayers at +the grave of the mother she had never known, under the protection of +her nurse, and two or three of the servants. The child, who had +thought little of her mother, while her grandmother was alert and +supplied the tenderness and care she needed, was beginning to yearn +after counsel and sympathy, and to wonder, as she told her beads, +what might have been, had that mother lived. She took Aldonza's +hand, and the two girls threaded their way out of the crowded +churchyard together, while Perronel betook herself to the Deanery of +St. Paul's. + +Good Colet was always accessible to the meanest, but he had been +very ill, and the porter had some doubts about troubling him +respecting the substantial young matron whose trim cap and bodice, +and full petticoats, showed no tokens of distress. However, when +she begged him to take in her message, that she prayed the Dean to +listen to her touching the child of the old man who was slain on May +Eve, he consented; and she was at once admitted to an inner chamber, +where Colet, wrapped in a gown lined with lambskin, sat by the fire, +looking so wan and feeble that it went to the good woman's heart and +she began by an apology for troubling him. + +"Heed not that, good dame," said the Dean, courteously, "but sit +thee down and let me hear of the poor child." + +"Ah, reverend sir, would that she were still a child--" and Perronel +proceeded to tell her difficulties, adding, that if the Dean could +of his goodness promise one of the dowries which were yearly given +to poor maidens of good character, she would inquire among her +gossips for some one to marry the girl. She secretly hoped he would +take the hint, and immediately portion Aldonza himself, perhaps +likewise find the husband. And she was disappointed that he only +promised to consider the matter and let her hear from him. She went +back and told Tibble that his device was nought, an old scholar with +one foot in the grave knew less of women than even he did! + +However it was only four days later, that, as Mrs. Randall was +hanging out her collars to dry, there came up to her from the Temple +stairs a figure whom for a moment she hardly knew, so different was +the long, black garb, and short gown of the lawyer's clerk from the +shabby old green suit that all her endeavours had not been able to +save from many a stain of printer's ink. It was only as he +exclaimed, "Good aunt, I am fain to see thee here!" that she +answered, "What, thou, Ambrose! What a fine fellow thou art! Truly +I knew not thou wast of such good mien! Thou thrivest at Chelsea!" + +"Who would not thrive there?" said Ambrose. "Nay, aunt, tarry a +little, I have a message for thee that I would fain give before we +go in to Aldonza." + +"From his reverence the Dean? Hath he bethought himself of her?" + +"Ay, that hath he done," said Ambrose. "He is not the man to halt +when good may be done. What doth he do, since it seems thou hadst +speech of him, but send for Sir Thomas More, then sitting at +Westminster, to come and see him as soon as the Court brake up, and +I attended my master. They held council together, and by and by +they sent for me to ask me of what conditions and breeding the maid +was, and what I knew of her father?" + +"Will they wed her to thee? That were rarely good, so they gave +thee some good office!" cried his aunt. + +"Nay, nay," said Ambrose. "I have much to learn and understand ere +I think of a wife--if ever. Nay! But when they had heard all I +could tell them, they looked at one another, and the Dean said, 'The +maid is no doubt of high blood in her own land--scarce a mate for a +London butcher or currier." + +"'It were matching an Arab mare with a costard monger's colt,' said +my master, 'or Angelica with Ralph Roisterdoister.'" + +"I'd like to know what were better for the poor outlandish maid than +to give her to some honest man," put in Perronel. + +"The end of it was," said Ambrose, "that Sir Thomas said he was to +be at the palace the next day, and he would strive to move the Queen +to take her countrywoman into her service. Yea, and so he did, but +though Queen Katharine was moved by hearing of a fatherless maid of +Spain, and at first spake of taking her to wait on herself, yet when +she heard the maid's name, and that she was of Moorish blood, she +would none of her. She said that heresy lurked in them all, and +though Sir Thomas offered that the Dean or the Queen's own chaplain +should question her on the faith, it was all lost labour. I heard +him tell the Dean as much, and thus it is that they bade me come for +thee, and for the maid, take boat, and bring you down to Chelsea, +where Sir Thomas will let her be bred up to wait on his little +daughters till he can see what best may be done for her. I trow his +spirit was moved by the Queen's hardness! I heard the Dean mutter, +'Et venient ab Oriente et Occidente.'" + +Perronel hooked alarmed. "The Queen deemed her heretic in grain! +Ah! She is a good wench, and of kind conditions. I would have no +ill befall her, but I am glad to be rid of her. Sir Thomas--he is a +wise man, ay, and a married man, with maidens of his own, and he may +have more wit in the business than the rest of his kind. Be the +matter instant?" + +"Methinks Sir Thomas would have it so, since this being a holy day, +the courts be not sitting, and he is himself at home, so that he can +present the maid to his lady. And that makes no small odds." + +"Yea, but what the lady is makes the greater odds to the maid, I +trow," said Perronel anxiously. + +"Fear not on that score. Dame Alice More is of kindly conditions, +and will be good to any whom her lord commends to her; and as to the +young ladies, never saw I any so sweet or so wise as the two elder +ones, specially Mistress Margaret." + +"Well-a-day! What must be must!" philosophically observed Perronel. +"Now I have my wish, I could mourn over it. I am loth to part with +the wench; and my man, when he comes home, will make an outcry for +his pretty Ally; but 'tis best so. Come, Alice, girl, bestir +thyself. Here's preferment for thee." + +Aldonza raised her great soft eyes in slow wonder, and when she had +heard what was to befall her, declared that she wanted no +advancement, and wished only to remain with mother Perronel. Nay, +she clung to the kind woman, beseeching that she might not be sent +away from the only motherly tenderness she had ever known, and +declaring that she would work all day and all night rather than +leave her; but the more reluctance she showed, the more determined +was Perronel, and she could not but submit to her fate, only adding +one more entreaty that she might take her jackdaw, which was now a +spruce grey-headed bird. Perronel said it would be presumption in a +waiting-woman, but Ambrose declared that at Chelsea there were all +manner of beasts and birds, beloved by the children and by their +father himself, and that he believed the daw would be welcome. At +any rate, if the lady of the house objected to it, it could return +with Mistress Randall. + +Perronel hurried the few preparations, being afraid that Giles might +take advantage of the holiday to appear on the scene, and presently +Aldonza was seated in the boat, making no more lamentations after +she found that her fate was inevitable, but sitting silent, with +downcast head, now and then brushing away a stray tear as it stole +down under her long eyelashes. + +Meantime Ambrose, hoping to raise her spirits, talked to his aunt of +the friendly ease and kindliness of the new home, where he was +evidently as thoroughly happy as it was in his nature to be. He was +much, in the position of a barrister's clerk, superior to that of +the mere servants, but inferior to the young gentlemen of larger +means, though not perhaps of better birth, who had studied law +regularly, and aspired to offices or to legal practice. + +But though Ambrose was ranked with the three or four other clerks, +his functions had more relation to Sir Thomas's literary and +diplomatic avocations than his legal ones. From Lucas Hansen he had +learnt Dutch and French, and he was thus available for copying and +translating foreign correspondence. His knowledge of Latin and +smattering of Greek enabled him to be employed in copying into a +book some of the inestimable letters of Erasmus which arrived from +time to time, and Sir Thomas promoted his desire to improve himself, +and had requested Mr. Clements, the tutor of the children of the +house, to give him weekly lessons in Latin and Greek. + +Sir Thomas had himself pointed out to him books calculated to settle +his mind on the truth and catholicity of the Church, and had warned +him against meddling with the fiery controversial tracts which, +smuggled in often through Lucas's means, had set his mind in +commotion. And for the present at least beneath the shadow of the +great man's intelligent devotion, Ambrose's restless spirit was +tranquil. + +Of course, he did not explain his state of mind to his aunt, but she +gathered enough to be well content, and tried to encourage Aldonza, +when at length they landed near Chelsea Church, and Ambrose led the +way to an extensive pleasaunce or park, full of elms and oaks, whose +yellow leaves were floating like golden rain in the sunshine. + +Presently children's voices guided them to a large chestnut tree. +"Lo you now, I hear Mistress Meg's voice, and where she is, his +honour will ever be," said Ambrose. + +And sure enough, among a group of five girls and one boy, all +between fourteen and nine years old, was the great lawyer, knocking +down the chestnuts with a long pole, while the young ones flew about +picking up the burrs from the grass, exclaiming joyously when they +found a full one. + +Ambrose explained that of the young ladies, one was Mistress +Middleton, Lady More's daughter by a former marriage, another a +kinswoman. Perronel was for passing by unnoticed; but Ambrose knew +better; and Sir Thomas, leaning on the pole, called out, "Ha, my +Birkenholt, a forester born, knowst thou any mode of bringing down +yonder chestnuts, which being the least within reach, seem in course +the meetest of all." + +"I would I were my brother, your honour," said Ambrose, "then would +I climb the thee." + +"Thou shouldst bring him one of these days," said Sir Thomas. "But +thou hast instead brought in a fair maid. See, Meg, yonder is the +poor young girl who lost her father on Ill May day. Lead her on and +make her good cheer, while I speak to this good dame." + +Margaret More, a slender, dark-eyed girl of thirteen, went forward +with a peculiar gentle grace to the stranger, saying, "Welcome, +sweet maid! I hope we shall make thee happy," and seeing the +mournful countenance, she not only took Aldonza's hand, but kissed +her cheek. + +Sir Thomas had exchanged a word or two with Perronel, when there was +a cry from the younger children, who had detected the wicker cage +which Perronel was trying to keep in the background. + +"A daw! a daw!" was the cry. "Is't for us?" + +"Oh, mistress," faltered Aldonza, "'tis mine--there was one who +tamed it for me, and I promised ever to keep it, but if the good +knight and lady forbid it, we will send it back." + +"Nay now, John, Cicely," was Margaret saying, "'tis her own bird! +Wot ye not our father will let us take nought of them that come to +him? Yea, Al-don-za--is not that thy name?--I am sure my father +will have thee keep it." + +She led up Aldonza, making the request for her. Sir Thomas smiled. + +"Keep thy bird? Nay, that thou shalt. Look at him, Meg, is he not +in fit livery for a lawyer's house? Mark his trim legs, sable +doublet and hose, and grey hood--and see, he hath the very eye of a +councillor seeking for suits, as he looketh at the chestnuts John +holdeth to him. I warrant he hath a tongue likewise. Canst plead +for thy dinner, bird?" + +"I love Giles!" uttered the black beak, to the confusion and +indignation of Perronel. + +The perverse bird had heard Giles often dictate this avowal, but had +entirely refused to repeat it, till, stimulated by the new +surroundings, it had for the first time uttered it. + +"Ah! thou foolish daw! Crow that thou art! Had I known thou hadst +such a word in thy beak, I'd have wrung thy neck sooner than have +brought thee," muttered Perronel. "I had best take thee home +without more ado." + +It was too late, however, the children were delighted, and perfectly +willing that Aldonza should own the bird, so they might hear it +speak, and thus the introduction was over. Aldonza and her daw were +conveyed to Dame Alice More, a stout, good-tempered woman, who had +too many dependents about her house to concern herself greatly about +the introduction of another. + +And thus Aldonza was installed in the long, low, two-storied red +house which was to be her place of home-like service. + + + +CHAPTER XX. CLOTH OF GOLD ON THE SEAMY SIDE + + + + "Then you lost +The view of earthly glory: men might say +Till this time pomp was single; but now married +To one above itself."--SHAKESPEARE. + +If Giles Headley murmured at Aldonza's removal, it was only to +Perronel, and that discreet woman kept it to herself. + +In the summer of 1519 he was out of his apprenticeship, and though +Dennet was only fifteen, it was not uncommon for brides to be even +younger. However, the autumn of that year was signalised by a fresh +outbreak of the sweating sickness, apparently a sort of influenza, +and no festivities could be thought of. The King and Queen kept at +a safe distance from London, and escaped, so did the inmates of the +pleasant house at Chelsea; but the Cardinal, who, as Lord +Chancellor, could not entirely absent himself from Westminster, was +four times attacked by it, and Dean Colet, a far less robust man, +had it three times, and sank at last under it. Sir Thomas More went +to see his beloved old friend, and knowing Ambrose's devotion, let +the young man be his attendant. Nor could those who saw the good +man ever forget his peaceful farewells, grieving only for the old +mother who had lived with him in the Deanery, and in the ninetieth +year of her age, thus was bereaved of the last of her twenty-one +children. For himself, he was thankful to be taken away from the +evil times he already beheld threatening his beloved St. Paul's, as +well as the entire Church both in England and abroad; looking back +with a sad sweet smile to the happy Oxford days, when he, with More +and Erasmus, + + +"Strained the watchful eye +If chance the golden hours were nigh +By youthful hope seen gleaming round her walls." + + +"But," said he, as he laid his hand in blessing for the last time on +Ambrose's head, "let men say what they will, do thou cling fast to +the Church, nor let thyself be swept away. There are sure promises +to her, and grace is with her to purify herself, even though it be +obscured for a time. Be not of little faith, but believe that +Christ is with us in the ship, though He seem to be asleep." + +He spoke as much to his friend as to the youth, and there can be no +doubt that this consideration was the restraining force with many +who have been stigmatised as half-hearted Reformers, because though +they loved truth, they feared to lose unity. + +He was a great loss at that especial time, as a restraining power, +trusted by the innovators, and a personal friend both of King and +Cardinal, and his preaching and catechising were sorely missed at +St. Paul's. + +Tibble Steelman, though thinking he did not go far enough, deplored +him deeply; but Tibble himself was laid by for many days. The +epidemic went through the Dragon court, though some had it lightly, +and only two young children actually died of it. It laid a heavy +hand on Tibble, and as his distaste for women rendered his den +almost inaccessible to Bet Smallbones, who looked after most of the +patients, Stephen Birkenholt, whose nursing capacities had been +developed in Newgate, spent his spare hours in attending him, sat +with him in the evenings, slept on a pallet by his side, carried him +his meals and often administered them, and finally pulled him +through the illness and its effects, which left him much broken and +never likely to be the same man again. + +Old Mistress Headley, who was already failing, did not have the +actual disease severely, but she never again left her bed, and died +just after Christmas, sinking slowly away with little pain, and her +memory having failed from the first. + +Household affairs had thus shipped so gradually into Dennet's hands +that no change of government was perceptible, except that the keys +hung at the maiden's girdle. She had grown out of the child during +this winter of trouble, and was here, there, and everywhere, the +busy nurse and housewife, seldom pausing to laugh or play except +with her father, and now and then to chat with her old friend and +playfellow, Kit Smallbones. Her childish freedom of manner had +given way to grave discretion, not to say primness, in her behaviour +to her father's guests, and even the apprentices. It was, of +course, the unconscious reaction of the maidenly spirit, aware that +she had nothing but her own modesty to protect her. She was on a +small scale, with no pretensions to beauty, but with a fresh, +honest, sensible young face, a clear skin, and dark eyes that could +be very merry when she would let them, and her whole air and dress +were trimness itself, with an inclination to the choicest materials +permitted to an alderman's daughter. + +Things were going on so smoothly that the alderman was taken by +surprise when all the good wives around began to press on him that +it was incumbent on him to lose no time in marrying his daughter to +her cousin, if not before Lent, yet certainly in the Easter +holidays. + +Dennet looked very grave thereon. Was it not over soon after the +loss of the good grandmother? And when her father said, as the +gossips had told him, that she and Giles need only walk quietly down +some morning to St Faith's and plight their troth, she broke out +into her girlish wilful manner, "Would she be married at all without +a merry wedding? No, indeed! She would not have the thing done in +a corner! What was the use of her being wedded, and having to +consort with the tedious old wives instead of the merry wrenches? +Could she not guide the house, and rule the maids, and get in the +stores, and hinder waste, and make the pasties, and brew the +possets? Had her father found the crust hard, or missed his roasted +crab, or had any one blamed her for want of discretion? Nay, as to +that, she was like to be more discreet as she was, with only her +good old father to please, than with a husband to plague her." + +On the other hand, Giles's demeanour was rather that of one prepared +for the inevitable than that of an eager bridegroom; and when orders +began to pour in for accoutrements of unrivalled magnificence for +the King and the gentlemen who were to accompany him to Ardres, +there to meet the young King of France just after Whitsuntide, +Dennet was the first to assure her father that there would be no +time to think of weddings till all this was over, especially as some +of the establishment would have to be in attendance to repair +casualties at the jousts. + +At this juncture there arrived on business Master Tiptoff, husband +to Giles's sister, bringing greetings from Mrs. Headley at +Salisbury, and inquiries whether the wedding was to take place at +Whitsuntide, in which case she would hasten to be present, and to +take charge of the household, for which her dear daughter was far +too young. Master Tiptoff showed a suspicious alacrity in +undertaking the forwarding of his mother-in-law and her stuff. + +The faces of Master Headley and Tib Steelman were a sight, both +having seen only too much of what the housewifery at Salisbury had +been. The alderman decided on the spot that there could be no +marriage till after the journey to France, since Giles was certainly +to go upon it; and lest Mrs. Headley should be starting on her +journey, he said he should despatch a special messenger to stay her. +Giles, who had of course been longing for the splendid pageant, +cheered up into great amiability, and volunteered to write to his +mother, that she had best not think of coming, till he sent word to +her that matters were forward. Even thus, Master Headley was +somewhat insecure. He thought the dame quite capable of coming and +taking possession of his house in his absence, and therefore +resolved upon staying at home to garrison it; but there was then the +further difficulty that Tibble was in no condition to take his place +on the journey. If the rheumatism seized his right arm, as it had +done in the winter, he would be unable to drive a rivet, and there +would be every danger of it, high summer though it were; for though +the party would carry their own tent and bedding, the knights and +gentlemen would be certain to take all the best places, and they +might be driven into a damp corner. Indeed it was not impossible +that their tent itself might be seized, for many a noble or his +attendants might think that beggarly artisans