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diff --git a/21222.txt b/21222.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e267168 --- /dev/null +++ b/21222.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12136 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Armourer's Prentices, by Charlotte M. Yonge + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Armourer's Prentices + +Author: Charlotte M. Yonge + +Illustrator: W.J. Hennessy + +Release Date: April 27, 2007 [EBook #21222] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ARMOURER'S PRENTICES *** + + + + +Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England + + + + +The Armourers' Prentices + +By Charlotte M. Yonge +________________________________________________________________ +This is a story about two young orphans from Hampshire, who travel to +London in search of relatives. On the way they rescue a prominent City +of London figure after he has been attacked by highwaymen, and in this +way they become attached to his household in the City. The date is the +early years of Henry the Eighth, when the religious world of England is +simmering not only with the new views on religion, but also with the +problems of the King and his Divorces. We meet great figures like Dean +Colet, famous even to this very day for his charitable foundations, +Thomas More, and other great figures of the pre-Reformation years. + +It is a very lively story that rings true at every turn, and is worth +while reading for those who would like a further understanding of the +late Tudor Court, and the customs in the City, prevailing at the time of +the Reformation. +________________________________________________________________ +THE ARMOURERS' PRENTICES + +BY CHARLOTTE M. YONGE + + +CHAPTER ONE. + +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 the Fourth, 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 pont. 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? 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 a 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 Saint 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 in end 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 alehouse, 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 Stevie, 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 TWO. + +THE GRANGE OF SILKSTEDE. + + "All Itchen's valley lay, + Saint 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 Saint 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 farmhouses 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 farmhouse, 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 Saint Cross, beneath the round hill of Saint 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 Saint Grimbald could not agree with those of +Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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. Saint 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! Rest 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 Saint Grimbald, and the gates shut behind them. + + + +CHAPTER THREE. + +KINSMEN AND STRANGERS. + + "The reul of Saint Maure and of Saint 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 Saint 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. Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint +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 Cranbury. 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 Saint 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 by +name 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 Saint Elizabeth's Hospital was his friend, and +knowing him to have acquaintance among the clergy of Saint 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 Saint +Elizabeth of Hungary, lying in the meadows between William of Wykeham's +College and the round hill of Saint Catherine. 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 +Saint 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. + +Saint Elizabeth's College was a hundred years older than its neighbour +Saint 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 +Saint 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 Saint 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 meine." + +"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 Saint 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 satis factory, that it ended in an invitation to the brothers +to fill two of the empty scholarships of the college of the dear Saint +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 Saint 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 lupes_. Alack!" + + + +CHAPTER FOUR. + +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. + +"Eye 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 Saint Julian a +hound of solid bronze a foot in length, with a collar of silver, to his +shrine in Saint 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," 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 reeked." + +"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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 FIVE. + +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 Saint 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 fall against the mouth of a furnace, and lay ten months in +Saint 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 livened 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 Saint Paul's, +with the four-square, 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 Saint 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 een 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 whole 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 Saint 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 in 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 Saint 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 the Fifth +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 befitting." + +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 SIX. + +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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 single-stick 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 hither'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 Saint 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 churchyard, 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 Saint 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 peccattum, 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 Saint 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 SEVEN. + +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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Wrymouth," 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 socks 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 clear-sighted 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 Wrymouth? '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 +palmerworms, 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 +bunting dress of green velvet embroidered with gold, with a golden +hunting horn slung round his neck. + +Henry the Eighth 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 nunks 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 cap for that matter. Will ye be +guided to him, my 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 EIGHT. + +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 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. + +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 Wrymouth, 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 horse-boy +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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint Elizabeth's to one of the +clerks of Saint 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 Saint 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 befalls 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 NINE. + +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 Saint 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 Saint 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 "Good-night, 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 none 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 in any; and especially here in the heart of +the City, partly from the influence of Dean Colet's sermons and +catechisings at Saint 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, me seemeth 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 Saint 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 Ward? Thou wilt find him at his place +in Paternoster Row, hard by Saint 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 TEN. + +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 Saint 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 them 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 Saint 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 +Saint 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 Saint 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 Wrymouth, 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 Saint 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 +Saint 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 Saint Paul's, or of Sarum, or mayhap Saint +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 Saint +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 +Saint 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 Ward, 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 Saint 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 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 ELEVEN. + +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 the Eighth 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 mid-day, 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 Saint 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 old, 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 Ward. + +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 bent 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 pixie at the door, guarding it? +"Ambrose!" he cried aloud. + +Everybody started. Ambrose sprang to his feet, exclaiming, "Stephen!" +The pixie 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 pixie! 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. "Sword-blades! 