had no right to +comforts which he had been too improvident to afford, especially if +the alderman himself were absent. + +Not only did Master Headley really love his trusty foreman too well +to expose him to such chances, but Tibble knew too well that there +were brutal young men to whom his contorted-visage would be an +incitement to contempt and outrage, and that if racked with +rheumatism, he would only be an incumbrance. There was nothing for +it but to put Kit Smallbones at the head of the party. His imposing +presence would keep off wanton insults, but on the other hand, he +had not the moral weight of authority possessed by Tibble, and +though far from being a drunkard, he was not proof against a +carouse, especially when out of reach of his Bet and of his master, +and he was not by any means Tib's equal in fine and delicate +workmanship. But on the other hand, Tib pronounced that Stephen +Birkenholt was already well skilled in chasing metal and the +difficult art of restoring inlaid work, and he showed some black and +silver armour, that was in hand for the King, which fully bore out +his words. + +"And thou thinkst Kit can rule the lads!" said the alderman, scarce +willingly. + +"One of them at least can rule himself," said Tibble. "They have +both been far more discreet since the fright they got on Ill May +day; and, as for Stephen, he hath seemed to me to have no eyes nor +thought save for his work of late." + +"I have marked him," said the master, "and have marvelled what ailed +the lad. His merry temper hath left him. I never hear him singing +to keep time with his hammer, nor keeping the court in a roar with +his gibes. I trust he is not running after the new doctrine of the +hawkers and pedlars. His brother was inclined that way." + +"There be worse folk than they, your worship," protested Tib, but he +did not pursue their defence, only adding, "but 'tis not that which +ails young Stephen. I would it were!" he sighed to himself, +inaudibly. + +"Well," said the good-natured alderman, "it may be he misseth his +brother. The boys will care for this raree-show more than thou or +I, Tib! We've seen enough of them in our day, though verily they +say this is to surpass all that ever were beheld!" + +The question of who was to go had not been hitherto decided, and +Giles and Stephen were both so excited at being chosen that all low +spirits and moodiness were dispelled, and the work which went on +almost all night was merrily got through. The Dragon court was in a +perpetual commotion with knights, squires, and grooms, coming in +with orders for new armour, or for old to be furbished, and the +tent-makers, lorimers, mercers, and tailors had their hands equally +full. These lengthening mornings heard the hammer ringing at +sunrise, and in the final rush, Smallbones never went to bed at all. +He said he should make it up in the waggon on the way to Dover. +Some hinted that he preferred the clang of his hammer to the good +advice his Bet lavished on him at every leisure moment to forewarn +him against French wine-pots. + +The alderman might be content with the party he sent forth, for Kit +had hardly his equal in size, strength, and good humour. Giles had +developed into a tall, comely young man, who had got rid of his +country slouch, and whose tall figure, light locks, and ruddy cheeks +looked well in the new suit which gratified his love of finery, +sober-hued as it needs must be. Stephen was still bound to the old +prentice garb, though it could not conceal his good mien, the bright +sparkling dark eyes, crisp black hair, healthy brown skin, and lithe +active figure. Giles had a stout roadster to ride on, the others +were to travel in their own waggon, furnished with four powerful +horses, which, if possible, they were to take to Calais, so as to be +independent of hiring. Their needments, clothes, and tools, were +packed in the waggon, with store of lances, and other appliances of +the tourney. A carter and Will Wherry, who was selected as being +supposed to be conversant with foreign tongues, were to attend on +them; Smallbones, as senior journeyman, had the control of the +party, and Giles had sufficiently learnt subordination not to be +likely to give himself dangerous airs of mastership. + +Dennet was astir early to see them off, and she had a little gift +for each. She began with her oldest friend. "See here, Kit," she +said, "here's a wallet to hold thy nails and rivets. What wilt thou +say to me for such a piece of stitchery?" + +"Say, pretty mistress? Why this!" quoth the giant, and he picked +her up by the slim waist in his great hands, and kissed her on the +forehead. He had done the like many a time nine or ten years ago, +and though Master Headley laughed, Dennet was not one bit +embarrassed, and turned to the next traveller. "Thou art no more a +prentice, Giles, and canst wear this in thy bonnet," she said, +holding out to him a short silver chain and medal of St. George and +the Dragon. + +"Thanks, gentle maid," said Giles, taking the handsome gift a little +sheepishly. "My bonnet will make a fair show," and he bent down as +she stood on the step, and saluted her lips, then began eagerly +fastening the chain round his cap, as one delighted with the +ornament. + +Stephen was some distance off. He had turned aside when she spoke +to Giles, and was asking of Tibble last instructions about the +restoration of enamel, when he felt a touch on his arm, and saw +Dennet standing by him. She looked up in his face, and held up a +crimson silken purse, with S. B embroidered on it with a wreath of +oak and holly leaves. + +With the air that ever showed his gentle blood, Stephen put a knee +to the ground, and kissed the fingers that held it to him, whereupon +Dennet, a sudden burning blush overspreading her face under her +little pointed hood, turned suddenly round and ran into the house. +She was out again on the steps when the waggon finally got under +weigh, and as her eyes met Stephen's, he doffed his flat cap with +one hand, and laid the other on his heart, so that she knew where +her purse had taken up its abode. + +Of the Field of the Cloth of Gold not much need be said. To the end +of the lives of the spectators, it was a tale of wonder. Indeed +without that, the very sight of the pavilions was a marvel in +itself, the blue dome of Francis spangled in imitation of the sky, +with sun, moon, and stars; and the feudal castle of Henry, a three +months' work, each surrounded with tents of every colour and pattern +which fancy could devise, with the owners' banners or pennons +floating from the summits, and every creature, man, and horse, +within the enchanted precincts, equally gorgeous. It was the +brightest and the last full display of magnificent pseudo chivalry, +and to Stephen's dazzled eye, seeing it beneath the slant rays of +the setting sun of June, it was a fairy tale come to life. Hal +Randall, who was in attendance on the Cardinal, declared that it was +a mere surfeit of jewels and gold and silver, and that a frieze +jerkin or leathern coat was an absolute refreshment to the sight. +He therefore spent all the time he was off duty in the forge far in +the rear, where Smallbones and his party had very little but hard +work, mending, whetting, furbishing, and even changing devices. +Those six days of tilting when "every man that stood, showed like a +mine," kept the armourers in full occupation night and day, and only +now and then could the youths try to make their way to some spot +whence they could see the tournament. + +Smallbones was more excited by the report of fountains of good red +and white wines of all sorts, flowing perpetually in the court of +King Henry's splended mock castle; but fortunately one gulp was +enough for an English palate nurtured on ale and mead, and he was +disgusted at the heaps of country folk, men-at-arms, beggars and +vagabonds of all kinds, who swilled the liquor continually, and, in +loathsome contrast to the external splendours, lay wallowing on the +ground so thickly that it was sometimes hardly possible to move +without treading on them. + +"I stumbled over a dozen," said the jester, as he strolled into the +little staked inclosure that the Dragon party had arranged round +their tent for the prosecution of their labours, which were too +important to all the champions not to be respected. "Lance and +sword have not laid so many low in the lists as have the doughty +Baron Burgundy and the heady knight Messire Sherris Sack." + +"Villain Verjuice and Varlet Vinegar is what Kit there calls them," +said Stephen, looking up from the work he was carrying on over a pan +of glowing charcoal. + +"Yea," said Smallbones, intermitting his noisy operations, "and the +more of swine be they that gorge themselves on it. I told Jack and +Hob that 'twould be shame for English folk to drown themselves like +French frogs or Flemish hogs." + +"Hogs!" returned Randall. "A decent Hampshire hog would scorn to be +lodged as many a knight and squire and lady too is now, pigging it +in styes and hovels and haylofts by night, and pranking it by day +with the best!" + +"Sooth enough," said Smallbones. "Yea, we have had two knights and +their squires beseeching us for leave to sleep under our waggon! +Not an angel had they got among the four of them either, having all +their year's income on their backs, and more too. I trow they and +their heirs will have good cause to remember this same Field of +Gold." + +"And what be'st thou doing, nevvy?" asked the jester. "Thy trade +seems as brisk as though red blood were flowing instead of red +wine." + +"I am doing my part towards making the King into Hercules," said +Stephen, "though verily the tailor hath more part therein than we +have; but he must needs have a breastplate of scales of gold, and +that by to-morrow's morn. As Ambrose would say, 'if he will be a +pagan god, he should have what's-his-name, the smith of the gods, to +work for him.'" + +"I heard of that freak," said the jester. "There be a dozen tailors +and all the Queen's tirewomen frizzling up a good piece of cloth of +gold for the lion's mane, covering a club with green damask with +pricks, cutting out green velvet and gummed silk for his garland! +In sooth, these graces have left me so far behind in foolery that I +have not a jest left in my pouch! So here I be, while my Lord +Cardinal is shut up with Madame d'Angouleme in the castle--the real +old castle, mind you--doing the work, leaving the kings and queens +to do their own fooling." + +"Have you spoken with the French King, Hal?" asked Smallbones, who +had become a great crony of his, since the anxieties of May Eve. + +"So far as I may when I have no French, and he no English! He is a +comely fellow, with a blithe tongue and a merry eye, I warrant you a +chanticleer who will lose nought for lack of crowing. He'll crow +louder than ever now he hath given our Harry a fall." + +"No! hath he?" and Giles, Stephen, and Smallbones, all suspended +their work to listen in concern. + +"Ay marry, hath he! The two took it into their royal noddles to try +a fall, and wrestled together on the grass, when by some ill hap, +this same Francis tripped up our Harry, so that he was on the sward +for a moment. He was up again forthwith, and in full heart for +another round, when all the Frenchmen burst in gabbling; and, though +their King was willing to play the match out fairly, they wouldn't +let him, and my Lord Cardinal said something about making ill blood, +whereat our King laughed and was content to leave it. As I told +him, we have given the French falls enough to let them make much of +this one." + +"I hope he will yet give the mounseer a good shaking," muttered +Smallbones. + +"How now, Will! Who's that at the door? We are on his grace's work +and can touch none other man's were it the King of France himself, +or his Constable, who is finer still." + +By way of expressing "No admittance except on business," Smallbones +kept Will Wherry in charge of the door of his little territory, +which having a mud wall on two sides, and a broad brook with quaking +banks on a third, had been easily fenced on the fourth, so as to +protect tent, waggon, horses, and work from the incursions of +idlers. Will however answered, "The gentleman saith he hath kindred +here." + +"Ay!" and there pushed in, past the lad a tall, lean form, with a +gay but soiled short cloak over one shoulder, a suit of worn buff, a +cap garnished with a dilapidated black and yellow feather, and a +pair of gilt spurs. "If this be as they told me, where Armourer +Headley's folk lodge--I have here a sort of a cousin. Yea, yonder's +the brave lad who had no qualms at the flash of a good Toledo in a +knight's fist. How now, my nevvy! Is not my daughter's nevvy-- +mine?" + +"Save your knighthood!" said Smallbones. "Who would have looked to +see you here, Sir John? Methought you were in the Emperor's +service!" + +"A stout man-at-arms is of all services," returned Fulford. "I'm +here with half Flanders to see this mighty show, and pick up a few +more lusty Badgers at this encounter of old comrades. Is old +Headley here?" + +"Nay, he is safe at home, where I would I were," sighed Kit. + +"And you are my young master his nephew, who knew where to purvey me +of good steel," added Fulford, shaking Giles's hand. "You are fain, +doubtless, you youngsters, to be forth without the old man. Ha! and +you've no lack of merry company." + +Harry Randall's first impulse had been to look to the right and left +for the means of avoiding this encounter, but there was no escape; +and he was moreover in most fantastic motley, arrayed in one of the +many suits provided for the occasion. It was in imitation of a +parrot, brilliant grass-green velvet, touched here and there with +scarlet, yellow, or blue. He had been only half disguised on the +occasion of Fulford's visit to his wife, and he perceived the start +of recognition in the eyes of the Condottiere, so that he knew it +would be vain to try to conceal his identity. + +"You sought Stephen Birkenholt," he said. "And you've lit on +something nearer, if so be you'll acknowledge the paraquito that +your Perronel hath mated with." + +The Condottiere burst into a roar of laughter so violent that he had +to lean against the mud wall, and hold his sides. "Ha, ha! that I +should be father-in-law to a fool!" and then he set off again. +"That the sober, dainty little wench should have wedded a fool! Ha! +ha! ha!" + +"Sir," cried Stephen hotly, "I would have you to know that mine +uncle here, Master Harry Randall, is a yeoman of good birth, and +that he undertook his present part to support your own father and +child! Methinks you are the last who should jeer at and insult +him!" + +"Stephen is right," said Giles. "This is my kinsman's tent, and no +man shall say a word against Master Harry Randall therein." + +"Well crowed, my young London gamebirds," returned Fulford, coolly. +"I meant no disrespect to the gentleman in green. Nay, I am +mightily beholden to him for acting his part out and taking on +himself that would scarce befit a gentleman of a company-- +impedimenta, as we used to say in the grammar school. How does the +old man?--I must find some token to send him." + +"He is beyond the reach of all tokens from you save prayers and +masses," returned Randall, gravely. + +"Ay? You say not so? Old gaffer dead?" And when the soldier was +told how the feeble thread of life had been snapped by the shock of +joy on his coming, a fit of compunction and sorrow seized him. He +covered his face with his hands and wept with a loudness of grief +that surprised and touched his hearers; and presently began to +bemoan himself that he had hardly a mark in his purse to pay for a +mass; but therewith he proceeded to erect before him the cross hilt +of poor Abenali's sword, and to vow thereupon that the first spoil +and the first ransom, that it should please the saints to send him, +should be entirely spent in masses for the soul of Martin Fulford. +This tribute apparently stilled both grief and remorse, for looking +up at the grotesque figure of Randall, he said, "Methought they told +me, master son, that you were in the right quarters for beads and +masses and all that gear--a varlet of Master Butcher-Cardinal's, or +the like--but mayhap 'twas part of your fooling." + +"Not so," replied Randall. "'Tis to the Cardinal that I belong," +holding out his sleeve, where the scarlet hat was neatly worked, +"and I'll brook no word against his honour." + +"Ho! ho! Maybe you looked to have the hat on your own head," quoth +Fulford, waxing familiar, "if your master comes to be Pope after his +own reckoning. Why, I've known a Cardinal get the scarlet because +an ape had danced on the roof with him in his arms!" + +"You forget! I'm a wedded man," said Randall, who certainly, in +private life, had much less of the buffoon about him than his +father-in-law. + +"Impedimentum again," whistled the knight. "Put a halter round her +neck, and sell her for a pot of beer." + +"I'd rather put a halter round my own neck for good and all," said +Hal, his face reddening; but among other accomplishments of his +position, he had learnt to keep his temper, however indignant he +felt. + +"Well--she's a knight's daughter, and preferments will be plenty. +Thou'lt make me captain of the Pope's guard, fair son--there's no +post I should like better. Or I might put up with an Italian +earldom or the like. Honour would befit me quite as well as that +old fellow, Prosper Colonna; and the Badgers would well become the +Pope's scarlet and yellow liveries." + +The Badgers, it appeared, were in camp not far from Gravelines, +whence the Emperor was watching the conference between his uncle-in- +law and his chief enemy; and thence Fulford, who had a good many +French acquaintance, having once served under Francis I., had come +over to see the sport. Moreover, he contrived to attach himself to +the armourer's party, in a manner that either Alderman Headley +himself, or Tibble Steelman, would effectually have prevented; but +which Kit Smallbones had not sufficient moral weight to hinder, even +if he had had a greater dislike to being treated as a boon companion +by a knight who had seen the world, could appreciate good ale, and +tell all manner of tales of his experiences. + +So the odd sort of kindred that the captain chose to claim with +Stephen Birkenholt was allowed, and in right of it, he was permitted +to sleep in the waggon; and thereupon his big raw-boned charger was +found sharing the fodder of the plump broad-backed cart horses, +while he himself, whenever sport was not going forward for him, or +work for the armourers, sat discussing with Kit the merits or +demerits of the liquors of all nations, either in their own yard or +in some of the numerous drinking booths that had sprung up around. + +To no one was this arrangement so distasteful as to Quipsome Hal, +who felt himself in some sort the occasion of the intrusion, and yet +was quite unable to prevent it, while everything he said was treated +as a joke by his unwelcome father-in-law. It was a coarse time, and +Wolsey's was not a refined or spiritual establishment, but it was +decorous, and Randall had such an affection and respect for the +innocence of his sister's young son, that he could not bear to have +him exposed to the company of one habituated to the licentiousness +of the mercenary soldier. At first the jester hoped to remove the +lads from the danger, for the brief remainder of their stay, by +making double exertion to obtain places for them at any diversion +which might be going on when their day's work was ended, and of +these, of course, there was a wide choice, subordinate to the +magnificent masquing of kings and queens. On the last midsummer +evening, while their majesties were taking leave of one another, a +company of strolling players were exhibiting in an extemporary +theatre, and here Hal incited both the youths to obtain seats. The +drama was on one of the ordinary and frequent topics of that, as of +all other times, and the dumb show and gestures were far more +effective than the words, so that even those who did not understand +the language of the comedians, who seemed to be Italians, could +enter into it, especially as it was interspersed with very +expressive songs. + +An old baron insists on betrothing his daughter and heiress to her +kinsman freshly knighted. She is reluctant, weeps, and is +threatened, singing afterwards her despair (of course she really was +a black-eyed boy). That song was followed by a still more +despairing one from the baron's squire, and a tender interview +between them followed. + +Then came discovery, the baron descending as a thunderbolt, the +banishment of the squire, the lady driven at last to wed the young +knight, her weeping and bewailing herself under his ill-treatment, +which extended to pulling her about by the hair, the return of the +lover, notified by a song behind the scenes, a dangerously +affectionate meeting, interrupted by the husband, a fierce clashing +of swords, mutual slaughter by the two gentlemen, and the lady dying +of grief on the top of her lover. + +Such was the argument of this tragedy, which Giles Headley +pronounced to be very dreary pastime, indeed he was amusing himself +with an exchange of comfits with a youth who sat next him all the +time--for he had found Stephen utterly deaf to aught but the +tragedy, following every gesture with eager eyes, lips quivering, +and eyes filling at the strains of the love songs, though they were +in their native Italian, of which he understood not a word. He rose +up with a heavy groan when all was over, as if not yet disenchanted, +and hardly answered when his uncle spoke to him afterwards. It was +to ask whether the Dragon party were to return at once to London, or +to accompany the Court to Gravelines, where, it had just been +announced, the King intended to pay a visit to his nephew, the +Emperor. + +Neither Stephen nor Giles knew, but when they reached their own +quarters they found that Smallbones had received an intimation that +there might be jousts, and that the offices of the armourers would +be required. He was very busy packing up his tools, but loudly +hilarious, and Sir John Fulford, with a flask of wine beside him, +was swaggering and shouting orders to the men as though he were the +head of the expedition. + +Revelations come in strange ways. Perhaps that Italian play might +be called Galeotto to Stephen Birkenholt. It affected him all the +more because he was not distracted by the dialogue, but was only +powerfully touched by the music, and, in the gestures of the lovers, +felt all the force of sympathy. It was to him like a kind of +prophetic mirror, revealing to him the true meaning of all he had +ever felt for Dennet Headley, and of his vexation and impatience at +seeing her bestowed upon a dull and indifferent lout like her +kinsman, who not only was not good enough for her, but did not even +love her, or accept her as anything but his title to the Dragon +court. He now thrilled and tingled from head to foot with the +perceptions that all this meant love--love to Dennet; and in every +act of the drama he beheld only himself, Giles, and Dennet. +Watching at first with a sweet fascination, his feelings changed, +now to strong yearning, now to hot wrath, and then to horror and +dismay. In his troubled sleep after the spectacle, he identified +himself with the lover, sang, wooed, and struggled in his person, +woke with a start of relief, to find Giles snoring safely beside +him, and the watch-dog on his chest instead of an expiring lady. He +had not made unholy love to sweet Dennet, nor imperilled her good +name, nor slain his comrade. Nor was she yet wedded to that oaf, +Giles! But she would be in a few weeks, and then! How was he to +brook the sight, chained as he was to the Dragon court--see Giles +lord it over her, and all of them, see her missing the love that was +burning for her elsewhere. Stephen lost his boyhood on that +evening, and, though force of habit kept him like himself outwardly, +he never was alone, without feeling dazed, and torn in every +direction at once. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. SWORD OR SMITHY + + + +"Darest thou be so valiant as to play the coward with thy indenture, +and to show it a fair pair of heels and run from it?" + +SHAKESPEARE. + +Tidings came forth on the parting from the French King that the +English Court was about to move to Gravelines to pay a visit to the +Emperor and his aunt, the Duchess of Savoy. As it was hoped that +jousts might make part of the entertainment, the attendance of the +Dragon party was required. Giles was unfeignedly delighted at this +extension of holiday, Stephen felt that it deferred the day--would +it be of strange joy or pain?--of standing face to face with Dennet; +and even Kit had come to tolerate foreign parts more with Sir John +Fulford to show him the way to the best Flemish ale! + +The knight took upon himself the conduct of the Dragons. He +understood how to lead them by routes where all provisions and ale +had not been consumed; and he knew how to swagger and threaten so as +to obtain the best of liquor and provisions at each kermesse--at +least so he said, though it might be doubted whether the Flemings +might not have been more willing to yield up their stores to Kit's +open, honest face and free hand. + +However, Fulford seemed to consider himself one with the party; and +he beguiled the way by tales of the doings of the Badgers in Italy +and Savoy, which were listened to with avidity by the lads, +distracting Stephen from the pain at his heart, and filling both +with excitement. They were to have the honour of seeing the Badgers +at Gravelines, where they were encamped outside the city to serve as +a guard to the great inclosure that was being made of canvas +stretched on the masts of ships to mark out the space for a great +banquet and dance. + +The weather broke however just as Henry, his wife and his sister, +entered Gravelines; it rained pertinaciously, a tempestuous wind +blew down the erection, and as there was no time to set it up again, +the sports necessarily took place in the castle and town hall. +There was no occasion for the exercise of the armourer's craft, and +as Charles had forbidden the concourse of all save invited guests, +everything was comparatively quiet and dull, though the +entertainment was on the most liberal scale. Lodgings were provided +in the city at the Emperor's expense, and wherever an Englishman was +quartered each night, the imperial officers brought a cast of fine +manchet bread, two great silver pots with wine, a pound of sugar, +white and yellow candles, and a torch. As Randall said, "Charles +gave solid pudding where Francis gave empty praise"! + +Smallbones and the two youths had very little to do, save to consume +these provisions and accept the hospitality freely offered to them +at the camp of the Badgers, where Smallbones and the Ancient of the +troop sat fraternising over big flagons of Flemish ale, which did +not visibly intoxicate the honest smith, but kept him in the dull +and drowsy state, which was his idea of the dolce far niente of a +holiday. Meanwhile the two youths were made much of by the +warriors, Stephen's dexterity with the bow and back-sword were shown +off and lauded, Giles's strength was praised, and all manner of new +feats were taught them, all manner of stories told them; and the +shrinking of well-trained young citizens from these lawless me "full +of strange oaths and bearded like the pard," and some very +truculent-looking, had given way to judicious flattery, and to the +attractions of adventure and of a free life, where wealth and honour +awaited the bold. + +Stephen was told that the gentleman in him was visible, that he +ought to disdain the flat cap and blue gown, that here was his +opportunity, and that among the Badgers he would soon be so rich, +famous, glorious, as to wonder that he had ever tolerated the greasy +mechanical life of a base burgher. Respect to his oaths to his +master--Sir John laughed the scruple to scorn; nay, if he were so +tender, he could buy his absolution the first time he had his pouch +full of gold. + +"What shall I do?" was the cry of Stephen's heart. "My honour and +my oath. They bind me. SHE would weep. My master would deem me +ungrateful, Ambrose break his heart. And yet who knows but I should +do worse if I stayed, I shall break my own heart if I do. I shall +not see--I may forget. No, no, never! but at least I shall never +know the moment when the lubber takes the jewel he knows not how to +prize! Marches--sieges--there shall I quell this wild beating! I +may die there. At least they will allay this present frenzy of my +blood." + +And he listened when Fulford and Will Marden, a young English man- +at-arms with whom he had made friends, concerted how he should meet +them at an inn--the sign of the Seven Stars--in Gravelines, and +there exchange his prentice's garb for the buff coat and corslet of +a Badger, with the Austrian black and yellow scarf. He listened, +but he had not promised. The sense of duty to his master, the +honour to his word, always recurred like "first thoughts," though +the longing to escape, the restlessness of hopeless love, the +youthful eagerness for adventure and freedom, swept it aside again +and again. + +He had not seen his uncle since the evening of the comedy, for Hal +had travelled in the Cardinal's suite, and the amusements being all +within doors, jesters were much in request, as indeed Charles V. was +curious in fools, and generally had at least three in attendance. +Stephen, moreover, always shrank from his uncle when acting +professionally. He had learnt to love and esteem the man during his +troubles, but this only rendered the sight of his buffoonery more +distressing, and as Randall had not provided himself with his home +suit, they were the more cut off from one another. Thus there was +all the less to counteract or show the fallacy of Fulford's +recruiting blandishments. + +The day had come on the evening of which Stephen was to meet Fulford +and Marden at the Seven Stars and give them his final answer, in +time to allow of their smuggling him out of the city, and sending +him away into the country, since Smallbones would certainly suspect +him to be in the camp, and as he was still an apprentice, it was +possible, though not probable, that the town magistrates might be +incited to make search on inquiry, as they were very jealous of the +luring away of their apprentices by the Free Companies, and moreover +his uncle might move the Cardinal and the King to cause measures to +be taken for his recovery. + +Ill at ease, Stephen wandered away from the hostel where Smallbones +was entertaining his friend, the Ancient. He had not gone far down +the street when a familiar figure met his eye, no other than that of +Lucas Hansen, his brother's old master, walking along with a pack on +his back. Grown as Stephen was, the old man's recognition was as +rapid as his own, and there was a clasp of the hand, an exchange of +greeting, while Lucas eagerly asked after his dear pupil, Ambrose. + +"Come in hither, and we can speak more at ease," said Lucas, leading +the way up the common staircase of a tall house, whose upper stories +overhung the street. Up and up, Lucas led the way to a room in the +high peaked roof, looking out at the back. Here Stephen recognised +a press, but it was not at work, only a young friar was sitting +there engaged in sewing up sheets so as to form a pamphlet. Lucas +spoke to him in Flemish to explain his own return with the English +prentice. + +"Dost thou dwell here, sir?" asked Stephen. "I thought Rotterdam +was thine home." + +"Yea," said Lucas, "so it be, but I am sojourning here to aid in +bearing about the seed of the Gospel, for which I walk through these +lands of ours. But tell me of thy brother, and of the little +Moorish maiden?" + +Stephen replied with an account of both Ambrose and Aldonza, and +likewise of Tibble Steelman, explaining how ill the last had been in +the winter, and that therefore he could not be with the party. + +"I would I had a token to send him," said Lucas; "but I have nought +here that is not either in the Dutch or the French, and neither of +those tongues doth he understand. But thy brother, the good +Ambrose, can read the Dutch. Wilt thou carry him from me this fresh +tractate, showing how many there be that make light of the Apostle +Paul's words not to do evil that good may come?" + +Stephen had been hearing rather listlessly, thinking how little the +good man suspected how doubtful it was that he should bear messages +to Ambrose. Now, on that sore spot in his conscience, that sentence +darted like an arrow, the shaft finding "mark the archer little +meant," and with a start, not lost on Lucas, he exclaimed "Saith the +holy Saint Paul that?" + +"Assuredly, my son. Brother Cornelis, who is one whose eyes have +been opened, can show you the very words, if thou hast any Latin." + +Perhaps to gain time, Stephen assented, and the young friar, with a +somewhat inquisitive look, presently brought him the sentence "Et +non faciamus mala ut veniant bona." + +Stephen's Latin was not very fresh, and he hardly comprehended the +words, but he stood gazing with a frown of distress on his brow, +which made Lucas say, "My son, thou art sorely bestead. Is there +aught in which a plain old man can help thee, for thy brother's +sake? Speak freely. Brother Cornelis knows not a word of English. +Dost thou owe aught to any man?" + +"Nay, nay--not that," said Stephen, drawn in his trouble and +perplexity to open his heart to this incongruous confidant, "but, +sir, sir, which be the worst, to break my pledge to my master, or to +run into a trial which--which will last from day to day, and may be +too much for me--yea, and for another--at last?" + +The colour, the trembling of limb, the passion of voice, revealed +enough to Lucas to make him say, in the voice of one who, dried up +as he was, had once proved the trial, "'Tis love, thou wouldst say?" + +"Ay, sir," said Stephen, turning away, but in another moment +bursting forth, "I love my master's daughter, and she is to wed her +cousin, who takes her as her father's chattel! I wist not why the +world had grown dark to me till I saw a comedy at Ardres, where, as +in a mirror, 'twas all set forth--yea, and how love was too strong +for him and for her, and how shame and death came thereof." + +"Those players are good for nought but to wake the passions!" +muttered Lucas. + +"Nay, methought they warned me," said Stephen. "For, sir,"--he hid +his burning face in his hands as he leant on the back of a chair--"I +wot that she has ever liked me better, far better than him. And +scarce a night have I closed an eye without dreaming it all, and +finding myself bringing evil on her, till I deemed 'twere better I +never saw her more, and left her to think of me as a forsworn +runagate rather than see her wedded only to be flouted--and maybe-- +do worse." + +"Poor lad!" said Lucas; "and what wouldst thou do?" + +"I have not pledged myself--but I said I would consider of--service +among Fulford's troop," faltered Stephen. + +"Among those ruffians--godless, lawless men!" exclaimed Lucas. + +"Yea, I know what you would say," returned Stephen, "but they are +brave men, better than you deem, sir." + +"Were they angels or saints," said Lucas, rallying his forces, "thou +hast no right to join them. Thine oath fetters thee. Thou hast no +right to break it and do a sure and certain evil to avoid one that +may never befall! How knowst thou how it may be? Nay, if the trial +seem to thee over great, thine apprenticeship will soon be at an +end." + +"Not for two years" + +"Or thy master, if thou spakest the whole truth, would transfer +thine indentures. He is a good man, and if it be as thou sayest, +would not see his child tried too sorely. God will make a way for +the tempted to escape. They need not take the devil's way." + +"Sir," said Stephen, lifting up his head, "I thank you. Thus was +what I needed. I will tell Sir John Fulford that I ought never to +have heeded him." + +"Must thou see him again?" + +"I must. I am to give him his answer at the Seven Stars. But fear +not me, Master Lucas, he shall not lead me away." And Stephen took +a grateful leave of the little Dutchman, and charged himself with +more messages for Ambrose and Tibble than his overburdened spirit +was likely to retain. + +Lucas went down the stairs with him, and as a sudden thought, said +at the foot of them, "'Tis at the Seven Stars thou meetest this +knight. Take an old man's counsel. Taste no liquor there." + +"I am no ale bibber," said Stephen. + +"Nay, I deemed thee none--but heed my words--captains of +landsknechts in kermesses are scarce to be trusted. Taste not." + +Stephen gave a sort of laugh at the precaution, and shook himself +loose. It was still an hour to the time of meeting, and the Ave- +bell was ringing. A church door stood open, and for the first time +since he had been at Gravelines he felt that there would be the calm +he needed to adjust the conflict of his spirits, and comprehend the +new situation, or rather the recurrence to the old one. He seemed +to have recovered his former self, and to be able to perceive that +things might go on as before, and his heart really leapt at finding +he might return to the sight of Dennet and Ambrose and all he loved. + +His wishes were really that way; and Fulford's allurements had +become very shadowy when he made his way to the Seven Stars, whose +vine-covered window allowed many loud voices and fumes of beer and +wine to escape into the summer evening air. + +The room was perhaps cleaner than an English one would have been, +but it was reeking with heat and odours, and the forest-bred youth +was unwilling to enter, but Fulford and two or three Badgers greeted +him noisily and called on him to partake of the supper they had +ready prepared. + +"No, sir knight, I thank you," said Stephen. "I am bound for my +quarters, I came but to thank you for your goodness to me, and to +bid you farewell." + +"And how as to thy pledge to join us, young man?" demanded Fulford +sternly. + +"I gave no pledge," said Stephen. "I said I would consider of it." + +"Faint-hearted! ha! ha!" and the English Badgers translated the word +to the Germans, and set them shouting with derision. + +"I am not faint-hearted," said Stephen; "but I will not break mine +oath to my master." + +"And thine oath to me? Ha!" said Fulford. + +"I sware you no oath, I gave you no word," said Stephen. + +"Ha! Thou darest give me the lie, base prentice. Take that!" + +And therewith he struck Stephen a crushing blow on the head, which +felled him to the ground. The host and all the company, used to +pot-house quarrels, and perhaps playing into his hands, took little +heed; Stephen was dragged insensible into another room, and there +the Badgers began hastily to divest him of his prentice's gown, and +draw his arms into a buff coat. + +Fulford had really been struck with his bravery, and knew besides +that his skill in the armourer's craft would be valuable, so that it +had been determined beforehand that he should--by fair means or +foul--leave the Seven Stars a Badger. + +"By all the powers of hell, you have struck too hard, sir. He is +sped," said Marden anxiously. + +"Ass! tut!" said Fulford. "Only enough to daze him till he be safe +in our quarters--and for that the sooner the better. Here, call +Anton to take his heels. We'll get him forth now as a fellow of our +own." + +"Hark! What's that?" + +"Gentlemen," said the host hurrying in, "here be some of the +gentlemen of the English Cardinal, calling for a nephew of one of +them, who they say is in this house." + +With an imprecation, Fulford denied all connection with gentlemen of +the Cardinal; but there was evidently an invasion, and in another +moment, several powerful-looking men in the crimson and black velvet +of Wolsey's train had forced their way into the chamber, and the +foremost, seeing Stephen's condition at a glance, exclaimed loudly, +"Thou villain! traitor! kidnapper! This is thy work." + +"Ha! ha!" shouted Fulford, "whom have we here? The Cardinal's fool +a masquing! Treat us to a caper, quipsome sir?" + +"I'm more like to treat you to the gyves," returned Randall. "Away +with you! The watch are at hand. Were it not for my wife's sake, +they should bear you off to the city jail; the Emperor should know +how you fill your ranks." + +It was quite true. The city guard were entering at the street door, +and the host hurried Fulford and his men, swearing and raging, out +at a back door provided for such emergencies. Stephen was beginning +to recover by this time. His uncle knelt down, took his head on his +shoulder, and Lucas washed off the blood and administered a drop of +wine. His first words were: + +"Was it Giles? Where is she?" + +"Still going over the play!" thought Lucas. "Nay, nay, lad. 