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 band--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 by Italian occupied by internal wars, and Aragon +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 lifetime, 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 +lit 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 TWELVE. + +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 the Eighth_. + +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 days, 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 landing 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 Saint 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 +Saint 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 +Saint Julian's pillar, while the rising sun came peeping through the low +eastern window of the vaulted Church of Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 pommelling +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 Saint 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 bank 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 too 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 bag 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 fool--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-cheeked apples, and a handful of comfits, for the poor little maid +who never tasted fruit or sweets. + + + +CHAPTER THIRTEEN. + +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 Saint +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 +Saint 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 the Fourth 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 +raree-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 loops 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 exaltaverint_." + +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 Saint 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-!" + +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 Ward, 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, while +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! _Site_!" + +And _site_, 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 rashes +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 beard; 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 to his care 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 Ward 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 FOURTEEN. + +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 Ward 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 fathouse!" 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 Gouzalo 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 +hunt 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 Ward with his master's +consent whenever he could be snared, 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 recked 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 grand- +daughter 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 Saint 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 Saint George, there be not many of that sort after they be 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 mid-day 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 FIFTEEN. + +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 Ward, 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 Number 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 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! D'ye 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 off 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 Saint 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 Ward, 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 Saint 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, "_Caelum caeli 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 SIXTEEN. + +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 play-fellows 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 eleven of the +clock there were six or seven hundreds in Cheap. And out of Pawle's +Churchyard came three hundred which wist not of the others." For the +most part all was involved 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Saint Paul's, +but as they came into Warwick Lane they heard fresh shouts and wild +cries, and at the archway leading 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 Saint 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 lie 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 Saint +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 be +made on the lap of the young girl. Colet knelt over him so as to be +able to hear, while Lucas and Ambrose withdrew, 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 Ward." +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 Ward, especially at the +summons of the Dean of Saint 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 Saint Paul's they parted, the husband and wife going towards +Warwick Inner Ward, 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 SEVENTEEN. + +ILL MAY DAY. + + "With two and two together tied, + Through Temple Bar and Strand they go, + To Westminster, there to be tried, + 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 tenor 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 cramped. + +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 dampness 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 close 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- +looking 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 Ward, 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, me seemeth 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 maidservant 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 more 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 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 jester's 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 lose time. Let us see whether the little +garden postern be open." + +Henry the Eighth 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 lad! 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 Norfolks 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 low voice observed to the Cardinal. "Lord Edmund Howard is +keen as a bloodhound 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 EIGHTEEN. + +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 into 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, choked 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 draper's +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 Beale 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 to 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 goodwill.' 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 warning 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 hail 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 Saint +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 lad, 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 Saint 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 Saint 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 +Saint 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 Saint 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 NINETEEN. + +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 Saint 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 easy-going, 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 land 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 Mistress 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 +Saint 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 Roister-Doister.'" + +"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 looked 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 tree." + +"Thou shouldst bring him one of these days," said Sir Thomas. "But thou +hast instead brought us 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 TWENTY. + +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 Saint +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 Saint +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 slipped 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 +Saint 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 wenches? 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 house wifery 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, it 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 Saint 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 within 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 splendid 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 the First, 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 perception 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 TWENTY ONE. + +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 men, "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, 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 I 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 the Fifth 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. This 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 TWENTY TWO. + +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 Saint 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 Saint Faith's to +crave of good Saint 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 lovemaking, 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 mince-meat 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 mince-meat?" + +"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 TWENTY THREE. + +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 the Seventh, 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 brokenhearted 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 TWENTY FOUR. + +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 the Eighth. +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 full 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 work-sheds 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 Saint 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 TWENTY FIVE. + +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 +the Eighth 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 Saint 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 Saint 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. + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Armourer's Prentices, by Charlotte M. 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