'Twas +one of the soldiers who played thee this scurvy trick! All's well +now. Thou wilt soon be able to quit this place." + +"I remember now," said Stephen, "Sir John said I gave him the lie +when I said I had given no pledge. But I had not!" + +"Thou hast been a brave fellow, and better broken head than broken +troth," said his uncle. + +"But how came you here," asked Stephen. "In the nick of time?" + +It was explained that Lucas, not doubting Stephen's resolution, but +quite aware of the tricks of landsknecht captains with promising +recruits in view, had gone first in search of Smallbones, but had +found him and the Ancient so deeply engaged in potations from the +liberal supply of the Emperor to all English guests, that there was +no getting him apart, and he was too much muddled to comprehend if +he could have been spoken with. + +Lucas then, in desperation, betook himself to the convent where +Wolsey was magnificently lodged. Ill May Day had made him, as well +as others, well acquainted with the relationship between Stephen and +Randall, though he was not aware of the further connection with +Fulford. He hoped, even if unable to see Randall, to obtain help on +behalf of an English lad in danger, and happily he arrived at a +moment when State affairs were going on, and Randall was refreshing +himself by a stroll in the cloister. When Lucas had made him +understand the situation, his dismay was only equalled by his +promptitude. He easily obtained the loan of one of the splendid +suits of scarlet and crimson, guarded with black velvet a hand +broad, which were worn by the Cardinal's secular attendants--for he +was well known by this time in the household to be very far from an +absolute fool, and indeed had done many a good turn to his comrades. +Several of the gentlemen, indignant at the threatened outrage on a +young Englishman, and esteeming the craftsmen of the Dragon, +volunteered to accompany him, and others warned the watch. + +There was some difficulty still, for the burgher guards, coming up +puffing and blowing, wanted to carry off the victim and keep him in +ward to give evidence against the mercenaries, whom they regarded as +a sort of wolves, so that even the Emperor never durst quarter them +within one of the cities. The drawn swords of Randall's friends +however settled that matter, and Stephen, though still dizzy, was +able to walk. Thus leaning on his uncle, he was escorted back to +the hostel. + +"The villain!" the jester said on the way, "I mistrusted him, but I +never thought he would have abused our kindred in this fashion. I +would fain have come down to look after thee, nevvy, but these kings +and queens are troublesome folk. The Emperor--he is a pale, shame- +faced, solemn lad. Maybe he museth, but he had scarce a word to say +for himself. Our Hal tried clapping on the shoulder, calling him +fair coz, and the like, in his hearty fashion. Behold, what doth he +but turn round with such a look about the long lip of him as my Lord +of Buckingham might have if his scullion made free with him. His +aunt, the Duchess of Savoy, is a merry dame, and a wise! She and +our King can talk by the ell, but as for the Emperor, he speaketh to +none willingly save Queen Katharine, who is of his own stiff Spanish +humour, and he hath eyes for none save Queen Mary, who would have +been his empress had high folk held to their word. And with so +tongue-tied a host, and the rain without, what had the poor things +to do by way of disporting themselves with but a show of fools. +I've had to go through every trick and quip I learnt when I was with +old Nat Fire-eater. And I'm stiffer in the joints and weightier in +the heft than I was in those days when I slept in the fields, and +fasted more than ever Holy Church meant. But, heigh ho! I ought to +be supple enough after the practice of these three days. Moreover, +if it could loose a fool's tongue to have a king and queen for +interpreters, I had them--for there were our Harry and Moll catching +at every gibe as fast as my brain could hatch it, and rendering it +into French as best thy might, carping and quibbling the while +underhand at one another's renderings, and the Emperor sitting by in +his black velvet, smiling about as much as a felon at the hangman's +jests. All his poor fools moreover, and the King's own, ready to +gnaw their baubles for envy! That was the only sport I had! I'm +wearier than if I'd been plying Smallbones' biggest hammer. The +worst of it is that my Lord Cardinal is to stay behind and go on to +Bruges as ambassador, and I with him, so thou must bear my greetings +to thy naunt, and tell her I'm keeping from picking up a word of +French or Flemish lest this same Charles should take a fancy to me +and ask me of my master, who would give away his own head to get the +Pope's fool's cap." + +"Wer da? Qui va la?" asked a voice, and the summer twilight +revealed two figures with cloaks held high and drooping Spanish +hats; one of whom, a slender, youthful figure, so far as could be +seen under his cloak, made inquiries, first in Flemish, then in +French, as to what ailed the youth. Lucas replied in the former +tongue, and one of the Englishmen could speak French. The gentleman +seemed much concerned, asked if the watch had been at hand, and +desired Lucas to assure the young Englishman that the Emperor would +be much distressed at the tidings, asked where he was lodged, and +passed on. + +"Ah ha!" muttered the jester, "if my ears deceive me now, I'll never +trust them again! Mynheer Charles knows a few more tricks than he +is fain to show off in royal company. Come on, Stevie! I'll see +thee to thy bed. Old Kit is too far gone to ask after thee. In +sooth, I trow that my sweet father-in-law set his Ancient to nail +him to the wine pot. And Master Giles I saw last with some of the +grooms. I said nought to him, for I trow thou wouldst not have him +know thy plight! I'll be with thee in the morning ere thou partest, +if kings, queens, and cardinals roar themselves hoarse for the +Quipsome." + +With this promise Hal Randall bestowed his still dulled and half- +stunned nephew carefully on the pallet provided by the care of the +purveyors. Stephen slept dreamily at first, then soundly, and woke +at the sound of the bells of Gravelines to the sense that a great +crisis in his life was over, a strange wild dream of evil dispelled, +and that he was to go home to see, hear, and act as he could, with a +heartache indeed, but with the resolve to do his best as a true and +honest man. + +Smallbones was already afoot--for the start for Calais was to be +made on that very day. The smith was fully himself again, and was +bawling for his subordinates, who had followed his example in +indulging in the good cheer, and did not carry it off so easily. +Giles, rather silent and surly, was out of bed, shouting answers to +Smallbones, and calling on Stephen to truss his points. He was in a +mood not easy to understand, he would hardly speak, and never +noticed the marks of the fray on Stephen's temple--only half hidden +by the dark curly hair. This was of course a relief, but Stephen +could not help suspecting that he had been last night engaged in +some revel about which he desired no inquiries. + +Randall came just as the operation was completed. He was in a good +deal of haste, having to restore the groom's dress he wore by the +time the owner had finished the morning toilet of the Lord +Cardinal's palfreys. He could not wait to inquire how Stephen had +contrived to fall into the hands of Fulford, his chief business +being to put under safe charge a bag of coins, the largesse from the +various princes and nobles whom he had diverted--ducats, crowns, +dollars, and angels all jingling together--to be bestowed wherever +Perronel kept her store, a matter which Hal was content not to know, +though the pair cherished a hope some day to retire on it from +fooling. + +"Thou art a good lad, Steve," said Hal. "I'm right glad thou +leavest this father of mine behind thee. I would not see thee such +as he--no, not for all the gold we saw on the Frenchmen's backs." + +This was the jester's farewell, but it was some time before the +waggon was under way, for the carter and one of the smiths were +missing, and were only at noon found in an alehouse, both very far +gone in liquor, and one with a black eye. Kit discoursed on +sobriety in the most edifying manner, as at last he drove heavily +along the street, almost the last in the baggage train of the king +and queens--but still in time to be so included in it so as to save +all difficulty at the gates. It was, however, very late in the +evening when they reached Calais, so that darkness was coming on as +they waited their turn at the drawbridge, with a cart full of +scullions and pots and pans before them, and a waggon-load of tents +behind. The warders in charge of the gateway had orders to count +over all whom they admitted, so that no unauthorised person might +enter that much-valued fortress. When at length the waggon rolled +forward into the shadow of the great towered gateway on the outer +side of the moat, the demand was made, who was there? Giles had +always insisted, as leader of the party, on making reply to such +questions, and Smallbones waited for his answer, but none was +forthcoming. Therefore Kit shouted in reply, "Alderman Headley's +wain and armourers. Two journeymen, one prentice, two smiths, two +waggoners." + +"Seven!" rejoined the warder. "One--two--three--four--five. Ha! +your company seems to be lacking." + +"Giles must have ridden on," suggested Stephen, while Kit, growling +angrily, called on the lazy fellow, Will Wherry, to wake and show +himself. But the officials were greatly hurried, and as long as no +dangerous person got into Calais, it mattered little to them who +might be left outside, so they hurried on the waggon into the narrow +street. + +It was well that it was a summer night, for lodgings there were +none. Every hostel was full and all the houses besides. The +earlier comers assured Kit that it was of no use to try to go on. +The streets up to the wharf were choked, and he might think himself +lucky to have his waggon to sleep in. But the horses! And food? +However, there was one comfort--English tongues answered, if it was +only with denials. + +Kit's store of travelling money was at a low ebb, and it was nearly +exhausted by the time, at an exorbitant price, he had managed to get +a little hay and water for the horses, and a couple of loaves and a +haunch of bacon among the five hungry men. They were quite content +to believe that Master Giles had ridden on before and secured better +quarters and viands, nor could they much regret the absence of Will +Wherry's wide mouth. + +Kit called Stephen to council in the morning. His funds would not +permit waiting for the missing ones, if he were to bring home any +reasonable proportion of gain to his master. He believed that +Master Headley would by no means risk the whole party loitering at +Calais, when it was highly probable that Giles might have joined +some of the other travellers, and embarked by himself. + +After all, Kit's store had to be well-nigh expended before the +horses, waggon, and all, could find means to encounter the miseries +of the transit to Dover. Then, glad as he was to be on his native +soil, his spirits sank lower and lower as the waggon creaked on +under the hot sun towards London. He had actually brought home only +four marks to make over to his master; and although he could show a +considerable score against the King and various nobles, these debts +were not apt to be promptly discharged, and what was worse, two +members of his party and one horse were missing. He little knew how +narrow an escape he had had of losing a third! + + + +CHAPTER XXII. AN INVASION + + + +"What shall be the maiden's fate? +Who shall be the maiden's mate?" + +SCOTT. + +No Giles Headley appeared to greet the travellers, though Kit +Smallbones had halted at Canterbury, to pour out entreaties to St. +Thomas, and the vow of a steel and gilt reliquary of his best +workmanship to contain the old shoe, which a few years previously +had so much disgusted Erasmus and his companion. + +Poor old fellow, he was too much crest-fallen thoroughly to enjoy +even the gladness of his little children; and his wife made no +secret of her previous conviction that he was too dunderheaded not +to run into some coil, when she was not there to look after him. +The alderman was more merciful. Since there had been no invasion +from Salisbury, he had regretted the not having gone himself to +Ardres, and he knew pretty well that Kit's power lay more in his +arms than in his brain. He did not wonder at the small gain, nor at +the having lost sight of the young man, and confidently expected the +lost ones soon to appear. + +As to Dennet, her eyes shone quietly, and she took upon herself to +send down to let Mistress Randall know of her nephew's return, and +invite her to supper to hear the story of his doings. The girl did +not look at all like a maiden uneasy about her lost lover, but much +more like one enjoying for the moment the immunity from a kind of +burthen; and, as she smiled, called for Stephen's help in her little +arrangements, and treated him in the friendly manner of old times, +he could not but wonder at the panic that had overpowered him for a +time like a fever of the mind. + +There was plenty to speak of in the glories of the Field of the +Cloth of Gold, and the transactions with the knights and nobles; and +Stephen held his peace as to his adventure, but Dennet's eyes were +sharper than Kit's. She spied the remains of the bruise under his +black curly hair; and while her father and Tib were unravelling the +accounts from Kit's brain and tally-sticks, she got the youth out +into the gallery, and observed, "So thou hast a broken head. See +here are grandmother's lily-leaves in strong waters. Let me lay one +on for thee. There, sit down on the step, then I can reach." + +"'Tis well nigh whole now, sweet mistress," said Stephen, complying +however, for it was too sweet to have those little fingers busy +about him, for the offer to be declined. + +"How gatst thou the blow?" asked Dennet. "Was it at single-stick? +Come, thou mayst tell me. 'Twas in standing up for some one." + +"Nay, mistress, I would it had been." + +"Thou hast been in trouble," she said, leaning on the baluster above +him. "Or did ill men set on thee?" + +"That's the nearest guess," said Stephen. "'Twas that tall father +of mine aunt's, the fellow that came here for armour, and bought +poor Master Michael's sword." + +"And sliced the apple on thine hand. Ay?" + +"He would have me for one of his Badgers." + +"Thee! Stephen!" It was a cry of pain as well as horror. + +"Yea, mistress; and when I refused, the fellow dealt me a blow, and +laid me down senseless, to bear me off willy nilly, but that good +old Lucas Hansen brought mine uncle to mine aid--" + +Dennet clasped her hands. "O Stephen, Stephen! Now I know how good +the Lord is. Wot ye, I asked of Tibble to take me daily to St. +Faith's to crave of good St. Julian to have you all in his keeping, +and saith he on the way, 'Methinks, mistress, our dear Lord would +hear you if you spake to Him direct, with no go-between.' I did as +he bade me, Stephen, I went to the high Altar, and prayed there, and +Tibble went with me, and lo, now, He hath brought you back safe. We +will have a mass of thanksgiving on the very morn." + +Stephen's heart could not but bound, for it was plain enough for +whom the chief force of these prayers had been offered. + +"Sweet mistress," he said, "they have availed me indeed. Certes, +they warded me in the time of sore trial and temptation." + +"Nay," said Dennet, "thou COULDST not have longed to go away from +hence with those ill men who live by slaying and plundering?" + +The present temptation was to say that he had doubted whether this +course would not have been for the best both for himself and for +her; but he recollected that Giles might be at the gate, and if so, +he should feel as if he had rather have bitten out his tongue than +have let Dennet know the state of the case, so he only answered - + +"There be sorer temptations in the world for us poor rogues than +little home-biding house crickets like thee wot of, mistress. Well +that ye can pray for us without knowing all!" + +Stephen had never consciously come so near love-making, and his +honest face was all one burning glow with the suppressed feeling, +while Dennet lingered till the curfew warned them of the lateness of +the hour, both with a strange sense of undefined pleasure in the +being together in the summer twilight. + +Day after day passed on with no news of Giles or Will Wherry. The +alderman grew uneasy, and sent Stephen to ask his brother to write +to Randall, or to some one else in Wolsey's suite, to make inquiries +at Bruges. But Ambrose was found to have gone abroad in the train +of Sir Thomas More, and nothing was heard till their return six +weeks later, when Ambrose brought home a small packet which had been +conveyed to him through one of the Emperor's suite. It was tied up +with a long tough pale wisp of hair, evidently from the mane or tail +of some Flemish horse, and was addressed, "To Master Ambrose +Birkenholt, menial clerk to the most worshipful Sir Thomas More, +Knight, Under Sheriff of the City of London. These greeting--" + +Within, when Ambrose could open the missive, was another small +parcel, and a piece of brown coarse paper, on which was scrawled - + +"Good Ambrose Birkenholt,--I pray thee to stand my friend, and let +all know whom it may concern, that when this same billet comes to +hand, I shall be far on the march to High Germany, with a company of +lusty fellows in the Emperor's service. They be commanded by the +good knight, Sir John Fulford. + +"If thou canst send tidings to my mother, bid her keep her heart up, +for I shall come back a captain, full of wealth and honour, and that +will be better than hammering for life--or being wedded against mine +own will. There never was troth plight between my master's daughter +and me, and my time is over, so I be quit with them, and I thank my +master for his goodness. They shall all hear of me some of these +days. Will Wherry is my groom, and commends him to his mother. And +so, commending thee and all the rest to Our Lady and the saints, + +"Thine to command, + +"GILES HEADLEY, + +"Man-at-Arms in the Honourable Company of Sir John Fulford, Knight." + + +On a separate strip was written - + + +"Give this packet to the little Moorish maid, and tell her that I +will bring her better by and by, and mayhap make her a knight's +lady; but on thy life, say nought to any other." + + +It was out now! Ambrose's head was more in Sir Thomas's books than +in real life at all times, or he would long ago have inferred +something--from the jackdaw's favourite phrase--from Giles's modes +of haunting his steps, and making him the bearer of small tokens--an +orange, a simnel cake, a bag of walnuts or almonds to Mistress +Aldonza, and of the smiles, blushes, and thanks with which she +greeted them. Nay, had she not burst into tears and entreated to be +spared when Lady More wanted to make a match between her and the big +porter, and had not her distress led Mistress Margaret to appeal to +her father, who had said he should as soon think of wedding the +silver-footed Thetis to Polyphemus. "Tilley valley! Master More," +the lady had answered, "will all your fine pagan gods hinder the +wench from starving on earth, and leading apes in hell." + +Margaret had answered that Aldonza should never do the first, and +Sir Thomas had gravely said that he thought those black eyes would +lead many a man on earth before they came to the latter fate. + +Ambrose hid the parcel for her deep in his bosom before he asked +permission of his master to go to the Dragon court with the rest of +the tidings. + +"He always was an unmannerly cub," said Master Headley, as he read +the letter. "Well, I've done my best to make a silk purse of a +sow's ear! I've done my duty by poor Robert's son, and if he will +be such a fool as to run after blood and wounds, I have no more to +say! Though 'tis pity of the old name! Ha! what's this? 'Wedded +against my will--no troth plight.' Forsooth, I thought my young +master was mighty slack. He hath some other matter in his mind, +hath he? Run into some coil mayhap with a beggar wench! Well, we +need not be beholden to him. Ha, Dennet, my maid!" + +Dennet screwed up her little mouth, and looked very demure, but she +twinkled her bright eyes, and said, "My heart will not break, sir; I +am in no haste to be wed." + +Her father pinched her cheek and said she was a silly wench; but +perhaps he marked the dancing step with which the young mistress +went about her household cares, and how she was singing to herself +songs that certainly were not "Willow! willow!" + +Ambrose had no scruple in delivering to Aldonza the message and +token, when he overtook her on the stairs of the house at Chelsea, +carrying up a lapful of roses to the still-room, where Dame Alice +More was rejoicing in setting her step-daughters to housewifely +tasks. + +There came a wonderful illumination and agitation over the girl's +usually impassive features, giving all that they needed to make them +surpassingly beautiful. + +"Woe is me!" was, however, her first exclamation. "That he should +have given up all for me! Oh! if I had thought it!" But while she +spoke as if she were shocked and appalled, her eyes belied her +words. They shone with the first absolute certainty of love, and +there was no realising as yet the years of silent waiting and +anxiety that must go by, nay, perhaps an entire lifetime of +uncertainty of her lover's truth or untruth, life or death. + +Dame Alice called her, and in a rambling, maundering way, charged +her with loitering and gadding with the young men; and Margaret saw +by her colour and by her eyes that some strange thing had happened +to her. Margaret had, perhaps, some intuition; for was not her +heart very tender towards a certain young barrister by name Roper +whom her father doubted as yet, because of his Lutheran +inclinations. By and by she discovered that she needed Aldonza to +comb out her long dark hair, and ere long, she had heard all the +tale of the youth cured by the girl's father, and all his gifts, and +how Aldonza deemed him too great and too good for her (poor Giles!) +though she knew she should never do more than look up to him with +love and gratitude from afar. And she never so much as dreamt that +he would cast an eye on her save in kindness. Oh yes, she knew what +he had taught the daw to say, but then she was a child, she durst +not deem it more. And Margaret More was more kind and eager than +worldly wise, and she encouraged Aldonza to watch and wait, promised +protection from all enforced suits and suitors, and gave assurances +of shelter as her own attendant as long as the girl should need it. + +Master Headley, with some sighing and groaning, applied himself to +write to the mother at Salisbury what had become of her son; but he +had only spent one evening over the trying task, when just as the +supper bell was ringing, with Master Hope and his wife as guests, +there were horses' feet in the court, and Master Tiptoff appeared, +with a servant on another horse, which carried besides a figure in +camlet, on a pillion. No sooner was this same figure lifted from +her steed and set down on the steps, while the master of the house +and his daughter came out to greet her, than she began, "Master +Alderman Headley, I am here to know what you have done with my poor +son!" + +"Alack, good cousin!" + +"Alack me no alacks," she interrupted, holding up her riding rod. +"I'll have no dissembling, there hath been enough of that, Giles +Headley. Thou hast sold him, soul and body, to one of yon cruel, +bloodthirsty plundering, burning captains, that the poor child may +be slain and murthered! Is this the fair promises you made to his +father--wiling him away from his poor mother, a widow, with talking +of teaching him the craft, and giving him your daughter! My son, +Tiptoff here, told me the spousal was delayed and delayed, and he +doubted whether it would ever come off, but I thought not of this +sending him beyond seas, to make merchandise of him. And you call +yourself an alderman! The gown should be stript off the back of +you, and shall be, if there be any justice in London for a widow +woman." + +"Nay, cousin, you have heard some strange tale," said Master +Headley, who, much as he would have dreaded the attack beforehand, +faced it the more calmly and manfully because the accusation was so +outrageous. + +"Ay, so I told her," began her son-in-law, "but she hath been +neither to have nor to hold since the--" + +"And how should I be to have or to hold by a nincompoop like thee," +she said, turning round on him, "that would have me sit down and be +content forsooth, when mine only son is kidnapped to be sold to the +Turks or to work in the galleys, for aught I know." + +"Mistress!" here Master Hope's voice came in, "I would counsel you +to speak less loud, and hear before you accuse. We of the City of +London know Master Alderman Headley too well to hear him railed +against." + +"Ah! you're all of a piece," she began; but by this time Master +Tiptoff had managed at least to get her into the hall, and had +exchanged words enough with the alderman to assure himself that +there was an explanation, nay, that there was a letter from Giles +himself. This the indignant mother presently was made to +understand--and as the alderman had borrowed the letter in order to +copy it for her, it was given to her. She could not read, and would +trust no one but her son-in-law to read it to her. "Yea, you have +it very pat," she said, "but how am I to be assured 'tis not all +writ here to hoodwink a poor woman like me." + +"'Tis Giles's hand," averred Tiptoff. + +"And if you will," added the alderman, with wonderful patience, "to- +morrow you may speak with the youth who received it. Come, sit down +and sup with us, and then you shall learn from Smallbones how this +mischance befel, all from my sending two young heads together, and +one who, though a good fellow, could not hold all in rule." + +"Ay--you've your reasons for anything," she muttered, but being both +weary and hungry, she consented to eat and drink, while Tiptoff, who +was evidently ashamed of her violence, and anxious to excuse it, +managed to explain that a report had been picked up at Romsey, by a +bare-footed friar from Salisbury, that young Giles Headley had been +seen at Ghent by one of the servants of a wool merchant, riding with +a troop of Free Companions in the Emperor's service. All the rest +was deduced from this intelligence by the dame's own imagination. + +After supper she was invited to interrogate Kit and Stephen, and her +grief and anxiety found vent in fierce scolding at the misrule which +had permitted such a villain as Fulford to be haunting and tempting +poor fatherless lads. Master Headley had reproached poor Kit for +the same thing, but he could only represent that Giles, being a +freeman, was no longer under his authority. However, she stormed +on, being absolutely convinced that her son's evasion was every +one's fault but his own. Now it was the alderman for misusing him, +overtasking the poor child, and deferring the marriage, now it was +that little pert poppet, Dennet, who had flouted him, now it was the +bad company he had been led into--the poor babe who had been bred to +godly ways. + +The alderman was really sorry for her, and felt himself to blame so +far as that he had shifted the guidance of the expedition to such an +insufficient head as poor Smallbones, so he let her rail on as much +as she would, till the storm exhausted itself, and she settled into +the trust that Giles would soon grow weary and return. The good man +felt bound to show her all hospitality, and the civilities to +country cousins were in proportion to the rarity of their visits. +So Mrs. Headley stayed on after Tiptoff's return to Salisbury, and +had the best view feasible of all the pageants and diversions of +autumn. She saw some magnificent processions of clergy, she was +welcomed at a civic banquet and drank of the loving cup, and she +beheld the Lord Mayor's Show in all its picturesque glory of +emblazoned barges on the river. In fact, she found the position of +denizen of an alderman's household so very agreeable that she did +her best to make it a permanency. Nay, Dennet soon found that she +considered herself to be waiting there and keeping guard till her +son's return should establish her there, and that she viewed the +girl already as a daughter--for which Dennet was by no means obliged +to her! She lavished counsel on her hostess, found fault with the +maidens, criticised the cookery, walked into the kitchen and still- +room with assistance and directions, and even made a strong effort +to possess herself of the keys. + +It must be confessed that Dennet was saucy! It was her weapon of +self-defence, and she considered herself insulted in her own house. + +There she stood, exalted on a tall pair of pattens before the stout +oaken table in the kitchen where a glowing fire burned; pewter, red +and yellow earthenware, and clean scrubbed trenchers made a goodly +show, a couple of men-cooks and twice as many scullions obeyed her +behests--only the superior of the two first ever daring to argue a +point with her. There she stood, in her white apron, with sleeves +turned up, daintily compounding her mincemeat for Christmas, when in +stalked Mrs. Headley to offer her counsel and aid--but this was lost +in a volley of barking from the long-backed, bandy-legged, turnspit +dog, which was awaiting its turn at the wheel, and which ran +forward, yapping with malign intentions towards the dame's scarlet- +hosed ankles. + +She shook her petticoats at him, but Dennet tittered even while +declaring that Tray hurt nobody. Mrs. Headley reviled the dog, and +then proceeded to advise Dennet that she should chop her citron +finer. Dennet made answer "that father liked a good stout piece of +it." Mistress Headley offered to take the chopper and instruct her +how to compound all in the true Sarum style. + +"Grammercy, mistress, but we follow my grand-dame's recipe!" said +Dennet, grasping her implement firmly. + +"Come, child, be not above taking a lesson from thine elders! +Where's the goose? What?" as the girl looked amazed, "where hast +thou lived not to know that a live goose should be bled into the +mincemeat?" + +"I have never lived with barbarous, savage folk," said Dennet--and +therewith she burst into an irrepressible fit of laughter, trying in +vain to check it, for a small and mischievous elf, freshly promoted +to the office of scullion, had crept up and pinned a dish-cloth to +the substantial petticoats, and as Mistress Headley whisked round to +see what was the matter, like a kitten after its tail, it followed +her like a train, while she rushed to box the ears of the offender, +crying, + +"You set him on, you little saucy vixen! I saw it in your eyes. +Let the rascal be scourged." + +"Not so," said Dennet, with prim mouth and laughing eyes. "Far be +it from me! But 'tis ever the wont of the kitchen, when those come +there who have no call thither." + +Mistress Headley flounced away, dish-cloth and all, to go whimpering +to the alderman with her tale of insults. She trusted that her +cousin would give the pert wench a good beating. She was not a whit +too old for it. + +"How oft did you beat Giles, good kinswoman?" said Dennet demurely, +as she stood by her father. + +"Whisht, whisht, child," said her father, "this may not be! I +cannot have my guest flouted." + +"If she act as our guest, I will treat her with all honour and +courtesy," said the maiden; "but when she comes where we look not +for guests, there is no saying what the black guard may take it on +them to do." + +Master Headley was mischievously tickled at the retort, and not +without hope that it might offend his kinswoman into departing; but +she contented herself with denouncing all imaginable evils from +Dennet's ungoverned condition, with which she was prevented in her +beneficence from interfering by the father's foolish fondness. He +would rue the day! + +Meantime if the alderman's peace on one side was disturbed by his +visitor, on the other, suitors for Dennet's hand gave him little +rest. She was known to be a considerable heiress, and though +Mistress Headley gave every one to understand that there was a +contract with Giles, and that she was awaiting his return, this did +not deter more wooers than Dennet ever knew of, from making +proposals to her father. Jasper Hope was offered, but he was too +young, and besides, was a mercer--and Dennet and her father were +agreed that her husband must go on with the trade. Then there was a +master armourer, but he was a widower with sons and daughters as old +as Dennet, and she shook her head and laughed at the bare notion. +There also came a young knight who would have turned the Dragon +court into a tilt-yard, and spent all the gold that long years of +prudent toil had amassed. + +If Mistress Headley deemed each denial the result of her vigilance +for her son's interests, she was the more impelled to expatiate on +the folly of leaving a maid of sixteen to herself, to let the +household go to rack and ruin; while as to the wench, she might +prank herself in her own conceit, but no honest man would soon look +at her for a wife, if her father left her to herself, without giving +her a good stepmother, or at least putting a kinswoman in authority +over her. + +The alderman was stung. He certainly had warmed a snake on his +hearth, and how was he to be rid of it? He secretly winked at the +resumption of a forge fire that had been abandoned, because the +noise and smoke incommoded the dwelling-house, and Kit Smallbones +hammered his loudest there, when the guest might be taking her +morning nap; but this had no effect in driving her away, though it +may have told upon her temper; and good-humoured Master Headley was +harassed more than he had ever been in his life. + +"It puts me past my patience," said he, turning into Tibble's +special workshop one afternoon. "Here hath Mistress Hillyer of the +Eagle been with me full of proposals that I would give my poor wench +to that scapegrace lad of hers, who hath been twice called to +account before the guild, but who now, forsooth, is to turn over a +new leaf." + +"So I wis would the Dragon under him," quoth Tibble. + +"I told her 'twas not to be thought of, and then what does the dame +but sniff the air and protest that I had better take heed, for there +may not be so many who would choose a spoilt, misruled maid like +mine. There's the work of yonder Sarum woman. I tell thee, Tib, +never was bull in the ring more baited than am I." + +"Yea, sir," returned Tib, "there'll be no help for it till our young +mistress be wed." + +"Ay! that's the rub! But I've not seen one whom I could mate with +her--let alone one who would keep up the old house. Giles would +have done that passably, though he were scarce worthy of the wench, +even without--" An expressive shake of the head denoted the rest. +"And now if he ever come home at all, 'twill be as a foul-mouthed, +plundering scarecrow, like the kites of men-at-arms, who, if they +lose not their lives, lose all that makes an honest life in the +Italian wars. I would have writ to Edmund Burgess, but I hear his +elder brother is dead, and he is driving a good traffic at York. +Belike too he is wedded." + +"Nay," said Tibble, "I could tell of one who would be true and +faithful to your worship, and a loving husband to Mistress Dennet, +ay, and would be a master that all of us would gladly cleave to. +For he is godly after his lights, and sound-hearted, and wots what +good work be, and can do it." + +"That were a son-in-law, Tib! Of who speakest thou? Is he of good +birth?" + +"Yea, of gentle birth and breeding." + +"And willing? But that they all are. Wherefore then hath he never +made suit?" + +"He hath not yet his freedom." + +"Who be it then?" + +"He that made this elbow-piece for the suit that Queen Margaret +ordered for the little King of Scots," returned Tibble, producing an +exquisite miniature bit of workmanship. + +"Stephen Birkenholt! The fool's nephew! Mine own prentice!" + +"Yea, and the best worker in steel we have yet turned out. Since +the sickness of last winter hath stiffened my joints and dimmed mine +eyes, I had rather trust dainty work such as this to him than to +myself." + +"Stephen! Tibble, hath he set thee on to this?" + +"No, sir. We both know too well what becometh us; but when you were +casting about for a mate for my young mistress, I could not but +think how men seek far, and overlook the jewel at their feet." + +"He hath nought! That brother of his will give him nought." + +"He hath what will be better for the old Dragon and for your +worship's self, than many a bag of gold, sir." + +"Thou sayst truly there, Tib. I know him so far that he would not +be the ingrate Jack to turn his back on the old master or the old +man. He is a good lad. But--but--I've ever set my face against the +prentice wedding the master's daughter, save when he is of her own +house, like Giles. Tell me, Tibble, deemst thou that the varlet +hath dared to lift his eyes to the lass?" + +"I wot nothing of love!" said Tibble, somewhat grimly. "I have seen +nought. I only told your worship where a good son and a good master +might be had. Is it your pleasure, sir, that we take in a freight +of sea-coal from Simon Collier for the new furnace? His is purest, +if a mark more the chaldron." + +He spoke as if he put the recommendation of the son and master on +the same line as that of the coal. Mr. Headley answered the +business matters absently, and ended by saying he would think on the +council. + +In Tibble's workroom, with the clatter of a forge close to them, +they had not heard a commotion in the court outside. Dennet had +been standing on the steps cleaning her tame starling's cage, when +Mistress Headley had suddenly come out on the gallery behind her, +hotly scolding her laundress, and waving her cap to show how ill- +starched it was. + +The bird had taken fright and flown to the tree in the court; Dennet +hastened in pursuit, but all the boys and children in the court +rushing out after her, her blandishments had no chance, and +"Goldspot" had fluttered on to the gateway. Stephen had by this +time come out, and hastened to the gate, hoping to turn the truant +back from escaping into Cheapside; but all in vain, it flew out +while the market was in full career, and he could only call back to +her that he would not lose sight of it. + +Out he hurried, Dennet waiting in a sort of despair by the tree for +a time that seemed to her endless, until Stephen reappeared under +the gate, with a signal that all was well. She darted to meet him. +"Yea, mistress, here he is, the little caitiff. He was just knocked +down by this country lad's cap--happily not hurt. I told him you +would give him a tester for your bird." + +"With all my heart!" and Dennet produced the coin. "Oh! Stephen, +are you sure he is safe? Thou bad Goldspot, to fly away from me! +Wink with thine eye--thou saucy rogue! Wottest thou not but for +Stephen they might be blinding thy sweet blue eyes with hot +needles?" + +"His wing is grown since the moulting," said Stephen. "It should be +cut to hinder such mischances." + +"Will you do it? I will hold him," said Dennet. "Ah! 'tis pity, +the beauteous green gold-bedropped wing--that no armour of thine can +equal, Stephen, not even that for the little King of Scots. But +shouldst not be so silly a bird, Goldie, even though thou hast thine +excuse. There! Peck not, ill birdling. Know thy friends, Master +Stare." + +And with such pretty nonsense the two stood together, Dennet in her +white cap, short crimson kirtle, little stiff collar, and white bib +and apron, holding her bird upside down in one hand, and with the +other trying to keep his angry beak from pecking Stephen, who, in +his leathern coat and apron, grimed, as well as his crisp black +hair, with soot, stood towering above her, stooping to hold out the +lustrous wing with one hand while he used his smallest pair of +shears with the other to clip the pen-feathers. + +"See there, Master Alderman," cried Mistress Headley, bursting on +him from the gallery stairs. "Be that what you call fitting for +your daughter and your prentice, a beggar lad from the heath? I +ever told you she would bring you to shame, thus left to herself. +And now you see it." + +Their heads had been near together over the starling, but at this +objurgation they started apart, both crimson in the cheeks, and +Dennet flew up to her father, bird in hand, crying, "O father, +father! suffer her not. He did no wrong. He was cutting my bird's +wing." + +"I suffer no one to insult my child in her own house," said the +alderman, so much provoked as to be determined to put an end to it +all at once. "Stephen Birkenholt, come here." + +Stephen came, cap in hand, red in the face, with a strange tumult in +his heart, ready to plead guilty, though he had done nothing, but +imagining at the moment that his feelings had been actions. + +"Stephen," said the alderman, "thou art a true and worthy lad! +Canst thou love my daughter?" + +"I--I crave your pardon, sir, there was no helping it," stammered +Stephen, not catching the tone of the strange interrogation, and +expecting any amount of terrible consequences for his presumption. + +"Then thou wilt be a faithful spouse to her, and son to me? And +Dennet, my daughter, hast thou any distaste to this youth--though he +bring nought but skill and honesty" + +"O, father, father! I--I had rather have him than any other!" + +"Then, Stephen Birkenholt and Dennet Headley, ye shall be man and +wife, so soon as the young man's term be over, and he be a freeman-- +so he continue to be that which he seems at present. Thereto I give +my word, I, Giles Headley, Alderman of the Chepe Ward, and thereof +ye are witnesses, all of you. And God's blessing on it." + +A tremendous hurrah arose, led by Kit Smallbones, from every workman +in the court, and the while Stephen and Dennet, unaware of anything +else, flew into one another's arms, while Goldspot, on whom the +operation had been fortunately completed, took refuge upon Stephen's +head. + +"O, Mistress Dennet, I have made you black all over!" was Stephen's +first word. + +"Heed not, I ever loved the black!" she cried, as her eyes sparkled. + +"So I have done what was to thy mind, my lass?" said Master Headley, +who, without ever having thought of consulting his daughter, was +delighted to see that her heart was with him. + +"Sir, I did not know fully--but indeed I should never have been so +happy as I am now." + +"Sir," added Stephen, putting his knee to the ground, "it nearly +wrung my heart to think of her as belonging to another, though I +never durst utter aught"--and while Dennet embraced her father, +Stephen sobbed for very joy, and with difficulty said in broken +words something about a "son's duty and devotion." + +They were broken in upon by Mistress Headley, who, after standing in +mute consternation, fell on them in a fury. She understood the +device now! All had been a scheme laid amongst them for defrauding +her poor fatherless child, driving him away, and taking up this +beggarly brat. She had seen through the little baggage from the +first, and she pitied Master Headley. Rage was utterly ungovernable +in those days, and she actually was flying to attack Dennet with her +nails when the alderman caught her by the wrists; and she would have +been almost too much for him, had not Kit Smallbones come to his +assistance, and carried her, kicking and screaming like a naughty +child, into the house. There was small restraint of temper in those +days even in high life, and below it, there was some reason for the +employment of the padlock and the ducking stool. + +Floods of tears restored the dame to some sort of composure; but she +declared she could stay no longer in a house where her son had been +ill-used and deceived, and she had been insulted. The alderman +thought the insult had been the other way, but he was too glad to be +rid of her on any terms to gainsay her, and at his own charge, +undertook to procure horse and escort to convey her safely to +Salisbury the next morning. He advised Stephen to keep out of her +sight for the rest of the day, giving leave of absence, so that the +youth, as one treading on air, set forth to carry to his brother, +his aunt, and if possible, his uncle, the intelligence that he could +as yet hardly believe was more than a happy dream. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. UNWELCOME PREFERMENT + + + +"I am a poor fallen man, unworthy now +To be thy lord and master. Seek the king! +That sun I pray may never set." +SHAKESPEARE. + + +Matters flowed on peaceably with Stephen and Dennet. The alderman +saw no reason to repent his decision, hastily as it had been made. +Stephen gave himself no unseemly airs of presumption, but worked on +as one whose heart was in the business, and Dennet rewarded her +father's trust by her discretion. + +They were happily married in the summer of 1522, as soon as +Stephen's apprenticeship was over; and from that time, he was in the +position of the master's son, with more and more devolving on him as +Tibble became increasingly rheumatic every winter, and the alderman +himself grew in flesh and in distaste to exertion. + +Ambrose meanwhile prospered with his master, and could easily have +obtained some office in the law courts that would have enabled him +to make a home of his own; but if he had the least inclination to +the love of women, it was all merged in a silent distant worship of +"sweet pale Margaret, rare pale Margaret," the like-minded daughter +of Sir Thomas More--an affection which was so entirely devotion at a +shrine, that it suffered no shock when Sir Thomas at length +consented to his daughter's marriage with William Roper. + +Ambrose was the only person who ever received any communication from +Giles Headley. They were few and far between, but when Stephen +Gardiner returned from his embassy to Pope Clement VII., who was +then at Orvieto, one of the suite reported to Ambrose how astonished +he had been by being accosted in good English by one of the imperial +men-at-arms, who were guarding his Holiness in actual though +unconfessed captivity. This person had sent his commendations to +Ambrose, and likewise a laborious bit of writing, which looked as if +he were fast forgetting the art. It bade Ambrose inform his mother +and all his friends and kin that he was well and coming to +preferment, and inclosed for Aldonza a small mother-of-pearl cross +blessed by the Pope. Giles added that he should bring her finer +gifts by and by. + +Seven years' constancy! It gave quite a respectability to Giles's +love, and Aldonza was still ready and patient while waiting in +attendance on her beloved mistress. + +Ambrose lived on in the colony at Chelsea, sometimes attending his +master, especially on diplomatic missions, and generally acting as +librarian and foreign secretary, and obtaining some notice from +Erasmus on the great scholar's visit to Chelsea. Under such +guidance, Ambrose's opinions had settled down a good deal; and he +was a disappointment to Tibble, whose views advanced proportionably +as he worked less, and read and thought more. He so bitterly +resented and deplored the burning of Tindal's Bible that there was +constant fear that he might bring on himself the same fate, +especially as he treasured his own copy and studied it constantly. +The reform that Wolsey had intended to effect when he obtained the +legatine authority seemed to fall into the background among +political interests, and his efforts had as yet no result save the +suppression of some useless and ill-managed small religious houses +to endow his magnificent project of York College at Oxford, with a +feeder at Ipswich, his native town. + +He was waiting to obtain the papacy, when he would deal better with +the abuses. Randall once asked him if he were not waiting to be +King of Heaven, when he could make root and branch work at once. +Hal had never so nearly incurred a flogging! + +And in the meantime another influence was at work, an influence only +heard of at first in whispered jests, which made loyal-hearted +Dennet blush and look indignant, but which soon grew to sad earnest, +as she could not but avow, when she beheld the stately pomp of the +two Cardinals, Wolsey and Campeggio, sweep up to the Blackfriars +Convent to sit in judgment on the marriage of poor Queen Katharine. + +"Out on them!" she said. "So many learned men to set their wits +against one poor woman!" And she heartily rejoiced when they came +to no decision, and the Pope was appealed to. As to understanding +all the explanations that Ambrose brought from time to time, she +called them quirks and quiddities, and left them to her father and +Tibble to discuss in their chimney corners. + +They had seen nothing of the jester for a good while, for he was +with Wolsey, who was attending the King on a progress through the +midland shires. When the Cardinal returned to open the law courts +as Chancellor at the beginning of the autumn term, still Randall +kept away from home, perhaps because he had forebodings that he +could not bear to mention. + +On the evening of that very day, London rang with the tidings that +the Great Seal had been taken from the Cardinal, and that he was +under orders to yield up his noble mansion of York House and to +retire to Esher; nay, it was reported that he was to be imprisoned +in the Tower, and the next day the Thames was crowded with more than +a thousand boats filled with people, expecting to see him landed at +the Traitors' Gate, and much disappointed when his barge turned +towards Putney. + +In the afternoon, Ambrose came to the Dragon court. Even as Stephen +figured now as a handsome prosperous young freeman of the City, +Ambrose looked well in the sober black apparel and neat ruff of a +lawyer's clerk--clerk indeed to the first lawyer in the kingdom, for +the news had spread before him that Sir Thomas More had become Lord +Chancellor. + +"Thou art come to bear us word of thy promotion--for thy master's is +thine own," said the alderman heartily as he entered, shaking hands +with him. "Never was the Great Seal in better hands." + +"'Tis true indeed, your worship," said Ambrose, "though it will lay +a heavy charge on him, and divert him from much that he loveth +better still. I came to ask of my sister Dennet a supper and a bed +for the night, as I have been on business for him, and can scarce +get back to Chelsea." + +"And welcome," said Dennet. "Little Giles and Bess have been +wearying for their uncle." + +"I must not toy with them yet," said Ambrose, "I have a message for +my aunt. Brother, wilt thou walk down to the Temple with me before +supper?" + +"Yea, and how is it with Master Randall?" asked Dennet. "Be he gone +with my Lord Cardinal?" + +"He is made over to the King," said Ambrose briefly. "'Tis that +which I must tell his wife." + +"Have with thee, then," said Stephen, linking his arm into that of +his brother, for to be together was still as great an enjoyment to +them as in Forest days. And on the way, Ambrose told what he had +not been willing to utter in full assembly in the hall. He had been +sent by his master with a letter of condolence to the fallen +Cardinal, and likewise of inquiry into some necessary business +connected with the chancellorship. Wolsey had not time to answer +before embarking, but as Sir Thomas had vouched for the messenger's +ability and trustiness, he had bidden Ambrose come into his barge, +and receive his instructions. Thus Ambrose had landed with him, +just as a messenger came riding in haste from the King, with a kind +greeting, assuring his old friend that his seeming disgrace was only +for a time, and for political reasons, and sending him a ring in +token thereof. The Cardinal had fallen on his knees to receive the +message, had snatched a gold chain and precious relic from his own +neck to reward the messenger, and then, casting about for some gift +for the King, "by ill luck," said Ambrose, "his eye lit upon our +uncle, and he instantly declared that he would bestow Patch, as the +Court chooses to call him, on the King. Well, as thou canst guess, +Hal is hotly wroth at the treatment of his lord, whom he truly +loveth; and he flung himself before the Cardinal, and besought that +he might not be sent from his good lord. But the Cardinal was only +chafed at aught that gainsaid him; and all he did was to say he +would have no more ado, he had made his gift. 'Get thee gone,' he +said, as if he had been ordering off a horse or dog. Well-a-day! it +was hard to brook the sight, and Hal's blood was up. He flatly +refused to go, saying he was the Cardinal's servant, but no villain +nor serf to be thus made over without his own will." + +"He was in the right there," returned Stephen, hotly. + +"Yea, save that by playing the fool, poor fellow, he hath yielded up +the rights of a wise man. Any way, all he gat by it was that the +Cardinal bade two of the yeomen lay hands on him and bear him off. +Then there came on him that reckless mood, which, I trow, banished +him long ago from the Forest, and brought him to the motley. He +fought with them with all his force, and broke away once--as if that +were of any use for a man in motley!--but he was bound at last, and +borne off by six of them to Windsor!" + +"And thou stoodst by, and beheld it!" cried Stephen. + +"Nay, what could I have done, save to make his plight worse, and +forfeit all chance of yet speaking to him?" + +"Thou wert ever cool! I wot that I could not have borne it," said +Stephen. + +They told the story to Perronel, who was on the whole elated by her +husband's promotion, declaring that the King loved him well, and +that he would soon come to his senses, though for a wise man, he +certainly had too much of the fool, even as he had too much of the +wise man for the fool. + +She became anxious, however, as the weeks passed by without hearing +of or from him, and at length Ambrose confessed his uneasiness to +his kind master, and obtained leave to attend him on the next +summons to Windsor. + +Ambrose could not find his uncle at first. Randall, who used to +pervade York House, and turn up everywhere when least expected, did +not appear among the superior serving-men and secretaries with whom +his nephew ranked, and of course there was no access to the state +apartments. Sir Thomas, however, told Ambrose that he had seen +Quipsome Hal among the other jesters, but that he seemed dull and +dejected. Then Ambrose beheld from a window a cruel sight, for the +other fools, three in number, were surrounding Hal, baiting and +teasing him, triumphing over him in fact, for having formerly +outshone them, while he stood among them like a big dog worried by +little curs, against whom he disdained to use his strength. +Ambrose, unable to bear this, ran down stairs to endeavour to +interfere; but before he could find his way to the spot, an arrival +at the gate had attracted the tormentors, and Ambrose found his +uncle leaning against the wall alone. He looked thin and wan, the +light was gone out of his black eyes, and his countenance was in sad +contrast to his gay and absurd attire. He scarcely cheered up when +his nephew spoke to him, though he was glad to hear of Perronel. He +said he knew not when he should see her again, for he had been +unable to secure his suit of ordinary garments, so that even if the +King came to London, or if he could elude the other fools, he could +not get out to visit her. He was no better than a prisoner here, he +only marvelled that the King retained so wretched a jester, with so +heavy a heart. + +"Once thou wast in favour," said Ambrose. "Methought thou couldst +have availed thyself of it to speak for the Lord Cardinal." + +"What? A senseless cur whom he kicked from him," said Randall. +"'Twas that took all spirit from me, boy. I, who thought he loved +me, as I love him to this day. To send me to be sport for his foes! +I think of it day and night, and I've not a gibe left under my +belt!" + +"Nay," said Ambrose, "it may have been that the Cardinal hoped to +secure a true friend at the King's ear, as well as to provide for +thee." + +"Had he but said so--" + +"Nay, perchance he trusted to thy sharp wit." + +A gleam came into Hal's eyes. "It might be so. Thou always wast a +toward lad, Ambrose, and if so, I was cur and fool indeed to baulk +him." + +Therewith one of the other fools danced back exhibiting a silver +crown that had just been flung to him, mopping and mowing, and +demanding when Patch would have wit to gain the like. Whereto Hal +replied by pointing to Ambrose and declaring that that gentleman had +given him better than fifty crowns. And that night, Sir Thomas told +Ambrose that the Quipsome one had recovered himself, had been more +brilliant than ever and had quite eclipsed the other fools. + +On the next opportunity, Ambrose contrived to pack in his cloak-bag, +the cap and loose garment in which his uncle was wont to cover his +motley. The Court was still at Windsor; but nearly the whole of Sir +Thomas's stay elapsed without Ambrose being able to find his uncle. +Wolsey had been very ill, and the King had relented enough to send +his own physician to attend him. Ambrose began to wonder if Hal +could have found any plea for rejoining his old master; but in the +last hour of his stay, he found Hal curled up listlessly on a window +seat of a gallery, his head resting on his hand. + +"Uncle, good uncle! At last! Thou art sick?" + +"Sick at heart, lad," said Hal, looking up. "Yea, I took thy +counsel. I plucked up a spirit, I made Harry laugh as of old, +though my heart smote me, as I thought how he was wont to be +answered by my master. I even brooked to jest with the night-crow, +as my own poor lord called this Nan Boleyn. And lo you now, when +his Grace was touched at my lord's sickness, I durst say there was +one sure elixir for such as he, to wit a gold Harry; and that a +King's touch was a sovereign cure for other disorders than the +King's evil. Harry smiled, and in ten minutes more would have taken +horse for Esher, had not Madam Nan claimed his word to ride out +hawking with her. And next, she sendeth me a warning by one of her +pert maids, that I should be whipped, if I spoke to his Grace of +unfitting matters. My flesh could brook no more, and like a born +natural, I made answer that Nan Boleyn was no mistress of mine to +bid me hold a tongue that had spoken sooth to her betters. +Thereupon, what think you, boy? The grooms came and soundly flogged +me for uncomely speech of my Lady Anne! I that was eighteen years +with my Lord Cardinal, and none laid hand on me! Yea, I was beaten; +and then shut up in a dog-hole for three days on bread and water, +with none to speak to, but the other fools jeering at me like a +rogue in a pillory." + +Ambrose could hardly speak for hot grief and indignation, but he +wrung his uncle's hand, and whispered that he had hid the loose gown +behind the arras of his chamber, but he could do no more, for he was +summoned to attend his master, and a servant further thrust in to +say, "Concern yourself not for that rogue, sir, he hath been saucy, +and must mend his manners, or he will have worse." + +"Away, kind sir," said Hal, "you can do the poor fool no further +good! but only bring the pack about the ears of the mangy hound." +And he sang a stave appropriated by a greater man than he - + + +"Then let the stricken deer go weep, +The hart ungalled play." + + +The only hope that Ambrose or his good master could devise for poor +Randall was that Sir Thomas should watch his opportunity and beg the +fool from the King, who might part with him as a child gives away +the once coveted toy that has failed in its hands; but the request +would need circumspection, for all had already felt the change that +had taken place in the temper of the King since Henry had resolutely +undertaken that the wrong should be the right; and Ambrose could not +but dread the effect of desperation on a man whose nature had in it +a vein of impatient recklessness. + +It was after dinner, and Dennet, with her little boy and girl, was +on the steps dispensing the salt fish, broken bread, and pottage of +the Lenten meal to the daily troop who came for her alms, when, +among them, she saw, somewhat to her alarm, a gipsy man, who was +talking to little Giles. The boy, a stout fellow of six, was +astride on the balustrade, looking up eagerly into the face of the +man, who began imitating the note of a blackbird. Dennet, +remembering the evil propensities of the gipsy race, called hastily +to her little son to come down and return to her side; but little +Giles was unwilling to move, and called to her, "O mother, come! He +hath a bird-call!" In some perturbation lest the man might be +calling her bird away, Dennet descended the steps. She was about to +utter a sharp rebuke, but Giles held out his hand imploringly, and +she paused a moment to hear the sweet full note of the "ouzel cock, +with orange tawny bill" closely imitated on a tiny bone whistle. +"He will sell it to me for two farthings," cried the boy, "and teach +me to sing on it like all the birds--" + +"Yea, good mistress," said the gipsy, "I can whistle a tune that the +little master, ay, and others, might be fain to hear." + +Therewith, spite of the wild dress, Dennet knew the eyes and the +voice. And perhaps the blackbird's note had awakened echoes in +another mind, for she saw Stephen, in his working dress, come out to +the door of the shop where he continued to do all the finer work +which had formerly fallen to Tibble's share. + +She lifted her boy from his perch, and bade him take the stranger to +his father, who would no doubt give him the whistle. And thus, +having without exciting attention, separated the fugitive from the +rest of her pensioners, she made haste to dismiss them. + +She was not surprised that little Giles came running back to her, +producing unearthly notes on the instrument, and telling her that +father had taken the gipsy into his workshop, and said they would +teach him bird's songs by and by. + +"Steve, Steve," had been the first words uttered when the boy was +out of hearing, "hast thou a smith's apron and plenty of smut to +bestow on me? None can tell what Harry's mood may be, when he finds +I've given him the slip. That is the reason I durst not go to my +poor dame." + +"We will send to let her know. I thought I guessed what black ouzel +'twas! I mind how thou didst make the like notes for us when we +were no bigger than my Giles!" + +"Thou hast a kind heart, Stephen. Here! Is thy furnace hot enough +to make a speedy end of this same greasy gipsy doublet? I trust not +the varlet with whom I bartered it for my motley. And a fine +bargain he had of what I trust never to wear again to the end of my +days. Make me a smith complete, Stephen, and then will I tell thee +my story." + +"We must call Kit into counsel, ere we can do that fully," said +Stephen. + +In a few minutes Hal Randall was, to all appearance, a very shabby +and grimy smith, and then he took breath to explain his anxiety and +alarm. Once again, hearing that the Cardinal was to be exiled to +York, he had ventured on a sorry jest about old friends and old wine +being better than new; but the King, who had once been open to plain +speaking, was now incensed, threatened and swore at him! Moreover, +one of the other fools had told him, in the way of boasting, that he +had heard Master Cromwell, formerly the Cardinal's secretary, +informing the King that this rogue was no true "natural" at all, but +was blessed (or cursed) with as good an understanding as other +folks, as was well known in the Cardinal's household, and that he +had no doubt been sent to serve as a spy, so that he was to be +esteemed a dangerous person, and had best be put under ward. + +Hal had not been able to discover whether Cromwell had communicated +his name, but he suspected that it might be known to that acute +person, and he could not tell whether his compeer spoke out of a +sort of good-natured desire to warn him, or simply to triumph in his +disgrace, and leer at him for being an impostor. At any rate, being +now desperate, he covered his parti-coloured raiment with the gown +Ambrose had brought, made a perilous descent from a window in the +twilight, scaled a wall with the agility that seemed to have +returned to him, and reached Windsor Forest. + +There, falling on a camp of gipsies, he had availed himself of old +experiences in his wild Shirley days, and had obtained an exchange +of garb, his handsome motley being really a prize to the wanderers. +Thus he had been able to reach London; but he did not feel any +confidence that if he were pursued to the gipsy tent he would not be +betrayed. + +In this, his sagacity was not at fault, for he had scarcely made his +explanation, when there was a knocking at the outer gate, and a +demand to enter in the name of the King, and to see Alderman Sir +Giles Headley. Several of the stout figures of the yeomen of the +King's guard were seen crossing the court, and Stephen, committing +the charge of his uncle to Kit, threw off his apron, washed his face +and went up to the hall, not very rapidly, for he suspected that +since his father-in-law knew nothing of the arrival, he would best +baffle the inquiries by sincere denials. + +And Dennet, with her sharp woman's wit, scenting danger, had whisked +herself and her children out of the hall at the first moment, and +taken them down to the kitchen, where modelling with a batch of +dough occupied both of them. + +Meantime the alderman flatly denied the presence of the jester, or +the harbouring of the gipsy. He allowed that the jester was of kin +to his son-in-law, but the good man averred in all honesty that he +knew nought of any escape, and was absolutely certain that no such +person was in the court. Then, as Stephen entered, doffing his cap +to the King's officer, the alderman continued, "There, fair son, +this is what these gentlemen have come about. Thy kinsman, it +seemeth, hath fled from Windsor, and his Grace is mightily incensed. +They say he changed clothes with a gipsy, and was traced hither this +morn, but I have told them the thing is impossible." + +"Will the gentlemen search?" asked Stephen. The gentlemen did +search, but they only saw the smiths in full work; and in +Smallbones' forge, there was a roaring glowing furnace, with a bare- +armed fellow feeding it with coals, so that it fairly scorched them, +and gave them double relish for the good wine and beer that was put +out on the table to do honour to them. + +Stephen had just with all civility seen them off the premises when +Perronel came sobbing into the court. They had visited her first, +for Cromwell had evidently known of Randall's haunts; they had +turned her little house upside down, and had threatened her hotly in +case she harboured a disloyal spy, who deserved hanging. She came +to consult Stephen, for the notion of her husband wandering about, +as a sort of outlaw, was almost as terrible as the threat of his +being hanged. + +Stephen beckoned her to a store-room full of gaunt figures of armour +upon blocks, and there brought up to her his extremely grimy new +hand! + +There was much gladness between them, but the future had to be +considered. Perronel had a little hoard, the amount of which she +was too shrewd to name to any one, even her husband, but she +considered it sufficient to enable him to fulfil the cherished +scheme of his life, of retiring to some small farm near his old +home, and she was for setting off at once. But Harry Randall +declared that he could not go without having offered his services to +his old master. He had heard of his "good lord" as sick, sad, and +deserted by those whom he had cherished, and the faithful heart was +so true in its loyalty that no persuasion could prevail in making it +turn south. + +"Nay," said the wife, "did he not cast thee off himself, and serve +thee like one of his dogs? How canst thou be bound to him?" + +"There's the rub!" sighed Hal. "He sent me to the King deeming that +he should have one full of faithful love to speak a word on his +behalf, and I, brutish oaf as I was, must needs take it amiss, and +sulk and mope till the occasion was past, and that viper Cromwell +was there to back up the woman Boleyn and poison his Grace's ear." + +"As if a man must not have a spirit to be angered by such +treatment." + +"Thou forgettest, good wife. No man, but a fool, and to be +entreated as such! Be that as it may, to York I must. I have eaten +of my lord's bread too many years, and had too much kindness from +him in the days of his glory, to seek mine own ease now in his +adversity. Thou wouldst have a poor bargain of me when my heart is +away." + +Perronel saw that thus it would be, and that this was one of the +points on which, to her mind, her husband was more than half a +veritable fool after all. + +There had long been a promise that Stephen should, in some time of +slack employment, make a visit to his old comrade, Edmund Burgess, +at York; and as some new tools and patterns had to be conveyed +thither, a sudden resolution was come to, in family conclave, that +Stephen himself should convey them, taking his uncle with him as a +serving-man, to attend to the horses. The alderman gave full +consent, he had always wished Stephen to see York, while he himself, +with Tibble Steelman, was able to attend to the business; and while +he pronounced Randall to have a heart of gold, well worth guarding, +he still was glad when the risk was over of the King's hearing that +the runaway jester was harboured at the Dragon. Dennet did not like +the journey for her husband, for to her mind it was perilous, but +she had had a warm affection for his uncle ever since their +expedition to Richmond together, and she did her best to reconcile +the murmuring and wounded Perronel by praises of Randall, a true and +noble heart; and that as to setting her aside for the Cardinal, who +had heeded him so little, such faithfulness only made her more +secure of his true-heartedness towards her. Perronel was moreover +to break up her business, dispose of her house, and await her +husband's return at the Dragon. + +Stephen came back after a happy month with his friend, stored with +wondrous tales and descriptions which would last the children for a +month. He had seen his uncle present himself to the Cardinal at +Cawood Castle. It had been a touching meeting. Hal could hardly +restrain his tears when he saw how Wolsey's sturdy form had wasted, +and his round ruddy cheeks had fallen away, while the attitude in +which he sat in his chair was listless and weary, though he fitfully +exerted himself with his old vigour. + +Hal on his side, in the dark plain dress of a citizen, was hardly +recognisable, for not only had he likewise grown thinner, and his +brown cheeks more hollow, but his hair had become almost white +during his miserable weeks at Windsor, though he was not much over +forty years old. + +He came up the last of a number who presented themselves for the +Archiepiscopal blessing, as Wolsey sat under a large tree in Cawood +Park. Wolsey gave it with his raised fingers, without special heed, +but therewith Hal threw himself on the ground, kissed his feet, and +cried, "My lord, my dear lord, your pardon." + +"What hast done, fellow? Speak!" said the Cardinal. "Grovel not +thus. We will be merciful." + +"Ah! my lord," said Randall, lifting himself up, but with clasped +hands and tearful eyes, "I did not serve you as I ought with the +King, but if you will forgive me and take me back--" + +"How now? How couldst thou serve me? What!"--as Hal made a +familiar gesture--"thou art not the poor fool; Quipsome Patch? How +comest thou here? Methought I had provided well for thee in making +thee over to the King." + +"Ah! my lord, I was fool, fool indeed, but all my jests failed me. +How could I make sport for your enemies?" + +"And thou hast come, thou hast left the King to follow my fallen +fortunes?" said Wolsey. "My poor boy, he who is sitting in +sackcloth and ashes needs no jester." + +"Nay, my lord, nor can I find one jest to break! Would you but let +me be your meanest horse-boy, your scullion!" Hal's voice was cut +short by tears as the Cardinal abandoned to him one hand. The other +was drying eyes that seldom wept. + +"My faithful Hal!" he said, "this is love indeed!" + +And Stephen ere he came away had seen his uncle fully established, +as a rational creature, and by his true name, as one of the personal +attendants on the Cardinal's bed-chamber, and treated with the +affection he well deserved. Wolsey had really seemed cheered by his +affection, and was devoting himself to the care of his hitherto +neglected and even unvisited diocese, in a way that delighted the +hearts of the Yorkshiremen. + +The first idea was that Perronel should join her husband at York, +but safe modes of travelling were not easy to be found, and before +any satisfactory escort offered, there were rumours that made it +prudent to delay. As autumn advanced, it was known that the Earl of +Northumberland had been sent to attach the Cardinal of High Treason. +Then ensued other reports that the great Cardinal had sunk and died +on his way to London for trial; and at last, one dark winter +evening, a sorrowful man stumbled up the steps of the Dragon, and as +he came into the bright light of the fire, and Perronel sprang to +meet him, he sank into a chair and wept aloud. + +He had been one of those who had lifted the broken-hearted Wolsey +from his mule in the cloister of Leicester Abbey, he had carried him +to his bed, watched over him, and supported him, as the Abbot of +Leicester gave him the last Sacraments. He had heard and treasured +up those mournful words which are Wolsey's chief legacy to the +world, "Had I but served my God, as I have served my king, He would +not have forsaken me in my old age." For himself, he had the dying +man's blessing, and assurance that nothing had so much availed to +cheer in these sad hours as his faithful love. + +Now, Perronel might do what she would with him--he cared not. + +And what she did was to set forth with him for Hampshire, on a pair +of stout mules with a strong serving-man behind them. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. THE SOLDIER + + + +"Of a worthy London prentice + My purpose is to speak, +And tell his brave adventures + Done for his country's sake. +Seek all the world about + And you shall hardly find +A man in valour to exceed + A prentice' gallant mind." + +The Homes of a London Prentice. + +Six more years had passed over the Dragon court, when, one fine +summer evening, as the old walls rang with the merriment of the +young boys at play, there entered through the gateway a tall, well- +equipped, soldierly figure, which caught the eyes of the little +armourer world in a moment. "Oh, that's a real Milan helmet!" +exclaimed the one lad. + +"And oh, what a belt and buff coat!" cried another. + +The subject of their admiration advanced muttering, "As if I'd not +been away a week," adding, "I pray you, pretty lads, doth Master +Alderman Headley still dwell here?" + +"Yea, sir, he is our grandfather," said the elder boy, holding a +lesser one by the shoulder as he spoke. + +"Verily! And what may be your names?" + +"I am Giles Birkenholt, and this is my little brother, Dick." + +"Even as I thought. Wilt thou run in to your grandsire, and tell +him?" + +The bigger boy interrupted, "Grandfather is going to bed. He is old +and weary, and cannot see strangers so late. 'Tis our father who +heareth all the orders." + +"And," added the little one, with wide open grave eyes, "Mother bade +us run out and play and not trouble father, because uncle Ambrose is +so downcast because they have cut off the head of good Sir Thomas +More." + +"Yet," said the visitor, "methinks your father would hear of an old +comrade. Or stay, where be Tibble Steelman and Kit Smallbones?" + +"Tibble is in the hall, well-nigh as sad as uncle Ambrose," began +Dick; but Giles, better able to draw conclusions, exclaimed, +"Tibble! Kit! You know them, sir! Oh! are you the Giles Headley +that ran away to be a soldier ere I was born? Kit! Kit! see here-- +" as the giant, broader and perhaps a little more bent, but with +little loss of strength, came forward out of his hut, and taking up +the matter just where it had been left fourteen years before, +demanded as they shook hands, "Ah! Master Giles, how couldst thou +play me such a scurvy trick?" + +"Nay, Kit, was it not best for all that I turned my back to make way +for honest Stephen?" + +By this time young Giles had rushed up the stair to the hall, where, +as he said truly, Stephen was giving his brother such poor comfort +as could be had from sympathy, when listening to the story of the +cheerful, brave resignation of the noblest of all the victims of +Henry VIII. Ambrose had been with Sir Thomas well-nigh to the last, +had carried messages between him and his friends during his +imprisonment, had handed his papers to him at his trial, had been +with Mrs. Roper when she broke through the crowd and fell on his +neck as he walked from Westminster Hall with the axe-edge turned +towards him; had received his last kind farewell, counsel, and +blessing, and had only not been with him on the scaffold because Sir +Thomas had forbidden it, saying, in the old strain of mirth, which +never forsook him, "Nay, come not, my good friend. Thou art of a +queasy nature, and I would fain not haunt thee against thy will." + +All was over now, the wise and faithful head had fallen, because it +would not own the wrong for the right; and Ambrose had been brought +home by his brother, a being confounded, dazed, seeming hardly able +to think or understand aught save that the man whom he had above all +loved and looked up to was taken from him, judicially murdered, and +by the King. The whole world seemed utterly changed to him, and as +to thinking or planning for himself, he was incapable of it; indeed, +he looked fearfully ill. His little nephew came up to his father's +knee, pausing, though open-mouthed, and at the first token of +permission, bursting out, "Oh! father! Here's a soldier in the +court! Kit is talking to him. And he is Giles Headley that ran +away. He has a beauteous Spanish leathern coat, and a belt with +silver bosses--and a morion that Phil Smallbones saith to be of +Milan, but I say it is French." + +Stephen had no sooner gathered the import of this intelligence than +he sprang down almost as rapidly as his little boy, with his +welcome. Nor did Giles Headley return at all in the dilapidated +condition that had been predicted. He was stout, comely, and well +fleshed, and very handsomely clad and equipped in a foreign style, +with nothing of the lean wolfish appearance of Sir John Fulford. +The two old comrades heartily shook one another by the hand in real +gladness at the meeting. Stephen's welcome was crossed by the +greeting and inquiry whether all was well. + +"Yea. The alderman is hale and hearty, but aged. Your mother is +tabled at a religious house at Salisbury." + +"I know. I landed at Southampton and have seen her." + +"And Dennet," Stephen added with a short laugh, "she could not wait +for you." + +"No, verily. Did I not wot well that she cared not a fico for me? +I hoped when I made off that thou wouldst be the winner, Steve, and +I am right glad thou art, man." + +"I can but thank thee, Giles," said Stephen, changing to the +familiar singular pronoun. "I have oft since thought what a foolish +figure I should have cut had I met thee among the Badgers, after +having given leg bail because I might not brook seeing thee wedded +to her. For I was sore tempted--only thou wast free, and mine +indenture held me fast." + +"Then it was so! And I did thee a good turn! For I tell thee, +Steve, I never knew how well I liked thee till I was wounded and +sick among those who heeded neither God nor man! But one word more, +Stephen, ere we go in. The Moor's little maiden, is she still +unwedded?" + +"Yea," was Stephen's answer. "She is still waiting-maid to Mistress +Roper, daughter to good Sir Thomas More; but alack, Giles, they are +in sore trouble, as it may be thou hast heard--and my poor brother +is like one distraught." + +Ambrose did indeed meet Giles like one in a dream. He probably +would have made the same mechanical greeting, if the Emperor or the +Pope had been at that moment presented to him; but Dennet, who had +been attending to her father, made up all that was wanting in +cordiality. She had always had a certain sense of shame for having +flouted her cousin, and, as his mother told her, driven him to death +and destruction, and it was highly satisfactory to see him safe and +sound, and apparently respectable and prosperous. + +Moreover, grieved as all the family were for the fate of the +admirable and excellent More, it was a relief to those less closely +connected with him to attend to something beyond poor Ambrose's +sorrow and his talk, the which moreover might be perilous if any +outsider listened and reported it to the authorities as disaffection +to the King. So Giles told his story, sitting on the gallery in the +cool of the summer evening, and marvelling over and over again how +entirely unchanged all was since his first view of the Dragon court +as a proud, sullen, raw lad twenty summers ago. Since that time he +had seen so much that the time appeared far longer to him than to +those who had stayed at home. + +It seemed that Fulford had from the first fascinated him more than +any of the party guessed, and that each day of the free life of the +expedition, and of contact with the soldiery, made a return to the +monotony of the forge, the decorous life of a London citizen, and +the bridal with a child, to whom he was indifferent, seem more +intolerable to him. Fulford imagining rightly that the knowledge of +his intentions might deter young Birkenholt from escaping, enjoined +strict secrecy on either lad, not intending them to meet till it +should be too late to return, and therefore had arranged that Giles +should quit the party on the way to Calais, bringing with him Will +Wherry, and the horse he rode. + +Giles had then been enrolled among the Badgers. He had little to +tell about his life among them till the battle of Pavia, where he +had had the good fortune to take three French prisoners; but a stray +shot from a fugitive had broken his leg during the pursuit, and he +had been laid up in a merchant's house at Pavia for several months. +He evidently looked back to the time with gratitude, as having +wakened his better associations, which had been well-nigh stifled +during the previous years of the wild life of a soldier of fortune. +His host's young daughter had eyes like Aldonza, and the almost +forgotten possibility of returning to his love a brave and +distinguished man awoke once more. His burgher thrift began to +assert itself again, and he deposited a nest-egg from the ransoms of +his prisoners in the hands of his host, who gave him bonds by which +he could recover the sum from Lombard correspondents in London. + +He was bound by his engagements to join the Badgers again, or he +would have gone home on his recovery; and he had shared in the +terrible taking of Rome, of which he declared that he could not +speak--with a significant look at Dennet and her children, who were +devouring his words. He had, however, stood guard over a lady and +her young children whom some savage Spaniards were about to murder, +and the whole family had overpowered him with gratitude, lodged him +sumptuously in their house, and shown themselves as grateful to him +as if he had given them all the treasure which he had abstained from +seizing. + +The sickness brought on by their savage excesses together with the +Roman summer had laid low many of the Badgers. When the Prince of +Orange drew off the army from the miserable city, scarce seven score +of that once gallant troop were in marching order, and Sir John +Fulford himself was dying. He sent for Giles, as less of a demon +than most of the troop, and sent a gold medal, the only fragment of +spoil remaining to him, to his daughter Perronel. To Giles himself +Fulford bequeathed Abenali's well-tested sword, and he died in the +comfortable belief--so far as he troubled himself about the matter +at all--that there were special exemptions for soldiers. + +The Badgers now incorporated themselves with another broken body of +Landsknechts, and fell under the command of a better and more +conscientious captain. Giles, who had been horrified rather than +hardened by the experiences of Rome, was found trustworthy and rose +in command. The troop was sent to take charge of the Pope at +Orvieto, and thus it was that he had fallen in with the Englishmen +of Gardiner's suite, and had been able to send his letter to +Ambrose. Since he had found the means of rising out of the slough, +he had made up his mind to continue to serve till he had won some +honour, and had obtained enough to prevent his return as a hungry +beggar. + +His corps became known for discipline and valour. It was trusted +often, was in attendance on the Emperor, and was fairly well paid. +Giles was their "ancient" and had charge of the banner, nor could it +be doubted that he had flourished. His last adventure had been the +expedition to Tunis, when 20,000 Christian captives had been set +free from the dungeons and galleys, and so grand a treasure had been +shared among the soldiery that Giles, having completed the term of +service for which he was engaged, decided on returning to England, +before, as he said, he grew any older, to see how matters were +going. + +"For the future," he said, "it depended on how he found things. If +Aldonza would none of him, he should return to the Emperor's +service. If she would go with him, he held such a position that he +could provide for her honourably. Or he could settle in England. +For he had a good sum in the hands of Lombard merchants; having made +over to them spoils of war, ransoms, and arrears when he obtained +them; and having at times earned something by exercising his craft, +which he said had been most valuable to him. Indeed he thought he +could show Stephen and Tibble a few fresh arts he had picked up at +Milan. + +Meantime his first desire was to see Aldonza. She was still at +Chelsea with her mistress, and Ambrose, to his brother's regret, +went thither every day, partly because he could not keep away, and +partly to try to be of use to the family. Giles might accompany +him, though he still looked so absorbed in his trouble that it was +doubtful whether he had really understood what was passing, or that +he was wanted to bring about an interview between his companion and +Aldonza. + +The beautiful grounds at Chelsea, in their summer beauty, looked +inexpressibly mournful, deprived of him who had planted and +cherished the trees and roses. As they passed along in the barge, +one spot after another recalled More's bright jests or wise words; +above all, the very place where he had told his son-in-law Roper +that he was merry, not because he was safe, but because the fight +was won, and his conscience had triumphed against the King he loved +and feared. + +Giles told of the report that the Emperor had said he would have +given a hundred of his nobles for one such councillor as More, and +the prospect of telling this to the daughters had somewhat cheered +Ambrose. They found a guard in the royal livery at the stairs to +the river, and at the door of the house, but these had been there +ever since Sir Thomas's apprehension. They knew Ambrose Birkenholt, +and made no objection to his passing in and leaving his companion to +walk about among the borders and paths, once so trim, but already +missing their master's hand and eye. + +Very long it seemed to Giles, who was nearly despairing, when a +female figure in black came out of one of the side doors, which were +not guarded, and seemed to be timidly looking for him. Instantly he +was at her side. + +"Not here," she said, and in silence led the way to a pleached alley +out of sight of the windows. There they stood still. It was a +strange meeting of two who had not seen each other for fourteen +years, when the one was a tall, ungainly youth, the other well-nigh +a child. And now Giles was a fine, soldierly man in the prime of +life, with a short, curled beard, and powerful, alert bearing, and +Aldonza, though the first flower of her youth had gone by, yet, +having lived a sheltered and far from toilsome life, was a really +beautiful woman, gracefully proportioned, and with the delicate +features and clear olive skin of the Andalusian Moor. Her eyes, +always her finest feature, were sunken with weeping, but their soft +beauty could still be seen. Giles threw himself on his knee and +grasped at her hand. + +"My love!--my only love!" he cried. + +"Oh! how can I think of such matters now--now, when it is thus with +my dear mistress," said Aldonza, in a mournful voice, as though her +tears were all spent--yet not withholding her hand. + +"You knew me before you knew her," said Giles. "See, Aldonza, what +I have brought back to you." + +And he half drew the sword her father had made. She gave a gasp of +delight, for well she knew every device in the gold inlaying of the +blade, and she looked at Giles with eyes fall of gratitude. + +"I knew thou wouldst own me," said Giles. "I have fought and gone +far from thee, Aldonza. Canst not spare one word for thine old +Giles?" + +"Ah, Giles--there is one thing which if you will do for my mistress, +I would be yours from--from my heart of hearts." + +"Say it, sweetheart, and it is done." + +"You know not. It is perilous, and may be many would quail. Yet it +may be less perilous for you than for one who is better known." + +"Peril and I are well acquainted, my heart." She lowered her voice +as her eyes dilated, and she laid her hand on his arm. "Thou +wottest what is on London Bridge gates?" + +"I saw it, a sorry sight." + +"My mistress will not rest till that dear and sacred head, holy as +any blessed relic, be taken down so as not to be the sport of sun +and wind, and cruel men gaping beneath. She cannot sleep, she +cannot sit or stand still, she cannot even kiss her child for +thinking of it. Her mind is set on taking it down, yet she will not +peril her husband. Nor verily know I how any here could do the +deed." + +"Ha! I have scaled a wall ere now. I bare our banner at Goletta, +with the battlements full of angry Moors, not far behind the +Emperor's." + +"You would? And be secret? Then indeed nought would be overmuch +for you. And this very night--" + +"The sooner the better." + +She not only clasped his hand in thanks, but let him raise her face +to his, and take the reward he felt his due. Then she said she must +return, but Ambrose would bring him all particulars. Ambrose was as +anxious as herself and her mistress that the thing should be done, +but was unfit by all his habits, and his dainty, scholarly niceness, +to render such effectual assistance as the soldier could do. Giles +offered to scale the gate by night himself, carry off the head, and +take it to any place Mrs. Roper might appoint, with no assistance +save such as Ambrose could afford. Aldonza shuddered a little at +this, proving that her heart had gone out to him already, but with +this he had to be contented, for she went back into the house, and +he saw her no more. Ambrose came back to him, and, with something +more like cheerfulness than he had yet seen, said, "Thou art happy, +Giles." + +"More happy than I durst hope--to find her--" + +"Tush! I meant not that. But to be able to do the work of the holy +ones of old who gathered the remnants of the martyrs, while I have +indeed the will, but am but a poor craven! It is gone nearer to +comfort that sad-hearted lady than aught else." + +It appeared that Mrs. Roper would not be satisfied unless she +herself were present at the undertaking, and this was contrary to +the views of Giles, who thought the further off women were in such a +matter the better. There was a watch at the outer entrance of +London Bridge, the trainbands taking turns to supply it, but it was +known by experience that they did not think it necessary to keep +awake after belated travellers had ceased to come in; and Sir Thomas +More's head was set over the opposite gateway, looking inwards at +the City. The most suitable hour would be between one and two +o'clock, when no one would be stirring, and the summer night would +be at the shortest. Mrs. Roper was exceedingly anxious to implicate +no one, and to prevent her husband and brother from having any +knowledge of an act that William Roper might have prohibited, as if +she could not absolutely exculpate him, it might be fatal to him. +She would therefore allow no one to assist save Ambrose, and a few +more devoted old servants, of condition too low for anger to be +likely to light upon them. She was to be rowed with muffled oars to +the spot, to lie hid in the shadow of the bridge till a signal like +the cry of the pee-wit was exchanged from the bridge, then approach +the stairs at the inner angle of the bridge where Giles and Ambrose +would meet her. + +Giles's experience as a man-at-arms stood him in good stead. He +purchased a rope as he went home, also some iron ramps. He took a +survey of the arched gateway in the course of the afternoon, and +shutting himself into one of the worksheds with Ambrose, he +constructed such a rope ladder as was used in scaling fortresses, +especially when seized at night by surprise. He beguiled the work +by a long series of anecdotes of adventures of the kind, of all of +which Ambrose heard not one word. The whole court, and especially +Giles number three, were very curious as to their occupation, but +nothing was said even to Stephen, for it was better, if Ambrose +should be suspected, that he should be wholly ignorant, but he had-- +they knew not how--gathered somewhat. Only Ambrose was, at parting +for the night, obliged to ask him for the key of the gate. + +"Brother," then he said, "what is this work I see? Dost think I can +let thee go into a danger I do not partake? I will share in this +pious act towards the man I have ever reverenced." + +So at dead of night the three men stole out together, all in the +plainest leathern suits. The deed was done in the perfect stillness +of the sleeping City, and without mishap or mischance. Stephen's +strong hand held the ladder securely and aided to fix it to the +ramps, and just as the early dawn was touching the summit of St. +Paul's spire with a promise of light, Giles stepped into the boat, +and reverently placed his burden within the opening of a velvet +cushion that had been ripped up and deprived of part of the +stuffing, so as to conceal it effectually. The brave Margaret +Roper, the English Antigone, well knowing that all depended on her +self-control, refrained from aught that might shake it. She only +raised her face to Giles and murmured from dry lips, "Sir, God must +reward you!" And Aldonza, who sat beside her, held out her hand. + +Ambrose was to go with them to the priest's house, where Mrs. Roper +was forced to leave her treasure, since she durst not take it to +Chelsea, as the royal officers were already in possession, and the +whole family were to depart on the ensuing day. Stephen and Giles +returned safely to Cheapside. + + + +CHAPTER XXV. OLD HAUNTS + + + +"O the oak, and the birch, and the bonny holly tree, +They flourish best at home in my own countree." + +When the absence of the barbarous token of the execution was +discovered, suspicion instantly fell on the More family, and +Margaret, her husband, and her brother, were all imprisoned. The +brave lady took all upon herself, and gave no names of her +associates in the deed, and as Henry VIII. still sometimes had +better moods, all were soon released. + +But that night had given Ambrose a terrible cough, so that Dennet +kept him in bed two days. Indeed he hardly cared to rise from it. +His whole nature, health, spirits, and mind, had been so cruelly +strained, and he was so listless, so weak, so incapable of rousing +himself, or turning to any fresh scheme of life, that Stephen +decided on fulfilling a long-cherished plan of visiting their native +home and seeing their uncle, who had, as he had contrived to send +them word, settled down on a farm which he had bought with +Perronel's savings, near Romsey. Headley, who was lingering till +Aldonza could leave her mistress and decide on any plan, undertook +to attend to the business, and little Giles, to his great delight, +was to accompany them. + +So the brothers went over the old ground. They slept in the hostel +at Dogmersfield where the Dragon mark and the badge of the +Armourers' Company had first appeared before them. They found the +very tree where the alderman had been tied, and beneath which Spring +lay buried, while little Giles gazed with ecstatic, almost religious +veneration, and Ambrose seemed to draw in new life with the fresh +air of the heath, now becoming rich with crimson bells. They +visited Hyde Abbey, and the well-clothed, well-mounted travellers +received a better welcome than had fallen to the lot of the hungry +lads. They were shown the grave of old Richard Birkenholt in the +cloister, and Stephen left a sum to be expended in masses for his +behoof. They looked into St. Elizabeth's College, but the kind +warden was dead, and a trembling old man who looked at them through +the wicket hoped they were not sent from the Commissioners. For the +visitation of the lesser religious houses was going on, and St. +Elizabeth's was already doomed. Stephen inquired at the White Hart +for Father Shoveller, and heard that he had grown too old to perform +the office of a bailiff, and had retired to the parent abbey. The +brothers therefore renounced their first scheme of taking Silkstede +in their way, and made for Romsey. There, under the shadow of the +magnificent nunnery, they dined pleasantly by the waterside at the +sign of Bishop Blaise, patron of the woolcombers of the town, and +halted long enough to refresh Ambrose, who was equal to very little +fatigue. It amused Stephen to recollect how mighty a place he had +once thought the little town. + +Did mine host know Master Randall? What, Master Randall of +Baddesley? He should think so! Was not the good man or his good +wife here every market day, with a pleasant word for every one! Men +said he had had some good office about the Court, as steward or the +like--for he was plainly conversant with great men, though he made +no boast. If these guests were kin of his, they were welcome for +his sake. + +So the brothers rode on amid the gorse and heather till they came to +a broad-spreading oak tree, sheltering a farmhouse built in frames +of heavy timber, filled up with bricks set in zigzag patterns, with +a high-pitched roof and tall chimneys. Barns and stacks were near +it, and fields reclaimed from the heath were waving with corn just +tinged with the gold of harvest. Three or four cows, of the tawny +hue that looked so home-like to the brothers, were being released +from the stack-yard after being milked, and conducted to their field +by a tall, white-haired man in a farmer's smock with a little child +perched on his shoulder, who gave a loud jubilant cry at the sight +of the riders. Stephen, pushing on, began the question whether +Master Randall dwelt there, but it broke off half way into a cry of +recognition on either side, Harry's an absolute shout. "The lads, +the lads! Wife, wife! 'tis our own lads!" + +And as Perronel, more buxom and rosy than London had ever made her, +came forth from her dairy, and there was a melee of greetings, and +Stephen would have asked what homeless little one the pair had +adopted, he was cut short by an exulting laugh. "No more adopted +than thy Giles there, Stephen. 'Tis our own boy, Thomas Randall! +Yea, and if he have come late, he is the better loved, though I trow +Perronel there will ever look on Ambrose as her eldest son." + +"And by my troth, he needs good country diet and air!" cried +Perronel. "Thou hast had none to take care of thee, Ambrose. They +have let thee pine and dwine over thy books. I must take thee in +hand." + +"'Tis what I brought him to thee for, good aunt," said Stephen, +smiling. + +Great was the interchange of news over the homely hearty meal. It +was plain that no one could be happier, or more prosperous in a +humble way, than the ex-jester and his wife; and if anything could +restore Ambrose it would surely be the homely plenty and motherly +care he found there. + +Stephen heard another tale of his half-brother. His wife had soon +been disgusted by the loneliness of the verdurer's lodge, and was +always finding excuses for going to Southampton, where she and her +daughter had both caught the plague, imported in some Eastern +merchandise, and had died. The only son had turned out wild and +wicked, and had been killed in a broil which he had provoked: and +John, a broken-down man, with no one to enjoy the wealth he had +accumulated, had given up his office as verdurer, and retired to an +estate which he had purchased on the skirts of the Forest. + +Stephen rode thither to see him, and found him a dying man, +tyrannised over and neglected by his servants, and having often +bitterly regretted his hardness towards his young brothers. All +that Stephen did for him he received as tokens of pardon, and it was +not possible to leave him until, after a fortnight's watching, he +died in his brother's arms. He had made no will, and Ambrose thus +inherited a property which made his future maintenance no longer an +anxiety to his brother. + +He himself seemed to care very little for the matter. To be allowed +to rest under Perronel's care, to read his Erasmus' Testament, and +attend mass on Sundays at the little Norman church, seemed all that +he wished. Stephen tried to persuade him that he was young enough +at thirty-five to marry and begin life again on the fair woodland +river-bordered estate that was his portion, but he shook his head. +"No, Stephen, my work is over. I could only help my dear master, +and that is at an end. Dean Colet is gone, Sir Thomas is gone, what +more have I to do here? Old ties are broken, old bonds severed. +Crime and corruption were protested against in vain; and, now that +judgment is beginning at the house of God, I am thankful that I am +not like to live to see it." + +Perronel scolded and exhorted him, and told him he would be stronger +when the hot weather was over, but Ambrose only smiled, and Stephen +saw a change in him, even in this fortnight, which justified his +forebodings. + +Stephen and his uncle found a trustworthy bailiff to manage the +estate, and Ambrose remained in the house where he could now be no +burthen. Stephen was obliged to leave him and take home young +Giles, who had, he found, become so completely a country lad, +enjoying everything to the utmost, that he already declared that he +would much rather be a yeoman and forester than an armourer, and +that he did not want to be apprenticed to that black forge. + +This again made Ambrose smile with pleasure as he thought of the boy +as keeping up the name of Birkenholt in the Forest. The one wish he +expressed was that Stephen would send down Tibble Steelman to be +with him. For in truth they both felt that in London Tib might at +any time be laid hands on, and suffer at Smithfield for his +opinions. The hope of being a comfort to Ambrose was perhaps the +only idea that could have counterbalanced the sense that he ought +not to fly from martyrdom; and as it proved, the invitation came +only just in time. Three days after Tibble had been despatched by +the Southampton carrier in charge of all the comforts Dennet could +put together, Bishop Stokesley's grim "soumpnour" came to summon him +to the Bishop's court, and there could be little question that he +would have courted the faggot and stake. But as he was gone out of +reach, no further inquiries were made after him. + +Dennet had told her husband that she had been amazed to find how, in +spite of a very warm affection for her, her husband, and children, +her father hankered after the old name, and grieved that he could +not fulfil his old engagement to his cousin Robert. Giles Headley +had managed the business excellently during Stephen's absence, had +shown himself very capable, and gained good opinions from all. +Rubbing about in the world had been very good for him; and she +verily believed that nothing would make her father so happy as for +them to offer to share the business with Giles. She would on her +part make Aldonza welcome, and had no fears of not agreeing with +her. Besides--if little Giles were indeed to be heir to Testside +was not the way made clear? + +So thus it was. The alderman was very happy in the arrangement, and +Giles Headley had not forfeited his rights to be a freeman of London +or a member of the Armourers' Guild. He married Aldonza at +Michaelmas, and all went well and peacefully in the household. +Dennet never quitted her father while he lived; but Stephen +struggled through winter roads and floods, and reached Baddesley in +time to watch his brother depart in peace, his sorrow and +indignation for his master healed by the sense of his martyrdom, and +his trust firm and joyful. "If this be, as it is, dying of grief," +said Hal Randall, "surely it is a blessed way to die!" + +A few winters later Stephen and Dennet left Giles Headley in sole +possession of the Dragon, with their second son as an apprentice, +while they themselves took up the old forest life as Master and +Mistress Birkenholt of Testside, where they lived and died honoured +and loved. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE ARMOURER'S PRENTICES *** + +This file should be named arpn10.txt or arpn10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, arpn11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, arpn10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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